It's Fast Sunday! It's my favorite day of the month! I love hearing my fellow brothers and sisters bear their testimonies and I love sharing mine as well. Since I've been baptized (which will have been six months ago this coming Saturday!), I've shared my testimony every month except June because, at the time, I was still working at Six Flags, and they were scheduling me on Sundays. But I think it's pretty good nonetheless. :)
Anyway, today I bore my testimony at the Reseda family ward. I talked a bit about the fact that because I'm a convert, there is a lot of stuff that I don't completely understand or that I can't explain to people when they ask me about the Church. But I have faith in those things because I know that the Church is true. And even though I don't understand those things, I know that they are the right things. I also talked a bit about how I've been praying for rain and cooler weather because we are experiencing a really bad drought and dry spell here in California, and my prayers were answered on Saturday night. After sacrament meeting was over, one of the members came up to me to share how she is a convert, and was baptized over 20 years ago. She said she loved my testimony because she understands exactly how I feel because she felt it then, too. She testified to me that someday I'll come to understand and to know other aspects of the church as she has.
As the chapel was being cleared out, the Reseda sisternaries and my sister Sofia stuck around for a bit.... But I'll come back to this... I left to YSA.
During the YSA ward sacrament meeting, I was listening to the testimonies being shared. And even though I had already bore my testimony at the Reseda ward, I was getting this prompting to share my testimony with this ward as well. I told the ward how much I love Fast Sundays because of the Spirit that is felt on those Sundays and because of the testimonies. I told them that whenever Fast Sundays come around, the first thoughts in my prayers are that my family would open their hearts up to the Church and that they'll become members some day. I then shared why the sisternaries and Sofia stuck around. . . They informed me that Sofia has made the decision to get baptized!! I testified of the power of fasting and prayers. I know Heavenly Father provides an answer to our prayer. It may not be the answer we were hoping for, and it might not even be an immediate answer, but we can always expect an answer.
(P.S. One of the girls, who visits our ward on the regular until she goes back to BYU-Idaho, told me she was grateful I bore my testimony. She told me she enjoys coming to YSA on Fast Sunday because my testimony is always a highlight of her visit. She is so sweet! And I'm glad I followed the prompting of the Spirit!)
Needless to say, I am super excited that my sister has made this decision. The other day I saw this video called, "Pioneers: Followers of Jesus Christ." And it's the condensed version of a talk called, "Modern Pioneers" that was given by Elder Dallin H. Oaks in 1989. I read the talk and I saw the video, and they made me realized that I am a modern-day pioneer. I am the first in my family to accept the Gospel into my life, and I am the first convert. By following the commandments, and by honoring my baptismal covenants, I have been setting an example for my sister, and now she has made the decision to become a member as well. The best part about this, to me, is that I wasn't trying to be an example to her. I was just trying to better at being Christ-like because I promised Him I would try to be; which to me, really just reinforces that idea of being a good person even when you think no one is watching. Someone could be watching and you might be an example to them. It's better to be a good example than a bad one!
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