Sunday, July 27, 2008

My Testimony


After reading the Ensign this month and reading Elder Ballards talk titled 'Sharing the Gospel Using the Internet', and listening to his talk he gave to graduating BYU students, (click here to listen) I've decided to share my testimony on my blog. I do have a testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I know that it was restored for these latter days by a young man by the name of Joseph Smith. He was the young man who was an instrument in the hands of God to restore the true Gospel to earth in these the Latter days. I know that 'Joseph Smith has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it..(D&C 135:3)'. I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer of the world, he died for us so that we might live again. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, it is a daily guide for us, and with it Great will be our Joy. I know that the temple is the Lord's house, I know that families can be sealed for time and eternity in his house. I know that Heavenly Father loves each of us, and is aware of each of us. These things I testify of in the Name of Jesus Christ Amen.

This last week John and I were able to attend the temple (thanks Kaitlynn for babysitting). Just like the primary song says, "The temple is a place of god a place of love and beauty." As I was sitting there in the temple, my mind wandered, and I began thinking that I really wanted to see just a little tiny glimpse of the angels that I so often felt in the temple. I remember attending the temple soon after a cute cliente of mine passed away. She was a temple worker at the Mt. Timpanogas temple, I knew how much she loved the temple and I was certain I felt her spirit there. Well, sorry back to my story.... I was sitting there thinking that Lamen and Lemuel saw an angel and they were rebellious:

  1. 29 And it came to pass as they smote us with a rod, behold, an aangel of the Lord came and stood before them, and he spake unto them, saying: Why do ye smite your younger brother with a rod? Know ye not that the Lord hath chosen him to be a bruler over you, and this because of your iniquities? Behold ye shall go up to Jerusalem again, and the Lord will cdeliver Laban into your hands.
I know it was silly, and I knew I didn't need to see an angel, what good did it do for Leman and Lemuel when soon after they were rebellious yet again:
  1. 10 How is it that ye have aforgotten that ye have seen an angel of the Lord?
Still, we had to wait a few minutes in the temple because they were not ready, it was so peaceful and I couldn't help but keep thinking, "oh, I just want to have a little sign" ok, I know, I know that the scriptures also tell us:
  1. 43 Then, my brethren, ye shall areap the brewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth cfruit unto you.
So I knew my request was silly, but I still couldn't help but think that I just needed something to just keep me moving forward. Well, when we moved into the next room of the temple, I was walking in to be seated, and I happened to sit right next across from my husband, and it was at that moment, I felt a tender mercy from my Father in Heaven. John is truly my angel, he hates when I get too personal on my blog, but his heart is so filled with love for the gospel and for our Savior Jesus Christ, I am just so thankful that I can spend the eternities learning and growing with him. Now if only I could find a way to treat him as the gift he is to me.:) For some reason, I struggle with showing him the same kindness I show others, but it is way to easy to release my frustrations, complaints, my self conscious weaknesses, and my anger on him, the one I know loves me, and takes all the ugly I dish out.

(As I was googling for a temple picture I came across a blog of a young woman expressing her reasons for leaving the church. We now live in a world where there is so much confusion, and I am so grateful that we have a prophet that leads and guides our church in these Latter Days.)

5 comments:

Emily said...

I enjoyed reading that! It was so sweet and sincere!

Anyway, to answer your question in one word, Bogus. The longer answer is, anyone eating ONLY 500 calories per day is going to have a huge weight loss. In fact, eating anything less than 800 calories per day is known as a Very Low Calorie Diet and is about how much some people suffering anorexia nervosa eat. That is way too low. I would worry about the long term effects of taking the hormone as well as if the weight loss is sustainable. Anytime you lose weight quickly, your body doesn't have time to readjust and will probably hang on to what it gets. I would be interested to know how your friend feels. Is she tired? Does she actually have the energy to exercise? Also, the HCG shot isn't regulated by any governing body and I would be worried about the lack of long-term, good scientific studies. There are a lot of ways to lose weight, but really only one healthy one. The problem is no one wants to hear that one! But your right, it is exercise and eating right. I also hope at some point we as Americans will not only worry about how much we weight but also want to be healthy. There are so many other benefits to eating right and exercising than just weight loss. SO many!

Does that answer your question? Let me know!

Anonymous said...

Thankyou for your testimony. I have felt the same way, I would love to see the people we link together in our geneology work. I would just love to know they are so happy and we really have made it possible for them to be eternal families. I guess thats where our faith comes in.

Laurie said...

I just read that article in the Ensign too. I like how you told your story and referenced scriptures along with it.

Cameron and Michelle said...

I hope your blog comes up when someone is googling something regarding the church. That is why it is important to share your testimony with others. You can help teach those who don't know about the gospel and strength those of us who do. thanks

Matt and Shari Bailey said...

Leanne, you have a heart of Gold... Thanks for your sweet testimony... It touched me deeply... I needed it.