Rick's Testimony

It Starts Simple

It has always been difficult for me to pinpoint exactly when I received a testimony of the gospel…it just always seemed to be there.  I loved my parents…I wanted to be like them…they believed…so I believed…pretty simple.  It wasn’t until I was older that I realized the blessing of this gift…the gift of “knowing.”

For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to very man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.

To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby.

To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world. (Doctrine & Covenants 46:11-13)

Where’s My Gun?

My earliest memory confirming my faith in God and Jesus Christ takes me back to when I was a young boy.  I probably was not more than 4 or 5 years old and had lost a toy gun that I was desperately looking for.  My friends were waiting to play outside, and I couldn’t find my toy gun.  After searching all over the house, I was completely at a loss.  I found myself in my parents’ bedroom.  I knelt down at their bedside and said I’m sure as simple of a prayer that one at that age could muster.  I opened my eyes, looked over at my parents dresser, and there just underneath the dresser was the toy gun.  It was clearly out of sight from anyone walking by.  But when kneeling down, was clear as day.  From that day forward, I realized that many answers to life’s problems would be answered from my knees.

I Don’t Fear Thunderstorms

As a pre-teen and teenager, life wasn’t too complicated.  I went to school, studied and played.  My testimony never seemed tested.  Sure, I had challenges.  But they were pretty simple challenges, and never regarding things that were spiritual.  I never questioned going to church, attending seminary, or accepting different priesthood responsibilities.  It probably wasn’t until I approached my mission that the weight of things spiritual began to set on my mind.  It wasn’t so much my questioning the church or questioning anything of a spiritual nature, it was questioning how prepared was I to share those things with others.

After graduating from high school, I began to realize how real a mission was.  I was 18 years old and knew that within 12 months I would be leaving home for 2 years.  I decided that time away from home would be helpful in that preparation.  I didn’t have the opportunity to leave home for school, so I found a summer job a couple of hours away from home just outside of Prescott, Arizona.  This was a summer camp for children, many of whom were troubled kids.  The summer camp was actually a school, run as a private school during the school year, but during the summer it brought children in from all over the world.  Along with more seasoned camp counselors, junior counselors were brought in to help.  That was me…a junior counselor.  It paid room and board…no money.  This worked fine for me.  It helped me prepare myself to be away from home, but also provided me a place where I could train for my upcoming freshman year at Glendale Community College before I left on my mission.

It was my goal to finish the Book of Mormon that summer while away at the summer camp.  I had a number of different responsibilities as a junior camp counselor.  I coached the swim team, taught archery, and accompanied various counselors on regular horseback rides.  While meeting my different responsibilities as a counselor, I also worked diligently to keep up on my Book of Mormon reading.  On one particular evening, I was assigned to stand watch over the boy’s cabin area while the boys and girls were at a dance.  It was late in the evening, and I was alone in the camp sitting outside on one of the porches with my scriptures out.  It was a warm summer evening.  The darkness was almost overwhelming.  I was reading in 3 Nephi Chapter 8 by flashlight.  My surroundings fit perfectly with the events unfolding in the scriptures.  I read Nephi’s words:

3“And the people began to look with great earnestness for the sign which had been given by the prophet Samuel, the Lamanite, yea, for the time that there should be darkness for the space of three days over the face of the land.”

5“And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, on the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such as one as never had been known in all the land.”

As I looked up from my reading, the darkness was broken with periodic flashes from a storm off to the east.  It was a quiet thunderstorm…an incredible lightning show off in the distance.  I wondered if that night for Nephi began something like what I was seeing.  As I watched the storm in the distance, I continued to read the rest of 3 Nephi Chapters 8 and 9.  After an incredible storm and tempest, Nephi relates in Chapter 9 Verse 14 that “…if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life.”  It was then and there, through the power of the Holy Ghost, that I was reminded that Jesus Christ was the Savior of the world, but more importantly, my Savior.  At that moment, I understood the message that I would take on my mission, to invite others to come unto Christ.  From that day on, I haven’t feared thunderstorms as they are a reminder to me of the comforting love of a Savior.

