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Josué by staff
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Jonathan J. Johnson by staff
Why I believe the Book of Mormon to be true.
It is hard to believe in a book, when we are accustomed to reading fiction, novels, opinions in news papers, or magazines and Biographies of unfamiliar people. We look at the binding of a book, whose pages do nothing but help us pass the time. We look to books more often to help us obtain our selfish desires. They either help us live in a fantasy, or they amplify worldly ambitions, or the desire to increase our own empires.My testimony of the Book of Mormon has been a process. Although I received answers to prayers while seeking and even had events that were profound, mine is a testimony of application. I have seen personally the change in myself. This is the literal testimony of its teachings. For some time the Book of Mormon, for me, was the blue book that the missionaries distributed to those whom they contacted. Although I felt that their efforts were just, I struggled to know just why that blue book was so important. I wondered why so many would give all, including their lives to protect and declare its teachings.
The scriptures below outline in part, why I believe the Book of Mormon is true. It is not the “Book that is True”; it is the collage of true stories that hold personal application. It is individuals or analogies, that I can personalize and like its participants, grow little by little. The Book is substantiated through proven applications. The proof comes when you liken and then apply what it teaches. You will never find fault in this book, if you try to disprove it through the application of its teachings.
Third Nephi 26: 9-10
9 And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith,(it is not enough just to receive it- we must try it out!) and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater• things be made manifest unto them.
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10 And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater• things be withheld• from them, unto their condemnation.The book of Mormon is not about reading, it is all about trying and applying. As The Savior teaches they should “first try their faith”. If they try their faith and believe these things, then shall the Lord make greater things manifest. If you want to know it is true read and then apply, read and then apply.
Ether 3:10-13
10 And he answered: Nay; Lord, show• thyself unto me.
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11 And the Lord said unto him: Believest• thou the words which I shall speak?
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12 And he answered: Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst• not lie.
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13 And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord showed• himself unto him, and said: Because• thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.Second Nephi 33:10
10 And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe• in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words• of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach• all men that they should do good.Moroni 10:32-33
32 Yea, come• unto Christ, and be perfected• in him, and deny• yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love• God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect• in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
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33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins•, that ye become holy, without spot.I know the Book of Mormon is true, because I know that I can live better and have lived better when applying its teachings. Change is the visible, tangible testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.
In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
Jonathan Johnson -
John Hobbs: the Mormon Church and the Book of Mormon by staff
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Jamison Davis by staff
The Foundation of My Testimony by Jamison R. Davis
I was born to “goodly” Jewish parents in 1960. The US was still in a period of post-war boom and young families were leaving the crowded conditions of New York City and its five boroughs for the suburbs. I spent the first 5 years of my life in the little Jewish enclave of Manhattan Beach on Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay and then in 1965 we moved to Westport Connecticut, a lovely artists colony. And home to a growing Jewish population.Like other Jewish boys of the Reformed branch of Judaism I went to synagogue during the high holidays and prepared for my Bar Mitzvah at age 13, the Jewish coming of age. I went to Hebrew school after regular school hours and enjoyed my studies. Early in my life I began to have a curiosity about the Dead Sea Scrolls and the people that wrote them. I began to wonder about the Messiah and why no one ever talked about Him.
From my earliest recollection I can recall believing in God, knowing that He loved me, that He answered the prayers of our family and that we should love and serve Him.
And from a very early age I began to be tutored by Him by many experiences and struggles in what I should make of my life.When I was a boy, sometime between ages 11-14, I remember being home sick one Saturday afternoon and looking for something to watch on TV. I came upon a scene that was electrifying. An elderly man with a small microphone attached to his eyeglasses was speaking in gravelly voice from a great podium in a large assembly. As he began to speak I began to feel a very strange feeling inside me. I changed the channel but never forgot that first exposure to the Lord’s prophets and the spirit of conference.
