Testimony

I was pondering what I should write about and I felt Like I should write about our testimonies. What's so important about one after all? I go to church every week, pray, isn't that good enough? What good does it do if the church you're attending isn't Christ's church? For instance, we have investigators who've been attending the same church for 20 years and not once have prayed to have the spirit confirm to them if that's where they need to be. You're blindly doing things hoping it's doing something good. This is not what God wants for us. 

He wants ALL of us to KNOW! If you don't KNOW it's true, then get on your knees and find out. Without a sincere desire to know, it won't come though...Have the desire in your heart to do whatever it takes to know for yourself. 

You may see others who have a firm testimony and they don't waiver....You can have that too! It's not something hard to do! The Gospel is simple! God doesn't want it to be hard for us. If you study scriptures, pray to know if they are true, then LIVE what they teach, then you will come to a knowledge of the truth. 

If you struggle to know if one of the commandments is true or not, then I invite you to live that commandment for a month perfectly, and see what changes it brings into your life. We no longer can go through life without a testimony! We'll get tossed around by the world! If you read my mission scripture Helaman 5:12, it talks about building your foundation on Christ, and then you can not fall. GET THAT FOUNDATION! If you believe the Book of Mormon to be true, thats good. It's a step. Now, go know for yourself and pray about it. Do what Alma says in chapter 32:28 to the end. 

It's sad to see people not knowing the truth. We see it everyday here, and it makes you think of how much work there is left to do.  Before one of our Zone Conferences we were given a talk by Elder Boyd K. Packer called "The Candle of the Lord." If you can find and read that talk, it gives you great understanding about the spirit and how it works. Something I love that he says is how you can't force spiritual things. "A testimony is not thrust upon you; a testimony grows... we hardly know it happens because it comes by growth."  He continues on and says, "You can no more force the spirit to respond than you can force a bean to sprout, or an egg to hatch before it's time. You can create a climate to foster growth, nourish, and protect; but you can not force or compel; you must await the growth."  He talks about if you try to force it, you can be misled. 

One more thing I want to share from his talk is this..."How can I bear testimony until I get one? How can I testify that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, and that the gospel is true? If I do not have such a testimony, would that not be dishonest? This was his response:  "If I could teach you this one principle... A testimony is to be found in the Bearing of it!"  The rest of the talk tells you to take a leap of faith by testifying of what you hope to be true. Then, the spirit will confirm in your bosom that what you have testified is true. Ether 12:6. "To speak out is the test of you faith."

I have a personal testimony of what he said. Before I left, I only had a belief/hope in what I had been taught. As I bore my testimony to the many people we taught, I would have the spirit confirm to me that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, who atoned for the world's sins. I can boldly tell you I know that Joseph Smith restored the church back to the earth and that he is a Prophet of God who held the Priesthood. I know with my whole heart this church is true. I only pray that each of you know as well.  I love each of you so much! Thank you for the support. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 
Love Elder Zaugg