How did you get your testimony..?

[CoinPurse]

Hi there, I am sorry if someone else has posted this but I'm new here and haven't seen one sooo...

Right now I am still pretty young and still working on getting my testimony. I am very interested in how other people got their testimonies sooo if you'd be so kind please share your story! If it's not too personal or anything. I am having a few struggles and it would help me feel much better to hear about some other people's experiences. :)

[MichaelCraig]

Wecome CoinPurse! I'm fairly new here too and when I first heard someone mention testimony I was slightly confused because even though the meanings are pretty much the same I found that some peoples meaning of testimony, mostly people of Faiths other than LDS, think of it as being possibly many different experiences during the course of their lives when they found themselves in the presence or closeness of the Holy Spirit, but from what I now understand, and I could still be a bit confused, many LDS people feel it is, in a nut shell, the conglomeration of events or I guess could have been just one but either way it is THE point in time when they became clearly aware of a strong Truth, one that they hang their entire Faith on. For me I am one of those who's testimony first came after a very bad automobile accident I was in during my early 20's that pretty much ripped the car to shreds turning it into a mere $90 worth of scrap metal that the owner received from the salvage yard. We ran off the dirt country road, flipped the small Toyota Corolla 5-6 times and then hit a telegraph pole with the car ending up on it's roof, petrol and oil pouring everywhere. Myself and the driver received not one puncture mark from the windows that were broken out which were all of them except the drivers door window, that includes both front and back windshields, blew out all 4 tires and much more. We had not one single bruise, not one single broken bone..not even a simple scratch. We were both NOT buckled up. A veteran patrolman on the scene told us that he had never witnessed such an accident where the occupants where not either very seriously injured, but most died from the accident. He did not understand how we made it out without a scratch. He was so unsure of it he asked the EMT's to examine us both making sure we did not have an injury but did not realize it due to possible shock. They did, and still. Not a scratch. Others can argue the law of physics if they choose but I know how it happened and continue to pray asking Heavenly Father what it was that He needed me around for? Hoping that there has been or will be something that I do that fulfills His reason, but realizing He is the all knowing I'm very sure what ever His purpose was for doing that so many years ago on that dark country road it will come to pass, or already has. When my time comes to leave this Earth He may, or may not choose to make His reason clear to me. I'm just so glad He did what He did. I now have a beautiful wife and three awesome young men, one who is just 6 months from finishing his mission on the south Pacific island of Fiji teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He alone may have been the reason. Not sure. :)

[FunkyTown]

It sounds like you're at a point where a lot of people find themselves at some point in their lives.

They see the happiness of people who have firm testimonies and they want to experience it. They feel that something's missing and want to move forward.

That's okay. :) Usually, something precipitates this, though, and we could help with a lot more personalized advice based on your situation. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? Whether you're a new member or born in the church? Whether it was something sudden that made you want to change or if it's just been a feeling of long-term dissatisfaction?

Know that it's okay to struggle. Everyone does at some point, and at that point we need to be there for each other to help. If you tell a bit more, we can probably help a lot more. :)

[Faded]

The guideline for gaining a testimony is simple enough. Read and learn about the core foundational elements of the Restored Gospel:

God is real.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

We are Children of God the Father.

Joseph Smith is a true prophet and apostle sent by God.

The Book of Mormon is the word of God.

Learn what you're praying about and then take it to your Father in Heaven. The answers come quickly for some and more slowly for others. The keys to this can be found in the scriptures.

Moroni 10:3-5

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

A.) Study out what you are praying about in your own mind. Remember that God is merciful and that he will be merciful to you.

B.) Pray to God your Eternal Father in Heaven and ask if it's true. But the scripture is more explicit than "pray and you get an answer." You must pray in faith. You must be sincere. You must have real intent -- meaning that if you know it's true you're going to live up to everything that goes with it: You will be baptized if you're not already a member. You will keep the commandments. You will heed the words of living prophets as well as the words of Joseph Smith and all that came before him. You will covenant with Jesus Christ to live as he has commanded, always remembering him and relying on his Atonement whenever you fall short.

C.) Heavenly Father will reveal the truth of it to you by the Holy Ghost.

The answers don't always come immediately. Sometimes it takes a long time and a lot of mental exertion in prayer in order to receive your answer. See Enos 1

[Faded]

I am very interested in how other people got their testimonies sooo if you'd be so kind please share your story!

