35 And thus we see that the Spirit of the Lord began to withdraw from the Nephites, because of the wickedness and the hardness of their hearts.
36 And thus we see that the Lord began to pour out his Spirit upon the Lamanites, because of their easiness and willingness to believe in his words.
I’ve been thinking yesterday and today about what it means to have an “easiness and willingness to believe.” Mormon contrasts this easiness with the wickedness and hardheartedness of the Nephites. A few years ago in General Conference, Michael T. Ringwood discussed some of the sources of the Lamanites’ receptiveness to the Spirit of the Lord at this time:
This easiness and willingness to believe in the word of God comes from a softness of heart. It comes from having a heart that is sensitive to the Holy Ghost. It comes from having a heart that can love. It comes from having a heart that will make and keep sacred covenants. It comes from a soft heart that can feel the power of the Atonement of Christ (“An Easiness and Willingness to Believe,” General Conference, October 2009).
Today, I will make an effort to have a soft heart: a heart that can feel the Spirit, a heart that is willing to adapt to the promptings the Lord chooses to send me, a heart that repents and obeys easily and readily. I will strive to follow the Lamanites’ example of “easiness and willingness to believe” in God.
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