Fast Sundays

Today was a special Sunday in my church--the first Sunday of every month we have "Fast Sunday".  "Fast" as in we fast from food for the day, not go through our meetings faster. ;)  Fast Sundays are a special opportunity to share our testimony with others.  I have a very deep testimony of the gospel, but I'm not the biggest fan of speaking in front of big groups.  So today I'm sharing my testimony with you.

Where to start?  Well, when I got to church today, I wasn't sure there was anything specific to bear my testimony about--I mean, the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is one of the biggest anchors in my life, and it can feel like a lot to examine something that has affected my life so much and try to sift it down into just one thing to share.  Where do I even begin with something like that?  A scripture in Helaman 5 came to mind:

"And now my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

What do I love about this scripture, and how does it help me bear testimony of the gospel?  One of the first things I notice each time I read this verse are the repetitions in words.  The word REMEMBER, for example. I think sometimes one of the hardest things about this life is that we struggle to remember--to remember who we are, to remember our worth, to remember what we have already learned and overcome.  Because of the gospel, I know that I am a child of a Heavenly Father who loves me, I know I have eternal potential and eternal worth, I know I can do hard things and that I have done hard things already!  Of course, there are days when I forget this--days when I feel like a sad little lump instead of a daughter of God, days when I feel lonely or frustrated or discouraged, days when I wonder if I have what it takes to succeed at this whole grown-up-life thing.  Fortunately, I DO have a Heavenly Father who knows and understands my weaknesses and is there to help me remember the truth.  I am so very grateful for this!

The other emphases I love in this verse are those on Christ and on the sureness of His foundation.  Like I said before, the gospel has been an anchor in my life, and that is in large part because the gospel focuses on Christ.  There are few people who can truly say they understand how you feel when you're going through a hard time, and there are even fewer people who know how to make things better and help you heal.  Christ has that power--because of the Atonement He understands our pain, our loss, our confusion.  And He knows how to heal us--whether that means helping us to repent of a bad choice we made or picking us up when life knocks us down, because let's be honest, life can hit hard.  Life hits hard no matter who you are (um, anyone heard how the ancient apostles died?), but I know that His is a sure foundation, and when we anchor ourselves to someone that immovable, we can keep moving forward in our progression, no matter what life dishes us.  This is what I believe, this is what I know.

Well, thanks for listening, and happy Sabbath.

Love,
me.