MY TESTIMONY OF A PERSONAL LIVING GOD – AN INTERFAITH DISCUSSION

by: Norberto Betita

I once have a conversation with a Christian friend, a respectable lawyer, a man of intelligence and prominence, in a chat room on Face Book about my belief in a personal living God. He apprised me that he discusses with believers using the Bible as the sole authority to settle differences in understanding the personality of God. He believes in God as a Spirit Being. His purpose according to him is to somehow try to come to the unity of the knowledge as Paul states in Ephesians 4.

Expressly I told my friend that I don’t believe that the Bible is the ultimate or sole authority to settle differences in our beliefs. The translators of the Bible are not perfect. And the only perfect source of knowing the truth is from God through the Holy Ghost, “...things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God,“ (1 Cor. 2:11). “No man can say that Jesus is lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Cor. 12:3). “...by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5). But for purposes of discussion I have to focus my references on Biblical accounts.

That I may be understood of my belief in a personal God I explained to him that from the very beginning of life we were created with a body of flesh and bones in the image and likeness of God. “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27).  “... In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him...” (Genesis 5:1). “... for in the image of God made he man” (Genesis 9:6). And many other scriptures prove that we are indeed created and made in the express image and likeness of God. So that if we are representations or pictures of God, if we have a physical body of flesh and bones, God also had, and if God has a spirit, we also have.  If God is only a Spirit, he should not have been seen by many people. In Genesis 32:30, “And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Exodus 19;11, 17, “...the Lord will come down in the sight of all people upon mount Sinai....And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God.” Exodus 24:9-11, “Then went up Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel....And upon the nobles of the Children of Israel, he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.” Exodus 33:11, “And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.” The preacher in Ecclesiastes even made this clear as he preached about death, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). And there are more from the Old Testament records. In the New Testament, most are familiar with the account of Jesus’ resurrection, where it was recorded that He appeared to many of His disciples with a body of flesh and bones.

The words as recorded in Luke 24:37 say, “But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a Spirit.” They probably are kind of surprised, because a spirit could not have been seen by their natural eyes. In the account recorded by John about the same event it says, “The disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.” (John 20:19-20.)  

Though mortal, Jesus carried with Him a Divine attribute of His Father in Heaven.  He was born of a mortal woman conceived by the Holy Ghost. Luke 1:35 records, “... The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also the holy things which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” He inherited His mortal powers and weaknesses from His mortal mother, while He inherited His infinite powers from Heavenly Father. He can do all that he wanted. His disciples had witnessed several miracles performed by Him, and every time they are always surprised, because they had been walking with Him as a mortal man, and despite His teachings on the resurrection, they are still unbelieving that He could have that power. He told them, “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father” (John 10:17-18). Here Jesus explained of His death and eventual resurrection, a prophesied event, which is part of His saving mission.

The disciples of Jesus knew the scripture that is why He had to always remind them.  But like most mortals, they are unbelieving. The whole chapter of Luke 24 and those recorded in Matthew, Mark and John as regards the resurrection proves once and for all that Jesus Christ manifested Himself with a body of flesh and bones, to convince the disciples that He is indeed the Christ. When he walks at Emmaus, He went with two men and communed with them, “But their eyes were holden (restrained) that they should not know Him” (Luke 24:16). This he did only that they could not recognize him. He talked with them and even reminded them about the scriptures as regards His resurrection, “beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). He could not have done this if He was a spirit. Mary Magdalene wept because they could not find the body of Jesus. “Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and said unto Him Rabboni; which is to say Master” (John 20:16). Mary was able to immediately recognize and identify Him because His personality was the same, except that he was already the resurrected Lord. In Luke 24:36-40 it is recorded, “...Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts. Behold my hands and my feet that it is I myself: handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet.” The truth as recorded was very direct, plain and clear to every searching soul. And, the same or similar undeviating statements had been recorded perfectly by four of His trusted Apostles. Jesus appeared to his disciples again at the sea of Tiberias, still as a resurrected, glorified being with a body of flesh and bones and even eat fish and honeycomb with them. (John 21.) The statement of Jesus to Thomas was also very simple and clear, “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29). 

The appearances of Jesus Christ to His disciples were not of a mortal body, but a resurrected, purified, glorified body of flesh and bones. He died, and after three days, He was resurrected. In Acts 26:23 we read, “That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.” He showed Himself that His disciples should see the “light” of the truth of His prophesied and recorded resurrection. According to the Bible Dictionary, “Resurrection consists in the uniting of a spirit body with a body of flesh and bones, never again to be divided.”

