I know the church is true.
----- "I know this is truly a church?" Well gee, legally defined there's hundreds of churches (at least) and I'll bet most people in the US would say the LDS church is one of the more weird churches on the list. We do strange things like forbid coffee and sometimes we are called a cult. So if this is what people mean by "I know the church is true" then perhaps it's a statement that we are people just like every other church, seeking to follow God just as every religious person. In fact it's important to remember that being Mormon does not mean you're going to be magically perfect. Like the time the baby got dropped during a baby blessing.
Sometime things, like a baby blessing always go so smoothly you forget it's real people trying to fumble through life. In the West View Ward in Cedar there was a baby blessing just like thousands of other baby blessings, and Teasha and I had our eyes closed. The baby girl was a little fussy, but the speaker was confidently talking into the microphone. The speaker was blessing the baby to feel the spirit, and have a desire to go to the temple when suddenly there was a noise of a microphone being fumbled and scraped and a mumble of hushed voices. Then a baby SCREAM! The wailing was loud enough that the speaker had to nearly shout, "Andalltheseblessingswesay inthenameofJesusChrist Amen!" There was a sound of more muffled hurried movement and a screaming baby was held up for the classic "Lion King" pose and the father (with the mother) rushed out. Turns out the brethren had been trying to bounce the baby to help it calm down, and with 12 hands trying to bounce there was a moment where they all went a touch too hard and the baby rolled off the handmade platform. The heroic father caught the girl's dress six inches from the ground. The baby blessing was finished and it was determined later the child was no worse for the wear. So yes, I know this is truly a church, with people who are just people and make mistakes and do dumb things and try to act all polished. I cannot afford to forget that and demand perfection of my brothers and sisters in the church.-----"I know the church building is built true?" Engineer's say "true" means solid and square. Not exactly what you expect in a testimony. There is value in understanding that you are in a sacred building, and it should be treated as such. We do not run in the church halls or yell during meetings. On the other hand, the building is only a tool, and not something that should be worshiped. I remember a day that Teasha was pregnant with Spencer, and a hunger craving hit. It was apparently quite severe, so bad that Teasha had to leave class. She couldn't very well go home, it was a 20 minute drive and church was almost over. She needed something - desperately - so she found the only bit of food we had - a bag of popcorn.
As I came out of my last class the smell of popcorn permeated the entire building. By the raised noses and flaring nostrils I could tell other people were smelling it too. I was annoyed - who in their right mind would be so rude as to fill the church with a popcorn smell? I assumed it was a teenager who had skipped class to have fun without respecting the sacred nature of the building. In my head I had some sharp words for that rude teenager. I gathered the children, but my wife was no where to be found. Finally as the crowds thinned out I found her sitting on the sidewalk outside eating the last of a bag of popcorn. In answer to my smirking expression she explained that she knew it was smelling, so she took it outside. She explained the incredible hunger and how this was the only solution she could find. Sure - now I could understand it, but I asked how many other people had expressed disdain at her decision. "Not a single person." She said. "Everyone seems to have understood that I had good reasons, and accepted it as that without question." What a statement! Perhaps they were all more righteous than me with my smug sense of reverence. They understood that the church is truly a building, only a tool to be used for the saints to grow closer to God, however that pops up.
----- "I know it is true that this is my church?" Perhaps a declaration of allegiance to the church would be a good thing, but I like to think my membership is more than just a statement of what religion I was born into. It should be born of a relationship with Jesus and a sense of brotherhood with the fellow members. When our children are born we try to foster their relationship to the Lord, and help them fit in with the other ward members so that they can say this is their church for the right reasons. Of course sometimes my children remind me that of those two reasons - a commitment to the Lord is by far the most important.
----- "I know this church is truly where I should be?" When I teach statistics 90% of my students believe they don't need to be in class to learn the material. The fact is only 2% could actually learn it without coming to class, and they are the type of students that wants to be in class. Because I care for my students I force them to come to class with quizzes. I know that when they are in my class they will learn better than without it. I believe that idea is one reason the Lord has commanded us to be in church. He knows we truly need to be in church to become like Him.
