The most desirable gifts are those offered to us by our loving Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

I love the Christmas season…the cold wintry nights, the bright lights, the sparkling Christmas tree set in the front room of our house. 

President Howard W. Hunter once said, “Whatever Jesus lays his hands upon lives.

I have a testimony that life in the church is better than life out of the church.

I know that Heavenly Father knows us by name.  I know that he answers every prayer we utter. I know that everything He has done or will do is for our benefit. 

“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

I have always felt very blessed to know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the only true and Living church on earth!

Growing up, my dad was a professional photographer and we often had a dark room setup in our house. I loved to go into the darkroom with him to watch as he would process his film and create photos.

Photo by Paxton Tomko on Unsplash

A few years ago, I was scuba diving in the Northwest. After setting up my dive gear, I turned on the valve of my tank. I could hear a hiss coming from the regulator. A regulator is the device that delivers air needed to be breath underwater. I inspected it and noticed an o-ring was missing. All that fancy equipment and I couldn’t enjoy the underwater world without a small piece of round rubber.

My analogy is to show the importance of not neglecting the seemingly small things that go into having a testimony of Jesus Christ. It is the small things we do each day that help us obtain joy in this life and eternally. Prayer and scripture study are a few of these. We can’t enjoy the blessings of the gospel without a testimony of Jesus Christ, regardless of all that the church has to offer. The church exists to help us gain a testimony and obtain eternal life, but we have to keep the Lord’s commandment and strive to do our best to make this a reality. We have to have a testimony for the blessings of the gospel to be available to us.  

I want to bear my testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. It is what gives my life meaning and direction. I am thankful for a temple being so close. I see it everyday as I drive around the Saratoga Springs area. It is a constant reminder to live the Lord’s standards. I feel joy when I strive to keep his commandments.

We should concentrate on doing the seemingly small things each day that will help us obtain eternal life. I know as we strive to live God’s commandments we will be blessed, which in turn strengthens our testimony.

Brother Todd Cliff