One-line talks.

Every week in church I take notes on all of the talks. Sometimes I write down a few words; sometimes I fill up a page or more. As I read over my notes today, I decided to try to condense each talk from the past few weeks into one key sentence that spoke to me. Then, because I'm me and I can't leave it at that, I wrote down why that message matters to me.

1. We need to become who we are.
--> Who we are on the most basic level is already determined. We're children of our Heavenly Father, and we chose to accept the Plan of Salvation and come to live on earth. The things that happen to us throughout our mortal lives shape us, but we should strive to remember who we are eternally and not just who we are at this moment.

2. Our initial experiences with the gospel are the bedrock of a testimony that should never cease growing.
--> I don't feel like a "new member" anymore. There's doctrine I don't know and a plethora of experiences I haven't had (giving a talk, going to the temple, etc), but much of the "newness" of the Church has worn off. Despite that, I'm not far removed from my initial experiences with the gospel, and I clearly remember a time when my testimony of the basic truths of the gospel was so shaky I wasn't sure it would ever stand on its own. Less than two years later, my testimony has grown in strength from that of a toothpick to a brick. Over time, that testimony will increase, and my "basic testimony" that God exists and He loves us is always going to be the foundation.

3. Individually, the members of the Quorum of the Twelve are regular people, but the power of the priesthood and their collective calling sets them apart as a group.
--> Thinking of them this way makes them both more relatable and more powerful in my mind. Each of them alone is only one link in a chain, but Heavenly Father has brought them together to be a conduit of His power.

4. When members of the Church ask how someone is, we really want to know.
--> I had never thought about that before it was said in church, but it's true. Many ask how people are but feel inconvenienced if they receive an honest answer, but members of the Church seem to really want to know. We don't just go to church to worship God and renew our covenants; it's also a time to uplift our brothers and sisters.

5. We can stand by Joseph Smith by striving to live in a way that shows gratitude for what he did.
--> It took me a long time to gain a testimony of Joseph Smith. Yes, I knew he was a prophet, but I didn't completely understand that he was also a man. He sacrificed everything to do the work Heavenly Father asked him to do, and none of us would know the truth of the gospel without him. To show our gratitude, we should stand by him in our actions.

6. Why are we willing to trade our souls for temporary physical pleasure?
--> This one hits me hard, as I'm sure it does everyone else. The type of physical pleasure varies, but we're all guilty of this at some time in our lives. I often struggle to consider the eternal perspective when making a decision, but ultimately it is of far greater significance than any other concern.

7. "Gray area" can quickly become very dark.
--> By nature, I'm a "gray area" kind of person. I never used to believe in good or evil, and I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea that everything isn't gray area. However, I am learning that there are some things that can't be gray, no matter how much I try to convince myself that they are. I'm either growing closer to God or falling further away, but I can't stand still.

8. Christ took on our pains, afflictions, and temptations of every kind, not just the ones we often think of as covered by the atonement.
--> I tend to think of "the atonement" as something Christ did to take away our sins, period. In reality, it's more than that. Christ suffered every type of pain, not just the pain of sin. The atonement is unlimited.

9. By bringing together a perfect God and an imperfect person, we become one and His infinite can change our finite.
--> I'm a reformed math person, so the mathematical concept -- infinity + any number = infinity -- appeals to me. Nothing we do can ever change God, but God's existence changes us.

My testimony.

At the beginning of the year, I decided that near the beginning of each of the next twelve months I would record my testimony in my journal. The idea is that at the end of the year, I'll be able to read those twelve journal entries and see how my testimony has developed throughout 2013. Obviously, right now I'm on month two, and I wrote the entry for February last Sunday. What's interesting to me is that my testimony has already noticeably grown in just the past seven days.

My "February Testimony" talks about the power of Heavenly Father to change lives. As a convert who struggled with living the commandments for a while after my baptism, that's something that has weighed heavily on my mind, and as I've finally begun to recognize the fruition of my efforts in the past few months, my testimony of that principle has blossomed. I put in the blood, sweat, and tears to get to where I am today, but all of that would have been for naught without my loving Heavenly Father's guidance. Just thinking about where I was spiritually four years ago, two years ago, eighteen months ago, and even six months ago compared to today allows me to know that God exists and that He can do incredible things with our lives when we become humble enough to allow Him to have control.

In the past week, I've learned that Heavenly Father can change lives in another way as well. I had an experience this week that I'm reluctant to talk about in detail because of how sacred it is to me, but it cemented my testimony of my Heavenly Father's love for me. Once again, I gathered the courage to ask for His help. Just as in the first example, I was driven to do so out of desperation -- I was backed into a corner and had nowhere else to turn. This time, the struggle wasn't with sin, but I was still trying to deal with it on my own, refusing to admit that I needed Him. When I finally humbled myself enough to request Heavenly Father's help, I received a blessing that far surpassed what I expected, asked for, or even dared to hope. As He had before, God accepted my humble plea for help and turned it into something so miraculous that I still haven't fully comprehended its scope.

I know that God exists, I know that He loves me, and I know that He answers prayers. I prayed for help, and He changed my life. He doesn't ask for much, and the blessings He gives in return are great.

I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.