What have been your best testimony ever about God?

[Dario_M]

I ask this question because i don't have a great testimony yet. What do i need to do to get a great testimony? Praying in the woods or so? Reading more scriptures and pray about them? How do i come up with a good testimony? 

Btw if you guys have a strong testimony please share it with me because maybe it will inspire me. 

Thank you. 

[CV75]

7 hours ago, Dario_M said:

I ask this question because i don't have a great testimony yet. What do i need to do to get a great testimony? Praying in the woods or so? Reading more scriptures and pray about them? How do i come up with a good testimony? 

Btw if you guys have a strong testimony please share it with me because maybe it will inspire me. 

Thank you. 

What I do is to keep doing the basics (pray, study the scriptures, attend Church meetings and the temple, serve and help others, and find joy and not fear in repentance). You have the gift of the Holy Ghost and He will let you know how to pace yourself and keep at it. Do whatever it takes to keep the attitude Peter expressed in John 6:66-69.

[Dario_M]

12 minutes ago, CV75 said:

What I do is to keep doing the basics (pray, study the scriptures, attend Church meetings and the temple.

You do that good. 👍

12 minutes ago, CV75 said:

serve and help others,

In wich way do you serve and help others then if i may be so free to ask? I still have not figured out how i can serve other people.

12 minutes ago, CV75 said:

and find joy and not fear in repentance). You have the gift of the Holy Ghost and He will let you know how to pace yourself and keep at it. Do whatever it takes to keep the attitude Peter expressed in John 6:66-69.

I will look it up. 

[CV75]

20 minutes ago, Dario_M said:

You do that good. 👍

In wich way do you serve and help others then if i may be so free to ask? I still have not figured out how i can serve other people.

I will look it up. 

Re: service, it whatever comes to mind that helps other people get or accomplish what they need and yet lack. It starts with a feeling of friendliness or charity toward others, and an interest in their welfare and happiness. The Holy Ghost will let you know, and any impulse to do a kind thing for someone is worth pursuing. A calling or assignment in your ward is a more structured way to serve and help others, as is volunteering in a worthwhile community cause.

[smac97]

On 10/17/2024 at 1:03 AM, Dario_M said:

I ask this question because i don't have a great testimony yet. What do i need to do to get a great testimony? Praying in the woods or so? Reading more scriptures and pray about them? How do i come up with a good testimony? 

Btw if you guys have a strong testimony please share it with me because maybe it will inspire me. 

Thank you. 

A few thoughts:

1. I began developing my testimony as a teenager.  I committed to reading The Book of Mormon every night, and then kneeling and praying about it.  After a few weeks, I began to sense a spiritual confirmation that it is what it claims to be, what the Church teaches it to be.  I began to become a disciple of Jesus Christ in my own right.

2. Before and after the foregoing, I more or less kept the commandments.  Not with any particular zeal, but rather because my parents were raising me that way, and I trusted them.  Also, I figured that if the spiritual experiences I had been going through were legitimate, then Heavenly Father would want me to keep His commandments.

3. After high school, I joined the U.S. Army, and it was there that I pivoted.  I very quickly saw the value of the commandments in my daily life.  Regular scripture study and church attendance ceased to be a chore or burden, and became a blessing and an uplifting experience.  Military life being what it was, the importance observing the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity became quite clear.  I also abstained from swearing, did not attend the keggers and other events where alcohol and hooking up were part of the plan, made friends who likewise wished to abstain from these things, exercised a lot, enjoyed the outdoors, and so on.

4. Immediately after I completed my military service, I served a mission for the Church in Taiwan.  I worked hard, kept the commandments and the mission rules, prayed often, made friends, served my fellow man, felt the Spirit many times.  I did not have much "success" in terms of convert baptisms, but I feel that I meaningfully contributed to the congregations in which I served, and helped many investigators further their progress in accepting the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I tried.  

5. In hindsight, I think my experience in the Army was of particular help to me because it made me realize that following Jesus Christ is a matter of choice.  In my childhood, I participated in family activities (Family Home Evening, scripture study, family prayer, etc.) out of a sense of familial obligation.  I attended church and seminary out of a sense of expectation and preference by my parents and peers.  In doing so, I think I took for granted the concept that these things were good for me, were helping me become a better person.  This concept was perhaps obscured because these observances were more obligatory than heart-felt.  The Army inverted that.  After just a few weeks of military training, I recognized what the Gospel had done, and was doing, in my life.  This realization was the caused the above-referenced "pivot" from discipleship by obligation/expectation to discipleship by personal choice and conviction.

6. I returned from my mission in 1995, enrolled in school, and started dating.  I found and proposed to and married a young woman, started a family and career, and have continued ever since.  I am fortunate to have good and decent people as examples, as people who, like me, are striving to overcome their flaws by following the example of Jesus Christ.  Attending church, serving in callings, attending the temple, raising and teaching my children, keeping the commandments, and generally attempting to "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men," and "relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save" (2 Nephi 31:19-20).

