This written testimony, obviously from a child, was found in my chapel during a regular cleaning. No one knows who it belongs to or what prompted it to be written.

It's sweet, but is it sincere? There is no way to know.

It made me reflect on my own early testimony bearing in fast and testimony meeting when I was just a little tyke and witnessed other kids do the same.

Was I sincere? In a way I was. I have heard other people say that their testimony as a child was just as strong and sincere then as it was when they were older.

I believed with a simple childlike faith. Also, bearing it and doing what the adults did was an exciting novelty.

Did I fully understand what I was doing? Probably not. I was under eight years old. My father did try to help me fully understand all the implications. He tried to turn it into a learning opportunity.

This guidance is from the Handbook 29.2.2:

Young children are welcome to bear testimony in fast and testimony meeting. It may be best for them to learn to do so at home until they can bear testimony without help from others.

It was a lot easier to bear my testimony in church when I was older since I had done so when I was younger. Walking up to the podium and speaking into the microphone held no terrors for me. I'd done it before.

There are good reasons to allow children to bear their testimonies. I wish the author of this little testimony had wanted to keep it. Simple, sincere faith should be preserved.

Too many of us lose the childlike faith we had when we were young.

We would do well to try and regain it.


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