Bearing Testimony and Testimony Meetings

[@tressybrown3719]

Wish we could share this in every ward as a sweet reminder to focus on the Savior and our Father in Heaven and to invite The Spirit more readily. 🙏 ❤

[@ch15154]

I've been asked to teach this subject of obtaining and sharing pure testimony in Elders Quorum this coming Sunday.

[@PapaKryptoss]

Amen thank you for putting this together. May we all gain and bear a testimony of Jesus Christ

[@mariamejiacontreras8688]

Thank you , I now know and understand the meaning of a testimony. ❤

[@anaseinilangi8890]

A testimony is a brief heartfelt of our witness in knowing that Jesus is the Christ and Heavenly Father is our Loving Father in Heaven and they live. Focused in the Savior Jesus Christ and His Divine missions.

[@c8Lorraine1]

When Elder Oaks said he listened to 17 testimonies and never heard mention to or of our Saviour Jesus Christ, I immediately thought he must have attended my ward. I hate being referred to as a Mormon . Jesus suffered and died to atone for our sins and I am most humbled by his sacrifice so I a most imperfect daughter of my Heavenly Father, can return to live in his presence. The atonement of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of my faithfulness to our Lord. I pray that everyone will feel of His spirit and bask in his love for us.

[@chrisblanc663]

I am a Christian who reads the Book of Mormon because it witnesses of Christ. He is my Savior. I know this to be true.

[@kcb5336]

I am a Mormon! Very disappointed in the church trying to rid ourselves of a name we were proud of for so long.

[@MaryAgwang-c8w]

The gospel is the love of God unto his childen greatful iam.

[@bradjames891]

Elder Ballard's is the best one.

[@GrammaJo360]

There was a gentleman in our ward who often began his testimony by saying, “I want to be the devil’s advocate here for a minute.” Then gave whatever lesson he had prepared in his mind and never mentioned Jesus until he ended his very long sermon. I was left feeling cold as if the Spirit had left the room.

[@amandadangerfieldpiano]

Wow, that's disappointing! :(

[@beatrizdasilva5352]

That's sad! 😢

[@floresmindaramirez6791]

Thank you very much for sharing this video of testimony sharing and meeting. I know it is important for leaders, missionaries and members to know the proper way of bearing testimony. I was able to share this video to my friends who are members that they can share also to their bishop and other wards. This is an awakening call for all the members. We must follow the elements of testimony and not story telling and gratitude. I hope you will share more inspiring uplifting awakening videos.🤝💖

[@nightology-school3839]

What makes a testimony a testament of truth in our life Elders?

[@sallysmith3261]

When we promped by the Holy Ghost to bear testimony of a spiritual experience or how the Lord helped us get through a challenging experience, that is also a testimony.

[@mrdayyumyum3712]

That's my point also.

[@mikelight2008]

Thank you for putting this together. Around minute 8:00, Elder Oaks talks about someone who sat in Sacrament meeting and in 17 testimonies never heard Jesus mentioned in any way. When I heard that, I laughed to myself because I thought He could be referring to some of our earlier general conferences. I was troubled by something similar at our recent October 2023 general conference. Not about testimonies but about how few references there were to the scriptures, at least to the Bible, and how many references there were to each other's talks. We want to identify as the Church of Jesus Christ and not as the Mormon church. One way we can show we are sincere about that is to increase our identification of Jesus Christ and His scriptures in general conference and in our sacrament talks. We started to do that at the April 2023 general conference by talking more about Christ than we've ever talked at a prior April conference. That was a wonderful general conference. I hope we can do that more and speak more about Jesus and the scriptures in our general conferences.

[@ELCAPATAZ]

Can you please share a link to one of these conferences where the Savior was never mentioned? Thanks!

[@StompMom5]

Beautiful reminder👍😇. I wish people took testimony meeting more serious and stopped using the pulpit for their therapy session, bragging "posts" form of repentance and my goodness the crying😱. Last month Some lady started sobbing because she saw a 2 year old on a bike and it moved her🤦‍♀️. Shed a tear over something moving but crying just for theatrical purposes gets so annoying. I have stopped going to testimony meeting simply because it's not that. I stay home on that Sunday and watch conference talks or our turtle house, don't miss this, scripture central etc.... such fantastic channels. I love our church and I know it's not perfect, nothing is. I'm sure my annoyance over the babbling that goes on during fast Sunday is a lesson I need to learn on patience and compassion.

