Thinking
back on high school, I remembered a special moment I had my senior year. The
year was just about over and as it is customary in seminary all seniors bore
their testimonies a week or two prior to the end of the school year in class
for the underclassman. Usually it was a re-assurance for the younger students
that seminary was fun, worth the time, and a chance to gain a true testimony. I
myself didn’t LOVE seminary all that much, but I knew the importance it played
in my life during those critical years. Little did I know then that my future
mother in law was there every day, so it was good that I behaved and never
skipped class to do something different.
It was
my turn to bear my testimony, and I remember thinking how adamant I was not to
spend the whole time telling the underclassmen how great seminary was for me,
but rather a pure heart felt testimony. I don’t remember what I said; all I remember
was that I kept it simple. As class ended I carried on throughout my day as if
it were any normal day. A few days later when I went back to seminary, the
underclassmen were given the opportunity to share their testimonies towards the
end of the class period. Most reflected back on their first or second years in
seminary, and it felt just like any other testimony meeting.
I bet
you are wondering what the big deal is with this story, well up to this point I
hadn’t realized anything significant either. Unbeknownst to me and everyone else
at the time, a big deal happened to a struggling freshman. He got up in front
of the class and started to tell a story. He said he was really not
understanding how God could call Joseph Smith at just 14 years old to be a
prophet and to restore the church once again on the earth, or how this same God
could care or even know of his problems. He then proceeded to say how he
decided to give it all a fighting chance until the school year ended. His eyes
lifted up from the floor and he said that my testimony a few days previous was
as if God himself was speaking through me to him. My testimony of the
restoration and our Heavenly Father brought a feeling that was undeniable to
him. He publicly thanked me for my testimony and said that because of my
testimony he now had one.
As I sat
there and listened to him say these things I was flabbergasted. Never before had
I been used like that by the Lord to help someone spiritually. It made me think
back over the years of how many times I had bore my testimony and who knew how
many lives were possibly changed as such, or the opposite even due to my lack
of speaking out. From that day on I have tried to never let a chance to share
my testimony go by because we never know whose prayers might be answered by our
words or what experiences I have had in the past that I could share to help
someone else in a time of need.
I know
that everyday whether we know it or not, God has plans for us. Plans that could
impact ourselves, individuals, or even generations, and the great thing about
all of it is the Holy Ghost is there to help us never let an opportunity pass unanswered
as long as we do our part to listen. God has a plan, we are part of it, and all
that is needed for that plan to fail is for us to do nothing. I know he lives and I know he loves us.
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