The Parable of the Snowman

I didn't think we'd be in this position again so soon, but I have yet again given a talk in church. One of the bishopric counselors wasn't there the week I spoke and hadn't realized I had just spoken when he asked me to take the stand. After telling him I had just spoken, he said, "Oh Whoops." and then a few minutes later texted, "But will you still do it?" Ha! The answer was yes and the message is below.

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This week in Come, Follow Me, we learned about the witnesses of The Book of Mormon. My favorite way to learn is through stories and analogies. As I have studied this topic, I feel the best way to teach it is through a story that happened to me last month that I will lovingly name: The Parable of the Snowman. As I share this story, see if you can find any lessons of being a witness of truth and how witnessing leads to conversion.

After scrolling through Facebook one afternoon, I read a post from one of my neighbors urgently prompting me to look outside because it was snowing!

Snow in Vegas? No way. I ran to the window to see for myself. Nothing.

I kept scrolling. “Did you see the snow?” Someone else said. I checked again. No snow.

Finally after a third commenter posted, “SNOW!” I wised up and looked at the time stamp. I was 20 minutes too late to the five minutes of flurries.

I spent the next hour sporadically squinting out the window. I eventually wandered outside to longingly stare at the clouds. By evening, I inspected the glow of street lights for any evidence of sparkly glimmers in the dark. I wanted to see the same Vegas snow my neighbors had seen, but I feared I had missed my chance. 

With much surprise, I woke up the next morning to find it had not only snowed, but the snow had actually stuck to the ground. The mere glimmers I had been hoping to see had all quietly piled up to create an unbelievable and unexpected sight. Our backyard had transformed into a winter wonderland. I woke my kids up, eager to tell them it had snowed. We all raced outside to begin experimenting with the snow. We poked our fingers in it. We slid across the sidewalk, and we tried out our trampoline in the new conditions. 

After experimenting with the snow and becoming familiar with how it works, we were interested to see if we could build with it. We all know the best thing to build in the snow is a snowman, so we got right to work carefully rolling out each section of our snowman.

This snowman is special because each section of snow can serve as a reminder to what we learn from this story.

Let’s start with the snowman’s head. When it first started snowing, someone had to tell me about it before I began looking for it. After I knew it was there, I had the desire to see it for myself. I began to realize what I was missing by not being able to see it. 

Likewise, as others share about Jesus Christ, we begin to look for Him. We want to see if He truly lives, and we begin to recognize that something is missing from our lives without Him. Often our testimony begins from hearing other people talk, or witness of Christ. This information goes straight into our heads to our minds as we begin learning of Christ.

Next up is the bottom section of the snowman, the foundation. 

Doctrine and Covenants 18:36 says, “Wherefore, you can testify that you have heard my voice, and know my words.” Elder Christofferson has taught that as we study the scriptures, it is no different than seeing and hearing the words of Christ. 

The progression of a testimony moves from our head to our toes as we start learning more about Christ’s teachings by studying the scriptures and putting those teachings into action.

When I found snow in my backyard, I couldn’t wait to start playing in it. Experimenting with gospel truths is where we get to play. It’s a chance to see what our old life looks like blanketed by our new knowledge and understanding of Jesus Christ. We get to poke our fingers in it to see how it feels. We get to slide around and maybe even fall down. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of doing, trying, and experimenting. As we take what we know and put it into action, we begin to build a solid foundation for our snowman to sit on.

The last section of the snowman is the center, or the heart. While learning truth, and trying what we’ve learned, we feel the truth in our hearts through the witnessing power of the Holy Ghost. With the knowledge of Jesus Christ in our mind, actions, and hearts, we become fully converted to Him. 

Much like the sudden change of waking up to the beauty and peace of a snow-covered desert, Second Corinthians teaches that as we become converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ, we become changed creatures. We have the same body, the same life, and the same surroundings, but suddenly everything looks different, fresh, hopeful, beautiful, and peaceful. 

There’s one last part to my parable. You can’t build a snowman without taking a picture of it to share with those you know. Similarly, once your testimony of Jesus Christ is built up, it becomes difficult to hide. As we are truly converted, we stand as a witness of God at all times, in all things, and in all places just as a snowman proudly stands in your front yard for all to see. 

