Testimony- Dallin H. Oaks
Testimony - Dallin H. Oaks
My favorite parts of this talk is the beginning and the end- the bookends of the talk. Here's the beginning again:
So many times I've sat through a testimony meeting and listened to "thanktimonies." Good-intentioned people get up to the pulpit and thank God, their families, their ward, their friends, etc. Then, the proceed to tell everyone they love them. Then they include a story of travel or experiences they have had. All good and lovely things, but not testimony.
I want to hear their testimony, so the Spirit can bear witness to me that it is true.
Elder Oaks' ends his talk with his testimony. It is simple and pure. A testimony of the gospel principles and what he believes.
I close with my testimony. I know that we have a Heavenly Father, whose plan brings us to earth and provides the conditions and destiny of our eternal journey. I know that we have a Savior, Jesus Christ, whose teachings define the plan and whose Atonement gives the assurance ofimmortality and the opportunity for eternal life. I know that the Father and the Son appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith to restore the fulness of the gospel in these latter days. And I know that we are led today by a prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, who holds the keys to authorize priesthood holders to perform the ordinances prescribed for our progress toward eternal life. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
There is great power is developing a testimony and greater power in bearing that testimony. It's something that I'm working on as well.
Of course, the middle of the talk is beautiful as well! Let me know what your thoughts and feeling are. I'd love to hear them!
My favorite parts of this talk is the beginning and the end- the bookends of the talk. Here's the beginning again:
A testimony of the gospel is a personal witness borne to our souls by theHoly Ghost that certain facts of eternal significance are true and that we know them to be true. Such facts include the nature of the Godhead and our relationship to its three members, the effectiveness of the Atonement, and the reality of the Restoration.
A testimony of the gospel is not a travelogue, a health log, or an expression of love for family members. It is not a sermon. President Kimball taught that the moment we begin preaching to others, our testimony is ended.
So many times I've sat through a testimony meeting and listened to "thanktimonies." Good-intentioned people get up to the pulpit and thank God, their families, their ward, their friends, etc. Then, the proceed to tell everyone they love them. Then they include a story of travel or experiences they have had. All good and lovely things, but not testimony.
I want to hear their testimony, so the Spirit can bear witness to me that it is true.
Elder Oaks' ends his talk with his testimony. It is simple and pure. A testimony of the gospel principles and what he believes.
I close with my testimony. I know that we have a Heavenly Father, whose plan brings us to earth and provides the conditions and destiny of our eternal journey. I know that we have a Savior, Jesus Christ, whose teachings define the plan and whose Atonement gives the assurance ofimmortality and the opportunity for eternal life. I know that the Father and the Son appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith to restore the fulness of the gospel in these latter days. And I know that we are led today by a prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, who holds the keys to authorize priesthood holders to perform the ordinances prescribed for our progress toward eternal life. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
There is great power is developing a testimony and greater power in bearing that testimony. It's something that I'm working on as well.
Of course, the middle of the talk is beautiful as well! Let me know what your thoughts and feeling are. I'd love to hear them!
I appreciated the part where he said that to believe is just as important as to testify. Or something like that. I sometimes struggle with the formal testimony meeting, I know it is just because of my own background and experiences.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes feel like people get up and say whatever they want or what they think others want to hear and that somehow supersedes everything else. I find much more strength from being with people who actually live their testimony than the words they say at the pulpit. Not that the words aren't important, because they can be. Guess it's something I need to work on.
The other little thing that caught my eye was the different channels to God. Guess I hadn't really thought of it in those exact terms before.
I'm not sure when the "I know's..." start to fall into repetition. I like the part in Elder Oaks talk where we spoke of someone bearing their testimony that they know the church is true and an investigator might wonder, how does he know that's true. I believe answering that question, if it is not too sacred, is also a testimony and it sometimes comes out in a travel log, so I'm not sure.
DeleteWhat we struggle with most in sacrament meetings is people want to demonstrate their wisdom and in doing so they begin to emulate the people of Ammonihah and their speeches on at the top of ramiumpton (I'm not spell checking my BofM terms). Alma later talked about the this and said they did it to show their much wisdom. And of course, none of us have much of that. As soon as we think we are wise, we get in trouble. It leads to preaching and describing how the Lord has blessed us with so many good things, some of those are where we went, what temple we got to see and of course who we know because of the great things God has blessed us with, but all that is not testimony. For the most part, it is just an opportunity to beat our drum and say, look at me, see here, "see what God has wrought..." great words used out of context.
My favorite phrase is where a person says, I like to think that God did this for me. It's not an I know, but it is a declaration of hope which defines the "I know."
Thanks for your comment. I really liked it :) I agree that some people to take the opportunity to preach. Makes them feel smart. It think in 99% of most cases, the intentions of the testimony bearers are good. They do love God and want to share good feelings. But, sometimes it just comes out in the form of a diary or lecture instead.
DeleteThat being said, I really don't want to judge. I have probably be guilty of it, too, at some point! lol