We indeed need to search the truth, read and ponder and pray about the scriptures for in them are the riches of eternity. We are assured in John 8:32 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

I told my friend, these are only a few proofs of the living personality of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Holy Bible. More are even available through modern revelations. I bore witness that the scriptures I have laid down are true.

As a Mormon, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who believes in modern revelations, I add some scriptural proofs. In 3 Nephi 11 of the Book of Mormon Jesus showed himself to the Nephites and in verses 14-15 he invited the multitude, “Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world. And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.”

And perhaps the most captivating and persuasive proof is the appearance of Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ in these last days to a boy prophet, Joseph Smith, Jr., in answer to his prayer in the spring of 1820 in a grove of large trees, in the township of Palmyra, New York, which eventually brought about the restoration of the true Church of Christ and His Gospel. Then, the vision of the prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., and Sidney Rigdon recorded in Doctrine & Covenants 76; 22-24, “And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father--.”

These recorded scriptures are living proofs that indeed, Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ are personal beings with bodies of flesh and bones. However, as I have cited, “...things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God,“ (1 Cor. 2:11). “No man can say that Jesus is lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Cor. 12:3). “...by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5).

I told my good friend that this is only a friendly discussion of our stand on matters of our individual beliefs of the things of God. We each have our own valid reasons for believing so and generally we stand on that basis. And that as Paul has stated, we will someday come to the unity of faith.

My regular study of these scriptures for years had indeed given light and understanding on my belief of a personal living God. However, my personal testimony of the truth of the living reality of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ did not solely come from serious and diligent study, but by the power of the Holy Ghost bearing record of the truth. It is a witness that comes not by the brilliance of the mind or the intelligent understanding of recorded scriptures, but by a profound and penetrating feeling written into the tablet of the heart. Accordingly, I bear witness of these eternal truths, in the sacred name of the living Christ.

MY UNDEVIATING WISH AS A FATHER

by: Norberto Betita

I was born August 25, 1952. The days of my earthly probation is seemingly flying fast ‘upon the wings of the wind’. The highs and lows of my life in mortality remained just fleeting shadows of the past, yet served as a definite and solid anchor in my continued journey to the challenges of the present and the anxieties of the future. The battlefield of good and evil and the enduring race to eternity is not ended by my turning from a life of physical vigor and vitality to the weakening health of seniority. The Refiner’s fire seemed to even magnify as my remaining days move fast towards the final call. Thus, I plead, as David did, “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. (Psalm 57:1)

I wish I would have a score added into my life’s remaining years that alongside my contests against the faith defying postulates of the world, I shall be an example and a witness to the spiritual growth and progress of my posterity onwards to the grand and glorious promise of celestial bliss. I wish that my life will be a pattern of a repentant soul for my posterity to emulate. May God grant my long and incessant pleadings for a year or two of full-time service in His kingdom, with my dearly beloved eternal partner, my ever dearest--- Letty.

As in the years of my birthdays past, I enjoyed the greetings and best wishes from family and friends, but grand and lavish celebrations I had none, for penury and deprivations always seized the stage of my life’s drama. Hence, I thought it best to celebrate my birthdays just always as a day for the family to be gathered in love, unity and harmony. As it is, therefore, my transitional birthday from the vulnerability and exuberance of youth and the prime of maturity to the pigeon-hole of the senior citizen class would remain just an ordinary reflective day. And, perhaps a time for me to remember the psalm of Nephi, “Awake my soul, no longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O, my heart and give place no more for the enemy of my soul” (2 Nephi 22:28).

The concluding days of my 59^th year of earthly probation filled my soul with magnificent reflections of the memorable years of my life’s past.  It reminds me of the words always quoted by Pres. Thomas S. Monson, “God gave us memories that we may have June roses in the December of our lives.” And as I count the blessings which Heaven so ever generously endowed, I do have my eyes filled with tears and my heart pounding with deepest gratitude for the joyful realization of the great goodness and marvellous manifestations of God’s love and mercy for me a sinner.  While worldly wealth and abundance seemed aloof and unapproachable notwithstanding extended hands of industry and hard work, nevertheless the riches of eternity looms.  The exhaustive trials and tribulations; the crippling and painful physical afflictions; the deepening challenges of poverty and deprivations; and the rest of the tests of mortality filled my heart with gratitude for the realization that without God, I am totally nothing. But I am even most grateful to have such a feeling of hope and assurance that to Him, even the Father, I am everything.  “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). Then I should take the challenge which Wilford Woodruff wrote, “Bless your souls, if you lived here in the flesh a thousand years, as long as father Adam, and lived and labored all your life in poverty, and when you got through, if, by your acts, you could secure your wives and children in the morning of the first resurrection, to dwell with you in the presence of God, that one thing would amply pay for the labours of a thousand years.”

