The Power Of A Testimony

So this past week Elder Martin and myself were out trying to visit this lady that use to be taught by missionaries. After many attempts we finally found her sitting outside. It was pretty awesome because she was rather rude to us at the beginning, she wouldn't shake my hand and was very unhappy to see us,

but we were very polite and just talked to her and found out she got offended by something a missionary had said to her. We simply bore testimony about the Savior and the importance of our message and it was incredible. She went from rude, to happy, to talk about Christ and wanted to continue learning. By the end of about 15 min of talking to her we asked if we could come back and teach her again, her reply was not what was expected from the first impression. She said, "Umm, well lets see. Today is Tuesday so how about Wednesday night?" Wow I didn't expect that. So we asked her to read from The Book of Mormon before tomorrow and she did and it was a wonderful experience.

But what was it that changed her heart? It couldn't be because were two really really really ridiculously good looking young men, could it? Nah, The only thing, power, or influence on earth that has the ability to change our hearts is THE SPIRIT. "...the Lord did pour out his Spirit on all the face of the land to prepare the minds of the children of men, or to prepare their hearts to receive the word which should be taught among them at the time of his coming" (Alma 16:16) 

What is a testimony? And how did this change her heart? It is a witness of what one knows to be true. For example one may say after receiving a personal experience pertaining to repentance, "I know that Christ forgives sin." It is a firm declaration of something that is true and right. This simple declaration of what is true invited the Holy Ghost. The reason for this is that the Spirit testifies or confirms things that are true. If things are true, the Spirit comes and hearts are changed. And not only others but our own as well. Sharing what we know with others not only helps them but strengthens our testimonies in the process.

If we don't have a testimony, how can we obtain one? We must first study it out in our minds what we want to know. Example, if we want to know if Joseph Smith is a prophet we must first know who he is and what it means to be a prophet. Or, if we want to know if Christ is our Savior we must first learn what that means and what makes it possible for him to save us. Then We must go to God, the author of all truth, "He who knoweth all things" and ask him in prayer if it is true and right. Then we must patiently wait for him to tell us. And we will know by the power of the Holy Ghost. "And by the power of the Holy Ghost [you] my know the truth of all things" (Moroni 10:5)

I know by the power of the Holy Ghost that God lives. Christ is our Lord and Savior. And that His church as been restored to the earth by a modern day prophet.

The End of the Old Testament

The very last few verses of scripture in the Old Testament are rather interesting to me because it contains a prophecy of an event to proceed the coming of Christ but as well its a hidden message. In Malachi 4 verses 5-6 it reads,

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

What does he mean by "turn the hearts of the fathers to the children"?

I think a good scripture worth referencing is in Matthew 16:19 "And I will give unto thee [peter] the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." 

The turning of hearts is contained in the power and authority Christ speaks of to "bind on earth and bind in heaven." It is when a marriage or sacred ordinance of God is preformed it is sanctioned by God because it was done by His authority in His name.

In today's marriage vows anyone who has been married in a civil marriage has heard these closing words, "till death do you part" The meaning of this is that you are married until death separates you. And that's it. You are no longer married to that person. How sad this is, to love someone so much that you dedicate your life to them and in an instant they are gone, lost forever to us. But thankfully not lost to God. This however is not the design and plan of God. He does not want to see this happen to us. He want's us to be happy and have an eternal family. This is why he has fulfilled this prophecy.

On April 3rd, 1836 Joseph Smith the Prophet and Oliver Cowdery were praying in the Kirtland, Ohio temple when the following occurred, "...Another great and glorious vision burst upon us; for Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said:

Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—

To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse—" (Doctrine and Covenants 110:13-15)

It is true, I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ that God has sent his servants to restore the Priesthood onto the earth so that family's can be sealed forever, for "time and all eternity" and death shall not part us from our loved ones. I know that my family will be eternal as long as we do our best to keep the commandments of God, He has promised it to be so.

Whats So Special About The First Sat & Sun of April And October?

In Amos 3:7 It says that "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets" His secrets are things that pertain to our salvation and our spiritual and often times even temperal salvation. God as told prophets that we will not work without one of them on the earth.
Example, he sent Noah to warn of the flood. He sent Moses to give the Ten Commandments. He sent Christ who is the very Son of God, but also still a prophet to teach his people.
In Matthew 16:17-18 it says"...flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.... and upon this rock I will build my church;"
The rock of which Christ speaks is the Rock of Revelation. God build his church upon constent comunication to his servents and his people.
April 2nd and 3rd, come listens to a prophets voice. President Thomas S. Monson