Why I Believe What I Believe

Posted on 10:51 AM by Elder Bergloff

What do I believe might be the better question for some?
Well I believe that the church that Jesus Christ established while He was here on the Earth was lost, that through a modern-day prophet, Joseph Smith, it was restored to the Earth.
I believe that this is Christ's church. His only true and living church found on the face of the planet.
Bold huh?
Some might ask why do you believe this? And then I am given a list of concerns as to why I shouldn't.
I believe this; in fact I know this for many reasons.
One, it makes sense. If anyone takes the time to learn about this church then they realize just how much sense it makes. Daily I will be reading some piece of doctrine and I just look up and think just how much sense this makes.

Two, I have seen the blessings that come from living this gospel. I love my family. They are the most important people in my life. My family is not without our struggles though. Often times our family goes through great struggles whether it is financial, spiritual, physical, or personal challenges. There have been times when I was growing up that I didn’t think that our family was going to make it through that trial that we were going through. But we did. I felt Gods hand in my family’s life. Through all our trials we kept our faith, we prayed, we went to church, we read the scriptures, and because of the gospel that we lived, we were blessed.

Three, I believe in the Holy Spirit of God and that it can confirm truth to me. I grew up in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I was raised to believe in these things, but just like it is with any religion, there comes a day when you have to choose to continue following or go down a different path. To be honest I didn’t make this decision until about 18 months ago. The problem I faced at the time was that I was being asked to teach people about this church. Well it’s hard to teach people what you don’t full heartedly believe yourself. So I started praying, I started to really ponder what I was learning and teaching. Then one day I had a meeting with a few other missionaries, and we began to practice reciting “The First Vision.” “The First Vision” is Joseph Smith, the prophets, vision where, as he was praying, he says God and Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith later records, in his own words, what actually happened.
In Joseph’s own words he says:
 

16 …I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the dsun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
  17 …When the light rested upon me I bsaw two cPersonages, whose brightness and dglory defy all description, estanding above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My fBeloved gSon. Hear Him!

 This was what I and the other missionaries were reciting. One missionary pulled me aside and asked if he could recite it to me. As he began to recite this a feeling of such peace and happiness filled every fiber of my being to the point that I couldn’t hold the tears back. I felt it in my heart and in my mind that this really did happen. It wasn’t just a good story or an interesting experience, but it was a fact. It was true and just as Joseph Smith said, I knew it, and I knew that God knew it and I cannot deny it.

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