7. April of this year marked 20 years of participation on this board. I have found some value in coming here and listening to other Latter-day Saints who more or less feel as I do about the Restored Gospel and the institution that houses it.  I am an attorney by trade, and so daily work in an adversarial system, so I have also found value in listening to and talking with those who feel differently, including opponents and critics of my faith.  As Joseph Smith aptly noted: "By proving contraries, truth is made manifest."  Having spent the last 20+ years listening to and interacting with these critics and opponents, I have concluded that they have nothing to say that alters my overall assessment of the truth and reality of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We as Latter-day Saints have plenty of room for improvement and growth, and our critics are occasionally helpful in pointing out our flaws in behavior, in our understanding of the Gospel, in our assessment of the doctrines and the history of the Church, and so on.  But so far I have seen nothing from them that undermines or falsifies or negates the fundamental truth claims found in the scriptures and in the foundational narratives of the Restoration through Joseph Smith.

8. We have never met, and likely never will.  But I hope you continue in your efforts.  Moroni's encouragement is apt:

Quote

32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.

Go ahead and listen to what the critics have to say.  You'll encounter them a lot these days.  But don't prioritize their say-so and moral pronouncements over the cumulative counsel available to you in the Scriptures and from living prophets and apostles.  Listen to and heed the counsel of the leaders of the Church more than to the critics, and you'll be fine.  

Thanks,

-Smac

Edited October 18, 2024 by smac97

[Dario_M]

45 minutes ago, CV75 said:

Re: service, it whatever comes to mind that helps other people get or accomplish what they need and yet lack.

Yeah. Can you be a bit more specifically? What kind of help do you offer to those people?

Btw...i have not really great social skills. And those are important otherwise nobody even want's your help you know. Deep breath😞...maybe serving people is not my thing after all. 

45 minutes ago, CV75 said:

It starts with a feeling of friendliness or charity toward others, and an interest in their welfare and happiness. The Holy Ghost will let you know, and any impulse to do a kind thing for someone is worth pursuing. A calling or assignment in your ward is a more structured way to serve and help others, as is volunteering in a worthwhile community cause.

Nobody in my church ever ask me for anything. 

Yeah only for temple work but the temple here is so far away that i don't wanna travel that by train. Public transportation here is bad. And nobody wanted to give me a ride.

Well...thank you for your advice anyway.

Edited October 17, 2024 by Dario_M

[bluebell]

I think find God in my hardest days and moments have been what has given me my strongest testimonies of Him.  To do that I had to be in a place where I wasn't bitter about the trial and wasn't pushing away the spirit by trying to hold on to my feelings of being ill used/life being unfair, etc.

Lots of times I did not manage to do that, though.    

The times when the need was purely primal and there wasn't a component of 'why me??' in my pleading (because the issue was severe enough that there was no room for any other feelings), were the times that I can look back on and see God present the best (and those times are what inform me of His work in my life during times when that primal need isn't there).  I have found this to be especially when my needs revolve around my children.  I have never felt the love of God more in my life than when I feel His love and concern for my kids.  

(I don't think that's because you have to be a parent to connect with God best.  I think it might have something to do with how incredibly hard parenting is, and also that parenting is a labor of love and sacrifice for another being. God always seems to be most present in the worst times, and also in those times when the heartache comes from a place of love and concern for someone else). 

Times when I am most grateful are also the times when I see Him/feel Him best.  

[LoudmouthMormon]

9 hours ago, Dario_M said:

I ask this question because i don't have a great testimony yet. What do i need to do to get a great testimony?

Here's my testimony.  I wrote it down a lot of years ago in response to a question someone asked:

Quote

"My most pressing issue is whether or not Joseph Smith was a fraud or was what he claimed to be and how do you determine that?" 

I saw this sentence written by a lady who was questioning here testimony, and decided to write the story of how I came to my testimony in response.  Her issue was exactly what was running through my head as a 25 yr old guy.  I had realized something 6 or 7 years before that.  My entire experience of going to church, advancing up from class to class, becoming a deacon, then teacher, then priest, then elder, all of that had happened without hardly any faith or belief or even knowledge on my part.  I was a kid, going through the program the church had set up for kids to go through.  I did not know the church was true, and I stopped standing up in front of people to say so the minute they stopped making me.  About the only thing I did know, it's that I didn't know what was true, what was important, or how to find out.

So, I spent 6 or 7 years basically enjoying myself on Sundays.  I had LDS friends and inactive/non-LDS friends.  Both were off engaged in setting the foundations for the rest of their lives.  Both seemed (relative to me) fairly confident that they had halfway decent notions of what they wanted out of life, and were shooting for it.

