My Testimony For Life :)

For the past 17.5 months I have been serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This has been the best experience I have had my whole life. I have been reflecting on my testimony of the Gospel the past few days.

Please read my testimony below.

I have read the Book of Mormon and prayed about it. I know that it is the word of God. I know that God let us have additional scripture to the Bible so that we can know even more how to follow Christ in our lives. As we follow the teachings of Jesus we will be able to gain eternal happiness and glory in the life to come. I love the Book of Mormon with all my heart. I can not explain the joy and the knowledge it has brought me. It is my favorite book on the earth. I can not, nor will I ever deny the powerful truthfulness of it. Because of the Book of Mormon, I don't just believe in Jesus Christ, but I KNOW for a fact that He lives and loves each one of us. 

I encourage EVERYONE to read it. 

When Jesus Christ was on the earth he established his church and how we were to uphold it. Some of those things he established are: 

• That it bears the name of Jesus Christ
• It has a foundation of Apostles and Prophets and they must be called by God
• It has divine priesthood authority from God
• It has no paid ministry
• It baptizes by immersion
• It teaches that we need to receive the gift Holy Ghost
• It practices divine healing
• It teaches that God and Jesus Christ are separate individuals
• It must teach that Jesus Christ and God have bodies of flesh and bone
• It claims revelation from God
• It must be a missionary church
• It practices baptisms for the dead

Once again those are some things that when Jesus Christ was on the earth he established. But as the people in the times back then were wicked, they killed the Apostles of Jesus Christ and those teachings were lost. There were many people who wanted to follow Christ and knew a few of the teachings, so they followed what they remembered, but no one had EVERYTHING that Christs taught because His authority was gone from the earth. There began to be many churches built up trying to follow what they remembered from Christ. Thousands of years later, when people were humbled enough to receive the Church of Jesus Christ again, it was ready to be restored.

There was a young boy named Joseph Smith who was wondering which of the many churches was true. He kept hearing from all different religions that theirs was true, and yet their doctrine disagreed and so on. He was so confused and honestly just wanted to know which church was true so that he wouldn't be damned to hell. He read in the Bible in James 1:5 that says. "If any of ye lack wisdom let him ask of God..." So that is what he did. He knelt down with a humble heart and asked God which church was true. God the Father and Jesus Christ came to Joseph Smith and told him many things. To read about his account click here: https://www.lds.org/topics/joseph-smith/testimony?lang=eng 

Joseph Smith restored Jesus Christ's church in these latter days. Joseph Smith was called of God to be a prophet in these days. He was chosen to restore Christ's original church. I don't know why it was Joseph Smith, it had to be somebody right? But I am so very grateful for him. I know that he was called and chosen by God to bring about this amazing Church of Christ we have today. All those things that Christ established thousands of years ago are BACK. They are here today for each of us. Christ and God want us to have the blessings that we will receive as we follow him. They love each one of us and have given us a chance to partake of such pure joy, all we have to do is take the opportunity.

Take the opportunity to find out if this church is Christ's true church.

Because God is the same yesterday, today and forever, there are prophets and apostles on the earth today. Today Thomas S. Monson is the Prophet of God. Once again, I don't know why it is him, but it had to be someone right? I am so grateful for Thomas S. Monson. I didn't know if he was a true prophet, but I prayed and asked God, and I know in my heart with out a doubt that He is a prophet chosen of God. 

I am so eternally in debt to Jesus Christ. He is the best brother anyone could ask for. He sacrificed everything so that each one of us can be forgiven of our sins, be resurrected and have the chance to live with Him and God again for eternity. I can't put into words how much I love our Savior Jesus Christ. He is the one who makes everyday possible. He is the one who I can turn to when times get hard. He is always there for me. He is the reason I can do hard things.

             It is all Jesus Christ.

Everything in my life is possible because of Jesus Christ. I am so eternally grateful for His sacrifice and for His church he established thousands of years ago, that has been restored today. I know He lives. 

I am total goober. I don't know a whole lot of anything in this world. BUT I know that the Church of Jesus Christ is true. I know that it is here today on the earth. I know Christ Lives. I know we have prophets today. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know God answers our prayers. I know that this is the way the Christ has asked us to follow him. I know all these things because I have prayed about it. 

Pray to God and ask him about the truthfulness of the things I have testified about. I know He will answer your prayers and you WILL be blessed. 

As I said at the beginning, I have been serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I may only have a few weeks as a full time missionary, but I will always and forever be a disciple of Christ. I know He lives and I will always strive to testify of Him. I am so imperfect that I know I will mess up, but that is the beauty of Christ's Grace, we can be forgiven. 

I am a life-time follower of Christ. 

(Shout out to Michelle Belnap for the Awesome pictures as well as LDS.ORG)