“I never fully understood what being converted to the gospel was. I grew up in the gospel and got baptized when I turned 8 years old. I then went on and received the Aaronic priesthood at 12-years-old and everything I was doing was leading me to serve a 2-year church mission. My life began changing during these years.
At 18-years-old it was time to decide what my next steps would be in my life, church, school, dating, mission? I let fear take over my decisions. I kept postponing filling out my mission papers and avoided any interviews with the stake president or bishop. I felt that I was losing myself the longer I waited to make a decision, and this went on for years. I felt pressured by many members of the church, including my parents and my desire to go to church was fading away. Living this way was very difficult. It wasn’t until I turned 23-years-old that I made the decision I would not serve a mission. I began to look at life a little different.
I was invited to attend institute with a bunch of young people my age. I felt welcomed. I felt that my decision to not serve a mission did not disqualify me from the blessings the lord had for me. I enjoyed going to institute and seeing friendly faces. We began going out to eat, playing volleyball and going to sporting events. The friends I made at institute were what really led me to be fully converted. I learned that when you are converted to the gospel, you not only know what you should do but you also desire to do the right things. I let go of my concerns of what others might think of me and became more concerned about what God thought about me. I enjoyed going to church on Sundays again! I enjoyed living the gospel every day of the week and not just on Sundays or when it was convenient to me. I surrounded myself around good people that had the same purpose to return to live with our heavenly father. However, I still seemed to struggle with prayer. It was difficult to find the time or the desire to kneel and pray, but I was reminded of the quote by President Ezra Taft Benson, “If we do not feel like praying, then we should pray until we do feel like praying.” Up to this day, I enjoy praying.
I pray when I wake up, eat my food, drive to work, drive home, before bed. I pray every chance I get, because even though I may not see heavenly father, I know he is there listening. I became a full tithe payer. I put my worries to the side and promised to give back to the lord. The only thing that came out of that decision was more blessings. I went on and got my temple endowment. I ended up serving a local church mission for our stake. I devoted my time to the lord because even though I had chosen not serve a mission far away, he still opened the doors for me to serve locally. I now serve in many callings within my ward and stake and I’ve made many great friends throughout my journey. My parents continue to love and support me. I am grateful for the decision I made to attend institute. This one decision, led me to become converted tp the gospel. It led me to my own conversion.”
I Am Converted 