My testimony

My Testimony

I would like to tell you what I believe and what I have a testimony of. First of all it is hard to describe the feelings that I have about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have grown up in the church and therefore have been blessed my whole life with the blessings that come from being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I developed a testimony quite early in my life. The first time I bore my testimony was the day after I was baptized, the day that I was confirmed. I remember feeling a great desire to stand and bear my testimony. I remember how scared I was and that I bore a very simple testimony about my love of Jesus Christ and the love that I felt for my family and of course I cried. As I grew older I had strong desires to stand in our ward in the old Liberty Church and bear my testimony of what I knew was true. I had a Sunday school teacher that always encouraged us to stand and bear our testimonies. We each had a chart in our class room and we received a star if we said the prayer, helped with the lesson, or bore our testimony in Sacrament meeting. I don't know if I had a desire to get a sticker on my chart but I do remember that I always had a pounding in my heart and I felt the need to stand and tell others what I believed. I have always cried when I bear my testimony because I feel the spirit bear witness to me that what I am saying is true. I remember my Sunday school teacher tell me that it would get easier if I just kept bearing my testimony and that after I had bore my testimony so many times I wouldn't cry. My teacher's name was Sister Campbell and if she was still alive I think I would write her a note and tell her that I have bore my testimony many, many times and I still cry. I received a witness that Jesus is the Christ when I was in Junior high and I was taking seminary. The seminary teacher challenged us to find out for our self if the Church was really true. I already felt in my heart that it was true and thought it couldn't hurt to kneel down and actually pray to our Father in Heaven and ask Him if the Church was true. I remember that it was night and that my room was very dark. After finishing my prayer and getting into bed I remember thinking about what I had asked in my prayer and although the room was pitch black I could see in my mind and feel in my heart a bright light that was very warm. I think I felt closer to Jesus Christ that night than I ever had so far in my life. I felt in my heart and in my mind that Jesus Christ knew who I was and that he was concerned that I have that special witness of Him. It was a very sacred experience and not one that I share with others very often but when I bear my testimony I can say, I will stand as a witness of my Heavenly Father at all times, in all things and in all places. I have received that witness and when I feel that feeling I can't ignore it and must bear my testimony. I am grateful for the experiences that I have had that have made me a stronger person.
I know that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ lives and that they love us. I see it evidenced every day of my life. I recognize His hand in all that I do and give Him credit for all that I have been blessed with. My life is filled with abundance and the blessings that I have are always outnumbered for the things that I try to do for Him. You can never out do the Lord because He will always be one step ahead of you with pouring out His blessings. I have been blessed with a beautiful family, with a husband that cares for me more than his self and honors the priesthood and loves God more than he loves me. Am I jealous that he loves God more than he loves me? No! because I have told my daughters if they find a man that loves God first then everything else will take care of itself. I have six beautiful children that are a great joy to me and I love each one of them dearly. The four that are married have wonderful spouses that I am sure that I handpicked before I came to this earth. I have seven beautiful grandsons and one beautiful granddaughter that bring me a different kind of joy than even my own children give me. I have been blessed to live in a time when many valiant sons and daughters are on the earth but also a time when much wickedness is all around us. I was blessed with a Father and Mother who taught me the gospel of Jesus Christ at an early age and they have been a great example throughout my life and I love them for that.
I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. I am indebted to him as well for bringing forth the restoration of the gospel on the earth, I can't imagine what my life would be without it. He endured many trials and sacrifices to bring forth our Fathers work. His example of endurance and long suffering is an example to me. We have a living prophet on the earth today who also brings forth the word of God through revelation and tells us the things that our Father in Heaven wants us to know in our day. President Gordon B. Hinckley is that prophet and he is a man that I admire for his diligence,valiant spirit,humbleness, endurance, and kind heart. He truly is a man of God.
I have a testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ, He is my elder brother who died for me that I might once again live with my Father in Heaven. I love Him, He is my best friend. Through the atonement he suffered for my sins, I am not a perfect person, and made it possible for me to repent of those sins so that I could be with Him again. I will do all that I can for Him because He has done everything for me. I know that this is true and I bear my witness that He lives! He lives so I can live again and I say this in His holy name. Amen

Donene S. Jones


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My Testimony

Yahoo! Mail - bigridger2@yahoo.com

Our week

Well this past week has been a good one for us. Nate and Kace have spent some time with Cyan (nate's dog) pheasant hunting. Tydon has started walking on his own. Tydon has started walking on his own. He started about a week ago. He thinks he is so funny when he does it and just laughs and laughs. He does about 10 steps max before he falls, but gets better everyday.
This last Sunday was our ward's primary program. They didn't have a microphone (it broke, just after the sacrament was passed), but the kids did really well. They all spoke well and I could hear everyone. Kace did excellent on his part which was, "I help my family by feeding my brother a bottle. I help my dad dig. I help my grandpa drive a tractor." Now for the singing. The last 3-4 songs three kids in his class decided to see who could be the loudest so it was more like screaming! Everyone was laughing and thought it was good that they at least knew the words. (Sometimes it seemed they only knew 4-5 words in the entire song!) The bishop said he still liked it and was touched. I was playing the piano (the regular pianist had a total knee done so she couldn't come) or I would have made the "eyes" at him to stop shouting. Oh well, it was very eventful to say the least. I also took kace to a BYU game this last week. He did pretty good, but was a little bored by the end. So for the whole second half we played the game of "guess if they are going to pass or run" that kept him entertained as he kept his score of being right or wrong. The video is two Sundays ago. Kace was coloring and just started singing "love is spoken here" I got my camera and secretly recorded him while he was singing. He is looking at me during his song, but doesn't know I recorded him until the end!

