What does a personal relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus mean to me?

This is hard to write about because it is hard to put into words.

I know that God our Father is literally the Father of my spirit and the Jesus Christ is literally the brother of my spirit. They know me personally by name. They know about my family, my life, and the challenges that I and my family face. They love me in spite of my imperfections. They know me better than I know myself.

So the remaining challenge is, how do I get to know them? This is the task of mortal man - a most serious and important task, since "this is life eternal, to know thee, the only true God". Our eternal life depends upon it!

The only way to truly know our Father and Jesus is to serve them and to make covenants with them. Faith, prayer, scripture study, and church activity all help - especially sincere prayer in which we talk freely to our Father about our lives and our deepest needs and feelings. But true knowledge of them comes only through making and keeping gospel covenants with them. Through baptism, the sacrament, and temple covenants, if kept,  we can become more like them and so come to know them better. There is no other way.

I have come to rely on them in my troubles, and I think I know them better now than at any previous time of my mortal life. Each time I learn more about them I become a better man. If I learn to know them completely, I will then be like them - a perfect being.

What Faith Means to Me

Faith is the first principle of the gospel. Faith is to believe in things that are true. As such, it is the motivating factor in our lives, and is a principle or source of action. If we did not believe that our actions would have the desired result, we would not make any actions. This it is important to believe in true things. Otherwise, we choose incorrect actions.

True faith can be based only in Jesus Christ and his atonement. There can be no other foundation, because there is no other source of salvation. So we must learn of Christ and his atonement, and get to know Him. As we do this, our faith grows. It also grows stronger through service to God's cause. Therefore, we can strengthen our faith by serving in the church and obeying the Lord's commandments.

Faith is a source of strength, power, and comfort. The more we know we can rely on the Lord, the more we have strength and power to do his will and to face the obstacles of life, and the more we have comfort in our trials.

I testify that faith in Christ has brought great strength and comfort, and has been the source of all that is good in my life.