When I was 13 I also began middle school. The first middle I school I attended had some boys that used to bully me and so it was decided that I would attend another middle school across town and that was by the Lord’s design. It was there that I met the young man who would introduce me to the gospel. I rode the bus across town with other kids who for one reason or another needed to attend that school because it had ramps as well as stairs. One such boy was Kent Hickenlooper. Kent was born with Hemophilia and sometimes needed to be in a wheelchair when his joints were inflamed. Kent’s family moved from Utah and their roots go back to pioneer stock. One day Kent and I had a discussion about God. I don’t exactly recall why but I remember his answers were articulate and made me curious about his Mormon beliefs. I went home and looked up the Mormon Church in the Encyclopedia, which had a lengthy section on LDS beliefs. I asked him if there was a copy of the translation of the gold plates available (thinking it was like the Dead Sea scrolls – only available in libraries and such. He played along and said “oh they are very hard to come by but I think my father can get you one if you will take the time to read it.” And I looked forward to it and read it as soon as it arrived in my possession. As I did so many questions began to form in my mind.
I asked Kent some of these questions and he suggested I meet with two of his “friends” who do nothing for two years but answer people’s questions about the church. This began my discussions with the missionaries. As I continued to read I began to have my doubts about the truth of the Book of Mormon but another LDS boy in our school was very patient and kind and took the time to read with me over the phone Alma 32 and invited me to put that seed-planting challenge to a test. How grateful I am for that life-changing conversation. As I continued to study I began to feel a great love and hunger for the doctrines of the gospel but I was left with a monumental question as to the divinity of Jesus Christ. To further complicate matters, my investigation of the church was a source of great concern to my family. As I continued to study, to ponder, to feel the warmth and power of the doctrine and the love of my newfound LDS friends, I began to wonder more how could this not be true versus the other way around and yet the Savior and His divinity were a great stumbling block to me.
One night, during the discussion that used to be called “Our relationship to Christ” the Elders invited me to pray about the Savior and promised me if I did, If I was unafraid of the consequence of knowing that Jesus was the Christ, that if I asked as Moroni instructed, that the answer would come. I decided to put that to the test.
I retuned to my home and in the quiet and privacy of my room late one evening I knelt and began to vocalize my desires to God, first to thank him for the blessings I had received, for the new friends who loved me, for the missionaries who taught me such wonderful things then humbly I asked for a witness that Jesus was indeed the savior of the world, the awaited Messiah. As I began to pray my Star of David pendant given to me by my beloved Grandmother began to dangle in front of me causing me to reflect on my great heritage and what I was potentially asking which in my mind at the time refuted all I had grown up believing. Feeling the star was a distraction from my fervent prayer I closed my eyes and prayed ever more earnestly. Then summoning all the faith I could muster at that young age, I closed my prayer, mostly in a spirit of hope, in the name of Jesus Christ. Upon arising from my knees the spirit whispered to me with power and certainty that Jesus was the Christ, That God had heard and answered my prayer, That Joseph Smith was indeed a prophet and brought forth the restoration. That the Book of Mormon was absolutely true and that Spencer W. Kimball was God’s prophet. I was elated and I was terrified at the implication of what had taken place. I knew God in all His majesty had reached down from His Heaven and, like the brother of Jared, had touched me. And thus began my education of the things of the spirit.
This prayer began my hunger for reading everything I could about the restoration and the Savior and His church. My family allowed me to attend church but not seminary. I could attend Stake dances and MIA but I was not allowed to be baptized. For two years I attended my meetings, held callings, wrote music for youth conferences and road shows but was denied the blessings of baptism. I prayed and fasted and pleaded the Lord to soften the hearts of my parents to allow me to be baptized. My friends advanced from deacon to teacher to priest and I felt so very left behind.
Finally in 1977, at the age of 17, I could wait no longer. The denial of the blessings of baptism also meant I could not attend the magnificent newly built Washington Temple.
I pled with the Lord in a long tear-filled prayer under a mighty fir tree on the edge of our property. And then I waited in faith for a miracle.The miracle came on Memorial Day morning and while I cannot share the details of the experience, I will share the result, against all odds, two weeks later I was baptized and soon thereafter I attended with the other youth the beautiful Washington DC Temple. I felt I had finally come home.
It is my prayer that this story might attest that the God of Israel knows His children, He delights to hear and answer our prayers. He looks beyond our weakness and frailty and He knows the longings of our hearts.
God our Eternal Father loves His children, he hears and answers our prayers. He knows us individually and is involved in our daily iives in a myriad of ways. I testify that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son Jesus Christ as a Savior and redeemer for all mankind and through the atonement of Christ, we are made eligible to live with our families and loved ones in Eternity thorugh our faith and obedience to gospel laws and commandments.
