From Sickness to Health and Beyond

While recovering from neck cancer surgery, chemo and radiation therapies in Honolulu, HI, I was cared for nearly 24/7 by my friend Tara who was a nurse and Church member. She arranged for my first ever blessing for the sick and afflicted, invited me to church, and arranged for me to take the discussions. She drove me to and from my medical appointments and essentially loved me unconditionally into becoming a church member. 

Eight months after my surgery I was baptized on June 6, 2006. I had already been visiting the Laie Temple Visitor Center every Saturday for six months because I enjoyed feeling the spirit there, especially after watching the movie Joseph Smith--The Prophet of the Restoration, on a weekly basis. A year after my baptism I received my endowment and was sealed to my wife Lori in the Mesa Arizona Temple. 

Eight months later we moved to Chula Vista, CA to accept church employment and the blessings of serving as San Diego Temple ordinance workers, on the high council, and now in the YSA Bishopric. The windows of heaven remain wide open to me and my wife because of our willingness to put first His kingdom. We are blessed beyond measure by His tender mercies and willingness to help us grow spiritually. We look forward to serving a mission together within the next two years wherever the Lord needs us.

Andy Carillo

Chula Vista YSA Ward

Answers Come a Little at a Time

My testimony of the church developed over time. My testimony that the church is true did not come about from one miraculous, earth shattering experience, but came about from many spiritual experiences over my years of membership in the church.

It was in my mission that a big turning point occurred in my testimony. I was just a few months into my mission when my companion decided to get into a Bible bash with a Baptist minister. The minister brought up many anti-Mormon materials that shook me up quite a bit. Because of the experience, I started doubting the church. That night, I could not sleep because I cannot in good conscience continue teaching something I did not believe in or is false. I strongly considered going home. I knelt down and asked God for help in making my decision. I poured out my heart and told Heavenly Father that I can’t teach something that is false, and asked if I should go home. I asked Him to tell me if the church is true. As I was praying, a calm, warm feeling came over and enveloped me. I felt a feeling of peace and assurance that what I am preaching is true. I was told to continue with I was doing and serve my mission. It was a weird feeling because my mind still had a lot of questions but my heart knew that the church was true. I had to rely on faith to keep me going. My testimony continued to grow as I stayed active in the church. I had plenty of questions about things that I did not understand about the church but the more I studied, the stronger my testimony grew.

My testimony continues to grow line upon line, precept on precept. My testimony grows in little increments from my study of the scriptures, keeping the commandments, loving and serving others, and following the Savior’s example. I found that if I am patient and exercise my faith, I will find the answers to my questions.

Jaime Lao
Chula Vista YSA Ward

An Intuitive Formula to Follow

Some 40 years ago as a teenager I became desirous to know if the Book of Mormon was authentic and true.  I understood that if The Book of Mormon was true, then it followed that Joseph Smith is a prophet, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ’s church restored, that priesthood authority and ordinances are restored, that the pure and simple, meaning understandable, doctrines of Christ are again available to God’s children here on earth.  I knew that receiving a positive confirmation would enhance my testimony of God the Father and his son, Jesus Christ, the Savior of this world, whom he had sent.

A testimony is when the Holy Spirit speaks to the spirit within men.  

The foundation of a testimony is that God the Father lives and loves us; that Jesus Christ lives and that he is the Son of God and carried out the infinite atonement.  “And this is life eternal, that they might know the, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3)  Of what else do we need a testimony of as one who seeks the truth and a sure knowledge of God? As member I wanted to know of myself that Joseph Smith is a prophet called in these latter days to restore the gospel, and that there are living Apostles and Prophets on the earth today.  I wanted to know if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true Church of Jesus Christ upon the earth.  I have found that a testimony of the Book of Mormon is the most direct route to receiving confirmation through a personal witness of these truths.  

As I reflect on how I approached my gaining a testimony, I realize that there were four steps involved, an intuitive formula, if you will, for obtaining a testimony.  The steps are:

1.     Desire

2.     Study

3.     Practice

4.     Pray

I honestly wanted to know the truth, so I read the Book of Mormon, and strived to live according to its teachings of Jesus Christ, and I prayed to my Father in Heaven asking Him if it, the Book of Mormon, was true.  My personal answer from God came to me when I was in the Salt Lake Tabernacle at Temple Square listening to an open practice of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  As a rousing hymn drew to a close, the Spirit, in a not so quiet voice, distinctly and joyfully testified to me saying to me, “It’s true, it’s true, it’s true!”  And I felt the warmth within my soul, to the very core, that comes with such a confirmation from the Holy Ghost.  That confirmation is my anchor to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Church.  As I continued to live the principles and commandments taught by Jesus Christ, and as I served God, my testimony grew stronger, and continues to grow today.  Of these truths I testify.  

Patric Chavez
Chula Vista 4th Ward