I am home sick today, with a severe cold or maybe it's a mild flu. Anyway, I have aches and drips and a bad cough, so unfortunately I am missing today's meetings. My amazing DC got the boys ready and took them, and also will play the piano for the meetings, as I was supposed to be playing the organ. I {heart} you, DC!
I'm sure most of you know that I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Every first Sunday of the month for us in the Church is "Fast Sunday", which means members fast for two meals, and then give the money saved by not eating to the Church to be used to help those in need. (This is beyond the principle of tithing, which we pay regularly based on our income).
During our worship service on Fast Sunday, after partaking of the Sacrament, we are given the opportunity to stand and share our witness of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have only done so twice since Benjamin's death. It is very hard for me to share such deep feelings without bringing to the surface overwhelming emotions that make it hard to talk. But today I had been semi-planning to do so, until waking up ill. . . .
Maybe sharing it this way will be easier--or at least less damp!:)
Of countless blessings Heavenly Father has given me, I consider my testimony to be one of the most precious. It sustained me through the difficulties of my teenage and young adult years, and helped me to choose good things that will forever bless me and my posterity.
But over the past year, which has undoubtedly been the hardest time I have ever experienced, my testimony has become means of sheer survival. I have clung to it as the knowledge of my only hope. I share it now as my "pearl of great price."
{tears already beginning to stream down my face, thereby enhancing my congestion at an alarming rate} :)
I know that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior and my truest Friend. I know that He came to earth as the immortal Son of God yet also the mortal son of Mary. As such, He was willing and able to give His life for all of Father's children, and then take it up again, thus shattering the consequences of the grave! This has always been a source of great comfort to me, but my knowledge of it has been tested by the experience of burying my beautiful little baby boy. As I stood there at his grave after he was lowered into the ground, I was filled with an unearthly peace. There were angels surrounding me then.
In the months since that time, I could not always feel angels nearby. I have had to lean on knowledge through the ministrations of the Holy Ghost.
In less heavenly moments, that knowledge is still there, and it reaches to the deepest roots of my heart. I know, better than I know anything else, that the end of this life is not the end. That I will hold Benjamin in my arms again, and this time feel his warmth and see his eyes smiling at me. That when we are all reunited, it will be never to say goodbye again.
Jesus Christ has also conquered hell and the consequences of sin. I try so hard, but I am so human. I forget things. I get mad. I fail at things He has asked me to do. I hurt people's feelings by accident, and shamefully, even on purpose sometimes. I could never live in the presence of my perfect Father again, if it were not for Jesus' suffering as He paid for my mistakes. This deepest love that He showed all of us gives me the hope of being clean and worthy through repentance, so that I can have the dearest wishes of my heart of being with Him and my family forever.
It also makes me worthy now to have His Spirit with me, whose comfort I so desperately need.
I bear witness of Heavenly Father's infinite love for us. He loves His children on earth today just as much as in ancient 
times. I bear testimony that He and His Son appeared to the boy Joseph Smith in answer to a prayer. Joseph was confused and wanting to know which church to join. He went to the woods near his home in upstate New York to find a quiet place for this fervent prayer of his heart.
I'm sure he had never dreamed that the results of this prayer would affect millions of lives around the world! He was called to be a prophet and bring forth a new testament of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon. It is through the Book of Mormon that I know Joseph Smith truly was a prophet of God, and that this Church is truly our Savior's Church.
As it has been translated into over a hundred languages and taken to countries I have never seen, it has been tested again and again and found to be the word of God. I love the Bible and I love the Book of Mormon. Both bring me closer to God and keep me connected to Him during my time away from Him. If you have not read the Book of Mormon, you should!!! It testifies of Christ and strengthens the truthfulness of the Bible! It is true. Email me or leave a comment with your address and I will send you one. :)
The ripple effect of Joseph Smith's vision has brought Heavenly Father's greatest blessings to the earth--the Priesthood authority and temples, where families can be sealed for eternity. Those are big enough that I need to save them for a separate Day of Gratitude post.
Finally, I want to share with you that I know we have a prophet leading Christ's Church today*.
This is my testimony, and I'm so grateful for it!
*His name is Thomas S. Monson, and he will be speaking to us tonight at the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. It will be broadcast at 7pm CST over satellite on Dish Network (channel 9403) and the Internet, if you would like to watch. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and orchestra will perform, and they always show the beautiful lights on Temple Square, too!
12/9/08 UPDATE: I am so sorry I forgot to credit the pictures! Here are my sources:
Tack-o-Rama
Greg Olsen "Forgiven"
Walter Rane "The Desires of My Heart"
Wikimedia
