Testimony Tuesday: Wendy

Little Wendy is our guest writer today.  Like me, she grew up on Apache Avenue.  And as a bonus to joining the blogging world, I've been able to keep tabs on her once again.  Wendy was the only girl in her family amidst an army of boys.  And somehow, she was neither a tomboy or a princess.  She's cool like that.

Like me, Wendy grew up in a disturbingly normal family.  What we lacked in sibling rivalry and family dysfunction, we made up in neighborly trauma.

Here's Wendy showing her fashion prowess back on Apache Avenue.  Niki is my little sister, and we shared a room.  Niki and Wendy shared a brain back on Apache Avenue.  So let's hear it for a fellow Idahoan, mommy of four, and believer of Christ.  Take it away Wendy:

I once read a description of faith in an old Family Home Evening manual. It talked about how, even though we can't see it, we know we have a heart. How do we know this? Well, for one thing, we can feel it beating in our chests. We know from scientific discoveries over the ages it is needed to sustain life, and since we are alive we must have a heart. I have not seen my own heart. But I know it's there.

My faith in God is similar to this: I have never seen Him. But on every side there is evidence of His existence. Just as I know my heart beats inside me to keep me alive, I know my Heavenly Father lives and is aware of me. Not only that, but He loves me. I have done nothing to earn this love; it is simply because I am, just as my own children simply had to be for me to love them. However, I know He is pleased when I make good decisions, just as I am pleased when my own children do.
 
When trials come into the life of a person of faith, it seems that person either blames God and turns away from Him, searching for answers, or submits to God and turns toward Him, again searching for answers. One of my favorite parts of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the doctrine of continuing revelation, not only through prophets and apostles, but through the gift of the Holy Ghost to every individual member. As we seek answers (not just during trials, although for me trials provide the expediency sometimes necessary to ask fervently), our Father in Heaven answers in often unexpected ways. Sometimes I don't like the answers, but when I remind myself that His ways are higher than my ways, submission becomes less painful.
 
Just as I put my children through their own trials, knowing they won't be much use as human beings if they never have to do anything for themselves, Heavenly Father provides me with opportunities to become better. I've had to do things I never thought I'd have to do. The older I get, though, the more I realize the plans I had for myself (which I had thought so grand) are a mere trifle compared to what God wants me to become. It reminds me of the scripture in Proverbs: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." I know this is true.
 
Now I just have to try my best to do it, despite what may come.

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Testimony Tuesday on a Wednesday

For this week, I don't have a guest post.  I am also hoping some of you will take the quick survey on the sidebar about Testimony Tuesdays.  Please enjoy this clip from a powerful talk given by Joseph B. Wirthlin, just months before he passed away.  

As I have (and continue) to grow in faith, I have often wondered 

Is faith to change my circumstances?   or endure them?  

Does true faith give us power to move mountains, or the courage to climb them?  

This short clip dips into some of these themes and ideas that are recurring in my life, and illustrate the beauty of      c o n t e n t m e n t, f a i t h, and the undisputable necessity for h u m o r in our lives.  

Not included in the clip is the hilarious account of his daughter going on a blind date.  You can read the full version here or simply sit back and enjoy this snippet here with Mrs. Olsen.   Take it away Joseph B.

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Testimony Tuesday: higher and Higher education

With Patty's contribution a while back, she pointed out something about the mixing of academia and faith. A lot of times these two don't get along very well. I suppose I speak as somewhat of an outsider. I am not intellectually specialized by a PhD, have never published research or forums, and sometimes don't shower for three days. But I did spend a good 5 years getting a four-year degree, still live in a University town, and took an educational hiatus to serve a mission where, ironically, five (out of 18) months were stationed at the LDS Institute at the University of Florida in Gainesville (go Gators!).

EXHIBIT A:

This is the President of the LDS church during the span of my mission service, marriage, and birth of my 3 kids. I kindof like him. He strongly encouraged members throughout the world to get more education: "Education is the key to opportunity" is what he always said.

