More on memory...

Memory is something that we almost never think of, but readily use it every single moment of our lives!

I suppose there in the inherent memory of how to keep our body functioning that seems almost completely unconscious (NOT subconscious, mind you, but UNconscious...)--breathing, circulating blood, how to see with our eyes, etc. Then there is the memory that we think of, which is conscious, like memories, mental organizing calendars/priorities/goals/etc.

I had a very, very interesting conversation with a woman that was in my ward when Stephanie and I were married (Aspen 1st ward) about a case of amnesia that a girl that she knows had after an accident, but when the amnesia went away, she had decided during the time when she couldn't remember things, that the Church wasn't true. Essentially, she had a strong testimony-was in an accident and had amnesia-regained her memory but fell completely away from the Church!

My friend was asking me about it and wondered why I did not lose MY testimony after my accident, yet she had...

I took a moment to think about it and then told her that I understood her story suggested was:

1- Our testimony is closely related to the influence(s) of the Holy Ghost (as I've written about in prior blogs),
2- During the time of amnesia she had lost her memories of the Gospel, etc.,
3- When she started recovering her memories, she didn't have the promptings and confirmation of the Holy Ghost confirming what she had previously known as being true actually WAS true, and
4- Because she felt like what she was feeling (the promptings of the truthfulness) or being told was not being confirmed against what little she could remember, she discounted and disbelieved it all...

In short, her physical loss of memory (which would have told her that she already believed what she was having people try and remind her of...) led to her trying to confirm with her mind the thoughts that were being supplied about the truthfulness of the Gospel, but without her memories she was left as a brand-new investigator--having to accept the Gospel with no prior experiences to judge it from, and it was her over-critical brain that decided to discount the hard-to-believe truths that were being presented to her...

My explanation for why I didn't experience the same effects was that I, fortunately, never was without a memory of the Church or of the Truth and, therefore never had to be treated as a brand-new-potential-convert as her friend will have to...

We are all given different trials in our lives which will all lead us back to our God and we will receive the Glory according to how we fare in our life and choices and trials!

I am eternally grateful that I did not have that sort of trial and that I have always known that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was the only true and living church on the face of the earth in these days and that I am glad to be one of its priesthood holders!

JPS