When I was at the MTC one Sunday a speaker was giving a talk on teaching by the spirit. He emphasized that the spirit would tell our investigators greater things than what we were trying to teach. In a moment of bravery and inspiration he turned to the old couple seated on the bench in front of his podium. He said "I'll bet the spirit is telling you something, and I'll bet it's some insight that I haven't actually spoken. I can tell by your face, am I right?" The man looked up and said, "I need to apologize to my wife." Then he turned to her and said, "Dear, I was wrong, and it was very unkind of me. I am very sorry. Can you forgive me?" She gave a funny smile and reached for his hand. I have no idea what he was apologizing for, but it made a strong impression on me. The spirit taught that man something based the fact that he was listening to a speaker at church - not because the speaker was talking about asking for forgiveness. Church is the right place to be, and whether the speakers are boring or the kids are crazy the Lord will bless me for being there.
----- "I know that living by the churches teachings has brought bring me blessings?" This is the beginning of a testimony. The Lord has said, "prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." (Malachi 3:10). Alma said, "because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good. And now, behold, is your knowledge perfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing," (Alma 32:33). So a testimony starts by testing the Lord, and receiving blessings.
I would argue that a testimony needs to grow beyond that or it will fail. The failure will happen when we do what is right and we receive trials anyway. I have a friend, Roger, who was serving a mission when he met a wonderful beautiful girl. She was interested in the church at first, then interested in Roger, and then he was transferred to a different town. He felt a strong attachment to her, and tried to understand his feelings. The Mission President counseled him to not let this girl distract him from his mission. He was obedient and finished his mission with honor. Afterwards he continued communication with this girl who had no interest in the church, but did have interest in him. Friends and family advised him to find a wife whom he could take to the temple, one with a testimony in the Savior and the commandments of God. He felt like he had served his mission faithfully, and deserved the love he felt for her. He decided if the church was of God then it would want him to receive the blessing of marrying the girl he loved. He returned to his mission, married the girl, and never again went to church. In later years he ran a website dedicated to encouraging missionaries to leave the church. I learned to live by the commandments of God as taught through His church, regardless of the blessings or trials I face, because the eternal rewards are only kept for those who faithfully endure to the end. I hope someday my testimony will be strong enough that I keep the commandments purely out of love for the Savior.----- "I know that there are true things taught in this church?" The Lord said, "truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come" (D&C 93:24). One sure way to test if something is true is to see whether it really is what it says it is. In other words, do the teachings of the church improve your life and help you to be more Christlike? Do the scriptures help you to be more righteous?
My father-in-law has learned the church teaches truth. When Teasha was a little girl she and her little sister both got dolls for Christmas. Candace broke her doll, and she tried to switch her doll with Teasha's. As you can guess a fight ensued. Their father came downstairs and quickly got up to speed on the "It's my doll" "No it's my doll" problem. He took the doll, went upstairs, and melodramatically brandished a massive carving knife. With a flourish he explained that since they could not agree on who owned the doll, he would chop it in half and give half to each girl. Candace shrugged that it was fine, but Teasha cried, "No! Don't cut her! Fine! Give the doll to Candace!" Then he returned the knife, sat them both down, and read to them the story from King Solomon. "Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof." (1 Kings 3:27). Then they both agreed the doll was Teasha's, and the fight was resolved. My father-in-law knew that the scriptures provided truth and wisdom and he knew how to use that wisdom to bless his life and the lives of his children. ----- "I know that only true things are taught in this church?" Wouldn't it be nice if this was actually accurate? I do believe there is truth taught in the church, and I believe God only speaks the truth, and the church teaches the word of God. I also believe people can say things in church that may not always be from God, and it's important to understand that "the church" is a collection of people - people who have weaknesses and make mistakes just as anyone does. Recognizing that means you won't lose your testimony when you hear some of the things I've heard during testimony meetings.
