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Filippo Magistro: my conversion to the Mormon Church by staff
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Eileen and Chuck Little: Our Conversion Story by staff
Part 1
Part 2
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Deanna Birdzell by staff
My name is Sister Deanna Birdzell. I am serving a mission here in the Washington DC Temple. I am from Bountiful, Utah. I am a widow of 8 1/2 long, long years. I arrived here in Maryland on January 31 of this year. I will tell you of my little story….When my husband passed away, he was the only member of the Church (that I knew about) with the Birdzell name. He came to me (after he died) and said, “Deanna, I am okay. I had to come to this side to teach the Birdzell family of the gospel so that you could get their Temple work done.” From that day on, I have searched and searched and the Lord has directed me to three wonderful people who are not members of our church, but they have sent me thousands and thousands of names.
I have put all of these names into my PAF file and today have more than 76,000 names in that file. Now, I have to say that many of the names are on my side also, and I being from pioneer ancestry,much of my side of the temple work has been done, but none of Mike’s was done. So I began – to make a long story short, have been able to have several thousand ordinances work completed. When I came here, I brought quite a lot of names with me, and having no Priesthood with me, I passed out some of my brother cards to those I with whom have become acquainted . . .
About two months ago, I received in the mail a note from a Larry Kump. He, not knowing that I was here in this area, sent this note to my Bountiful address and it was forwarded back here to me. In this letter Brother Kump wanted to let me know that he had been impressed that the brother he had done the work for had indeed accepted the gospel and was so thrilled to have had his work done at the temple. In this note from Larry, he put inside his ‘business card’ and so I e-mailed him and told him how thankful I was to have him do one of my names.
So we began corresponding a little bit. On his web site (http://kumpster.blogspot.com) there is a picture of him. He told me that he goes to the Temple every Saturday morning and does a session at 8:00 AM. So I knew that he attended the Temple each Saturday but on the past two months I have been a sealing secretary on Saturday morning shift so I probably wouldn’t get
the opportunity to be a follower or a patron on that 8:00 AM Endowment session. Yesterday, I was going to the sixth floor to be secretary in the sealing office and this gentleman got on the elevator with me.I looked at him and thought to myself, “Could this be Larry Kump?” So I asked him what was his name. He replied “Kump.” He then looked at me and looked at my name tag and he said “Sister Birdzell?”.
Yes, it was me. And he was going to do sealings today, not a session. Now, how ironic is that? So we were able to talk and to get acquainted and it was a thrill for me to get to know him. He told me that I reminded him of Anna the Prophetess (who saw the Christ child at the Temple). What a compliment. How kind he was. I am certainly not a prophetess, but I certainly appreciate his compliment.
Another “strange thing” is that the day a brother gave Larry the card for Temple work to be done for one of my husband’s family (Birdzell), Larry said that he is sure that the name tag on the ordinance brother’s name said “Brother Birdzell,” and he didn’t know that there aren’t any Birdzell brethren working at the Temple.
I know that many wonderful miracles take place in His holy house and this is certainly one experience I shall never forget.
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Dave Brazzeal by staff
My Testimony in Chinese
My testimony in Spanish
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Ann Overhand – “It’s yours if you want it” by staff
MY TESTIMONY
I guess I need to start at the beginning, not quite before time but I need to at least share a basic overview of things as they were.I didn’t have a religious upbringing, in fact my first hints of any form of organised religion was having two friends at school who were Jehovah’s Witnesses. They introduced me to this great idea that there was a God who loved me. Albeit I think I perhaps had one actual lesson with them but I read their manuals avidly, and I remember praying for hours, sitting in the back of my parents car while we were on touring holidays just sitting praying. Juvenile prayers in the most part, prayers for my disabled mother, prayers to enable me to conquer fear.
When my friendship finally ended with those friends, due to being in different classes and finally different schools, I guess that’s where my relationship with their particularly religion ended.
A few years passed and I’ll admit I dabbled somewhat in the occult. It was the fad of the time, to be looking into Tarot Cards and such like. I passed through that pretty quickly to begin with.
