How did you come to know it is true?

[clarktholmes]

How did you decide for yourself that the LDS church was true? I've had trouble believing my whole life, and I'm 20, so there is a lot of pressure from people around me to go on a mission. This is a song I wrote to my grandmother, whom I always talked to about the church. Share your thoughts and let me know your story!

 

She

[Windseeker]

Your very talented, great voice and great feeling. 

 

My son is also a musician (Singer songwriter for Post-Rock/Post Hardcore outfit) and has decided to forgo a mission. He actually has a strong testimony too. 

 

Both me and his step mom served a mission and for me it was the best time of my life (cliché right?...but true). I don't regret going and actually wished I could just stay on my mission my whole life. Life outside my mission has pretty much sucked...lol.

 

Anyway...if you don't want to go, don't go. I don't think it's necessary to have some kind of special revelation to serve because it's kind of a commandment. I simply see it more as a duty. Just like I don't see the point in praying whether or not I should pay my tithing or obey the word of wisdom. This is just my own opinion, I just don't get it. If you are praying about something just pray on whether or not the Book of Mormon is true. It's the cornerstone. Everything rests on it. So if you get a positive answer the rest is really up to you.  

 

I'm very pragmatic and realistic.. I've had spiritual experiences that are pretty huge, but so did Lamen and Lemual. I think it's awesome they are such a part of the Book of Mormon. If there is one thing that's is true in this life, it's the gospel. 

 

As far as going because of pressure I don't think that's a good idea either. During my mission I had little patience for those out there wasting my time desperately trying to "find themselves"...and were only out there to please mommy and daddy. You don't find yourself when your focused on "finding yourself" if you get my meaning. Your supposed to lose yourself, forget your"self" and focus on others. If you don't want to go do your fellow missionaries a favor and stay out the mission field. 

 

One of my friends sons went and literally "escaped" (the sons words) from the MTC. He literally jumped the fence and ran away. LOL....so much wrong with this. You don't escape from the MTC, you simply leave. The LDS church is not a cult. Just tell everyone to screw off and walk out the door. No one will stop you. To this day he still doesn't get it.  ...the kids a little slow upstairs anyway..if you get my drift, but a nice kid regardless. 

 

If you don't go your parents will get over it. I'm sure they will love you no matter what. People go on, and who knows you might be a Bishop (my Uncle)...or a Prophet (Monson). It's just a missed opportunity is all. 

[SpiritDragon]

I also had trouble believing when I was younger. I was told to pray about the Book Of Mormon and Joseph Smith to know if the church was true and I remember doing so as a young lad in primary and not getting any answers. This made it harder for me as a teenager while I had friends and family around who had strong testimonies and I just didn't. I was still a good kid, I just couldn't say that I knew the church was true, I wasn't even sure if I could say I believed it was true.

 

For me the life changer was hungering and thirsting after a knowledge of the truth. My dad bore testimony to me telling me he knew that the church was true. My dad never lied about anything, and I really wanted to know how he knew... after all I'd tried asking before and didn't get an answer. So I set out to give one final push to determine if the church was true and if God was even there listening and watching over me. This time I made it a point to read the Book of Mormon cover to cover and I waited until I had finished Moroni 10 to take up the challenge to pray about it. Interestingly I was given special feeling through-out the process of reading and studying the BOM to help me learn to recognize the spirit and how answers are given. When I knelt in my bedroom at 17 years of age after finishing the Book of Mormon for the first time I asked my Father in Heaven if he was listening and if the Book of Mormon was true. I further promised to do His will if he would let me know, and I think this was key for me. I felt a great peace come over me and light fill my body, I knew it was all true. The biggest difference for me in this attempt before all others was that I put in a lot more effort and I was prepared to act on my answer. That isn't to say that as a six year old I wasn't planning to keep the commandments or anything like that if I wasn't given an answer, but the commitment level and desire to know were not the same.

 

I wish you well, and hope you find the answers you are seeking. I will promise you that God is there. He loves you. He is listening, and the answers will come. 

