Though this blog is intended to reach all faiths, I feel it important for members of the Church to share their testimonies of the Savior and His restored gospel here for everyone to read and find spiritual strength. Please feel free to add your testimony in the comment box below!
“…in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” -2 Corinthians 13:1
My testimony is always growing as I continue to learn and practice what I know to be true. First, and foremost, I know that there is a God. He is our literal, eternal Father. He created us. He knows us, and He loves us each individually, so much so that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to atone for our sins.
God has a plan for each of us. Christ is the center of that plan. The ultimate outcome is for each of us to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father again, completely united with our families forever. To help us get there, God has provided a prophet once again upon the earth, to act as His mouthpiece. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. That prophetic line of succession has continued in an unbroken chain to the current prophet, Thomas S. Monson.
The Bible is the word of God. The Book of Mormon is also the word of God. Together, they teach the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a gospel of gladness. It’s principles and teachings bring peace to people’s lives, strengthen family relationships, and bring individuals closer to God.
Truth is available to all who seek it. Ask of God. Anytime. Anywhere. He is listening, and He will answer. I know this because I asked, and He answered. The gospel of Jesus Christ has the power
to transform us into the very image that God created us to be – His. Let us take full advantage of applying these teachings, and day by day, one step at a time, strive to be more like Him whom we worship.
Please feel free to add your testimony of the restored gospel in the comments section below!
The Latter-day Life 
I, too, asked and received an answer that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. That one prayer changed my life, and it’s effects are felt every day. I wrote about my own experience here: http://wepreachofchrist.wordpress.com/2013/06/16/conversion . I look forward to reading other’s experiences!
God knows and loves each of us. He and our Savior, Jesus Christ, are mindful of us and all that we experience. I know that as we have faith in each of Them, follow Their teachings given to us through the scriptures and living prophets today, and strive to keep the commandments and our covenants, we will feel Their love and guidance. We will have peace in our choices and even our challenges.
As we live righteously we are promised individual direction from the Holy Ghost. I know that as I seek guidance from the Lord through prayer, I will receive it at the moment and in the way that I need it most. I know the Bible and Book of Mormon are the word of God and provide instruction that allows each of us to find happiness in this life and the next.
Jesus Christ is the Savior of mankind. It is only through Him that we can return to live with God. It is only through Him that we can saved from our sins. As we have faith in Jesus Christ we are driven to follow His example and teachings, we are led to repent of our wrong doings and mistakes, we must be baptized in His name and receive the gift the Holy Ghost, and as we continue to follow the teachings of Christ and listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost we will not only have the the strength to endure to the end but we will find joy in our experiences.
I had the great blessing of growing up in a home that was centered around Jesus Christ. WIth a family of nine, things definitely weren’t perfect, but having the gospel of Jesus Christ in our home made all the difference. As I grew up I became aware of how different my home life was from most of the world. Like the hymn says I felt “Because I had been given much, I too must give.” I had the amazing opportunity of serving a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for eighteen months. I met some of the most incredible people as I knocked on doors to share my testimony of Jesus Christ.
I don’t pretend to be perfect, but I strive to learn from my Savior everyday. I know He lives and that His church is on the earth today. I know that we have modern prophets and apostles to lead and guide us just as He had in the primitive church. I know the Book of Mormon to be the word of God, that it was translated by a prophet of God, and that as we read and study from it, along with the Bible we gain a greater relationship with our Savior and a true witness of his living reality. I know of these things because I have studied, prayed, and felt the Holy Ghost testify to my mind and my heart that they are true. Most of all, I have felt the fruit of this gospel in my life by experiencing the greatest love and joy as I’ve lived the gospel. I don’t just experience happiness, but I experience eternal joy as I follow Him.
Trying to figure out what I want to write here for my testimony is a little like Fast Sunday’s testimony meeting: you have a million thoughts running through you head and aren’t really sure what you want to say as you make your way up to the microphone. Some people share short, “I know this church is true” testimony, while others share an experience that tested and/or strengthened their testimony. For me, my testimony grew from a series of events during my two-year mission in southern France.