I testfy that Our Heavenly Father in company with His beloved son appeared to the prophet Joseph and there in a lovely woodland setting in upstate New York ushered in this last dispensation when young men dream dreams and Elijah would return to turn our hearts to our fathers.
I testify that the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ is the word of God, translated by divine means and brought forth in our day by the prophet Joseph Smith.
I testify that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the kingdom of God restored to the Earth for a new and final dispensation.
I bear witness that there are living prophets and Apostles and that President Gordon B. Hinckley is the Lord’s prophet today.
And I testify that all who seek a witness of the truth as to things of which I have here testified need only ask sincerely in prayer and our Heavenly Father will answer that prayer through a unique feeling of peace, joy and serenity felt in the heart and mind of any who ask in faith.
I offer this testimony with the hope that it might invite others, and most especially those from the house of Judah, to come unto Christ, the holy one of Israel and to
his restored gospel and do so in the holy name of Jesus Christ, Amen.June 2005
Darien, CTAbout the author
Jim Davis was born in Brooklyn New York and was raised in Connecticut. He was a convert to the Church at age 15 from the Jewish faith.
From an early age Brother Davis developed a love for music and by the time he was 18 had written over a hundred songs and was on his way to a promising career as a song writer and recording artist.
After high school Brother Davis attended Ricks College, now BYU Idaho, and there formed a band called Davis & Holmes in which he began writing and recording LDS popular music. He served a mission in the England Manchester Mission and there wrote and directed the LDS missionary music group “The Ambassadors” which toured, recorded an album and was featured on television and radio. Upon his return from England, Brother Davis was signed to Embryo Records where he recorded two albums of his music in partnership with LDS composer Lex de Azevedo. As partners Brother Davis and Lex De Azevedo also created the first LDS motion picture shown in theaters called A Field So White. After completing
“A Field So White” Brother Davis shifted his musical pursuits to the advertising business writing music for commercials and the popular daytime drama As The World Turns.Brother Davis continued in the advertising business for the next 20 years and was one of the early pioneers of Internet Advertising. He has remained heavily involved in developing new means of leveraging emerging media to foster and maintain relationships between consumers and brands such as The Walt Disney Company, Philips, HP, Pepsi and Unilever.
Brother Davis has served as a gospel doctrine teacher, an institute instructor, bishop’s counselor, ward mission leader, stake mission president’s counselor and as a councilor to three full-time mission presidents. He currently serves as Special Representative for Public Affairs for the Church’s Public Affairs Department and a family history consultant.
He married Christie Kinkead and they are the parents of four children.
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I Testify of Tears and Donuts by staff
Miracles have long been misunderstood to be a parting of seas, or the booming voice of an omniscient deity. The scriptures are a source of many such miracles, but not all miracles are so apparent in the lives of contemporary Latter-day Saints. I testify of the smaller miracles; the workings of our beloved Heavenly Father that prove He is all around us. I testify that the smaller miracles, the personal witnesses that only mean something to us individually are the ones that are most important.As a daughter of an alcoholic and abusive father, I’ve seen my share of horrors in this life. The greatest of all was my loss of my ability to cry. I stopped believing in sensitivity, and being conscious enough of my own feelings to weep. My defense mechanism cost me dearly, and I soon began to be swept away in a life that I could only perceive as a tragedy. I could not feel God’s embrace when I needed it most, and I tried to fill my void in any way I possibly could. It led me down a path of promiscuity and self abuse. I needed a change in my life, but I had no idea where to turn.
I testify of donuts; of Heavenly Father’s ability to know even our basest desires, and to use them to find us. I was invited to come to church with a Baptist friend of mine when I was a freshman in high school. At first I declined, until she countered with the free donuts they always had with their morning services. So began my spiritual quest for peace.
I testify of tears; a gift from our Father in Heaven, they signal to us when He is nearest. As I began to attend the Baptist services, I realized that their services were lacking something I needed. Something I craved. Unfortunately, my search wasn’t over, but I was out of places to go. I had only ever known Protestant and Catholic Christianity. Neither felt complete, and I mourned that realization for many weeks. I willingly shed the first tears I had cried in years, and I knew my God was with me. I knew He would guide me to what I was searching for, which was the first of many miracles I would experience. Hold on, the Spirit pleaded with me, and I went quietly.