[@mrdayyumyum3712]

There are the "usual suspects" that stand up every month or other month and say the same thing. About 90% of the bare'ers are the same people. One is a lady who likes to say she is grateful for the families can be forever. He husband does not go to church and even told me he doesn't believe in the church anymore. LOL

[@c8Lorraine1]

I watch lessons given by Taylor and Tyler on Scripture Central here on KZbin. Gave up on testimony meeting years ago. I bear my testimony to my Heavenly Father in prayer. I believe it more sincere and better use of my time with Him. Instead of Sunday school which is another platform misused for its purpose, I watch talks from current conference, Scripture Central weekly talks, and past conferences.

[@trevorbranch3319]

Would you mind making a video about humility and submission to God? That would be awesome. Thanks for all you do!

[@mrdayyumyum3712]

Everyone bears the same basic testimony, how dry Testimony meeting will become. Stories which witness God's hand in helping someone overcome or strengthen their testimony also touches my spirit with the reality of the Holy Ghost and I feel the spirit. Of course each testimony should recognize God, Jesus, Joseph, the restoration, living Prophet. Example: 40 years ago while living in a new subdivision a young mother stood up during the testimony meeting and related a story about her very young child that was outside playing with friends digging in a mound of dirt on a new construction site nearby. The hole the kids were digging clasped and buried one of the kids. Her son age four came running into the house and was very frantic. The mother could not understand what he was saying but felt the urgency. She quickly knelt down and prayed for understanding then ran outside to the mound of dirt and not knowing what had happened began to dig exactly where the child was buried. Luckily the child that was buried he had fallen face down with his hands at his face creating a small pocket of air for him to breath for that short length of time. She dug him out and he was alive. That testimony story has stayed with ever since then. It bears witness of God's answer to earnest prayer. No disrespect to G.A's but that's my view.

[@bovaoifi]

❤

[@ggrace1133]

When this talk was originally given, our ward had very prolonged periods of no one getting up. After a couple months of 30-second testimonies interspersed amidst such silences, the Bishop asked the ward leaders to get up if silences persisted, which they did. Even a visiting Stake presidency member would get up, which they normally never did. So the leaders got up and gave the things recommended by then, Elder Oaks in a testimony, and added their gratitude for these truths in their lives and how it has blessed them greatly. These testimonies were all sounded like “canned” list and wording, and lasted about a minute to 90 seconds. The missionaries got up too. So about 10-15 minutes of speaking and 30 minutes of silence. It was awkward, even though the Bishop regularly commented that the quiet time was a good time to ponder and meditate. Kids were extra squirmy, some asking not-so-reverently, “What’s going on?” Gradually, over 8-10 months, someone told of being warned of the Holy Ghost about something, or strength they found during a time of unemployment-these people hurrying through, giving only the basics and no detail. Little-by-little the regular folks started getting up. Eventually, it returned to people feeling safe to say the things (weird or not) in their hearts, and the Bishop was greatly relieved. No one ever brought that talk up again.

[@c8Lorraine1]

Interesting ! I didn’t know that avoiding silence during testimony meeting was helping to appease the Bishop.

[@amandadangerfieldpiano]

I'm thankful that our ward rarely has silence in between testimonies!

[@tucuxi70]

I disagree that testimony is just simple statements. If the experience or knowledge we share has strengthened us and can help strengthen someone elses testimony by helping them understand the experience, then it is a testimony of the gospel! Here is the definition of a testimony; a public recounting of a religious conversion or experience. So simple statements are NOT a testimony, but rather an individual experience that helped strengthen their religious conviction and/or religious belief IS a testimony!

[@thewealthofnations4827]

I heard a man compliment the women in the singles ward as beautiful etc. The girls laughed embarrassed, he doubled down "I mean it." He went on and on and made it more about him than the Saviour. The one upmanship and showmanship of the church and trying to stand out for all the wrong reasons is an issue the Saints need to take seriously.

[@heathermcdougall8023]

In the UK we used to call it "nutter Sunday" . Therewas no limit to what anybody said, or a time limit. It was agony. Every weirdo, got up and went on and on and nobody everstopped them. "Lunatic Sunday " was awful. The utter nonsense spoken was truly dreadful.

[@tucuxi70]

Maybe you just need to soften your heart. Give it thought!

[@Freedom-zf4gg]

Let the spirit dictate to the parents and children, even the little ones. Rules are not to be placed on the spiritual promptings. The principle is AGENCY. Guidelines are fine, but rules kill spiritual promptings. Someone here appears to not like to hear little children bear testimony, which would be sad, because many times they have the pure testimony.