I was baptized when I was 8 years old and have been a member
of the church my whole life, but my true conversion happened later in life,
after I went to Boston. If it wasn’t for missionary work, I wouldn’t be a
member of this church.
I always wanted to be the person that could share my testimony on an airplane, or with a random stranger on the street. But it just didn’t work like that. In order to share your testimony, you have to have a testimony. After being a member of this church for 18 years, I realized as I was trying to I was trying to share my testimony in Boston that I didn’t really have one. I took books of Mormon with me so I could pass them out, but in order to share my testimony, I needed to have one of my own. I met friends while in Boston that to this day are some of the best missionaries I know. They saw me struggling and made sure I went to church every week, they read scriptures with me but most importantly, they loved me.
When I came back from Boston, I fell back into old habits and stopped going to church. My Boston friends, with a few additions, wouldn’t let me go though. They continued their missionary work and eventually I gained a testimony of my own.
I always wanted to be the person that could share my testimony on an airplane, or with a random stranger on the street. But it just didn’t work like that. In order to share your testimony, you have to have a testimony. After being a member of this church for 18 years, I realized as I was trying to I was trying to share my testimony in Boston that I didn’t really have one. I took books of Mormon with me so I could pass them out, but in order to share my testimony, I needed to have one of my own. I met friends while in Boston that to this day are some of the best missionaries I know. They saw me struggling and made sure I went to church every week, they read scriptures with me but most importantly, they loved me.
When I came back from Boston, I fell back into old habits and stopped going to church. My Boston friends, with a few additions, wouldn’t let me go though. They continued their missionary work and eventually I gained a testimony of my own.
With help of friends I started reading the book of Mormon, and living the way I was supposed to. But most importantly, I started to feel Heavenly Father’s love for me. I could see through my friends examples that Heavenly Father loves me, and that I was supposed to go to Boston so I could gain a testimony and be able to share it.
Through this I gained a testimony of the book of Mormon, as I did Moroni’s promise each time I knelt in prayer I just heard the voice “you know it’s true” But during the sessions of the last October conference, that is when I got the firm answer of knowing what I was doing was good, and right, that Joseph Smith translated the book of Mormon and that when we do what is right that Heavenly Father blesses us.
Missionary work is love, like said by Elder Koelliker in this most recent conference, “it is when we yield to God’s will and live His patter that His spirit is felt. The Savior taught, “by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” This principle of having love one to another and developing our ability to be Christ centered in how we think, speak, and act is fundamental in becoming disciples of Christ and teachers of His gospel.”
It is because of the love of others that I am a member of
this church. Missionary work is incredibly important, I can now testify of
that.
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