I testify that Christ lives, and because he suffered for all of us, we have His Spirit to be with us. His Spirit led me down a path that I never would have found on my own. I met the first LDS members I had ever seen, and they were the most remarkable and peculiar people. They didn’t swear. They didn’t drink caffeine. They were kind, considerate, and generous. Love radiated from their actions and countenances that touched the marrow of my bones, the void in my soul. They had what I needed, whatever it was, and I knew I needed to find out more.
I testify that actions speak louder than words. I was bombarded with words as I attempted to find out more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Words from my pastor and Sunday school teacher, words from my Baptist friends, from my LDS friends. Words from all sides made it hard for me to even think. But what spoke louder than everything else was the openness, the kind-hearted spirit that the Saints extended to an outsider like me. I felt accepted I had gotten past a boundary with these people that I hadn’t gotten through with the Baptists in the months I had been with them. I didn’t understand why. I only knew that I was getting a message that I couldn’t accept. Mormonism was growing on me, and if there was anything I had learned, being a Mormon was not an easy thing to be.
I testify that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church of Christ, and that His Spirit presides over their meetings. I attended a Sunday service in an LDS church in March of 2006, and for once I was not a bystander. The Spirit finally touched me! I cried tears of joy that I recognized the second they touched my face. “I’m home! I belong HERE, and I’m never going to leave!” Before I heard talks from any of the speakers, before I learned anything about the Book of Mormon, about LDS doctrine, I knew without a doubt that the church would be my home all the days of my life.
I testify that baptism is a miracle, and that baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a covenant for all eternity. I testify that because of my baptism, I was clean for the first time in my life. It has taken me my first year as a faithful member to accept that the scars I accumulated and created before my baptism were truly washed from me. I no longer need to look back and be turned to a pillar of salt. And because of this realization, I do what I can to teach others that they too can be clean.
I testify of the Prophet Joseph Smith, that “we don’t have to meet him to know he’s a prophet.” I have come to know him so completely because of my own trials. The persecution, a feeling that there MUST be something more than what the world has to offer, the added opposition of being a teenager; I have known those struggles. The faith despite terror and sacrifice; I have known it. And because a 14 year old boy said a prayer over a hundred years ago, thousands of people walked across a continent, and my life 3 generations later will never be the same! I love the Prophet Joseph Smith, and I look forward to that day when I might meet him on the other side of that veil.
I testify of the Scriptures, the Bible and The Book of Mormon. I have had my life touched by both. The Bible has demonstrated to me that to write is truly a miracle because of the hope that can last for thousands of years and countless generations. The Book of Mormon has espoused the loving voice of my Heavenly Father ever since I started reading it, and I know that it’s true.
Finally, I testify of prayer. Prayer might just be the biggest miracle of all, the most important miracle that man has ever known. Imagine; an all powerful, all knowing, all seeing deity cares enough about me to listen to me personally. He loves me enough to hear my plea, so that He can bless me with peace. All because he WANTS the chance to love a sinner like me. He’s joy is with our joy, and He only wants to take us there; to the place of joy we cannot fathom.
I testify of miracles, Brothers and Sisters, because without them, none of us would believe.
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How I gained my testimony by staff
I have always been a part of the Church, but have not always had a testimony. When I was little I relied on my mom and dad’s testimony to get me through; but as I grew and started making my own decisions in life I realized that I could never do it on my own or rely on my parents testimonies. I had always been taught that the Lord was waiting for me to ask Him for help, but had never really prayed or asked.One day while attending college and being on my own for the first time, I knew that I had a decision to make in whether I wanted to be a part of the Church or not. I desired more than anything to be happy in this life and to make the right decisions, and at that moment know without a doubt, if the Church was true.
I knelt down and prayed to my Heavenly Father to know if the Church was true and that I would be able to find the answer. I rose from my knees and opened my Book of Mormon and began reading Nephi I. I continued to read for the next few hours and then again read the next day after my classes. As I approached Mosiah 18:10, I had the most happy and loving feeling run through my body. I knew that what I was reading was true without a doubt. It reads, “Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you.” I knew without a doubt that that scripture was written just for me. I knew without a doubt, and have never questioned since, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true.
