My Testimony at Home

Since I'm no longer serving over the internet as a missionary full-time, it's been some time since I've been prompted to share my testimony online. When one of the new members of the church I helped sent me a request on Facebook to use the LDS App, I leaped on the reminder it was to share my testimony.

While I was a full-time missionary in the Referral Center, I calculated one afternoon that I shared testimony online over the internet or phone an average of every three minutes during the day. Fast Sunday is a perfect day to share my testimony, which is as follows:

I know that Jesus Christ is our Lord, Savior, Redeemer, and

perfect Example. Only through following him can we become like him and return to live with our Father in heaven. Jesus Christ overcame death and sin through his birth into mortality, his perfect life, suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the

I know that he has blessed us with this life as an opportunity to build our abilities to become like Him and have true joy. He's given us our families as a great tool to help us do this. Family relationships provide the best environment to practice following Jesus Christ's example. It is my family who taught me to consider "what would Jesus do?"

I know that the Book of Mormon contains Christ's ancient directions for us, as does the Holy Bible.

I know that he has again chosen prophets and apostles, like he did in the Bible, to direct us towards him. Those prophets and apostles give inspired direction and modern scripture in our times, such as is in the Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, and Official Declarations. God's words never cease.

I know this because I have done my best to serve Christ, and hope through his enabling grace to be able to do better each day. I'm glad for the help and invitation of those around me to follow Christ and hope to offer my help to them.

I offer this testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Audia's Baptism

Not long ago, Audia shared her testimony on this blog before she was baptized.  This last weekend, Audia was baptized after several months of preparation.  I asked her for her testimony again to share on this blog.

It's been a couple of days since I was baptized, and I've felt incredible and amazing.  Everyone at church has been so happy for me that I made a great choice.  When I got baptized, it was a dream come true.  That dream was finding a church that liked me and I liked them.  I have no trouble at all with paying attention and focusing like my other church.  I had trouble with that every  day. I look forward to church eagerly.  I really enjoy it so much I'm not leaving. I found where I belong.  

Audia and Elder Kump dressed up for the baptism.

Since I've been going, I can't stop smiling.  I am so amazed on how much I've changed.   Whenever I leave, I leave knowing things I never knew before, and I love it.  There is no way, no how, that I'm leaving this church now that I'm a member.  I'm glad I did that research and gave it a chance. I thought I would have to go from church-to-church looking for the one but not in this case.  It feels good knowing I have true friends that I love, and they love me and care about me. I've never felt so loved.  I never realized I have so many friends, and I hope these feelings I've experienced never end.

A Persistent Promise

Throughout history, many have rejected the wonderful blessings that come from striving to do as the Lord asks.  Within the Book of Mormon, the Lord continually invites us to keep his commandments for a variety of reasons.

Alma 50: 20  Blessed art thou and thy children; and they shall be blessed, inasmuch as they shall keep my commandments they shall prosper in the land. But remember, inasmuch as they will not keep my commandments they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.

This phrase "inasmuch as they shall keep my commandments they shall [insert blessing here]" occurs more than a dozen times in the Book of Mormon.  [See the others I've found] Of course, these aren't the only times or ways that the Book of Mormon, or scripture in general challenges us to keep commandments.  This is just one of the ways that the Lord ties in the commandments with blessings attached.

"There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated."  [D&C 130:20-21]

Brother Bott, one of my advisors when I was training to be a missionary, liked to illustrate this by saying "In other words, pick up one end of the stick and the other one inescapably follows." and that for every blessing you may want, you have to pick up the stick with the blessing you want at the end of it.  I see these as one of the forms in which this principle that when you keep commandments there are blessings is illustrated.
How have you seen this principle in action in your lives?

That He Lives!

It's interesting to see that what Joseph Smith thought this was most important for everyone to know  out of all the facts about Jesus Christ.  Everything else that is important about Jesus Christ stems from his victory over death.  If he had no victory over death, he'd have little power over sin.  Had he no victory, he could not have been our Savior.  However, he does still live.  His directions to living prophets and the reestablishment of his Church are an evidence of that, and they hinge on the reality of it.

First chance or last chance.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormon Church we have the opportunity to express our feelings, faith, and convictions at an open mike during services of the first Sunday of each month.  This is part of what we call Fast Sunday.  For years while growing up in the Church, I've watched members line up behind the pulpit to share their feelings about Christ's Gospel, Church, scriptures, their family and so forth.  The line is usually the longest for the first Sunday in December.  There's nothing particularly wrong with shooting for one last chance to offer a testimony to uplift and strengthen the congregation.  In fact, I find it wonderful that many value that last chance to stand up and express their feelings to fellow followers, many of whom just might need that extra encouragement to continue enduring to the end with faith in Christ.
There are some who line up because they haven't taken the chance to share their testimony yet during the year even outside of testimony meetings.  Much more is that there are some who miss even that last chance because they feel they do not want to push the meeting on too long.  Our convictions about our faith are something that we should be sharing with friends, family, and acquaintances openly throughout the year, and not even wait until we have an open pulpit at church, especially not the last chance at an open pulpit.

To me the first chance to offer to my testimony during the year is much more valuable.  Worry that my testimony hadn't been offered to my ward or congregation that year is easily avoided by offering it the first of the year.  I didn't wait until Fast Sunday to offer it either.  Of course it was easy to be prepared to offer my testimony yesterday, because I volunteer full time as a missionary.  However, you don't have to be a missionary to make a chance to share your testimony with someone.
Of course you don't need to be a member of the church to go up to the pulpit on the first Sunday of the month after it has been opened to the congregation by the Bishop.  Visitors are welcome in our Sunday meetings and that welcome includes the invitation to come up and share feelings about faith and the Savior.
To find one of our churches near you, visit maps.lds.org.  If you're unsure what you might offer in your testimony, feel free to chat with a missionary on Mormon.org.

My Story: Audia

It all started when I did my research on the Mormons and I went to Mormon.org. I wanted to leave my old church and get a new church, a new faith, which will help me change for the better. On Mormon.org I met some ladies and they gave me a number for the bishop and his wife then his wife gave me a number for 2 missionaries. So I called and that following Wednesday I met them and that Sunday I went to my first day of Mormon Church and since then I’ve stuck to it.

I decided to be baptized to be an official member of the church because I knew in my heart that it was my new church where I belong. To me, baptism means getting a new life and getting rid of the old and becoming a new person; which is why my testimony is my new life is my LDS faith and it's true and no one can tell me different. It helped me change my life and me I felt a change since coming to this church and I’m sticking to it.  No one can make me leave. I'm happy where I am and I enjoy it. I have friends who I love dearly, who I care about and they care about me.

My favorite scripture is Mosiah 5:7 because it's who I became:

My four year-old cat Socks

"And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters."

Also Psalm 37:5, because the Lord will take care of the people who picked on me and harassed me in due time and I shouldn't be worried: "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass."

I'm excited for when I'm ready to be baptized in the upcoming months.



-by Audia

Hi, I'm Elder Moxley on Mormon.org

http://mormon.org/me/1KCF-eng/ElderMoxley

My profile is finally available on Mormon.org.  Take a look to learn more about me and what my faith in Jesus Christ means to me.   If you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints you can make a profile to and link it to your blog and Facebook page.  To get started or see other profiles go to http://mormon.org/create/eng/