Visiting Teaching Message:

Building Personal Testimony:

“Lay Hold upon Every Good Thing”

The prophet Mormon addressed his words to “you that are of the church, that are the peaceable followers of Christ” (Moro. 7:3). He then asked the members of Christ’s church this question: “How is it possible that ye can lay hold upon every good thing?” (Moro. 7:20). The answer he gave, simply and significantly, is faith: “And thus by faith, they did lay hold upon every good thing” (Moro. 7:25).

In a world where there is so much confusion and where so many people are seeking answers, this answer is worthy of serious consideration.

Mormon explained that “they who have faith in [the Savior] will cleave unto every good thing” (Moro. 7:28). One fruit of our faith is that we seek the most important things in life. Another fruit is that we are empowered by the Spirit to accomplish all we need to do. Mormon quoted the Savior: “If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me” (Moro. 7:33).

Mormon asked another important question of the Saints: “How is it that ye can attain unto faith, save ye shall have hope?” (Moro. 7:40). To build personal testimony, we must have both faith and hope. Mormon taught, “Wherefore, if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope” (Moro. 7:42). Thus, faith and hope work together, strengthening each other and enabling personal testimony to grow and flourish.

Building personal testimony is a matter of desire and of making choices that increase our faith and hope. As we desire to “lay hold upon every good thing,” we of necessity choose actions that increase our faith:

• We plan for meaningful time for prayer.

• We remember and renew our covenants regularly through partaking of the sacrament and visiting the temple.

• We use the scriptures as a “personal road map” to guide us in our actions.

• We develop friendships with people who help us build our testimonies.

• We make service part of our daily routine.

Building a testimony is not always easy. In the process, we may have moments of discouragement. But as we seek to develop faith and hope and learn to appreciate the challenges of mortality, we build our testimonies.

Illustrated by Ron Peterson