Anchors of Testimony

My thoughts on Sister Cook’s talk “Anchors of Testimony”

I know Sister Cook is talking to “young” women when she says, “Right now, your testimony is growing,” so I will consider my age as young!

Our family is reading in 3 Nephi where the Savior appears to those on the American continent and he spells out “His doctrine” and it is the first four principles of the gospel as we find them in the 4th Article of Faith. Sister Cook uses that too. Faith—first thing we can do to anchor our testimony. And how do you get it?

“…pray to your Heavenly Father. Ask Him for help in finding answers to your questions.”

How many times to I have to go back to step one? Well since I’m human, every day. I think I need to do a refocus week on this principle. I think I need to be a bit more earnest in my prayers. I usually wait for my husband to come to bed and say our together prayers before my personal prayers, but lately I’m falling asleep before he gets up and he just lets me sleep. I’m missing them. I’m going to have to change that.

I know the Lord is mindful and probably a little upset I haven’t called upon his for blessings as well as in gratitude. Shame on me.

Of course number two and it usually follows prayer is scripture study. Between this group, a Relief Society study group and my family’s scripture time, I’m pretty immersed in the word of God, but am I really taking the words I read into my heart? Time for a gut check!

The scripture she quotes, Alma 32:27, is what I call a dangerous scripture. The promise is so true. I didn’t have a testimony of Relief Society and the Lord made me experiment upon it: He called me as Relief Society President. I didn’t have a testimony of visiting teaching and He made me experiment upon it. I guess I better do some more experimenting on it as I deal with some tough issues in my family. I do have the desire to believe and I trust the set up for the experiment, now I just had to do it. Scary, but I do have some questions that need to be answered.

I think she says it best and hopefully I’m trying to do just this, “It’s not enough, however, to just read the words of the prophets. You must follow the final step in our pattern and ‘keep these standards and live by the truths in the scriptures.” I (and hopefully you) are studying the words of the prophets but are we making them part of our lives? Are we following our list of “I will do” and religiously not doing the things “I will not do”?

I think I need to look that list over; add a few more things and as President Kimball said, “Do it!”

The young women she talks about did “simple” things. Mine are just as simple because it is only a matter of doing.