 

We had an awesome lesson on conversion in priesthood this last Sunday and one interesting piece of information that came up was that sometimes people can be converted without knowing it. I found this intriguing to say the least, but there it was in the true to the faith booklet one of our quorum members had as a resource on the topic. Perhaps you already have your answer and just haven't recognized it. It may be useful when praying to know the truthfulness of the restored gospel to ask for a clear understanding of answers given.

 

All the best.

[Traveler]

How did you decide for yourself that the LDS church was true? I've had trouble believing my whole life, and I'm 20, so there is a lot of pressure from people around me to go on a mission. This is a song I wrote to my grandmother, whom I always talked to about the church. Share your thoughts and let me know your story!

 

Your music is based in simple harmonic progressions that were mathematically solved over 4,000 years ago.  I am an engineer and scientist currently working in the field of automation, robotics and artificial intelligence.  In my youth I learned the guitar and played with a group – a couple of individuals in the group went on to make a living and profession in music – I chose a different root – in part because I served a mission.  Though I found scientific theory and music theory to be extremely similar I chose science over music because I like the hours and schedule in the scientific field over what is necessary in the music industry.

 

Harmony is a critical element of music as well as in science and life.  I learned that to be in harmony with more than myself to be much more rewarding to myself as well as others.  Thus performing with others adds to the magic of music and harmony.  Learning to play and be in harmony with G-d and the good things of the universe is the most rewarding and fulfilling music to play and that is what I discovered on my mission.

 

Some would say that you should only go on a mission for yourself – do not server a mission for your father or parents or anyone else.  I disagree.  Jesus served his mission and died serving his mission for his father and those he was called to serve.

[The Folk Prophet]

I further promised to do His will if he would let me know, and I think this was key for me. 

 

Awesome!     

 

I think this key point is something sorely lacking from a lot of our prayers (I know from many of mine in the past) that is so paramount.

 

I think we get a lot of, "help me to do Thy will", which is fine, but not as much, "I will do Thy will if Thou wouldst make it known unto me", which is significantly better.

[Windseeker]

Some would say that you should only go on a mission for yourself – do not server a mission for your father or parents or anyone else.  I disagree.  Jesus served his mission and died serving his mission for his father and those he was called to serve.

 

Yet I know many who served a mission directly against their parents wishes. I think the best reason for serving a mission is out of love for our Heavenly Father. I didn't find those who were serving missions simply to please their families at home to be as effective. Many acted like they were "doing time".

[Palerider]

I wanted to serve a mission about a year after fi turned 19...... My Dad who wasn't a active member did not like it that I went. He would not and

did not support me.

[EarlJibbs]

I grew up in the church and never doubted the teachings. When I was in the MTC I decided to ask God (in the temple) if it was true. Oh how naïve I was, already on a mission and finding myself asking. The thing was, I wasn't asking to really know. I just wanted something cool to tell people. There were missionaries at every turn in the MTC with such great conversion stories and how they ended up serving. What was mine? Simply that I had always wanted to go. Lame.

 

So I am prayed in the temple to know. And I didn't get through the first sentence when I just stopped. Thoughts formed in my head saying with a clarity I hadn't experienced before "What are you doing? You know! You have always known!". It was like someone clubbed me on the side of the head. I wanted something amazing and what do I get? A bereavement from Heavenly Father? I felt terrible. But it was true.

 

God answered my prayer. In the end my testimony was made up of how I lived my life and trusting in the Lord. Fulfilling my priesthood duties and liking the way I felt. I simply like the way I feel by living the way I do. I like the way I feel at church and living the Gospel. That feeling is the Holy Ghost. It just took a hit in the head in the Temple for me to recognize it.

 

I say don't JUST go for you. But go for those that you can help. Share what testimony you do have. Serve with intent to do your best, to be your best. Let the Lord do the rest.

[The Folk Prophet]

I grew up in the church and never doubted the teachings. When I was in the MTC I decided to ask God (in the temple) if it was true. Oh how naïve I was, already on a mission and finding myself asking. The thing was, I wasn't asking to really know. I just wanted something cool to tell people. There were missionaries at every turn in the MTC with such great conversion stories and how they ended up serving. What was mine? Simply that I had always wanted to go. Lame.

