Many pieces make up the foundation of my testimony of God’s existence and His love. Little things, from the small, tiny promptings of the Holy Ghost entering my mind, to a remarkable experience as an eight year old little girl, build the foundation of my testimony. I do not share these things to boast but with do so with sincere humility. And I do so with a little hesitancy because of the sacredness some of these experiences have to me.
One of those small and simple promptings happened last year. I went to visit a lady in our small congregation that had not attended church in years. We talked, we shared, we read scriptures, and we prayed. It was a very nice visit. I went home. The visit did not seem remarkable. Later, many months later, she said that she had been contemplating suicide that very day. She said that the small visit interceded her thoughts and changed her desires. This lady realized her value as a daughter of God. That change in someone’s life is hard to claim as a chance encounter. A seemingly miniscule thought may only seem miniscule to our finite minds.
Another time, many years earlier I am in the sacred place of an LDS temple. As a sixteen year old, I did not realize the vastness of this beautiful place. My youngest sister, Katie was to be sealed to our family for time and eternity, a covenant to bind our family together even after death. As my sisters and I waited in the waiting area of the temple, my parents were preparing for the ceremony upstairs. Soon, it was time to join our parents upstairs. I don’t recall if it was before or after the ceremony, but as we were walking the hallowed halls, Katie, as a 12 month old little baby, began to use sign language (as she did not speak, or make many noises at all at that time)…her tiny hands signed the symbol for Jesus Christ as if she was trying to tell us something. He is real. He lives.
Lastly, I have mulled over sharing this experience so publicly because it is so special to me. As an eight year old girl, soon to be baptized, my father gave a family night challenge- to ask our Heavenly Father if the scriptures were His word. I’m sure I was challenged before to do that very thing, but this time I took it to heart. I recall after going to bed, I decided to kneel in prayer. I knelt next to my trundle bed, amidst the duck wall paper surrounding my small bedroom in our British home. There was a helium balloon tied to my open bedroom door. I prayed. I don’t remember my exact words, but I do remember asking if the scriptures were true. I laid in my bed.
Then I noticed something very unique. I saw in front of me, next to my brown metal wardrobe, a silhouette. It was a silhouette of a person with light behind him, an eclipse-like silhouette. I couldn’t see any features, just a shadow-figure surrounded by light. The figure was nodding his head. He was answering my question.
This is the experience I have and will remember all my life. This was my first experience receiving an answer from God. It was powerful. It was real. God IS real. He loves us.
