Internet Testimony

I just read an article in the new Ensign titled, Sharing the Gospel Using the Internet by Elder Ballard. It's so good. He talks about using the internet to share our testimonies. In it he says, "There are conversations going on about the Church constantly. Those conversations will continue whether or not we choose to participate in them. But we cannot stand on the sidelines while others, including our critics, attempt to define what the Church teaches.... May I ask that you join the conversation by participating on the Internet to share the gospel and to explain in simple and clear terms the message of the Restoration." He even specifically mentions blogs. So, as I was thinking about this, I wondered if I should have a separate blog to discuss my beliefs. But, then I realized that I had written about how my blog and my life are about my family. My life is also about my testimony of the Savior and His church. So, it seems fitting that this blog also has that as a part of it.

I think that a turning point for my testimony happened when I was in high school. I was taking Seminary and we were talking about 'knowing' the gospel is true or 'believing' it. I was sitting, pondering this one day. I couldn't say that I knew the gospel was true, but I had the strongest feeling of wanting it to be true. With everything it meant for me and my life, I wanted it to be real. In Alma 32:27 it reads, "But, behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words." I know that this desire to believe was the starting point for me to go forward to build my testimony to the point it is today. I cannot imagine my life without the gospel and the knowledge I have of the plan of salvation. It affects everything I do and is what makes life worth living.