The commandments that Heavenly Father has given us are simple. In order for us to have true happiness in this life and the next, we must follow all that the Savior and our Heavenly Father have asked of us.
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Giuseppe Martinengo: how I found the Mormon Church by admin
At the end of 1984, I was almost 20 years old. By that time I had dropped from school, since I had realized that the physics taught at the University would not help me find what I was looking for. Most of my friends and relatives couldn’t understand exactly what was going on with me and some of them tried in different ways to help me but without any concrete result. The problem was that I knew what I didn’t want, but I was not sure about what I wanted.
Nobody around me seemed to have the answers I was looking for. However, I had the feeling that I was in the right path. I had faith that by following the best principles I had learned and trying to improve my life by getting rid of what was not in harmony with my ideals I would finally find the answers.
On a certain day close to the end of the year 1984, I was in my home, reading a book, when I felt the sudden urge to go for a walk in downtown Asti, my home city, in Italy.
While I was walking in Corso Dante (one the main streets of the city) I saw two young men, two missionaries, walking toward me. One of them later told me that he didn’t really want to talk with me, but I looked at them and they looked at me and we stopped and started to converse. I remember that they asked me what I believed about the Savior. I can’t remember what I answered them, but they left me with a pamphlet about the Mormons, and asked for my home address.A few days later, the same missionaries rang at my doorbell. My mother answered, and since they asked for her husband, she said that he wasn’t there. The missionaries then left before I could talk with them. I wasn’t completely ready yet.
A few more days passed and I finally reached the right point. I can remember that I was laying down on my bed, tired of my apparently fruitless search. I offered a simple silent prayer, in which I basically said, “I have done all that I knew I should do… now I really need help since I don’t know what to do next…”
As soon as I expressed my thoughts to God, I started feeling an incredible peace and I felt as if heaven was close to me. In that exact moment, the doorbell rang. This time I was alone at home. I went to answer at the door and the missionaries were there. When they entered the living room, and shook my hand, I knew that they had the answers I was looking for.
Later, I realized that what I was looking for was not just a set of doctrines or a nice church, but the feeling of the Spirit. When they entered my home, I felt that they brought with them that nice Spirit, even if I didn’t know what it was at that time.
I understand now that the Lord gave me several experiences in which I felt His Spirit. Those experiences were so sweet that I was always looking for that feeling, even if I couldn’t name it.
The missionaries’ teachings fit perfectly together with my understanding. They were answering my questions about where we come from, why we are here, and where we will go after this life.
As I have written elsewhere, when the missionaries showed me the filmstrip of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s First Vision, it was difficult for me to contain my tears. I felt that the story of his search for truth was in some ways similar to my own. My search had lasted longer, while his had been probably more intense. Moreover, he had been chosen to have the glorious vision of the Father and the Son while I had to content myself with two missionaries. However, those two missionaries were like angels to me, bringing with them the answers to my deeply heartfelt questions.
However, in spite of all these feelings, I still didn’t have a solid testimony. It was the reading of the Book of Mormon that brought to me the confirmation of the truthfulness of all those teachings and experiences.
Early in our discussions, the missionaries mentioned the practice of fasting. They didn’t stress that point too much, but for some reason I began to read the Book of Mormon while fasting at the same time. My later experience in teaching families and individuals with other missionaries showed me that it is not easy to find someone who accepts the challenge to fast while reading the Book of Mormon. However, those experiences also convinced me that when people do it, and they are sincere in their search, it is almost impossible for them not to receive an answer. And, in fact, that happened with me.
In less than a week, I read the entire Book of Mormon. I would fast for 24 hours, then have a lunch, and then fast for another 24 hours. My mother really thought that I was behaving strangely. At some point in that process, I decided to kneel down and ask if those things I was learning were true. I did it, and, after my prayer, an incredible feeling of peace surrounded me, a feeling similar to the one I had just before the missionaries came to my home, but much stronger. Together with those feelings came the answers to my specific questions about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and of the Church. I received a confirmation by the Spirit of God that all that the missionaries were teaching was true. From that moment, to paraphrase the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith, “I had a testimony; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither wanted I do it”.
