My testimony, recorded with my Canon PowerShot A430 camera on Sunday, 24 June 2007.
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Ben Crowder by staff
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A long journey… by staff
A Long Journey…
By Michael Vines
I would like to begin my testimony with a little background of my life in an effort to recount how I became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and why.The 1950’s were a wonderful time to grow-up, especially in Southern California. I suspect it was a good time most everywhere in those days but the west coast was a cauldron of post-war productivity and technological innovation that made each day an exciting adventure to my young mind. But as thrilling and as fast as technology was advancing, the science that I would make my career was on the verge of exploding with sensational electronic creations that would soon give birth to a diverse industry providing challenging and rewarding opportunities to many.
My upbringing wasn’t without its trials, but none of us kids had the least concern about drive-by shootings, drugs and terrorism because it simply didn’t exist then. I was raised in a Catholic home and easily embraced the notion of a living and caring God at a very early age. I learned to pray and to revere the concept of Jesus Christ dying for our sins long before I learned to read or write. These spiritual concepts were very meaningful to me, and had always been part of my awareness but in a very casual way. I felt the church that I attended provided no insight or enthusiasm for the lord’s gospel. I was simply “going-through-the-motions” for the sake of my parents, whom I dearly loved. I knew something was missing, but I had no idea how to go about finding it, or even what I was searching for.
School was interesting, although I wasn’t the best of students, but when I reached college my creativity grew with my interests. I soon found employment with a company in the 1970’s that developed telecommunications computer systems and I felt I had found my niche. In a few short years I was offered an engineering position with a large aerospace firm and found myself working with mathematicians and physicists and even some geniuses that would go on to found their own successful corporations in high technology. The projects I was assigned to were so interesting that I often couldn’t sleep at night and looked forward to the drive back into work the next day to continue where I left off. Success begat promotion and I found myself as sole author of numerous technical projects, both here and abroad, and co-authored other scientific endeavors with doctors and scientists in disciplines that I had only previously dreamt about.
Although I look back at this exciting time in my life with reverence, there was something quite meaningful missing and it took me more than 15 years to realize it. Secularism is common in most if not all technological fields and it may be as subtly illustrated as the exclusion of religion as a topic in conversation or downright abhorrence by one or more at the mere mention of God. Although I’ve always respected another’s religious preference, I find it interesting how the first words out of the mouth of a devout atheist when confronted by adversity is, “Oh, my God!” It was shortly after my realization of this most fundamental spiritual concept missing in my life when things began to turn around. I believe this awareness was made apparent to me by the Holy Ghost in preparation for what was to come.
My father was diagnosed with leukemia in 1989 and died a year later from the effects of consolidated chemotherapy treatments shortly before his 69th birthday. Having lived through the Depression, World War II, and later raising two energetic sons, my mother had always been an emotionally strong woman. But, the passing of my father left her alone for the first time in 45 years. My brother was not dealing with his own problems very well, and friends and other family members had became aloof or troublesome. So, the burden of caring for my mother fell upon my shoulders and it was a responsibility which I bore without remorse. While on his deathbed my father told us we needed to watch over each other, he then turned to me and said something that will remain with me for the rest of my life. He told me, “You were always good.” I swallowed my heart and with a broken voice said, “I had a good teacher.” He died three days later.
Soon afterward my brother’s lifelong struggle with alcoholism grew worse and required frequent hospital and therapist visitations. Although I believe I provided the emotional security my mother needed, her physical health gradually declined and she too required numerous doctor and hospital calls, often in the middle of the night.
Two years later, due to political pressure, the aerospace industry was dismantled and put 6,000 engineers on the street overnight from my company alone. After almost 20 years of schooling and working in an industry in which I intended to retire, I was out of work without any prospects in sight.
