Open Mike day

[Archaea]

Today, toward the end of the open mike Sunday, William a newish, about four to five years, member stood up. He's in his late fifties to early sixties, African American, and married to Gladys.

He gave a very refreshing testimony regarding the gift of testimony and what we do with it. He said, believing Joseph Smith was a prophet is nice and all, but what do we do with it. He had this fresh enthusiasm, as if he were a child. He stated there are times when he doesn't feel the freshness, the excitement that he might have felt in the baptist faith, but then he realized, it was his responsibility to live his faith to the fullest. He was purely responsible for his faith, his belief and he owed his family the debt of faith.

I'm not conveying this very well, but you could feel his presence and his desire to live better by virtue of his testimony.

Immediately following him, a sister of indeterminate origin stated, "I'm really glad William stood up, because a mother of a half-black child, when I first joined I felt as if this Church were only for whites. I felt alone, but the Spirit blessed me to have a testimony. That doesn't mean I don't need to feel included because I do...."