Author Archives: rkm

Rachelle Waite

When I was 7 my grandfather was diagnosed with Melanoma Cancer. A few short months later he passed away after going through many surgeries. I saw how it impacted my whole family. Having someone there and then suddenly gone without much warning can really change a family. I was too young to understand fully what was going on. All that I knew is that I wouldn’t see my grandfather in this life but I would see him again some day.

Years passed from that time and when I was 13 my father was diagnosed with a disease called ALS also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. This is a disease that kills the nerves in your body starting with your hands and your feet. For three years I watched my father slowly die in front of me and there was nothing I could do about it. Finally when the disease reached his diaphragm he passed away. He was in the hospital for almost a week just to try to see if we could bring him back to us. He was a man that everyone loved. He was the primary chorister and had such an amazing sweet spirit. When he passed my whole family shut down. My brothers gave me a blessing and I knew at that moment that my father was in a better place but being a young age of 16 I was not ready to let him go. I took everything out on the church. I refused to go for about a year. I didn’t want to do anything with a god that took away my father before he could be at the important moments in my life. When I realized that the reason my mom was not going to church was because of my actions it really pushed me back into going. When I went back I felt the spirit so strongly. I felt the love of my Father in Heaven. I knew that there was a reason this happened to me. I just was not sure why yet. I got my mom going back to church soon after. I knew that my dad was proud of me.

Recently my life long friend’s mother passed away from cancer in her lungs. It hit me really hard because it brought back so many memories of my father. I know what their family is going through and how hard it is to lose someone you love so dearly. But I know that I can help them through this. When my father passed I didn’t have anyone to talk to that knew what I was going through. I know that I can be there for my friend because I know what it is like and how difficult it is. I can be there for him when he needs me and to be able to help him though this hard time. I know that is why I have been though so many difficult things in my life. I need to be there for them and my father and his mother are watching us and want me to be there for his family.

It is still hard on me knowing that my father won’t be there for my wedding or when my children are born but I do know how much he loves me and how much he supports me. I know that God puts us though hard situations to make us stronger and so we can help others going though similar situations. I love this gospel so much and I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have it.

Kris Belcher

As an infant, I was diagnosed with cancer in the retinas of both eyes. I was treated with radiation therapy, which saved my life and some vision. But, 30 years later, radiation induced cancer took the remainder of my sight- leaving me completely blind.

I was absolutely devastated in every way possible. It was only through the love of family and friends, and the support I received from Heavenly Father that I was able to move forward in my life of darkness. I tried to put my trust continually in God and his infinite wisdom, and prayed constantly for strength.

People would often try to give me encouragement by saying, “Kris, you are so brave! You can do this because God won’t give you anything you can’t handle.” Well, this didn’t help or encourage me. In fact, it made me feel even worse. I wasn’t brave, and I couldn’t handle all that had happened to me. So, where did that leave me with God?

Then, I remembered something that I already knew. What they were saying wasn’t quite true. Of course, God would give me things I couldn’t handle! Why else would he send a Savior? If I were left to my own power, there would be very little I could handle.

It is the enabling power of the grace of Jesus Christ that makes it possible for you and I to live, to do difficult things, and survive and even thrive during hardship. It is through Jesus Christ that each of us will be resurrected- reunited with our perfected immortal bodies. It is through Jesus Christ that each of us can be forgiven of our sins, and it is through him that we can be reconciled with and eventually live eternally with our Father in Heaven.

When he lived on this earth, Jesus established his church and gospel in its purity. After his death, resurrection and ascension into heaven, his true gospel was taken from the Earth. His twelve disciples were persecuted and killed, and the authority to act in the name of Jesus was lost.

This left the world in darkness for centuries. Each denomination claimed to have the truth and Christ’s authority, but how could each church be true.

In 1820, a young man named Joseph Smith wondered this same thing. Which church was the true church of Christ? He followed the scriptural direction found in James 1:5, and asked God in prayer which church he should join. In answer to his sincere prayer, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph. They knew him by name and told him to join none of the churches. For, each church had parts of the truth, but there was not a church on the Earth containing the fullness of Christ’s gospel and authority.

Joseph was tutored by heavenly messengers as he followed the direction of the Father and the Son to reestablish the church that Christ had organized when he lived among men. Part of Joseph’s calling was to translate ancient scripture that recounted Christ’s dealings with the inhabitants of the America’s. This record is known today as The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, named such because it was anciently an abridgement of many records made by a prophet- historian named Mormon. I know this book to be true. As I study it, and the Bible, I grow closer to my Savior and I receive strength and knowledge to move forward in my life.

The church that Joseph Smith was commanded to reorganize, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is Christ’s true church again on this Earth. It contains the fullness of Christ’s gospel and his authority. My membership in this church and my understanding of Christ’s true gospel is my most cherished possession. This church is led today by a living prophet who is called of God to direct and lead with authority from Jesus Christ.

I invite you to read The Book of Mormon. Pray about it and ask God in prayer if it is true. He will answer. God speaks to our spirits through the Holy Ghost, and, for me, this communication comes through feelings of peace, warmth and clarity to my mind and heart. I know that Father in Heaven will answer your sincere prayer to know of his truth.

Just as I needed Christ when I lost my vision, I need him today. Each day brings new difficulties and challenges, and it is because of Christ that I can meet those challenges. You can have this same relationship with your Savior. He waits to teach, comfort, strengthen, and lead you. He loves you infinitely. He desires to give you all that he has received from the Father. Trust him. Seek him. He loves you. I know this is true.

Valerie J. Fulmer

V. Fulmer

It has been a privilege and a blessing to be a Latter-day Saint woman (also known as a Mormon). I am grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know that Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ love each one of us more than we can imagine. We may be flawed, but we are loved because we are sons and daughters of God. I believe the Adversary, Satan, tries very hard to make us feel less than we are. He whispers lies to us like, “You are no good”, “You can never overcome this sin”, “You’re too weak”, “You’re not smart enough” and so on. Or he would have us believe that we are superior to others, to have a sense of unrighteous pride and arrogance. Either extreme is not of God. However, the Lord encourages us to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” This means that in addition to showing love and patience to others, we can love ourselves in a sense that we can strive to reach our fullest potential; we can learn to forgive ourselves, and to be patient with ourselves. Humility does not mean self-deprecation. We need to be gentle with ourselves, as well as those around us.Being a member of the church has enabled me to not just endure trials and tribulations, but to learn from them. The gospel has helped me to have a better perspective on life. There is a plan for each of us, and when we step back and look at the big picture, it all makes sense. Because of what I have learned through the Bible, Book of Mormon, prophets of God and other church leaders, I have been able to forgive, enjoy life more fully, find purpose in suffering and find inner-peace and joy.I am profoundly grateful to Jesus Christ; for His teachings, His example and for the Atonement. He took my sins and pains upon Himself so that if I sincerely repent, I can find a greater measure of happiness during my life, and become clean through the blood of Christ and return to live with God again. Because of sacred ordinances of the temple, I have an opportunity to live with my family for eternity. Striving to live the restored gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed me in countless ways. I have a strong desire to share the “good news” with others. I want everyone to have the blessings that I have and that many other Mormons have enjoyed. There are millions of members of the church, and the gospel continues to be shared throughout the world. I am thankful for this opportunity to share my testimony, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.