Short and Sweet

         In the Church of Jesus Christ there is a meeting in which members of the congregation are encouraged to make their way to the stand to bear their testimonies.  This meeting takes place once a month – usually the first Sunday of each month.  General Conference also falls on the first Sunday of the month and so testimony meeting gets moved to either the last week of the month prior or to the second week (depending on the ward or stake).  In the South Umpqua ward we have held testimony meeting the week prior – except this year.

On March 26 we had stake conference – which is a geographical boundary made of up several wards

April 1 and 2 was General Conference (which is when the meetings are broadcast world wide)

April 9 Easter program

Thus our testimony meeting was not until the 16^th of this month.

          I recall sitting through a many of sacrament meetings as a youth in which testimony meeting especially seemed to drag.  Either a person would make his/her way to the stand and drone on endlessly or else there was such a lull of space in between each testimony that the silence often seemed to account for a longer amount of time.

          There were several things on my mind.  Jaime had made a surprise visit.  I am so grateful to have her so close to home.  I have also grown a lot due to the “Come Follow Me” program in addition to my current living situation – becoming more tolerable I guess and feeling like I have become (and continue to become) a better person as I compare my own faults to the scriptures direction on how to improve.

          During the week I had asked for the Spirit to be with me that I might express my thoughts without detraining from the testimony’s purpose.  Bishop had announced that we keep our testimonies short and sweet – which this ward members seem to be really great at – and there are rarely lulls or distractions like some meetings of my past.

          I mentioned how the “Come Follow Me” program has assisted me with my current living situation and how grateful I have been for the examples each have given me.  I was then prompted to sit down. 

          “But I still have more to say,” I thought.

          I sat down without expressing my gratitude for Jaime and being at a close distance.  And so I am expressing it here.