MY TESTIMONY

 So, I have a friend (an old Boeing acquaintance) who is getting baptized this weekend.  I cannot attend, so I have chosen to write my testimony to share and attend by Zoom.

__________, I consider it a great honor to be involved in some part or parcel of the most important day of your life.  This day is registered in the realms of eternity, as one which God's most important child (you) decided of your own free will, to make a commitment to Him and to make it back to His presence.  Many of your ancestors and loved ones will be here with you rejoicing over your pioneer entry into the Kingdom so that you can bring them them the same privileges you have been blessed to indulge in.

You live in a time where knowledge of good (and evil) fills the earth.  Because of the lack of widespread knowledge down through time, many have been kept from the truth because they knew not where to find it.  You were blessed to come to this place and time where you, with your innate sense of goodness, would feel to seek it out.  With this knowledge, as it is learned line upon line, you will be able to go to the House of the Lord and provide this blessing to those who seek in waiting on the other side of the veil.  Generations will look to you as their "Savior on Mount Zion", as we learn of the role in the Old Testament.  As you maintain worthiness (not perfection) and a repentant spirit about you, and administer in the House of the Lord to those of the other side of the veil, you will bring dominion and glory upon your own soul, for this is how Father gains His glory as He brings to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.  You share part and parcel in His glory.  Never cease to share the Good News.  I promise you that you will find opposition, but that you will find the greatest joy known to man in doing so.  Shun the base and coarse things of the world and seek the higher things so that, through our Savior Jesus Christ, we may rejoice together in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Always remember that obedience to God's Laws and Ordinances brings blessings.  Exact obedience brings miracles.  God is not respecter of persons and MUST give the associated blessing of the commandment kept.  When we qualify, we can call upon the powers of heaven - and we will see the miracles poured out upon us.  I know this from personal experience, time and again.  I also know that I have fallen many times, but have been able to rise to my feet every time due to the deep and loving beckoning of my Savior.  He is far more interested in our trajectory than our altitude.  The altitude will come over time, so long as our gaze is fixed firmly on our Savior.

I know God lives!  I have been shepherded so many times past the shoals of life.  Some very dark and treacherous shoals.  I have survived! My faith is in Him through Jesus Christ who descended below it all so I can live.  So you can live the abundant life.

I testify of the Restoration.  Joseph Smith is everything he purports to be.  The proof of this miracle and all that accompanied it is in the reading and understanding of the Book of Mormon.  It all hinges on that work.  The burning witness of the Holy Ghost, that satan himself cannot imitate, is the immutable witness, as the Apostles on the Road to Emaus discovered when they declared the witness that they had been in the presence of the Savior; "Did our hearts not burn within us?...".  I will never forget the witness I received as I had hands laid on my head over 42 years ago in St. Catharines, Ontario and received that sublime witness.  I will never forget the learning moment as my younger sister irritated me returning home from the baptism in the jumpseat of our 1966 Ford Fairlane station wagon and I hauled off and whacked her and the Spirit immediately was grieved and withdrew and I was left to myself until I repented and returned to the path.  Learn to recognize and then walk by this guiding influence in your life.  It will bless you immensely.

I am grateful for the strength that all scripture brings to my life.  It is a blessing and also a curse, if we choose to ignore it and the lessons of Millennia handed down by the Prophets.  Read them daily until they become part of you and the lessons are incorporated into your life.  Following the our modern Prophets is a blessing in our day, as the Spirit confirms their actions and words.  We are under no obligation, but what the Spirit ratifies, so seek the Spirit above all else and you will be led aright.  As President Nelson has counseled, Hear Him and do not trust in the arm of flesh over Him.

I look forward to watching you grow and develop and I am so glad that our paths have crossed.  Your sense of humor was critical when I was going through a tough spell back in our Boeing days.  I look forward to many more good, uplifting Gospel discussions as time goes on.  I leave you this, my witness, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.