Monday, January 9, 2012

Testimony

As an INTJ, I like seeing things work, equations balance, and loose ends resolved.  Religion is a difficult thing to resolve as it is so aethereal.  Even so, I know that God lives as I have felt His power, heard His voice, and seen His messenger.  

When I was 13-14, I needed help finding my scout book for a talk my dad was giving. He told me he needed it early in the week but I spaced it until Sunday morning when he asked for it again. I went in to the bathroom and asked for help from my Heavenly Father. A power overcame me and my body got up and went into the bookshelves my Grandfather had setup for his library. My knees bent and my hand reached under the rebound exerciser. At the moment I touched something, the power left. I almost bumped my chin. But, I had the book.
  
During a District Leader workday in the mission field my companionship split with the Elders in Nancy, France. I was riding behind my companion for the day when I tangled my paints in the bike chain and had to stop abruptly. I shouted at my temporary companion but the noise was horrible. I fixed my chain and paints as quickly as I could and I headed out after him. I turned down a street I thought I saw him use a few seconds earlier but was stopped again by a voice sayingWrong Way”. I though I was responding to a subliminal glance at a one-way sign so I stopped and looked for the sign. There wasnt a sign and cars where going both ways so I concluded that if I heard the voice again I would turn around. So, I started in the same direction I was going originally. Sure and clear, the voice came again and I turned around to find my companion waiting at the corner for me

One morning in the mission field, I was having a hard time believing I was accomplishing anything, so as I awoke at 5:56am I decided I would turn off the alarm and sleep in. My companion always did. At 6:00 sharp a man in a white robe was standing by my bed. He had dark hair and beard. I was awake and standing on my bed screaming as my companion awoke with me a few seconds after 6:00 that morning.

I have been protected in times of physical harm and taught both the living and the dead.

The day I was transferred to Brussels, I was walking behind my new missionary companion after getting some fries. My companion was talking to a friend and I was just tagging along 10-12 feet behind. They crossed a street and I followed them. As I was walking between two cars at the far side of the street, there was a wreck in the round-a-bout. A car slammed into the row of parked cars that I was traversing at the time. Just like dominoes, a wave of energy came at me through the cars until I felt the cars tighten on both my knees. As fast as it happened, it was over and the cars released me in mid step. The wave of energy should have crushed my legs as hard as it hit the cars but instead it didnt even break my stride.

One night, I was dreaming about an Arabian quest in detail. I did not think about it much again even though I remembered it vividly the next day. As we were tracting, we encountered an older woman who invited us in. We were talking with her when she said she was lonely. Her husband had died and she was having family problems with her kids and missing him very much. Then she told us she had this dream often about Arabs dressed in white and black and their quest. I could not believe the story she told. It was the same dream I had the night before but, I had an interpretation in my mind and my heart was glowing. Her husband was watching over her and had some new friends he wanted her to meet.

There are other events but I will finish with this one. In Arras, France, I was dreaming on Easter eve about floating over the highway approaching our mission apartment. As I floated closer to the apartment, my coarse deviated over the branch mission leaders apartment which was a 3 story building sharing the same parking lot as our much taller building. I came into our apartment through the 14th story window. At this point, I was wide awake and I could see my companion and myself laying in bed. I was on my stomach with my head toward the window. This person radiated light. He went to wake my companion but realized I was awake. My hair bristled on my neck. I was thinking to myself that if I dont move he may go away. Thoughts started entering my mind. “Dont be afraid I wont hurt youcame as clear as if I heard it with my ears. He wanted to know about the spirit world so I reflected on everything I knew about the spirit world. He talked for 10-15 minutes with me and then left the room through the door into the living room. Then he turned and went into the adjacent elders' room and woke one of the elders. Then he walked out their window into the darkness. The next morning I told my companion. He scoffed so I told him to ask the awakened elder from the adjacent room who confirmed the experience.

I have had other experiences besides these.  I know my Father in Heaven is real. I know that Jehovah, the Eldest Spiritual Son of God, came to earth as Jesus of Nazareth, The Christ, and loved us so much as to offer Himself as a ransom for this Creation of God.