The first Brazilian to serve as an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently compared learning English to learning how to receive personal revelation from God.
Elder Ulisses Soares spoke about how difficult it still is for him to learn American idioms. Born and raised in São Paulo as a native Portuguese speaker, he delivered a devotional in English on Jan. 21 at Ensign College in Salt Lake City.
“Communication with our Father in heaven is not a trivial matter. It is a sacred privilege,” said Elder Soares, who first worked in the United States on special assignment from the church’s Presiding Bishopric before his call to serve as a general authority in 2005.
“Metaphorically speaking, learning to receive revelation through the Holy Ghost may be compared to learning a second language. At first we understand little or perhaps nothing at all, but as we continue to apply ourselves, we pick up on words, then sentences, then whole thoughts. Eventually we find ourselves understanding what is being said,” said Elder Soares, who became the first apostle from Brazil when he was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 2018.
“I can promise you that I’ve been through this experience myself as I’m trying to learn your beautiful language, but not only that, your culture in the United States, where we are living now, and even idioms,” he said.
Elder Soares jokes about collecting American English idioms
Idioms still give him trouble, Elder Soares said. Idioms are expressions that take on a new meaning different from their literal one. For example, Americans grow up knowing that “piece of cake” means something is easy and that “break a leg” is a way to wish someone good luck before a performance or game or test.
“I’ve been collecting idioms, because I go to meetings and people use a lot of them, and sometimes at the end of the meeting, I need to ask somebody what it means, this idiom or that,” Elder Soares said.
“So I will publish a book in probably two or three years with the 262 idioms I already learned,” he joked, earning laughter from the Ensign College students, faculty and staff at the Conference Center Theater in downtown Salt Lake City. “I know that I will learn even more. So I’ve been through this process, and I can assure you, it is an ongoing process in (my life).
“In a similar way, we have to learn the language of the Spirit,” he said. “In fact, we have to desire to learn; study the scriptures and in the words of the living prophets how revelation is received; be attentive to spiritual impressions; ask God to send us guidance through the Holy Ghost; be willing to receive — not ignore or take lightly — the instructions received; and of course, obey the promptings and earnestly seek to receive additional guidance.”
To read more from the devotional address by Elder Soares, click here. The full text of his talk will be available soon at www.ensign.edu/devotionals.