I Believe

I believe--I know--we are all God's children; that he loves us deeply and wants us to come back to live with Him.  I believe--I know--that Christ, His Son, made this possible for us to accomplish. "All" that is required of us is to hone our lives in such a way that we are totally in harmony with His Spirit at all times. That is all!

I have written a book containing most of my personal witness experiences of the above.  It should be twice as long as it is, but my memory of my covenants is shockingly dim sometimes as Satan tries to combat the good.  I will be everlastingly grateful to my Father in Heaven for the Love that He has demonstrated for me and, through me, for others, and I will relate a couple of personal stories that illustrate this.

Oh, my Heavenly Father is so magnanimous!  He blesses all, even those who have not received the fullness of His Gospel. I found this out when visiting a beautiful "over-spill" town that was being built in the country some distance from Glasgow (when I was taking a postgrad course at Strathclyde University). The architecture in this town was, for me, out of this world--and the experience I was to have also was!  At the far side of the town that I had traversed on foot that glistening spring morning lay a huge church designed by a famous Finnish architect. I was all alone there as I stood gazing at this beautiful edifice, and I became aware that in my ecstasy a voice was speaking to me: "You can find MY Church if you will look for it."  This was a totally new concept for me, and I set to to visit a different Christian denomination every week while enjoying the architecture of the church buildings. It actually took me  more than two years and a switch to a different country, but I DID find God's church, and I knew it as soon as I found it (in a most amazing way tailored exactly for me).  But that's another part of the story! Here's a different instalment for now.

Teaching youth in Sunday School was a challenge for me. As I went through the motions, I knew I was failing my students but felt powerless to change the situation.  Ray, an ebullient 11-year-old from a large family, was ring-leader in my class of all boys, and they made it their business to disrupt the class period. One Sunday, however, was different. I found myself pounding the table and saying, "This material is too important for me to allow this to go on!" I asked Ray if he would please step outside the door while we finished what we were doing. 

This Ray did.  A few minutes later I put my head out of the door, fully expecting Ray to be nowhere in sight.  Instead, he was right by the door, back flat against the wall.  I invited him back in. AS HE PASSED me, I heard a voice say, "You can reach this boy if you will let Me help." 

Electrified, I proceeded all week to study as if everything depended on me, and pray as if everything depended on the Lord. Ever after that, what was to be said would simply flood my mind [the Spirit at work] and I would communicate it--things derived from my own experience, I think, that I would probably never have come up with myself.  There was not a single discipline problem; and, when the block program was instituted and my class disbanded, Ray shyly came up and inquired whether I would go on teaching their class.  There was a bond set up that year that will never be broken--and I was later able to spread the good word of this simple and beautiful solution to Church teaching that our Heavenly Father had taught me so dramatically. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Am Grateful
A Few Lessons Learned from my Elders
 

Comments 1

Already Registered? Login Here
Golden V. Adams Jr. (website) on Wednesday, 04 December 2013 16:02

Thank you, Alison, for these special illustrations of your testimony of our Savior and of our Heavenly Father. When we take the time to reflect on these special experiences, that is one thing--but to take the time to write them is even more powerful! And to share them is priceless. It's astounding as to what happens when rely on Him to prompt and guide us.
Golden

Thank you, Alison, for these special illustrations of your testimony of our Savior and of our Heavenly Father. When we take the time to reflect on these special experiences, that is one thing--but to take the time to write them is even more powerful! And to share them is priceless. It's astounding as to what happens when rely on Him to prompt and guide us. Golden