Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of The Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints spoke to BYU-Idaho student Sunday during a campus devotional.
He took the theme of his talk, "His Paths are Righteous" from 2 Nephi 9 in the Book of Mormon.
He shared stories of how his testimony was strengthened of the Book of Mormon and of Joseph smith as a prophet of God.
One story was about his brother getting a chance to serve a mission during the Korean War. Their father was not active in the church and only one young man in a ward was usually allowed to serve at the time. A missionary was already serving from their ward so his brother was preparing for medical school, when he got an unexpected call from his bishop, explaining he could serve too.
However, their father said he would better serve people by becoming a doctor. The brothers talked about the choice together.
"He was five years older and already had a testimony, so it was mainly his thinking," Elder Cook said. "As we reasoned it out we concluded: If Jesus Christ was a great man but not divine, if the Book of Mormon had wonderful counsel but was not the Word of God, or, if Joseph Smith was a wonderful teacher but not a prophet, then dad was right— one could do more good by going to medical school. But, if Jesus Christ is divine the Son of God and the Savior of the world, if the Book of Mormon is the Word of God, and if Joseph Smith is the prophet of the Restoration, then it would be more important to accept the call and proclaim the gospel."
Elder Cook wanted to know the answers to those questions and prayed to know the truth of them.
"At that time neither my brother nor I had any kind of angelic visitation. I had what I have come to understand is the feeling that the Holy Ghost provides me when I am seeking spiritual truths."
His brother did serve a mission and a few years later, so did Elder Cook.