The Power of Testimony
What's not to love about a day like today?
We trotted off to church (drove) at 8:30 to attend the 2nd Ward Sacrament Meeting. It was Fast and Testimony Meeting today, and like every first Sunday was beautiful. Several individuals bore their testimonies and it was uplifting and inspiring just to be there.
The 1st Ward was next, also with wonderful testimonies. I sit there and marvel about how articulate everyone is when expressing the inmost feelings of their hearts.
The last meeting was the Gospel Doctrine class taught by a professor from Oxford who is writing a book about Alma the Younger - if that gives you any idea about how well-qualified he is to teach. We spent the entire hour on 2 Nephi 25:23. He basically threw out the questions: 1. What does persuade mean? What does it mean to be reconciled to God? And the big question almost every member has muddled over: What does it mean to be saved by grace after all we can do?
It was fascinating, but I wonder what the three investigators thought, as well as our newest members. We were swimming in deep water. But is was fascinating.
We had about a half hour to prepare for our break-the-fast meal. I had gotten up early to throw together White Chicken Chili - one of my favorite go-to meals. It was simmering away in the crockpot and I just got the table set, the sour cream and cheese and chips out before several YSAs popped in. They are so dear. They come to help, and then they stay after to help clean up.
We had a really lovely time. They all talked and all seemed to enjoy being together. Leticia and Veer were among the twelve who were here. A young man from Bangladesh who wants to be baptized was here. The rest were regulars (although those three could rightfully be considered regulars by now). After dinner, we all sat in a circle after the meal was over and just talked....I sat there with them enjoying their banter and how they seemed so relaxed. It was one of those very sweet moments when everything seemed so right. There was a lovely feeling among them, kind and accepting, and everyone participated. I felt so happy just to be here with them.
I hated to end it, and I think if we hadn't needed to leave they might have stayed as the day slowly turned into dusk and then night. They talked about playing a game or watching a movie. Perhaps there will be other times like that to draw out our time together.
We had a fireside to attend in our stake center, an hour's drive away. We had to give ourselves at least an hour and a half because (at the risk of sounding like my husband) you never know if there might be an overturned cement truck blocking your progress. And this evening, there was an overturned trailer that blocked an exit....not ours thankfully. Except for a brief slowdown near that exit ramp we got there in good time.
The fireside is one of Dave's ideas. This one was the 10th I believe. It is held on the first Sunday of every month, usually in the Hyde Park Chapel. Tonight, it was in our stake center, and the speakers were Leticia and Veer and 7 other recent converts. It is called "Why I Believe."
Every single speaker outlined what brought them to the gospel and why they were baptized and why they are on the covenant path. Veer - a Sikh, Leticia - a Catholic, an Indian woman (from India) who is Hindi, two atheists, others from other Christian churches.
As our bishop's wife who attended said, "I've been attending meetings my entire life, and this meeting blew my mind!" The spirit was so very strong as these individuals shared their most personal journeys. One older man, a Brit, told how he and his wife came to join the church after a lifetime opinion that this is one church they would never be a part of.
Their youngest son joined the church in another part of England and they were so very impressed with how happy he was that they attended church with him. They had the missionaries over and eventually joined. Two months later, they enthusiasm brought their oldest son and wife and children into the waters of baptism - and this gentleman (the father) baptized all of them.
Many of them had been looking for God in their lives and had remarkable answers to prayers as they were visiting with missionaries and seeking the truth. Virtually all felt the love of God as they prayed to know and as they read the scriptures. One had a remarkable experience with a scripture in The Book of Mormon that touched his heart to the core. He had found the scripture, and had immediately been impressed with the feelings it inspired. A few days later, he asked the Lord in prayer to send him a little reinforcement that what he was doing was right. Miraculously, the next day he was talking to a missionary who referred him to that precise scripture. He took it as the Lord's signature.
All of them spoke with deeply-felt gratitude for the missionaries who helped them receive the gospel. One 40-something man said that he called the missionaries nearly every day for a couple of months with questions about everything. He said that they always had an answer, and he could not figure out how at such a young age they possessed such great wisdom. Many quoted what "their" missionaries had said to them at key times.
One talked about the missionaries' persistence. Another talked with such love for the two young men who brought this gift into his life and the lives of his wife and family. At one point he called the missionary to the podium to ask him to bear his testimony! This young missionary stood and began to speak, and then he began to weep as he bore testimony about the Savior. He quoted Elder Holland, who said the final question from the Savior will be, "Do - you - love - me?" And the resounding answer, "Yes, I love you." He will be returning to his home in Australia in 8 days, and he can go home knowing that he was an excellent missionary.
For most of this day I have been a silent observer, listening to the witness of people about how the Lord has changed their lives for the better. Not only did those testimonies strengthen people in the congregations of each meeting, but they helped reassure each young missionary that the work they are doing is important to the people they teach and to the Lord who loves each one.
With our YSAs today, two returned missionaries talked about how very tired they were when they got home from their missions. I think that is pretty common among those who serve with all their hearts. but seeing and hearing the gratitude that people feel for them - like today - must make it a happy tiredness beyond words.