I found myself at a crossroads.  If God existed, if all of this stuff they taught me in church was true, then I needed to be on one path.  If the church was not true, then I had no reason to be on that path.  Mozart composed his symphonies in his mind, then basically dictated them out onto paper as a finished product.  Surely it fell within the realm of possibility that this ability might be present in others, even if very very rare.  It was conceivable that Joseph did what Mozart did - put it all together in his head, and say it out loud.  Perhaps he even believed what he was doing.  Placebo effects could explain the results of blessings I'd witnessed.  Tradition and a desire to belong, to be a part of something greater than yourself, could explain the church and why it was working.  I hadn't really sought out criticisms of the LDS claims in my early 20's - I didn't need to.  I came up with enough of them myself.

On the other hand, I didn't really have any firm basis from which to deny the existence of God.  Joseph could have been telling the truth.  He, the BoM, the church, it fell in the realm of possibility that they all were exactly what they claimed to be.  Is a miraculous healing any less miraculous, just because we know a thing or two about how endorphines work, and how the body can be "tricked" into healing itself?

Well again, it was a crossroads.  Both had good points and bad.  I wanted what my LDS friends had - their temple marriages, their firm beliefs in God and His plan for them.  The difference was, one path was true, one was false.  I decided it didn't matter to me which one I wanted more, the important issue was, which one was the true path, and which was false.  I would not lie to myself or others, in order to follow a false path, just because I wanted it more.

So, I started with the "Old Joe is a fraud" path first.  I came within a few credit hours of a minor in philosophy.  I came to realize that, as far as human knowledge went, we were still struggling with what the proper questions were.  As far as laying the groundwork for discovering truth, humanity never really got much further than "I think, therefore I am."  Well, actually humanity did get further than that, but by adding on assumptions that weren't really warranted.  That was one key to my understanding - there is almost no such thing as truth without assumptions.  People without testimonies assume there are no real testimonies to be had.  People with testimonies assume that they are not just brains inside jars, having fake sensory inputs fed to them, having endorphin-based emotional experiences imposed on them by a grand deciever.

Well, the "God doesn't exist" path didn't really offer up much in the form of truth claims to be tested, so I moved to the other path.  It was time to figure out for myself if the church was true or not.  It had specific truth claims.  These could be evaluated, and found groundless or grounded.

Alma 32:27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words. 

Moroni 10:4 And when ye shall receive these things, 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.  

Ok - so there you go.  The scriptures identified me, and gave me a path to follow, through which I could undeniably verify the truth.  I had only to make one assumption - that my senses would not lie to me under controlled conditions.  A tough assumption for a minor in philosophy to make.  What if life is a dream?  Ok - set it aside.  If my life is a dream, then so be it.  I'll work with what I've got.  I'll work towards truth.  I know there is a bunch of stuff that I don't know, and I have been given a series of hoops to jump through, and promised a rather important promise, should I jump through them correctly.

So I had Alma 32:27, and Moroni 10:4.  The first promised a slowly evolving process from faith to knowledge, through the assumption that if it looks good, and acts good, and produces good fruit, then it is good.  Not really enough to base a testimony on, in my opinion.  But Moroni promised something else - "he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.".  That sounded a little more like it.  So, when I looked at the verse, it laid out my side of the bargain:
 
1- "And when ye shall receive these things" - Before it would work, I had to read the Book of Mormon.  But more than read it, to "receive" it.  I had to internalize it - deeply reading for meaning, more than just a cursory glance.  Not a critical reading, looking for faults.  I had to read it, with the notion that it very well might be exactly what it claimes to be - scripture.  True.  The word of God.  A literal history of people who literally lived.
 
2- "I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true" 
So, I had to pray.  Not just pray, but pray in the name of Christ.  That means, I had to be worthy of his name.  The guy who owns The Simsons brand, will let any amount of stupid garbage bear the name - Bart Simpson toothpaste, cheap flimsy Homer travel mugs, stupid T-shirts make out of inferior materials, whatever.  But Jesus is more choosy.  If you are going to bear his name, you need to be following his teachings.  
 
This is possible to do, without actually believing in him.  After all, I follow some of Sun-Tzu's "art of war" notions, but I don't believe he is a god, and I also don't share his faith.   The best advice for a happy marriage, the notion that I've used as a foundation for mine, came from a drunk Tongan I met in an alleyway one night.  I follow that advice daily, yet I'm not a big fan of the guy who gave it to me.
 
So, to take upon myself the name of Christ, I had to do and be a couple of main things:
* Not sinning
* Loving my neighbor
* Desiring to know a God I could love
 
I did not have to be perfect, I figured it was a matter of heart.  It wasn't how close to my destination I was, it mattered only that my compass was pointed in the right direction, and I was following it.  Yes, there was some doubt about what the compass was pointing to - was it true north, or just wishful thinking.  But that didn't matter - I was just trying to satisfy this part of the scripture - and be able to pray in the name of Christ.
 
