Our Testimony

We are so grateful for our membership in The church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is the center of our lives. We are especially grateful for the direction and guidance we receive through the church as it keeps us on the right path. We believe in God the Eternal Father and in His Son, Jesus Christ. We know that God lives. He is our Eternal Father in heaven. As the Father of our spirits He loves us and is concerned about our returning to live with Him someday. This is made possible only through the atonement of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. As part of the atonement Jesus overcame physical death through His resurrection. He broke the bands of death and having done so we will all now be resurrected someday as well. This is truly the single most important event in all human history. We will all now live again and receive immortal bodies! Also, as part of His atonement, Jesus Christ paid the price for the sins of the world. This enables each of us to be forgiven of our individual sins through the repentance process. Because Jesus has completed the atonement we will not have to pay for our own sins if we accept Him, repent, and follow His teachings. If we do not do these things then we will have to suffer even as He did. Which suffering caused even Jesus to bleed from every pore. What Jesus Christ has done for us through His atonement is all part of our Father’s great plan of happiness for us. We now have the opportunity to partake of immortality and eternal life. Without the atonement we could not have either of these priceless gifts. Our family would like to bear witness that we know these things are true.

When Christ was on the earth He set up His church. He appointed prophets and apostles to continue to lead the church. Though He was not here He still communicated with the prophet through divine revelation. In this way He continued to lead and guide His church. He also gave the prophet and apostles the priesthood authority to operate the church and to perform necessary ordinances. This authority is crucial. Without it the ordinances would be in vain. In addition, man would not be authorized to operate in the affairs of Christ’s church. The prophets were eventually all killed. Because of the wickedness of the people the Lord took the priesthood authority from the earth. This is the great apostasy or ‘falling away’ spoken of in the Bible. We also recognize this period of time in history as the dark ages. There was no longer a prophet for Him to communicate His will. The church of Jesus Christ was taken from the earth. For decades man searched for truth. Many other churches were formed, each with differing opinions of what was true. Without a prophet receiving revelation man was left to his own interpretation of the scriptures. The Bible was translated and re-translated over and over again by man without Gods authority. In the process many plain and precious truths were lost. This caused great confusion. However, the time eventually came when the earth was prepared to receive again the fullness of the gospel.

In the Spring of 1820 a young boy by the name of Joseph Smith was searching for truth. Confusion on the subject of religion lead him to read and ponder the Bible. He read in James 1:5 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that given to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” Never did any passage of scripture enter into the heart of man with more power than that did at that time to him. Joseph knew if anyone lacked wisdom it was him. He also had faith that God would surely answer his humble prayer. He decided to pray and ask God which of all the churches was true and which to join. He went to the woods and prayed. He describes his experience. “I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. When the light rested upon me I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake to me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other” – “This is my beloved Son. Hear Him!” Joseph was told he was to join none of the churches but that he had a great work to do. He would later be called of God as a prophet. The Lord restored His priesthood authority to the earth and set up His church once again. It is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is His church! All of the plain and precious truths have been restored. The Lord has continued to call prophets and apostles to lead and guide His church through divine revelation today. Just like when He originally set up His church while He was on the earth. Joseph was also commanded to bring forth another testament of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is a record of the ancient inhabitants of America which was originally engraved on gold plates. These people also had Gods priesthood authority and prophets to guide His church. The Book of Mormon had been protected during the apostasy as it was buried in the earth. Joseph was given power and authority to translate the record. We have it now today and it contains the plain and precious truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It stands before the world as another testament of Jesus Christ. We believe it to be the word of God and the most correct of any book on earth. We also believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly.

We testify that the Book of Mormon is true. It does contain the fullness of the gospel. Everyone can know for themselves of these things. We invite all people everywhere to read and ponder its teachings. You can then pray and ask God if it is true. The Lord has promised that you can know of it’s truthfulness for yourself. In the last chapter of the book; Moroni 10:4 it reads, “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true: and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.”

We would like to extend an invitation to all people to read the Book of Mormon. We offer to anyone who is interested a free copy. Just let us know that you would like one and we will send it to you. Thanks for visiting our blog and reading our testimony.

Love, The Butlers