Testimony of Reed Turner

My Testimony

I have a testimony of Jesus Christ and His mission of providing salvation for me and you and every person who has ever or will ever live on earth. I can say He truly is the Savior of the world and mean it. I can say He truly does love me, and you, and every person who lives or ever has lived. What does that mean?

It means I know in my heart and soul that Jesus Christ lives today, that the accounts in the Bible and the Book of Mormon of Him and the things He did are true and really did happen. It means I know that the promises He made will happen.

He is the Son of God, our older brother, and He really does know and love each one of us. Because of him we can be an eternal family, together forever. Because of Him, even when we make mistakes, big or small, we can repent and recover and continue. Because of Him we can experience joy and peace and love. Because of Him we can succeed in the righteous things we try to accomplish.

We all have challenges, that is what life is about, learning to do hard things, learning to face and overcome problems, learning to love and help and accept others as they work through their own
problems. Jesus helps us do this, He shows us the right way, He helps us as we try, and most important of all, He provides us a way to recover when we make mistakes. He does this out of pure love, as our elder brother who wants us to succeed and be just like him and as much a part of the family as He is.

I know He loves us. I know He knows us. I know He helps us. The one most important thing I have learned on this mission is how little we can really do on our own but how much we can do in partnership with our Savior. Like life, a mission is hard. Like life, it is impossible to do all the things that are there to be done. But with Christ, we can do the things that really matter and we can make a difference in the lives and paths of ourselves and others, and that is enough. We never get everything done and we go to bed at night tired and spent, but we go to bed grateful for the things our Savior has helped us do and has led us through, rather than discouraged for the things we have not yet done.

We still make mistakes, we still sin, we are still imperfect, but we keep trying because we have the Savior on our side. He is there, he does love us, and He is our elder brother, the perfect all loving, all knowing Son of God.

Elder Reed Turner
November 13, 2014