Therefore, in the final old age lap of my run into the race of life I would like to leave an undeviating open wish for my family.  To my most precious and ever dearest Letty, I wish your love for me, for our children and our grandchildren will forever and ever remain boundless. May the grasp of your affectionate and caring hands continue to bind our family in love, unity, harmony and peace. May your back be continually strengthened by the burdens and trials of mortality towards and enduring finish into the shores of eternity.

To my fair and precious daughters---Hazel, Lori Lynne, Kathleen Beth, Shauna Megan, and my only daughter-in-law---Analiza, I wish that as you are privileged to receive the honors of maternity, may you always take with you the light that your mother ever so patiently and enduringly carry to illuminate your pathways even into the darkest abyss of spiritual rescue. May her kind of motherhood be a beacon and inspiration in your quest for an eternal family. May you continually honor the covenants you have made to Him who dwells on high. May you always remember that families are forever and therefore all trials, all challenges, and all afflictions are worth such a promise. May you always find time to nurture and nourish each of your children with the good word of God towards a life of righteousness. May you continue to set your visions to the Holy Temple where eternity dwells. May your relationship with each of your husband be as ever strong as to withstand every wind of adversity in life. To my youngest unmarried daughter Shauna Megan, fair and beautiful, I wish you will find a worthy man who will escort you into the doors of the Temple and clasp your hands together under the new and everlasting covenant of marriage.

To my only son Robert Sherwin, and my sons-in-law, Oliver, Fraudel and Jesle, I do wish you will always take a firm stand that indeed, “...the greatest work that you will ever do, is within the walls of your own homes” (Harold B. Lee). May you always bear in mind that your wife is a priority and your family is preeminent. As you were given the greatest and holy honor of being ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood, I wish you will continually keep your oath and covenant that the blessings of eternity may await you. May you keep yourself worthy to serve in God’s Kingdom. May you preside over your family according to the patterns which the Lord has so clearly set in the scriptures.  May you always remember that, “No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned. By kindness and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy and without guile” (D & C 121:40-41). May you always take the lead as the patriarch of the home to read the scriptures daily, to do weekly family home evenings, and to daily call upon God in prayer. May the words of Daniel Webster echo:

If we work upon marbles, it will perish.

If we work upon brass, time will efface it.

If we rear a temple, it will crumble to dust.

But if we work upon men’s immortal minds,

If we imbue them with high principles,

With just fear of God and love of their fellowmen,

We engrave upon those tablets

Something which will brighten and brighten to all eternity.

I wish you all will find success in your earthly endeavours to provide for the temporal needs of your respective families. May your labours be fruitful according to the promise of obedience and godly priority.

To my lovely grandchildren, my dear little angels---KayAnn, Keeshia, Craig Kirby, Rulon Asher, Jelliene Zaferra, Travis, Cian Kenneth, and my foster daughter, Angelica, how wonderful of you to have come into my life.  I wish your childhood will be filled with joy and gladness. I wish you will always be obedient to your parents in righteousness. I wish your growing up years will be filled with light and vision for eternity. May you hold tight to the guiding hands of your parents as you trudge the narrow path to the celestial kingdom of God. May the talents which God bestowed upon you so abundantly, prosper and advance as you grow in youthful vigor and eventual maturity. May you always fill your days with gratitude for every experience of good or bad as you commune with God in prayer.

May God grant my best wishes!

