My testimony

Today at the Area Council meeting I was asked to share my testimony. I only took two minutes or even less. I simply told them how I felt. How my testimony is the one thing I value the most over anything in my life. How I gained it and how I try to keep it. What is so neat about sharing your testimony at a setting like that is that all those people in that room feel the same way. There are no disagreements there. We are all part of the same team. No one there will find it offensive or weird.

 I heard my Bishop once explained at a testimony meetings saying; "Always share what you believe in! " He expressed that everyone should feel comfortable sharing their beliefs, even in a work setting, so long as it is done in a respectful way that doesn’t infringe on anyone else’s rights to believe what they believe. 

For me, It is important that all my friends know that I believe in God. That I also believe in HIs son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost to guide me. Therefore I am a Christian. That I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The same Church Jesus established in his time with the same organization of 12 Apostles, Seventies, Bishops, etc.  And the choices I make every day come from the rooted core values that I believed in as a disciple of Christ. 

I loved learning about other people’s beliefs and religions. I find it fascinating and I love to recognize the similarities between the differing religions as it becomes very clear that many religions stemmed from the same initial roots that branched out into differing versions that changed with time and customs of their own lands.

Perhaps my interest stemmed from having a mother who always believed in Jesus and love learning about Him and the teachings found in the Bible. 

There are common threads amongst all of us to be found when we share and listen with an open heart and a desire to learn from one another.  I believe that religion should always be a positive influence that promotes acceptance and love and brings people together.  It makes me sad to see how some people (typically those out for selfish purposes masked by religion) have twisted religion around to use it as a negative tool to try and break people apart or drive wedges between them. That is never okay

Always be willing to learn the beliefs of others. Whether you agree or disagree, you will both come away having a better understanding of one another and you will be a wiser person for having opened your heart.

Con amor,
Vero