It's been forever since I have sat down and written a blog post. I wanted to be better, but life has kept me busy. I have been praying quite often to Heavenly Father that He might let me know who I could help, who I could share the gospel with, and any scriptures He wants me to read. I pray for answers to these things with a sincere heart.
About a month ago the missionaries gave me and Clint a challenge to give out the Book of Mormon to someone. I think it was a great challenge however I wanted to give the Book of Mormon to someone because I had a sign from Heavenly Father. What I did ensure was that I prayed about it daily as to who I should give it to. Almost immediately I kept seeing a name right after I prayed about it and then I prayed about a scripture I should share. I knew from the beginning of the month what scripture I wanted to share to this particular person because of their particular situation.
When I was going thru some of the hardest trials of my life my favorite scripture was Moroni 8:3, "I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God
the Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his
infinite agoodness and bgrace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end." I knew this was the scripture I needed to share and I knew who I needed to share it with. Heavenly Father answered my prayer, but would I accept His challenge?
I am always so eager to share my testimony. My testimony is what makes my life complete. I have never been afraid to tell anyone that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. For some reason actually giving someone the Book of Mormon frightened me and made me anxious. However, if we pray to Heavenly Father for an answer to something then we must be willing to accept the answer we receive. My mind thought what if I offend the person, or they laugh at me for trying. I was afraid of rejection. I had so many thoughts run thru my head about it, but I couldn't shake the feeling I had that I would be letting Heavenly Father down. I asked Him and He loved me enough to tell me what I should do, so I needed to do what I told Him. I needed to keep my promise to Him.
I prayed how I should give it to this person and I couldn't quite come up with anything. Although I wasn't doing this simply for the missionaries who challenged me to do it by the end of the month I had that date set in my head. I knew I needed to give myself a deadline of sorts or I would come up with a million excuses and never do it. It was one day until the end of the month and I thought to myself that I had let Him down. I never found the opportunity and I would continue to be afraid to do this simple task. I prayed to Heavenly Father that I needed to know what to do next and the answer came to me. The answer was that I should not simply just give the Book of Mormon to someone that I should share my favorite scripture because this scripture got me thru some really hard times and maybe it could get this person thru a difficult time. I took the Book of Mormon and wrote my testimony in the back along with the two missionaries'. I asked my husband to write his testimony in it as well and then I marked the scripture. I wrapped it up and on the last day of the month I gave it to this person.
I was scared to death and anxious all day, but the reason I share this story is not to gloat that I gave the Book of Mormon. It was to share a simple thought that we should not be afraid to share the Book of Mormon. My scriptures are one of my most prized possessions. I sleep right next to them and read them daily. I listen to them every morning on my way to work. My life is centered around this gospel and it brings me a pure happiness. I am not here trying to convert anyone I am sharing what I believe to be another testament of Jesus Christ. I am sharing a scripture, or a thought that Heavenly Father is always mindful of us and our trials. It is my prayer that those that I share this with will never be offended. I do it out of love. I do it because I care so much for you that I wanted to share what got me thru hard times. I want to share with you why I live a life of happiness.
The Book of Mormon was the hardest thing for me to gain a testimony of, but eventually after a couple of years I did. I know without a doubt that it is the word of God. I know that if we read the Book of Mormon and the Holy Bible that we will become closer to God. We will be given the tools to overcome any trials we might face.
