Testimony...

*Our ward historian asked me for a picture of Jesse along with his testimony to be put in our ward history book. Hence the reason for him including it in this email. I asked him to do that for me.*

Michelle Smidt

4-4-12

Dear Family,

        So first of all, I am still waiting for that Valentine’s package. But sometimes packages take 3 months for missionaries to receive them. Also, sometimes the post office will hold packages until you give them more money because "there wasn't enough shipping". I don't know, it’s kinda retarded. I heard that if you put stickers of the Virgin Mary on the seams of packages, they won’t open them because everyone here is Catholic and very respectful of Mary. Also, I heard that with priority mail, packages are more likely to make it to the person. Just some thoughts. I'm sorry there are difficulties with the packages.

       Dad was right, I'm not too big of a fan of yellow shirts, but I do like gray, so whatever works. My companion is awesome; He is so hilarious and helpful. He is very in tune to the spirit. He is Brazilian and he knows a lot of English, which is actually very nice because he helps me with words while we are walking on the street. This week I decided to open my peanut butter though and share it with him even though I wanted to wait till my birthday because he had a rough day yesterday. Apparently the mission president called him and was pretty harsh with him because he let his last companion break a rule, which was singing a song on a karaoke machine.

       Anyways, I'm sure General Conference was awesome, but I feel like I missed out on a lot of it. (it was translated into Portuguese) Could you send my some talks that you felt were really good? I would love to fully understand what the Prophet and Apostles said. I know it was good though because every investigator that watched it wanted to know more. The Spirit of God like a Fire is Burning! 

       I don't have much more to write so I will just write my testimony that you asked me for. 
       I feel honored that my testimony will make it to the ward history. When I heard that my feelings about what I believe were wanted for our ward’s history, I wanted to write something very special. For this purpose, I wanted to write something creative and unusual. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that my efforts were in error. Simply put, the gospel is simple. The gospel is something that anybody can understand, old or young, uneducated or intelligent, rich or poor. It is what can create a level of understanding to everybody on the earth. As missionaries we teach with simplicity, and the spirit testifies to people in simple terms.

       I believe with all my heart that God loves each and every one of us. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever and he would never want us to dwindle in unbelief and not hear his word. That is one of the many reasons why I believe that God started his work again nearly 200 years ago by answering a young boy’s humble prayer. I not only believe that the Book of Mormon is another Testament of Jesus Christ, but I know it. I stand every bit with President Holland’s Great Grandfather, who said simply enough: "No wicked man could write a book such as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so."  I am grateful to have this witness in my life and to have knowledge from on high. I am so grateful for the marvelous blessings that we have been promised if we just do our part.

        And lastly, I am grateful for my family, a beacon of light in my life. I know that God put families on the earth both as a temporal and an eternal blessing. I love this Gospel and I love my family.

      In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Elder Smidt X