After a particularly difficult period of dealing with family problems and failure, I found myself unable to sleep at night. I couldn’t believe how just within a couple short years I went from a man in complete control of everything, to someone in control of absolutely nothing. Problem upon problem was churning around in my mind until I became angry that God would let this happen to me. I turned to the only source of spiritual consolation I had, my church. The more I thought about how God had let me down the more furious I became until, late one evening, I got into my car and decided I would have it out with him on his own ground. I got on the road and sped towards the church ignoring traffic lights on the way. It was a half hour drive and I knew exactly what I would do when I got there. I was going to rip the doors right off the church, march inside and demand that God appear and explain himself to me!
I was steaming by the time I reached the church. I jumped out of the car and ran to the doors—and they were locked shut. I stood in awe for they weren’t simply locked, but bound with heavy iron chains through both handles. I stepped back in complete humility while gazing at the blockade. I’m not exactly sure why I took it so personally. Of course the doors were closed, it was after midnight. Or, maybe there was a recent theft or vandalism. It didn’t matter for what God had told me that night was, “No! You may NOT enter my house!” I knew I had been forsaken because of my own self-concerned actions. I wept, then turned in silence and left.
In a few more years more family and friends passed away. It seemed like everyone I ever loved or cared for departed at the same time leaving me alone to handle things. My mother and brother continued their downward spiral and jobs became drudgery causing me to re-evaluate my existence. With the accumulation of sorrow, the feeling of worthlessness, hopelessness and the thought of being rejected by God himself, I believed there was no purpose in life at all. I was physically, emotionally and spiritually spent. I could not find a reason to go further for I believed whatever substance I was born with was now depleted by life as it happened, and I had nothing more to offer anyone, or could do for myself. That night I fell into a restless sleep and found myself standing in front of a massive stone wall in the dark of the night. I wept hard, not from the sorrow of losing loved ones, but from the prospect of living life without God, which was unbearable. This was well beyond self-pity. I cried over and over, “Please God, don’t leave me!”
It was then that I finally received an answer. The walls of stone didn’t come crashing down, nor did I see a brilliant image of God descending on silver clouds, instead I received an answer by grace and by beauty. From the ground on which my tears fell sprang a tree. The tree quickly twisted up from the ground until it reached my height, then it blossomed. The blossoms touched my soul and told me there was indeed hope. The Lord had given me what I needed. I awoke refreshed and rejuvenated and was given the strength to go on and face life once again. It also told me, as Joseph Smith knew, that I needed to find the true faith in which to focus my worship. It would be a long but glorious journey.
I eventually found employment with a small laboratory and became close to engineers from other countries who were willing to discuss their faith. I was introduced to Hinduism, Buddhism and Shinto, but I couldn’t accept the concept of worshipping multiple deities. I believe the comparison of my Christian upbringing to these far-eastern religions presented too much of a contrast, until I met scholars from Israel and Africa who acquainted me with the Torah and the Koran. The Torah read just like the bible but Hebrew traditions regarding birthright and the low regard in which converts are held pushed me away. My Islamic friend was bright, courteous and full of spirit. He enthusiastically welcomed me to the concept of Islam and gave me a copy of the Koran which I read with anticipation. The words of Mohammed did speak to me, but the contradiction and hypocrisy of the followers who demand the worship of the books depicting Mohammed’s life (the Hadith), which Mohammed himself forbade, again forced me to search elsewhere.
It was during this period when I met my beautiful wife, Gay, and after an extended courtship we married and quickly settled into a domestic routine which suited us both. She has been an LDS member for years and I’d met many of the members from her ward, but for some reason I felt put-off. Gay had made it a point not to push the church on me in the hope that I would migrate to it on my own. It might have been a proper attitude, but a slight nudge would have been okay with me. Close friends gave me a copy of The Book of Mormon which I reluctantly accepted. I know now that Satan was already hard at work building roadblocks across my path to the truth. I opened the book in the middle, around second Nephi, and read about war and how this came to pass, and how that came to pass, and didn’t pick it up again for several years.
