2023 December 26, Tuesday, Journal Entry

 The Bishops Storehouse will be closed today because of yesterday being Christmas. Tomorrow I'll be serving in the temple as usual but today will be a day of rest and relaxation.

We enjoyed having Jake and his family over yesterday. Meredith and Alexander didn't make it because Alex was sick. We exchanged gifts and played a game of five Crowns.

Our home is beautifully decorated thanks mostly to Cathy's efforts. She is such a great wife, mother and grandmother. A true blessing in my life.

Come Follow Me 

What is a testimony?

A testimony is the spirit of prophecy. It is a personal revelation from God, revealing the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. A testimony comes through the Holy Ghost; it makes a deep and lasting impression on the soul.

Individual testimonies are the foundation and strength of the Church. Our testimony provides a guiding light that leads to a commitment which directs our conduct and our way of life. Our testimony is true north on a spiritual compass. It is a moving force that cannot be seen but can truly be felt. It is a burning within that tells us what is right. It is when “your heart tells you things your mind doesn’t know.”

Elder Robert D. Hales Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostle, October 1994

How Do We Get a Testimony?

 We all know that it is easier to talk about a testimony than to acquire one. The process to receive one is based on the law of the harvest: “For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). No good thing comes without effort and sacrifice. If we have to work hard to obtain a testimony, it will make us and our testimony even stronger. And if we share our testimony, it will grow.

A testimony is a most precious possession because it is not acquired by logic or reason alone, it cannot be purchased with earthly possessions, and it cannot be given as a present or inherited from our ancestors. We cannot depend on the testimonies of other people. We need to know for ourselves. President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “Every Latter-day Saint has the responsibility to know for himself or herself with a certainty beyond doubt that Jesus is the resurrected, living Son of the living God” (“Fear Not to Do Good,” Ensign, May 1983, 80).

The source of this sure knowledge and firm conviction is divine revelation, “for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10).

We receive this testimony when the Holy Spirit speaks to the spirit within us. We will receive a calm and unwavering certainty that will be the source of our testimony and conviction irrespective of our culture, race, language, or socioeconomic background. These promptings of the Spirit, rather than human logic alone, will be the true foundation upon which our testimony will be built.

By Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, October 2006