So, I prayed.  I prayed nightly, starting about halfway through the book.  I prayed fervently.  My prayers were short and simple: "Dear Heavenly Father, if thou exist, thou knowest my heart.  Thou knowest I am sincere.  I desire to know of the truthfulness of this work.  Please show it to me.  In the name of thy son, Jesus Christ, amen".  Simple, plain, sincere, honest, and pretty much daily.  
 
3- "and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ,"
Ok - 3 requirements - and I had to have all 3 of them.  In years past, I had read the BoM and prayed in the name of Christ, and got nothing.  I was missing real intent - I figured I wouldn't get an answer, and praying was a way of proving my guess true.

It's about where my heart is.  It needs to be sincere, not with an ulterior motive, burdened by sin, or trying to get something else out of the experience.  My intent had to be true.  No faith, no promise.
 
I can't impress enough on everyone, the importance of these 3 items.  They're related, but if you are missing one, don't be expecting anything.  If you are having a hard time figuring out where you are on these 3, you're probably not there.  
 
Throughout the process, I was comfortable with my part of the bargain.  It was like showing up for a test being very, very well prepared - there's a confidence based on the fact that you know what you're doing.  I wasn't lying to myself, or bending any rules, or figuring out the least I could do to satisfy the bare minimum - I was there, and there solidly.
 
I did not believe in God - but I didn't have to.  I just had to want to.  I was not setting aside doubts - they held the center stage.  
 
4- "He will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost."
 
So, what can I say - it happened.  
 
It happened at work, where I was a candy maker, with an arm covered with chocolate.  (If you've ever been to a fancy hotel, or taken a fancy cruise, and there's a chocolate mint on your pillow - that's what I used to make by hand.)
 
The details?  Here is where I need to be a bit vague, in order to avoid embarassing stuff about someone who is not me.  I was working away quietly, thinking about reality, wondering if I'd ever know what it was, and thinking about an unresolved situation in my life.  I was at a crossroads, only tangentially related to my quest to discover the truth about the Book of Mormon.  As I thought about this crossroads, trying to discern what to make out of the facts before me, I thought something along the lines of "Well, this pattern indicates that things are moving in the right direction..."
 
And it happened.
 
Words can't really explain it - they can only approximate it.  
 
It was unmistakable, not a warm fuzzy, not an emotional reaction.
 
I had my answer.  It was "yes".  
 
It was a strong, internal sensation.  Not a feeling - I wasn't happy or sad.  The best word is "confirmation".  And what was it confirming?  Many things.   It was confirming that yes, I had just said something true - the pattern I was looking at was indeed moving in the right direction.  It confirmed that there WAS a right direction.  It confirmed that this notion of reality that I had looked at - this bizarre tale of prophets and plates and revelations and restorations, had the added benefit of being true.
 
A few side details:
* The first thing that dawned on me was, "My gosh, this is the Holy Ghost communicating to me!"  The second thought that came a few minutes later was "My gosh, I've felt this before!"  In one or two of the most stressful times of my life, I had felt that sensation before.  I had written off the experience at the time, but realization flooded me - the Lord had stood by me, even while I was inactive.
 
* Other people tell me their conversion stories, and they are often different.  My Bishop, as a young man, was watching a sunset, and said a brief prayer "thank you, God", and heard the words as clear as day "You'll be all right - I'll always take care of you".  My experience was different.  Another guy from my ward had been desiring to feel the Love of Christ - and felt it unexpectedly when he stood up to shake hands with a brother from another ward.  They stood there with clasped hands, with tears flowing down both their faces.  My experience was different - there was not a lot of emotion (although I pretty soon felt exhilleration, as it sank in what was happening).  My wife's grandfather was on a bar stool 40 years ago, having left the church, and was almost knocked to the floor by the words "Wayne, why hast thou forsaken me?"   I heard no words.  The energy and the impact was internal to me, not external like it was to him.
 
* I have since felt this impression, this confirmation, quite often.  As I returned to church in full force, keeping my baptismal covenant, the Holy Ghost has been, at points in my life, my constant companion.

One last interesting part of the story: 

Our scriptures state that faith preceeds the miracle, and that knowledge comes after the act. After I had recieved this answer, I was able to test this "answer", this influence of the spirit, this burning in the bosom, fairly scientifically. 

I had an issue that I needed guidance on, and took it to the Lord. What I needed to do in the situation was fairly evident, but I desired that confirmation. To my surprise, the confirmation was to NOT do what I figured was correct. The expirement took about 30 seconds, and went like this: 

"Lord, should I do this?" (speaking the words internally) 
(nothing for 5 seconds) 

"Lord, should I not do this?" 
(confirmation - burning in the bosom for 5 seconds) 

"Should I do this?" 
(confirmation off - like someone had thrown a switch) 

"Should I not do this?" 
(confirmation on - again like an internal switch was thrown) 

I did this a few more times. Throughout the rest of the day and week, I was able to "feel the spirit" every time I thought about what had happened. 