 

So I am prayed in the temple to know. And I didn't get through the first sentence when I just stopped. Thoughts formed in my head saying with a clarity I hadn't experienced before "What are you doing? You know! You have always known!". It was like someone clubbed me on the side of the head. I wanted something amazing and what do I get? A bereavement from Heavenly Father? I felt terrible. But it was true.

 

God answered my prayer. In the end my testimony was made up of how I lived my life and trusting in the Lord. Fulfilling my priesthood duties and liking the way I felt. I simply like the way I feel by living the way I do. I like the way I feel at church and living the Gospel. That feeling is the Holy Ghost. It just took a hit in the head in the Temple for me to recognize it.

 

I say don't JUST go for you. But go for those that you can help. Share what testimony you do have. Serve with intent to do your best, to be your best. Let the Lord do the rest.

 

My experience was very, very similar. It was when I was several years younger, but the response I got was very similar. "What are you thinking? You already know this. Come on man!" :) I didn't feel like it was a bereavement though, whereas I was doing it because my primary teachers had told me to, rather than to have a cool experience or something. But still, very similar.

[Lakumi]

"know it is true" is a phrase I will never use, unless a whole slew of things are presented to me and I understand how difficult I can be.

My story is a tad different, since I am not LDS but read its scriptures, pray when I can, obey most of the WoW (masala chai is something I don't think I can pry myself away from lol) I seldom attend church due to my not being a morning person, often having a...fragile mood and sometimes I really dislike leaving the house. But when I do I find it very joyful and a lot of that anger I have goes away.

I become rather outgoing in a normal sense, there is no need for common interests to get me to speak, I feel like a well rounded person.

Anyways, last summer I had a job working in corn fields, detassiling they call it, and one day it was a 120acre field and I, unknown to me, was coming down with heat stroke. In the field, it gets worse and worse and I am drinking water like crazy due to my throat hurting and eventually I just lay down and I remember asking Jesus not to let me die, it would have been annoying not to find out how the book ends, I remember thinking (the Book of Mormon, I had started attending church round the time I started the corn so was always in pain and always looked miserable but I would often perk up). Somehow I got out of that field, delirious and I asked some kid for water I remember.

I would often toss aside the feelings people akined to the spirit as foolish or some such thing. I remember being quite moved when one lady gave a talk about being bullied in high school-something I struggled with a lot.

Did the spirit come to offer the same as it did to her? Quite possibly. And it doesn't follow my distrust of my own feelings (eg getting a positive feeling means its true), that is a clear cut thing. Person sad and hurt by bullies, made happy by gospel. My mind responds well to that sort of stuff.

I always thought I was too proud for worship and God and books like that.
Growing up I was basically an athiest, scornful of religion and felt they were all archaic and broken things.
And when I went to the meetinghouse for the first time, there was no malice towards me, people were kind to me-a kindess I seldom see in people. I remember saying "I hope none of them talk to me" but when they did I was happy to speak to them. By habit I sat alone at all the lunches but they found me and sat with me and I was actually in a good mood to see them and we talked.

So maybe my idea of what the Book of Mormon is, is different then yours. But it has made me a better person, in many ways, I like to think. I had a lively discussion about same sex marriage with a Mormon on youtube, where as before I would have dismissed him as a bigot and that would be that. It started friendly and ended friendly.

I don't feel that rage in the pit of my stomach anymore, I don't feel as unfriendly towards other people like I used to. This past month I have done a lot of thinking and reading, and I have come to the ultimate conclusion that is has helped me in my life and I donno if that is a testimony or anything but it is positive-I would think.

[Traveler]

There are many reasons to go on a mission as well as reasons not to go on a mission.  For anyone that will serve G-d, they will find a great deal of support to reason such service.  For those that desire to serve other cause - they will find one excuse as valid as another to justify their desire.  In the end we all live our lives (not just our formal mission) according to our agency.  Perhaps we choose even more our attitudes than our destiny or our responses to whatever we confront in life.

 

 

It appears to me that there is a great deal of joy with those that chart a choice of service of G-d and their fellow men.  It also appears to me that there is a great deal of depression and resentment with those that for whatever reason are convinced that they have lost direction of destiny or that their choices are in conflict with G-d and the exaltation (divine enlightenment) of their fellow men.  We will follow a trend in life such that a mission or some othere choice are only some of the steps in a greater journey that will define us.