EXHIBIT B:

With all the rubbing of shoulders of friends, peers, and faculty, I have found that a popular catch-phrase for the intellectually stimulated becomes "I don't believe in organized religion". Does that make them bad? No! Maybe it's learning about those Crusades for the first time, or thinking about all the college keggers your religion wants you to miss out on. Perhaps it's that new sense of freedom we all feel when we leave home. At any rate, college life becomes the first place you begin to define your own religion. Some people grow into their parents testimonies of religion, others say God is more powerful in nature [while smoking a hookah pipe and snowboarding on the Sabbath ;)].

This growing period is necessary, and sometimes risky. The major risk being that you forget your true identity as a child of a loving, patient, kind, and concerned Heavenly Father.

EXHIBIT C:

And here is the key. C.S. Lewis said it best.

"Education, without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil"

Or as Mrs. Olsen says, education without the spirit, makes people lose their true identity...and sometimes become buttheads. Intellectual pursuits expand our minds and our opportunities, but it's important to keep working at your relationship with Deity. Prayer and scripture study are key.

EXHIBIT D:

*John (name changed) is a univeristy professor. He is well beyond the freedom college days, and is well-worn in his intellectual pursuits as a professor. He talks about balancing faith and academia this way:

Life in academia is intellectually stimulating and invigorating. Sometimes, however, people of faith in academia fall trap to their intellect, so much so that they either lose faith in God or shift their faith away from God toward rational humanism or some other philosophical bent. Empiricism becomes their religion and religion itself is dismissed as “the opiate of the masses,” like Karl Marx suggested. I should hasten to add that overzealous faith can also lead to apostasy. Maintaining a balance is key.

I am not sure that there is a secret formula to prevent loss of faith, but I have a few “tools” that I use in an effort to keep things in balance. Studying history, especially LDS history, can lead people down controversial paths, some of which lead some scholars out of the Church. I was given my most useful “tool” for dealing with controversial issues by a counselor in a BYU student ward bishopric during a temple recommend interview. I was just beginning my forays into LDS history and finding inconsistencies, fallibility, and far too much humanness for my liking at the time (I now thrill in the humanness of it all. It gives me hope in overcoming my own humanness). I trusted this counselor with my feelings and have been grateful ever since. He drew a circle on a piece of paper and then several larger concentric circles around it. In the middle of the innermost circle he wrote Jesus Christ. At various layers outside the center he put the Mountain Meadows Massacre, blacks and the priesthood, post manifesto polygamy, and other such topics. He asked what my testimony was centered upon? I of course responded, “Jesus Christ.” He then suggested that that was all that really mattered. If I ever moved the center of my circle to one of the other topics on the page and made one of them my focus, my eye was no longer single to the glory of God (and could thereby place my testimony in jeopardy). All of the controversial topics are peripheral to what is crucial: Jesus Christ.

My second tool is a verse from Isaiah (5:21): “Wo unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight.” If I ever think I have it all figured out, Isaiah keeps me in check as he does my view of those who claim to have THE answer on a given topic. Religion for me is ultimately about faith. Sometimes God simply asks me to bow my head and say yes.

My third and most important tool is my testimony. When I start to question too much the foundation of my faith, the Lord’s answer to Oliver Cowdry grounds me: “Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?” (D&C 6: 23). I believe in an otherly-world way of “knowing.” Some academics dismiss this way of knowing as irrational, emotional, anti-empirical. I reject their claims. I cannot turn away from the day God spoke peace to my mind, heart, and soul. In response to my simple inquiry for wisdom, He reached down from heaven and enveloped me in His love. What greater witness do I need?

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Testimony Tuesday: Amy

On several occasions during her high school experience, strangers would randomly approach Amy (today's guest writer) and tell her they had free candy at the old widow's house across the street from the school.  Okay, strangers is a strong word. Fellow peers in school, but still, they didn't really know her and would just show up during lunch hour and get in her business.  