MY PERSONAL TESTIMONY OF THE BOOK OF MORMON

by: Norberto Betita

I have my first encounter of The Book of Mormon thirty six (36) years ago while I was an earnest investigator of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. During my first meeting with the missionaries, I was given a soft cover copy of the book and was sincerely encouraged to read it and to ponder and pray about it, marking the challenge in Moroni 10:4-5. I was then working as a Security Guard Investigator in a Nickel Refinery situated in the Island. Being alone in my room in the Security barracks, I found more time to read the book during free hours in preparation for my next appointment with the missionaries. Before our scheduled meeting I had already read much of its pages, including those marked chapters about the visit of Jesus Christ in Ancient America. But my readings seemed to offer me only some interest on the stories and accounts written in the book. During our meeting, I was reminded by the missionaries about the challenge, and I felt sorry to tell them that I have not as yet given attention to it.

I was born a Catholic and I only knew memorized prayers. Never did I have any experience of offering a personal prayer to the Lord. I have been reading the Bible I found abandoned in the shelf of my elder brother since I was in high school. Since then I raised so many questions about my own belief. The Ten Commandments seemed to have taught me that there is something wrong with what I believe, particularly about the worship of graven images. Hence, I started to refuse to attend Catholic masses and just go to church on occasion at early dawn to pray directly to the Lord using the memorized Lord’s Prayer.  Then here comes the missionaries telling me to offer a personal prayer and to talk to God and ask Him the question whether the Book of Mormon is true. I thought it was ridiculous, yet I continued to read the Book of Mormon and sincerely kept my appointments.

In weeks I read and studied the Book of Mormon continually and I begun to pick up religious doctrines that seemed to correspond to the doctrinal knowledge I learned from reading the Bible. My wondering mind taught me that the book could not have been written by the adversary and his cohorts. In the depths of my mind I started to think that this must have been a message from God to humankind. Throughout our succeeding meetings, I have been compelled by the missionaries to offer a special prayer personally and to ask Heavenly Father if what they have been teaching to my family are true, and I did, though perhaps not so sincerely.  Even with their compelling promise, I did never as yet tried to pray personally while on my own.

At the conclusion of my reading of The Book of Mormon, the last chapter of Moroni, I noted the marked verses again. After reading the last verse, I went back and reread the challenge: “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.” (Moroni 10:4-5).

I thought deeply of the challenge and my study and readings of the book. My mind reaffirmed my understanding that the contents of the book must have come from God. But the challenge was exhorting me to pray for confirmation of the truth through the manifestation of the Holy Ghost. Never have I known then about manifestations of the Spirit, except that I was told by the missionaries that I would have a burning feeling in my bosom. Nevertheless I submitted myself to the challenge and in the serenity of my barracks room, I prayed to Heavenly Father in earnestness and with best intentions to know whether The Book of Mormon is true. I waited for days for the manifestation of the Spirit to come, but I never have any such burning feeling. Until at our next appointment, I was again asked by the missionaries the same question whether I believe The Book of Mormon is true. And for the first time in my life, with tears in my eyes and in stuttered expressions of most sincere pronouncements and heart pounding with joy, I bore a solemn testimony and witness to the missionaries, that I know that The Book of Mormon is true. That it taught me things which are beyond my mind to comprehend, but which my heart so clearly and undoubtedly understood. I was then challenged for baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which I readily accepted. On the early morning of February 12, 1977, I and my beloved wife walked into the waist deep sea water at a Beach in Surigao City, Philippines and were baptized.

Since then and during those 36 years of membership, I have continually borne my personal undeviating and unshakable testimony and witness that The Book of Mormon is indeed true. It has influenced my personal and family life for good. It has taught me principles which have guided me through my journey in mortality. My continued study of the Book had led me then and now to understand the purpose and meaning of life, the wondrous and convincing promise attendant to the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious resurrection and glory in Heavenly Father’s Kingdom.

As it is indicated in its title page, “The Book of Mormon” is “Another Testament of Jesus Christ”. I bear testimony that it is true by the power of the Holy Ghost. I encourage every honest reader of the Book of Mormon to know for himself or herself by accepting the challenge as recorded in Moroni 10:4-5. I know the Lord will manifest the truth of this marvelous book to every honest searching soul.  

THE HEALING POWER OF THE ATONEMENT

by: Norberto Betita

In my long and almost uninterrupted service I had been a witness of sincere expressions of unwavering and genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Philippines.  I knew that life has not been very good to many of them, but they have the willingness and desire to sacrifice their time, talents and means to build the Kingdom of God. 

Many of those who are experiencing critical and difficult times of life understood that in all their days in mortality they will pass the refining tests that will strengthen them in their journey to eternity. They learned that adversity is a friend which points to the way of joy and happiness.