After the passing of my brother, and finally my mother and aunt three years later, there was little left to keep me where I had been born and raised. The land and the people had changed to such an extent that they were no longer recognizable. The atmosphere had changed from unbridled optimism to cautious ambivalence and I wanted no part of it. We had the opportunity to visit my mother-in-law in South-central Kentucky for a week and fell in love with the people and the green rolling hills, so we sold our home, quit my job and headed for Kentucky.
It wasn’t long before we both became acquainted with the members of the local branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, who were personable and inviting. Although I had only attended a few sacrament meetings with Gay I became fond of its members, especially the first counselor to the Branch President. Brother Porter had served twice as a branch President, and his quiet demeanor and undeniable faith in Christ grabbed my attention. He was also Gay’s home teacher and we both looked forward with anticipation to his visitations. Occasionally the members of a church exemplify some of its best attributes, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has no equal. I had finally met people who took their religion seriously, and their love for God and his only begotten Son was beyond measure. I had a powerful feeling to know more.
One night during a home teaching visit I informed Brother Porter that I was interested in joining the church. He didn’t seem that surprised as I’m sure my great interest in Gay’s lessons probably gave me away.
Brother Porter and missionaries, Elder Erickson and Elder McDonnell, were soon at our home and I began my journey for the true path to God. Elder McDonnell soon returned to his home base in bowling green and Elder Killian took his place. I was touched by the testimonies of these fine men and their instruction was inspirational, but I was just not receiving any kind of acknowledgment or feeling about The Book of Mormon, and under no circumstances, I said, would I make a false testimony. I told them if and when I joined the church it would be because of my irrefutable love of Christ and what Joseph Smith and the Latter Day Saints had to offer. They smiled confidently and then proceeded with my lesson.
Several weeks went by and even though my interest in the church had grown stronger I was still troubled by the lack of any feeling towards Joseph Smith and his book. I related this to the missionaries and they suggested another course of study along with earnest prayer, which I tried to no avail. I became despondent at the thought of losing my chance once again to enter into God’s favor but I was told that Satan really puts on the pressure when a person is near to seeing the truth. He was punching-in overtime with me.
Then one day everything went wrong. Almost every interaction at work went bad. I then came home to find our livestock had breeched their pens and bred out of season. Upon entering my home I found an old relic I had owned for decades had fallen off the shelf and shattered into pieces on the floor and caused an unnecessary argument with Gay. Out of frustration I asked her to call the missionaries and cancel the meeting we had scheduled for the next evening since that would no doubt be a disaster, too. I received a call from the missionaries the next day asking if we could still have the scheduled meeting, and that they had something that would help me. I needed all the help I could get at that point in time and agreed to their request.
The meeting went well although I received it half-heartedly since the previous day’s failures and my concern about Joseph Smith were wearing heavily on my mind. At the conclusion of the meeting the missionaries asked if they could give me a blessing. I’d witnessed the branch president and his counselors bestow blessings on my wife and they always seem to help her. I agreed and sat still not knowing exactly what to expect. I relaxed my mind with the laying on of hands and felt a quiet calmness as Brother Porter spoke. I let my mind go completely blank and felt a great weight lifted from my shoulders and sensed a still peacefulness in the air. But I didn’t expect what followed, for a clear and true image of Christ appeared and reached out his hand to me. He was dressed in the common garments he might have worn during his time with an outstretched hand inviting me to follow the footsteps to his kingdom. Oh, Joy of joys! My Lord had once again given me what I needed, only this time he has clearly pointed the way to my salvation and confirmed what I felt in my heart by quenching my thirst for the truth.
I now know that The Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and the prophet that we so desperately need does live today!
I wept and thanked Brother Porter and the missionaries for the gift they had given me. It was a gift of life, my spiritual life that will stay with me for eternity. I thanked them again but they insisted it was the Lord’s work and not theirs. I love the analogy Elder Erickson uses about walking at night in the forest during a storm when an occasional lightening strike illuminates your path, and how accepting the Holy Ghost is similar to using a flashlight that continuously lights your way. With their modesty aside I will say they are truly beacons of light in their own right, illuminating the path for those of us in search of the truth, and we are so grateful for having them as our guides.