It’s The Little Things

I haven’t seen a vision or heard the Saviors voice.  I suppose that the Lord knows that I don’t need that to know Him.  I may not have been blessed with many spiritual gifts, but I have been blessed with at least one, “…to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world.”  That gift is given by the power of the Holy Ghost, and one I cannot deny.  Maintaining that gift comes from the little things that I’ve seen, experienced, and felt.  The examples of parents that have lived the gospel and who have endured to the end have strengthened my testimony.  Having a family at my side, a wife and children to encourage me to choose those things which are good have strengthened my testimony.  Having grandchildren that love me have strengthened my testimony.  And finally, through opportunities of service, and having felt the Holy Ghost testify to me that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that through him we can return to live with our Heavenly Father have strengthened my testimony.  Of all the gifts, the gift of “knowing” is the gift I cherish the most.

Rick Smith

December 6, 2015

My Testimony By Alyssa Wilson

I don't know if I have a specific moment that sparked my testimony of the gospel, I have just always known in my heart the truthfulness that it holds. So I will just share my testimony with you. I know this church is true. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet called of God, He did see and talk with God and Jesus Christ, He did translate the scriptures and brought about the restoration of the true knowledge of the Gospel. I know we have inspired prophets today that are here to guide us on our way back to live with our Father. The world is a rough place, with a lot of bad in it, but there is still good in it, the Gospel is the light of the world and it is our calling to spread that joy to all that will listen. Don't give up in times of darkness, read scriptures and say prayers daily and with the help of Jesus Christ as our guide, we can come out of them stronger than we were before. Let your light shine so that all the world can see it and know that we are different and want to know why. Be happy and share his Gospel.
Love Alyssa 

My Testimony by Scott Smith

I am so thankful for the blessings the Lord has given to our family.  I am grateful for being raised by parents that were committed to the Lord and consecrated their lives to serving others.  My testimony is built on the truths of the Gospel, but is supported by the actions taken by my parents (Emmett and Jackie Smith) when I was growing up.  Since Mom and Dad were converts to the Church, they knew what it was like to NOT have the Gospel.  Because of this, they were committed to follow the living Prophets and ensure all of their children enjoyed all of the blessings available to us.  I remember feeling the spirit testify of truth - even at a young age.  While I had many faults growing up, I always knew and felt the truth of the Church and the Gospel.

I was grateful to receive a call to serve in the Canada Toronto Mission and while there the roots of my testimony grew deeper and deeper.  I had the opportunity to walk the streets that Joseph Smith and Brigham Young walked during their ministry.  My testimony grew dramatically while there.  On one occasion I was teaching the discussion on the Atonement to an investigator.  In the course of the discussion I felt an overwhelming feeling that the Atonement was meant for me as well and felt for the very first time an understanding of that doctrine.  I will always remember that day.

A few weeks after returning home from my mission I was asked to participate on the leadership council at the Glendale Community College Institute of Religion.  As a part of that assignment I attended a leadership summit in Prescott Arizona with the other colleges and university leadership councils in Arizona.  While there I met Gayla.  She and I started dating and were married in May of 1980.  Being married in the Temple and the life we have lived since then has been the capstone of my testimony.  The full circle of my parents conversion and another tender mercy of the Lord was to marry the daughter of my fathers best friend (Claire Gardner), the man who introduced him to the Gospel, and performed his baptism.  I am eternally grateful for that legacy in our family.

My testimony of the Gospel is intertwined with Gayla, our children, their spouses and our grandchildren.  With each of them there is a story of the Lord bringing them to our family and how they have added to the testimonies of Gayla and I.  I am grateful for the opportunities I have had to serve in the Church and help others in some small way with their own testimonies.  I know that God lives and Jesus is the Christ.  I am grateful for the Prophet Joseph and his ministry.  Through him the Church was restored and the Book of Mormon translated for our day.  I have studied it's pages and found through it the joy that comes through the scriptures.

My Testimony by Randy McBride

I, like many, can't pinpoint my testimony to a single experience or event. Looking back on my life I can think of many small experiences that have influenced my testimony. I was raised by two parents who were and still are, dedicated to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have many memories of my parents taking us to church, serving in the church and helping others when a need arose. I grew up on a farm in a rural community outside of Phoenix, Arizona. In my childhood and teenage years I spent a lot of time working on the farm with my dad and siblings. On several occasions I can remember talking about gospel topics and asking my dad questions as we walked down the cotton rows chopping weeds.

