It is GOOD to be a Latter Day Saint

I know I have been having a moan about Brigham Young and some leaders that lead of themselves, but overall, being a member of the LDS church is a wonderful experience if you don't let the wayward history that Brigham Young added to it get to you, his teachings are not part of us now, we do not live them, the things the missionaries taught you are what we believe in. Joseph Smith saw an angel, he had the Book of Mormon revealed to him, by revelation he translated the Bible to for correctness and from both the Book of Mormon and the Bible we are guided how to live.  Being a Latter-day Saint is awesome.

I have been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 1985 so I have experienced a lot.  If you are a member already, you will know what you love about going to Church, and how great it makes you feel and for those that have never experienced it and are worried to check it out, just go ahead and get stuck in!

The first experience I had of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was when two young missionaries knocked my street, and knocked my door.  Noone ever knocked our door except the insurance man, and so when I opened the door and there were two smiley guys standing there in smart suits, shaven, neat short haircuts and badges on their pocket, I was in wonderment.  The first thing I recall saying after they introduced themselves is 'huh! I never heard the name Elder as a first name before, and here you are both with the same first name'!

As a fifteen year old at the time and a little bashful of guys, I kept giggling at everything they said. They asked if  they could show me and my family a movie about families ... I asked where was it being shown (I assumed they had hired a hall out and were inviting people to attend) when they said they wanted to show it there in our front-room I laughed and laughed with surprise as we had nothing to play a movie on as such back in 1985, but to my surprise they had a projector with them and played a short film 'families can be together forever'. Just my Mum and I watched it, along with my 6 month old brother.

Previous to the missionaries knocking my door, I had read the New Testament all the way through just a fortnight before and had gained a witness of Jesus Christ, I believed in Him and his miracles, so I was pretty happy that I had some people come teach me more about Jesus Christ, each of their visits were edifying, my heart was warm and their prayers touched my heart and so did their Spirit. I was over-joyed with what I was being taught.

The message was that Man was made in the image of God, and that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and looked just like God too, and that Jesus Christ died for our sins, that we lived with God in heaven before we came to earth, and that we watched the earth created and in heaven we chose to be followers of Jesus Christ and were blessed to be born upon the earth - that our spirit would be put into a body and we would be born and grow up experiencing life and living by faith, finding our way back to God. And that Jesus died for us, that he was the first man resurrected.  This was all comforting news.  Also, that when Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, that he would one day return, but before that day we were left with the Comforter ... the Holy Ghost to be with us and teach us the truth of all things.

They also taught about a young man called Joseph Smith who in the 1820's had been searching for truth too, and had prayed to God for guidance as to which church to attend and which doctrines were true.  In his sincerity, he received an answer. He learnt that God and Jesus Christ were separate, and had bodies, and that the Holy Ghost was spirit.  I was pretty much amazed that God, the Father, was in fact the size of man! I had a dizzy moment such as experiencing Alice in Wonderland shrinking in size from her gigantic house size to normal girl size, when I learnt this. Made sense, but at the Church of England school I attended, I was taught that God was MASSIVE, SCARY ANGRY and had no body! lol ... it was kind of a relief to have him packaged down to size as being huggable, and from what the missionaries taught me, God was not mean or horrible at all, but as loving as any Father anyone could wish for!  This was all good news for me and made my heart joy.  I had no earthly Father,and it was a  comfort to imagine having God as a kind personage that could love me.

I was taught the ten commandments ... and the teachings of Jesus Christ, and I was taught how to pray the Lord's prayer, the Bible and the Book of Mormon were used to teach me.  I was told about the Book of Mormon, that God had wanted Joseph Smith to find it and have it translated.  The words of the Book of Mormon flowed as the words of an angel, it was easier to understand as the meanings were plain, but they were the same principles of the Bible.  I spent weeks scripture studying, I read the entire Bible, Old and New, and the entire of The Book of Mormon.  I prayed about what the missionaries taught me and received a strong and powerful witness 1. That God lives, 2. That Jesus Christ lived, died, and was resurrected, 3.That the Holy Ghost is real, and 4. that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and  5. that The Book of Mormon was a true book.

I was taught to take care of my body, in all I learnt not to smoke tobacco, or drink alcohol, or tea or coffee, or coke, and to dress modestly, to not use vulgar or profane language and to not blaspheme.

