Chapter 23: Experiencing Experiences
Father Lehi explained that experiences span the extremes from righteousness to wickedness, from holiness to misery, from good to bad. (See 2 Nephi 2:11 .) The Lord said to Joseph Smith: “All these [good and bad] things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good” ( D&C 122:7 ). I assume you have seen in your life as I have in mine that experiences expand wisdom and knowledge. The prophet Isaiah said experience evolves incrementally, “precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” If that were all Isaiah had written, you would expect life to be a steady upward climb. But when you read the rest of the verse, you realize he understood: “that they might go and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken” ( Isaiah 28:13 ). Experience includes falling, breaking, and being snared by Satan. As we say: Life can sometimes be t...