One experience on the farm forever strengthened my testimony. I was a sophomore in high school and had received a ride home from school one afternoon. I can't remember why but no one else was home. As I walked up to our house I noticed across our property that over by the corrals, one of our horses had gotten out and was just standing nearby the corral. This was not a very tame horse and we really didn't ride him. I knew immediately that I needed to get him back in so he wouldn't run away. So, by myself I started slowly over to the horse and tried not to startle him. Of course, as soon as I got close, he ran away. I started running after him and after several attempts of trying to get around him and having him just keep running farther away from home, I became very frustrated and concerned. I felt all alone and felt like I was never going to get this horse back in the corral and didn't know what to do. In tears, I knelt down on my knees in the middle of an empty field on the farm and said a brief but fervent prayer, "Heavenly Father, help me get this horse back home!" I got up and tried again to get around the horse to drive him home. As soon as I started toward him, he ran around me and headed straight toward the house and the corral. I was so excited that I ran after him yelling, "go horse, go!" He didn't stop running until he got back home. After catching up to him I was able to approach him and get him safely in the corral.

As I reflect on this experience, I realize it was not a big problem, but at that moment it was a huge problem to me. My Father in Heaven knew me and how I felt and He was there for me. I still to this day look back on this experience and know that he answered my prayer in my time of need.  This experience and many others have caused me to realize and know that I am not alone. I know God is my Heavenly Father. His Son is Jesus Christ and He is my Savior and Redeemer. I know His church is led by a living prophet and I will forever be his disciple.

My Testimony by Tyler Brigham Garrett

I remember as a little kid wondering if all religions' gods could be true and that if each followed their respective god, they would be rewarded in that respect.  Yes I was a weird little kid, but in my little science-fiction-based mind it all made sense.  It was a fleeting thought. Later, I remember watching General Conference, and one of the speakers talked about one true God.  Well, that talk and what I had been taught by my parents conflicted with my fleeting thought, so I knew I must pray about it to know the truth.  First, I'm grateful that I was taught and knew to pray for knowledge, though I had never done it before.  So, right after that talk, while everyone else was still watching Conference, I went to my bedroom and got down on my knees to ask a simple question - are you, my Heavenly Father, the one true God?  I knew I would get an an answer and it came very simply - I felt peace and an understanding that there could only be one true God and that it was my Heavenly Father.  That was more than two decades ago and was my first experience that I can remember with the Holy Ghost; and the experience still brings tears to my eyes.  It was simple and the beginning of my testimony.

Several years later, in my junior year of high school, during early morning seminary - with a very dedicated teacher that worked tirelessly to not only bring the spirit but to help each of us have our own personal experiences with Him - I had a much more powerful testimony building experience.  After studying the last week of the Savior's life and His great sacrifice, we were each asked to write down our feelings of Christ and share with the class.  Very unexpectedly, as I was reading what I wrote, I felt the spirit very strongly, testifying to me what I had written was true - that Christ is my Savior, that I can become clean through Him, that only through Him can I be with my Heavenly Father again.  I had always believed that, but it was that experience that helped me to know and not only feel my Heavenly Father's love, but the love of Christ.  It strengthened my desire to fulfill my part to return to Heavenly Father.

These experiences buoyed me up during my mission and helped me make the right decisions throughout life and continue to do so.   I am grateful for the church and its organizations - namely General Conference and seminary - that specifically helped me gain my testimony and knowledge of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  I love my Heavenly Father and His Son.  I know that Christ paid for my sins and that He lives.

-Tyler Brigham Garrett

My Story by Misty Smith Garrett

As a young child I noticed the service of my parents and grandparents in the church.  I heard their testimonies of Christ and His Church.  I saw their faith through their diligence in their callings.  I was proud to be their daughter, and I knew that they knew The Church of Latter Day Saints was the only true church on Earth.  I suppose I leaned on their faith when I was young, but I don’t remember a time when I didn’t believe what I was being taught.  It always felt right and made sense.  As I grew up I continued to follow that good feeling and I learned to identify it as the Holy Spirit.

 In my teenage years there were a few times I was blessed with the gift of perspective.  When I was tempted to do something that wasn’t right, I knew immediately how that choice would affect my future and my faith.  I just couldn’t justify making a wrong choice for my immediate satisfaction when I knew, with a little patience, great blessings would come for my faithfulness.  And they did come!  At 18 years old I married a wonderful man who I only knew for a short time.  I prayed to know if the promptings I felt to marry him were right.  I never received an obvious answer, but felt comfort and peace with my decision to marry him.

