Why I Believe

Submitted by sstringh on Tue, 07/13/2010 - 00:05

It is a privilege for me to be able to share why I believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as taught in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I believe because I have felt it change my life. When I live by the principles taught in this church, my life is full of joy. I have never been happier. I believe because I have read the Book of Mormon and can feel a change in my heart as I read.

Before I read the Book of Mormon all the way through for the first time, I was told to pay attention to my moods and what happened during the days when I read versus the days when I didn’t. And, to my surprise, there was a difference. I know that I am blessed because of this church.

In the Book of Mormon it says "And when ye shall receive these things [the Book of Mormon], I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost" (Moroni 10:4). I do not believe in this church because anyone else told me to, or because it was what I was taught as a child. I believe because I was told to ask and find out for myself if this is the true church. I read, knelt in prayer with a sincere heart and was given an answer. I know it may sound strange, and if you think that, then I would encourage you to do the same thing. Study, pray, and ask with a sincere heart. It is something that cannot fully be understood until you experience it yourself.

I believe that I have a Father in Heaven, who is God, who cares about me personally. I believe this because I can feel him near when I kneel in prayer and I have seen miracles happen around me when I have prayerfully pleaded for his help.

I believe in Jesus Christ. He is my savior. He made the ultimate sacrifice for me and for every other individual that ever lived on this earth to return to Heaven someday. He went through pain I cannot imagine, bleeding from every pore and dying on the cross even though he did nothing to deserve it. I know he did this out of love, to give us all a chance to repent of our sins and change our ways and enjoy the happiness that living according to Gods laws brings. I know every person can return to Heaven if he/she learns to rely on Christ. I feel very strongly that I can do anything if I rely on him and I am nothing without him.

louisbranco1's picture

Are Mormons Christian?

Submitted by louisbranco1 on Tue, 08/03/2010 - 06:36

The answer to the question "Are Mormons Christian?" is a resounding YES!. I am a Mormon and like all other Mormons I believe in the same Jesus Christ that Lutherans, Penticostals, Baptists, Catholics, etc believe in. I believe in the Jesus Christ that was born 2010 years ago, assuming our calendar is correct. I believe that his father was God, his mother was Mary, his adopted father was Joseph. I believe that He was born in Bethlehem and grew up in Nazareth. At age 30 He began his ministry. He called 12 apostles, Peter, James, John, etc., went around doing good, performed many miracles, lived a perfect life, was betrayed by Judas, was crucified for the sins of the world, was ressurected on the 3rd day. He taught his gospel before and after his ressurection. I believe He will come again, this time, in glory.

So, as you can see, my dear non Mormon friends. We believe in the same Jesus Christ, the only one through which salvation can be had. Some of you have been taught that we are not Christians because we do not believe in the trinity in the same way you do. Please consider this; When Jesus was praying to his Father saying "not my will but thy will be done", or "into thy hands I commend my spirit" was he praying to himself? To me that would sound obsurd! In the Bible there are many passages that refer to Jesus and the Father being one. Fortunately we also have a scripture in the Bible that explains what He meant when He said they were one. In John 17:21-22, again praying to his Father, He asks that his disciples be one with him "as" He is with the Father. Clearly his disciples could not be one with him in person therefore when He refers to him and the Father being one He obviously means "in purpose" not in person. God the Father, his Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are indeed one, in purpose, not in person. Their purpose is to bring to pass the ressurection and eternal life of man.

As Mormons we are blessed to have more information about our Savior Jesus Christ than what is contained in the Bible. It's called "The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ". I encourage you to read it with an open mind and then ask God himself in the name of Jesus Christ if it's true. Only then will you know for sure because the Holy Ghost will reveal it to your mind and heart in such a powerful way that you will know it for yourself without the need to accept anybody else's opinion on it. As I studied about the Church at the age of 24 I became very impressed and convinced of its truthfullness because of how much sense it made. But being "convinced" is not nearly as powerful as being "converted". That came when I read The Book of Mormon and put it's promise to the test.