Ooookay, the widow lived in a condominium and it wasn't anywhere near the school and there wasn't any candy.  But still, high school peers would just plop down in front of her and say: "Hey, you Amy so-and-so?" 

Thereafter, Amy responses positively.

And henceforth total stranger adolescent peers would divulge their biggest teenage dilemmas, then would pause and seek Amy's advice.  

Now for Mrs. Olsen's involvement with said wisegirl-on-top-o-the-mountain it's a little different.  I guess it's more like peers with benefits.  Instead of me showing up for a free therapy session during high school to get an arbitrary outsider opinion, I have a friend with a steel trap memory who remembers the details of my life and always seems to pick up where she left off.  Plus she's like a wisegirl-on-top-o-the-mountain and so her words always have a tinge of being wise beyond her years.

Above all, Amy is happy.

I think her faith and love of God have a lot to do with that.  Let's hear what she's got to say on this Testimony Tuesday:

I grew up in an active Latter Day Saint home. I was taught at a very early age how to pay attention to the feelings that followed every choice I made. Stealing my sister's stickers...I felt nervous,scared, and defensive. Leaving "drop n' runs" (cookies) on a doorstep...I felt happy, excited, and good. These emotions were actually identified and discussed as I was growing up. This was essential because it helped me gain a testimony to truth according to how I felt about what I was learning.

The church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the truest source of joy I have ever tasted. It is delicious with endless opportunities for miracles and blessings- growth and insight. It adds color to all that I see around me. It truly is the solid foundation to all that exists in my small but significant life, and it is TRUE.

I know this because of the million (or more) moments that the Holy Spirit has brushed across my own spirit and proven this truth to my soul. It is the Holy Ghost that allows me to know what is good and right and honest. What does this look like? Feelings of familiarity and comfort- feelings of happiness and peace. When I feel the spirit, a desire for action settles in. To BE better- DO better- WANT better.

When I act upon these feelings of the spirit...my experience turns from testimony to conversion. Having a testimony is knowing something is true. Conversion is when we LIVE it every day. It isn't a testimony that keeps us secure. We often hear people stand in church and "bear testimony" who later fall completely away. How is this possible? Knowing it is true is good- but isn't enough- especially in a world disguising filth for fun and sin for pleasure. When we LIVE the gospel every day (the best we know how) there is safety that takes over our doubts and fears. It wins the fight over worry. Conversion secures hope through trial, and adds brightness to life.

A story: All of my life I have understood and lived the principle of tithing. I'll share one of the many miracles received because of the conversion to this principle. When my husband and I were married a year, we were broke. We had a little girl and bills to pay and were really in need of a miracle. My husband had four jobs at this time (one full time- three side), and we struggled to make ends meet.

One day I received a medical bill for $376.86 and I burst into tears. We didn't have it. Joe and I knelt in prayer and poured out our hearts to our Father and expressed our faith that because we were full tithe payers...we were ready to receive the blessings promised. We went to bed with confidence it would come. Somehow- it would come.

The next day I got an unfamiliar envelope in the mail from State Farm Insurance. It wasn't our insurance provider and as I opened it I read the most unexpected letter to my husband. It explained that they were aware that he had been in an accident four years earlier (a motorcycle hit his car in a parking lot)and they were sorry they were sending a check to him NOW...for $376.86.

The EXACT amount we needed to pay our medical bill! That same morning, we were offered more work on the weekend which added 800 dollars to our bank account! This all came the morning after we prayed in supplication (or "humble request" as the dictionary says.)

I love the gospel of Jesus Christ more than anything in this world. It IS life. It provides answers to EVERY question ever asked by the human race. It is in the scriptures and the words of the prophets that these answers are found. I have sought to find answers to some very specific problems in my life and have been sustained with inspiration of what is best. If we humbly ask in faith and LIVE the gospel...we WILL receive.

