I've wanted to do a post on my conversion into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for a while for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that a few of my (girl) friends have had opportunities to go on missions, and I've can't help but admire their courage and their faith. As you'll find out later from my experience, sister missionaries are amazing, and I would not be where am I today without them. The second reason I've wanted to do this post is for reflection on my conversion story in lightly of thr revent lether from Ms. Kelley. I'm not sure what it is, but I always end up reflecting on my membership after reading about her and her feelings about what the church should be. Honestly, I look back at this time as a time when I learned a lot about myself and my relationship with Christ.
I feel like a number of events/opportunities in my life have been carefully timed out, and I really believe that everything happens for a reason. My conversion story started with the simple desire to be baptized. I had the opportunity to witness a couple of baptisms at a couple of churches during the summer before I entered the fifth grade. Watching those two people get baptized really made me wonder why I wasn't baptized or whether I was baptized as a baby, etc. I also remember my step-sister and step-brother looking and sharing at a picture of themselves right after they had gotten baptized. I really wanted to be like them partially because I looked up to them and partially because I felt it was right. My dad and my step-mom weren't really religious, and we didn't attend church often as a family, but they had my siblings and me attend a local church youth activity on Wednesday nights. I recognized that baptism is pretty important for the spiritual well-being just like I recognized that having Christ in my life is important as I was taught at this youth program.
However, I didn't share this desire to be baptized with anyone at the time because I am not a very assertive person, and honestly I didn't think my dad and step-mom would understand or really care to do anything about it. But fortunately, my mom moved closer to me later that summer and ended up staying for a while. So, my sister and I would spend time with her on the weekends and we would end up going to church with her. One Sunday, after a sacrament meeting in which a little girl was proclaimed as the newest member of the ward after having just been baptized, I got up the courage and I said, "Mom, I want to get baptized." She laughed and said, "Well, you just can't get baptized; you have to talk with the missionaries." So I said, "Okay. Well, I want to see the missionaries then."
It was that easy.. . Actually asking for this was still hard.
So, we set up an appointment with the missionaries, and I'm sure I must have been the easiest person to teach because I was just so ready. The missionaries that I saw were Sister "Po" and Sister "O". Sister "O" was from Mongolia, and I can't remember her actual last name now, but she was really sweet and courageous because she was the only member of the church in her family. Sister "Po" was from Idaho, and I really admired her as well. Sure, I didn't know what I was getting into, but after praying about this Church and The Book of Mormon, I felt good about it. Not only that, everything that the missionaries taught just clicked in my mind. Learning about the Gospel was amazing because everything felt simple, yet the teachings are complete. I was really at peace. I loved it. These sisters were wonderful, and we had amazing discussions, and I felt the love of Christ as they taught.
I started taking discussions in late August or September, and I was baptized a couple of months later on 26 November 2000 on a cold Sunday evening. Because I saw my mom every other weekend, I didn't go through discussions very quickly. My baptism is special to me because I really wanted it. I wanted to be 'saved' as some churches say, and I wanted to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Afterwards, I didn't necessarily feel different, but I felt good. The only regret I have is that I didn't invite all of my family to my baptism because I was worried that my parents would just end up in an argument (not over my baptism, but a fight in general). My dad found out my sister and I had been baptized when we came home with wet hair. ("Are you trying to get sick?!")
I was confirmed a week later in sacrament meeting. Even though I learned about confirmation and the gift of the Holy Ghost from the sisters, I still didn't know exactly what was going on. So I remember looking around as I was being confirmed. I wish I could remember some of what was said.
This is part one of my conversion story. I will continue the rest of this story in part 2.
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