What is a testimony?

Every Monday we are given the opportunity to email our families home. I typically send a mass email with details of the previous week, things I've learned, experiences, ect. At the end of every email I bare my testimony. I then send this out to my family and some friends. A couple weeks ago I got a response from a close family member who is not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This person asked me, "Why do you always say 'I KNOW the church is true' and 'there ARE modern day prophets' over and over? It's as if you're trying to convince yourself that it's true. If you know it then you don't have to say it all of the time."


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This statement made me really think. Why do I repeatedly say it all the time? It is because that is what others do, or is it because I truly know that these things are true? I love the way I feel when I bare my testimony. I say it over and over again so that people feel the sincerity of what I say. There have been times when I have been writing, and I can feel the spirit talking through me. There is power in words. Which made me really ponder on what a testimony is this past week.



I know the Book of Mormon to be the word of God!

As a missionary, we are tested all of the time. It's never ending! Being very new to this religion, having only been baptized a little over a year and a half ago, should make it more of a struggle, right?

That is not the case. The things I have learned in my time as a Mormon has only been very familiar to me. My mom has taught me a lot of the beliefs. Everything has made since and I just soaked it all up like a sponge, which is truly incredible because I am not good at memorizing anything at all! Let alone learning an entire culture of new things and living it.

When I first met with missionaries, in August 2012, I was at the spiritual point where I personally did not know who God was. One things that made the biggest difference to me was being told that I am a daughter of God. I gained self respect. I felt joy.

Why do I repeatedly say 'I KNOW the church is true' and 'there ARE modern day prophets'? It's because it's true. This knowledge, and everything that goes with it has brought me more joy than I have ever been able to imagine, even through some of the hardest trials in my life. I want to share it with everyone. I want my family to have it more than anything. I want everyone to have it.

I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. I know that I am a daughter of God. That as I keep His commandments, I will feel joy and be strong. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church, the same church Jesus Christ, Himself, organized during His earthly ministry. I will bare my testimony every day of my life. That is what makes me happy. That is what will make others happy.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.