Jason's Testimony.

I wanted to keep my testimony honest, truthful and detailed. I was raised in the Church by my mom and grandmother. We were always off and on Mormons. We would go for stretches and then stop. My father didn't join til I was 14, so it made it harder for my mom. I wasn't raised with the overwhelming sense that I must and should serve a mission. I met a friend in high school .... OK a girl, and she really got me very active in the Church my junior year in High school. I decided on my own to serve a mission. It wasn't an easy decision but yet my heart was always at ease and comforted in what I decided. My mission defines who I am today in so many ways. I gained the first part of my testimony of the Church on my mission. Kneeling down in someones home the first time you meet them to pray and ask if Joseph Smith was a prophet of God is powerful. One time without my companion knowing I actually was doing the prayer for myself too, with the investigator. Wow!! The spirit was amazing, I knew then my answer.

The mission was great and I gained a foundation of a testimony through it. I came home and married a nonmember and shocked a lot of people. I made some choices after that led me to feel guilty and ashamed, so I allowed myself to fall away from the church. After my kids were born and at an age where they could pray with me, we started nightly prayers together. I was away from the Church for over 12 years.

The second part of my Testimony came after I went back to Church in Southern California. I made a lot of stupid choices in those 12 years. Its funny because the first 21 years of my life I was squeaky clean and innocent, then after the mission....even having a testimony like I did, I mess up. Anyways, I got really sick about 6 months after going back to Church. The kind of sick where you wonder if you will live another day.

One Sunday I was so ill I couldn't attend Church with the kids, so my wife decided to take them. I was blown away but couldn't comprehend the magnitude of her willingness to go. Amanda came home that day and told me the Bishop talked about the importance of reading The Book of Mormon. I was like wow, she went to Church without me and she paid attention...I better open my book of Mormon.

I started reading in the most dark hours of my life, where I was so sick with anxiety, and the medications I was on didn't help either. The Book of Mormon got me through some very tough nights. My testimony grew of the absolute power that resides in the Book of Mormon. I also gained a bigger testimony that I wasn't alone and I had a friend in Christ who was there with me the whole way. I wouldn't have made it out of those times without Him.

In this season when we celebrate His birth, my heart is filled with gratitude towards Him. I would feel like Mr. Kruger in his presence where I just continue to thank him over and over for what He has done for me and my family.

I know this Church is the only true church by which men can truly come to know their Savior and Redeemer. I am truly blessed with that great honor of knowing.

I know Joseph Smith was a prophet, and brought forth The Book of Mormon in our day to be a beacon in dark times.

I know the Atonement is real and have a strong testimony and understanding of it.

I share these things and my Testimony in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

 

A Name.

Every year on December 5th my family and I celebrate Dutch Christmas. It's a very fun tradition that my sisters and I look forward to every year. On the night of December 4th, we leave our wooden shoes in our front room with a carrot in them in hopes that Sinkterklaas will come! Every year we have never been disappointed! We wake up and find all sorts of fun dutch candy. One of the must-have treats every year is a chocolate letter that represents the first letter in your first name. Since I am on my mission this year, I got a small package in the mail from Sinterklaas. I had to wait a week and a half to open it, but sure enough, it was my chocolate letter "B".

All of this got me thinking about the importance of a name. We read in the scriptures about a father, named Helaman, who teaches his sons about the importance of a name. In Helaman 5:6-7 it says,

"6 Behold, my sons, I desire that ye should remember to keep the commandments of God; and I would that ye should declare unto the people these words. Behold, I have given unto you the names of our first parents who came out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I have done that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it is said, and also written, that they were good.

7 Therefore, my sons, I would that ye should do that which is good, that it may be said of you, and also written, even as it has been said and written of them."

As a missionary, I have 2 names on my missionary tag. One is my last name, Rupp. The other, is the name of Jesus Christ. I am proud to be a Rupp and I always will be. I want to always do things that will bring honor to my family name, but more importantly, I have taken upon myself the name of Jesus Christ. I was baptized when I was 8 years old in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. At that time I promised that I would take His name upon me and always remember him, that I would keep His commandments, and that I would stand as a witness of Him at all times, in all things, and in all places. In return, my Heavenly Father promised me that I could always have His spirit to be with me. What a promise!

My wonderful family!! The Rupp's :)

I think the greatest name we could ever take upon ourselves is the name of Jesus Christ. In a General Conference talk Elder Mervyn B. Arnold said, "Speaking of how we can take upon us the name of Christ, and thus protect our good name, Moroni taught:

"And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing...

"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness."

Elder Arnold extends an invitation to all saying, "Before you act, picture the Savior standing at your side and ask yourself: Would I think it, would I say it, or would I do it knowing He is there?"

So, in 600 years, how will our names be remembered? For me personally, I hope that I can stand before my Savior and say, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." "I have honored Thy name."

At this time of year as we honor the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, may we be better examples of Him, may we help others know Him because they know us. Let us honor His name!