One Sunday a member got up to bear his testimony, "I'd just like to apologize to all the members of the ward choir that met this morning. I was a little out of line, and I got angry, and I just want to say I'm sorry." He was followed by four other members of the ward choir who got up and apologized to each other for their rude remarks that morning. Not what you'd expect in a testimony meeting, but I guess it was effective. Another Sunday I heard a member bear testimony about how annoying her neighbor was for letting their stupid dog bark all the time. Fortunately I found out the neighbor was not at church that day. A different Sunday had a member of the bishopric lecture the ward on how rude it was to call him short. He said, "I've fired people older than most of you in this ward, don't you dare try to comment on my height as a measure of my worth!" It was a fifteen minute testimony, and at the end I noticed everyone was looking stunned. Believe it or not - all three of these stories are from the same ward - and all three happened in three consecutive months. Teasha and I got to where we would anxiously await the next testimony meeting to see what it would bring. But this did not lower our testimony because we understood that while a testimony ought to be about Christ and the restored gospel, these were people who were trying to live their lives despite personal challenges. We afforded them the right to rant and rave over the pulpit, hoping that when they see us make mistakes they will love us all the more for it.
----- "I know the church is truly doing what God intended it to do?" If that is what the person means when they say the church is true then it's actually a strong statement. It means that while there may be errors and mistakes made by the members this is the still the way God wants things done, and that takes some faith. There have been times I worried if I was doing things as Jesus would want it done, and I was very aware of my faults. Without fail I learn afterwards that the Lord was helping me more than I knew, and his designs were accomplished in surprising ways.
Ever heard of "that one class"? The class that no one wants to teach because the kids are out of control? In Cedar Hills there was such a class, and I was asked to teach it when the previous teacher said they couldn't stand it anymore. From the first 10 minutes of class I could see these were 7 highly active eight year olds, and they were not ready for a reverent teaching style. Two students in particular were hard to keep calm: Celina and Austin. Neither was purposely mean or evil, they simply had lots of exciting things on their mind and church was sometimes boring. I tried my best to make the lessons interesting and to encourage them to be reverent. After months of teaching them I decided I had not been successful. I felt sad that the Lord had given me a task and I had failed. I hoped the progress of these children would not be stunted because of me. I finished my master's degree and got ready to move to Texas for a PhD. When these children learned of my move they were devastated. I was surprised to find they loved my class and wanted me to stay. Austin and Celina in particular were sad to hear I was going. Austin looked like he might cry, and Celina couldn't stop trying to talk me out of leaving. Suddenly I had to reevaluate my success. Austins father told me that his son was starting to have trouble going to church at all, until I started teaching. Soon he was willing and even eager to come. Everyone thanked me for my service. I gained an understanding that even when I feel like I am not doing things perfect, the Lord is in control of his church. He inspires people to their callings, and he helps them when they fall short. This church is God's kingdom on Earth.----- "I know this church was organized by God's command?" Every church claims to be God's intended church, so saying it is "true" could mean it has God's official approval. The D&C testifies that this church is "the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased, speaking unto the church collectively and not individually—" (D&C 1:30) This testimony naturally follows into an acceptance of the church leaders as the authorized servants of God. Accepting their leadership can sometimes take faith, but it is always rewarded with blessings.
My Uncle Jim was a bishop and as such held interviews for temple recommends. When an 80 year old lady came in for a recommend he assumed things would be fairly straightforward. As he asked the common questions for such an interview he got to the question, "Sister, do you live the law of chastity?" Suddenly this 80 year old woman blushed, looked around and said in a subdued voice, "Well, you know... I try." Uncle Jim stopped. It seemed as if the world stopped. But he was a servant of the Lord, nothing more, so seeking the spirit he asked the next question, "Sister, is there a part that is a problem?" She sighed, "Well you know, I try so hard to love everybody, but sometimes it's just hard." Uncle Jim leaned in, "Sister, that's the law of charity. I'm asking if you keep the law of chastity." Suddenly she became animated, "Oh my goodness, well yes, of course. I thought you meant, I mean, well yes I keep that law. It's loving everyone that I'm still working on." They both shared a laugh and the rest of the interview went well. Because she trusted her bishop she was willing to open up her weakness to him. Because he was a servant of the Lord he was able to understand her as He understood her. Both were drawn closer to the Savior as they served in his kingdom. That's the blessing from a testimony that this church is organized by God.
