* Testimony Building

Lesson 18:
Testimony Building

Prayer: Always begin and end with prayer.
Give everyone an assignment.

CLICK on this door sign, print and hang it where all can see it.

Song: Search, Ponder, and Pray

Scripture: Ether 12:4"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God."

Lesson:

Adult & Teens/Pre-Teens (Baptism age)

President Ezra Taft Benson spoke about the importance of a testimony and how it is one of the greatest blessings among the members of the Church.

"[The] Book of Mormon is of such value to Latter-day Saints. The Prophet Joseph Smith said, “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book” (History of the Church, 4:461).

Studying the Book of Mormon helps us draw nearer to God. Is there not something deep in our hearts that longs to draw nearer to God, to be more like Him in our daily walk, to feel His presence with us constantly? If so, then the Book of Mormon will help us do so more than any other book.

It is not just that the Book of Mormon teaches us truth, though it indeed does that. It is not just that the Book of Mormon bears testimony of Christ, though it indeed does that, too. But there is something more. There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book.

You will find greater power to resist temptation.

You will find the power to avoid deception.

You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path.

The scriptures are called “the words of life” (D&C 84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance." (Ensign, Nov. 1986, pg. 7)

PLAN: Set up a plan for reading and studying the scriptures in your home. If you are already reading as a family, and studying individually, discuss how doing this is building your testimony.

Discussion:
What is a testimony?
How do we feel it?
What can make a testimony weak?
What can make a testimony grow?

Make a list of people you know who have a testimony. Make a date to contact a few of these people via phone, personal, or email. Ask these people to bare their testimony to you either in word or written.

Study these testimonies. How is your testimony the same? How is it different?

Activity & Treat: Make root beer floats and explain how each of us is the ice cream and the more we read the Book of Mormon, the more our testimony will grow or float.