How do we know TRUTH?

These past couple weeks have been ones of a great deal of introspection for me.  As I have pondered the messages of the recent General Conference, my mind has weighed heavily on the parable spoken of in the 86th section of the Doctrine & Covenants...

"1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servants, concerning the ^aparable of the ^bwheat and of the tares:

  2 Behold, verily I say, the field was the world, and the apostles were the ^asowers of the seed;

  3 And after they have fallen asleep the great persecutor of the church, the apostate, the ^awhore, even ^bBabylon, that maketh all nations to drink of her cup, in whose hearts the enemy, even Satan, sitteth to reign—behold he soweth the ^ctares; wherefore, the tares choke the wheat and drive the ^dchurch into the wilderness.

  4 But behold, in the ^alast days, even now while the Lord is beginning to bring forth the word, and the blade is springing up and is yet tender—

  5 Behold, verily I say unto you, the ^aangels are crying unto the Lord day and night, who are ready and waiting to be sent forth to ^breap down the fields;

  6 But the Lord saith unto them, pluck not up the tares while the blade is yet tender (for verily your faith is weak), lest you destroy the wheat also.

  7 Therefore, let the wheat and the ^atares grow together until the harvest is fully ripe; then ye shall first gather out the wheat from among the tares, and after the gathering of the wheat, behold and lo, the tares are bound in bundles, and the field remaineth to be ^bburned."

It is not difficult to see the sifting taking place...  sifting within our nation, sifting within our communities, sifting within our social circles, and- the most heartbreaking of all- sifting within our own families. I have come to realize that present moral/political issues are becoming the key to Satan's success at grasping the very elect.... a world in which wickedness truly does appear to be goodness, and goodness appears to be wickedness.

D&C 45:26 "And in ^athat day shall be heard of ^bwars and rumors of wars, and the whole earth shall be in commotion, and men’s hearts shall ^cfail them..."

How am I to be sure that MY heart, my faith, my testimony, and my knowledge of TRUTH does not fail?  I came across one answer in my D&C studies a couple days ago and felt it's weight like a ton of bricks... 

54 And your ^aminds in times past have been ^bdarkened because of ^cunbelief, and because you have treated ^dlightly the things you have received—

  55 Which ^avanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.

  56 And this condemnation resteth upon the children of ^aZion, even all.

  57 And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new ^acovenant, even the ^bBook of Mormon and the ^cformer commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to ^ddo according to that which I have written—

  58 That they may bring forth ^afruit meet for their Father’s kingdom; otherwise there remaineth a ^bscourge and judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion. 

Funny, the day after I read this passage of scripture, I came across a blog posting of a member of one of my former wards.  She is an institute teacher in southern California and I browse her blog occasionally, as she has posted some very thought provoking entries.  Please take a couple moments to click and read this link. 

Taking the Book of Mormon Too Lightly

How often do we as members of the church treat lightly the things which we have received?  I will answer for myself--  ALL TOO OFTEN.  It is no wonder that this condemnation rests upon ALL of us as members of the church until we prove ourselves worthy to be freed from such.  For this, I must ask for my Heavenly Father's forgiveness and rededicate myself to a lifetime of devout study of the Book of Mormon- the KEYSTONE of our religion.  Not only rededicating myself to understanding it's messages, but applying it's taught principles in my life.  How can we possibly seek for further light and knowledge if we do not truly understand that which the Lord has already given to us?????  I know that this powerful book is a key to clarity, a key to faith, a key to our knowledge of truth.  It's influence in my life is clearly apparent when I study it regularly.  And as an answer to my question over these past couple weeks, the compass which is the Book of Mormon in addition to our close daily communication with our Father in Heaven is what helps the Holy Ghost enable us to understand TRUTH and recognize and sustain it when it comes from the mouths of prophets and apostles....  because we KNOW and RECOGNIZE they are from God.