Testimony

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ

I believe in Jesus Christ, that He loves you and me, that He is our Creator and Savior. I believe that He is the Son of God, our Heavenly Father.

I believe that He lived in Heaven as the Jehovah of the Old Testament and that he was born in Bethlehem. He lived, He healed the sick and raised the dead to live again. He taught that God loved the world so much that He sent His beloved Son to give us everlasting life if we would believe in Him. He taught that He did not come to condemn the world, but to save it.

He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane to take our sins upon Himself. Then He allowed Himself to be taken, abused, and crucified, suffering to take our punishment upon Himself. He rose from the dead after three days, a resurrected, glorified, perfected being.

He will return to Earth at some point in the future and usher in an era of peace and joy.

Because of Him we can be forgiven of our sins and will eventually be resurrected and blessed to live with Him and our Heavenly Parents if we follow Jesus Christ in faith.

I believe that to follow Jesus Christ is to love people as He does. I am trying to love other people, no matter their race, religion, nationality, gender, orientation, political affiliation, or any other characteristic that the world uses to divide us.

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many people in the world refer to our church as the Mormon church, or to its members as Mormons. This is because we believe in a book of scripture called The Book of Mormon. We also believe the Bible to be the word of God, and have additional books of scripture as well.

The Book of Mormon does not replace the Bible, but is an additional witness of Jesus Christ. It shares the story of three different groups of people that left the Middle East anciently and traveled to the Americas. This book also testifies of Jesus Christ and shares how the ancient inhabitants of North and South America worshipped Him.

One of the ancient prophets that wrote The Book of Mormon, and did the bulk of the work to compile and abridge it, was called Mormon, and this is why the book is named after him. We do not worship Mormon. We worship Jesus Christ and God, our Heavenly Father.

Members of our church, including me, are Christians. However, our beliefs differ in some ways from mainstream Christianity.

• We believe that we have Heavenly Parents, a Father and Mother.
• We believe that God, our Father, and Jesus Christ are two separate beings that work together.
• We believe that all people lived in Heaven before living on Earth.
• We believe that the spirits of all people that have ever lived are literally the children of God.
• We believe that there are still prophets of God leading His people on Earth today.
• We believe that both the Bible and The Book of Mormon are holy books of scripture.
• We believe that God’s prophets continue to receive revelation today.
• We believe in and hold sacred the right of all people to worship, or to not worship, God as they choose.
• We have temples, as well as churches. We meet in churches as most Christians do. Temples are places where we participate in sacred ordinances and make promises to follow God.
• We believe that families can be together forever when sealed in a temple of God.
• We believe that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the same church that Jesus Christ established during His mortal life, restored to the earth in our day through a prophet.

I have prayed and studied and received a witness that these things are true. I have felt the Holy Ghost testify to me that the Bible and the Book of Mormon are the words of God, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His church. I feel so much joy in living the gospel of Jesus Christ, worshipping Him at church, and serving alongside Him by sharing His love with those around me!

I love to share my faith with other people! If you would like to learn more about what I believe, please ask! You can email me at april@bananamoonstudio.com.

Or you can reach out to missionaries to learn about Jesus Christ and His church.

If you would prefer to visit our church in person without contacting anyone, you can find a building and meeting time near you with our Find a Church tool.