In the Book of Mormon, Jarom 1:4, we read: “And there are many among us who have many revelations, for they are not all stiffnecked. And as many as are not stiffnecked and have faith, have communion with the Holy Spirit, which maketh manifest unto the children of men, according to their faith.”
My stubbornness has been subdued by the love I have found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know I have felt the Spirit and, although, I have not seen angels, I am sure that I have been ministered to by them, even to the preservation of my life. I have been saved from serious injury and near death both in times of obedience and in times of disobedience. God isn’t finished with me yet.

My testimony has grown over the years. I was born into a family that had pioneer ancestry on both sides.

My father didn’t join the church until after he met my mother and they were married in Reno, Nevada.
Many years later we were sealed as a family in the Manti temple. My mother was a great-grandaughter of John Doyle Lee and grandaughter of Joseph Leland Heywood, both noteable Mormon pioneers. She was a Prince. Her great-grandfather, George Prince was a convert from South Africa, having migrated there from England. His testimony is noteable and published. Her grandparents served as stake patriarchs and often gave testimony to the truths of the gospel.
My interest in genealogy began early as I thought I was kin to the Dalton Gang and Al Jennings, western outlaw. I later found out that the kinship wasn’t very close. My relatives had done a lot of genealogy and I read about my ancestors and was very impressed. It took me many years to find my connections, but I feel a special kinship to those who set the stage for the Restoration.
As a youth, I was raised by goodly parents and given every opportunity. I became an eagle scout, served a mission in the North Central States, married in the temple, and began to raise a family of seven wonderful children. I had a very righteous wife, but failed to cultivate the closeness that is needed to sustain our marriage, and later divorced. I have recently served as a senior missionary with my wife, Karla. We have a testimony of the value of the Career Workshop.
I feel I have always had a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. It has certainly been tested and grown over the years. My less than stellar journey through parenthood left us with disfunctional and troubled children. However, three of them are active, married in the temple, and serving faithfully. Karl, Kathy, and Donald served on missions.

I have given a lot of reflection to the disinformation that others give regarding the church. My ancestor, John Doyle Lee, supposedly wrote a “Confessions” that tells of unrighteous acts by the church leaders. However, as it was published by others after his death, it is not possible to confirm what was his story and what was given as truth by those who try to destroy faith by publishing doubt. It has, however, given me a springboard to evaluate what I know from the Spirit of Truth and compare it to what is delivered by the agents of the “Author of Deceit”.
Joseph Smith said that his name would be had for good and evil throughout the world. That is true prophecy. He brought forth the Book of Mormon that is the word of God. The testimony comes from reading it. It brings into the heart and mind the desire to live righteously and teaches how to commune with the Holy Spirit. It delivers true testimony. It brings forth good fruit.
My testimony is born in the poetry I write. A few examples can be found at poetry.com and mormonwiki.com. The following are a sampling of what I have written:
A Godly Garden
A Walk in the Woods
Baptism
Boy Scout Basics
He Walked
Integrity
One Starlight Night
Returning Home

This poem is written for this sharing of testimony. May it convey the Spirit to the reader!

My Testimony

I have a testimony.
Yes, I can say it’s true.
God has walked beside me
and helped to pull me through.

Doubt and faith can not both share
the same invading space.
Faith is a gift of God, my friend.
With it your doubt erase.

Faith, Repentance, Baptism,

Let Him there embrace.

The Holy Ghost is your friend.
He testifies of Christ.

He calls upon our memory.
His counsel, there, is wise.

Ask, Knock, Invite Him in.

He asks us all to pray.

I’ve asked my Heavenly Father.

He answered, Yes, my son.

So did brother Joseph.

He saw them both, divine.
My testimony is my witness.
And yes, It’s truly mine!

Val John Jennings is a published poet, genealogist, webmaster, scouter, grandparent and an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He and his wife, Karla, reside in Norfolk, Virginia.

By being the first in your family to accept the gospel, you become the first generation, a chosen generation through which generations past, present, and future may be blessed.

Elder Paul B. PieperSeveral days ago, we were discussing talks during a family meal. Clarissa, our 13-year-old daughter, was preparing a sacrament meeting talk for our branch in Moscow and felt some anxiety. I reassured her that all would be well and released a little anxiety of my own by saying that at least she didn’t have to speak in front of thousands of people in general conference. Clarissa gave me some advice of her own: “It will be OK, Dad. Just pretend it’s a big branch.” Brothers and sisters, you are indeed a very large branch.

