TRUTH

I had a really cool experience this past Saturday. I should prob start at the beginning...it's a very good place to start!

So Friday night me and my roomies had tickets to this really awesome Time Out for women conference/concert type thing for LDS women! We were able to hear Hilary Weeks perform and a band called "A Nashville Tribute to the Prophet Joseph Smith." Both were super amazing and wonderful. "The Nashville Tribute" was pretty powerful! I greatly enjoyed it all. So it was also scheduled for Saturday like all day, which I was planning on going to when.....

I was walking out of the Cashman Center(where the conference was) and I check my voice mails...two new V-mails from an unknown number. So I listen to the messages...and it was my best friend SISTER DITTO!!! Holy Smokes!! I was freakin out! So her messages were something like, her and her comp were going to a few appts. Saturday morn and they couldn't get a member to come with them so she wanted me to come with them to these appts. Ummmmm.....HECK YES!!! So I called her back and got all the details.

Saturday morning I head up to N. Vegas and we go to the first appt. It was with a lady named *Heidi(names have been changed) The mishys had tracted into her before and every appt. that Sis ditto had set with her she had always cancelled. So as we knocked on the door we hoped she would answer. Well she totally did! Anyways so we sat down and we wanted to give her some information about The Book of Mormon so we read part of the introduction with her and than we read the 1st chapter in 1 Nephi. After we talked with her a little more, I was able to share my testimony with her about the importance of going to church and why I go to church each week. As I was sharing with this lady who I had never met before in my life the things that are near and dear to my heart and the things that I know to be true, I just felt the spirit so strong. And I could tell that she felt it too. I think she may have some mental issues, but as I bore testimony of the Love that the Lord has for us and the Spirit that can be felt at church, she wasn't moving all around or changing the subject(like she did before) she was focused on what I was saying and her countenance changed, and I knew she felt the spirit witnessing to her that what I spoke was Truth!

THAN...we went and visited another investigator, lets call him *Nathan. So here's the DL on Nathan, he has been investigating the church for over a year, he knows the gospel is true and he knows it's the Lords will for him...but why is he not baptized? I don't know! But I know that he knows whats right, and he knows what he needs to do, he is just hesitant to commit. So we talked with him about why baptism is important, and that you don't have to know everything to be baptized, in fact we don't know everything right now either! I could see that he still might have some issues that he needed to take care of. I was able to bear my testimony to Nathan about how I came to know The Book of Mormon is true. It was a very amazing experience because here I am again telling this pretty much stranger something that is so personal to me and pretty much the basis of my life. Again I felt the spirit so strong and I know that Nathan did too. I don't even remember exactly what I said, but I basically said that if he trusts in the Lord and follows in faith than the Lord will bless him and he will overall be happy. The Lord isn't going to give us commandments to make us miserable, his plan is one of happiness because he loves us! Don't we all want happiness for the ones we love? And the Lord out of anybody loves us the most of all, of course he wants us to be happy! I said some other stuff and after I finished Nathan told me how he had been feeling that exact way and how he needed to hear that. It was just amazing for me to see the impact my testimony can have on someone who I don't even know and someone who is not a member. I don't really take advantage of bearing my testimony frequently. But as I bore testimony to Nathan and Heidi of the Truthfulness of the Gospel I could feel the spirit present and it was reaffirmed to me that what I was saying was the Truth and from the Lord. I could feel my testimony being strengthened.

It was just an amazing experience! I hope that I will be able to share my testimony more often with everyone around me. I know its a gift from the Lord that should not be kept to myself. It is strength. And I will strive to share that strength and truth with others and hope that it will strengthen them as well.I know the spirit is present every time a sincere testimony is born.

I only think it appropriate to share with you all what I know to be true and a little bit of my testimony.

I know the Gospel is true and that it is of the Lord. I know The Book of Mormon is the word of God and as we read it we draw closer to Him. We can know of His will for us through the scriptures and through the Prophet. I know Thomas S. Monson is the living prophet on the Earth today. He gives us counsel and direction straight from the Lord. I know that Joseph Smith restored the Gospel to the Earth and that he translated The Book of Mormon. I know that Jesus Christ lived and died for me. He atoned for my sins and He is the only one that has made it possible for me to return to my Father in Heaven. There is no other way except through Christ. I know that the Lord knows me and Loves me more than I can possibly comprehend. I am His Child and He will never leave me. He hears my prayers and He answers them. I know that by following His will for me I will be truly happy in this life.

If you take anything from this blog, I hope its that I know these things to be true. I hope that you may know for yourselves that they are true as well. The Lord loves you!

I love you all!