Pres. Henry B. Eyring has said, “I encouraged those who are in the midst of hard trials, those who feel their faith is fading under the onslaught of troubles. Trouble itself can be your way to strengthen and finally gain unshakable faith.”

Indeed, those who have learned to squarely face the crucible of hardships; climb the highest mountains of difficulties and prevail over the deepening valleys of sorrows and gloom did increase in faith and hope for the wondrous blessings of eternity. Their love of God expands even beyond all the pains of afflictions; the rivers of physical and mental anguish of soul and the increasing storm of disappointments. In their adversity they see even most clearly the beautiful rainbow that decorates the path of their journey to the highest heavens. They develop the faith necessary for exaltation high above the glory of the Celestial world.

As Latter-Day Saints, we are taught that we can never escape trials and tribulations. It may at times be even difficult to understand why we suffer more despite our obedience, while those who chose to wallow in the vanities of the world seems to experience only a few. Then somehow, rather than strengthening our understanding and testimony of the divine purpose of adversity, we cross the line between good and evil and join the march of humanity into the forbidden path.

Elder Glenn L. Pace wrote, “The greatest protection against the perils of the last days is obedience. However, in spite of our obedience, trials and tribulations will come our way. These are not always for the punishment of the wicked, but often for the sanctification of the righteous.”

The scripture is replete with accounts where the gloom of sufferings precedes the calm and comforting assurance of a brighter day. One such clear example was that of Alma in the Book of Mormon. While he was preaching in the land of Ammonihah, he was reviled, spit upon and cast out of their city. But on his journey towards the City of Aaron, “...being weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul, because of the wickedness of the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, ...behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him, saying: Blessed art thou, Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great cause to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God... (Alma 8:13-15).” Hence, if we are totally obedient, we have every reason to be joyful even in the midst of adversity and trials.  

I am no stranger to adversity. I have a lot of them from infancy even unto this final stretch and sunset of my life. I had been through all the agony and grief of poverty and deprivations, and the devastating assaults of hard times since then and now. My mortality road seemed to have been devoid of ease and comfort. The way is generally rough and steep.  Yet I know that the Lord, for a wise purpose, did not provide an imperial avenue in the main thoroughfare towards the celestial shores. He did not provide us with easy mine of gold and silver. And so in my deepest and most painful sufferings I had come to understand better God’s penetrating and comforting promise: “My son, peace be unto thy soul. Thine adversity and thine affliction shall be but a small moment. And if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high...” (D & C 121:7-8). As I battle with my personal goliaths, I came to realize and better comprehend that indeed, “The Son of Man hath descended below them all...” (D & C 122: 8.)

Therefore, we are not alone in all our sufferings. While we are brought down into the valley of all adversity, temptation and sin, the Lord, even Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer experienced even the worst of it all. Stephen E. Robinson explained in his book Believing Christ: “According to the scriptures, he knows more of the dark side than any of us. In fact, he knows more about pain, grief, loneliness, contradiction, shame, rejection, betrayal, anguish, depression, and guilt than all of us combined. For in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the hill of Calvary, Jesus took upon himself the sins and pains of all the world. Jesus Christ did not just assume the punishment for our sins---He took the guilt as well. The sin, the experience itself with all its negative consequences and ramifications, and not just the penalty of sin, became his. This is a crucial distinction. In the Atonement, Jesus not just suffers our punishment for us, he becomes the guilty party in our place---he becomes guilty for us and experiences our guilt.

“In Christ there is a real transfer of guilt for innocence.”

“All the negative aspects of human existence brought about by the fall, Jesus Christ absorbed into himself. He experiences vicariously in Gethsemane all the private griefs and heartaches, all the physical pains and handicaps, all the emotional burdens and depressions of the human family. He knows the loneliness of those who don’t fit in or who aren’t handsome or pretty... He knows the anguish of parents whose children go wrong. He knows the private hell of the abused child or spouse. He knows all these things personally and intimately because he lived them in the Gethsemane experience. Having personally lived a perfect life, he then chose to experience our imperfect lives. In that infinite Gethsemane experience, the meridian of time, the center of eternity, he lived a billion billion lifetimes of sin, pain, disease and sorrow.” (Stephen E. Robinson, Believing Christ, pp. 116-123).