Then I moved schools to begin my A-levels, within a week of being at my new school, 9/11 happened. Well can you say 9/11 happened, it didn’t really just happen did it, it was, it came into being, it changed the pattern of the world forever. It was after this event that I began to question again, I guess I was looking for answers in this increasingly fractured thing we call life.
I suppose the biggest question in my mind was that over 3,000 people died that day where were they? Why had this happened? I fell into going to a Christian Union. A mixed group of people pressing forward in their ‘Christian Religion’ however I quickly fell away from them when they were being intolerant of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and if I recollect properly “Mormons”.
I then went back into occultism, looking into healing stones, spells and other practices. There is a very real power behind all of that which I cannot deny even now, but now I know it can be of great ill and doesn’t come from the sources we can trust.
I drifted much through this period of my life and had many problems, not least brought about by drink and various one night stands and other flings. It wasn’t a pretty time. To borrow a line from Anne Bronte’s “Tenant of Wildfell Hall”, I probably lived and experienced more in those two years than many will ever in their entire lifetime.
As part of the occult leanings I had at the time, dates and times began to have specific meanings, dates for tests that I could match with say a favourite author’s birthday or an historic figure’s demise were sure to bring me some luck. So when my driving test date was confirmed as December 9 it was little surprise when my mom told me that was her teen idol, Donny Osmond’s, birthday. So I dutifully borrowed a CD of show tunes. I was involved in the theatre at the time so it wasn’t as bad as it sounds, and I dutifully played that CD over and over during my remaining lessons and right up to taking the test. I passed first time and was more than willing to put it down to this date and correlation of the stars type of thing.
So that Christmas I had nothing better to do than browse around on the Internet, and I landed on donny.com. There is a section entitled My Beliefs, and something kinda struck me there and then. I didn’t want to follow anything blindly so I began a long study of what both donny.com and mormon.org were saying as well as various anti-Church sites.
This study commenced over a period of three months, until one day I was sat reading something that was trying to tell me that Joseph Smith was a 40 year old con-artist yada yada. And I started screaming at the PC, I probably swore too, that he hadn’t even made it to his 40 birthday but had been martyred before. When I had sufficiently calmed down I realised that I’d crossed a line, the line from simply thinking who do I believe, who was Joseph Smith, to knowing who he was and what he did in the grove in Palmyra.
Well then I started to email a very kind lady called Bev Qualheim who at the time was some kind of assistant to Donny Osmond. She was very kind and listened to my most ludicrous questions, like can you have chocolate if your Mormon that type of stuff.
At the same time I requested missionary visits on mormon.org. I heard nothing.
I carried on my days at school, preparing for final exams, getting thoroughly drunk although I did try many times to live the Word of Wisdom, I requested the visits from the missionaries over and over but still heard nothing.
During this period I managed to buy a book by President Gordon B Hinckley (How I love that man) – Standing for Something. It was marvellous. I remember sitting reading it on the bus one day on my way to a friend’s house, I was on my way to Lauren’s via the Wicker in Sheffield. I remember thinking how on earth could anyone think this man could lie about who he is? That was it there and then, that’s when I knew that he was indeed a Prophet of God.
Well I carried on at school and sometime around the last week in June I went on one final drinking bender. I don’t think I was sober for a week. I had my final exam on the 24th June I believe. That Sunday was with my parents in Cleethorpes eating fish and chips on the front, when my cell phone went off, I missed the call but as it was a local number I called it back the following day, leaving a message something along the lines of “Hi, I’ve had a missed call from this number and as it’s local I’m calling you back, thanks Ann” I don’t know what made me do that I really and truly don’t. Later on that day (this was the Monday) I had a call saying “Hello, this is Elder Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints”. Man alive I can not begin to tell you how much I was bouncing off the walls that I’d spoken to a real live Latter Day Saint. It was crazy.
I arranged to meet with the missionaries that Thursday, which I might add they didn’t turn up which put some fear in me that they were fake although I didn’t really see how, I was at my grandmother’s house and she also had reservations about it because they hadn’t appeared. Elder Nelson was full of apologies and they came the next day.
