I come from a promised land, a province flowing with oil and money, and a raging economy that is bound to crumble and crash any day now!!!

Calgary, Alberta

I’ve been in wards where men bear testimony less frequently, but I’ve also been in wards where it is a more common occurrence. Last testimony meeting in our ward, the first six or eight testimonies were from men (elders, not high priests). It was getting a little obvious that we were on a roll, so I leaned over and suggested to my wife that she provide some variation. As she got up a couple others sisters did as well, then some children, but we were far from lacking participation from the men.

Men bear their testimonies frequently in our ward, and we’re in a very transient ward, so I don’t suppose it’s a localized phenomenon.

Is there a parallel here to the Bloggernacle? We’ve had recent discussions about some people feeling “edged out” of participation in some comment threads. It seems that our online community has its own orthodoxy, even in the absence of formalized correlation. (It seems that a distaste for correlation seems to be part of this orthodoxy.) I wonder if the same sort of dynamic is at work in both forums with differing results.

JM,

The times I’ve heard of a whole congregation doing that are during a Zone conference or some other missionary meeting. I’m just telling you what I’ve been told by others. I have no experience like that myself.

Bookslinger,

Great insightful example. That’s kinda what I was trying to get at in that I usually bear my testimony when growth has occurred around a specific principle. I’ll usually share the experiences that led to that growth in chronological order. You seem to have done the same concerning miracles. That’s lovely.

They’re probably just not inspired to come up to canada that often.

I have a hard time believing that any priesthood leader would be inspired to have everyone in a congregation get up and share their testimony. But hey… anything is possible.

And if a GA was inspired to have everyone share their testimonies in one particular meeting, and you weren’t there, I wonder why you’re so offended that it happened –or that it could happen.

You don’t have to be rude.

Oh, one other thing. The Spencer W. Kimball Manual says on page 71-2 says we can’t go 3,6,9, or 12 months of not bearing our testimony without losing some of its full value.

So, I guess the only acceptable testimony is the one we give in sacrament meeting? And I guess the quiet, private testimony I give over lunch while having a gospel discussion with a co-worker doesn’t count either?

Guess I’ll go tell my kids that the ones we do in FHE don’t count anymore.

I’ve heard many people say that the most powerful/spiritual testimony meetings they’ve been to was when a GA made everyone bare one–meaning there was little time to say anything but testify of the basic truths of the gospel.

Man, why can’t I ever be in one of those meetings? I’d like to see him “Make me” get up. Who knows, it might lead to a brief sermon on the principle of free agency and how to enforce it…

I concur that “thankimonies” and airing laundry are not within the GA’s stated guidelines. But I think actual “spiritual experiences” are part of a legitimate testimony, even if the experience is totally internal, such as reading or praying.

The Lord basically said “To do is to know” in John 7:17. Therefore actions (events) can be closely tied to testimony.