The Church does not want this information to be a secret. That is why they are sending about 50 thousand missionaries throughout the world each year, to spread this information. These 50,000 go for 2 years at their own expense (talk about putting your money where your mouth is, I've always been very impressed with that, it speaks volumes about their sincerity). Just one last word in case you're still scared to check this out for yourself; we also believe and teach from the Bible and regard it very highly. We just happen to have additional scripture which makes things in the Bible much more understandable. I always use this example; a person who does not see well, never realizes how much they don't see until they put on glasses. Then they say "oh, I can see leaves on that tree, whereas before I could only see a mass of green".

I testify to you that I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true and authorised kingdom of God on the Earth in these last days and that it's here to prepare a people for Jesus Christ's glorious second coming. My life has been richly blessed by this knowlege for the last 34 years. It was the best decision I ever made! I hope that you decide to get "your own set of glasses" and be blessed with all the blessings that Our Father in Heaven has in store for you. I leave this testimony with you, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

This is the only true Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on this earth !

Submitted by owlloverbabe on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 19:40

I grew up in the church. I never took the time to actually learn enough to know what a Testimony really is, nor much about the church. I was one rowdy kid. Full of mischief & unable to be quiet.
Elder Doug Bloomfield & Elder Craig Newbold bugged me constantly, when was I living in San Ysidro, CA. This was the Summer of 1975. Through their constant bugging,prayers, faith & knowledge, I became active, repented of my sins & was given a blessing by Bishop Charles Simpkins. I fell in love with doing what work for Heavenly Father as I could.
I began to read The Book Of Mormon, daily, with prayer & an open mind. It wasn't until Elder Bill Tuft was serving in our new ward, & my husband, Larry Bingham & I, were living on Mt Vernon St, in Lemon Grove area, that I gained a small testimony about its truthfulness. I was awakened in the middle of the wee morning hours. The spirit was so strong that I cried, not fully understanding why,I called Elder Tuft & his companion immediately. I think it was around 2:00 AM or close thereof. I cried & told them that I knew this book was a testament & history of Jesus Christ & the people living in America. I learned more that day & begun to see what had been before me all the time. I know without any shadow of doubt,that the book I had been reading for about 3 days,is true. I was reading in Alma about what he went through to repent of his sins. I related his experiences to much of my own. I suddenly felt so free & happy. I felt like jumping up & down & shouting what I had just been given to me. Everything was falling into place for me.
I knew, & still know, that Joseph Smith,Jr restored the church & gospel of Jesus Christ to this earth. My mind becomes more alert & listening to the prompting of the Gift of the Holy Ghost,a light fills my eyes,& radiates in my facial expressions & life. I am very bubbly & shine from within me that which is the " Light of Christ ".
In 1976-977, I kept reading every book I could by church authors. My 1st one was "The Miracle of Forgiveness " by Pres & Prophet Spencer Kimball. I couldn't stop learning & gaining this special gift I was being given. I was given another of Pres Spencer Kimball's books. It was titled " Faith Proceeds a Miracle ". I studied & filled my heart, mind & home with the aura of the beautiful Gift of the Holy Ghost daily. I was on fire with it so much so that I could not neglect the prompting to share my life & the gospel with everybody I saw & eventually met. I knew no stranger, especially when it pertained to the gospel & church. The spirit shined through me to everyone I was around. I started going with the missionaries to teach the gospel. More knowledge & some wisdom was given to me as I studied & prayed for more testimony of what I needed to learn.
Elder David Thomas was serving in the Imperial Beach Ward while my husband was studying with the elders. He went home then to BYU. He married & has quite a few kids. He is a dentist for children somewhere in Idaho. We went to a conference where Elder Paul H. Dunn was speaking. Elder Thomas showed me a scripture that explained we are here to edify each other.
