I know

Once upon a time, in a city known for it's moral filth and sin, I went to school.

It was just a normal school day. I sat next to a girl named Cydney whom I hadn't met. After a few moments of chatting, she asked, "You're Mormon, aren't you?" Confused, I said that I was, and searched my clothing for whatever clue had given me away. After making sure that I wasn't wearing any of my BYU apparel, I asked how she knew.

"You just have that Mormon Glow! You're so happy!"

And this was the start of a friendship.

Over the next year, we spent a lot of time in that class together. She teased me in a friendly way about little things that LDS people do, and I just smiled and accepted it. I soon learned that the happy "Glow" that Mormons had frightened her a little, so I tried not to push any unwanted religion in her direction.

We battled through books about Utopian Societies and devoured books full of religious symbols. We braved the dark abyss of research papers, and giggled through the wacky tales of our adorable Idahoan teacher. We laughed at Robbie and Garret's ridiculous stories, sang happy birthday in Swedish, and cried as we watched Pixar's "Up". We cherished every amazing moment of Modern Literature Honors.

Just a few months ago, we went on a trip to the mall. We met a cute guy working in an Art store, and stalked him the rest of the day. By the end of mall trip, we each had his number in our phones. Little did we know that this witty art store employee would make such an impact on our lives.

Cydney and I had our struggles for the next while. She listened as I worried about millions of pointless things and gave me advice. I tried my best at listening and helping where I could with her life too.

One night, not long ago, as I was picking up my brothers from Mutual, Sister Moser caught me. She said hello, handed me a Book of Mormon, and told me of the challenge that she had given to the young women to give it to someone. I gladly accepted the Challenge, and for some reason, Cydney's face immediately came to mind.

I don't remember the events that led us there, but a few days later, I sat next to Cydney at a basketball game. She noticed that there seemed to be a good selection of attractive males in the vicinity, and I mentioned that there was an even better selection at singles ward, and invited her to go with me. She accepted.

Both me and my mom wrote our testimonies in the Book of Mormon that sister Moser had given me, and I headed off to Cydney's to take her to Single's ward for the first time. I was almost to her house when she realized what was going on: I was trying to convert her. She called me out on my sneakiness, but laughed it off.

I briefed her on what was going to happen during sacrament meeting, and warned her that the ones with name tags were off limits and that she shouldn't flirt with them. She laughed again, but agreed not to flirt with them. 

We sat together through a wonderful sacrament meeting. During one of the talks, the brother speaking mentioned that "Fear is anti-faith". Cydney caught on to this and really seemed to like that phrase.

After the meeting, she abruptly turned around to the closest men with name tags and introduced herself. "Hi! I'm Cydney, and I'm not a Mormon!"

Of course, upon hearing this, the Elders whipped out their planners. "Tomorrow. What are you doing Tomorrow?" Elder Husted asked.

Cydney, not knowing what was going on, was very confused. "Wait..." She said, "You're coming over to my house?"

After Cydney finally figured out what was going on, we made plans to meet at my house a few days later.

Elder Foust and Elder Swinkles showed up for the first lesson. She had a lot of questions, and many of her ideas of what the church was about were cleared up and set straight. She liked our beliefs concerning the Plan of Salvation, and was happy to read the reading assignment. She agreed to meet with them again.

I believe that in the beginning, her intentions were just to educate herself on the religion. She's really bright and open-minded, but she definitely wanted to expose herself to many religions. Get a taste of what was out there. And hey, who better to ask questions about the LDS faith to than an LDS missionary?

She stayed friends with the boy from the Art store, and Cydney, being the great person that she is, listened to him. He was definitely going through some huge struggles of his own, and as Cydney learned about the Gospel, she began to pray for him.

During the second lesson, as Elder Foust and Elder Husted spoke, Cydney mentioned that she suddenly felt like she was going to cry... but in a happy way. I struggled to keep back tears as I realized that my friend had just felt the spirit. She liked the feeling, but still seemed a bit skeptical about the church.

During the third lesson, we had completely different missionaries. Elder Milcareck challenged her to get baptized, and she said that she wasn't ready to make that kind of commitment. I was terrified that a decision that big, that soon, would scare her off. 

Fourth Lesson, Elder Husted and Elder Milcareck returned. They told her that they had been praying, and they thought she could be baptized as soon as April 9th. I was shocked! So soon! April 9th? I knew for sure that this would scare her away.

It didn't.

We met with them again, and Cydney told them that April 9th was far too soon. They said they understood. Cydney expressed her concern about her mother's acceptance of her exploring other religions. She didn't want to push her mother away by making a decision like that. She said that it was fear holding her back. She wasn't open enough to receive an answer or to make a decision like that. They made plans to meet with her again.

Elder Smith came with Elder Husted the next time. Cydney and I had just BARELY read through the reading assignment, and she mentioned that a particular verse had popped out at her.

3rd Nephi 27:28

"And now I go unto the Father. And verily I say unto you, whatsoever things ye shall ask the Father in my name shall be given unto you."

She said she'd felt something when she read it. Elder Smith and Elder Husted said that she could turn to the Lord for help and ask him to soften her mother's heart towards the gospel.

While I was at work, I received a text from her that said, "Tell the missionaries i'm gettig baptized on April 9th." I told her that she could tell them in person the next day, but that I was extremely happy for her!

During the middle of the night, something amazing happened.

Around two in the morning, I received another text. This one read:
"Toni, I am busting from the seams! I am crying and happy and spilling over from this truly amazing feeling! If you could be here to share this with me, Oh my gosh! I love you, Toni! God loves you! Jesus loves you! Thank you for bringing your faith into my life! It's the greatest gift anyone has ever given me! :)"

She said that she had never been so sure of anything in her life, and that she was completely solidified in this decision. She couldn't wait for our missionary discussion that afternoon so that she could share her good news with all of us.

Cydney was nearly leaping through the ceiling as she told us of her experience. She'd been praying for her struggling friend, and wanted to know that he was okay since she hadn't heard any news, good or bad from him in days. As she'd read through the scripture that had been so powerful to her earlier that day, she'd gotten down and prayed. But this time, she REALLY prayed.

During the middle of the night, something had prompted her to wake up. In her inbox was a simple message of thankfulness and love from the friend. His condition had been improving, and the thoughtful messages she'd been sending his way had made a difference. She then bore her testimony of prayer, and that she knew of Heavenly Father's love, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was True, and that Joseph Smith was a Prophet. And she was getting baptized on April 9th!

The spirit in that room was so strong as she shared this with us, I just wanted to jump and sing.

As Cydney spoke about her new Testimony of the Gospel, she said this,
"At the beginning, it was off putting when everyone kept saying 'I know' 'I know', but I didn't understand how you knew! How COULD you know for sure? But now... I know! I know it's true! I just know!"  


My friends, I want to share this with you. I know too. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true, and I know that you too can have this knowledge if you just ask for it. Through this experience with Cydney, my testimony has been strengthened. Heavenly Father love each of us, and hears and answers every single one of our prayers. I KNOW that Christ is the Son of God and that he is my Savior and Redeemer. I know these things to be true.

 I just know.