December 2004 Ensign - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

efore the Lord so that your weakness can
become your strength?
My thoughts went back to the time when
my twin and I were teenagers and our father
challenged us to develop testimonies of our
own rather than relying on the faith of our
parents. I had decided to follow his counsel.
I made an effort to carefully read and ponder
the Book of Mormon, and then I asked
Heavenly Father in prayer if what
I read was true. I asked if Joseph
Smith really had heard and
seen the holy and wondrous
manifestations he described.
In answer to my prayer, the
Spirit of the Lord was poured
out upon me. My heart burned
within me in confirmation of
the truth of what I had read
and asked Heavenly Father
about. At last I could testify that
I had a testimony of the Book of
Mormon and of the Restoration of
the gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
As a struggling young missionary, I thought
back on this experience and realized that
because I had received a confirmation from
the Lord that the Book of Mormon is true,
then what I read in the book of Ether was
also true. I knelt in humble prayer before
my Heavenly Father and expressed my inner
feelings about my mission call and my language
weakness. I promised Him that I
would get up early every morning to study
and memorize the 70 pages of lessons and
scriptures we were to use to teach the people.
I told Him I had faith that He, in return,
would help me learn the language so that
I could testify of Him and
of His Son.
Early every morning
thereafter, I prayed to
Heavenly Father and said,
“Here I am; let us start.”
In a relatively short time
I was able to testify that the scripture in
Ether is true. My ability to speak English—
a weakness when I first started serving my
mission—became a strength to me.
This experience has been a blessing to
me all of my life. Many times I have thought
new Church callings were beyond my
abilities. Then the Spirit has testified to me
and reminded me of the experience I had as
a young missionary in England. With great
gratitude these many years, I have felt
strength radiating from those words that are
recorded in the book of Ether. Through the
power of the Spirit, they can give each of us
strength, guidance, and hope. ■
Ipromised
Heavenly Father
that I would
get up early every
morning to study.
I had faith that He,
in return, would
help me learn
English.
ENSIGN DECEMBER 2004 11