So how do we receive a personal testimony rooted in the witness of the Holy Ghost? The pattern is outlined in the scriptures: First: Desire to believe. The Book of Mormon encourages us: "If you will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, even if you can no more than desire to believe." Some may say, "I cannot believe; I am not a religious person." Just consider, God promises us divine help even if we have only a desire to believe, but it has to be a true and not a pretended desire. Second: Search the scriptures. Have questions; study them out; search in the scriptures for answers. Again, the Book of Mormon has good advice for us: "If you give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart" through diligent study of the word of God, the good seed "will begin to swell within your breasts" if you will not resist with unbelief. This good seed will enlarge your soul and enlighten your understanding. Third: Do the will of God; keep the commandments. It is not enough to enter into a scholarly debate if we want to know for ourselves that the kingdom of God has been restored upon the earth. Casual study is also not enough. We have to get in on the action ourselves, and that means learning and then doing God's will.