I have chosen to address my remarks this morning to first-generation members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are those who are the first in your family to hear and embrace the message that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth in our day with living prophets, seers, and revelators. You humbled yourselves, exercised faith, and repented of all your sins, taking upon you the name of Jesus Christ through baptism by immersion, and received the Holy Ghost.1 By being the first in your family to accept the gospel, you become the first generation, a chosen generation through which generations past, present, and future may be blessed.2

Being a first-generation member of the Church is not always easy. You will walk where no one in your family has walked before. Conditions around you may be challenging. You may have few, or no, friends or relatives to understand and support you. At times you may become discouraged, wondering if it is all worth it. My purpose this morning is to assure you that it is.

First-generation members occupy a special and important place in the Church and their families. Did you know that first-generation members constitute more than half of the membership of the Church?3 Perhaps not since the early days of the Church has the first generation constituted such a large percentage of total Church membership as it does today. Your faith and testimonies are a great strength and blessing to others. Through you, we gain a deeper understanding of gospel principles and our testimonies are strengthened.

You add great strength to the Church when you use your testimony, talents, abilities, and energy to build the kingdom in your wards and branches. You are great examples of sharing the gospel, serving missions, sending children on missions, and welcoming new members. You reach out in kindness to those around you, lifting and blessing them through inspired service. So much of what is done in the Church today could not be done without your efforts.

More importantly, as a first-generation member, you occupy an important place in your family. You are an example to your family of a true disciple of Jesus Christ. Whether they are members of the Church or not, as you live the gospel at home, those around you will feel the Savior’s love through you. They know that you are engaged in something good, even if they do not understand it or have enough faith to accept it. Be patient and kind, pray each day to know how you can serve them, and the Lord will help you and bless you to influence your family for good. By being consistently good and upright, you will establish patterns of faithfulness and righteousness. Those patterns will shape your life, but more importantly, they will become a standard for your family and posterity.

As the first generation, you are also the key to opening the Lord’s blessings to family members who died without hearing the gospel and receiving saving ordinances. Yours is the unique opportunity and privilege to begin this work on their behalf. They are anxious for you to identify them and will help you in your search for their records. Once they are identified, your worthy life will permit you to attend the temple and perform essential ordinances for them. These ordinances will bind you to your ancestors and bring great spiritual power into your life.

Because you are a first-generation member, each choice you make is important. Seemingly small, insignificant decisions will impact past and future generations, as well as your own life. One young first-generation member, Chris, was offered a drink of alcohol at work the day after his baptism. His friends were all there and were drinking. There was considerable pressure. No one else knew that the day before, he had been baptized and made promises to the Lord. He made the decision not to drink and was treated poorly. Reflecting on that event later, he wrote: “It is now forty years since I made those [baptismal] promises and I can truthfully say that I have . . . kept the Word of Wisdom. . . . I believe if I had accepted [that] drink that I would, perhaps, never have been able to keep the Word of Wisdom.”4

But Chris kept his baptismal promises. Later he met and married a faithful member. Together they raised eight children in the gospel. Now in the sixth generation, his faithful descendants number in the hundreds. Dozens have served missions and introduced the gospel to others. His efforts in family history opened the blessings of the gospel to hundreds more. One small decision by a first-generation member made a difference for thousands.

Can you see now why the first generation is so important? Can you understand the position you occupy and the influence you can have for good? Please never underestimate who you are and the power that you have to affect others. Satan understands who you are and will do all possible to entice you to make wrong choices. At times, despite our best efforts, we all make mistakes. Fortunately, Heavenly Father has prepared a way for us to overcome them through repentance and reliance on the Atonement of His Son. Do not be discouraged if you make a mistake. Repenting and continuing to press forward are perhaps the most important patterns to develop in the first generation. Be patient and move forward in obedience.

In the Church we read and speak much about pioneers in early Church history. They were first-generation members just like you. They lived each day meeting the challenges of family, work, and faith. They lived good, ordinary lives and were faithful, serving in the Church and blessing their families. When they fell down, they got back up and moved on. Now, those of us who are their descendants look back with reverence and gratitude for their faithfulness.

