Testimonies in full below

Amber Elisabeth Sanders

11-01-2025

The Godhead: How I Came to Know the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost Are One in Purpose, Not in Person

I was raised in a home that loved the Bible and believed deeply in the Trinity. Most of my family still does. My parents were raised Baptist, but over time their paths diverged. My father explored Charismatic teachings that delved into mysticism and gnostic ideas, and in recent years he has drawn further into the Hebrew roots movement. My mother converted to Catholicism several years ago. In our home there were many voices claiming revelation and truth, which left me feeling uncertain and searching for clarity about who God really is and how His voice could be heard.

When I was two weeks old, I had my first near-death experience. I left this world briefly, and Jesus sent me back. Though I could not comprehend it then, I now understand that He was giving me a glimpse of truths I had known before this life — truths about my mission, the temple, the eternal nature of families, and the Savior’s plan of salvation. Those early memories planted a foundation in my soul that would carry me through life.

On my fifth birthday, after the first massive argument between my parents, my heart was crying out for answers. I needed structure and understanding in the gospel, so I asked Jesus into my heart. I invited Him to be my Best Friend and personal guide. I felt His presence immediately, a calm reassurance in the midst of family conflict. He comforted me and gave me hope. That moment became the foundation of a lifelong relationship with Him.

As I grew, the years that followed were often filled with confusion and fear. My parents, each walking their own paths of spiritual misunderstanding, sometimes projected their struggles onto me. Scripture was twisted and contorted in ways that left me feeling bound, ashamed, and small. My father began using phrases like “slain in the Spirit” and “translocation,” claiming these experiences proved he could access heaven directly and that I was operating in a false spirit. He believed the harsh correction he offered came from God, when in truth pride and false revelation were leading him astray. Before I was even born he had been deceived by a spirit that promised him power, and that deception distorted his spiritual walk and caused him to feel superior to my mother and me. Those beliefs led to attempts to control and dominate, but even in that darkness Jesus never abandoned me.

Just before my eleventh birthday, that darkness deepened. My father’s pursuit of power and control intensified, and the adversary sought to steal my agency and faith. It was during this time, in the Lord’s tender mercy, that I had another near-death experience. In that sacred moment Jesus and the Spirit reminded me of my foreordained mission and the truths I had known before this life: the temple, eternal families, and the plan of salvation through His infinite Atonement. That experience was a turning point and a rescue. It reassured me that the Savior’s love and protection are perfect and that no mortal scheme can undo what God intends for His children.

Around age ten I began to seek answers more deliberately. I visited many churches, spending time in each until the Lord prompted me to move on. I would sit and listen. I saw people who felt outcast, overlooked, or behind in their spiritual walk. The Lord nudged me to minister to them. I began journaling at that age, recording prayers, questions, visions, and impressions. Writing became my altar of inquiry. The Lord also began to give me gifts — poetry, songs, and visions — and I felt the Spirit teaching me line upon line, precept upon precept. Those creative gifts were part of my own restoration. They helped heal my heart and became the way I could minister to others. Even while pain existed in my home, the Lord used my small offerings of words and song to comfort people who felt forgotten.

Fear continued to be a companion for many years. I had been taught to fear Heavenly Father and was told that I had committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. For a time I inwardly accepted those fearful teachings and even indoctrinated myself to survive. Yet Jesus never left me. His Spirit was near, comforting and correcting. Over time I began to see that what the adversary intended for harm, the Savior was transforming into purpose. Through repentance, forgiveness, and surrender to Christ, the ashes of fear became testimony, and the wounds He healed became sources of compassion for others.

My story includes multiple baptisms before I found the Restored Gospel. Each one was a step of humility and seeking. None were null or void. Each act of faith, even when imperfectly understood, was an opportunity for the Lord to heal and draw me closer to Him. They were part of my preparation.

I came to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on December 1, 2024. I was baptized into the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ on January 4, 2025, and confirmed on January 5, 2025. This was my fifth and final baptism — a sacred culmination of years of seeking and humility. It was not that the earlier baptisms were erased; rather, the Lord built upon each of them, refining and guiding me into covenant belonging and fuller light.

What I did not realize at first was that the Lord was working in my husband’s life too. He had been part of the Restored Gospel when he was fourteen but drifted away by seventeen. Over the years he kept fragments of light and occasionally shared them with me. When I came to the Church, I felt through the Holy Ghost a whisper of foreknowledge that I already knew where I belonged. As I entered the covenant path, my husband returned to the Lord. In perfect timing and through his agency, he was restored in his walk and received the Melchizedek Priesthood to lead our household according to Heavenly Father’s will. Seeing our family gathered under that same covenant hand is one of the greatest mercies of my life.

As I studied scripture and prayed earnestly, I began to understand why many verses used to support the Trinity can be read in different ways. Trinitarian teaching reads those passages as unity of substance. The restored understanding shows that those same verses reveal a unity of purpose, love, and mission while preserving the distinct personages of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Through the Restoration, light returned to the earth. Joseph Smith’s First Vision restored the knowledge that the Father and the Son are distinct personages, united perfectly in purpose and love. Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 clarifies that the Father and the Son have glorified bodies of flesh and bone, and that the Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit. The Book of Mormon and latter-day revelation testify consistently of their harmony in accomplishing the work of salvation.

In a world growing in contention, corruption, division, and discord, I have come to know that the infinite Atonement of Jesus Christ is the only way any of us can endure. Jesus knew these days would come. He knew love would be tested and hearts would grow cold. Yet He is about love, charity, unity, and the binding power of forgiveness. He invites us to come unto Him, to let go of fear and pride, and to allow His light to transform every shadow within us.

Now, nearly ten months into the Restored Gospel, I can testify with all my heart that Heavenly Father lives, that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world, and that the Holy Ghost testifies of Them both. I know that families are eternal and that the temple is the bridge between heaven and earth, binding generations through covenants. The Godhead is not only a theological mystery of substance. It is the mystery of love made manifest — the Father sent His Son, the Son gave His life, and the Holy Ghost brings Their presence into our hearts. They are one in purpose, glory, and desire to bring us home.

Even in the midst of confusion, fear, and opposition, Jesus has been healing my heart from the very beginning. Every trial, every word that felt like a cage, He has used to refine me, strengthen me, and prepare me to testify of His love. He set me free and He is using my testimony to help others be set free. My gifts of writing, poetry, visions, and song are part of that restoration. Line upon line, precept upon precept, He has taught me to minister tenderly and patiently to souls wherever they are, helping them receive the Savior’s healing at their own pace.

I am living proof that no darkness, no deception, and no pain can separate us from His love when we choose to believe in the light.

I share all of this in the Sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.