Testimony?

[Maya]

How to gain a testimony? How can a young person know she/he has a testimony? Is it possible that a person in the church since baby grows into the religion so that he/she can ot see his/her testimony? Is it possible that a person goes trough youth active in Church without testimony?

[pam]

Maya I don't think there is a black and white answer to this. I do believe a person can live all their life and not realize they have a testimony the same as a youth active in Church.

For some it takes hitting rock bottom to realize that they have one. For others it's just something they have always had..always known.

[jadams_4040]

Maya I don't think there is a black and white answer to this. I do believe a person can live all their life and not realize they have a testimony the same as a youth active in Church.

For some it takes hitting rock bottom to realize that they have one. For others it's just something they have always had..always known.

Hitting rock bottom usually will do the trick when one really starts to seek better things; and lo and behold! we begin then to be able to regognize what spiritual companionship and blessings really are made of and how to separate these things from the ordinary.:)

[Bini]

I was semi-active as a youth until about age 15 when I went completely inactive. When asked if I had a testimony of the Gospel, my rebellious side always proclaimed "no" but the truth is that I have always felt the Gospel was and is true. Allowing myself to fall away from the Church was just an excuse for me to do things that I knew were wrong. To this day, I still have not openly expressed my testimony to anyone but my husband. And until recently, I had no idea how intense and strong my testimony was until my husband told me how it has touched and inspired him.

So anyway, I guess, for awhile there growing up I wasn't entirely sure if I had a testimony. But now I know that the constant comfort and peace that I felt while in tuned with the Gospel, was much more than just a "warm fuzzy feeling", it was in fact my testimony at the beginning stages :]

[Gatorman]

My personal take is...There is no member of the church who is not a convert. There has to be some conversion point where you gain your own testimony. Being born under the covenant does not mean you were born with a testimony of the truth. That conversion process has to take place. Now, it can be different things for different people, obviously. For example, for as long as I can remember, I knew what I believed. But, I did not know what faith represented what I believed. However, my beliefs were based on my own study and understanding of the scriptures and recognition of the flaws and good points of the various churches and faiths I grew up around. My conversion occurred on a Sunday when a friend finally convinced me to go to church with him. Talk about a heart opening experience.

[Snow]

How to gain a testimony?

Electromagnetically?

[Maya]

Snow ... hahah

I am just worried about my misionary son. He dont think he has a testimony... nothing BIG has ever happened to him. Everyone else has got the bossom things or even stronger things happening. He is a very calm and even young man... HOW could he get any of that as he is so calm? The only thing that gets him out of himself is the FIFA fotball game and if he is loosing he stomps the floor so the house is risting...

Anyway we never have had any problemsa about his activity or that he makes a speach by himself.. good speaches too... but stil he feels he has no testimony and everybody else in MTC has one...

He has prayed about the BoM but never got an answer... I suppose he needs something that really HITS him before he is able to see his own testimony.... He is not able to say he has a testimony unless he really knows he has.

[Hemidakota]

It will...have faith as a mother with an expectation of your son in receiving a testimony of the work.

It is always a nagging fear, when we send out our children to the world in serving GOD knowing the limitation of the Gospel in their lives and our own expectation as a parent of what constitutes a testimony.

Maya, I expected both of my children in having a testimony prior before going on a mission. I could say before they left, none of them had a testimony of conviction until the latter part of their mission when they understood the purpose of Gospel and began to serve with true of purpose of serving that GOD will.

What was ‘jaw dropper’, is when they return home from their mission, I was quite astonished on their ten-minute report before each stake president and it was then I felt the Spirit testify to me, they each had gain a testimony.

Just be patience Maya, it will happen.

[Maya]

Thanks Hemi... yes it is difficult. especiallya s you can see he has a testimony, even though it muight be a small one. I think he ahs been hearing too often the convertion stories of me and his dad, so he expects something similar. I just kind of noticed that : hey I knew all this from before, where have you been hiding all my life! Yea yea yea tell me about it, where is the babtizing font? Not after many years of study I have really got a testimony, that I know is a testimony, not just a realisation that someone knew what I did inside of me.

Yes I am sure he will find it out one day.... I hope sooner rather than later.

[MormonMama]

I have heard of people who grew up in the church, went on a mission, married in the temple, etc., but did not really gain a testimony until far later in life. Sometimes we think we have a testimony, only to discover later that the testimony we thought we had was weak compared to the one we later gained.