I saw some people close to us signing with their hands. Unbeknownst to me, they were signing because they were deaf. As I watched them the spirit took over & tears filled my eyes. It was actually the very first time I had felt naything like it before. All of a sudden I felt very grateful I could see. These people were amazing. I sensed something rare & pure deep within my heart.
I went up to meet Elder Dunn in person. We shook hands. I told him what I was going through. He took me aside & said that, " Sis Bingham, you are a Child of God. You are doing exactly what he wants you to do. He loves you. He will answer your prayers, but not in your time, but his ". I thought that very strange at the time. Now I full comprehend what he was saying. I met Elder Dunn again in the temple in Salt Lake City when I went to work in the kitchen & cafeteria of the temple in 1977. He walked up to me & startled me a bit, but then when he shook my hand & pulled me into his arms. I knew I was in the perfect place. We talked for 5 minutes or so. He finally sat down, & when he was finished eating his lunch, he got up to leave & said , "You have brightened my day, Sis Bingham. You are a true testimony in yourself. Take care & pray every second of each day. With Faith, understanding will fill your soul & mind ". I never saw him again, although I worked there for about 3-4 months. He was amazing. I finally knew I was special, loved & needed in someone's life. I felt as if I was exactly where I belonged.
I am excited about sharing the gospel with everyone. I love my Heavenly Father & his Son, Jesus Christ. I love the gospel & all it has to offer us. I love all of our missionaries, especially our return missionaries & their beautiful families. I love & adore Pres R. L. Pitcher & his beautiful wife, Sandy. Thank all you missionaries who were in Brad's & my home, for the laughter, smiles, memories, & the spirit which you brought into our home. Thank you, Elder Anthony Mower,(you are number 2 in our books ) Elder Richie Bailey (for inviting us to your temple wedding & for putting up all our pictures so perfectly), Elders: James Thayn, Jeremy Robinson for the beautiful blessing you gave Brad, when you & Elder Mower helped us move from K St into our new apt on Elm St. Thank you Elder Glenn Stucki for blessing us with your love, happiness, & wonderful spirit. Thank you, Elder Scott Mains, for the beautiful blessing you gave Brad on Aug 12,2002. Thank you, all sister Missionaries, for your dedication to serving the Lord: Sis: Marie Dean/Johnson, Mary Williams/Dornbush, Jennie Burkhardt, Cara Zimmerman, Gardner. Thank you, Elder Senene, Elders: Jared Alsop, Harrison, Scott, Esquibel, Jon Sperry, Basil John Morris, , for Elder Anthony Mower who cut Brad's hair, T. J. Tidwell, Jeremy Culpepper, Logan Crockett, Kip Kugler, Bobby Johnston, Scoot Mortenson, Doug Black, Bill Tuft, Trevnor, Crandall, not sure what your first names are, Mark Gilbert, David Stuart, David Thomas, Craig Newbold, Joel Cranford, Doug Bloomfield, Ryan Adams, for getting us into this apt, especially for Elder Matt Rigby for his love, friendship & teaching me how to use a computer. Elders: Michael Vincent, Guenther, Cash, Brown, Chad Hadler. I cannot begin to finish the list of all the missionaries who blessed our home & lives just by being in it. We not only have beautful memories but tons of pictures of our missionaries. Thank you, Bobbette Mower, for your friendship, Jill & Dennis Thayn, for being a true friend & letting us stay with you when we visit St. George, Lind Tidwell, for making us the beautiful Omans scarf. For Bro & Sis Alsop.
Thank you, Pres Marc Davis, Pres Paul Spring, for everything you did to help me prepare to go back to our temple. John & Roseann Vickery for your love & friendship. To Pres Jerry Washburn for everything you did to welcome me into your home, to Gene & Mary Kay Sorenson, for your love, friendship, Elders: Layne Pitcher,& for Jay Mitchell. If I did not list you, please, accept my humble apologies.
I know that our beautiful temples are a House Of God & learning. I know that the ordinances we do in them is of our Heavenly Father's will.