We trotted off to church (drove) at 8:30 to attend the 2nd Ward Sacrament Meeting. It was Fast and Testimony Meeting today, and like every first Sunday was beautiful. Several individuals bore their testimonies and it was uplifting and inspiring just to be there.
The 1st Ward was next, also with wonderful testimonies. I sit there and marvel about how articulate everyone is when expressing the inmost feelings of their hearts.
The last meeting was the Gospel Doctrine class taught by a professor from Oxford who is writing a book about Alma the Younger - if that gives you any idea about how well-qualified he is to teach. We spent the entire hour on 2 Nephi 25:23. He basically threw out the questions: 1. What does persuade mean? What does it mean to be reconciled to God? And the big question almost every member has muddled over: What does it mean to be saved by grace after all we can do?
It was fascinating, but I wonder what the three investigators thought, as well as our newest members. We were swimming in deep water. But is was fascinating.
We had about a half hour to prepare for our break-the-fast meal. I had gotten up early to throw together White Chicken Chili - one of my favorite go-to meals. It was simmering away in the crockpot and I just got the table set, the sour cream and cheese and chips out before several YSAs popped in. They are so dear. They come to help, and then they stay after to help clean up.
We had a really lovely time. They all talked and all seemed to enjoy being together. Leticia and Veer were among the twelve who were here. A young man from Bangladesh who wants to be baptized was here. The rest were regulars (although those three could rightfully be considered regulars by now). After dinner, we all sat in a circle after the meal was over and just talked....I sat there with them enjoying their banter and how they seemed so relaxed. It was one of those very sweet moments when everything seemed so right. There was a lovely feeling among them, kind and accepting, and everyone participated. I felt so happy just to be here with them.
I hated to end it, and I think if we hadn't needed to leave they might have stayed as the day slowly turned into dusk and then night. They talked about playing a game or watching a movie. Perhaps there will be other times like that to draw out our time together.
We had a fireside to attend in our stake center, an hour's drive away. We had to give ourselves at least an hour and a half because (at the risk of sounding like my husband) you never know if there might be an overturned cement truck blocking your progress. And this evening, there was an overturned trailer that blocked an exit....not ours thankfully. Except for a brief slowdown near that exit ramp we got there in good time.
The fireside is one of Dave's ideas. This one was the 10th I believe. It is held on the first Sunday of every month, usually in the Hyde Park Chapel. Tonight, it was in our stake center, and the speakers were Leticia and Veer and 7 other recent converts. It is called "Why I Believe."
Every single speaker outlined what brought them to the gospel and why they were baptized and why they are on the covenant path. Veer - a Sikh, Leticia - a Catholic, an Indian woman (from India) who is Hindi, two atheists, others from other Christian churches.
As our bishop's wife who attended said, "I've been attending meetings my entire life, and this meeting blew my mind!" The spirit was so very strong as these individuals shared their most personal journeys. One older man, a Brit, told how he and his wife came to join the church after a lifetime opinion that this is one church they would never be a part of.
Their youngest son joined the church in another part of England and they were so very impressed with how happy he was that they attended church with him. They had the missionaries over and eventually joined. Two months later, they enthusiasm brought their oldest son and wife and children into the waters of baptism - and this gentleman (the father) baptized all of them.
Many of them had been looking for God in their lives and had remarkable answers to prayers as they were visiting with missionaries and seeking the truth. Virtually all felt the love of God as they prayed to know and as they read the scriptures. One had a remarkable experience with a scripture in The Book of Mormon that touched his heart to the core. He had found the scripture, and had immediately been impressed with the feelings it inspired. A few days later, he asked the Lord in prayer to send him a little reinforcement that what he was doing was right. Miraculously, the next day he was talking to a missionary who referred him to that precise scripture. He took it as the Lord's signature.
All of them spoke with deeply-felt gratitude for the missionaries who helped them receive the gospel. One 40-something man said that he called the missionaries nearly every day for a couple of months with questions about everything. He said that they always had an answer, and he could not figure out how at such a young age they possessed such great wisdom. Many quoted what "their" missionaries had said to them at key times.
One talked about the missionaries' persistence. Another talked with such love for the two young men who brought this gift into his life and the lives of his wife and family. At one point he called the missionary to the podium to ask him to bear his testimony! This young missionary stood and began to speak, and then he began to weep as he bore testimony about the Savior. He quoted Elder Holland, who said the final question from the Savior will be, "Do - you - love - me?" And the resounding answer, "Yes, I love you." He will be returning to his home in Australia in 8 days, and he can go home knowing that he was an excellent missionary.
For most of this day I have been a silent observer, listening to the witness of people about how the Lord has changed their lives for the better. Not only did those testimonies strengthen people in the congregations of each meeting, but they helped reassure each young missionary that the work they are doing is important to the people they teach and to the Lord who loves each one.
With our YSAs today, two returned missionaries talked about how very tired they were when they got home from their missions. I think that is pretty common among those who serve with all their hearts. but seeing and hearing the gratitude that people feel for them - like today - must make it a happy tiredness beyond words.
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