Bearing Testimony...Ensign July 2008

In this months Ensign Elder M. Russell Ballard talked about the new media and how we , as members of the church, can use it to spread the gospel and have conversations about the church and how it works and what we believe! I thought this article was FABULOUS! I have been wanting to read exactly what he counseled for quite some time and THERE IT WAS! YAY!

He said that we should write our testimonies in our blogs...he didn't say much about recording your daily life in it but I believe that is following the counsel to keep a journal...BONUS!

I want to follow that counsel by saying that I believe , with all my heart, that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only complete and true church on the Earth today! I know this beyond a shadow of a doubt because I have been given the gift of the Holy Ghost(to know the truth of all things) and I have taken Moroni's challenge at the end of the Book of Mormon and I have prayed about it fervently. I received a sweet confirmation in my heart that what I had read was true and would teach me more of what I need to know about Jesus Christ! Having a confirmation of the truth of the Book of Mormon gave me the knowledge and inspired me to find out if The church was true. I did pray long and hard about it and I have since received numerous confirmations that it is the whole gospel restored to this Earth. I had some trouble, at first, understanding why we needed a living prophet and apostles in these latter days. I went to a Catholic School for 7 years and they do not believe in living prophets or apostles. I was a little leary so after talking with my branch president, at the time, I prayed about it and it took some time for me to get a clear and undeniable answer but after the following General Conference and being addressed by the prophet a couple of times I realized that he WAS the mouth piece of the Lord and what he had to say was what God wanted me to hear:) I have felt strongly about each following prophet(there have been 3 since I joined the church) . I love to listen to the prophet speak( any of them) and hear the wonderful counsel they have for us. I love to listen to all of the general Authorities and what they have to teach us, they are so individual and so cool to listen to! I love to learn about them and their lives and how they grew up and hear their testimonies, they are so dear and sweet and tender.

I didn't always have a testimony of tithing. I remember thinking" Right! They are not going to get a dime out of me!" That was pretty harsh, now that I think about it, and I was still a little hard hearted, ya think? Then one great Sunday my branch president challenged me to pay tithing and see what came of it...he said to pray about it and see if it changed my life. I did that very thing and it wasn't terribly profound but life altering for me. I felt it really was the right thing to do. How could I cheat the Lord of one tenth of the money He gave me in the first place. I didn't understand this part until a few years down the road. You see ..every good thing comes from God ..says so in the scriptures...and so therefore anything I have in this life comes from Him, if He wants me to show obedience in paying one tenth of it back to Him to help the building up of Zion...I will GLADLY do it! I didn't understand or know where it was used for many years and now that I have some insight on how tithing has built up the church and hundreds of temples dot the earth because we pay tithing it is all that much more special to me. I will not pay tithing to get blessings because I don't believe that is how it works but I do know that the Lord will surely bless me if I do pay it and that , my friends, is way cool!

I have a strong testimony of the restored gospel of Christ. It has taken many years to enjoy all of the small additions to my testimony. For it is line upon line and precept upon precept that I have learned and prayed about and received confirmation of these things...in other words, it did NOT happen overnight. That makes me grateful that I have this Earth life to gather this knowledge and to come unto the Savior, even Jesus Christ! Even with it's terrible trials and challenges life is sweet and such a blessing to us. I love thinking about how the Savior said His yoke is easy and His burden is light...that is TRUTH! If we let Him in...JUST OPEN THE DOOR...HELLO! I do not wish to procrastinate the day of my own repentance....I want to be prepared for when my Savior comes again to reign personally on this Earth! For the time cometh and the hour is nigh at hand and no man knoweth when, that will be a glorious day!

I love Jesus Christ and I love Heavenly Father I know they are 2 separate beings , I know Christ is my brother and He died for my sins and those sins of every spirit that will ever live. His gift of His atonement is free to any one of us who will receive it...and free is a mighty good price isn't it?

The gospel of Christ has enriched my life and molded me into the person I am today(not perfect but better than I was without it) I wouldn't change a thing and what debt of gratitude is mine!In the name of Jesus Christ . Amen.