So, I acted on what the confirmation directed - and I did NOT do what I thought was the correct thing. Within two days, an event occured that set things to right, that would not have occurred if I had acted as I thought I should. My initial estimation of what to do, turned out to be less desirable than what actually happened. 

I've never heard of anyone who claimed to be able to turn an emotional reaction on and off several times in a minute. I'm familiar with how our brains and psyche's work, and I'm aware of various ways we humans convince ourselves of what we want to be convinced of, true or false. I'm aware of the phenomenons of self- and group-hypnosis. I understand 'groupthink', "brainwashing", and manipulation of reality by people in authority. This wasn't like any of those. 

So the point of this last part is, this very convincing scientific test (it was to me, anyway), did not occur until AFTER I had exercised my faith, and spent a year on my knees asking to know if God existed or not. I figure if you demand something similar up front, you'll probably go away empty handed. 

 

[Dario_M]

9 minutes ago, smac97 said:

A few thoughts:

1. I began developing my testimony as a teenager.  I committed to reading The Book of Mormon every night, and then kneeling and praying about it.  After a few weeks, I began to sense a spiritual confirmation that it is what it claims to be, what the Church teaches it to be.  I began to become a disciple of Jesus Christ.

I'm really thinking about going to the woods and pray there like Joseph Smith did. Maybe it wel lead me to somewhere. Some devine knowledge. 

9 minutes ago, smac97 said:

2. Before and after the foregoing, I more or less kept the commandments.  Not with any particular zeal, but rather because my parents were raising me that way, and I trusted them.  Also, I figured that if the spiritual experiences I had been going through were legitimate, then Heavenly Father would want me to keep His commandments.

My parents didn't raised me that way. And now i have a hard time keeping the commandments.

9 minutes ago, smac97 said:

3. After high school, I joined the U.S. Army.

No way really! That must have been though. 

9 minutes ago, smac97 said:

and it was there that I pivoted.  I very quickly saw the value of the commandments in my daily life.  Regular scripture study and church attendance ceased to be a chore or burden, and became a blessing and an uplifting experience. 

How beautiful. That's a very beautiful testimony.

9 minutes ago, smac97 said:

Military life being what it was, the importance observing the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity became quite clear.  I also abstained from swearing, did not attend the keggers and other events where alcohol and hooking up were part of the plan, made friends who likewise wished to abstain from these things, exercised a lot, enjoyed the outdoors, and so on.

That sounds lovely. 

9 minutes ago, smac97 said:

4. Immediately after I completed my military service, I served a mission for the Church in Taiwan.  I worked hard, kept the commandments and the mission rules, prayed often, made friends, served my fellow man, felt the Spirit many times.  I did not have much "success" in terms of convert baptisms, but I feel that I meaningfully contributed to the congregations in which I served, and helped many investigators further their progress in accepting the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I tried.  

 

Impresive. 👏 really impresive. Taiwan is not my type of country though. I wouldn't set one foot there. Was you experience with the people there positive? 

9 minutes ago, smac97 said:

5. In hindsight, I think my experience in the Army was of particular help to me because it made me realize that following Jesus Christ is a matter of choice.  In my childhood, I participated in family activities (Family Home Evening, scripture study, family prayer, etc.) out of a sense of familial obligation.  I attended church and seminary out of a sense of expectation and preference by my parents and peers.  In doing so, I think I took for granted the concept that these things were good for me, were helping me become a better person.  This concept was perhaps obscured because these observances were more obligatory than heart-felt.  The Army inverted that.  After just a few weeks of military training, I recognized what the Gospel had done, and was doing, in my life.  This realization was the caused the above-referenced "pivot" from discipleship by obligation/expectation to discipleship by personal choice and conviction.

6. I returned from my mission in 1995, enrolled in school, and started dating.  I found and proposed to and married a young woman, started a family and career, and have continued ever since.  I am fortunate to have good and decent people as examples, as people who, like me, are striving to overcome their flaws by following the example of Jesus Christ.  Attending church, serving in callings, attending the temple, raising and teaching my children, keeping the commandments, and generally attempting to "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men," and "relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save" (2 Nephi 31:19-20).

That is just beautiful. This sounds like a really meaningfull life. Good job. 

9 minutes ago, smac97 said:

7. April of this year marked 20 years of participation on this board

Me only 2 years yet. 

