“Throughout my youth I attended my fair share of sacrament and fast and testimony meetings. It confused me how differently everyone felt the spirit.
One time I heard someone speak on the holy ghost, it impressed me when I heard that everyone feels the spirit differently. While for some it may bring strong emotions, others feel the as a passing wind. Felt but not to stir strong emotion. This gave me the knowledge that God loved me just as much as he did his other children even if I didnt feel the spirit the same way as another. Eventually this led me to a desire to deepen my relationship with Him.
During a week of being with my teacher’s quorum in the mountains doing spritually filled high adventure activities I felt the spirit unlike I had any time before then. Close to the end of the week the camp leaders had our parents send us a hand written letter, and told us to find a place to sit privately and to read it. This was one of the first letters that I had recieved like this from my parents, and this one in particular was written mostly by my loving mother. While the contents were personal and words of a loving parent I dont entirely remember what they said, but I do remember the way I felt after I read them. This feeling lead me to my knees in prayer in thanks for my loving parents. While in this prayer I gave thanks for many things, but I predominantly asked for quite a bit from the Lord for my own gain, such as would a 14 year old would. As I kept praying and asking for blessings, my prayer and my tone and even the sincerity of my words changed as I asked for the Lord to help and to bless others in my life, and for those that I cared about the most. I prayed for my family, for those I liked and even for my friends in and out of the church. I felt a genuine care for them and a knowledge that my prayer would be answered. And for a time during that prayer my surroundings, the trees above me and around me, the grass beneath my knees and the sounds of birds, even the cars on the street I neglected to notice before I began a little ways off was all drowned out by my prayer. During that time I felt as though I was having a personal conversation with my creator, my Heavenly Father.
From that experience, the spirit I felt that day, the love I could feel for those around me, and the charity that comes only by the savior, I made a firm conviction that I would follow the council that God gave me at that time. I would serve others and go on a mission. While I may still be quite young, I know without a doubt that my Father in Heaven surely does live. He knows me personally, cares for me personally, and loves me unlike anything I can imagine. He gave me this life to help and to bring others the joy and happiness of living and being a part of his gospel. And I know without a slightest bit of doubt that He is with me in all things.
I know that Jesus Christ is his Son and the Savior and redeemer of the world. Through Him I have the opprotunity to grow as a person and as a Son of God. My experiences have taught me how to be more kind, how to be more humble and how to be more understanding, prayer is a powerfull tool that connects us directly to God, may we all strive to always have a desire to speak to Him. “
I Am Converted 