Family: My Testimony

Today, in Relief Society, I was asked to give the testimony spotlight.  I chose families as the topic of my testimony.  While I was limited to two minutes in class, I thought it would do me good to write my full testimony of families here, where MY family could read it.

I absolutely LOVE my family.  I KNOW that the family is a divine institution sanctioned by God.  I know that the relationships we develop in our families teach us to become more like God.  Each of my family members has one spiritual gift that has strengthened my own testimony of the gospel and shown me how I would like to become.  NOT that they only have ONE gift, but that I can point to at least one specific spiritual gift they have that has directly affected me.  My family truly does uplift and edify my life.

I know that families are not perfect, but I know that through all the imperfections that I and each member of my family has, we develop the love, the forgiveness, and the understanding needed to be a PERFECT member of God's family.

I KNOW that the relationships built in families gives us the desire to obey the commandments and keep our covenants with Heavenly Father.  I often think of what my dear grandparents would say if they saw what I was doing?  I hope I'm not disappointing them.  YES, I don't want to disappoint my Heavenly Father, but knowing that he has promised us that we can be together again with our loved ones, makes me not want to disappoint them either.

I know we read the scriptures to learn of Christ and his attributes.  However, it is my firm conviction that we can have living examples of some of those characteristics in our families.  NO one person is perfect, but when brother is patient, and sister is truly caring, and Dad is in tune with the Holy Ghost, and Mom serves EVERYONE around her.  Those combined are our living examples of Christ.

I LOVE my family!  There's drama, we disagree, we make mistakes, BUT I know, without a doubt, that they are my teachers.  They have each been a part of my conversion to the gospel and because of that, I share a very personal connection with them which I'm glad can be eternal if I allow myself to be improved by them.