The Truth and "The Truth"

Today was fast sunday, and with it all of the bearing of the testimonies. It is a great opportunity to have your faith reaffirmed by the testimonies and convictions of others. It also exposes one of the most oft quoted phrases within the church, "I know this church is true". It's a shame that whoever created that statement can't receive a royalty everytime it is invoked.
Anyways, my intent is not to be flippant but rather try to understand that phrase. I want to understand it, especially, from the perspective of someone who isn't familar with the LDS vernacular. If I am hearing that phrase for the first time, what does it mean? Are the members reliable and trustworthy, is that what it means? It seems vague and and I think that many of us just repeat that phrase because it is easy and it is assumed that everyone understands it. It seems like it is a short cut to something more descriptive and accurate like "I am grateful to be a member of the church that was restored by Jesus Christ and contains all of his Gospel truths." Along the way between habit and description I feel many new attendees can get lost.
I also feel like this is one of the several phrases that are used in church that shield us from actual thought. Many times the "read the scriptures and pray" response is more a trite facade to ward off another question from the Sunday School teacher than an actual investigation into a spritual matter. We've all been through the sunday routine so many times that it is hard to avoid generating new discussion. I have been dealing with this myself. Many sundays the call of the leftovers in the fridge and a nice nap preclude me from actually contributing to Elders quorum discussion. This is quite damning to my progression and something I have been conscience's been working on. Church should be a wonderfully enlightening experience not a habit.