This is my testimony

I had a stranger write me an email the other day.

Oh no

I thought.

Here we go again, someone was offended by my blog.

I thought.

It began;

"Stumbled upon your blog"

Hey!! My name is D. and today I was searching in google for people who "talked to God" and I came onto your blog post that was written yesterday about your adorable boy. I have been having a really hard time lately struggling with anxiety and depression and I ask God in prayer to guide me. I am not LDS but I believe in a higher power and I am eager to go on the path that God has laid out for me. I'm sorry if this is out of the blue but I want to ask you how you stay so strong in your faith. I've been reading through your blog and you are such an inspiration! I truly look up to as a role model :)

Thank you and God bless,

D.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

It wasn't a hate email, quiet the contrary, it was heart warming!

I was excited and grateful this D. person would write such nice things.

So I wrote her back.

The next day, I received another email from D.

"Thank you so much for responding. I'm actually investigating the LDS church now because I absolutely love what they teach. I just hope that God can give me a testimony that would strengthen my faith. If you don't mind me asking, can you share your testimony?"

My testimony?

You want to hear MY testimony?

It's not everyday that someone asks me to share my testimony.

Although I walk around each day feeling like I've got my testimony in my heart, it was a rather tough thing to put it into words on paper.

Dear D.,

Where do I even begin? My testimony actually is quite simple...I've never had a loud and clear THIS IS IT!! kind of an answer...no trumpet sounding, no visitations of angels...it's always been a quiet and subtle, but undeniable feeling-like a burning in my heart. A feeling like..."what's there to lose anyway?" My parents were converts when they were teenagers (people who joined the church at some point in their life, rather than be born into it), which means that I was born into the church. They raised me and I always grew up close to the church and it's teachings. I went to school surrounded by many members and always felt that I knew that the church was true. In junior high though, my friends started to choose other paths and decided to do what seemed like everyone else was doing, you know. They didn't go to church anymore and even began to make fun of the things we had all grown up believing in. That hurt me, but I had to make a decision too. Do I stay or do I let go too? I decided to stick it out. Then when I turned 21, I turned in my paper work to serve a full time mission. That was an unforgettable experience in and of itself, but when I came home to the states, I found out that my family had fallen away from the church. I didn't understand. How could this be? Still, I decided to stay strong and hold on to what I had always believed in. I think it's evident in people's lives when they don't believe in something higher, like they've lost that spark in their eyes or glow around them. I've had to pray for myself from time to time to know for myself whether or not this church is true. The answer rarely ever comes fast or as strongly as I would like, but like I said before, it is always a quiet peaceful feeling I get, and the thought of "what is there to lose by following its teachings?" I know that I'm the happiest that I can be and the best person I can be by trying to live the gospel each day. It's never an easy thing to do, but it's sure worth it. As you can see, my testimony is a simple one, but one that has kept me anchored throughout my life.

I wrote it and realized how simple my testimony really was.

Nothing fantastic to brag about, nothing to rave about, I just always knew. That doesn't mean that I've never prayed...I have; many times.

Sometimes, the simple things are what we hold on to and many times, it's by simple things that the Lord moves mountains.

Really though, what is there to lose by living the gospel?

Thanks D. for this opportunity to share what I love most, this gospel of Jesus Christ.