Testimony

In an effort to write a more organized email and know exactly what I wanted to say and all that, I wrote a list of bullet points to share. Of course, being who I am, I seem to have left the list at home... Haha! Well, maybe I'll remember next week! :)

This week has been pretty great. We went and played chair soccer with our zone last P-day, and may I just say... I totally won. It's a little complicated to explain, but just picture me totally dominating and that's all you need to know. Haha! (It was actually an accident.) I also got my first package from home filled with green goodies and it was literally my favorite thing. Now I have a "greenie" shelf in the pantry! :)

This week was filled with more and more testimony building experiences. I get to testify daily that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God and through him we have the restored gospel. I get to feel the Spirit so strongly every day and I just know it's true. We had a lesson turn sour on us one night. The man kept asking "How do you know? How do you know it wasn't made up?" He wouldn't relent. We taught him everything we could to help him understand how to know for himself. Pretty soon it was obvious that he just wanted to argue with us. So I did the only thing I knew how to do. I testified. With all my heart. (I may have even teared up a little, but that's a secret.) I don't know how much I was able to help his faith grow that day, but I do know that mine grew 10x stronger. The First Vision is something that has always been very close to my heart, and hearing myself teach that truth to people every day is something I wouldn't trade for the world. 

And then something super special happened! :D Elder Russell M. Nelson came and spoke to all the missionaries in our mission! All 254 of us! We got to drive down to San Antonio and listen to an Apostle of the Lord give us counsel and it was one of my favorite experiences ever. Growing up I would watch General Conference and think that if I could just shake hands with an Apostle I would know for sure that they are called of God. It was always something I really wanted to do. So when President Slaughter walked in early and told everyone that Elder Nelson had asked for time to shake every missionary's hand, I almost died. I had thought he would be in a hurry! All I could think about as I moved up the line was that I was finally going to have that one testimony-clinching experience, but as I got to the front... I looked into Elder Nelson's eyes... And shook his hand. That was it. There wasn't a choir. There wasn't a light from above, and I certainly wasn't struck by lightning. But I realized something as he said "Well hello, Sister Waite. Thank you for what you're doing.": Testimony isn't a one time thing. I had been building my testimony my entire life. I already knew that Elder Nelson and the other members of the Quorum, as well as the First Presidency, are men of God. While meeting and greeting an Apostle is certainly something that I'll never forget, I think what I'll remember even more is that a testimony isn't built all at once. Even when Joseph Smith experienced the First Vision, he wasn't just waiting for something miraculous to happen and answer his question. No. He was studying and seeking and went into the grove knowing that he would get an answer from God. I'm sure he certainly didn't expect the answer he got, but he knew he'd receive one. He already had that testimony. And that's what I had, too. 

I hope you all had a great week! Keep building your testimony! Remember it's a process! 

-Sister Waite