Protected: Special experiences – My first trip to the temple

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My Expereince as an Aaronic Priesthood Holder

I have never treated priesthood ordinances lightly. Whenever I have acted in behalf of the Savior to administer ordinances  I have always been respectful and aware that I am the Representative of Jesus Christ.

When I was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood I always felt it was important to look my best and dress in a white shirt and tie when helping to administer the sacrament. As I passed the Sacrament I felt honored to be able to serve those in my ward.

When I became a Teacher I prepared the sacrament with reverence. Anyone who prepares the symbols that represent Christ’s sacrifice should do it with humility and reverence. I also got to go with my Father to visit our home teaching families. This was a great experience because I got to see my Father in his role as a Melchizedek priesthood holder.  Helping my Father serve the families we were responsible for was a powerful experience that has taught me how to serve others.

As a Priest I had the honor to pray in behalf of the congregation that he would bless the emblems of Christ’s body. When I spoke the words I always tried to say them with humility because I truly felt that I was praying to my Father in Heaven for those that heard the prayer.

Administering the sacrament was  a tremendous responsibility that helped me feel closer to the Lord and prepare me for my mission and the Melchizedek Priesthood. As a young man I do not think attending church would have been as rich of an experience if it wasn’t for the service I was able to provide as an Aaronic Priesthood holder.

The Lord has prepared the Aaronic priesthood for young men so that they can learn to care for others and in so doing feel His Holy Spirit. I thank my Heavenly father for my experience that I had as an Aaronic Priesthood holder.

First Time Reading the Book of Mormon

There is not a time that I can remember that I didn’t believe in God.  Belief was always just a part of my nature.

I believe that spirituality is part of our emotional make up. I believe that God mostly communicates with us through our emotions and feelings.  People who are sensitive and compassionate are general more sensitive and tuned in to spirituality.  I feel that because I am a deeply emotional person that I keyed into faith more easily than some.  I do not say this to boast or to say that I am better than anyone else but it is simply who I am.

I shared my faith with others pretty easily. Always willing to discuss doctrine and philosophy.

I dated a girl named Ira for a little while and shared my beliefs with her.  I introduced her to missionaries from my church and she began the process of conversion.

During her discussions with the missionaries I felt the spirit but felt that I needed my own experiences. Going through the process with her actually made me want to investigate my own faith on a deeper level.

I began listening to Christian radio to get other perspectives. One day while driving I was listening to a sermon that was on the radio and the preacher was talking about the importance of truth. He said things like,  “It is important to find the truth and live accordingly” ,  “Life should be a pursuit of truth”  and  “As we live according to the truth then it will make us free”.

The preacher went on to tell a story that made an impression on me.  It was a story of Socrates. He had a student who wanted to know how to find truth.

Socrates was very wise.  He told his student that he would teach him. They were by the sea.  Socrates told his inquirer to accompany him into the water and he would show him how to find truth.  The student followed.  When they were chest high Socrates grabbed his pupil and thrust him under the water.  He held him there until he struggled to get free. Not wanting to drown him but wanting to get his point across he raised him out of the water.

The student came out of the water gasping for air.

Socrates made this profound remark to the student. “When you are as desperate for the truth as you were for the air to breath you will find it”.

This had a profound effect on me because I knew that I could not live a lie. I knew that just as air is essential for our life so is the truth for our eternal life.  I had to find the truth and do what God wanted me to do no matter what. Even if it meant giving up the religion I had grown up with and was accustomed too. I could never live a lie and have peace.

After this experience I began searching diligently. I didn’t want to be biased with my own faith.  In order to do this I started reading the New Testament. As I read about the life of Christ I felt even more than I had before that He was my Savior and that He loved me more than I could imagine.

I marked the bible I was reading with color codes.  I marked things in yellow that touched me.  I marked things in red that I thought were very important. Orange was the color of items that were unique to the Mormon perspective. Blue was the color of future events and brown was the color punishments and things that were negative.  The scriptures became my coloring book.

I read every minute that I could. I was hungry for the truth.

I finished the New Testament and then I started the Book of Mormon.  My goal was to compare it against what I had read in the New Testament and find the contradictions.

When I began it was very difficult to not feel something about the book. I wanted to read it without bias but  emotional feelings would come as I read. Sometimes I would read and would feel the stirring of emotions and wondered why do I feel this when I am reading this passage. I could only come to the conclusion that the Lord was trying to tell me something. As I pondered these emotions and the text associated with them sometimes I would recall that it was an answer to a question I had had earlier.  Sometimes I didn’t know why but would find out later when some event happened and the passage was brought to my remembrance at the very moment that the event occurred.  The evidence that the Holy Spirit was guiding me was very hard to deny.

When I reached the end of the book I could not deny that the Book of Mormon was true.  As I read the last chapter I was in tears as feelings of the spirit rushed over me.  I did not have to ask as I knelt to pray if it was true.  I simply said thank you Father.

The truth is in the Book of Mormon. That book more than any other must carry the challenge to test it’s divinity because it is the evidence that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Lord’s church here upon the earth.  I know that if those who are seeking the truth read it they will come to know through the power of the Holy Spirit that it is true. The book of Mormon makes that promise and so do I.