I reformed my life, it was a joy having a reason to do things, I had become a drinker already at a young age where there was alcohol to be had, and I had been smoking too.  I was taught chastity ... and not to have a boyfriend til the age of 16, and that after that time, to not let a guy touch my body and to not be left alone with the opposite sex so as to not be led into temptation or mistreated. That sex was sacred and to be special within marriage only.  I was taught to be an obedient child to my mother and to be patient, long-suffering, kind, charitable, giving, faithful, forgiving, loving, to be prayerful and to love God and treat others how I would want to be treated.

I had a wonderful baptism day... it was a new start for me, I loved that.  And I was confirmed, Hands were laid on my head and the words 'Receive the Holy Ghost' were said, I immediately felt the rush of the Holy Ghost fill me, It was literally like a warm wind that filled my lungs and made me feel happy and elated, joyful, it was different than I ever felt.  Since the missionaries taught me to pray ( I had never prayer before), I never ceased.  I found God the first time I prayed, like an instant friend waiting for me.... he was there!  I had a constant companion, I was no longer alone.  I had had many times that I felt so alone, so misunderstood, and so hurt so much of the time.  Church brought a wonderful period into my life.  It gave me life.

I turned 16 the month after I was baptised.  When I went to church the first time, it was a warm and joyous place to be, brimming with people that wanted to get to know me and who became as a second family to me.... those same people I have known for over 28 years now.  I have seen them grow up, get married, have children ... everyone has grown up around me.

Church provided me with much input into my life, fun times, dances, camps, Youth Club, Primary activities, Youth Activities, Home-making skills, confidence building skills, teaching skills, Sunday School, Dinners, Banquets, Road-shows, choir, meeting new people, sports days, picnics, exchange holidays with youth from other countries, missionaries for dinner, invites to people's homes for dinner and games.

Church life is a full life to lead, it is joyous, edifying and uplifting.  It gives you purpose.

I was taught to have faith, and if I needed anything, to ask God, and to also be patient waiting for prayers to be answered at the right time.  I learnt that the Holy Ghost felt like a warmth in your heart, like peace to your mind, like warm  joy filling your bosom, like a still small voice speaking to you like a conscience, but a conscience that is not of your own voice .... an instructive voice, of calm, of comfort, or warning if need be, of direction, of testimony.

My heart over-flowed with joy when I read scripture, and prayed, recieving comfort, and when I shared my faith with others.  I had a very strong testimony, and my testimony still exists.

Families became as if I were their family, a couple of the dad's were like fathers to me, with the women acting as mothers, their children treating me as a sister.  When I had troubles, they would listen to me.  I received gifts on my birthday, and cards.  I felt special.  I was given opportunity to serve, to teach sunday school lessons, to teach music to the little children, I loved my service, it gave me purpose.

A principle called 'tithing' was taught too, and I wanted to live it, I prayed for a job and got one and rejoiced in giving one tenth of what I had, and the joy was that I was blessed.  I knew that as I gave, it would come back to me. I had faith.

When I later struggled when I had a place of my own, I was given financial help paying my rent, stocking my cupboards with food, and given charity.  The church works very well. I have been in need for a period of years, it is a good system.  The church teaches you to store food as you are able to, for the times that you might be in need of it.  I was taught so much.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints since 1985 til now provided me with spiritual care, physical care, and temporal care.

Taking of the sacrament is a joy too, and hearing talks given by different people every Sunday, and once a month Fasting a couple of meals on a Sunday, and many people get up and bear their testimony of Jesus Christ.  It is good.

The sadness only lies in an interim period of the past, Joseph Smith gave us all the good stuff, he gave us the teachings from God, from Jesus Christ, from the Holy Ghost, but he was martyred and after him the church was left without a leader for three years, until Brigham Young assumed presidency of the Church and he had different teachings that have haunted the church until this day as noone will leave  the church alone, even though those teachings spuriously taught for the period of Brigham's lifetime, went with him.  The church regained its original teachings and let go of those spurious teachings, but the Church did not publically announce letting those teachings go, and so we are a Church that is hounded, and members come then members go when they find out the spurious teachings from the past ....... but that was then and this is now, 1847-1910 was a  long time ago, and the church has been a sparkling example of goodness. There may have been some bad  leaders at times  but that does not make the entire church bad.  Goodness stays with good people, they don't lose it just because a bad leader comes along, unless they do the bad things, but the goodness carried on ... and so the priesthood carried on, and the good teachings carried on.