I love the scripture in Second Nephi that reads, “We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”

I always feel a little bit of guilt whenever I hear people talk about our duty to share our testimonies with those around us, or even worse if they utter the words member missionary work. It’s not that I don’t want to share the joy of the gospel with others, it’s just that my circle of influence as a stay-at-home mom feels laughably small. The only people I see most days are my own children. 

But I love that scripture in Nephi because the people he specifically mentions we should be testifying of Christ to are our own children. I have grown to accept that at least in this phase of my life, my missionary work is trying to convert the four future missionaries I’m raising. They are only four people, but they have the potential to lead hundreds to Christ over the course of their lives and as they raise their own righteous families. 

I also sometimes get overwhelmed thinking my witnessing only counts when I am sharing my testimony with people not of our faith. However, I believe the testimonies we share with fellow followers of Jesus Christ are also important. I look to the words and examples of those around me to keep me centered on Christ and to teach me how to live a more Christlike life. We dedicate one Sunday every month to allow church members to testify to each other, showing the importance of witnessing to even those  we would classify as faithful.

Elder Eyring has taught that “Great faith has a short shelf life.”

Snowmen can melt, get windblown, and unbalanced. Just because you once had a strong, solid snowman doesn’t mean it will stay that way. As we witness to each other as members of the church, we help maintain our testimonies and rebuild and reinforce to each other what we know to be true. 

Another way we can be witnesses of Jesus Christ is through our actions. One of the most challenging parts of quarantine has been that my kids are now next to me at all times, in all things, and in all places which has forced me to reevaluate every moment of my life. I’ve had to reconsider the TV shows I indulge in, the conversations I have with my friends, and even the excessive amount of sweets I try to sneak. Our sincerity in following Jesus Christ is evident in the everyday.

The everyday has been especially weird in the last year and, I think for a lot of people, has served as a good time to examine our testimonies for signs of wear and tear. 

I am typically a very paranoid, over-anxious person anyway, but I quickly found these tendencies became heightened when mixed with a pandemic. Back in March, I found myself up late every night reading doom and gloom news articles, I buried myself in online forums that were constantly trying to predict the worst-case scenarios, and much of the hope and happiness I once had became replaced by fear and dread.

The internet kept assuring me my feelings were completely normal for someone who was going through the stress we all experienced as our world flipped upside down. Of course we would feel sad, lonely, scared, and utterly overwhelmed given the circumstances. I thanked the internet for validating my feelings and then I continued marinating in those emotions until there was nothing left but pure pessimism. 

General Conference came and I heard the prophets and apostles speak messages of hope. I was unconvinced. I saw friends share testimonies of Jesus Christ online in an effort to buoy each other up and I was like, guys. We are in a PANDEMIC. How can you be so positive right now? In my wallowing, I discovered the phrase toxic positivity, and I was quick to diagnose my friends with this condition.

As the months went on, it became apparent the way I was living was not sustainable. I was making myself miserable. The situation we were in was scary, uncomfortable and unknown, but as I looked to others and saw them handling the same situation with much more hope and faith, I began longing for even just a snowflake-sized portion of their peace. 

One morning I woke up with a song in my head that I hadn’t heard in years. At first it came to me just as notes I could hum, then I was able to start filling in some of the words:

He gives us hope

When hope is gone

He gives us strength

When we can't go on

He gives us shelter

In the storms of life

When there's no peace on Earth

There is peace in Christ

I know the Spirit brought this song to my mind to remind me of what I had forgotten, that I could find peace in Jesus Christ, and I felt that peace in my heart.

As I looked to Christ, the power of His Atonement changed the way I viewed my situation. As unlikely as waking up to a beautiful snowfall in Vegas, my fear, anxiety, and worry was sprinkled with hope, strength, and peace. My worries did not disappear. The pandemic did not end. My kids did not go back to school, and my concerns were still there, but through that song in my head, the Spirit reminded me I have a source of comfort in an uncomfortable time and I could find at least momentary refuge in the peace of Christ.

I know Jesus Christ lives. I have felt the peace and the power that comes from Him in my life. My knowledge of my Savior began by learning from others who witnessed of His teachings to me in the way they lived and the things they said. As I strive to be more like Christ, the Spirit teaches me exactly what I need to know, and as I follow the promptings of the Spirit, I feel peace and joy. I know this peace and joy is available to all who seek Christ.