Finding out for yourself

One thing I’ve always loved and appreciated about being a member of my church is that we are encouraged to take every doctrine and teaching, and find out for ourselves if it’s true. We are encouraged to pray for answers directly from God, to receive personal revelation from Him for our own lives, and to gain a personal testimony from Him whether or not this church is true. When we read the book of Mormon, we are challenged to ask God, all on our own, if the book is true. We aren’t supposed to just take other people’s word for it. We aren’t supposed to just rely on what our parents believe. We each have the responsibility to nurture our own testimonies and get that witness from God for ourselves. And what’s most amazing of all is that we have the promise that God will answer us directly. I know that may seem far-fetched, crazy, or impossible to some - that God would really answer prayers and speak to us directly. But the thing is, I absolutely know from many personal experiences, that that’s exactly what God does.  

I want to share a small example from my life that happened recently.  

A while back, my church came out with a new policy that made headlines in the news. When I first heard about this, it was through an online article. The article was written by someone who was obviously unhappy about the new policy and it painted my church in a negative light.

I have to admit, when I first read this, I was taken back. I felt confused as to why my church would come up with this particular policy. It gave me pause. It didn’t seem right to me. Why? I wondered. So right away, I closed my computer, and asked God about it directly through prayer. My prayer roughly went something like this:

“Heavenly Father, this policy seems so weird. I’m confused right now and I’m struggling with it. Why would the church come out with this?”

After praying, these words immediately came to my mind:

“It is wisdom in me.”

Simple and clear as that. 

“OK,” I thought. And then the words repeated again:

“It is wisdom in me.”

Not every prayer has come so immediate and clear as this one. Sometimes my answer will come through study of the scriptures or over time when a series of events have unfolded. But this time it was direct and clear, and I instantly felt peace. I now knew that God knew something that I didn’t know and that He was directing the church in His wisdom. And I could trust it because I had received my own witness. 

I’ll end by sharing a quote from the current prophet of my church, President Thomas S. Monson:

“In order for us to be strong and to withstand all the forces pulling us in the wrong direction … we must have our own testimony…Whether you are 12 or 112—or anywhere in between—you can know for yourself that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. Read the Book of Mormon. Ponder its teachings. Ask Heavenly Father if it is true. We have the promise that ‘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.’ ”

Temples

Our Wedding Day, Bountiful, Utah Temple

Palmyra, New York Temple

Washington DC Temple

Fort Collins, Colorado Temple

One distinctive feature of my church is our temples.  We have temples all across the world, from Paris, New York City, Hong Kong, Mexico City, and beyond. In total, there are 155 Mormon temples around the world, with 27 more in the process of being built. Chances are, you’ve either seen or heard of a Mormon temple at some point. 

So why do we have temples? What is their purpose?

In the Bible, it explains how temples were built to worship God. We view temples in the same way today. We build temples to worship God, and to be close to Him. Inside the temple, members make promises to God to keep His commandments.  In return, we believe we receive great blessings from God.

 We view a temple as God’s literal house, where we can go to feel His love and receive guidance from Him. We also get married in the temple because we view marriage as a very sacred and important promise that we make to both God and our spouse. 

Because we view the temple as such a sacred, holy place, there are certain criteria members have to meet to be able to enter inside. These include things like having a testimony of Jesus Christ, keeping commandments such as abstaining from sex until you are married and keeping what’s called the “word of wisdom” (https://www.mormon.org/beliefs/word-of-wisdom) (which is why Mormons don’t drink alcohol or do drugs).

To learn more about Mormon Temples, you can go here: https://www.mormon.org/beliefs/temples

I love the temple. I believe with all my heart that it’s God’s house. I believe with all my heart that He desires all of His children be able to enter there and receive amazing blessings. 

Not only can I witness that these amazing blessings are real and wonderful, but I can also witness that I have received some of the most sacred and needed guidance in my life while inside the walls of the temple.  Many of these experiences are too close to my heart to share, but I do want to tell you about one that changed the course of my life. 

I was just starting college and I was bogged down with confusion and uncertainty. The question I was constantly asking myself was: what career should I pursue? To some, this may not be as stressful of a decision, but for me, it was one of the most difficult. I had so many different passions and interests that I would have loved to make a career out of. How could I narrow it down to just one? What career would lead to a job that I could realistically make a living off of? Should I just pursue the career that would give me the most enjoyment and that I felt the most passionate about? And what about my hope of one day getting married and being able to raise my children at home– how would my career fit into all of that? 