So, we have a good church, that needs to reform the past and to acknowledge it and a few changes need to be made, the endowment in the temple needs axing, and the section 132 in the D&C and apart from that, we are all good!  The Temple is a wonderful place to be, wonderful people.  There are wolf in sheeps clothing wherever you go, but in this church there are many pure hearted people striving to live Christ-like lives and trying to make a difference in the world.  Some may try too hard, but when you follow the Holy Ghost and do what feels right by your heart, you need not be afraid or intimidated about anything but to do what you feel is right as I said and to enjoy the beauty of people, and the beauty of the Gospel.

This is my testimony of my experience at church .... barring the bad times I had with ungodly leaders but they are few are far between! We all have fall outs, and in 28 years I have well cared for :-) and God teaches us all and helps us grow.

love, Yolanda

I am a seeker after truth, I will not lie and pretend about something. I will tell you as it is and from my personal experience.

Things I have testimony of:-  Free Agency! God never forces us to do anything, he will persuade you to do good, and entice you to do good, but he will not force you. He will give a commandment for your well-being, protecting you from consequences of emotional or physical pain or harm.  Nothing of what he expects is bad, but is for your good.

The Holy Ghost! - I have STRONG testimony of the Holy Ghost and had many many experiences and will share them in some other blog or may speak of some here, the experiences I have had have led me to safety, warned me of danger, comforted me when sad, and commanded me when I have needed command (I suffered depression during or after pregnancy one time and had put a bottle of tablets into my mouth and chomped them up into soup ready to swallow, I wanted out of this life and to be free .... this was a time that I was crying and begging God to let me swallow them and die, but what I heard was a firm voice, kind and caring, but very firm commanding me to spit out from my mouth, and that my children's future happiness depended on my actions right then and there.  I didn't want to, I was crying and sobbing, but I obeyed and lived to tell this tale, that was about fifteen years ago.)

Another time, I needed a blessing, I was heavily pregnant and had picked up a bug in which I could not stop being sick. I was all alone in the house, I was unable to contact anyone and I was violently being constantly sick.  I needed instant help, I prayed to God for help ... I was sat kneeling on the toilet floor, worried I would go into premature labour or harm the baby, and I needed comfort. I prayed and asked for angels to be sent to me and for them to place their hands on my head and bless me to be well.  As soon as I prayed, I could feel warm pressure upon my head and a warm descend down my body from my head down, like a bubble of warm protection, a sheild, and I felt calm finally and at peace, I stopped retching and was blessed. This was a very striking experience for me, it was very real.

Another time I suffered migrane for three days, it was immense, I hadn't been able to eat or open my eyes, I had been in agony.  I was in bed suffering with the blankets over my head and crying. Then it came to me to ask Jesus Christ to take this pain from me, I had wanted to be long-suffering and deal with the trial, but I couldn't any longer and I personally prayed. I felt hands upon my head, and I felt a heavy weighted blanket had been pulled from off my head and eyes as the pain left me and I could suddenly open my eyes without excruciating pain and without my head throbbing and stabbing me. I knelt up on my knees on my bed and turned to the window and gazed out, it was such a wonderful feeling. I had been blessed!

Testimony of most of the New Testament
Testimony of most of the Old Testament
Testimony of Jesus Christ
Testimony of Heavenly Father
Testimony of obeying the commandments
Testimony of The Book of Mormon
Testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God
Testimony that Joseph Smith was not polygamous
Testimony that Brigham Young was a wicked man
Testimony that Doctrine and Covenants 132 is a fabrication, of lies and various revelations knit together
Testimony that Joseph and Hyrum Smith's murders had something to do with Willard Richards & BY
Testimony that Emma Smith told the truth
Testimony that Joseph Smith III had the Spirit of God with him
Testimony that God never leaves us alone, Testimony angels help us
Testimony of prayers being answered
Testimony of miracles
Testimony of forgiveness
Testimony of service
Testimony of power of prayer, and healing
Testimony of patriarchal blessings
Testimony of sacrament
Testimony of spiritual gifts
Testimony of goodness of LDS people
Testimony of Gordon B Hinkley being a good man
Testimony of some parts of the Temple ... not all
Testimony of Fasting
Testimony of Tithing
Testimony of following the Holy Ghost and not blindly following leaders ...