The Spiritual Power of Remembering

Elder Alexander Dushku said:

The gift of gratefully recognizing and acknowledging the hand of the Lord in our lives, even if we didn’t recognize it or feel it in the moment, is powerful. The scriptures speak often of the spiritual power of remembering.

“Pillars and Rays,” General Conference, April 2024, footnote 20

As evidence, he cites the following scriptural passage, in which the prophet Helaman urges his sons, Nephi and Lehi, to remember the most important things:

O remember, remember, my sons, the words which king Benjamin spake unto his people; yea, remember that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh to redeem the world.

And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, in the city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins. …

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation.

Helaman 5:9-12

Our brains are designed to forget. We receive so much information every day that will never be useful to us in the future. So, our brain attempts to selectively retain only the information we will need in the future and discards the rest to preserve finite resources.

Some things are seared into our memory because they are associated with strong feelings. In those cases, the brain knows that this information is worth retaining.

But other things we have to choose to remember. If we don’t intentionally do something to keep that knowledge on the forefront of our minds regularly, it will slip to the background and fail to influence our daily experience.

As Helaman emphasizes in the passage above, the most important thing to remember is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. When we remember what He has done for us, we build on a solid foundation. We can move forward, secure in our awareness that we have access to a source of power which can overcome every obstacle we will ever face.

No wonder we partake of the sacrament weekly. No wonder the words of the sacrament prayers feature prominently the word “remember.” (See Moroni 4:3, Moroni 5:2.)

Today, I will choose to remember the things that matter most, particularly the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I will build my life on a solid foundation by choosing to always remember Him.