Just around the time C and I had L, the LDS Church came out with a statement discouraging small children from getting up in Fast and Testimony Meeting to bear their testimonies. Now, we all know no one is going to make them sit down if/when they get up, but the idea was that the small children (with the help of their parents) didn’t really need to bear their testimonies, and they took up a lot of time doing it that would be better spent with adults getting up.
SO … C and I have never pushed our kids to get up to bear their testimonies. We do, on occasion, get up ourselves, but I don’t grab my kids by the hand and drag them up. As L got older, I started to wonder what would happen when she decided she wanted to bear her testimony, but it was only ever a passing thought.
Well, three weeks ago, L asked me, at the beginning of sacrament meeting, if it was a testimony Sunday. I told her it wasn’t, and she seemed a little put out. The next week she asked again. I told her fast Sundays are the first Sunday of each month, and she’d have to wait another two weeks. And she did.
This Sunday, I remembered L had wanted to get up and bear her testimony. Anxious that she would have a good experience, and knowing how terrifying it can be to stand in front of the whole congregation, I asked her if she wanted to practice before we went to church. She informed me she’d written it down already. I scanned it over, asked her to add “I’d like to bear my testimony” to the top and “In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.” to the bottom, and declared her ready. (No, it’s not typical to write your testimony out, but I figured for her first time, it was more than acceptable.)
Then the moment came. Right after the bishopric member invited the audience to come to the pulpit, L grabbed her paper and stalked to the front of the chapel. She stood up, read her testimony right into the microphone, and brought her poor mom to tears. She came right back into my arms where she told me she was SO HAPPY. I was too.
A little bit later, C got up to bear his testimony. He mentioned how proud he was of L for getting up for her first time and that she’d written her testimony all by herself.
And that, my friends, is when L turned to me with a twinkle in her eyes and said, “Mama, I copied it off something!”
(I’m laughing while I’m typing this. Yes, she copied it off something!!!)
I first assumed she’d had a lesson about testimonies and copied from one of her friends or her teacher. Then later, at home, she asked if I wanted to know where she copied it from. I said yes, of course, and she led me over to the side of the bookshelf where I’d hung this:
You see that little bit at the bottom?
“I am a Child of God. I know Heavenly Father loves me, and I love Him. I can pray to Heavenly Father anytime, anywhere. I am trying to remember and follow Jesus Christ.”
That was L’s testimony.
Now first off, I am proud of L. Sure, she copied her testimony, but when she bore it, she did so out of pure, innocent desire to share something that she’d read and agreed with. I love that.
And second, it reminds me how important it is to surround ourselves with good things. I never dreamed what the result of having that little slip of paper on the bookshelf would be, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
I love the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I love that my daughter is growing and developing spiritually. I’m so proud of her!
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