Prior to leaving on my mission, I had a testimony… at least enough to get me to commit myself to two years in a foreign country teaching the gospel to people in a different culture. While serving, I had very specific instances where I placed individual stones in my testimony’s foundation: Joseph Smith is a prophet of God; the Book of Mormon was correctly translated by Joseph Smith and is one element that makes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stand apart from all other churches; families can be together forever.
But it was near the conclusion of my mission that all of those elements came together. While standing in the mission home, sharing my testimony with other missionaries during a Christmas get-together, I began to explain the specific experiences I had throughout my mission that added stones to my foundation. I was using my fingers to count those various elements, and once I had completed that count, I came to the realization that each and every one of those experiences led to an understanding of the Savior, Jesus Christ. I knew at that point that Jesus Christ made everything possible and that by following his example, I can return and live with Heavenly Father and my family for eternity.
My testimony hasn’t kept me from trials in my life. And I’m sorry to say that sometimes I have forgotten my testimony while I’ve encountered some of life’s trials. But finding opportunities to share my testimony with others will help me remember what I do know to be true and hopefully keep my testimony in the forefront (as opposed to the background) when life throws me lemons.
One of the ways I am hoping to do this is to share photos I have captured of LDS Temples, along with testimonies of the restored gospel. I invite you to read these testimonies and if you feel inclined to share your testimony, I would be happy to add it to my Temples & Testimonies blog. Here’s a link to the page – http://carltonaut.com/temples-and-testimonies/.
I have a Testimony of this Church of Jesus Christ and this Gospel.
I know that Heavenly Father loves us all, no matter what we do or what we have done.
He loves us so much that he sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ to atone for our sins and I know that he lives. He lives to take away our burdens and to place them on his back. He lives to love us enough to bring us back to our father when we lose our way. He lives and because he lives I know that if I follow the Lords commandments and do all that I can, one day I can return to live with my father in heaven. I know that we are all children of God, therefore we all have the opportunity to return as long as we follow the Lords council. We are all given the same chance and we are all able to come back. This Gospel is true, I know this because if it wasn’t true, we wouldn’t need to send missionaries or to hasten the Lords work. This Gospel only brings pure joy and it has blessed me so much. Heavenly Father has done all this because he loves you, me and all those who have ever been given the chance to come to this beautiful and wonderful Earth. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
I was at a point in my life where i knew there was a GOD and he had a beloved son named Jesus Christ who was born to take upon himself the sins of the world so that we’re forgiven for all that we have done in our lives. It took me years to finally know of the truth of his gospel and to learn about the truthfulness of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday-Saints through prayer and the testimony that i was blessed to receive through his divine love and mercy. I have never felt anything so strong and spiritual in my life before even to the point where i could not find the answer’s to try and explain it but to say that it was his way of showing and leading me to the true church restored to this earth. From the prophet’s of old down through to Joseph Smith who was blessed and chosen to bring forth the gold plate’s which translated today the Book of Mormon and to our living day prophet Thomas S Monson to continue to lead, guide and direct the affair’s of the saviour’s church in this last dispensastion. This is my testimony of the truth and i seal it in the name of the most high and eternal Lord Jesus Christ AMEN.
I had a personal revelation years ago at age 19 in preparation for my LDS mission, which has served as a reminder all my life (I am now 55) that God is pleased with this church and those who serve it.
In anticipating my future mission and having submitting my application, my frequent and fervent prayer was that my mission destination would be directed by God through revelation, at the time, I suspected that most were likely ‘luck of the draw’.
On a Monday morning in March 1980, I woke up from a dream with an overwhelming feeling of peace, love, and the Spirit of God. Within my dream I had received my LDS mission call in an envelope, when opened, the letter stated simply that I had been called to serve to Africa. To this day, I still remember during the dream of running to the family encyclopedia and looking up the continent of Africa. The feelings of my heart that morning were as full and filled with the Spirit of God as I have ever felt in my subsequent life.
