The two words “questions” and “doubts” are often interchanged when discussing concerns, confusion, or misunderstandings with Church doctrine, history, and policy. However, there is a difference between having questions and having doubts. It is important to understand this difference so that we know how to handle questions or doubts when we come across them in our personal lives. An article in the March 2015 issue of the Ensign by Adam Kotter, “When Doubts and Questions Arise” discusses this exact issue.

Brother Kotter defined questions and doubts as the following:

“A sincere questioner continues to be obedient while searching for answers. By contrast, I have seen that when people doubt their beliefs they often suspend their commitment to commandments and covenants while waiting for answers.”

Essentially, the difference between questions and doubts is how we respond to them. When we stay active in our callings, Church attendance, scripture study, and prayer, our questions are simply that: questions. When we stop doing those things, our questions can very quickly become doubts. That doesn’t mean that we should never ask questions, we just need to go about the right way in searching for answers. Brother Kotter regularly uses the terms “sincere questioner” and “sincere questions.” Meaning that when we ask a question, we are searching for God’s true answer, and when we find that answer we should be willing to accept it. He warns us of “talking yourself into the answers you want to believe rather than receiving true answers from God.”

I had such an experience a year ago. I had misunderstood a verse of scripture to mean something that it did not. When I discovered my misunderstanding I searched the footnotes, General Conference talks, and the Ensign to find the true answer. When I did find the answer, I struggled to accept it; and I continued to search in hopes of finding an alternative answer. I eventually fell to my knees and begged Heavenly Father to help me accept what I had learned. When I woke up the next day I felt calm and peace. The thought came to my mind, “You have your answer. You can either accept it and move forward, or hang on and let it destroy your faith.” I chose to accept the answer, and am so grateful that I did.

When we do the opposite by refusing to accept an answer, or when we stop participating in our faith before we even find an answer; we risk turning our questions into doubts. Accepting doubt leads us down a very different, and dangerous path. Brother Kotter said, “Satan can magnify our doubts or lead us to justify our sins.” I would like to emphasize that neither I nor Brother Kotter are calling doubters sinners, but Satan will use doubts to tempt us. If we give in to those temptations, Satan will then use our doubts to justify our actions when the Holy Ghost makes us feel guilty because Satan knows that if we justify our actions, we will not repent. If we give into our doubts we also run the risk of encouraging others to doubt with us. The deeper we fall into our doubts, the more vicious we can become towards those who aren’t doubting; and we become like those in the great and spacious building by mocking others who are faithful.

What can we do to ensure that our doubts don’t drag us down? President Dieter F. Uchtdorf has given us that answer: “Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith.” (“Come, Join With Us”, October 2013) Now I don’t think that President Uchtdorf meant to bury our questions and live the gospel blindly. I believe he meant to not allow our doubts to stop us from reading our scriptures, praying, and being active in the Church.

Another way to combat doubt is to go to the right resources when searching for answers to our questions. The right resources are things like ancient and modern scripture, prayer, and websites officially sponsored by the Church (lds.org, Mormon.org, etc.). I highly discourage going to Google or anti-Mormon literature for answers. It’s okay to read blogs and websites by individual members, but I would recommend making sure that what they publish matches official Church doctrine, policy, and teachings before acting on what they say. Talking to other people is also alright, but make sure that they support you in finding the truth, not leading you into their personal agenda.

The scriptures are full of examples of people finding answers to their questions. One specific example that has been on my mind is that of Nephi and his brothers in regard to the vision of the Tree of Life. After Lehi described his vision to his family, Nephi and his brothers had questions about it. Nephi took his questions to the Lord; he was shown the same vision with an angel explaining the symbolism of each object (see 1 Nephi 11-14). In chapter 15 Nephi returns to his family after his vision, where he finds his brothers arguing about Lehi’s vision:

7 And they said: Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father hath spoken concerning the natural branches of the olive tree, and also concerning the Gentiles. 8 And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord? 9 And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us. 10 Behold, I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts? 11 Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said? – If ye will not harden your hearts, and ye ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.

I want to point out two things from these verses. First, Nephi asks them if they have prayed about the things they do not understand. They respond no, they have not because the Lord has not given them the information. The Lord will not and cannot answer a question that we have not asked Him. Second, before the Lord answers a question we need to do four things: 1) Soften our hearts, 2) ask in faith, 3) believe that we will get an answer, and 4) be diligent in keeping the commandments. That matches exactly what Brother Kotter said; we need to stay active in our faith in order to find the answers to our questions.

Sometimes questions are answered quickly, and sometimes it takes years. If your questions are taking longer to answer than you would like, do not become discouraged. I can testify from personal experience that your questions will be answered on the Lord’s time and in the Lord’s way. If you have questions, stay active, be diligent, and find the support that you need through proper resources. If you have doubts and have left the Church, I invite you to return and turn your doubts back into questions. The Church wants you, it needs you, it loves you, and Heavenly Father loves you.

Chelsey Ortega is a wife and mother of two: a boy and a girl. She is a BYU graduate with a degree in History Teaching along with certification in TESOL (Teaching English to Students of Other Languages). She currently stays home with her children. Chelsey enjoys reading, writing, dancing, and cooking – she is always looking for new books to read and new recipes to try. She blogs about her life, family, faith, and other interests at http://mymilkchocolatefamily.blogspot.com/ .