9 minutes ago, smac97 said:

 I have found some value in coming here and listening to other Latter-day Saints who more or less feel as I do about the Restored Gospel and the institution that houses it.  I am an attorney by trade, and so daily work in an adversarial system, so I have also found value in listening to and talking with those who feel differently, including opponents and critics of my faith.  As Joseph Smith aptly noted: "By proving contraries, truth is made manifest."  Having spent the last 20+ years listening to and interacting with these critics and opponents, I have concluded that they have nothing to say that alters my overall assessment of the truth and reality of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We as Latter-day Saints have plenty of room for improvement and growth, and our critics are occasionally helpful in pointing out our flaws in behavior, in our understanding of the Gospel, in our assessment of the doctrines and the history of the Church, and so on.  But so far I have seen nothing from them that undermines or falsifies or negates the fundamental truth claims found in the scriptures and in the foundational narratives of the Restoration through Joseph Smith.

Amen!!!🙏

9 minutes ago, smac97 said:

8. We have never met, and likely never will. 

I don't think so though. Maybe there will be a day i will travel to Salt Lake City. But that's only to visit the temple there. I'll will probably only be there for 1 day. Then i take a evening flight back to home.

9 minutes ago, smac97 said:

But I hope you continue in your efforts.  Moroni's encouragement is apt:

Go ahead and listen to what the critics have to say.  You'll encounter them a lot these days.  But don't prioritize their say-so and moral pronouncements over the cumulative counsel available to you in the Scriptures and from living prophets and apostles.  Listen to and heed the counsel of the leaders of the Church more than to the critics, and you'll be fine.  

Thanks,

-Smac

Thank you for your testimony Smac. 

[Dario_M]

6 minutes ago, LoudmouthMormon said:

Here's my testimony.  I wrote it down a lot of years ago in response to a question someone asked:

 

I'm going to dig into it. Thank you for your testimony. 

[smac97]

7 minutes ago, Dario_M said:

Impresive. 👏 really impresive. Taiwan is not my type of country though. I wouldn't set one foot there. Was you experience with the people there positive? 

Overall, yes.  Taiwanese work hard, and are very decent people.  

7 minutes ago, Dario_M said:

Maybe there will be a day I will travel to Salt Lake City. But that's only to visit the temple there. I'll will probably only be there for 1 day. Then i take a evening flight back to home.

Sent me a message if you are coming.  If possible, I'd like to take you to lunch in SLC (I live fairly close).

Thanks,

-Smac

[CV75]

47 minutes ago, Dario_M said:

Yeah. Can you be a bit more specifically? What kind of help do you offer to those people?

Btw...i have not really great social skills. And those are important otherwise nobody even want's your help you know. Deep breath😞...maybe serving people is not my thing after all. 

Nobody in my church ever ask me for anything. 

Yeah only for temple work but the temple here is so far away that i don't wanna travel that by train. Public transportation here is bad. And nobody wanted to give me a ride.

Well...thank you for your advice anyway.

Some specifics on helping people: give a beggar/panhandler an offering, help someone who is struggling with getting a purchase in and out of their car or something into or out of their house. Neighbors and those you know well might mention a project or need, or they may seem lonely or need to talk or share. Saying hello, offering a compliment, sharing the gospel message. The more you know someone the better you can sense how you can make their day a little brighter. It doesn't have to be a big deal, just share the sunshine in your life with them. Or something you made for them just because you were thinking of them. Or invite them to do something fun with you. Most of what we call service is really just emulating Christ throughout the day.

Volunteer at a library, food bank or soup kitchen. Red Cross, public park service, etc.

Ask your church leader for a calling, assignment or a ministering brother assignment. Help clean the chapel, parking lot or grounds.

I'm sure others have more ideas!

[Dario_M]

49 minutes ago, bluebell said:

I think find God in my hardest days and moments have been what has given me my strongest testimonies of Him.  To do that I had to be in a place where I wasn't bitter about the trial and wasn't pushing away the spirit by trying to hold on to my feelings of being ill used/life being unfair, etc.

Yeah but that's difficult. We are human beings. And we do have our feelings. We are not robots you know. 

49 minutes ago, bluebell said:

Lots of times I did not manage to do that, though.    

I can imagine that. 

49 minutes ago, bluebell said:

The times when the need was purely primal and there wasn't a component of 'why me??' in my pleading (because the issue was severe enough that there was no room for any other feelings), were the times that I can look back on and see God present the best (and those times are what inform me of His work in my life during times when that primal need isn't there).  I have found this to be especially when my needs revolve around my children.  I have never felt the love of God more in my life than when I feel His love and concern for my kids.  

That's really interesting. Well..it's clear to me that i have a lot of work (praying) to do. I must say that all of your testimony's give me a lot of inspiration. That's why i made this topic clearly. 💫

49 minutes ago, bluebell said:

(I don't think that's because you have to be a parent to connect with God best.  I think it might have something to do with how incredibly hard parenting is, and also that parenting is a labor of love and sacrifice for another being.