I knew that the Church and the Book of Mormon were true and I was eager to learn all that was possible about the Church. However, my mother was not at all happy with my new “discovery” and, although the missionaries tried to teach her the day they challenged us to be baptized, it became clear that she was not interested like I was. Her opposition created some problems that led me eventually to leave my home.
However, I had finally found what I had been looking for after many years and this was what really counted. More than 20 years have passed since that day and I have had many experiences that reinforced that initial testimony.
So, why do I believe in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Simply because I know that it is true. The Spirit of the Lord testified it to me over and over again after that first experience. I don’t believe what I do because the Church is a wonderful organization, I don’t believe because I have friends, I don’t believe because the doctrine is clear, understandable, and sound, I don’t believe because someone told me so, but I believe because, in fact, I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true.
After all we can say and do, each person will have to honestly search, ask, and receive an answer directly from God about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and of the Church. I searched, asked, and received my answer, and therefore I can honestly say that I know that these things are true.
This story was first published in my blog at Giuseppe Martinengo’s blog
Giuseppe Martinengo: before I met the missionaries of the Mormon Church
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Giuseppe Martinengo: before I met the missionaries of the Mormon Church by admin
I was not born and raised in Utah, among the Mormons, but I was raised a Catholic in Italy. When I was 10 years old, my father died because of lung cancer (he used to smoke) at age 47. His death changed everything in my life. I was then the only child of a widowed young mother (33 years old). In spite of all the efforts made by my mother to help me cope with the situation, very soon I realized that something had changed not only in my outward normal life, but also inside me. I wasn’t anymore like many other children who could go about being just children without many problems and especially without many questions about life or sudden sadness.Because of the death of my father, I noticed that some people started to treat me differently and, over time, I had to face some hard questions about the purpose of our existence here on the earth. I didn’t realize how important what was happening inside me was until I was 13 or 14. However by the age of 14, I was beginning to be highly unsatisfied with the world around me and with the answers that my teachers, family, or religious ministers gave me to the important questions of life. I was beginning to realize that perhaps something was missing in the worldview and beliefs of most people around me, but I was not sure what.
It is important to stress that the presence of the Catholic Church were so strong in my environment that I can still remember a time, when I was about 9 or 10 years old, in which during a lesson at school about people with other beliefs, I asked myself: “How can people not to be Catholic? Do they know that they will all go to live forever in… (a very bad place)? Why they don’t change religion and become all Catholics?” Such was the power of tradition in my environment.
The death of my father, however, started to change my situation. The Lord sometimes works in mysterious ways to bring about His purposes. In fact, after the death of my father, my mother reduced her involvement with the Catholic Church. She was still a Catholic, but, perhaps because she didn’t find the help she was looking for in that organization to cope with her loss, she started looking elsewhere.
She started reading books about oriental religions and philosophies such as yoga, Zen, and Buddhism; in particular, she started reading about and practicing yoga. Her exploration opened up a new world to me. Suddenly, I was learning about other religions and philosophies and I was discovering that there were a lot of good things to be learned. I began to realize that perhaps the Catholic Church didn’t have the best answers to the questions of life. Moreover, and especially, I began to be familiarized with the concepts of spiritual progression and the idea of spiritual self-improvement. Not that these concepts are completely absent from the Catholic tradition, but in the daily life of a Catholic they are almost absent, since they are usually stressed only for those who abandon the “normal” life and became “full-time, forever single, priests or nuns.” My favorite Catholic “hero” was Saint Francis of Assis, but I didn’t like the idea that a religious man or woman should give up marriage to pursue a religious life at its best.
I had a dear friend, Stefano, who was a member of a small Protestant group. I had always been fascinated by the fact that this and other Protestant groups rejected the principle of celibacy in their church. When people like me are immersed in a strong Catholic culture, even these little examples or ideas can make a big difference over time and give us the courage to pursue something different in spite of the strong pressure of the tradition.
When I was 15, I had another key experience. The setting was a trip to Rome. The purpose of the trip was to take the Catholic youth from all Europe to meet with the Pope. At that time I was involved with the Catholic youth of my parish, even if I was beginning to question some of our beliefs. During that trip, something special happened.
