Roger: The Conversion Process by rogerleads
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on September 9, 2010 |
There was so much involved in the conversion process for me – a girl friend inviting me to early morning seminary — even though I was a member I didn’t have a testimony of the Church or the book of Mormon – what I felt is that God would answer my prayers — and we didn’t even pray in the family — I was a junior in High school — in my heart I wanted more answers to questions — I had — why was I here on earth? Did I have a mission? Would God answer my prayers? Was there more to life than just working, dying and then what? You see I was not active in the Church — I didn’t even attend the church meetings, neither did my family, we didn’t pray at home, we didn’t read the scriptures, we didn’t do anything the active strong members do, except – we were finally letting the home teachers in – and God had sent a great member missionary to our home – Chris S. You see Chris loved the gospel and he loved us, and more importantly – he loved sharing gospel with us. Chris would come, and I would hit him with a lot of questions, and he would answer them, some he couldn’t answer — no one could, except maybe God. Chris knew how to pray; Chris – encouraged us to pray; he encouraged us to read the scriptures. I started to do both - I felt God could answer my prayers.
I felt the book of Mormon, which I started to read, was true. But God had more in store for me than I knew…. Back to the girl friend – she was in my biology class. I kinda had a crush on her but never dated her (missed out there), but she invited me to early morning seminary — guess what? They were reading the Book of Mormon that year (in seminary, they rotate through all the scriptures in four years, with two years devoted to the Bible). I couldn’t be left behind in what they were learning. If I was going to ask questions and learn more, I had to really read it too, so I did. But that is just part of the story — my dad had to get me to seminary. He did, but he smoked, and I didn’t want to smell like cigarettes, so I would roll down the window, and he would ask me to put it up, and I said I would if he would not smoke. So he stopped smoking while I was in the truck, but after, he would smoke again.
I soon started to attend church, and soon I found out about a Patriarchal blessing – could God really give me some answers this way? I had to find out so I went to the bishop. I got an interview for my worthiness, and then got an appointment set up with the Patriarch. You see, he could give me a blessing and get some of these questions answered. So I fasted that day and went to his house – and WOW – this was going to be a great life changing experience. These questions about my life’s mission and other things to be aware of and avoid and other things to do — these were well-explained to me through revelation from God. What a blessing! Six months later I was ordained a priest, and six months later an elder, and six months later I was on a mission to Korea. Learning and obeying is a life-long experience in the Church.
It didn’t end there — I was later married in the Provo temple to a great gal from Springville, Utah. My family could not attend — they were not active and they didn’t have temple recommends. [You can only attend the temple if you are worthy.] My parents could only stand outside the temple and greet us when we came out.
Now I have children and grand children. My oldest was married in the Billings Montana Temple to a strong faithful returned missionary. She is expecting a second child. They are strong and faithful members. One of the most important things you can do is always read the scriptures, attend meetings, and partake of the sacrament, attend to your duties, say your prayers, and really learn how to pray and let the holy spirit guide you. For young people — get your Patriarchal Blessing. Go fasting as you do. Prepare yourself for a temple marriage and most importantly, find a faithful companion who keeps her covenants.
God loves you, and wants the best for you, but you need to continue faithful, obey the commandments, obey the spirit, and be faithful to your covenants and promises you have made, from baptism to the sacrament to the temple. Daily – hourly – moment by moment – feed your spirit – love the Lord. Live the gospel to its fullest, and you will be blessed for all eternity. Catch the vision of who you really are and how you can bless the lives of your family and friends forever! What a glorious full gospel we have. May you catch the vision and spirit of this great eternal work, and may god continue to bless you! Roger
