Randy Sharp, director of BYU–Hawaii Facilities, shared stories from his own life and scriptures to show how we can build our testimonies and to warn of the dangers of sin at a devotional on March 12 in the Cannon Activities Center.
Jess Harris, a freshman from Utah majoring in English, said the personal touch Sharp used made the devotional meaningful to her and helped her relate to the concepts. She explained, “I liked the way he used personal experiences to apply positive life lessons to the students’ lives.”
Sharing the story of how he came to know the Book of Mormon is true, Sharp explained he was on his mission when he decided he needed to know if the promise he gave to investigators was true.
“I began to pray out loud. I explained to my Heavenly Father I needed to know if the promise I was giving to others was valid. I told Him I had faith in Christ as Moroni instructed. I had a sincere heart. I really wanted to know. I had real intent.
“I told Heavenly Father if it were not a valid promise, I would go home. I told Him I would not get off my knees until I received a yes or a no. I am so very grateful that Heavenly Father was kind to me. He might have even chuckled a little bit over my demand to know.”
What came next, he explained, was an undoubtable answer that the Book of Mormon is true. However, he said, “For those who have not had a singular spiritual experience as I had, the Savior’s words echo through the eternities, ‘Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed.’ If you are one whose testimony rests on repeated moments when the spirit has touched you, then blessed are you.”
Warning of the dangers of sin, Sharp told the story of how he and his friend went on a sunrise hunting trip in Idaho. As they hiked through the dark to the top of the mountain, they came up on a large gorge. “From there, the trees that were so very welcoming could be seen, so nothing moving would go unnoticed. It was the perfect spot for hunting.
“The only thing standing in our way was a shale rock slide. To best describe a shale slide, is to have you imagine your mother’s finest china. Now, take all of her largest plates and throw them in a pile on that mountain side.
“Some of the plates would break, but others would pile precariously on top of the broken pieces, a seemingly stable surface with danger buried beneath. It would take thousands of plates on top of each other to create that slide. You can imagine if you walked on that, it would give way and slide downhill.”
He and his friend had crossed slides like this many times, Sharp explained, so they did not think anything of crossing another one. “Since it was not new to us, we felt confident we would be successful and that there would be no danger.
“Mark led the way with me closely behind him. When we were about halfway across the slide, something very unexpected happened. Something at the bottom of those layers did not hold, and the rocks below us began to move. I immediately considered I should not have been on that slippery slope.”
Sharing Doctrine and Covenants 87:8, Sharp said, “Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold, it cometh quickly, saith the Lord. Amen.” He and his friend, he explained, did not feel like they were standing in a holy place, which led them to being in a dangerous situation.
Sharp said, “I hope none of you can relate to this story. I hope none of you have ever been in a situation where you finally realized you made a mistake and should not be where you are.
“During an act of sin, we do not often think of the consequences. We are caught up in the moment. When we are away from the sin, we realize just how misleading and pathetic that phrase of ‘caught up in the moment’ is.”
Ruth Sharp, wife of Randy Sharp, echoed the words of her husband, saying, “So many of the miracles in our lives have started with promptings form the spirit or ‘I’ve been thinking.’ We have seen the hand of the Lord in our lives. We are so grateful we followed the promptings of the spirit and we knew a loving and ever watchful Heavenly Father was saying to us, ‘I've been thinking.’”
Quoting Doctrine and Covenants he said, “For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance; Nevertheless, he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven.”
“The only way for us all to remain safe at all times is to be where we should be,” explained Sharp. “Being in a place where things are happening around us that we are sure will not affect us, even though they are not good things, does not always work out.
“There are times in those situations that can lead to a point of no return. Just like the shale slide, Mark and I had been there many times without consequence.”
However, he said, “If we are off the path, brothers and sisters, there is still great hope. That hope comes through the Savior. He has suffered so we need not to. But it isn’t easy, and it isn’t free.
“During the time our sin influences us, we cannot look at the world as a happy, welcoming place like those beautiful leaves as they waved to us. Sin distorts the world around us and causes us to see the negative.
“There is so much our Heavenly Father wants us to experience. He wants us to feel the sweet spirit of a testimony.”
Writer: Haeley van der Werf