Testimony

^ This is one of my favorite wedding pictures

I taught the lesson in Sunday School today. Gah. I survived, but wish I would've done better. I was pinched on time, and got through the lesson on time, but then I wonder if I rushed through it too fast. And I'm always worried that I didn't help people feel the Spirit or didn't make an important point that someone needed to hear. It was on the Atonement, which is obviously a very deep topic that I don't feel qualified to teach, especially to adults. Because I don't really feel like an adult yet. But I secretly like teaching or speaking at church, because at least it's a learning experience for me. That sounds really selfish now that I've said it. But there you have it. Bear had some suggestions for me of course :)

Today was also testimony meeting and me and Bear started to realize most of the people weren't really bearing their testimony. I didn't want to be judgmental at all, but in my old ward in Nauvoo, a member of the Bishopric read this quote every month before the testimonies from Dallin H. Oaks:

"A testimony of the gospel is a personal witness borne to our souls by the Holy Ghost that certain facts of eternal significance are true and that we know them to be true. Such facts include the nature of the Godhead and our relationship to its three members, the effectiveness of the Atonement, and the reality of the Restoration.

A testimony of the gospel is not a travelogue, a health log, or an expression of love for family members. It is not a sermon. President Kimball taught that the moment we begin preaching to others, our testimony is ended."

You can read the rest of the talk by clicking HERE.

It didn't make our testimony meetings perfect of course, but it taught me a good lesson. Before I always felt like I needed a story or flowery wording to bear my testimony. I couldn't think of one, so I wouldn't go up to the pulpit. Now, I know that I just have to state simple principles and truths that I know to be true. No fluff added. It makes me happy. A new member of the church bore his simple testimony today. And that made me happy too. I hope it grows.

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On a funnier note, me and Bear are starting to realize the different families we were raised in. We have very different views on discipline. He was basically raised in a boy family, #3 of 5 boys. I was raised in a girl family. I've heard so many people say that they'd rather take raising a rambunctious boy over an emotional girl any day. I'm the opposite. I am one, and know how to handle one. I feel like I was made to be the mother of a bunch of daughters. But just watch and see. I'll end up with a bunch of boys as a learning experience.

And my new debit card is a MasterCard. I didn't realize it would automatically go to that. I just assumed that our account was Visa. When I talked to Bear about it, we kind of got in an argument about which was better: Visa or MasterCard. But when we tried to prove our arguments, we realized that the only reason was those were the ones our families had. We both remember seeing our dads pay with a Visa (in my case) or MasterCard (in his case). I even looked it up just now...there really is no difference between the two. Ah, marriage and realizing the silly things we hold on to.