Their legacy can be yours as fellow members of the first generation. Be faithful, serve your fellowman, bless your family, and make proper choices. You are the first generation, a chosen generation to bless past, present, and future generations. We honor you. Past and future generations will honor you. But most importantly, God will honor you for being faithful in the first generation. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Throughout high school, people often asked me why I was the way I was. Helping others, being a good friend, refraining from gossiping, striving to see the best in people, not judging, are sometimes the most effective way to do missionary work. Three years after graduation, I received an email from a high school friend, who was in my choir class. I barely knew this girl. During her college experience, she had a professor in one of her classes say something negative about the Mormon Church. has given me perspective. I know why I am here, where I am going, and what I need to be doing on Earth. Rooting myself in the gospel has allowed me to have greater patience with those in my life who have disappointed me. Through the atonement, I have learned that life isn’t about judging people or being judged.

My membership in the Mormon Church has saved me time. The commandments or “rules” of the church have given me freedom. The commandments have shown me how to live a productive and joyful life. I know that I have a clear purpose. The Church has influenced me to make wise decisions. I love it!

She was a natural entrepreneur and inculcated in me a spirit of sacrifice, honesty and self sufficiency that is still with me to this day. She was also instrumental in exposing me to the Gospel, which in itself is all together a miracle. Cuba has a Roman Catholic religious tradition with very strong African religious rituals and practices. She rejected those traditions all her life. She discovered “her God” in the pages of an old battered bible left behind in the 19th century by a plantation owner. There she found Isaiah and the promise of the Temple to ALL people. There she found and understood the coming forth of Christ and the Atonement, the true nature of the Trinity and the absolute need for baptism. For more than 40 years in Cuba we have been enslaved by Communism and cut off from the world. We had no idea about the Restoration.

She spoke and read to me of “her God” as if she had a relationship with Him like none I knew. The same God gave her dreams about impending floods, hurricane and insect infestations that threatened our town. The same God showed her that “there are men on the earth that walk with God and He hears their prayers like onto Moses.” She was convinced that we were born in the wrong country but with faith one day I would find them.

I joined the Cuban army at age 17. I wandered the jungles of Central and South America, the Savannas in Central Africa and the barren deserts of Ethiopia as a military intelligence officer. I witnessed unimaginable brutality and carnage in the name of country and a doctrine based on repression and fear. Many of my friends died. But the hand of the God of my grandmother shielded me, protected me and comforted me through those years of nightmares and despair. I made my way to America in 1990 and my grandmother died in 1995 just two years before I found the church and the truth that I sought for so many years.
In 1988, while on a mission in the highlands of Honduras I was shot in the head by a sniper. What follow is a true account and my testimony of what transpired:
The next moment, as if in a dream, my head exploded, jerking my cervical spine upwards, in a counter clock motion. And then there was silence. Nothing but the dark, bottomless, and insipid silence that accompanied the fall of my body to the muddy ground two feet below. It seemed like two miles.

The report of the weapon fired across the gorge registered in my traumatized brain a full two seconds later. It sounded far, like a distant echo of thunder. I laid face down, my mouth quickly filling with the unsavory mix of my own blood and the clay and grass of the flooded valley floor. I laid there, my brain in shock and unable to process any of the higher motor functions.

I could hear my own breathing, fast, labored, insufficient with blood gurgling in my throat. After a few seconds, or minutes, the realization of my impending death sparked through my consciousness like lightning. I was dying. I lay there broken, unable to move for what seem like a lifetime. I sobbed quietly, helplessly.

I lost all sense of time as I waited for the sniper to return. Occasionally they do. They come close to “confirm the kill,” they come for a souvenir. After all, he’d been hunting me for a few days. He never came, fearful perhaps of being caught in the open and alone by a larger enemy group. If he felt safe, he’d have watched the fallen prey for half an hour or so, observing for signs of life. He was convinced I was dead and I believed it myself. Most people have never truly and intentionally considered what happens to human beings when they know that their lives are certainly about to be over—especially if there’s no prolonged illness or chronic condition. Popular media has attempted some romanticized interpretation of the pre-death experience. I haven’t seen a convincing one.

Fear. Overwhelming and undiluted terror seizes you. The realization that, conclusively, in just seconds you’ll stand face-to-face, eye-to-eye with the God of the universe is a frightening experience without equal. For me, the thought of being under the all-searching eye of God wasn’t appealing. Not on account of my life.

The fear and apprehension that gripped my entrails, the physical pain that accompanied that moment of despair had no parallel in my life’s existence. I had no words, no explanations, and no excuses. I wasn’t ready to die but I couldn’t escape what seemed the unavoidable outcome of my injuries.

I sobbed, quietly at first, the pain and fear intensifying every minute with the decrease of my physical strength due to the loss of blood. I cried bitterly like never before or since.