I think having a testimony is really a life-long progress. As we continue to learn and grow in the gospel, so will our testimonies.

[bmy-]

Testimony is the LDS way of saying 'faith' I think. They express their faith when bearing their testimony.. and the things they have testimony of increased their faith and made a noticeable difference in their lives.

[Traveler]

How to gain a testimony? How can a young person know she/he has a testimony? Is it possible that a person in the church since baby grows into the religion so that he/she can ot see his/her testimony? Is it possible that a person goes trough youth active in Church without testimony?

It would seem to me that G-d has in place a plan that requires the each individual be responsible for receiving or not receiving a testimony. I believe it is possible for someone to find truth and gain a testimony of it regardless of the opposition or trials they receive in life. Likewise, I believe it is possible for someone to reject truth and never gain a testimony regardless of whatever assistance from other is offered.

An so we need not judge our action as reflected in others but without question there is never a reason not to encourage others to seek the better way.

The Traveler

[lattelady]

Maybe the wording is different, but I'm wondering if what you're asking is if his faith is really his own, rather than just adopting the "family faith." I'm not LDS, but grew up in a home where our faith (having a relationship with God) was something that was a part of everything we did. I saw it in my parents lives continually. My dad is a pastor and so I grew up in the church and everything we did seemed to center around church. I felt very comfortable in that environment, and as an adult now, I know that I relied on THEM for my faith. I let them carry me along, so to speak. I hadn't made my faith my own. It wasn't until our family moved from the midwest to Utah and I was going to school primarily with kids of LDS faith who would ask me about my faith that I had to learn to ask myself, "DO I believe this because my mom and dad believe it, or do I believe it because I find it to be the truth for myself? Is it my family's faith, or my own?" I began digging into scripture on my own, and over the years, the simple faith I'd found at the age of four grew in understanding. It was my own.

It can happen in ANY denomination that children rely on the faith of their parents, without knowing what they truly believe. I see in quite a bit in Utah because the LDS faith has such a strong social element to it--I believe there are alot of kids who aren't quite sure what they believe; they are LDS by name only. I'm not trying to be offensive when I say that. I was once a "by name only" Believer. But I think they continue on in that for a long time, not wanting to ask questions or raise doubts or say that they've never gotten a strong testimony about the Book of Mormon because the social ramifications are big, especially for young people.

[Maya]

I know we talked about this earlier. He is waiting for a big thing to happen, to be able to know for sure. He is not noticing that many things he does or has done proves that he believes. Our LDS society here is very scattered and small.

Well anyway he is there and I hope he will find the answer. Many others have also had difficult time in MTC, so he is not the only one. It may be too intensive and to intruding for him. He likes to have his boundaries cleared.

I am sure that with time he may notice like one missionary did that he has the testimony all along, he just did not know. Even though it is a thing everyone needs to find out for themselves I think it is different for him who has lived as LDS all his life. For me it was different than my everyday religion, but something I felt I already knew. It souind so much bigger to be converted... even though every person has to be "converted" one day in their life to get the testimony or to know one has it.

I hope all of you remember him in your prayers tonight....

[MormonMama]

He is waiting for a big thing to happen, to be able to know for sure. He is not noticing that many things he does or has done proves that he believes.

He needs to understand that, for most people, that "big thing" never happens. One of the GA's (or maybe even a prophet) gave a talk about that very subject awhile back, about how the vast majority of us will never have a big event that confirms our testimony. For most of us, it is the whisperings of the still, small voice over a lot of time that help us to build a testimony.

So if he insists on waiting for a "big thing", he might very well wait for eternity.

[MormonMama]

I knew I'd seen this quote recently:

How Inspiration Comes

Posted: 21 Sep 2009 12:00 AM PDT

“While testimonies can come as dramatic manifestations, they usually do not. Sometimes people think they need to have an experience like Joseph Smith’s vision before they gain testimonies. If we have unrealistic expectations of how, when, or where answers come, we risk missing the answers which come as quiet, reassuring feelings and thoughts that most often come after our prayers, while we are doing something else. These answers can be equally convincing and powerful. “Over time we will receive answers and learn how inspiration comes. This is something each person learns for himself.”

Allan F. Packer, “Finding Strength in Challenging Times!” Ensign, May 2009, 18