And so, we have a hope in Christ, we have the assurance that He can carry us even from the depths of our sinfulness, of our infirmities, of our problems, of our sorrows, of our sicknesses. His reassuring promise and commitment rings as ever into our ears as he declared: “For behold, I, God have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent, but if they would not repent, they would suffer even as I. Which suffering caused myself even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit and would that I might not drink the bitter cup and shrink. But glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.” (D & C 19:16-19).

Repentance, obedience, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are necessary so that the effects of His infinite sacrifice may be manifested in our lives. Even as he suffered for us, He gives us the agency to choose whether unto death or unto life, or unto salvation or unto destruction. He, however, continued to remind us that no unclean thing can enter into the Kingdom of the Father, and explained through His prophets the consequences of our choices. The prophet Alma of the Book of Mormon explaining to his son Corianton in connection with the “...state of the soul between death and the resurrection...” declared, “And then shall it come to pass that the Spirit of those who are righteous are received in a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care and sorrow. And then, shall it come to pass that the spirit of the wicked, yea, who are evil, for they have no part nor portion of the spirit of the Lord, for they choose to do evil works rather than good, therefore, the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house, and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, this because of their own inequity, being led captive by the will of the devil. And now this is the state of the wicked souls, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them. Thus, they remain in that state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection.” (Alma 40:11-14).

And at the time of the resurrection the Lord promised: “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:6) “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Revelation 21:4.) “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God and he shall be my son.” (Revelation 21:7)   

To the wicked He echoes His clear warning, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8) “...And (together with the devil) shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10)

As a long time student of the gospel I found these scriptural passages and many others as equitable and balanced warning of the sure consequences of our choices. While we have the freedom to choose for ourselves, yet we are as ever taught to use such agency to choose the right, for other than that is eternal bondage. Of course, “... all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) And in fact John emphasized and clarified it even better as he wrote: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him (Jesus Christ) a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8, 10) But here is the healing promise, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)  However, many still refuse to accept the wondrous offer to repent and be cleansed and instead walk on the broad and expansive way towards captivity and death.

Pres. Thomas S. Monson said, “We live far below our divine possibilities. Some become confused by materialism, entangled by sin, and lost among the passing parade of humanity.”

Yet still, the condition of the Lord’s infinite atonement ever remains, giving us every chance and opportunity to renew our covenant relationship through repentance. The Atonement of Jesus Christ not only saves us from the guilt and remorse of conscience resulting from our sinfulness, but it also gives us the power to relieve us from the pains of trials and adversities that are necessary for our refinement. Stephen E. Robinson wrote, “No matter how lost we get, Jesus Christ, the way back, the door home, is always at our elbow.” The Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ can be our daily source of power as we battle with our anguish, our grief, and our miseries. It is a healing balm that is ever available for all.

MY CONVERSION STORY – A CHOICE OF ETERNAL WORTH

by: Norberto Betita

I was born and raised a Roman Catholic-Christian. My parents are devout and have always encouraged us to attend church. When I was in high school I lived in a cottage where my elder brother resides. Years later I found a dusty Holy Bible on a shelf---a gift from a friend of my brother. That was my first encounter with the Holy Scriptures. Early in my readings I found several inconsistencies in our beliefs, which prompted me to read, study and ponder more. Through the years, I learned to love reading from the scriptures even memorizing some of the verses.

When I found a job as a security guard in a large nickel refinery in the islands, I carried with me the same Bible and took time to read from it during off hours and even during my tour of duty in remote areas in the mining site. Since then I became more aware of the many truths which were never taught in my church. I found that even the Ten Commandments which I memorized as a requirement for my first communion seemed to have some contradictions.

I since yearned to investigate other churches to find the truth but I found no time, until the opportunity was brought right at my door when American Mormon missionaries came and offered the message of salvation and family happiness. I and my wife were taught the gospel and so became earnest investigators. We both found the teachings to be true by inspiration from the Holy Ghost and thus submitted for baptism on February 12, 1977.

The challenges of joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints came early when my parents upon knowing that I was baptized into the church reprimanded me for so deciding to leave the faith of my birth without their permission. I explained to them that I am old enough to know and I do feel that I am on the right direction.