As I have gotten to know my husband over the past 11 years, I have continually been amazed at how right that decision to marry Tyler was.  I know that inspired decision couldn’t have been made solely by 18 year old me.  It was inspiration from my Heavenly Father.  What a testimony builder that has been!  There have been other decisions that Tyler and I have made where I have seen the hand of the Lord.  I have learned to trust in His timing and understand that I don’t have the perspective that my Heavenly Father has.  I know that I have Heavenly Parents who love my family and me.  I know Christ is my Savior.  I believe with a little faith, we all can receive our own revelation from the Holy Ghost.  I know, when we follow the teachings of Christ, we are blessed abundantly.  I will always be thankful for my family for teaching me these things and setting such great examples through the way they lived their own lives.  I am grateful we will be a family forever!

                                                                                    -Misty Smith Garrett

My Story by Steve Wilson

My story isn’t one of visions or of great miracles. My story is simple and my testimony is simple. If there is one thing that I have learned from the gospel it is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is simple. Well… our part is simple. I have been truly blessed being raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Something that can easily be taken for granted. I feel like I could easily recognize the spirit at a fairly young age. I can clearly remember when my cousins and I sang at Grandma and Grandpa Smith Mission farewell to New York. We sang “Families Can Be Together Forever”. I knew then and still know now that the feelings I felt of happiness, warmth, and understanding was the spirit testifying of the truthfulness of that song and of what my grandparents were about to do. I knew that the tears I shed were not just that of sadness of missing my grandparents but of joy knowing that the Savior had work for them to do. I knew that day I was going to serve a mission. As I got older and watched both sets of Grandparents serve multiple missions and cousins being called to serve, I knew I would someday. I never viewed a mission as something expected of me but rather something I wanted to do and knew the Lord wanted me to. Growing up in Phoenix I was surrounded by good friends, teachers, leaders and parents who supported me in all that I did. I remember the missionaries being in our home often and I looked up to them. When it came closer to me being able to serve I began to prepare myself by teaching with the missionaries, getting up early with the Stake President and studying the scriptures, and preparing my mission paperwork. I’m not saying that I was never nervous about going on a mission. But my nervousness was never that of not knowing how to be a missionary. I was nervous about where I would be called and what weird food I would be forced to eat. I remember being nervous when filling out my mission paperwork and when it asked how willing I was to learn a foreign language. I had taken 4 years of French in High School but wasn’t good at speaking it. When my mission call finally came in the summer of 2003 I was excited. Even more so anxious because it got lost in the mail and they had to resend it to me. I had received papers from the Church office giving me instructions on how to obtain a visa for Canada before receiving my call. Reading my mission call to serve in the Canada Montreal Mission French speaking was sigh of relief. I took French in High school, my Wilson grandparents served in the same mission a few years earlier, and it’s not that far away, how hard could it really be. The MTC proved to be challenge to me, as I wasn’t learning the language as quickly as those around me. I had a companion who was learning a third language and was accusing me of not having enough faith and called me unto repentance. Another Elder in my district helped me to keep sane and I prayed that the language would come to me. When I got to the mission field the language continued to be a struggle for as I bounced back and forth from English speaking areas to French speaking areas. I didn’t let these difficulties hinder me from the work or shake my testimony. I recognized the Lords hand in many discussions I had with investigators. There were many instances where I was scared going into a discussion not knowing what to say and the Spirit would guide me. Many times I wouldn’t even know what I had just said but would notice tears rolling down the cheeks of those I taught. I wouldn’t say that I found my testimony on my mission but my mission did strengthen my testimony for the world I was about to return home to. I moved to Utah shortly after returning home and attended Weber State. Moving to Utah allowed for me to be around friends from my mission and to meet my wife. Those two things have been a great strength for me through out the years. Marrying a woman who has also served a mission has been a great blessing to my three children and me. I am surrounded by great examples of faith and endurance. I hope to endure to the end with steadfastness in Christ my savior. This is my testimony plain and simple. Christ is our savior and he lives. I know we have prophets and apostles that guide his church today. I know we have a loving Father in Heaven. Amen.