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Testimony Tuesday: Sophia

There are a few unwritten rules in life: never buy from traveling salesmen, don't say the word "bomb" in an airport, never date co-workers, or your best friend's crush for that matter.  Never ever allow yourself to purchase or drive a Trans Am.  And once you're married, don't go tracking down old boyfriends and setting up lunch dates and such.

As far as I can tell, there are no rules about steering clear from old boyfriend's sisters.  I can't deny the fact that the reason I met our guest writer today was because I once dated her older brother.  Kindof weird.  It's so irrelevant now, and it became irrelevant even back in "the day".     

For now, Sophia and I share in the roller coaster ride that is motherhood.  As a mother to three girls under age 4, Sophia demonstrates her mad skills by filling each day scrubbing up her kids to cute-ness with matching bows, reading to them, cleaning her house, counseling the young ladies at the church, fixing dinner, and working out.  Plus she gets to bed at a decent time.  Mister of the House, if you're reading this: please don't up your standards on me.  Just love me for my frenetic spontaneous energy bursts that seem to follow the moon, or maybe chocolate consumption. 

Over the coming years, I look forward to sitting back to see how her offspring turn out after spending their lives with this wise no-nonsense mother, who is level-headed, funny, and insightful.

As a bonus for you all: A kissing pic!  

And now,  Sophia's tips for maintaining her faith through life's craziness:

I’ve always believed in the existence of God, but it doesn’t automatically follow that I’ve always known that a connection to Him is a connection to happiness. Nor have I understood how my choices affected that connection. I feel that my testimony has grown “line upon line” as I’ve experienced life and made choices, for good or bad, in sometimes imperceptible increments. But I have had a few standout experiences that became pivot points.

Probably the most significant of these was a car accident I was involved in when I was 17. I was trying to beat a red light and ended up colliding with two boys on a motorcycle. They both died within the next several hours. It’s a difficult thing to figure out how you can possibly have the right to be happy, or even live, when you’ve been the instrument of so much pain. Some people are imprisoned for less than what I did and here I was, walking down the halls of my High School, sitting in class, planning a future, all the things any other teenager is allowed. I instantly started taking my choices more seriously, but it was a couple years later that I finally began to feel I was also allowed to pursue happiness. That was when I began to learn about the Atonement and the great paradox of how He who deserved it least experienced the indescribable weight of us all. The fact was, I didn’t deserve happiness (no one does) but He offers it anyway. He carries the pain that we can’t. Because of His sacrifice we can reach out and pluck happiness like the fruit in Lehi’s dream. Instead of earning, we’re reaching and in the process we’re filled.

The great paradox of the Atonement applies to other areas as well. Just like a common mistake isn’t supposed to end in death, a God powerful enough to create worlds and posterity as the sand of the sea isn’t supposed to know and love a rebellious an evil, carnal, weak piece of dust; the most important message of all time can’t possibly be entrusted to the weak and ignorant; the one experience most commonly shared by women throughout the world and time, bearing children, can’t also be the most personal, intimate, unique, heart-wrenching experience for each one; each of Heavenly Father’s billions of children is entrusted with agency and so, because it will be through as many different paths as there are people to walk them, can’t possibly each arrive at the exact same truth. Reason doesn’t explain these things—only the Atonement does. Miracles don’t make sense but they are real, and even common.

I believe in God and in obeying Him, not because I think it will eliminate my trials and suffering, but because it gives meaning, perspective, and even joy to them. I actually know that it’s possible to have indescribable joy in the midst of excruciating pain. In fact, that kind of joy isn’t possible without it. I have faith because I’ve experienced the sweetness of His promised blessings. I don’t know how the miracles in my life have happened, only that they came after the faith.

Having faith means that just my efforts are good enough. Even though I can’t be a perfect mother, I have peace and joy in mothering because of faith that God will teach and protect my children simply because I try. I don’t have to earn or deserve anything—only have faith in His mercy and allow the miracle of the Atonement to magnify my efforts. I know that when I follow Him the very best of everything follows. He is the only place that offers that kind of peace and joy.