----- "I know this church has the true power of God?" That is one aspect that makes this church different from other churches: the priesthood of God passed on from authorized holders of the priesthood. To claim to wield the power of God is a bold statement, but I think if we had better testimonies of this we could do more for the Lord. If we really believed it our lives would change to reflect the sacred privilege.
I contend that few us truly mean this when we say "the church is true" because of an experiment I tried when I was sick in Texas. I called the hometeachers for a blessing, and when they came I turned to one said, "I'd like for you to anoint me." Then turning to the other I said, "And I'd like for you to heal me." He spluttered and did a half chuckle, and then said, "How about I give you blessing?" I said, "That would be great." Afterwards I wondered why the hesitation to believe he could heal me. I've repeated the request a number of times when I've been sick since then, and the reaction is always hesitation. Is it because God cannot heal a sick person? Is it because we do not believe we have that power? Is it because we do not believe we are worthy enough to wield that power? Whatever the reason, there's always this hesitation to throw our faith on the line and work miracles through the priesthood. Perhaps this is the sort of testimony we should seek for a little more. ----- "I know the church leaders were truly called of God?" The beauty of a testimony is that if you know one thing, the rest all falls into place. If the leaders are called of God, then the church teaches things that are true, and the Book of Mormon is truly what it claims to be, and you can bear testimony of every other aspect of the gospel based on that one bit of knowledge. I suspect at first this testimony is easy to have at first, but sometimes it can be tested as we discover the leaders are people just like us.
My sister, Julie, worked at the church office building for a few years, and one day on her way to work she was passed up by a tall fast moving man. That man turned out to be the first councilor to the prophet, Thomas S. Monson. She told me you don't realize how big he is until you see him up close, and he was in a hurry. Curious to see if she could match his mighty stride Julie fell in line behind him and followed him up to the side entrance. That small door was only for employees and had a card reader lock. Julie had a card for that door, so she decided to follow President Monson up to the side entrance into the church office building. She had kept up with his long strides, but as he approached the door she was out of breath. Then as President Monson took his card out of his pocket it dropped to the ground. Just as Julie came up behind him he half turned and bent down to pick up the card. With hardly time to squeak Julie was squished between the wall and his bum. He immediately jerked up, whirled around and apologized to Julie. He profusely explained he didn't know she was there, asked if she was ok, and opened the door for her. Julie was a cross between being mortified and laughing hysterically. Did that instance change her opinion of that man? Not at all. She testified to me that President Monson was called of God. He is a man who has a special job to do, but he is simply trying his best to fulfill God's command to him. Expecting a prophet to be magical or flawless isn't a testimony, it's an unrealistic expectation. A true testimony born of the spirit will help us follow the leaders because we know they have been given their commands from the Lord.
----- "I know that this church has all the revealed truth, and some truths are only found here." I think when I say "I know the church is true" this is what I mean. The ancient revelations from God in the Old and New Testaments are found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. There are some ancient revelations only found in the LDS church, such as the Book of Mormon. There is modern revelation such as D&C that is only in the Mormon church, and even though there are splinter religions from this church that use those books, there are new instructions and truths taught each month from the current prophets and leaders that are only found in the LDS publications. There is so much truth I want to learn. What is heaven like? What about internet use? What about wearing jeans? What is the future of America? This church has the words of God. My testimony of this church helps me to live worth of the spirit to understand these truths and receive my own personal revelation too.
I know this church is true.