I can now say that I savor each word of the scriptures as I read them and feel the spirit of the Lord with every verse. I was baptized by Brother Porter on October 18th, 2006, and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by Elder Erickson on October 22nd, 2006.
Do I feel the presence of the Holy Ghost? I can say during my confirmation with the laying on of hands my entire body seemed to resonate with an energy that came directly from my soul, and was both spiritually and physically fulfilling. And, finally, shortly afterwards, Gay and I were having lunch at a restaurant when I noticed an elderly woman who bore a remarkable resemblance to my mother. She brought a tear to my eyes as I recalled those times when I could have been a little more patient and a little more agreeable to her wishes, and wondered if she could ever forgive me for my shortcomings. Just then I heard a clear and distinct voice say to me, “If God can forgive you, your mother can forgive you.”
I bear these words as my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
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A Lifetime of Conversion by staff
I was born into a family that had been members of The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints.
Some would say that would make it really easy to feel that the church is the church of Jesus Christ restored because it was what I was raised with.
That couldn’t be further from the truth.As a young teen, I wanted to know for myself if the church was true.
I wanted to have a personal testimony.
I read The Book Of Mormon, The Holy Bible, and studied many different world religions.
As I did this, I came to appreciate all that these different beliefs and cultures added to our world.
One day, when I was fourteen, I decided that I had studied a great deal, and it was time that I ask God about the church.
I remember that I had just finished reading in the Doctrine and Covenants about Joseph Smith’s prophecy about the Civil war, and had written about it in my journal as I knelt down to pray.
I asked God, in the name of his son, if Joseph Smith truly was a prophet of God, and I immediately felt this wonderful warm and comforting feeling within myself.
It was so warm and so good, that it brought tears to my eyes.
It was that moment that I gained knowledge from God that Joseph Smith was a prophet.I always wanted to have my own light, and not have my testimony hinge on what my parents or others believed, so I sought out to gain a testimony of anything and everything that I was taught and read about in the scriptures.
I gained a testimony of the blessings of tithing, by exercising my faith, and paying it.
So many times I had everything covered when I had no idea how I was going to do it.
Or when food was low, someone brought more to me.
Our Father in Heaven truly loves us, and he will provide for us.I gained a testimony of fasting with a purpose when I was about 16.
My best friend Billie was being sent to live with her sister’s father because her mother didn’t want to raise children anymore.
My friend Billie was a new member in the church, and I loved her very very much, still do.
I did not want her to have to go and live away from me and her other friends, so I called up some of my friends, and asked that they fast with me that Billie’s mother would have Billie come back home, and that is exactly what happened.
By the end of the week, Billie was back.
I have since fasted for many causes, and have had wonderful blessings poured out upon our family.I gained a testimony of temple attendance after I had lived in an area where I could not attend as often.
The peace and blessings that the temple brings are so wonderful.
I enjoyed my time there so much!
It was so special to get to be in a place that is so holy, so peaceful and feel that love that my Father in heaven has for me, and for all of us.
Leaving the stresses and worries of the world behind for those moments I will forever cherish, and I look forward to my next opportunity to attend.I gained a testimony of the priesthood from so many personal experiences in my life.
As a teen I suffered from Endometriosis, and blessings of healing helped me deal with that painful condition.
I have also experienced blessings that helped me carry my children far enough that they were able to survive their births.
I have been given blessings that have comforted me a great deal through many trials that I have experienced.I have a testimony of forgiveness.
With all that I went through as a child, I think this was the hardest testimony to receive.
It happened about two years ago, when I actually forgave what others had done, even though they never said they were sorry.
I was amazed at how much this changed my life!
I was able to love others much more deeply, I stopped worrying about getting hurt, and I was willing to express to others how much I care about them.
I became even more compassionate, and felt so much joy!