Then on the Saturday himself and Elder Renwick came twice. On their third visit of them all, Elder Renwick said that they had a baptism day coming up in the ward, and I very naively thought that maybe they got all the investigators together and had one day every few months or something whereby they were baptised (oh if only that were the case as far as conversions go!) So I was like, “Great, whose is it?”. Elder Renwick turned to Elder Nelson who then turned to me with a great big smile on his face and said, “Yours, if you want it”. YES. I did.
It was a most amazing experience. I am so grateful and I know that day that I meant everything at the time, I felt as if I would never ever do anything wrong again in my life. The only moment’s hesitation that came was when I was invited to step down into the baptism pool, then my legs turned into mush and I didn’t feel that I could do it, although that was more out of fear of water as I still can’t swim.
I was baptized in the August, and then the bishop managed to sneak me onto the Young Women’s baptisms at the temple in the November. That was an amazing day that I will never forget in a very long time. I know with all my heart and mind that the work we did that day was true and real. There was a lady I was proxy for whose name was Wilhemina. It was then Bishop at the time who was baptising me. I just remember snapping at him that he hadn’t pronounced the name properly, gosh I wouldn’t snap at my bishop, not then not now, but it was as if it wasn’t me. I know that probably makes no sense. But I don’t care, it’s what happened.
I absolutely love this Church, the thought of ever leaving it sends a shiver of dread straight through me. I know that President Hinckley was very much a prophet of our Heavenly Father, and I know that President Monson is our prophet today. I know and can relate to Joseph Smith’s experience in that grove, I remember those feelings about looking for the true church and I remember the feeling of the Spirit when I found such little information about it. I acted on Moroni’s promise before I’d ever even heard of Moroni, but I still got my answer from it.
I fully believe that we were all together in the pre-existence and I only hope and pray that I will one day get to meet my Heavenly Father, even just one time, I know how broken hearted I feel at the mere thought of never seeing Him again. I love Him so much, but I’m a fool to myself in many ways.
I know and fully support the leadership of my ward, the bishopric, relief society and primary organisations are all ordained of Heavenly Father. I know that He is in control and that ultimately He will judge and act as He sees fit through each one of us.
The experiences and knowledge I have come by as a member of this Church can be explained by no other explanation other than that they were manifested to me by the power of the Holy Ghost, and for that I am ever grateful. I know that the Holy Ghost is a fantastic guide, comforter, teacher and is fantastic at giving you a kick up the butt when you need it once in a while.
I just wish that I could bring more light into the world and destroy the wicked streak within me, because I don’t want to end up with Satan, I don’t want to end up in any kingdom but the Celestial, I want to be there, not for it’s glories, but to be with my Heavenly Father once again. I’d be happy in this life to walk by His side, and that’s what I’m going to try to do from now on. I know this Church is true – I can’t explain how I knew it to begin with, it was a feeling and a witness of the Holy Ghost, now my own experiences, things I have seen with my eyes, and heard with my own ears, they are things which cannot be explained away but only act as further proof and evidence of the fantastic truth of this Church. I know that my Redeemer lives, as the hymn says, I know that this is His Church and that President Monson is his prophet on the earth today and that Joseph Smith brought forward this great work and glory in this dispensation. I know this as clearly as I see the screen and feel the keys I am typing on now.
I leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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Alex Baker by staff
Every once in a while, I have the privilege to read something that echoes exactly what I have been thinking about a topic. Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to watch a two-part documentary by PBS on Mormonism. Many other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had that same privilege, and the church noted these commentaries in a release from the Church’s Newsroom that clarifies many of our basic beliefs. As a Mormon myself, this caused a lot of inward thinking about what exactly I believe.I believe in God. I believe that he is our Heavenly Father and that he loves us very much. I’ve come to understand this at new depth recently since I’ve become a father myself. Our Heavenly Father truly cares for each of us and for our own well being, but he also understands that each of us need to grow up, just like my little girl needs chances to learn things for herself, even if it means falling down a few times.
