Testimony

by Elder Edward W. Borgia
I met my wife Shirley, at the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, Menlo Park, California in the summer of 1954. We were married in the same church on November 27, 1954 and attended services regularly every Sunday. Somehow, by the time we had our first child, Sheri, I felt there was something lacking in our religious life. In browsing through our bookshelf one day, I came across a book entitled, "What About The Mormons ." As I browsed through the book, I was very impressed by the fact that the members of the church built their own Chapels, engaged in various welfare projects to stock the Bishop's storehouses, which are used to take care of their needy, who in turn gave service, and that every one in the ward served without compensation, including the Bishop. Upon reading further, it was easy to see that the members of the church lived their religion twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. I must admit, that when I read about tithing, I admired them for doing it, but I knew I never could. I put the book away and gave what I had read no more thought at that time.
I practiced in Palo Alto, California, as a Doctor of Chiropractic during this period. Shortly after the above experience, a new patient, as I was obtaining her medical history and complaints, told me she was a Mormon when I inquired about coffee consumption. Still curious, I chatted with her about the Church and finally asked her to have missionaries come to my home, as I had a desire to learn more. After a delay of several months, two young Elders came to our home, Elders Stringham and Steiner. At that time, they gave us the first discussion, in which they related to us the Joseph Smith story and explained the Godhead, frequently bearing their testimony concerning the truthfulness of what they had just told us. They gave us a Book of Mormon, and assigned scriptures to read. They then asked us to kneel and pray, which we managed to do after overcoming the initial shock of the
request. Afterwords, upon learning that thousands of these young Mormon people take two years of their lives to voluntarily preach the Gospel at their own expense, for no reason other that a deep conviction of their faith, I was even more impressed and I knew I had to learn more about this church.
Upon reading the assigned scriptures in the weeks that followed, I was convinced that the Book of Mormon was indeed scripture. I could not conceive how even the most learned and articulate academian could invent such a complex writing, much less a person with a minimal grammar school education of three sessions such as Joseph Smith had had. Therefore, by accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture, I gained a testimony of the Bible and of Jesus Christ, for though I had always manifested a belief in God, I never thought of Christ as anything but an interesting character in a book of interesting stories, handed down from generation to generation. However, upon reading about Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon and learning that the prophecies therein concerning the Savior were identical to those in the Bible, I could not dismiss this to coincidence when written at a time that knowledge of the existence of other peoples elsewhere in the world was unknown and communication therefore nonexistent. The Book of Mormon was indeed, my second witness of Jesus Christ.
Though I now had obtained a testimony of Jesus Christ, I still did not have a testimony of Joseph Smith. I have always been a skeptic and his story seemed somewhat bizarre to me. This may seem like a contradiction since I had accepted the Book of Mormon, however, a latter-day Prophet was still difficult for me to accept. One day, as we were to meet with the Elders for the fourth discussion in an hour, I sat down to review the Scriptures we were to read for this meeting. I said a silent prayer, and told the Lord I was having this problem concerning Joseph Smith and asked for His help to learn of the truth thereof. I then relaxed my grip of the Book of Mormon and it fell open. My eyes looked upon the page and I immediately read the following: "and the plates
shall be delivered to a boy whose name is Joseph." Now this definitely startled me having just prayed to the Lord for help on this very point! I knew this was his answer to my prayer and I now knew Joseph Smith was a prophet and had translated the plates as he so testified. I shared this with my wife and related to her my experience and told her I was ready for baptism. My wife, who had always had a testimony of Jesus Christ and who was quite content with our present church, did not share this testimony with me. Later, when we met the Elders, I told them of what had happened, but I could not show them, as I did not think to save the page where I had read about the plates or note the particular book I had read this in. After all, it was part of the Book of Mormon and I could always find it later. The Elders, at that moment couldn't recall where this scripture would be found either. Two weeks later, my wife greeted me at breakfast with a glow about her and a smile, stating she had received a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel. We were both baptized on September 6, 1958.
I have shared this experience at times with other members of the Church. I occasionally would ask if they knew where I could find this particular scripture, but they were indifferent about it and offered no help, so I would forget about it. I would read the Book of Mormon in various areas to coincide with Sunday School and priesthood lessons or missionary efforts, but at the time, never continuously cover to cover. I just knew what I had read was there someplace and that I would find it sometime. It was not a priority of mine and I knew of no reason why it should be.
Professionally, as a Chiropractic physician, I decided to take advanced education and spent two years in orthopedic training. My practice, now with an emphasis in orthopedics, led me to the courtroom on many occasions testifying as an expert witness. This sparked an interest in law and I subsequently matriculated in law school. Five years later, upon graduation with a doctorate in law and upon passing the California bar, I practiced law, specializing in the medical malpractice
and accident field. As an attorney, proof was extremely vital to my law practice and it pervaded my thoughts daily as I constantly interviewed witnesses, and read medical reports in preparation for depositions or trial. One day, the subject of my experience with the Joseph Smith story arose and with my new, legal standards for proof driving me on, I started a relentless search for this evasive scripture which I wanted to share with others. I exhausted the concordance, the topical index, the dictionary and finally I did a computer search on every word I had read. Only then, after finding nothing, did the full realization come to me of what had occurred that night when I had prayed to the Lord asking for His help. The Lord had answered me by giving me my own personal scripture to read! No wonder I had never been able to find this scripture. It did not exist, except for that brief moment, when the Lord had answered my prayer ! I was overwhelmed, yet, reluctant to tell about my discovery because of the obvious supernatural implications involved.
As I said previously, I am a skeptic. My legal training exacerbated this skepticism. But I knew what I had read. This was no fantasy, no invention of my mind, no figment of my imagination. I am a well educated person and not in the least gullible I cannot deny what I had seen and read, no more than the witnesses to the Book of Mormon could deny what they had seen. Previous to the realization of what had occurred the night of my prayer, I had a testimony of the Gospel through the Spirit, but now I knew with an absolute surety, that the Gospel was true, that Jesus is the Christ, our Lord and Savior, that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, through whom the Book of Mormon was translated, restoring Christ's Church to the earth with its full authority. Further, I know that the Church is led today by a prophet of God.
This then is my testimony which I wish to share with whomever reads this, particularly my wife, my children and grandchildren whom I love very much. The Gospel has given our family a path that we are able to
follow in life. I know why we hove been placed on this earth and what I must do to live with the Lord again when my time on earth is over. I know that my marriage is eternal as is our family organization, as long as we are true to His teachings and follow His commandments.
I give this testimony humbly in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
DATED: October 22. 1996
Elder Edward W. Borgia