Back track a little. In April 6,1977,I was in the beautiful Salt Lake Temple with my husband & 3 kids. While we were waiting for our kids to be brought into the Sealing Room, Pres David Houston talked with me. He asked me to look into the mirrors & explain to him what I was seeing. While I was growing up I had a re-ocurring dream. I was on a tiny knoll encased/imprisoned/surrounded by tons of tin cans. There wasn't any ceiling. The sky was an endless darkness, no light, only rain, yet I didn't get wet. I tried to break out. I did everything I could to get out of there. I tried digging deeper & deeper. Nothing could tear them down or apart. I was doomed to die in that place. I was so afraid of my own shadow that I yelled at God to let me out. I felt like the walls of Jericho were falling down on me.
On April 6 th, 1977, as I looked into those beautiful forever mirrors, I saw the tin cans crumble,like ash. The Sun rose just a bit over the knoll I was sitting on. I saw my gr-grandparents,Grandpa Dan & Grandma Emma. They were smiling at me.
I had also had a dream the very night Grandpa Dan was buried. I saw him in all white clothing, he was walking away from me saying something I,as a young child, could not hear, or begin to understand. April 6, 1977, I knew what he had been telling me. I was fulfilling what my Grandpa Dan had told me that night. The thing is he was walking toward a very green place, with a beautiful waterfall & creek, full of flowers & a lot of people. People were actually happy, hugging & singing.
I saw a different kind of tree. I am not sure what this tree signifies, but I believe it has to do with my gift of being able to do successful searches & a lot of Genealogy. I have connected with so many relatives,living in various parts of the nation, together.
I know Jesus Christ had Joseph Smith,Jr being prepared to do his work & bring to pass the church & gospel of Christ back to earth.
I know this gospel we are taught, in our different meetings, is perfect & true. I am a happy person, full of vigor, good health, & a strong Faith. No matter what the adversary throws at me, I take it with a grain of salt & stay happy & positive. People who know me well, marvel at how positive I am & how bubbly I am. They often tell me they wish they could be more like, happy, carfree, positive. Never seeing the dark before the storm, just a rainbow & the Sun shining brightly over God's sacred ground.I find laughter is a great medicine.
Just when I think about throwing in the towel, doors open wide to me & more knowledge & wisdom fill me. I am actually now unafraid to open them & enter through them to where Heavenly Father wants me to go.
My husband, Brad, nick named me his " Sunshine " when we first met in June 1986. I know God wanted me to meet & fall in love with him. We have always been spiritually bonded since that beautful day, no matter where we are or where we need to be. We have been through many storms. We weather them together. I am usually the one who gets us a jump start in the right direction.
I was ex-communicated in July 1982. My husband, Brad & I became active in Jan 1995. He was baptized in March 1995. Within a few weeks he received the Aaronic Priesthood. The very next Sun he baptized his 1 st convert into our church. He went on to baptize 1,000's of people. He was the perfect baptizer. He is a very humble, meek man.
He obtained his Temple Recommend in 2002. We were Sealed in the San Diego Temple Sept 4, 2004.
I love doing missionary work for Heavenly Father. I cannot go without sharing it with everyone I see & meet.
I am corresponding with 2 men who are in prison. Through my testimony & sharing with them the gospel of Jesus Christ, they have started believing & praying. I know, It is just a jailhouse conversion. This is not true with these 2 men. I will not give up on them. I constantly make sure they know how precious God is in my life. I also tell them he loves them more than anyone else in our lifetime ever will or can. They have listened to me tell them what God is all about. They feel the Gift of the Holy Ghost through my letters & cards I send them. They, too, call me " Sunshine ".
I am so in love with Heavenly father & his Son,Jesus Christ. I trust them with everything I do & say. I give my all to them.
I know they guide me, protect me, & put people in my life so I can witness for him about his love for them. Yes, Heavenly Father is good.
I love writing poetry. It is going to be published sometime in June 2010 by Author House Publishers. My book is going to be titled " My Spiritual Awakening ". It will be listed for sale all over the world wide Internet.
May Heavenly Father answer all your prayers. May your heart be opened wide & feel his loving arms around you.
God Bless you !
In Jesus's name, Amen !
Sis " O "
San Diego 4 th Ward

