Fast and Testimony Meeting

Fast and testimony meetings at church can be some of the best experiences or some of the most boring and repetitive experiences.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we hold a fast and testimony meeting every month, generally the first Sunday of each month. That means the members fast for 24 hours or two meals, but during Sacrament meeting is the chance for members to bear their testimony about the church.

The fasting part is up to each individual member. It seems like it usually ends up something like this picture though at most homes.

Picture from ldssmile.com.

That's how it always seemed when I was younger at least. I'd wake up and no one was in the kitchen, so I'd grab something quick to eat before getting ready and someone would come in and say, "It's fast Sunday." I'm pretty sure this is how I always looked.

Testimony meeting is with everyone in the ward. Testimonies can be anywhere from absolutely incredible, or super dull and just people telling stories.

Picture from pinterest.com.

Yesterday happened to be one of these testimony meetings. For me, I thought it was great. I am part of a singles ward, and these wards seem to be much better at testimonies than most other wards. We had short, heartfelt testimonies, which helped speed the time along and kept the Spirit in the meeting.

I was especially impressed with a recent convert that got up and spoke about a lot of different things, but he said, "I don't understand how we get up here and say, 'I'd like to bear my testimony.' We can't bear our full testimony in just a few minutes, so I like to say, 'I'd like to bear part of my testimony.'"

I thought that was pretty amazing. We always say it the first way because it is traditionally said that way, but he makes a good point. I don't think most members could bear their entire testimony in the entire hour meeting.

Picture from ldssmile.com.

Before Kaylee and I were at the singles ward, we were in a married ward, which was great also. We would play a game every Testimony meeting, which was mostly my way to attempt to get Kaylee to bear her testimony. We would both choose a person in the ward, and if that person got up, then we would also get up.

I'm not saying that bearing your testimony should be a game, but I am saying that some people have testimonies that are amazing that don't ever get up, so this is an unbiased way of doing that.

It happened to me once. I picked someone, and they got up at the very end of the meeting, so the next month I was one of the first ones up to bear my testimony. The game only works if you pick someone different every month.