Testimony Tuesday

Each Tuesday a sister from our ward will share a part of her testimony. This may be part of her conversion (perhaps a story or principle that helped start or build her testimony), a specific gospel principle they've learned through the years, or a missionary experience. This is a way for us to connect with members of our relief society on a more spiritual basis.  

Kristen Bateman shares the following:

Recently many of my thoughts have been focused on my gratitude for the gift of the Holy Ghost.  I am so grateful for a constant companion to lead us through this life. It is such a comfort to feel peace and confidence regarding the direction one’s life is heading.  To feel the Lord’s approval, provides strength to meet daily challenges. Aligning our will with the Lord’s will for us, may not always seem logical or be our first choice. Being willing to take the leap of faith required to follow the Lord’s path for our life, takes courage.  In the last two years I have really come to understand that just because a path to follow in our life is right, it does not mean that the path will be easy.  I have come to have a greater testimony of the scripture found in Mosiah 24:15:  And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.  I have found that as I try to be cheerful and patient, the Lord truly does strengthen me.  I have also been more observant of others and their trials.  I have seen how the tender mercies of the Lord, talked about in Nephi, truly are over all those who seek him. I am finding as I put my trust in the Lord and do as much as I can to follow the path that he shows me, I am amazed to see how his hand miraculously alters circumstances to bring about his will for me.  It probably won’t be on the timeline that I would like it to be, but I am learning to trust that there is a purpose for His timeline.  My father has been struggling with some severe health problems recently.  As I sat by him one night last month, he said to me, “I don’t know why the Lord wants me to live.  I do not fear death and there have been days that I would like to move on.  I keep feeling like He wants me to live and that gets me through each day.”  The strength from personal revelation and the peace and hope of the gospel are priceless.  I am truly grateful for them.

Testimony Tuesday

Each Tuesday a sister from our ward will share a part of her testimony. This may be part of her conversion (perhaps a story or principle that helped start or build her testimony), a specific gospel principle they've learned through the years, or a missionary experience. This is a way for us to connect with members of our relief society on a more spiritual basis. 

This week Sandra Emerick shares her testimony with us.

My dear sisters, first of all forgive me for my written English as I share these things with you. You all know how much I love to talk so I'll try to be brief and not put you all to sleep. As most of you know I'm a member of the Church since I was 14 and joined the Church in Portugal in April 9th of 1986. Never in my wildest dreams I thought I would take so many different turns in my life and end up in Irondequoit, NY, USA. But I'm glad I did. Despite some mistakes and disappointments along the way the Lord has never left me and in my darkest moments I can assure you that He was there for me. Because of the adversity that I experienced, and in some different ways still do experience, I can tell you that my relationship with the Lord has deepened and my awareness that He is there for us is more real to me than ever before. One of the things that I am absolutely grateful for is the great gift of the Holy Ghost. My dear sisters, the Lord knew what he was doing when He left us with it. He knew that we wouldn't be strong enough without it, that sometimes we would feel lonely and in need of company, that we would experience heartache, emotional and physical pain, suffering, and many times anger and frustration, and that His comfort would come as a balm to heal us. Also, He knew that at certain crucial times in our lives we would need His direction to guide us to make the right choices and recognize the truth. He would also be there to protect and warn. What a great gift the Holy Ghost is! And it's all part of a perfect plan that the Lord God prepared for us. This is my testimony, that I know that without the light of Christ that comes to us through the Holy Spirit we are nothing. We would live empty lives. This is why Christ is the life and the light of the world. He is the Savior of our souls. We need Him and we need the manifestations of His Spirit to endure life and ultimately experience the joy of His light and love. Every time I feel the presence of the Spirit I feel so blessed that the Lord didn't leave us on our own. My dear sisters, it's an honor to serve with you all and to feel who you really are. We are daughters of a Great God. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Testimony Tuesday

Each Tuesday a sister from our ward will share a part of her testimony. This may be part of her conversion (perhaps a story or principle that helped start or build her testimony), a specific gospel principle they've learned through the years, or a missionary experience. This is a way for us to connect with members of our relief society on a more spiritual basis. 

Jessy Cook wrote a letter to one of her visiting teachers when she first started coming back to church. She would like to share that same e-mail (with additions) with the other sisters of our Relief Society:

My name is Jessy Cook and I am one of your new visiting teachers!  I'm really excited to be a part of the visiting teaching program because it helps me to get to know the members of the ward... I only recently started coming back to church after being inactive for about 13 years.  It has been an AWESOME experience for me to come back and the more I get involved, the more I notice how much joy I've been missing in my life.  I have a husband and two little boys (so I'm out-numbered!) and love the friendships I've formed in Relief Society since coming back to church.

For me, coming back to church was all about timing.  I was born and raised in the church and even went to BYU, but was never the best example of living the Gospel.  While I was at BYU, through all of my trials and set-backs, I came to the conclusion that I would serve a mission to “make up” for all the bad I had done in my life.  Because that’s how it works, right?  Wrong.  Very wrong.  I got my mission call to Oslo, Norway and spent 2 weeks in the MTC learning Norwegian and the discussions.  I know it’s not like this for everyone, but I LOVED the MTC!  The Spirit was bouncing off the walls around me and I loved that!  There was no denying the truthfulness of the Gospel and the pure and simple message of Jesus Christ: To Come Unto Him.  To make a long part of this story short, I decided that I would do whatever it took to become WORTHY to serve the mission that I had been called on.  It was decided after much back and forth with church authorities that I should spend 4 months outside of the MTC repenting.  Fine.  I would do that.  I would do whatever it took, right?  4 months became 6 months.  6 months became a year.  After that, I’d had enough!  No more jerking me around.  I was done with trying to get back to the MTC.  The magical feeling I got while in the MTC was a distant memory at that point and I was lost to my old habits. My walls went up and I had officially become “offended” by the General Authorities for their judgment.   I never doubted the truthfulness of the Gospel… I simply COULDN’T do it.  I became inactive and eventually returned to NY where I wouldn’t be around Mormons all the time and wouldn’t feel so guilty about the way I was living.

