My Testimony
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We are also known as Mormons. I was lucky enough to be raised in the church. Through the years I have been taught by my parents and many, many other members about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When did I gain my testimony? I don't remember. I just know that I have one. I know that my Heavenly Father hears my prayers and has answered many in my behalf and for my family. I remember praying for work. It was soon after my separation, I hadn't work outside of the home for 22 years. I had applied for a job through our school division. I was working casually, but that wasn't paying the bills. I kept praying that I would find something more permanent, thats when I got the job at the high school. It was full-time, but a temporary position. I knew that it could end at any time. I continued to pray for a permanent work. The day I found out my job at the high school was coming to an end I found a permanent job at the pharmacy where I work now. I know that Heavenly Father heard my prayers. I remember as a young married couple we struggled financially. Dale was attending school so we were living off of student loans, and his part time work. We had Nicole and expecting Ryan. Dale had received his pay check and we needed to pay our tithing. In the Church we are taught that everything we have is from our Heavenly Father.Therefore we are asked to give 10% of our income. Its voluntary and it's a teaching thats been around since the Old Tesament. So there we were, do we pay our tithing or do we not. We did. A few days after that Dale received money from a job he had completed months before. I knew that we had been blessed. As long as we paid an honest tithe we always seemed to have the money we needed. Before I started working full time it was hard to pay my tithing, in fact I didn't. I'm not proud of that decision, but I felt I couldn't. I had forgotten about the blessings we had received in the past. So for two years I only paid it off and on. This last November I wanted to get my Temple recommend. One of the questions they ask is if you are a full tithe payer. I could have lied, but I would have been lying to my Bishop, myself and my Heavenly Father. I was honest. I was given council from my Bishop to start to pay my tithing. So I did that very month. Do you know what happened? My family and I were blessed. I was given a raise the very next month and I also received a cheque from the government for child tax. I haven't received a cheque for child tax in years. I have now been paying my tithing for a few months and I always seem to have money to get me through the month. I know that we have been blessed because of paying tithing. I have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I cannot deny the Gospel. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me. I know that Jesus Christ suffered in Gethsemene and on the Cross for me. Through his suffering he took upon himself all of our pains, and sins. All we have to do is to turn to him. He will help us. We have the Atonement because of him. I know that no matter what I do in my life that I can count on my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They are always there for me. The only thing I need to do is talk to them. lds.org