bethany's picture

Things I know...

Submitted by bethany on Tue, 03/23/2010 - 14:51

why I believe...

Life is hard. Life is constantly in motion. There are so many distractions and ways of feeling pulled in so many directions. There are the highs. There are the lows. Happiness, joy, peace mixed together with despair, illness, death, or watching someone you love suffer through such painful trials, not to mention the painful trials you go through yourself. How I make sense of all this would be futile if I didn't have a knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is what pulls me through.

To know that this life is a journey to an eternal destination, that this life is a way of becoming like the Divine Being who created all of us, makes all the refining moments in life more bearable for me. It puts things into perspective. We become like Him by being: by experiencing every emotion and experience that He went through in His life and His Atonement, to understand what it would be like for us in our own little sphere of mortality. We are not alone in our trials. We have access to our Heavenly Father through prayer and through the holy scriptures. Because of the Restoration of the Gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith, we have restored to us the same priesthood keys, power, and gifts of the Spirit that existed in Christ's time on the earth. We have living revelation. There are living Prophets and Apostles on the earth.

Our bodies are gifts from Him. Through them, we get to experience health and death, happiness and pain. But because of our Savior's suffering and Resurrection, we'll someday receive a perfected body and a reunion with all our loved ones who have passed through the grave. This would not be possible without our Lord's life and death.

Our Father in Heaven gave to each of us the gift of agency. This lets us each be accountable for the choices we make in this life, good and bad. Someday, we will give an accounting of our actions and interactions with each other. Remorse of conscience allows us to make changes in our paths. God's Commandments are there for our safety and happiness. We have power to choose a better way. We have power to learn to love and forgive those who have wronged us. But because we all have weakness and because we all sin, we need a Savior. We need a perfect Being to be our Advocate with our perfect Heavenly Father. I cannot make up for someone else's poor choices. But a God, who created each of us and who knows our individual failings and desires, DID make up the difference for our mistakes. He did this for every single person who would ever live on this earth, past, present, and future. He accomplished all this through that one time Infinite Atonement, where He alone could satisfy the demands of God's justice (from God's laws) with God's mercy (from our breaking God's laws).

There are so many beautiful reasons why I believe, too innumerable to expound upon here. But I invite each one of you, my friends, to find out for yourself, about the truths and principles of the Gospel which teach you how to enjoy peace and comfort in this life, in the midst of all the other hard and difficult trials. You can have happiness here...and happiness in the hereafter, with all your loved ones and with your God. You can have comfort here and perspective, to strengthen you in the midst of so many hard life trials. Loneliness. Unemployment. Divorce. Betrayal. Death. Disability. Illness. Low self-esteem/confidence. Any other trial you can think of, endure, or that you know another person you love has experienced.

You can find out that your life has a beautiful purpose and that God loves you and knows your every NEED. You can find out how to apply His truths to you and your circumstances. It will bless you and your family. It will bless the lives of all your friends. I know these things are true. We find out the truth of these things through study, faith, and prayer. Yup! Even YOU can talk to God. These are some of the reasons why I believe.

My Testimony

Submitted by cchampio on Thu, 04/01/2010 - 16:51

I know that this Church is true, Joseph Smith is the prophet of the restoration and he did see what he said he saw.
God the Father and Jesus Christ live and love each and everyone of us.
I know that I am a child of God
I know that temples are the house of God and that with in their walls are sacred and eternal ordinances are performed.
I know that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet of God on the earth today and he leads and guides the Church through the direction of Jesus Christ.
I know that Christ atoned for my sins and for the whole worlds.
I know that God and Christ love us and desire us to return to them.
I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God as well as THe Bible, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.
Through the words of the scriptures we can and do find happiness.
The power of prayer is real for I have felt it lift me and raise me in times of great need.
The priesthood id from God and truly is the power of Heaven!
Families can and are eternal.