My job as an investigator in the security department of the large Nickel Refinery in the islands required that I should be on duty every Sunday, at which time more strife were taking place within the company premises as a result of drunkenness from among the hundreds of employees on day off. This deprived me of the privilege to worship on Sunday with my family. I was told my only choice was to leave my job. The choice was crucial considering that my salary then was more than enough to support my family of three. However, with my wife’s affirmation, I eventually decided to join my family in the mainland and worked as a wage earning security guard in a government corporation with very minimal pay. That was a very tough shift, especially as regards meeting family needs. Yet I find real joy and happiness living with my family and having the opportunity to be able to attend worship services with them each Sunday.

Our collective faith, hope and courage as husband and wife allowed us to endure the mounting challenges of providing for our fundamental needs. With our combined meager income and inspired by the counsels of Prophets and Apostles on the value of education, I and my wife decided that I go back to college. We believed that such will eventually provide keys to open doors of opportunities in preparation for the future of our family. I did enroll for a college degree and in so doing greater difficulties became an almost insurmountable plight. But I eventually finished a degree in Banking and Finance. I was also blessed to pass government civil service eligibilities both for non-professional and professional careers. With such achievement, I was appointed as storekeeper and recommended for a permanent government position. Such should have been a boost. However, a test of honesty and integrity came right on my table before the appointment was approved. I was made to sign a government voucher in which the expenses were spent for personal use. I refused with the thought that I have sacrificed much to prove my worth as a “Mormon”, and I choose not to be corrupted. I resigned to live a simple “Mormon” way of life.

For months I was without a regular job and depended on the meager income of my wife. We already have two children. I took odd jobs, but income was very negligible. I had the chance of having passed Bank examinations for employment. In one I was declined due to age---discrimination most common in the Philippines. My remaining chance was with a government bank. While waiting for my employment, a member friend offered to train me in commercial vegetable gardening, and on a vacant lot of approximately 200 square meters, I was able to help provide for our needs until my appointment with the Philippine National Bank came. My first assignment was in a town where there was no organized branch of the church. Although we do not have work on Saturday and Sunday, yet the travel required eleven hours. If I went home Saturday to attend church on Sunday, I will have to go on a leave of absence from work on Monday. But I made it sure that at least I would be able to attend worship once in a month with my family. Good that my request for transfer was approved a year and a half later.

I consider all the challenges and adversities I encountered after my baptism as part of my conversion process. My deeper understanding and testimony of the Atonement has given me daily power to overcome the tests of difficulties, sorrows and despairs, disappointments and failures in my life. My increasing faith in a living God and His promised grace and mercy provided me with a continuing desire to hold fast to the gospel and endure my mortal journey.

In the church, I have to take every opportunity of service. I was ordained to the Holy Priesthood, as a deacon, teacher, priest, elder and much later as a high priest. I always have the opportunity to pass, prepare, and bless the Sacrament. In such sacred responsibilities, I learned even more to respect the Priesthood I hold. In the branch, district and stake organizations, I served in different capacities. I was called three times as Branch President, three times as counselor to the District Presidency, and as a counselor in the Stake presidency. I was also called to serve as counselor to two Mission Presidents of the Butuan Philippines Mission. I was in the Elder’s quorum presidency, a Branch Mission Leader, a counsellor in the Branch Presidency, Sunday School President and others. In all these responsibilities, I felt the hand of the Lord helping me through.

Once as a new convert, I was called to be a teacher of the Sunday School Gospel Doctrine class, replacing a prominent lawyer. I did not have any teaching experience. I am just a young father with two years of college education. To sit in the class are professional teachers some with master’s degrees, a lawyer, doctors, an accountant, a radio commentator and other professionals. I should not have accepted the call, but the branch president promised that I would be assisted. I was set apart, and rather than worry about my inadequacies and fears, I sought God’s help and prepared my lessons more diligently. Indeed, God qualified me through the Holy Ghost and I learned the Doctrines of the Church more than ever, which eventually prompted me to teach Seminary and Institute classes and to serve in other capacities, and even motivated me later to earn a master's degree in Business Administration. 

Despite our very difficult circumstances, we traveled to Manila for our Temple ordinances, selling some of the most treasured possessions we have. We contemplated that those materially prized possessions do not even amount to anything when compared to the wonderful promise of eternal life with our family in the Celestial mansions prepared for the righteous.   

Through the years I have come to a continued and increased understanding of the eternal worth of my decision to be baptized more than 39 years ago. While trials and adversities barred me from attaining temporal growth and progress, yet it endowed me with increased faith in and testimony of a living God and the joy of living the “Mormon” way of life.