I wish I had learned this earlier in life, but I am so thankful that I learned it!I have an unshakable testimony in my Savior Jesus Christ.
There are so many experiences that I have had and they are so sacred to me that I will not share them.
I will say that I know that he lives, and there is nothing that would ever be able to make me deny that.
I would rather die then deny him.
I know that he lives, I know that he loves all of us, and I am so amazed that he loved us so much to do all that he did for us.I know that miracles happen today, and they occur all around us.
I have experienced many.
I am thankful that I have.I know that the Bible and the Book of Mormon contains the word of God.
That this is Christ’s church restored on the earth.
I have not only gained a personal testimony of this, I have literally studied all that I can, and I know without any doubt that this is Christ’s Church.
There is no other church that has the authority of God, that has all of the principles and Ordinances in effect today.
I am so thankful to be born in a time when I can be blessed to be a member of Christ’s restored church.I know that there are prophets and apostles on the earth today, and that they speak to us the word of God.
I have a testimony that we can be together forever, bound together as eternal families.
I am so thankful for the knowledge that those who did not have a chance to receive the gospel in this life, are able to have the opportunity to choose or deny it for themselves, that we are able to do vicarious work for them, and on their behalf, fulfill those required ordinances.
We live in such a wonderful and glorious time.
I am not certain why I am so blessed as to have been able to be right here right now, but I am ever thankful for it. -
Ann Overhand – “It’s yours if you want it” by staff
MY TESTIMONY
I guess I need to start at the beginning, not quite before time but I need to at least share a basic overview of things as they were.I didn’t have a religious upbringing, in fact my first hints of any form of organised religion was having two friends at school who were Jehovah’s Witnesses. They introduced me to this great idea that there was a God who loved me. Albeit I think I perhaps had one actual lesson with them but I read their manuals avidly, and I remember praying for hours, sitting in the back of my parents car while we were on touring holidays just sitting praying. Juvenile prayers in the most part, prayers for my disabled mother, prayers to enable me to conquer fear.
When my friendship finally ended with those friends, due to being in different classes and finally different schools, I guess that’s where my relationship with their particularly religion ended.
A few years passed and I’ll admit I dabbled somewhat in the occult. It was the fad of the time, to be looking into Tarot Cards and such like. I passed through that pretty quickly to begin with.
Then I moved schools to begin my A-levels, within a week of being at my new school, 9/11 happened. Well can you say 9/11 happened, it didn’t really just happen did it, it was, it came into being, it changed the pattern of the world forever. It was after this event that I began to question again, I guess I was looking for answers in this increasingly fractured thing we call life.
I suppose the biggest question in my mind was that over 3,000 people died that day where were they? Why had this happened? I fell into going to a Christian Union. A mixed group of people pressing forward in their ‘Christian Religion’ however I quickly fell away from them when they were being intolerant of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and if I recollect properly “Mormons”.
I then went back into occultism, looking into healing stones, spells and other practices. There is a very real power behind all of that which I cannot deny even now, but now I know it can be of great ill and doesn’t come from the sources we can trust.
I drifted much through this period of my life and had many problems, not least brought about by drink and various one night stands and other flings. It wasn’t a pretty time. To borrow a line from Anne Bronte’s “Tenant of Wildfell Hall”, I probably lived and experienced more in those two years than many will ever in their entire lifetime.
As part of the occult leanings I had at the time, dates and times began to have specific meanings, dates for tests that I could match with say a favourite author’s birthday or an historic figure’s demise were sure to bring me some luck. So when my driving test date was confirmed as December 9 it was little surprise when my mom told me that was her teen idol, Donny Osmond’s, birthday. So I dutifully borrowed a CD of show tunes. I was involved in the theatre at the time so it wasn’t as bad as it sounds, and I dutifully played that CD over and over during my remaining lessons and right up to taking the test. I passed first time and was more than willing to put it down to this date and correlation of the stars type of thing.
