bytor2112

I have been active in Church for just over three years. I struggled with the whole concept of God and wasn't sure what I believed. When I started going to church, which was not something I had planned on doing, I felt the Spirit and decided that even though my faith was very small that I would completely "sell" out to the Gospel. If God was real and this was his church I would find out by doing all that the Lord asks us to do. I cleaned up my life, met with the Bishop and SP, started paying tithes and attending all three hours, home teaching, prayer, scripture study,etc. Brother if you will submit to the will of our Heavenly Father and come unto Christ- I promise, you will know for yourself and never again doubt. Surrender is the key. "You can surrender without a prayer, but never really pray, pray without surrender" (song lyric) It has been a wonderful journey and it is a journey-an Eternal One!

The witness of the Holy Spirit is awesome and is a very "tangible" feeling. A Holy presence that one can literally feel. Sometimes it makes me weep with joy, other times it feels like a warm blanket being draped over me. Always, it makes me want to be better and is very familiar and comforting. I experienced this when learning about the Church, long before I ever read the Book of Mormon cover to cover. I knew the Church is true and it logically follows that the BOM is true as well. I have these same experiences and others as I study the scriptures or tell someone else about the BOM or church. Sharing your testimony can help bring the Spirit and will also to know that the BOM is true!

Disciplinary Courts are usually held by the Stake President and High Council. Excommunication is not always the outcome, sometimes a member may be dis fellowshipped or no action at all may occur. It really depends on the circumstances surrounding the transgression. Ultimately, the SP makes the final decision with the guidance of the Holy Ghost. Finally, the sole purpose is to help the transgressor repent and make their way back to full fellowship in the church and on to Eternal Life.

As I have grown spiritually, I often wish I would have confessed differently or expressed things differently. I covered every sin, but its easy to second guess. I really felt different when I left the SP's office-relieved! This site is an answered prayer. I often just want to talk and get feedback. And ditto- I wish I could wake up and not remember also.

I am a bit obsessive! I am so not the person I once was and desperately hope the Lord see's that. My friends and family see it and I see it. I am so grateful for the atonement and just want to be clean. I have a lot of regret-thanks foir the kind advice.

I joined the Church at the urging of a friend when I was a teen. He left for a mission and I didn't have a testimony and left the church after just a few visits. Fast forward 20 + years and my life was wreck. I returned or began activity just a few years ago. I will post my testimony sometime, it is really an incredible story. After a few months, the Bishop finally cornered me and wanted to interview me. I was nervous but the Spirit was so strong, it just felt right. I confessed a lifetime of sin. Not every instance of sin, but every major sin. Adultry, fornication, masturbation, pornography,lying, cheating, stealing, alcoholism,drug use and paying for an abortion. What a rotten person I had become ( most of the sins were over ten years old)! He recommended that I see my Stake President. He said I didn't have to see him, but I went anyways. I expected to confess the same way to him. Instead he asked me questions. Like have you ever committed this sin or that sin. I answered truthfully. At the conclusion of our meeting, he told me that the Lord had accepted my repentance. I still feel bad about my past and wonder if I he was right? Should I have confessed to him the way I did with the Bishop? He (the SP) covered every sin that I had confessed to the Bishop. But I just had to answer yes or no. Also, I didn't really give a lot of detail and they didn't ask for any-okay? My friend( former SP) says its because I wasn't really a member of the church and the sins were really old and I wasn't endowed at the time. I am now!! I have thought about talking to the new SP about it, but don't really want to dredge up shameful events. Former Sp said to move on. What do you think?