On the specific day, thousands of youth were ready to meet the Pope in the Saint Peter’s Basilica. We had been preparing for months for this special meeting. Youth from all over Europe had traveled to get there. Obviously, the Pope was not present when we arrived and so we all sat on the floor of the church and started singing. I really didn’t sing, but I listened for at least an hour to those Gregorian lyrics but I started feeling bad. I had great expectations about that special meeting with the Pope, but after a while I began to think: “What am I doing here?”; “Why I am here after all? Just because others told me that it would be special?” I struggled for a while, but then I decided to stand up and leave. I had a feeling of relief when I left that strange atmosphere in the Saint Peter’s Basilica. I had an uncle in Rome and I decided to visit him and spend some time with his family instead than meeting the Pope: not a big deal anyway, I thought.
On the way back to my city in northern Italy, while still on the train, I had the opportunity to tell what I had done to our main guide, a very outgoing and friendly priest. I told him about my feelings, my doubts, and the fact that I had left the meeting. I began to ask questions about Catholic beliefs. After listening and discussin with me for some time he finally said: “If you believe these things, then you are not a Catholic”. That was really a strong and challenging statement, a call back to orthodoxy. I was a little perplexed, but I replied: “Then, I am probably not a Catholic!”
I suppose that the Spirit of the Lord was present that day to support me and open my mind, because I felt relieved when I said what I was really thinking, and I was not afraid of the priest’s reaction. After that episode, my search for answers was directed mainly outside the Catholic Church, since even that apparently open-minded priest had failed to help me to understand. When confronted with hard questions, he couldn’t find anything better than suggesting that I rely on blind faith or consider myself a heretic!
Several years passed after that episode and I continued to meet with my Catholic friends, but I was now always more involved in reading books about other religions. Books were my main font of information about religion. One author that really had a strong influence on me for a period, for example, was Sri Aurobindo. I can’t remember the details of what I read at that time, but Sri Aurobindo, in his books, suggests that humankind can evolve spiritually beyond its current limitations and reach a future state of “supramental” existence. This would be like an “evolutionary” step for humankind that should lead to a divine life on Earth. (This make me thing of the Millennium now, even if according the Bible this “almost divine life” will not the product of “evolution”; but at that time it was an interesting concept that gave me some hope and meaning for the future).
Based on my current knowledge and testimony of the teaching of the Mormon Church, I can’t avoid thinking that by reading his writings I was moving a step forward in the direction of understanding key Mormon concepts, some of which are not clear or even accepted by many traditional Christians. I believe that the Spirit of the Lord teaches people according to their language and understanding, and moves forward the true seekers one step at a time until they are ready for the fullness of the Gospel.
My search for the truth continued to intensify until it reached its climax when I was 19 years old. One day, I was in Torino, where I was supposed to be moving forward with my studies in physics. I had chosen to study physics not because I wanted to become a new Einstein, but because of books such as The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra, books that discuss the parallels between modern physics and eastern mysticism. It is probably unnecessary to say that since my interest for physics was nothing more than another step in my search for the truth, I was very disappointed with my undergraduate program at the University of Torino. Therefore, as in many other occasions, on that particular day I was not studying physics but I was reading a book about the history of Indian philosophy.
At a certain point, that day, I decided to go for a walk to relax and think about life. While I was walking downtown someone stopped me and asked me if I wanted to do a psychological test. I didn’t mention it before, but I had also been interested in psychoanalysis and psychology, and I especially liked books such as Eric Fromm’s The Art of Loving or To Have or to Be? and so on Therefore, I was somewhat curious about this test.
That test was the beginning of my last step in my search for the truth. After that, I had lost my fear of disconnecting from the Catholic tradition, and I was almost incomprehensible to my family and Catholic friends. I can say now that I was ready to meet the Mormon missionaries, and especially to understand and accept their message, less than a year later, because of all those experiences.
But who was behind that psychological test? The people of Dianetics and Scientology. Their focus on personal improvement and their blending of scientific, religious, and psychological knowledge attracted me for a short period, even if I never became really involved with them, because after the initial interested, I realized that they didn’t have the answers I was looking for. However, even this relatively negative experience had at least one important positive outcome. Scientology completely severed my last psychological (and some doctrinal) connections with the Catholic Church. I freed myself even more from the weight of tradition and I grew stronger in the belief that there was something out there, in some place, in some organization, or in some book, that could help me answer my questions about the purpose of life.