Yeah. Unfortunately not all parents are all too good at that. 

49 minutes ago, bluebell said:

God always seems to be most present in the worst times, and also in those times when the heartache comes from a place of love and concern for someone else). 

Times when I am most grateful are also the times when I see Him/feel Him best.  

Well.. thank you for your testimony. 

[Dario_M]

33 minutes ago, smac97 said:

Overall, yes.  Taiwanese work hard, and are very decent people. 

Oh okay. Well...i'm happy to read that. 

33 minutes ago, smac97 said:

 

Sent me a message if you are coming.  If possible, I'd like to take you to lunch in SLC (I live fairly close).

Thanks,

-Smac

Aaawh that's so nice of you. I will send you a message when the time will come. But i need to wait a long while because the temple is closed now. Due to renovation. I actually hope that the temple is close to the Airport though. 😁

[Dario_M]

26 minutes ago, CV75 said:

Some specifics on helping people: give a beggar/panhandler an offering.

Aawh that's something i used to do a lot indeed. So i allready have served a bit you could say. Because i always give money to the poor and homeless people when i spot them on the street. 

26 minutes ago, CV75 said:

help someone who is struggling with getting a purchase in and out of their car or something into or out of their house. Neighbors and those you know well might mention a project or need, or they may seem lonely or need to talk or share. Saying hello, offering a compliment, sharing the gospel message. The more you know someone the better you can sense how you can make their day a little brighter. It doesn't have to be a big deal, just share the sunshine in your life with them. Or something you made for them just because you were thinking of them. Or invite them to do something fun with you. Most of what we call service is really just emulating Christ throughout the day.

Okay yeah i get it. 

26 minutes ago, CV75 said:

Volunteer at a library, food bank or soup kitchen. Red Cross, public park service, etc.

Yeah here in the Netherlands that's a bit difficult. Even for these kind of volunteer jobs you need to be in possession of papers and diplomas nowadays. 

26 minutes ago, CV75 said:

Ask your church leader for a calling, assignment or a ministering brother assignment. Help clean the chapel, parking lot or grounds.

I'm sure others have more ideas!

Yes i'm sure as well. Thank you for your ideas anyway. 👍

[Stargazer]

3 hours ago, Dario_M said:

I'm really thinking about going to the woods and pray there like Joseph Smith did. Maybe it wel lead me to somewhere. Some devine knowledge.

There seems to be some value in finding a place of quiet and beauty in which to pray.

In Joseph's case, he lived in a small house, with a household consisting of several brothers and sisters. Since their house was surrounded by woods, it was the only place he could be sure to find solitude in order to pray. So that is where he received his First Vision. Later, he must have had a room to himself, because it was in a room in the house at night that he was visited by Moroni, who revealed to him the location of the plates of the Book of Mormon and what he was to do with them.

The one time that I "went into the woods" to pray was more along the line of taking a few days off from the US Army, and I went camping at Mount Rainier National Park. I hiked up a 7 mile long trail to a peak near the volcano, and camped for a couple of days. I read scriptures in view of that magnificent volcano, watched deer walk past me as if I weren't there, and prayed. It was a wonderful experience, and I only saw one other person that entire time -- a park ranger on horseback who passed by on patrol, apparently.

But the closest I have felt to the Spirit was when I prayed in my own home at quiet times. 

 

[Calm]

4 hours ago, smac97 said:

Overall, yes.  Taiwanese work hard, and are very decent people.  

Sent me a message if you are coming.  If possible, I'd like to take you to lunch in SLC (I live fairly close).

Thanks,

-Smac

And then bring him down to Provo and he can stay overnight at my house (unless life has gone crazy).

[Calm]

3 hours ago, Dario_M said:

eah here in the Netherlands that's a bit difficult. Even for these kind of volunteer jobs you need to be in possession of papers and diplomas nowadays. 

Justserve is a website that collects service opportunities in your extended neighborhood.

It is apparently available in the Netherlands. 
 

https://news-uk.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/justserve-fever#:~:text=Implementation is different in each country%2C depending,also available%2C this is simply another opportunity.

Quote

Implementation is different in each country, depending on the local needs, and the specific background and experience of JustServe leaders there. In the Germanic countries, the Netherlands and the UK, other similar platforms are also available, this is simply another opportunity. However, JustServe provides a straightforward structure and is administered as a gift to the country.

It was started by the Church, I believe, but now it’s pretty broad with its support when you look at board members.

[Tacenda]

I saw this the other day, it's called a "blessing bag". I constantly see people on street corners and hesitate because I worry I might be feeding a drug/alcohol problem. Then I saw this idea, and I think I'll try it. 

Key points about blessing bags: 

 

 

• Purpose: To provide basic necessities to those experiencing homelessness. 
   