The above is how I did it. The memory is fuzzy because I was quite young. I do remember the feelings of spiritual elation while reading through the Book of Mormon the first time. It was quite powerful and almost felt like I was floating (though that's not the right wording for it.) When I was baptized at the age of 8, I already had a definite knowledge that the Church was true. I don't have a clear enough memory but I know I prayed and received answers. The baptism itself I remember very, very clearly. It was an absolutely overwhelming rush of the Spirit through my entire body. I could feel my heart beating in my chest. It will always stand out as one of the most powerful spiritual experiences of my life. At that time, confirmation was right after the baptism, and when I was to told to receive the Holy Ghost, the whole spiritual experience was amplified even more.

I'm always puzzled by life-time members who say they either can't remember their baptism or they didn't really know what they were doing at the time. I certainly knew what I was doing, knew it was the right thing to do. So my testimony already existed.

I have to guess that I was 5 or 6 when I first came to know without a doubt that the Church was true and Christ was real and all of those things. Unfortunately, I do have to guess as I don't remember clearly enough.

[LDSVALLEY]

Missionaries ran into my wife and I when we were just starting a family 14 years ago. I did what they told me to do and pray to see if the church was true. I did it three times each time it felt like a warm blanket was put around me.

I then went 4 years as a member before I felt the spirit again, or at least being able to know it was the spirit.

One thing I quickly learned was there is not really a testimony it is many testimonies of many things. I believed the church was true both from the warm feelings and the logic of the LDS gospel over other religions. It took longer to gain a testimony of Priesthood, Joseph Smith, tithing etc.

I was a member for 3 years before I agreed to pay tithing and started to do so. Almost 4 years before the Priesthood. 5 years before we went to the temple for the first time.

I simply held onto the small testimony that I had that the church was true, that told me the rest must be even if I did not have a testimony of it for myself yet.

Testimonies are like trees, they need to be fed, they need time to grow strong anchoring roots, they need time to grow into strong tall trees to with stand the winds and storms of life. As we are taught step by step precept upon precept.

When I was a Mission Leader I trusted those who had fast testimonies of all things most often their roots were spread wide but shallow instead of narrow but deep. When the winds of adversity blew their testimonies fell quickly.

Find a small testimony in something, keep doing what you should, attend church, classes, scripture study, prayer, etc and leave it in the Lord's hands. When you least expect it suddenly there it will be a strong testimony nurtured in faith until you have a forest of testimonies.

[Guest mormonmusic]

People get testimonies in different ways.

I watched different people receive them while I was a missionary. Most showed some kind of commitment to knowing the truth by reading and praying and attending Church. Most relied on spiritual warmth and peaceful feelings they reported. But others reporting having dreams that convinced them that the gospel was true (one person said he saw Christ). A number of people relied on physical experiences like the one above where the poster emerged from an auto accident unscathed. One person saw a dove land outside his window and believed it was an indication that taking the discussions was true. For me, it was this overpowering spirituality that was so powerful I almost had to tell it to stop.

Some people just choose to believe it because 'it makes sense'. My wife is like that.

However, you have to keep having spiritual experiences to keep the motivational effects of the testimony-inducing process or event alive in your life. Over 2.5 decades in the Church my testimony has ebbed and flowed with my life experiences....and at times I need a super-charge for my testimony when the going gets rough....

[Traveler]

My quest for enlightenment and truth is more of a journey than a destination. I seek to improve each day. If I could find greater enlightenment and truth somewhere other than the LDS covenants and way of life - I would adopt such truth in a heartbeat.

The Traveler

[lizzy12]

A testimony doesn't come all at once. And I never had a "ahh-ha" ensign moment.

My testimony developed through prayer and receiving answers. Girls Camp and seminary helped a lot too :)

[applepansy]

At about age 12 I watched my Dad read and study his scriptures and prepare whatever lesson he was giving or participating in and "ignoring" my mother trying to get FIVE unruly children ready for church. (Back in the days when Sunday School was on Sunday morning, Sacrament meeting was Sunday afternoon/evening.) I was the oldest and I remember thinking how thoughtless and uncaring he was for expecting everyone to be ready on time but he wasn't just sitting in the living room reading.

Then something clicked in my brain and I wanted to know what the heck was so all fired important that he would ignore such an obvious need in helping to get the children ready for church. So I started reading the scriptures with the intent to find out why it was so important. I'd read the scriptures before but this time was different. I really wanted to know what was so important and why. That was when I received the answer that Christ lives, that He is our Saviour, that Joseph Smith is the prophet of the Restoratioin and yes, there was a restoration.

I needed to really want to know before the Spirit I'd always felt witnessed to me the the things I wanted to know.