Elder Rasband asks Latter-day Saint Members to ask the question: "Why Do I Choose to Stay?"

In a live Face to Face broadcast for young adults, Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Melanie, answered questions and shared insights with Latter-day Saints ages 18–30 about the Church’s founding events.

The event focused on the 200th anniversary of the Restoration, known to followers of the global faith as a compilation of events that led to the reestablishment of the ancient church and gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed by Joseph Smith.

One of these youths was Harry, a Latter-day Saint from California. He posed the following statement and question to Elder Rasband:

"I have serious problems with the truth claims of the church and I'm considering removing my name form the records of the Church. Can you give me a reason why I should stay?"

I think that this is a question that many young adults are posing currently. Why should I stay? What does the Church have to offer me? Elder Rasband responded during the broadcast with this:

While this might be answer that Harry and many other young adults want to hear, the truth of it all is that the prophets and apostles have been doing their best throughout the last couple years to be as transparent as possible with Church doctrine and teachings. Ultimately it comes down to ones faith in Jesus Christ, His ability to answer their prayers, and whether they believe that the Book of Mormon is true. 

In the book, Glimpsing Eternity, author Dwight E. Monson discusses faith and how it is how God's economy runs. Monson writes:

Though nonbelievers will contest the word choice, “faith” is the basis upon which this temporal world operates. This fact is evident in both the mundane and the extraordinary. For example, when an individual climbs out of bed in the morning, it is faith that enables him or her to rise.

Their first presumption, conscious or otherwise, must be that they are able to rise if they exert themselves. Without this presumption, they would not make the attempt, and because the presumption is correct, they, indeed, stand. This is faith: to “hope for things which are not seen, which are true” (Alma 32:21).

Likewise, faith was manifest when Albert Einstein conceived his theory of general relativity in pursuit of a life-long quest “to know God’s thoughts;” when Abraham Lincoln aspired to be the sixteenth president of the United States; and when the patriarch Abraham “offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called” (Hebrews 11:17–18.) “If men [and women] were duly to consider themselves . . . they would readily discover that it is faith, and faith only, which is the moving cause of all action in them; that without it both mind and body would be in a state of inactivity, and all their exertions would cease, both physical and mental” (Joseph Smith, Lectures on Faith,).

Faith is also the basis upon which the economy of God operates. For example, the Apostle Paul informs us, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God” (Hebrews 11:3). God spoke, the elements responded, and “the Gods watched those things which they had ordered until they obeyed” (Abraham 4:15).

This same faith-based process will continue to operate through all eternity as numberless new worlds roll forth. Faith is an eternal principle and a key to understanding how the economy of God operates.

What are your thoughts on Harry's question and Elder Rasband's response? We'd love to know in the comments!