Recently on the Middle Aged Mormon Man blog (http://middle-agedmormonman.blogspot.com/), the author shares some wonderful insight on testimoniese and the bearing thereof. Especially at Girls’ Camp. Around a camp fire. With all your Church friends and leaders. One of the best spiritual experiences. Ever. But he takes it to a new level. Don’t have a friend-amony. Bear your “real” testimony. Not what you’re grateful for. But what you know.
In another article some time back, a ward’s bishopric wanted to have that type of expeirence in their ward’s Fast & Testimiony Meeting. On the lecturn was a picture posted of the Savior, with three lines below. Tell us your name. How do you feel about the Savior? Share your testimony.
That’s it – pure & simple. But for some it’s not simple. And for others the things that they are thankful for are what help drive their testimony. That isn’t to say that they don’t have a testimony. It’s just sometimes difficult to separate our blessings from what we believe/know about the Gospel.
But there are some whose testimonies are pure. As I recently witnessed on my own.
We had a young sister that joined the Church a few months ago. I’m sure that she was barely above poverty level (if that high). She had no dresses to wear to Church. She couldn’t afford them. She'd come to Church in stained clothes. And hair unkept. But she didn't seem to mind. She was just happy to be at Church with her fellow believeers.
You could tell after talking to her for a bit that she would probably be classified as a “special needs student” if she were in school. She had trouble at times keeping up with the rest of the sisters, but that only added to her charm. A very wise Bishop eventually called her to work in the Nursery - the best place to learn the basic tenets of our faith.
She took care of her niece and nephew on the weekends and would bring them to Church with her – only one at a time. That’s all she could handle. But she did it willingly. She'd take them by the hand and excitedly tell her little charge about the friends he/she would be playing with, the songs they'd get to sing and their teachers that they loved.
And to top it all off – she was married to a man who was in jail. And she waited patiently for the day when he would be released so that their life together could begin. She forgave him his wrongdoings and told me that while he had had a troubled past she knew that he loved her. Because he treated her like a queen. As every Daughter of God should be.
Even though she was so new to the Church she had the sweetest, most tender testimony I’d ever witnessed. As we were sitting in Fast & Testimony Meeting she slipped me a note, "I've never felt what I feel when I come to Church. I don't know why. I just feel so good and warm inside." She smiled sweetly at me and I returned the smile and gave her a quick hug. That's the closest she could come to bearing her testimony.
But I saw her testimony in her eyes. The way she eagerly waited for her Sunday School class to begin and the love she shared with the little ones in the Nursery. How she was unafraid to share her true self to her sisters in Relief Society. Never did I see a sister ridicule or mock her. They were patient. They were kind. But not as much as she was.
Her prayers were pure, too. She told us that she had been bullied all through school. And that it was tough for her and she’d go to her Heavenly Father in prayer. She never asked for the bullies to stop. She didn’t ask for retribution. She just simply prayed to the Lord for help in knowing how to handle them, how to show them that they were wrong. No hate. She just needed to know what she could do on her part to make things better. For all involved.
I learned a lot from her before she moved away after her husband had been released from prison. She's been gone only a few months, but I so miss her sweet spirit and pure testimony.
"I don't know why I feel this way." I welcome this reminder from one that is so new to the Church and is now discovering and accepting the wonderful gifts that the Lord has blessed us all with. And I need to learn to be as thankful - and hopeful - as she was. And I hope and pray that the members of her new ward learn to appreciate and love her as much as I learned to. And that they’ll realize what a unique treasure they have in their midst.
So back to my original question - what’s the sorth of a soul’s testimony?
As we read in 1 Peter 3:4 - But let it be the hidden man (or in this case, woman) of the heart, that in which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
In other words - priceless.
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