I took a class at college called “career exploration” which took me through a series of personality tests to determine what jobs I’d be best suited for. Along with “author” and “hiking guide”, “NURSE” kept on popping up as a good fit. NURSE?  I’d never seriously considered nursing as a career in the past, partly because I didn’t believe I’d be able to get into the competitive nursing program at my school.  But “hey”, I thought, “why not look into it?”

So, I started to investigate nursing as a career path. I did a lot of studying and asked a lot of questions. Over several months, I got a lot of feedback, and threw all the information I had learned around in my brain.  And it’s at that point that I was terribly confused. I had a LOT of doubts, fears, and further questions. I NEEDED to know if nursing was the right path to pursue.  And I hoped that God would help me find out…

During this time, I decided to attend the temple. I knew that the temple was a place to receive answers to prayers so before I went, I prayed that God would give me an answer and help me to know if I should pursue nursing as a career. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical that an answer so specific would be answered, but I sure hoped that it would. 

I ended up going with some members of my mom’s congregation, since I was visiting home at the time. I didn’t know any of the people I went with beforehand. 

At one point inside the temple, I was sitting quietly and pondering my question, wondering how or if it would be answered. As I was doing this, the woman sitting next to me, who I had gone with that day, turned to me and asked,  “So, what are you studying in school?” “Well, I’m thinking about nursing,” I told her. “OH!” She exclaimed excitedly, “I’m a nurse!” 

For the next several minutes, this dear lady explained all the reasons why she absolutely loved nursing. Not only that, but without knowing, she answered the specific questions and concerns which I’d had  about nursing, word for word. I knew with certainty that God had answered me. 

After that experience, I pursued nursing with full-force and witnessed many doors of opportunity open right up for me in miraculous ways which ultimately allowed me to become a nurse. Almost 10 years later, I am so grateful for the experiences nursing has given me, and especially grateful for that answered prayer that came in the sacred walls of the temple.

The Blessing of Prayer

Prayer has been one of the most valuable blessings in my life. It’s a pretty miraculous gift to be able to communicate with the creator of the universe and know that He really listens, He really cares.

I don’t remember my first prayer, but I do know that my prayers began to be more meaningful during my young teenage years as my testimony and belief system really started to take root. Eventually prayer became a vital part of my life.  I prayed when I felt worried, when I was discouraged, before a test, when I couldn’t find something, when I felt guilty about something I’d done, when a family member was in need, and a million other things.  One by one, my prayers began to be answered. Sometimes the answer was “Wait a little bit, have patience.” Other times, it was: “look for your keys under the couch”, “You are forgiven,” “This is what you need to change in your life,” “Keep trying,” and “I love you.”

 Some answers to prayer have been very direct and specific. Other times though,  I didn’t feel an answer at all until much later when events unfolded and I realized that my prayer had been answered after all.

I won’t lie, there have been times that I’ve felt abandoned by God when answers didn’t come immediately, or when I desperately wanted to hear, “WHALA! You’re trial is hereby taken away at this very moment because you prayed!” and instead heard, “Not yet” or even silence. But in each of those instances, over time, the light shined in and I came to understand why I had needed to wait, or what I had needed to learn while I was "alone". Eventually, the answers did come.

I hope to share some of those experiences in future posts, but for now, I'd like to share just one of the most recent experiences I’ve had with prayer right after my daughter was born.

Taken from my journal dated Sept. 4th, 2016:

"2 days ago, I was having a terrible day. I felt like a truck had run over me - Just so tired, achey, hurting everywhere (I was 6 days post partum P.S.) Anyway, my husband had said a prayer that night with the boys that made me smile. He asked that 'Mommy will feel better and be her happy self again, dancing and skipping around the house.' haha. Well, I forgot all about the prayer, but the next day I felt SO much better! That evening I was so happy that my aches and tiredness were all improving that I found myself dancing in the living room and singing a tune I'd just heard downstairs. My husband looked at me like: what in the world are you doing? 'I just feel like dancing!' I laughed, 'don't you ever just feel like dancing?' Later that night, I suddenly remembered that cute prayer from yesterday and realized that Hey! It came true! What a sweet little miracle!"

Prayer works! I  can say that with absolute confidence! I know that God loves every living soul on earth and cares about each of our worries, cares, and concerns. I know He wants to help. He wants to communicate with us, and prayer is one of those ways that can happen.  Sometimes answers may come in ways we don't expect, but I know He is there, He knows us perfectly, He listens.

To learn more about prayer, you can go here: https://www.mormon.org/beliefs/prayer.