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*disclaimer

People inspire me.  I am Mormon.  Every Tuesday I am posting writings from guests who love the Lord, and who have maintained their faith in a crazy world.  I will most definitely defend my faith, but have no need to vindicate it.  I am open to the positive words and experiences of those from other faiths.

I just wanted to get that off my chest thank you.

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Testimony Tuesday: Patty

Today marks 3rd in the series of guest writers who are god-fearin' and people-lovin' folks. This project wouldn't be complete without the insight from a woman who is out of the thick of "it"(I'm talking little ankle-biters shadowing every move) and is now (hopefully) enjoying an empty nest. She is also my personal hero.

There's so many reasons why Patty is a female stud. A) She's an Idaho girl who grew up skiing at majestic Grand Targhee B) She kept up skiing and rockin' the slopes even after 4 kids C) She has patience like a river. I'm not kidding about that. D) She was my Young Womens teacher growing up but still allowed me to be equally yoked as a kindred spirit.

Here she is showing off her beautiful offspring.  Over to you Patty:

As for me, in my home, I tried to recognize when the kids “felt” something good.  I would tell them that was the Holy Ghost, and how blessed they were to be able to feel that.  I would write the things down that they shared with me.  My youngest son is on a mission in Brazil.  When he was 5 he told me about a special experience when the “talking ghost” talked to him.  (It took me a few minutes to realize he wasn’t talking about Casper). When he was 12 and his father died, he told me another experience that happened to him during the funeral.  I wrote these things down, but, better than that, one of his church leaders had the kids in the class write down “pocket testimonies” during one of their lessons.  My son wrote about this last experience, folded the small piece of paper up about the size of a dime, and shoved it in his pants pocket.  I found it, saved it, and included it with information I sent with my son on his mission.  He remarked when he found it how it brought back something he had forgotten.  It came at a time that he needed encouragement.

I once heard a saying that I use when confronted with the questions.  We aren’t members of the church because of what we know, but because of what we feel. 

Another piece of advice I remember is, that as a parent, we need to set up, or make sure there are situations where the Lord can be present in our home. 

There is an email being circulated that is very interesting.  It is an LDS young women from Blackfoot, Idaho attending Harvard University.  She is on a religious panel discussion, and she answers some of the touchy questions very well.   It takes about 20 minutes to listen to, but she does a great job.

Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose - 3. Rachel Esplin from Harvard Hillel on Vimeo.

[Another] great resource for inspiration is my friend *John.  He is a university professor, and happens to be the only LDS instructor in his department.  I have had two family members leave the gospel as they became highly educated.  They are too smart to believe now and can talk through most of our doctrine.  John is well educated in all history, church history included.  He had his own challenges in dealing with history, his colleagues, and his testimony.  I asked him to tell me how he balanced his intellect and the gospel.  I will give you both of his responses to me.  He is eloquent and right on the money. 

Mrs. Olsen here: I will be posting John's contribution later this week.  For now, we'll leave you some time to watch the embedded video if you have not already seen it.   Patty and I were both proud Idahoans when we watched it.  Thanks Patty!

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Testimony Tuesday: Kelly B.

Today is our second in the "Why I Believe" Series dedicated to humans, sent to Planet Earth from a loving Heavenly Father, trying to retain their true identity amidst Earth-like chaos abounding on the nightly news.

My guest today is Kelly. When Kelly was in college, she drove a restored classic car that was baby blue. I remember because I was a missionary, biking and walking in my 3 mile radius in Gainesville Florida and couldn't go anywhere else. That was okay, but my spontaneous nature was constantly grumbling to drive, find an alligator, climb a palm tree, and discover the Florida beaches outside my confined mission boundaries. When my mission companion and I needed to get a ride to Jacksonville for mission business, we hitched a ride in a baby blue 1960-something car that allowed me to reminisce my former life of road-tripping wind-in-my-hair happiness as our new friend, and newest convert to the Church, Kelly taxied us past roadside jungles and swamps.