I thought of my grandmother. What would she have me say? What could I say to her God? Life, mine at least, seemed distant, disconnected, and almost like a dream. It occurred to me then that I’d wasted my life. For all my accomplishments, scholastic and military, the painful fact remained that nothing, absolutely nothing I’d done at that point was of any real relevance. There was nothing in my life that had been noteworthy. There was nothing that could transcend time and impact others. In fact, away from a few trinkets stored at home and a few black and white photographs in serious peril of extinction, there was no evidence of my existence.

I’d spent my life and time on the earth in a useless and futile struggle. I’d exhausted every opportunity and hour “in the endless game of nothingness,” like Grandma used to say.

I’d seen it before. A “political officer” went to the home of the fallen soldier early in the morning, then read or rehearsed a script about “patriotic duty, heroism, and invaluable service to the country” and so on. It was some meaningless rhetoric designed by someone who had no children, at least none that were in harm’s way, none that had died in a dark and lonely jungle.

“What do I do, Abuela?” I asked myself, my voice barely audible.

I knew what I needed to do. The “how” was the dilemma. Speaking to God has always been a serious, quite involved process. First, there was the issue of, what do you say to God that He already doesn’t know? For me, there was always a certain amount of trepidation in approaching the God of the whole creation.

“Son, we don’t deserve to be heard, but He does,” Grandma used to say. “Humility is the key. Be aware that we’re unworthy of His attention and His care but He offers it to us nonetheless.”

I remembered. Amidst my tears, my fear and sorrow, I remembered.

I spat the blood and mud from my mouth and twisted my body painfully, slowly to face heaven. I cried some more.

“God of my grandmother. I know You can hear for my grandma says You can hear even the creatures that creep in the grass. I’m about to die and maybe I deserve to die; only You know that. I won’t tell You of the things I’ve done wrong for You know them all, God. I pray to You today so that You may be merciful to me. I pray that You may forgive me of all my sins, that You may not look at them anymore, God.”

The wind and the rain abated for a few minutes. The treetops danced softly in the warm breeze as if unwilling to interrupt my prayer. Now and again I could see the stars in the sky in between the dark clouds that rushed across.

“God of my grandmother, I know about and I believe in You because I’ve seen the things that You have done for my grandma. Even if You won’t do anything for me, I believe in You and everything Grandma has taught me about You. She says You’re a God of miracles and I believe. I know that You sent Your Son Jesus Christ to be killed for our sins. I pray today, God, that You will forgive me because of Your Son, for then He also died for my sins. Yours is my spirit and You will be my God. I pray to You today that though I have nothing left and am about to die, the sound of my voice remains here on the earth even though my sprit leaves. But I say this before I die so that You know that I believed in You before I saw You in Heaven, God.

“Take me then, God, and don’t let me suffer any longer. Comfort my grandmother, God, for she is old and she loves me. Help her, God, that she may be able to bear my death and live until You take her to heaven that I may see her again. Forgive me, God. Forgive me, God.”

I wept again, now however, with a tingling in the pit of my stomach. I felt almost happy. I’d said my peace and acknowledged before God the insignificance of my existence. I felt complete. I was now willing to surrender to His will and die.

The rain returned but not the wind. It fell thin and soft, warm and quiet over the already saturated valley floor. I listened and lost myself in memories of distant laughter and children’s play. I remembered Grandma’s warm and aromatic kitchen, the rumor of the seashore, and the wind chime made out of seashells hanging in the patio window.

Inconsequential memories, perhaps, but those were the only meaningful things in my life, I realized. The long talks over the dinner table, the silent moments of quiet reflection while digging about in the small vegetable garden, those were my treasures. Absorbed into those and many other scattered memories, I slipped into unconsciousness.

“Not yet,” I heard inside my rattled brain with astonishing clarity. No cymbal, no trump, no earth-shattering tremor. The quiet and simple phrase startled and surprised me at the same time.

I was in shock due to the loss of blood and my rattled brain had but a spark or electrical impulse barely enough to keep my body alive. The magnitude of the event, the realization that I had been a witness and a recipient of a true miracle and how this event would transform my life would come days later.

I wiggled my soggy toes inside my boots and wiped the blood from my face. The pain on the side of my face was gone, replaced now by a strong pressure over my right eye. I touched my head and the tactile experience was horrific. I could feel the mangled mass of bone and tissue “loose” on the side of my face.

It has taken me many years to find the courage to share glimpses of the life story of my grandmother and an account of my search for truth, spiritual nourishment, and ultimately God. My life, both here and in my native land, has been fraught with struggles, disappointments, and bittersweet experiences. I’ve embraced this country as my own since in the land of my ancestors I have nothing but memories. Therefore, with immense gratitude I call this land my country.

