2023
Finding a Home, Love, and Belonging
July 2023


“Finding a Home, Love, and Belonging,” For the Strength of Youth, July 2023.

Firm Foundations

Finding a Home, Love, and Belonging

Image
family going to church

Illustration by Jessica Parker

I was six when I had to leave my birth family. It was very sad and scary. A few months after this happened, I first heard about Jesus Christ.

I started visiting a family who became my foster family. They had lots of kids who were kind to me and loved the Savior. My new family let me go to church with them, and I felt safe and happy there.

It took a few years of going to church and reading scriptures before I understood what the gospel was, and I wanted to get baptized very badly. I was 12 years old when I was finally adopted by my foster family, and I was allowed to be baptized if I wanted to!

At my baptism, I bore my testimony and felt God’s love surround me with a great strength.

Reading the Book of Mormon and learning about Jesus has helped me know I’m not alone and that I’m a child of God. Even when things don’t go how I want, He will always be there for me.

Violet B., Hawaii, USA