Dear READER,
I was asked to give a talk in my parents ward...my old ward. I thought because some of you were not able to make it, I would add it to one of my posts. It is never as good as it was when given at first but it will give you the jist of how it went. Please listen to the spirit as you read, as the Spirit is the true teacher.
TALK:
A testimony isn't something you have today, and you are going to have always. A testimony is fragile! it is as hard to hold as a moonbeam...it is something you have to recapture every day of your life. Elder Packers says that "a testimony is not thrust upon us: a testimony grows". It is something of an experiment, akin to the experiment that the prophet Alma proposed to his followers. we begin with faith - not with a perfect knowledge of things, and then we act on that faith. So how does one start to grow a testimony? A testimony is to be found or grown in the bearing of it!
You bear testimony of the tings that you hope are true, as an act of faith. By planting that little seed. Elder Packer says, "The Spirit and testimony of Christ will come to you for the most part when, and remain with you only if, you share it. In that process is the very essence of the gospel...You cannot find nor keep it, nor enlarge it unless and until you are willing to share it. It is by giving it away freely that it becomes yours."
Sometimes the problem with us gaining or letting our testimonies grow is that we want to see the end from the beginning. I know that is what I usually want, but that isn't how it works. We must first step into the darkness to find the path is lighted ahead. Or as Ether would say "Wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." So faith is one of the first principles to understanding how we grow or strengthen our testimonies.
There is another principle I would like to mention, and I have an example to share that goes with it. When I was younger and my grandparents would come to stay, I would let them stay in my room. My grandmother wears this perfume and I just love it. It would make my room smell so good. Before she would leave I would ask her to spray my pillow with her perfume so that I could have it there with me just as if she was there. It was strong at first and after time it faded till one day you couldn't tell it had ever been there. This is somewhat like our testimonies....
We cannot live on the borrowed light of someone else's testimony for it will eventually fade and so will our memory of it unless we keep it bright with our own efforts.
Another point to this is that, we cannot give to others what we do not have ourselves. I must first find my own testimony in order to give it away.
President Hinckley said this about testimonies: "This thing which we call testimony is the great strength of the Church. it is the wellspring of faith and activity. it is an elusive and mysterious thing, and yet it is as real and powerful as any force on the earth....This thing which we call testimony is difficult to define, but its fruits are plainly evident...It is a mysterious and wonderful thing, a gift from God to man...This witness, this testimony, can be the most precious of all the gifts of God. It is a heavenly bestowal when there is the right effort. It is the opportunity, it is the responsibility, of every man and woman in this Church to obtain within himself or herself a conviction of the truth of this great latter-day work and of those who stand at its head, even the living God and the Lord Jesus Christ...It is this conviction, this quiet inward certainty of the reality of the living God, of the divinity of His Beloved Son, of the restoration of their work in this time, and of the glorious manifestations which have followed which become for each of us the foundation of our faith. This becomes our testimony...This testimony is now, as it has always been a declaration, a straight forward assertion of truth as we know it."
I said something here but I'm not sure what as it wasn't in my notes
So what should we gain a testimony about? President Hinckley goes on to say, "With all of our doing, with all of our leading, with all of our teaching, the most important thing we can do for those whom we lead is to cultivate in their hearts a living, vital, vibrant testimony and knowledge of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the world, the Author of our salvation, He who atoned for the sins of the world and opened the way of salvation and eternal life. I would hope that in all we do we would somehow constantly nourish the testimony of our people concerning the Savior. I am satisfied - I know it's so - that whenever a man has a true witness in his heart of the living reality of the Lord Jesus Christ, all else will come together as it should. that is the root from which all virtue springs among those who call themselves Latter-day Saints."
So our testimonies should be focused and based on Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I know that sometimes it is said I can't speak very well so I can't give testimony. Well there are many ways one can give testimony.
Marvin Goldstine was taught by the missionaries and converted from Judaism to Mormonism. He is a GREAT pianist. I have attended many of his concerts. I remember one at the Visitors center in Washington D.C. where at the beginning he said I know that Christ lives, but let me give you my testimony of him. He then turned to the piano and played an arrangement of I know that my redeemer lives. It was so beautiful and the spirit flowed with each note that was played.
At the very beginning of my Mission in Germany we found a women named Frau Holzle she was amazing. We were teaching her the lessons and she was moving through them, ok. One day me and my companion were teaching the first lesson again. We came to the part about prayer and how important it was for her to pray and ask God if it be right or wrong. At this time I couldn't speak any German I struggled with everything I said. Usually my companion had to translate what i had just said in German so that those we taught could understand. Well I so wanted to bear my testimony about the power of prayer and how our Heavenly Father would answer her prayer if she asked. I butchered every word I could and was a bit frustrated. I didn't know what to do, I turned to my companion and asked her if I could sing a song. I then in German turned to this women and told her I could not tell her in words what I wanted her to understand and feel but that I was going to sing a song in English and what i wanted her to do was to listen to her heart. I sang with all my heart. At the end Frau Holzle told me that she didn't understand a word I sang but that she felt (as she pointed to her heart) she felt what I meant.
Another way to give testimony is through our actions. There is a quote that goes something like this "I want to live so that when people look at me they see Christ". I know that my mother had a testimony of Jesus Christ because she would get us together for family prayer, scripture study, seminary, etc..... By the things she did and was helping us do we learned that she Loved the Savior and wanted to follow him.
A wonderful Book of Mormon testimonies is given by Alma in Alma 5:43-47. It reads; "And now, my brethren, I would that ye should hear me, for I speak in the energy of my soul; for behold, I have spoken unto you plainly that ye cannot err, or have spoken according to the commandments of God. For I am called to speak after this manner according to the holy order of God, which is in Christ Jesus; yea, I am commanded to stand and testify unto this people of the things which have been spoken by our fathers concerning the things which are to come. And this is not all. Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself? Behold I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me. And moreover, I say unto you that it has thus been revealed unto me, that the words which have been spoken by our fathers are true, even so according to the spirit of prophecy which is in me, which is also by the manifestation of the Spirit of God."
And of what is it that Alma feels so compelled to share with those people he is teaching -- it is his testimony of Jesus Christ. In verse 48 he says, "I say unto you, that I know of myself that whatsoever I shall say unto you, concerning that which is to come, is true; and I say unto you, that I know that Jesus Christ shall come, yea, the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, and mercy, and truth. And behold, it is he that cometh to take away the sins of the world, yea, the sins of every man who steadfastly believeth on his name."
Once again I said something really great at this point it came out right than and is not in my notes
Brothers and Sister (this includes you today as you read this) I would challenge you to exercise your faith like Alma asks, and share your testimony of Jesus Christ, the son of god, the redeemer of the world....to share that testimony with someone this week. I know that as we do, hearts will be turned, lives changes, and the Lord will bless each of our lives personally.
I love the Savior. I know that he Lives. How grateful I am for his atoning sacrifice that made it possible for us all to return back to our Heavenly parents.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
Yours Truly,
Jenessa