There's no doubt Kelly was the cool girl in college. She was funny and had all the boys drooling over her natural curls, and her baby-blue wheels.

When you grow up in a church, and all your neighbors believe the same as you, there's the risk you will take some of this stuff for granted. I think anybody who leaves "Zion" to be a missionary amidst a new culture, language, or religious majority will rightly be amazed at the religious vigor, faith-in-action miracles, and major life changes that you witness when someone is a new convert. Such was the gift that Kelly gave to me.

Let's check up and see how Kelly's been doing since she made "the switch". Over to you Kelly.  By the way, sweet eighties threads.  Gag me with a spoon you look rad!

I am fortunate in a way to be a convert, because I 'got' to experience life out there without the benefit of the Gospel, and was able have the contrast without rebelling.

I remember very clearly what I was like back then: smart, beautiful, witty...and unhappy. Okay- the rest may be an exagerration, but I was very unhappy. I had gone through a very hard few years- my three remaining grandparents died in a few short years- after long and just depressing illnesses. My parents had gotten divorced, and remarried, and it took me a long time to adjust to that. I was left with some very deep insecurities, and abandoned my faith during that time.

It's not that I ever doubted that God loved me, because I believed in the power of love, and that 'it' existed even after death....but I did not understand how a loving God could condemn people who had never heard of Him (ie- China, people in past ages with no chance to glimpse a Bible even.) So, I kept the idea of Love, and said so long to God. What did I need some old man for?

I ran off to school, and met a boy- I mean boy- he was only 17! What a baby! And he would make me so flustered. He seemed so sure that God was real, that our spirits were male and female even before we were born, and would be after we died- where was he getting this stuff from? I loved him, but we didn't talk much about God. I was a little busy.

So, I went Home for the summer, and My mom insisted that I meet with missionaries, because she liked this boy, and wanted us to agree on things spiritual, if we were so serious...and for me to take him out of the mormon church. I sat through the lessons, and kindof prayed, but not expecting anything. Mostly I was trying to get my mom off my back, I guess.

After the summer was over, I went back to college, and started meeting with the missionaries there, this time for me. We started over- which I didn't like, but fine. If we have to... I began to seriously read, and to wonder- could it be true? After nine months, I got my answer. I was walking home from class, not even praying, and I just knew. It was like taking off sunglasses- I hadn't even realized everything was so dim. I am not kidding, the sun has been brighter ever since.

I had to call my mom and tell her what I was going to do, and it was one of the scariest things I have ever done. Worse than getting married, having kids- any of that. She was very upset, and boycotted my baptism, but I knew I was doing the right thing.

Joining the church has given me hope- hope that families can be together forever, that my own kids won't have to go through the divorce that I was subjected to. That I could be a good mom, and love my kids, and treat them with kindness. That I could be in control of my temper. The Temple is the foundation of our family.

Have there been times that I have questioned if this is the true church? Yes. I don't believe that our faith is stagnant, and when we try to broaden our testimonies, sometimes we have to step out into the dark. But, it doesn't feel like the dark anymore, because I already have such a trove of blessings. It seems ungrateful to me to say "tell me now, or I'm out of here!" when I consider all of the goodness the church has introduced me to.

I could never go back to another church. I have been there, and was not fed. It is a choice for me of either this is the true church, or there is no god. I know that there is a God. I know that He loves me and my family. I know that he can call prophets whenever and wherever he chooses, and that His ways are not My ways. I know that He answers prayers, and I know that Jesus is my Savior. I have felt the sorrow of sin, and could not remove it myself. I love the Savior for saving me, and I know he loves me too. I have felt the gentle assurance in times of sadness that He is with me, and the proddings of the Spirit to improve, to continue, to hang on...

When our son broke his leg severely at age two (actually a week before his birthday), my husband and I learned a little of the Savior's love for us. I had never been in a position where I felt so strongly to take another's pain, but I would have done it then. My heart was drawn out to him, and I loved him so much...I felt so humbled to realize the great love Jesus Christ has for all of us. He would bear our afflictions because of His love...and he will if we ask him.

