Shasta's Testimony

Proud mom moment. Shasta shared her testimony in sacrament meeting for the very first time today.

But first, a back story. We have been talking about testimonies for a while now and when I first introduced the idea to her we talked about it every single day for a month. Literally. There was even a day during the week that we were at the church changing out the bulletin board and we snuck into the chapel and talked in the microphone for a little bit to give her some experience. Then fast Sunday FINALLY came and our stake meetings were cancelled due to a main pipe bursting in our building. Since we attended the family ward instead of our own ward, I didn't want to attempt having Shasta bare her testimony in a ward that wasn't our own, so I didn't remind her of it.

Then a few Sundays later I was asked to speak in church. Shasta was pretty disappointed that I was going to get to speak in the microphone and she wasn't. So I asked the Bishop if it would be okay for her to take a minute to bare her testimony. Of course he agreed, but when it came time for Shasta's turn she just put her head on my shoulder and wouldn't do it. So I apologized to the ward and told them we would try again on Fast Sunday.

We spent the rest of the month talking about testimonies and I asked her what we could do to give her enough confidence to share her testimony in front of people. I realized that when we "practiced" that random weekday afternoon she got to talk in the microphone to an empty room so she wasn't prepared to talk in front of a room full of people. I asked her if we had everybody turn off their listening ears if she would feel brave enough to talk in the microphone with people in the room and she agreed that she would do it that way. But then Fast Sunday came and we were in Arizona and had we not of been in Arizona we would have been in Farmington for a family baby blessing. Once again we wouldn't be in our home ward on Fast Sunday and I didn't want to attempt standing up in a ward that wasn't our own for fear she would chicken out and not do it; especially after our last experience. And even though I know other wards wouldn't mind that we wasted a moment of their time, I feel like our own, home ward would be more understanding and forgiving of us because they know us.

So now back to today. After all the talking that we've done about sharing our testimonies in church and what it means to have a testimony and sharing my testimony to her countless times and practicing things we can say when she shares her testimony... the day was finally here. And I was fully prepared for her to lose her courage and not do it. I was prepared to ask everyone in the ward to very dramatically turn off their listening ears so Shasta could see them do it. And I was prepared to prompt her with her testimony and then go ahead and share mine first to be an example to her and show her how it's done. What I wasn't prepared for was for her to just jump in and do it!

Every Sunday prior to today I would ask Shasta during sacrament meeting if she wanted to go up and talk in the microphone and every time she would tell me she wanted me to do it. When I asked her today if she wanted to talk in the microphone she couldn't get up there fast enough. She took her shoes off when we first got to church so I told her she needed to put her shoes on before we could go up there and she quickly complied. Then she was eating a cracker and I told her she needed to finish it before we could go up there and she shoved the whole thing in her mouth. I told her she needed to finish chewing and swallow it and she hurried and did it and opened her mouth to show me it was gone. Finally, the person sharing their testimony finished so I told her it was our turn.

I did things a little unorthodox. Most parents, when they help their young children share their testimonies, whisper into their child's ear and their child repeats what they heard. I didn't want to do that with Shasta. And that's not how we practiced at home. I decided I wanted to ask her questions and have her answer them based on her own knowledge of the gospel to show that she really is building a small testimony of her own.

It went a little like this:

Me: "Shasta really wants to share her testimony so I'm going to ask her a few questions. Who is our prophet today?"
Shasta: ...silence...
Me: *whisper* "Thomas..."
Shasta: "S. Monson"
Me: "That's right! And what do you know about Thomas S. Monson?"
Shasta: "He leads and guides us."
Me: "Yes. And who else leads and guides us?"
Shasta: "Jesus"
Me: "Yes. And what else do you know about Jesus?"
Shasta: "He protects us."
Me: "He does protect us. Can you think of anything else you know about Jesus?"
Shasta: "He leads and guides us."
Me: "Yes, He does lead and guide us. Is He the son of God?"
Shasta: "Yes."
Me: "Who listens to and answers your prayers?"
Shasta: "Jesus"
Me: "Where do you want to get married someday?"
Shasta: "In the Temple"
Me: "And why is it so special to get married in the Temple?"
Shasta: "Because our families can be together forever."
Me: "And do you know all of these things to be true?"
Shasta: ...silence...
Me: "...yes...! I say these things..."
Shasta: "Amen"

I think that's as close to word for word as I can remember. When she was done I had her stand off to the side while I shared my testimony. And when I was done I told her it was time to go back to our seats and she was NOT happy. She wanted to talk in the microphone some more. So instead of going back to our seats we exited into the foyer and I talked to her about how we only get to talk for a few minutes and then someone else gets to take a turn. After she had a better understanding of that... and we got a drink and used the restroom... she was okay with going back and sitting in her seat with dad and Shelby.

Keep in mind that Shasta is the type of child that likes to sit back and observe what other people are doing before she tries it. She blew me away with her willingness to share her testimony. She definitely didn't get that from me! I feel so proud of her for being so brave and so willing to do it. I can only hope that part of her courage came from the way I helped prepare her and that she felt trusting of me standing there by her side... well, holding her... helping her along her way. She makes me want to be a better mom because I never want to disappoint her or keep her from becoming the best Shasta she can be. Simply put, I adore her. I'm so thankful for her example to our family and I hope I can be more like her!