My personal testimony.

Happy day :)

How AWESOME is it to be a member of the TRUE Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints? 

Pretty awesome. Let me tell you :)

NUMBER ONE: We have a living prophet! A PROPHET! Someone who actually talks with God and tells us what He wants us to hear. Ever thought about how amazing that is? Pretty amazing. And even better, he is going to talk to us this weekend. How many of your friends know about this incredible blessing? I hope that every single one of us will make the sacrifices and arrangements to be at every single session of this amazing General Conference on Saturday and Sunday.

NUMBER TWO: From a modern day prophet, we have been commanded by revelation to participate once again in the law of the FAST. I will be completely honest - I did not have any kind of testimony about fasting before my mission. On just about every single Fast Sunday growing up, I remember waking up and going downstairs early in the morning, just to find the cupboards and refrigerator covered with Dad's homemade signs reading: "FAST SUNDAY. DO NOT EAT." Without a personal testimony of fasting, those signs just made me wince and groan and murmur and start counting the hours for the long-awaited return from the chapel... where I would promptly hide myself in my room and sleep until lunch/dinner (we called it "linner") would be prepared at the earliest hour possible (usually 3 or 4 o'clock). I would say the FASTest prayer ever to finish my FAST (that in my eyes did not pass by that FAST), and start gorging myself on any food that I found in the house. As a teenager, I was sure that this kind of hunger that I felt must have been the same as what the pioneers experienced when they hadn't eaten anything but flour for weeks.

That was how I lived "the law of the fast."

I have since repented.

The first time I ever did a 24 hour fast was in the MTC. It must have been our 4th week or so, and they announced the rules for Fast Sunday there in the MTC. We would eat lunch on Saturday like normal, then start our fast. The cafeteria (and every other way to obtain food there on campus) was closed through dinner on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday.

That fast in the MTC was also the first time that I had ever fasted with full purpose of heart. I was the first time I didn't think about food for 24 hours, nor did I have any desire to complain or groan or murmur. It was my way of showing the Lord that I was willing to be exactly obedient and complete with the law He had given me. I fasted and prayed with a specific purpose. I used that fast as a starting point of ACTION. After recieving revelation and being uplifted, I changed. I had a new perspective. 

For the last 11 Fast Sundays, I have done the same. A 24 hour fast, from Saturday lunch to Sunday lunch. I have prepared myself the week before with prayer and scripture study to know what the purpose of my fast should be. I no longer hide myself in my room until the food is ready.... nor do I suffer for lack of physical nourishment. Since I have changed my way of observing this commandment, I have changed. I have more perspective. And I LOVE the law of the fast. 

I declare my testimony that the spiritual blessings that come from obeying the law of the fast are real and WORTH our physical sacrifice. Read Helaman 3:35. These are the blessings of fasting that I have gained a personal testimony of.

Friends, family, all of you....... What a blessing that it is to be a member of THE true Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints :) We are the Lord's people. His laws and commandments are one of the ways that He shows His love for us. We show our love for Him through our exact obedience to said laws, reguardless of the sacrifices. 

The DOCTRINE OF CHRIST is true. I testify it. 

Hermana Sintay :)