So that Christmas I had nothing better to do than browse around on the Internet, and I landed on donny.com. There is a section entitled My Beliefs, and something kinda struck me there and then. I didn’t want to follow anything blindly so I began a long study of what both donny.com and mormon.org were saying as well as various anti-Church sites.
This study commenced over a period of three months, until one day I was sat reading something that was trying to tell me that Joseph Smith was a 40 year old con-artist yada yada. And I started screaming at the PC, I probably swore too, that he hadn’t even made it to his 40 birthday but had been martyred before. When I had sufficiently calmed down I realised that I’d crossed a line, the line from simply thinking who do I believe, who was Joseph Smith, to knowing who he was and what he did in the grove in Palmyra.
Well then I started to email a very kind lady called Bev Qualheim who at the time was some kind of assistant to Donny Osmond. She was very kind and listened to my most ludicrous questions, like can you have chocolate if your Mormon that type of stuff.
At the same time I requested missionary visits on mormon.org. I heard nothing.
I carried on my days at school, preparing for final exams, getting thoroughly drunk although I did try many times to live the Word of Wisdom, I requested the visits from the missionaries over and over but still heard nothing.
During this period I managed to buy a book by President Gordon B Hinckley (How I love that man) – Standing for Something. It was marvellous. I remember sitting reading it on the bus one day on my way to a friend’s house, I was on my way to Lauren’s via the Wicker in Sheffield. I remember thinking how on earth could anyone think this man could lie about who he is? That was it there and then, that’s when I knew that he was indeed a Prophet of God.
Well I carried on at school and sometime around the last week in June I went on one final drinking bender. I don’t think I was sober for a week. I had my final exam on the 24th June I believe. That Sunday was with my parents in Cleethorpes eating fish and chips on the front, when my cell phone went off, I missed the call but as it was a local number I called it back the following day, leaving a message something along the lines of “Hi, I’ve had a missed call from this number and as it’s local I’m calling you back, thanks Ann” I don’t know what made me do that I really and truly don’t. Later on that day (this was the Monday) I had a call saying “Hello, this is Elder Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints”. Man alive I can not begin to tell you how much I was bouncing off the walls that I’d spoken to a real live Latter Day Saint. It was crazy.
I arranged to meet with the missionaries that Thursday, which I might add they didn’t turn up which put some fear in me that they were fake although I didn’t really see how, I was at my grandmother’s house and she also had reservations about it because they hadn’t appeared. Elder Nelson was full of apologies and they came the next day.
Then on the Saturday himself and Elder Renwick came twice. On their third visit of them all, Elder Renwick said that they had a baptism day coming up in the ward, and I very naively thought that maybe they got all the investigators together and had one day every few months or something whereby they were baptised (oh if only that were the case as far as conversions go!) So I was like, “Great, whose is it?”. Elder Renwick turned to Elder Nelson who then turned to me with a great big smile on his face and said, “Yours, if you want it”. YES. I did.
It was a most amazing experience. I am so grateful and I know that day that I meant everything at the time, I felt as if I would never ever do anything wrong again in my life. The only moment’s hesitation that came was when I was invited to step down into the baptism pool, then my legs turned into mush and I didn’t feel that I could do it, although that was more out of fear of water as I still can’t swim.
I was baptized in the August, and then the bishop managed to sneak me onto the Young Women’s baptisms at the temple in the November. That was an amazing day that I will never forget in a very long time. I know with all my heart and mind that the work we did that day was true and real. There was a lady I was proxy for whose name was Wilhemina. It was then Bishop at the time who was baptising me. I just remember snapping at him that he hadn’t pronounced the name properly, gosh I wouldn’t snap at my bishop, not then not now, but it was as if it wasn’t me. I know that probably makes no sense. But I don’t care, it’s what happened.
