The Beauty of Asking

Church selfie :)

It's strange how, sometimes, the obvious decisions can become the most difficult. I faced one of those tonight. It wasn't a huge deal, but it got me thinking. I know that God knows what's best for me, even when I feel otherwise. Or, should I say, especially when I feel otherwise. We can be raised with certain values our entire lives and still question them ... until we question them. Let me explain.

Many people, like me, are born into the church - but that doesn't mean we automatically have a perfect testimony. Testimony doesn't come through genetics. It comes through searching, pondering, and finding these things out for oneself. Some might feel guilty for doubting, or fear having questions, but I promise - it's not wrong. It's good to have questions. Because if we didn't have them, how else would fully find the truth?

Until we question, and until we ask the Lord if it's true, we can doubt what we've been taught forever. Confirmation from Him is vital. Desiring the truth is vital. And once we have that confirmation, we don't have to doubt anymore, because we trust and believe.

Moroni 10:4-5

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

This is the scripture most are guided to when first reading the Book of Mormon, because it states that simple truth: ask, and ye shall receive. I have faith in that book. I have a testimony of what's inside it, and the deepest gratitude for the countless people who sacrificed their lives that we may have it. I love the stories and the people within its pages, that teach lesson after lesson of humanity and the world around us. I love having another testament of Jesus Christ, and the knowledge that He came here (to the Americas) to see His other sheep. I believe that He did so, with all of my heart. And I love Him, as I love them, and all of you.

I'm so grateful for having been raised in faith. I'm grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm grateful to live in this time where we have His gospel, and the technology to share it with more people than ever before. I'm grateful to be sharing it with you, today. And maybe I'm also sharing it with you tomorrow, and forever, through the words I write now. I don't know how long my writing will live, or what things might be like in the future. All I know is that God doesn't change, and therefore, my belief doesn't need to either - and that includes the testimony I share here.

Have a great week, everyone, and God bless. Don't be afraid to find those questions deep in your soul. Don't be afraid to ask them. God has an answer for everything. Everything. Even though, sometimes - as I've come to realize, the answer can be no.

<3 Bonnie Gwyn