Not too exciting

Nothing has really happened this week. We kind of lead a boring life here. A friend here once put it like this, "Alot has happened, but nothing really to talk about." So our days are usually busy, but just your regular day kind of things.
Monday I had my six week appointment and found out that some "things" are not like they used to be after having 2 kids!! So sad to say, I have to go to Physical Therapy to see if we can fix some things. But the good news is, I was one pound less, lighter, or skinnier than when I first got pregnant!! But I still have those after pregnancy buldges, which are the hardest to get rid of, it seems.
Today I got sustained as a Ward Missionary. It will be interesting to see how this goes due to that I can only go in the evenings when Jon is home, and of course with a newborn who is breastfeeding. But I am excited, and curious to see how things will go. I just go with the sister missionaries and one is from Bountiful and the other from Rexburg. They are pretty fun, loving girls too, so that makes better to look forward to.
Jaedon is becoming quite the handful. He all of a sudden has ALL this energy and runs around and is usually doing something to get him in trouble. I love kids! Olivia, is growing so fast, but is quite the pleasant child, thank goodness. I feel bad sometimes because I think that maybe I neglect her some. But she will just hang out in the bouncy seat, and usually doesn't get a very good nap either until Jaedon takes a nap. Due to the bursts of energy the kid has. But here is a movie showing Olivia somewhat responding to Jaedon and I. She kind of just sits there, but I thought it would be fun to show some moving pictures of her instead of just stills.

Mac looks like me!

What a Hotty!!!

Who would have thought!!!

Rainee really does look more like Mom

Nate looks more like Dad

Ty's heritage thingy

Wow!! Who would have thought

Sorry about that

So, sorry that it took me 3 blogs to do all of this. But I saw this on one of my friends blog and it looked pretty fun. But I find it hard to believe that both of my children look equally like Jon and I. So It will be interesting if some of you guys do it and see what your results turn up. My friends kid was 11% more like her dad. So I don't think they have it rigged, but interesting. So I can't wait for others to try it and tell me or post your results. Have fun!!

Who does Olivia look like?

Who does Jaedon look like?

Mary Kay

There is a men's line that Mary Kay has. It has cologne and shaving gel and body wash and after shave. They also have face wash and skin care line for men if any one is interested.

Only 50 Days til Christmas!

Man, I love this time of year. Halloween is out of the way, Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and Christmas is literally just days away. As big as a Christmas buff that I am, I will admit I'm pretty excited for Thanksgiving. We're going to bless Olivia the Sunday following, my parents and Phil are coming out to visit, and I get to bake my first turkey. I should be ashamed to admit this, but, as much as I love my parents and brother, I'm probably more excited to bake my first turkey! It's going to be sweet, that is if all goes as planned.

So it sounds like everyone had an enjoyable Halloween. Those were some pretty scary costumes I saw posted on the blog. And what did you dress up as Caitlin? Did you go to the Howl? Those Aggies sure know how to party!

How is Layne doing? Sounds like he had a couple of rough days. It's amazing how some tiny little bacteria can just wreak havoc on our vulnerable bodies. As a caring, loving uncle I'm glad to hear that he is feeling better and I hope he never has to go through that again. As a medical student, I want to know all the gory details. It sounded like it was probably a Staph infection. Was is MRSA, or just the old garden variety Staph Aureus? What kind of antibiotic regimen did they put him on? How long was he in the hospital? Sorry for all the questions, but Mel just didn't give me enough details and, this may sound nerdy, I love this stuff! Good thing, because I think I would be quite miserable otherwise.

I hope the rest of the clan is doing well. I just finished up the renal block, so I have a day or two to relax before things start heating up again. Have an enjoyable day!

Mary Kay

Hi everyone I am doing Mary Kay and would like to know if anyone would like me to order them any thing either for themselves or for some one else that may be on your Christmas list. Just let me know and I will get it to you as soon as possible.

Halloween

We got home (from Reno) in plenty of time for Halloween. We first went trick or treating to some of the older ladies in the ward (who don't go to the trunk or treat), this way Kace and Tydon will learn about trick or treating too (because trunk or treating is just not the same). We then headed to the trunk or treat and then home to eat some dinner, but of course Kace had already spoiled his dinner-it doesn't take much! We all had a fun time.

Oh, I forgot to say last time that we were sad to find Spotty Mouse dead in her pen when we got home. I was surprised to see her puppy was still alive though, so now we are feeding it bottles. Hopefully, it will survive okay.