When it comes down to it, Faith is a choice. We decide to try the Lord, to test Him at his word, or we don't. We decide to hang in there until we are answered, or we give up. It is up to us what we do. The timing of His answers and blessings are up to Him, but His love is constant. I'm trying to be constant, too.

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Testimony Tuesday: Lisa S.

A while back I had fun cutting my son's hair, and hypothesized what kind of human he would end up. That was a silly afternoon, though in some ways it confronted some legitimate questions that all parents must have: Will my kid be a weasel? Will they be punks? How 'bout grateful? Will they be cunning in their career? Hardworking? Happy?

The other side of this coin, and the true desire of my heart is this: Will my kids know and love their Savior? Will they be able to feel and recognize The Spirit? Will they still believe?

After meeting up with an old friend and fellow parent, I saw a little heartache over their kid who had grown up and refused the faith of their childhood. They seemed to ask: How did I raise up my family and be so involved in our religion, with my own faith unshaken...well, why did my kid reject all of this stuff that I considered a true gift? (And remember, the tone of this parent did not have diminished love for their kid, but they really wanted to know!)

So as a mom to a fresh crop of offspring, I was left wondering: What will cause the gospel to become an anchor to someone? How does one retain their faith when life gets hard, or worse, complicated? How does one retain the light of Christ amidst the busy going-ons of life and love?

So in honor or April, and it's own Easter Celebration of The Resurrected Savior, I posed some of these questions to some folks I've met along the way, and wanted to hear what they had to say. I hope you want to hear it too. For now, we'll call them Testimony Tuesdays. So I hereby present our first guest, Lisa.

She is amazed at the sheer size of God's Bounty (i.e. these yams). Frankly, so am I. Let's hear how her testimony grows. Over to you Lisa:

As a child, I was taught very specifically, and very carefully, to know and believe the scriptures. My parents were not perfect, but they held family prayer and scripture study, Family Home Evening, and we attended church regularly. Belief came easily for me. I never wondered, never doubted, and I tried my best to keep Christ's commandments, knowing fully that if I disobeyed, the consequences listed in the scriptures would be mine.

When I became a teenager, however, my testimony became solidified as my own, not just the regurgitation of what I had been taught. I was in a remote town in an extremely remote state, where I was one of three LDS students in my graduating class. Every day my faith was put on trial. Every day I was asked about my belief. I had wonderful friends who knew what my standards and beliefs were, and respected me for it; but they were always watching how I would handle every day situations. I had to make sure my faith was founded on a deep rooted, unshakable foundation, one that could not be swayed or tempted into submission. And the closer I became to my Savior, the happier I was.

Now, as a parent, I have found the time when I rely on that early, strong, foundation more than ever. I am sleep deprived, lonely, and often times, depressed. I need Jesus Christ and the peace the gospel brings, and I need it bad. I read my scriptures daily and am working hard to have weekly family home evenings and family prayer every day. These things keep my anchor strong, as the corrosion of the daily grind wears away at my heart. It is taking more work now to stay strong than it ever has for me, but I know the work is worth it. There are glorious, shining moments, when my heart is calmed, when the flood of the spirit washes over me, and I am given the deepest peace and comfort; more than any other source on Earth. There are the nights when, after a particularly taxing day, I fall to my knees in anguished cries, praying for help. And help has come. My children are another beautiful source of strength for me, even in their infancy. I look into these spirits, and know that they come from a very kind, very merciful, and very generous Father in Heaven.

I watch every day for the tender mercies of God, and know that they are real. I marvel at His grace and condescension, and am reminded often of the love and happiness I feel because of my relationship with the Savior. I follow Him because it makes me happy, because my life is simpler and more complete when wrapped in the arms of His Love. I know his promises are real, and as we draw closer to him, the windows of heaven pour out blessings that there will not be room for us to receive.

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