Children and Their "Sweet" Testimonies

Letter from First Presidency about Testimonies 2013
 I am one of those "Awful People " who dislike child testimonies on Fast and Testimony Sunday. When ever I make this proclamation I get two different responses. I get the thumbs up from another "Heartless and Joyless" person like myself who obviously also "Hates Children" OR I get The person who think its cute or "sweet"  and then tends to throw around all of the words in apostrophes above. Before you decide which side of the fence you are on please hear me out. 

So right from the very beginning I should tell you that I do not hate children. I do find that they are adorable and that they have insight to things that adults do not. I know that they were with our Heavenly father not long ago and that the veil is much thinner for them. ( for you non-Mormons that is Mormon speak for a spirit life that we Mormons believe in that you might want to research... no it is not that weird)

First let us describe who I believe a child is. A person who is to below the age of accountability  I would consider to be a child.  However their are children who have experienced a testimony for one reason or another. But before we get into that let us decide what a testimony actually is :

What is a testimony?

A testimony is a spiritual witness given by the Holy Ghost. The foundation of a testimony is the knowledge that Heavenly Father lives and loves His children; that Jesus Christ lives, that He is the Son of God, and that He carried out the infinite Atonement; that Joseph Smith is the prophet of God who was called to restore the gospel; that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Savior's true Church on the earth; and that the Church is led by a living prophet today. With this foundation, a testimony grows to include all principles of the gospel.

Before you get you G's in a bunch here is the link to that tidbit  Click Here!

So now that we have all of our evidence I'm going to give you my little take on "sweet testimonies" given by children. ( Please note all of times I have used the word Sweet.... I won't go further then that because that is an entire blog post on it's own.)

I don't like children bearing testimonies for a few reasons 

1: I don't like how much time it takes for little Cindy's mom to cart her up their and then whisper in her ear the same thing we just heard five other children say. " I know the church is true, I love our Heavenly Father, I love my mommy and daddy, and I love our prophet ....."  You know the rest.  This is not a testimony. I get that you kid wants to look out and  see everybody and show us their pretty dress or maybe your boy wants to talk into the microphone. But this is not what this time is for This time is for people who have a true testimony to give it . I hear the argument all of the time that children are learning their testimony by giving it. It is my personal opinion ( which is far from Gospel) that children of today spend to much time talking and not enough time listening. I have a hard time believing that repeating mommy and daddy's words is building their testimonies as much as listening to multiple people from all walks of life giving theirs.

2: Do you remember the story about teaching a man to fish vs giving a man a fish?  Well this is my second reason for not liking the way testimonies are whispered into the ears of little children. At what point does a child figure out the difference between mommy's testimony and her own?  A testimony is precious it is precious because no one on this planet can purposefully give it to you. It does not come in a box wrapped in shiny paper with a bow. It is not something you can subscribe to. It is not something that you can copy and paste into your life from someone Else's. You have to go out there and get it. It's not something that  the Holy ghost just brings you on your 18th birthday.  Parents can teach their children about our church. They can tell them all of the wonderful stories about of Savior and our Heavenly Father. They can give their children the wisdom and the lessons that are needed to live a good and full life. Some of their children will live those lives and others may stray. But you can not give them a testimony. After housing missionaries for a time now I can see the difference in a missionary who brought his testimony and is unshakable in his faith. I can also see clearly those who packed someone Else's testimony the same way they packed their white shirts and name tags and didn't realize it... until they do.  It is hard for a man with a full plate to realize that he is starving. 

Let me end with my own testimony. I know that this church is true. I have a testimony that our Heavenly father loves us so much that he sent his own son to take away the sins of the world. He has trusted us with prophets again and he wants us to live full and wonderful lives. I have a testimony of what it is like to have none. I know what it feels like to feel lost in the dark and to look for a church that is true. I know what it is like to feel like you are living life without a map. I know what it is like to be starving spiritually and then be given Manna; to suddenly be in the light and have a path of where I need to go. This church is my light, it is my map and it is my manna from heaven. I am grateful for so much in this world but mostly I am grateful for the true church. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen