A Special Witness

Today I had a really special experience happen at church. First I'll start off with a little preface:

This year I decided that I wasn't going to make a list or set several goals for new years resolutions because they are rarely accomplished (well at least for me). But I decided that rather than making a list of things that will change my life forever (such as eating healthier, losing weight, working out 3 hours a day and being perfect), and then they aren't being worked on by February, I would work on one specific thing that I wanted to accomplish for the entire year.

This year I thought that the most important thing I should be focusing on was something spiritual. So I decided to make a goal to read my scriptures every single day for the entire year even if that consisted of one verse. For me, when I decided it needed to be a spiritual goal, it was an easy decision to choose to read the scriptures because that is an area of my life that I have continually struggled with, but always want to improve. So then I made another goal that seemed very reasonable...to read the Book of Mormon cover to cover by December 31 2012. If I am going to be reading every day then I should definitely be able to finish it in a year, if not much sooner. So far so good, I have been doing great at my New Years goal.

While I have been reading and pondering on my thoughts of the Book of Mormon, I thought one day "I have never really had to kneel and ask my Heavenly Father if the Book of Mormon was true." I have always just known, and anytime I've prayed about it, (which is only maybe 2 times in my life) I have received the same answer/feeling "you already know its true." Its never been that overwhelming feeling you hear about when you hear conversion stories, or that you hear people bare testimony about, or perhaps maybe that you have had.

Well, today in church during the third hour, the Bishop handed out a paper back blue Book of Mormon to every member in the ward. He challenged that we read the entire book by the end of the year, and if possible, read from it every day. As he bore testimony of the blessing that come from reading it, I was overwhelmed with the Spirit, for the first time I had that overwhelming feeling "the Book of Mormon is true." It wasn't that I didn't know, because I have always known and firmly believed every word is true. But it was a very special witness (perhaps a little tender mercy from the Lord since I have tried to rededicate myself) that I CANNOT DENY! I now know EVEN MORE than I did that THE BOOK OF MORMON IS TRUE! Every word on Every page is the Word of God! It is for us to read, study, learn, and change our lives so we can return back to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ! I so Cherish those great tender mercies that the Lord gives me. They are so special to me! If you haven't had the chance to read the Book of Mormon, I encourage you to Join me in this 2012 Challenge. It will change your life, as it has already been changing mine!