   
• Typical contents: Toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, deodorant, socks, snacks, wet wipes, hand sanitizer. 
   
   
• Distribution: Often handed out directly to individuals on the street by volunteers. 

[Tacenda]

3 minutes ago, Tacenda said:

I saw this the other day, it's called a "blessing bag". I constantly see people on street corners and hesitate because I worry I might be feeding a drug/alcohol problem. Then I saw this idea, and I think I'll try it. And this one as well: https://sites.stedwards.edu/seucombatshomelessness/2021/04/07/homeless-care-packages-dos-and-donts/

Key points about blessing bags: 

 

 

• Purpose: To provide basic necessities to those experiencing homelessness. 
   
   
• Typical contents: Toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, deodorant, socks, snacks, wet wipes, hand sanitizer. 
   
   
• Distribution: Often handed out directly to individuals on the street by volunteers. 

 

[Dario_M]

9 hours ago, Stargazer said:

There seems to be some value in finding a place of quiet and beauty in which to pray.

I believe that also. If i pray at a church it seems to be also more effective then if i pray at home for example. 

9 hours ago, Stargazer said:

In Joseph's case, he lived in a small house, with a household consisting of several brothers and sisters. Since their house was surrounded by woods, it was the only place he could be sure to find solitude in order to pray.

I also have some woods nearby my apartment. So it's easy for me to pray there. But i need to pray on a quiet spot. Every place here is crowded. If people see me praying in the woods that can be uncomfortable. 

9 hours ago, Stargazer said:

So that is where he received his First Vision. Later, he must have had a room to himself, because it was in a room in the house at night that he was visited by Moroni, who revealed to him the location of the plates of the Book of Mormon and what he was to do with them.

The one time that I "went into the woods" to pray was more along the line of taking a few days off from the US Army, and I went camping at Mount Rainier National Park.

Oowh...how lovely. Camping in the woods alone must be such a nice thing to do. Nice experience. I've never done it myself though. 

Oh my..  and Mount Rainier is in the middle of nowhere i just saw on google maps. Super isolated. There's nothing close by but only forest. 

9 hours ago, Stargazer said:

I hiked up a 7 mile long trail to a peak near the volcano, and camped for a couple of days. I read scriptures in view of that magnificent volcano, watched deer walk past me as if I weren't there, and prayed. It was a wonderful experience, and I only saw one other person that entire time -- a park ranger on horseback who passed by on patrol, apparently.

I'm not suprised that you didn't saw anyone up there. It's looks super isolated. 

9 hours ago, Stargazer said:

But the closest I have felt to the Spirit was when I prayed in my own home at quiet times. 

 

Yeah i don't really experience much when i pray at home. Maybe that is because i live in a apartment without a balcony. The environment in my home is just uninspiring. 

[Dario_M]

9 hours ago, Calm said:

And then bring him down to Provo and he can stay overnight at my house (unless life has gone crazy).

Aaawh that's so sweet. 🩵 You guys are so nice. And warm. I'm really thankfull for the warm gesture. It must be so special to meet some of you guys in person. 

[Dario_M]

9 hours ago, Calm said:

Justserve is a website that collects service opportunities in your extended neighborhood.

It is apparently available in the Netherlands. 
 

https://news-uk.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/justserve-fever#:~:text=Implementation is different in each country%2C depending,also available%2C this is simply another opportunity.

Oowh that's a really good one! This makes it way easer for me to find something. Thank you so much! 

9 hours ago, Calm said:

It was started by the Church, I believe, but now it’s pretty broad with its support when you look at board members.

Okay i see. Well anyway this is really a handy way for me to find something. 😄

Edited October 18, 2024 by Dario_M

[Dario_M]

6 hours ago, Tacenda said:

I saw this the other day, it's called a "blessing bag". I constantly see people on street corners and hesitate because I worry I might be feeding a drug/alcohol problem. Then I saw this idea, and I think I'll try it. 

That's a good idea yeah. A blessing bag. I don't see much homeless people in my area though. Actually none. But i will watch out for them. 

6 hours ago, Tacenda said:

Key points about blessing bags: 

 

 

• Purpose: To provide basic necessities to those experiencing homelessness. 
   
   
• Typical contents: Toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, deodorant, socks, snacks, wet wipes, hand sanitizer. 
   
   
• Distribution: Often handed out directly to individuals on the street by volunteers. 

Yeah i can make a blessing bag myself indeed. With all the things you mention. That's easy. And a really nobel gesture. I think i will feel like a saint when i hand over a bag to a homeless person. 😇

[Calm]

31 minutes ago, Dario_M said:

I believe that also. If i pray at a church it seems to be also more effective then if i pray at home for example

At home your mind may find thoughts of what you should be doing that day or may be trying to make plans while at church there is nothing but the spirit that you need to attend to.