I believe in Jesus Christ. I had the opportunity to serve the people of Argentina as a missionary for two years, and during those two years I gained an incredible sense of wonderment and awe for our Savior Jesus Christ. Although I could never express it fully in words, I believe that he loves us very much and that he died so that we can live again. He was resurrected so that we, too, can one day rise again after death. His sacrifice for us was immeasurable.
I believe in the Holy Ghost. Through the Holy Ghost we can receive a personal conviction of the gospel. This means that God loves me so much that he has given me a chance to find out his truths for myself. I can receive a witness for myself that is not based on the beliefs of others, but is rooted in my faith in Jesus Christ.
Although gospel truths certainly touch on many more subjects than these, all doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is founded on our belief in Jesus Christ:
Based on the scriptures, Joseph Smith declared: “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.”
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Alan Sikes by staff
Brother Alan Sikes grew up as a Presbyterian, converted to Judaism and then was introduced to the Church. He testifies of the Book of Mormon being crucial in his conversion. -
“Seek and Ye Shall Find”: My Conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Commonly Known As the Mormon Church) by staff
As a Child…
I still remember standing at the top of the stairs as a child wondering who I was and why I was on the earth. I hungered for that knowledge like no other, and I felt spiritually starved. I attended a Christian church but asked what to them were unanswerable questions. I posed a few like these: “Well, who lived in heaven and took part in that war besides Jesus? (If there was a war in heaven, as taught, then there had to have been more than two people there, I reasoned.); Why do I have to confess the same sins twice?” and “How can God and Jesus be the same person?” I lived as if on a daily spiritual fare of milk and toast, not knowing there was a buffet table divinely set and beckoning me.What’s My Purpose?
Questions about the purpose of life sprang up as consistently as crocuses do in spring, any time I was willing to allow them to pop through the soil of my soul. At one particular point in my life, I began to despair that I would never know my purpose or the answers to the questions of my heart. Without those answers, the desire to live waned. The world looked cold and senseless. How could I function from day to day without knowing ‘why’ I was functioning? I couldn’t tick if I didn’t know why I was ticking.
Lacking Some Key to the Universe
Lacking some key to the universe, I sat despondently on the edge of my studio bed, staring at a bottle of sleeping pills. I thought about my circumstances. I had little impetus for moving forward from day to day. I was tired of fumbling for house keys in the cold, of working for work’s sake, of studying theories spilled over in classes without a rod to evaluate them. So I planned to give up on life. At that time, though, I was caught by surprise- by a gentle but profound strain of impressions from a loving Father through what I now recognize as His Spirit. I was told, through those welcome whisperings, that “every moment of love and every moment of discovery in my life had not been wasted” and that I “must have the courage to live on.” I was also told, in fact spiritually guaranteed, that I would find the purpose of life. I accepted with confidence those impressions though I didn’t quite comprehend their appearance on the screen of my soul.
Receiving a Spiritual Witness
I spent the next months contemplating my life. On one remarkable occasion, as I was jogging around the neighborhood under the exquisite light of a full moon, I received what I can only describe as an injection of truth–a stunning, indelible witness that God lived. I recall sitting down on the curb, sobbing, tears of joy. I was changed instantly. I felt loved, and I felt an overwhelming inclination to love like never before. I knew there was a God which thing I hadn’t known for myself just moments before. I knew, at last, I had a purpose. This was so delicious to taste. I longed to know more about God, his plan for me and my duty and responsibility towards Him and others.
So Which Church Is True?
I borrowed a Bible from a Catholic Church, lay out in the field behind the rectory, and read through the New Testament for the first time. I marveled that this book had been preserved for me– and anyone else looking for truth. I particularly recall pondering the word, “saved” and the atonement of Christ. I was filled to know that the Lord, who had just literally saved my life physically, had also died to save me spiritually. I knew that I had an advocate in whom I could completely trust.
