About Us

The writers of this blog are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We do not represent the Church as a whole and so our posts will represent our own personal feelings, experiences, and opinions. We are grateful for the chance to share some of our insights as Christians. We welcome comments from members of the Church about our postings. We also welcome questions from readers that are not of our faith. We will not argue doctrinal points, but will to the best of our ability answer honest questions from those wanting to understand our beliefs.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

I Believe That the Mormon Church is the Church of Jesus Christ


First of all, I have to say that I love being able to post on this blog. Our whole purpose is to share our feelings and knowledge about what we believe is true. I am going to share how I came to know and believe that the Mormon church is the church of Christ.

I remember when I first wanted to be a part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon Church). I was 21 years old and I wasn't happy. I had a good job, I had many friends, I had a roof over my head, and I had many things that people all over the world dream of, but I just wasn't happy. I remember one day, in particular, when I realized my life had no purpose. With all my heart I knelt down and asked God if he would show me how to be happy.

I got a distinct answer to read the Bible. I had never done it before. I grew up going to church, but I never took the time to read. In my teen years I stopped believing in God. This was mainly because of some bad examples of fellow Christians; however, I can't blame it on them because I was the one who got offended. On top of that, my father passed away, and I was having major communication/control problems with my mother. At first I just blamed God for all the bad things in my life, and then through time, I became blinded to the point that I didn't even believe. Step by step, year by year, I lost my zeal for life and my purpose, but now I had a solution. I knelt in faith and God had answered my prayers. I felt a peace and confidence that the Bible would teach what I was looking for.

I started that night to read and didn't stop for 12 days. I barely rested and I can't even remember if I ate or not. I will never forget the feelings I had as I read. I constantly felt that same feeling of peace and reassurance that I was doing what God wanted me to do. I constantly remembered the things I was taught in church as a child, and I would feel and know that they are true. After reading more than four fifths of the book I had a firm testimony that the Bible truly helped me to be more happy. It taught me that I need to trust in God, follow him, and everything will work out to my good.

Shortly after this mini conversion, I hit a peak in my spirituality and got sucked back into the world. I got really busy, and I didn't make time to continue my spiritual quest. It was like two steps forward, one step back; but deep down I knew there was more to life than what I had. I still read the Bible every once in a while, I attended several churches to see what they taught, and I never stopped praying that God would give me wisdom and understanding (you know, like Solomon:). It wasn't until six months later that I again prayed for help. This time God's answer was a bit different from the first. He told me to read the Book of Mormon. The feeling of peace and confidence was identical to the first answer I received, but this answer was a little harder for me to accept than the first.

Maybe your are asking how I knew about the Book of Mormon. You remember how I told you I grew up going to church? That was the Mormon church. You remember how I was offended by some fellow Christians? Well they were Mormons. The last thing I wanted to do was to be one of them. I had spent years avoiding them, hating them, and stewing over all the bad things that had happened to me because of them (so I thought). I still had anger in my heart and I thought they all were a bunch of hypocrites.

All I could ask myself is "why would God tell me to read their book?!" I was very hesitant, and yet, at the same time another part of me was curious. All those years of my childhood I had barely opened its cover. I started to wonder what would be inside. I started to entertain the idea because there was no way I could deny that God had given me an answer to my prayer. Looking back I have to praise the wisdom of God because had he told me to read the Book of Mormon first, I am sure that I would not have done it.

I started reading this time much slower than the time before, but I decided to give it a try. If nothing else, I would know what was in there. My second experience mimicked the first, and I could almost requote what I said above, "I will never forget the feelings I would have as I read. I ... felt [a] ... feeling of peace and reassurance that I was doing what God wanted me to do." Again I felt the truth of the things I had learned as a child. I found that this book also helped me feel the peace and happiness that the spirit brings, and the lessons I learned from the Book of Mormon were that prayers are always answered and that God is a God of revelation.

The next year was one of the best in my life. To this day I have never felt the spirit so strong and constant as I did then. I think that it was because that feeling was so new. It was like nothing I had felt for a very very long time.


God was with me every step of the way and he helped me gain an unshakable testimony of prayer. I would ask God how to over come this or that temptation and he would help me. I prayed that he would send me new friends. That same week my old old friend got home from his mission (a 2 year commitment to preach the gospel that many young Mormon men voluntarily serve and pay their own way). Interestingly enough, this was the same young man who offended me so many years before. He had grown up and he welcomed me into his circle of friends. I prayed that God would help me forgive him, and he helped me. I prayed that God would help me break up with my Girlfriend (I loved her a lot, but I knew she was not helping me with my change). That same week she did something that made it necessary even though it was one of the hardest things I have ever done.

This radical change was not easy, but I found streigth in living the teachings in the Book of Mormon and the Bible, which are taught by the Church. One example is keeping the sabbath day holy. In the Bible, God commanded the Israelites to dedicate the sabbath day to him. We believe that this means on Sunday we go to church and take the sacrament, we don't work, we don't participate in recreational activities (like boating, skiing, swimming), and we try to do things that uplift and edify us. Shortly after I changed my life, I found that the weeks that I would keep the sabbath day holy by going to church, I actually had more strength to withstand the temptations of the Devil, and in turn, was more happy.

Now I have been trying to live the teachings of Christ for over 6 years and I have tasted of the fruits of this gospel. I know it is true. I know that Jesus is the Christ and he atoned for our sins. I know that he called prophets in all ages, and he called a prophet in our day just as in days of old. This prophet, Joseph Smith, restored the gospel that has changed and blessed my life so immensely. I never imagined that God had so many blessings for me. I could list them here, but the list would be so long it would burst out of your computer screen, on to your keyboard, roll down to the ground, and hit the edge of the wall behind you.

I also know that the prophet today, Thomas S. Monson, received his authority to lead the church in an unbroken chain from Joseph Smith, and he received it from Christ. You can read more about Joseph Smith here.

I share this history with you only because I want more people to share in the happiness that I have found. Believe me, I have never been happier in my life than I am right now. I have tasted of this fruit and it is good. Why not give it a try? You can start by requesting your own Book of Mormon from the missionaries.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing your inspirational story and witness.

Carolyn said...

Thank you so much for sharing your uplifting story!

Mormon Publisher said...

I also know the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (also nicknamed the "Mormon Church") is true and is the Lord Jesus Christ's church upon the earth. Learn more from the website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Rebecca Talley said...

Thank you for your testimony. Keep sharing it.

Heidi A. said...

Will you accept other publishers on your blog list?

It might be a good way to increase your readership and affectiveness.

Mormon Writer said...

Yes, feel free to submit your information. I have looked at your profile and I think you would be a good addition to what we are trying to do.

haole12 said...

Cool blog. I'll make sure to keep up with this one.

Llama Wanderings said...

Wow. That was a strong testimony. I want to thank you for taking the time to share it.

Llama Wanderings said...

Wow. This is a strong testimony, thank you so very much for sharing it with all of us!