I absolutely love this Church, the thought of ever leaving it sends a shiver of dread straight through me. I know that President Hinckley was very much a prophet of our Heavenly Father, and I know that President Monson is our prophet today. I know and can relate to Joseph Smith’s experience in that grove, I remember those feelings about looking for the true church and I remember the feeling of the Spirit when I found such little information about it. I acted on Moroni’s promise before I’d ever even heard of Moroni, but I still got my answer from it.
I fully believe that we were all together in the pre-existence and I only hope and pray that I will one day get to meet my Heavenly Father, even just one time, I know how broken hearted I feel at the mere thought of never seeing Him again. I love Him so much, but I’m a fool to myself in many ways.
I know and fully support the leadership of my ward, the bishopric, relief society and primary organisations are all ordained of Heavenly Father. I know that He is in control and that ultimately He will judge and act as He sees fit through each one of us.
The experiences and knowledge I have come by as a member of this Church can be explained by no other explanation other than that they were manifested to me by the power of the Holy Ghost, and for that I am ever grateful. I know that the Holy Ghost is a fantastic guide, comforter, teacher and is fantastic at giving you a kick up the butt when you need it once in a while.
I just wish that I could bring more light into the world and destroy the wicked streak within me, because I don’t want to end up with Satan, I don’t want to end up in any kingdom but the Celestial, I want to be there, not for it’s glories, but to be with my Heavenly Father once again. I’d be happy in this life to walk by His side, and that’s what I’m going to try to do from now on. I know this Church is true – I can’t explain how I knew it to begin with, it was a feeling and a witness of the Holy Ghost, now my own experiences, things I have seen with my eyes, and heard with my own ears, they are things which cannot be explained away but only act as further proof and evidence of the fantastic truth of this Church. I know that my Redeemer lives, as the hymn says, I know that this is His Church and that President Monson is his prophet on the earth today and that Joseph Smith brought forward this great work and glory in this dispensation. I know this as clearly as I see the screen and feel the keys I am typing on now.
I leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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Alex Baker by staff
Every once in a while, I have the privilege to read something that echoes exactly what I have been thinking about a topic. Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to watch a two-part documentary by PBS on Mormonism. Many other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had that same privilege, and the church noted these commentaries in a release from the Church’s Newsroom that clarifies many of our basic beliefs. As a Mormon myself, this caused a lot of inward thinking about what exactly I believe.I believe in God. I believe that he is our Heavenly Father and that he loves us very much. I’ve come to understand this at new depth recently since I’ve become a father myself. Our Heavenly Father truly cares for each of us and for our own well being, but he also understands that each of us need to grow up, just like my little girl needs chances to learn things for herself, even if it means falling down a few times.
I believe in Jesus Christ. I had the opportunity to serve the people of Argentina as a missionary for two years, and during those two years I gained an incredible sense of wonderment and awe for our Savior Jesus Christ. Although I could never express it fully in words, I believe that he loves us very much and that he died so that we can live again. He was resurrected so that we, too, can one day rise again after death. His sacrifice for us was immeasurable.
I believe in the Holy Ghost. Through the Holy Ghost we can receive a personal conviction of the gospel. This means that God loves me so much that he has given me a chance to find out his truths for myself. I can receive a witness for myself that is not based on the beliefs of others, but is rooted in my faith in Jesus Christ.
Although gospel truths certainly touch on many more subjects than these, all doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is founded on our belief in Jesus Christ:
Based on the scriptures, Joseph Smith declared: “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.”
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id-oliver: I knew Joseph Smith was a pro … by id-oliver
I knew Joseph Smith was a prophet when I learn a lot of thins about him.I love his fruitful work!!!A real prophet of God.A prophet of restoration, Chosen to Restored the only TRUE OF GOD. -
id-oliver: I am a Mormon because since … by id-oliver
I am a Mormon because since birth I was member and learn a lot of things esp. about the church.I have a testimony that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God.That Jesus is the Christ, My Friend,my Love,my Savior.I love being a member of the Church,to my fellow youths Always remember what did Alma taught us pls,!!!!see Alma37:35.I live this in Name of Jesus Christ.Amen.
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