Nov. 18, 2011

To my dear, sweet family,

The first word uttered by God in this dispensation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was…”Joseph”…the name given by a mother and father of little account, obscure to the world, to a baby boy born in the backwoods of Vermont. This simple fact is significant to me not because of what it says about the prophet Joseph, but because of what it says about God…and His love, knowledge, and relationship with His children. My testimony to my family—my wife, my kids, my brothers and sisters (and their kids), my Mom and Dad, and any who may read this—is simple. It has and continues to sustain me and give me the hope and courage I need to repent and overcome the challenges I have faced and continue to face in my life. I know that God lives, that He is my father, that He knows me, that He loves me, that He is aware of me and cares for me enough to know me by name. I know that He sent Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, to Earth to reconcile not only the Fall of Adam, but my own fall…and the fall of everyone who exercises faith to repent. I know that Joseph Smith exercised his faith and retreated from the “war of words and tumult of opinions” to seek wisdom from God. I know that his prayer was answered by a real and personal visit of the Godhead—The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost—to an obscure young boy in the backwoods of New York who chose to exercise his faith, and heard The Father call him by his own name as He introduced The Son to him and directed that Joseph “Hear Him”. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the church established and restored by Christ himself through His faithful servant, Joseph Smith, and that it continues to be led by revelation through prophets and apostles today. I know that Jesus Christ is central to The Father’s plan of happiness for His children. I know that he came to Earth to do the will of The Father. That he willingly submitted to gross injustice and descended below all things so that he could reach the feeble but outstretched hands of the fallen and lift them, with Him, to rise above all things. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior, Redeemer, and lover of my soul. I love Him. I want to be more like Him. In His holy name, even Jesus Christ, Amen.

I love you.

Fred