At the breakfast table, I confidently pronounced to my family that I would be going to Africa on my mission. My father returned an astonished look and expressed that a thought had suddenly appeared in his mind in recent days that I would be going to Africa. As I went to work that day I told my workmates, most which were LDS as I was then living in Southeastern Idaho, that I would be going to Africa on my mission.
Tuesday came, and I believed that I was going to go to Africa on my mission.
Wednesday came, and I thought there was a pretty good chance I would go to Africa on my mission.
Thursday came, and I thought that I had had a wonderful dream, and it would be neat if I did go to Africa, but a lot of other places would be wonderful, as long as I was going where God wanted me to go.
Friday came, and I had no idea where I would go on my mission and couldn’t wait to receive my call and find out.
Saturday came, and in the mail was an envelope from the LDS Church Headquarters addressed to me. Breathlessly I opened the letter and stared at the line that said “….you have been called to serve in the Johannesburg, South Africa Mission” (which at the time was the only one of the then 155 worldwide missions in Africa).
Truly God, my Heavenly Father, had answered my humble prayers, and parted the heavens in my dream of six days earlier to let me know that yes, he approved of my missionary service, and that he indeed had participated in the selection of my mission destination.
In looking back at those two years in South Africa (1980-1982), I’m not sure that there was anything that I did or anyone that I touched that was somehow so unique that another missionary could not have accomplished it. I believe simply that God in acceptance of the desires of my heart gave me a temporary gift of prophecy/revelation in a dream.
Throughout the 36 years that have expired since, I have often thought of that dream so long ago. Whenever I felt weak or doubted God, Joseph Smith or the LDS church, that dream comes to mind, and I’m reminded of the marvelous feelings of peace and love that accompanied it. Although I have had other spiritual experiences, none other have been so dramatic. I thank my Heavenly Father for sending me as a 19-year old an undeniable answer to prayer that has inspired me though a lifetime.
And, I testify to the truthfulness of these events in the name of Almighty God, my Heavenly Father, and his Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.
This isn’t so much a testimony as it is a testimony builder. I’ve recently had a tiny personal apostasy. It had been about 6 months since I had done any of the things that we, as Latter Day Saints, do daily. I had begun to drink casually with friends and commit other sins that, at the time, seemed harmless. My parents (with whom I live) had been worried that as a young adult I would stray too far to want to return. One night, my mom sat me down to tell me my decisions (that I had hidden from her) were leading me to a path of self destruction and that I needed to think and pray about changing my actions. Our conversation shook me up to the point that afterwards I was sobbing until I couldn’t breathe. At that point of vulnerability I felt the prompting to pray. I asked at that point for comfort. Heavenly Father answered my prayer. I haven’t prayed much since then, but I’ve been striving to live a more Christ like life. I’ve prayed when I’ve felt inclined to do so and tried to open myself up for revelation.
One of the changes my mother asked me to make was a change in friends. The people with whom I was surrounding myself were dragging me down. There was never any direct pressure to sin with them, just the opportunity. I’ve struggled with depression for years, and at the time alcohol and sex seemed the way to help lighten my burden. So I partook. When I stopped hanging out with these people and removed myself from the situations in which these options were open, I felt myself come a step closer to our savior.
I’ve decided that since I work with them, I’d need a change in job. I talked to my manager and they switched my shifts. I’ve been looking for another job in the area to fully remove myself from the problem (and for better pay) and I had been unsuccessful. I kept a prayer in my heart for a new job opportunity.
God works in mysterious ways. For a while, I’d shoot for a job and miss it. I was beginning to settle for the new shift at the same place but He has bigger plans for me. In the last two days I’ve received four new job opportunities. They’re a step up, making more money, better hours, nicer clientele. There is not a doubt in my mind that God didn’t give that to me. He knows what I’m capable of and He waited for me to almost give up on Him to show me I can do it. He has blessed me in so many ways and I’ve never been happier in my life.
I know He lives and loves me enough to manifest it through little miracles. He is our Father. His Son, our Brother, Jesus Christ atoned for our sins, making it possible for me to work past my issues and one day go through the temple. They will help us if we are worthy. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.