As a keen and honest observer of the world around me, I can thus attest that our country has problems, some actual, some imagined. I’ve traveled beyond these borders and into other lands, thus I believe I speak with some authority on the issue. I can sincerely attest to the uniqueness and special character of this land. Failure to recognize how exceptional this country is, in my at times not-so-humble opinion, conveys an affront to God. This country, as some contend, may not be the best country in the world. But for those that will read these lines and as one that gives witness to this truth, I can sincerely declare that there is no better one.

The founding and development of this nation wasn’t an act of fortuity. It wasn’t luck or chance. The existence and emergence of this land was the result of careful planning and care on the side of the Lord. The coming forth of The Book of Mormon and the restoration of the gospel and all the miracles that accompanied those events had been foretold for millennia.

It’s my testimony that the earth and all that is in it is the Lord’s. We’re His offspring and thus equipped to attain, in time, a level of light, knowledge, and intelligence that will surpass in order of magnitude our current state. All knowledge belongs to Him and nothing is lost to Him. Although He had scattered the nations to and fro across the face of the earth and the oceans, He knows precisely where He has driven them.

I’m convinced that He pours a measure of His spirit of revelation to all those who seek Him with real intent and a pure heart. And it’s that revelation that constitutes the seed of His word and the desire to come to know Him, the Eternal Father. There are men and women all over the earth in distant lands and on the isles of the sea that cry His name and He hears them. It’s therefore our responsibility to seize on the wind of faith and go to on His errand to every corner of the world where His children call on His name for mercy and salvation. Such responsibility can’t be abdicated and in virtue of the abundant blessings that have been poured upon us in this land, we must obey.

I’m indeed grateful beyond measure that the Lord has led my steps unto this land—that I’ve found peace, the truth, and the knowledge that my grandmother desired for me. I’m grateful that the mercies of the Lord extend to those who have crossed the veil without the opportunity to receive the ordinances of salvation. The Lord has inspired His prophets to build many temples in the high places where we may worship and perform under His watchful eye inside His holy mountain.

It’s my witness that as before, the God of the universe has answered the prayer of the simple, the humble but faithful, and has spoken by the mouth of his prophets. I also testify that Joseph Smith was the one chosen to open the doors of the kingdom of heaven and allow the light and truth lost to memory to return. I have an unbending testimony of the restoration of the priesthood of God to the earth, and that such will be the foundation of His kingdom until Christ declares that the work is done. I express infinite gratitude to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to bear the priesthood in order to perform the ordinances of salvation here on the earth. I’m grateful for this endowment that allows me, for the first time in more than 2000 years, to restore to my ancestral line that which may have been lost to my kindred dead.

I’m thus willing to declare with humility but with full intent that I’ve placed my eternal salvation and that of my family on the fact that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is indeed the church of the Savior. I’ve received, in faith and on account of my own life being in mortal danger, a personal testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Eternal Father, and that He lives. It is of Him whom we testify, it is Him of whom we speak and say Master, Savior, and Redeemer. I declare that Jesus Christ is the instrument of salvation for the dying world and I’ve pledged to dedicate my life to the work of spreading His gospel. He is the same that was crucified for the sins of mankind, past, present, and future, and none will be saved except one confesses faith and belief in Him. We worship Him because He lives and guides the affairs of the kingdom through His prophets, seers, and revelators, Gordon B. Hinckley being the keeper of the keys of the priesthood and of the gathering in this day.

I know that through Jesus Christ we’re partakers of the covenant of the patriarchs. That in one measure or other, the blood of Israel runs through our veins and the blessings promised to them is also our promise. Thus we must remain faithful to the covenants, old and new, in order to receive the everlasting blessings of the gathering onto Zion.

I’ve prayed that we may have the faith and strength to endure the trials that will surely come. I’ve prayed that we may not fear or heed to the rumors of war and the power of tyrants and those that oppress. I’ve prayed that we may be sharp tools in the hands of the Lord to carve His word in the hearts of those who are looking for His truth. There are millions of men and women pleading in the dark for the light of the gospel and to them we most go or account for our lack of diligence at the last day.

It is my testimony that if we are faithful and true to the stewardship that we’ve been given, we’ll be counted among those present under the bright morning light when the trump will sound from the edge of the universe announcing the coming of the Lord Almighty and the resurrection of those who crossed the veil professing faith in Christ.