Discovering Truth for Myself

I was blessed to have been raised by parents who were faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).  Raising their children in the gospel was important to them because each came from homes where one or both parents were not active church members.  They wanted their children to enjoy all of the blessings of a gospel-centered home, many of which they had missed out on as children.  As a result, the gospel was an integral part of our family life. 

I cannot remember a day of my life without the gospel.  One of my earliest childhood memories is of attending Sunday worship services and running a toy car along the top of the back of the pew.  A few years later my family was a member of a married-student congregation.  My siblings and I were the only “primary” aged children (ages 3 to 11) in the congregation so my mother was asked to serve as our “primary teacher.”  I specifically remember one lesson she taught about 2000 young warriors whose lives were spared because of the faith they placed in their mother’s faith in God’s power to preserve them.  And like the “Stripling Warriors,” who relied upon the faith of their mothers, I believed the gospel because my mother told me it was true.

Then at age 14 I happened upon a verse of scripture contained in the Book of Mormon which reads, “And when ye shall receive these things (the Book of Mormon), I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost (Moroni 10:4).”

Upon reading that passage it occurred to me that I did not have to rely upon the faith of my parents, that I could know for myself whether or not the Church were true.  I decided then and there to read the Book of Mormon and put Moroni’s promise to the test.  I began reading that night and over the course of several weeks read the entire Book.  After finishing, I set the book aside, knelt at the side of my bed and offered a prayer to God, asking if the Book of Mormon were true. 

I hoped to see an angel, like young Joseph Smith, or to receive a dramatic spiritual manifestation as an answer to my prayer.  What I did receive was, a sweet, peaceful reassurance and a calming confirmation that what I had believed all along was true, that God lives, that Jesus is His Son and our Redeemer, that the Book of Mormon is true and the Church that Jesus Christ established through Joseph Smith is His Church.

To this day, that spiritual witness burns within me so that like my parents, I too can testify that this Church is true.

Adam Dunford
Chula Vista 3rd Ward