Testimonies

Wow - what a day! I have just come home from what I would say was the best day of church ever! I felt the spirit so strongly the whole time!

Today was fast and testimony day. The meeting was a little different today, though, as we witnessed a new member who was just baptized yesterday get confirmed today. What a special experience. My ward has received two new members now in just as many weeks. We have such strong members in our ward who are wonderful examples of what they believe, and are being missionaries in their everyday lives, and by doing so, are blessing the lives of others. That is so awesome! 

As I was sitting there thinking about this newest member in my ward, I was thinking about how the choices in our lives affect not only the rest of our lives, but they affect those who come after us - our posterity. And what a change we can have in the lives of others and in our future families. It just continues on and on! This gospel is so amazing!!!

While I listened to the testimonies during sacrament meeting, I wrote down a list of blessing that were brought to my mind, and then wrote down a few thoughts I had:

Blessings:

Joy the gospel brings me
Living prophet
Miracles
Book of Mormon
Atonement is real
promptings from the Holy Ghost
Temples
Institute
Prayer / personal revelation / answers
True gospel
Missionary experiences
Family / forever families
Positive changes in my life
Testimonies (and my own)
Sacrament meeting
Friends
Joseph Smith
Lord's plan for me
Repentance
Savior
Faith
General Conference
Agency
Love
Priesthood

- We need God to overcome trials, we cannot overcome them alone, but with Him, we can!
- Sometimes we do not get what we want for a reason

So, testimonies last until 2:30! The first hours should end by about 2:10 at the latest and after the last testimony, the song and prayer it was 2:40! But I could have gone for another hour. I think everyone was feeling that, at least that is what it seemed like. The spirit was so strong in the meeting. Even the new member bore his testimony. Man, I have a LOT to be grateful for!

Then our stake president came to Relief Society and spoke for about 10 minutes at the end. He told a story of a family that lived in Europe and they were really struggling (about 100+ years ago). The father abandoned the small family to survive on his own. The mother, without a way to feed her starving children, sent her oldest son to work as a cabin boy on a boat. After working for years and traveling the world as a sailor, as he became, he decided to go back to his family. But they had immigrated to the United States. So, he thought he'd follow and go to America. He got to New York and decided to go to California, because that is where the gold was. As he was on the train on it's way across country, it broke down in Ogden, Ut... of all places. The train was going to take two days to fix. He and some traveling companions went to Salt Lake to look around and ended up in the Tabernacle to listen to the choir sing. While he was there, a man came up to him and asked if he was a Campbell. He said he was. The man said that he knew someone who looked just like him who now lived in southern Utah, and was probably this boy's family. The man arranged for the boy to travel down where he was reunited with his family!

Then the stake president paused and said, "If he cares enough to break down a train in Ogden, Ut for a dirty little sailor boy so that he can reunite him with his family, then just imagine what he can do for you."

Wow. That's powerful! What will the Lord do for me to bring to pass His plan? 

That one will keep me thinking for a while.

Basically it was an very spirit filled day!

One of my friends and I are going to the temple this week together, she is heading on her mission in about two weeks, and we went through the temple-prep class together and have had choir together. That will be awesome. I LOVE the temple!!!

The Gospel of Jesus Christ seriously brings me SO much joy!!! I love how I can feel when I am making correct choices and have the Holy Ghost with me. I love it when my heart burns and I feel truth.

(What I wrote after sacrament meeting today): "Wow, what a spirit filled meeting!!! This Gospel brings me so much joy and happiness! My heart feels full - one of my (new-ish) most favorite feelings."