All of my family members (parents, 4 sisters, and 1 brother) are active members of the church.  They had a hard time with me being inactive at first, but always loved me and included me.  I let them know early on in my inactivity that I didn't want any pressure from them about going to church.  I had my reasons why I didn't want to go anymore and I didn't want to feel pressure from them.  Fast-forward 13 years, (having been married, one little boy in the house and another on the way) and the sister missionaries knocked on my door!  They were so sweet.  I know if it would have been any other missionaries, I probably wouldn't have answered the door.  They were blown away when I told them that I was already a member of the church!  I wasn't on the ward records.  They asked if they could set up a time to come visit me with a message which I agreed to and then they also invited me to come to church.   The main feeling I got from them was love... and they told me that they could feel the deep love my Heavenly Father still had for me.  This was a shocker... that Heavenly Father STILL loved me after being so far away from the church for so long.  I've clung to that feeling of love I got when I first opened my doors to the missionaries ever since and have been going strong ever since!  I'm totally hooked on the feeling I get from the good news of the Gospel.

The road back was painful, but the joy and peace of the Atonement was worth 100xs the pain.  It is an indescribable feeling to truly experience the miracle of forgiveness.

So that's my story in a nut shell.  :-)  I might not be the typical Mormon, but I love this Gospel and am so grateful for all that it has done for me over the past 8 and a half months.

With love and gratitude,

Jessy

The sisters of the ward are my anchor.  Your love and strength keeps me grounded in the Gospel and I am so thankful for ALL OF YOU.  Each and every one of you.  Please know that I love you and appreciate YOUR stories.  We are all so different and I LOVE that about this ward!

Testimony Tuesday

Each Tuesday a sister from our ward will share a part of her testimony. This may be part of her conversion (perhaps a story or principle that helped start or build her testimony), a specific gospel principle they've learned through the years, or a missionary experience. This is a way for us to connect with members of our relief society on a more spiritual basis. 

Sarah Belcher shares the following:

As the only member of the church in my extended family, my testimony began when I ran across the church and began to ask questions. I eventually took the missionary discussions and became a member of the church. However, the testimony-building experience that I am most thankful for was the full-time mission I served about 3 years after joining the church. It was the most difficult thing I had done at that point in my life; It was dark, cold and lonely. I had little support from home, I couldn't initially communicate or understand much, I had a companion that did not want to be burdened with me and no other sister missionaries within a day's travel. We had no familiar food, and we weren't allowed to be in members or investigators homes for meals, as there was such a problem with food-related illness. We also did not have hot water, and the water we did have was so radiated that clumps of our hair fell out regularly. The people I served amongst were economically depressed, suffered greatly for basic needs and were generally despondent. It was a huge culture shock and I had seemingly no where to turn for support. Fortunately, a mission has a built-in focus on the essentials, and since I was constantly praying, reading the scriptures, and sharing my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I discovered the real source of strength and support- our Savior, Jesus Christ. I saw miracles occur in the hearts of the people, but especially in my own heart, and I learned where our true happiness comes from. And I came to understand that despite how seemingly different people are, we are all essentially the same- children of a loving Heavenly Father. While I am forever thankful for my initial experiences learning about the church and the gospel when I initially joined the church, it was the experiences of a full-time mission that provided the perfect environment for me to grow and strengthen my testimony amidst adversity, and it ultimately taught me the simple, if not always easy, way to keep enduring through life's challenges.

Tuesday Testimony

Each Tuesday a sister from our ward will share a part of her testimony. This may be part of her conversion (perhaps a story or principle that helped start or build her testimony), a specific gospel principle they've learned through the years, or a missionary experience. This is a way for us to connect with members of our relief society on a more spiritual basis. 

Aubrie Roehrig shares the following story:

My testimony of the Church began at the young age of 10.  I had moved to New York with my recently converted father and began going to church with him.  I loved it!  I received missionary discussions from the sister missionaries, and I knew what they were teaching me was true.  Not long after my discussions, I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Although I felt the Spirit strongly and had some knowledge of the gospel, I never truly understood or appreciated the Atonement until I had to use it.  In my later years, I strayed from the path outlined by the church.  For a number of reasons, I began making choices that drew me farther away from God and my Savior.  I needed the cleansing power of the Atonement, and it was when I reached out to Him, the only one who could help me, that I was cleansed.  The repentance process completely changed my life.   The Lord, my Savior, changed my heart.  I no longer have the desire to do the things I did before.  I look at the world through new eyes.  Although I began my journey at the age of 10, I did not fully experience the Atonement until much later on.  I am so very grateful to my friend and Savior, Jesus Christ, and I will spend the rest of my days shouting from the rooftops so that others can experience this precious gift.