I then began to identify and list in my trusty silver notebook, points of doctrine Christ had espoused and the characteristics of his Church. A little like Joseph, I wanted to know which Church taught the truth about the Savior. I learned much from that first scriptural immersion. But three ideas particularly prepared me for the fullness of the gospel. First, I knew that we could become perfect even as God is, for the Savior Himself taught the doctrine of perfection to his apostles as recorded in Matthew 12:48. Secondly, I anticipated more revelation than the Bible for the Lord told His apostles (in Mark) that there was more to be revealed that they were not ready to bear. Thirdly, I embraced the truth that there was only one, true way to salvation as the scriptures indicated: “one faith, one baptism.” In fact, I envisioned a time when all quarrels among churches would end, and all denominations would be subsumed under the one true church. I decided to begin a search for the true Church, thinking, again, that it was, likely, not on the earth. After visits to dozens of churches–from Swedenborgian to Methodist–and reading through many books and pamphlets, comparing their teachings with those I learned in the scriptures, I always came up empty. No one, it seemed, scored on every point. There was always some disappointing deviation from what I learned from the scriptures to anticipate in Christ’s Church.
Finding Truth in the Strangest of Places
During another investigative visit to a different denominational church, I found myself, again, disappointed. This time, I was on the brink of abandoning my quest altogether. It was too painful to think that so many who professed the Christ did not know the full truth about Him or about the ways He indicated we should administer his ordinances. Just then, on my way out of the building, I discovered an “anti-Mormon” brochure on a rack in the vestibule. As I was in the habit of collecting whatever I could grasp on various religions, I clasped it eagerly and tucked it away to read at home. When I arrived at the Baptist minister’s home, where I was a guest, I began to devour this pamphlet. I read eagerly some of the claims of the Church, namely, that we could become perfect (”As God is man may become.”); that there was additional revelation than the Bible (something called a Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants); that there was a code of health (which I ‘d anticipated through the Spirit); and more. The critical comments seemed superfluous, and I recognized those “Mormon” claims as true from my own reading of the New Testament.
I was electrified and knew I had found something more than a kernel of truth. I searched for a Book of Mormon and found one in a small library in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania and took it home with a half gallon of ice cream. I dipped into both that night and hardly slept. I knew it was true. Before I found the book, I located in a different library a file of pamphlets on the purpose of life left by a missionary whom I do not know but will one day embrace. In there, I found the purpose of life clearly explained. It thrilled me and I barely contained my emotion. It was all I could do to refrain from squeezing the whispering librarians stacking the shelves. I recognized it immediately as the truth.
I eventually looked up “Mormons” in the phone directory, and read, “See The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” It made perfect sense to me that the Savior would reserve His full name for His true and living Church. I eventually called the Church and, through a wonderful Australian family, the Lovelands, later met the missionaries. I read the Joseph Smith record of the first vision and knew that he had written and described truthfully his search for truth and his unexpected beautiful answer in seeing personally the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. I testify his account and experience are true. I felt in some small measure that I understood his search, for I had made one myself, for the same reason. I felt gratitude, for his prayer was answered in a marvelous way, to bring back the light that I had only to accept.
I entered the waters of baptism a short time later and received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and feel like the lights have been turned on in my life as the lights of the gospel were turned on through the restoration of Christ’s Church. I have come to love Joseph more and more for his willingness to stand alone often and immovable against mobs, opposition, and persecution in order to defend and sustain the kingdom. I love him for his love of the Savior and for his understanding of the gospel and of temple ordinances. I love him for being true, even to death, that we might know Christ through his restored teachings.
I love the Savior and know that He is perfect in every attribute. I know that He loves each of us and that He has a plan for our lives. I testify that He lives as a glorified being, that He is separate from the Father, and the Holy Ghost, though they are one in purpose, mind, and will. I testify that the Savior actively intervenes in our life through His word, Spirit, and living oracles—including twelve apostles and a living prophet. I testify that His Church is upon the earth, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and invite all honest truth-seekers to investigate for themselves these eternal doctrines.
For more information, please feel free to visit http://www.mormon.org, ldsblogs.com, MormonWiki, or http://www.moregoodfoundation.org.
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