I have a testimony that I am a daughter of God – that God is my Heavenly Father. I know that Heavenly Father is distinctly aware of me. I know that He loves me. I know that he cares for me.

This knowledge has always been with me – at one level or another. Throughout my life, I’ve been blessed with a great father. He has always been aware of my needs and willing to do everything that he can to help me. However, there is one aspect of our relationship that lacks, and it is our faith. I know that my father respects my religion, but I also know that he doesn’t believe it. Nor does he understand how it has motivated many of the choices I’ve made in life.

As I have gotten older, I have found that I need to rely on my Heavenly Father for this kind of confirmation. I haven’t always felt comfortable explaining that my reasoning for certain decisions have been based in the way that the Spirit has guided me. Again, I don’t fault my father for this. I understand where he is coming from – as he does not have this kind of faith, but these experiences have caused me to gain a special relationship with my Father in Heaven. I have realized that I can go to Him like a Father, and that he will always understand me. I know that He understands my worries, my faith, and my problems.

At one point in my adolescence, I was having a really hard time with my faith. I was not always making the best choices, and I was questioning everything that I had always believed in. However, I was still going to church and going through the motions required.

Around this time, I received a special calling – as a young women (assistant) camp director. When I received this calling, all of the love for my fellow young women and all of the wonderful experiences I had at camp flooded my memory. I distinctly understood that Heavenly Father knew me personally. He loved me, and He didn’t want me to doubt in Him or in the Gospel. I know now that Heavenly Father offered his troubled daughter help – through a special calling. This experience taught me that my Heavenly Father knows me and loves me.

As I’ve gotten older, I have had many other similar experiences. I have found that during times of trial or adversity, Heavenly Father has ways of letting me know, specifically, that He loves me and that He is aware of my needs, worries, and desires. I also have felt that He wants to see me happy.

I know that Heavenly Father is a perfect Father, and that He loves all of His children with a perfect love. I know that the delights in blessing us with His best blessings, and I have often been a grateful recipient of these blessings. I know that Heavenly Father is deeply interested in our causes, and that His entire existence – His entire work and glory – is based on our happiness – on our immortality and eternal life.
I’m so grateful to have this knowledge. The love that I feel from my Heavenly Father causes me to desire righteousness and increased faith. It inspires me to be loving to Him and to my spiritual brothers and sisters. The love that I feel from my Heavenly Father fills me with a sense of peace. I know that I have a Father in Heaven, and I know that He loves me.

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My name is Anna and I am a mother, wife, sister, aunt, and friend. I’ve been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints my whole life, yet I’ve had to discover and develop a faith of my own to make it through the challenging times in life and know that God is really there hearing my prayers.

My family has experienced a lot of heart-ache, growth and change that has made me search myself to know who I really am and what is most important to me. I grew up really focused on academics and thought I wanted to be a traveling career woman. I am a task-oriented person who is recovering from being a compulsive type-A personality. I met my wonderful husband in college, and three years after our marriage we had a beautiful little boy and two years later a little girl, changing my view of what is really important in life for the better.

When our son Spencer was 3 years old, he became inexplicably very ill and went through three days of hospitalization trying to figure out what was wrong. It was terrifying as we went through various tests and doctors told us about extremely high white blood cell counts and potential causes like Leukemia. We finally discovered that my son had had the worst level of vesicoureteral reflux—a widening of the ureters causing a “backwash” of urine and bacteria causing serious kidney infections and other bladder problems.

In Spencer’s urinary reflux health issues, there has not been a clear breakthrough for a cure but I’ve seen steady progress, and I see how he has received comfort and strength in small ways. His bladder is improving in that he feels like he needs to use the bathroom, which he did not sense before and he adheres to his potty break schedule every three hours with very few complaints even when it interrupts his own agenda. A few adults have told me that Spencer has told them about his surgery on his own in a way that expresses his strong faith that he will get better. He hears us pray for him as a family and afterward gives us big hugs, saying in a sincere way that melts my heart, “Thank you, I love you.” Prayer provides that comforting assurance that someone is listening and truly does care for us.

All this happened when we lived far away from family while my husband was in graduate school in New York. It was so reassuring to have a network of support through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as others helped us through the difficult times.

When Spencer’s health became stable I enjoyed taking my kids to the park and enjoyed the wide spectrum of people of all race, religion, political, and cultural backgrounds. Somehow being at the park and having children is the great uniting force for strangers. Children’s play areas have been the best place to meet new people and have interesting discussions. For example, when discussing Spencer’s recent surgery, I often found myself explaining how we pray for a good outcome and how those prayers help Spencer be at peace. One woman sincerely asked me, “Do you really think someone is listening and your prayers are heard?” And I was able to answer with a resounding, “Yes.”

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Today my husband called me with some unsettling news while I was washing the dishes. Prior to that call, my mind had already been caught up in my hefty to-do list for the week. My heart began to be troubled. There were many people to worry about and lots of things to do. I was overwhelmed.

Luckily for me, my toddler was napping and the older kids were at school. So I dried my sudsy hands off and kneeled on the rug in front of my sink. With my hands clasped and head bowed I poured my feelings out to my Heavenly Father in prayer.

I rose, blinking away a tear or two, and resumed doing the dishes. After pouring the detergent and turning the knob on the dishwasher to “normal wash,” I felt a warmth wash over me. It felt like a glow had entered into my spirit and infused my heart with peace. I felt confident that I could accomplish my tasks and a resolution to the problem my husband called about would come in time.

When I was young, ages 3 – 12, I learned a song that taught me about my relationship with my Heavenly Father. It is called I am a Child of God, with words written by Naomi Ward Randall and music by Mildred Tanner Pettit:

I am a Child of God

And He has sent me here,

Has given me an earthly home

With parents kind and dear.

Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,

Help me find the way.

Teach me all that I must do

To live with Him some day.

This song frequently comes racing to my mind in times of trouble and fear. It reminds me that I have a loving Father in Heaven who listens to and answers prayers. Just as He answered mine today.

To compliment this experience, I also wanted to share this beautiful rendition of Soy un hijo de Dios (I am a Child of God) sung by Rebecca Lopez and accompanied by Mark Goldstein.

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