It may seem of little importance to some, but to have the courage to be unorthodox, to challenge at least in our own mind the tradition is an important step before we can be ready to receive a testimony and to accept the restored gospel. This was especially true for me, since I didn’t accept to be baptized in the Mormon Church for social reasons or out of a temporary interest, but only because I was touched by the Spirit, after contemplating the simple but powerful architecture and logic of Mormon doctrine. The concept of obtaining a testimony of the truth by the Spirit of God implies that to rely on tradition to believe is not enough, even when the tradition is true.
I can testify with all my conviction that the scripture that read “seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Luke 11:9) is true, because the Lord guided me by the hand through many different experiences until I found what I was really looking for, the true Church of Jesus Christ once again established on the earth.
The Dark Ages of my life were dispelled when I finally met the missionaries and I can only be thankful that I was born in a time when the true Church is present in the face of the earth. I can’t imagine the hardship imposed on those people who tried to find the Church when it wasn’t on the earth.
I need to recognize that I owe to the Catholic Church my first limited understanding of and belief in Jesus Christ, belief that never left me even when I was focusing on other religions. However, I owe to these other religions and philosophies a better understanding of many true principles and a more opened mind that helped me not to be afraid when I finally found the true Church of Jesus Christ.
Other Giuseppe’s pages
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Francesco Lepore: Finding the Mormon missionaries in Italy by staff
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Douglas Parker Reid by staff
My Testimony of the Truthfulness of the Scriptures and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsMy wife and I are fifth generation Latter-day Saints, but although I love and respect my ancestors, I don’t consider my testimony as having come because I am emulating them or merely following in their footsteps. My knowledge of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ has come into my own heart and soul in many powerful, personal ways. I feel a strong desire to share my testimony of this process in case it may help someone else who is searching in their own life to find truth and happiness through knowing what God wants them to do with their life.
As a young boy growing up in Utah (U.S.A.), I prayed many times to have the feeling of the Holy Ghost confirm to my heart that the LDS Church was true, or to hear the “still, small voice” and thus be able to stand in testimony meeting and bear testimony that I knew the Church was true. I didn’t seem to get the answer I was seeking, but I knew that living the gospel felt right, so I was disappointed but not disillusioned. I still lived the gospel in every way.
As a young college student at Brigham Young University, I finally began to understand what it meant to feel the confirming inspiration of the Holy Ghost as I read the Book of Mormon and pondered the experiences of Nephi more deeply than I had as a high school student. What an eye-opener! I could begin to feel the truths of the gospel and the truths found in the scriptures, and it was exciting for me. Many verses from each of the standard works—the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, made indelible impressions on my heart, mind, and soul as I read them. Each time I would read them I gained new insights and felt the truth of the words I was reading.
I have come to love each of the standard works, and to know that each of them is true, and that a loving Heavenly Father grants unto each of us as His children spiritual knowledge as we seek it with pure motives and as we allow seeds of truth to grow in our hearts. It makes so much sense that He would not make the truths of the gospel be so obvious or so readily available that thinking people would not have to yearn and struggle in some way to find those truths, since one of the most important reasons for this life is to learn to understand truth versus error in a way that makes our spiritual self more mature, so we can have greater faith than when we were innocent children.
I hope that people who use the Internet in their search for spiritual knowledge in their own life will go to the primary sources—the scriptures, including both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, and the Book of Mormon which is such a powerful witness of the mission of Jesus Christ and our relationship to Him; and personal prayer to Heavenly Father, who will guide their searching if they sincerely ask in faith. Why rely on the words of some who criticize the LDS Church? Why not find out for yourself through a deep and sincere study without letting someone else do your thinking for you? Many critics climb an intellectual ladder without understanding that God wants them to climb a spiritual ladder, and they get lost in intellectual arguments and entanglements just like Isaiah and the Apostle Paul prophesied that they would.
Nothing that I have read on the Internet (including some of the attempts by intellectuals to criticize the LDS Church) has made me doubt the truthfulness of the gospel, the reality that Jesus Christ lives and is our personal Savior, the divine calling of Joseph Smith, the truth of the Book of Mormon and of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I feel saddened that people could be led by critics to misunderstand if they don’t seek to sincerely find out for themselves, by humbly reading and prayerfully considering the Bible (preferably the King James Version if reading in English) and the Book of Mormon on their own.
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