I am now on the quite lane along the road to ageing, walking with faith in every footstep of my life’s mortal race. As I look back to the most challenging past, I came to realize that all the winds of adversity, the shadows of uncertainties, the dark valleys of sorrow, the pains of afflictions, and the wrestle with deprivations are but steps to an ascending pathway to Heaven. The process of my conversion is still ongoing and in progress, until perhaps at the time of my final call, when the grave will become my mansion. But I am full of hope in the promise that “...God shall wipe away all tears from [my] eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Revelations 21:4) And, as I commit myself to the covenants and promises I have made with the Lord then will I finally see beyond the darkened clouds of the horizon the illuminated peaks which give hope and sure witness of the eternal worth of my conversion.

My View on the Eternal Nature of Marriage and Family

by: Norberto Betita

At the Manila Philippines Temple - December 13, 1986

There is and will always be a great difference of the world’s views and the Lord’s doctrines of marriage and family. Logic and reason could not fully explain, nor could it lead us to some conclusive evidences that would prove the eternal truths of God, beyond reasonable doubts. It is by the Spirit that we obtain a desire to believe. And after we obtained a hope in Christ, then we shall understand and know the truths of God if we seek them by study and also by faith.

As a Mormon, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and in my limited mental capacity, I made an experiment on the words of God, and by the power of the Holy Ghost, I have come to know the truth of this doctrine on marriage and family, and many other truths that I desired to know.

I thought that even if I will have to live a hundred or a thousand years of a poverty stricken life on earth, living and obeying the commandments of God, and performing all the necessary ordinances required for exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom of God, that I would so willingly do according to the limits of my human nature. At least I have one sure hope for an everlasting life and happiness with my loved ones. I have all to gain and nothing to loss, for if these things do not exist, I would be like the rest of humanity. But if these truths do exist, and I believe by the power of the Holy Ghost that these do exist, then together with my family and all those who share in my belief, we will have the opportunity to live with God in His eternal sphere of existence.

Early in life, even before I married, I treasured the words in Matthew 19:5-6, “For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife and they two shall be one flesh. Wherefore they are no more twain but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” My understanding of these verses was perhaps similar to the many logical beliefs, that no divorce, annulment or whatever processes should separate a man and a woman under covenant to live for better or for worse till death do they part. In my marriage, I carried the same conviction and promised to be true to my wife until death would separate us. However, as I become converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and grow in maturity and spiritual progress, I came to a deeper and clearer understanding of the doctrine of the eternal nature of marriage and family. I understood that marriages and family relationships are intended to last forever, that even death never have power to separate a man and a woman and their children who loved each other and bound by an eternal covenant performed by the sealing power of the Holy Priesthood of God in His Holy House.

‘Many people consider marriage only to be a social custom, a legal agreement between a man and a woman to live together’ for life. But I believe that ‘marriage is the most sacred relationship that can exist between a man and a woman, and affects our happiness now and in the eternities’ (Gospel Principles Chapter 28). This knowledge even added my love and faithfulness to my wife and family.

John the Beloved said, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it know him not. Beloved now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him: for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1 John 3:1-3)

At the Cebu Philippines Temple

If we are God’s sons and daughters as has been described many times in the canon of scriptures, and by our faith and works are purified through the atonement of Jesus Christ, receiving the sanctifying ordinances of salvation in His Holy House, therefore we are heirs of all that the Father has, even His powers, dominions and kingdom. And, as has been promised to Abraham, our seeds will continue forever and ever.

This knowledge of the revealed truths of God motivates me to place my wife and family in highest veneration and make them my utmost priority.

When I knelt at the holy altar at the sealing room of the Manila Philippines Temple with my wife and Children, I was filled with excitement being in the House of the Lord for the first time.  In such a hallowed setting my wife and I were again pronounced as husband and wife, no longer till death, but for time and all eternity, and our children sealed to us forever by an ordinance of the Holy Priesthood. Then as we stood together between the mirrors of eternity in that holy room after the sealing ordinance for our family, I saw the unbroken and unending reflections of our most happy glowing faces, notwithstanding tear-filled eyes. It was in such a most solemn moment in our family life that I understood best the meaning of the eternal nature of marriage and family more than any words or phrase could explain. My thoughts did go beyond the bounds of mortality to the glorious promise of eternity for me and my family to be united together to live forever and ever.