“For all my youth and teen life, I lived off the faith of my parents’ testimony. Looking back, I never doubted Christ wasn’t real or that his gospel wasn’t true, I just didn’t know for myself if it really was. As kids I’d like to believe that we all think that our parents are pretty much the greatest superhero’s. So why wouldn’t I believe what they were telling me. My own conversion didn’t come until I was 21. I had been putting off serving a mission for our church. Most young men leave to go on a mission at 19. Most of my friends had already left and some had already returned, and for me the age of 19 had already come and gone. There were a couple things preventing me from going. I was scared to leave everything behind, I had not been living the moral standards of the church, I had a girlfriend who I wanted to marry, and I didn’t really know for myself if the church was really Christ’s church restored, and whether or not Joseph Smith was really a prophet.
Luckily, I have parents that really are superheroes and with their superpowers knew I needed a little help. So, they enrolled me in a traveling church history class at BYU-I. This is where we traveled to all the historical church sites and had professors teach us everything that occurred at all the different places across America. It was a very life changing experience. Honestly, at first, I was a little scared because I wanted to feel the spirit. Because of my past choices, I had not been able to feel the spirit in a long time and I was ready for a change. Months prior I had begun using the atonement in my life to get to where I needed to be, and this was only going to help.
The first place on our tour that we visited was Sharon, Vermont, this was the birthplace of Joseph Smith. This is the place where Joseph as a young boy had a serious infection in his leg and a doctor had to perform a painful surgery to heal him, he refused alcohol offered to help numb the pain, instead he said all he needed was his father to be by his side and he would be ok. While we were there, there was an extraordinarily strong sense of peace, and you could not help but feel that someone great had once lived there.
That night I was excited because the next day, Sunday, we were going to be visiting the Hill Cumorah, Sacred grove, and then we were going to go to church. The Scared Grove is a big grove of trees where God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to young Joseph, and what not a better place to pray to gain a personal testimony. I was also particularly excited because the night before I had talked with my Bishop, and he told me that it would be ok to start taking the sacrament again. (It had been a very long time since I had been able to take it) The next day finally rolled around and looking outside you couldn’t have asked for a better day. The sky was blue and the sun was shining. We were all dressed in our church clothes and ready for the day to be amazing! We boarded the bus and headed off, however within 15 minutes the sky went from blue to grey and began to dump its contents almost like a rushing waterfall outside the bus. Some people had their rain gear, but most did not. It was like Satan was trying to keep everyone out of the grove, he is the king of discouragement, and it was working, especially because everyone was wearing their Sunday clothes. Lucky for me, I again had superhero parents that insisted I bring a poncho because they had a feeling I would need it.
We arrived to the grove and departed the bus, it was still raining, and the sky was still grey but within minutes after getting off the bus, the grey sky parted, and the Sun’s rays beamed through upon us. It was kind of crazy because when Joseph Smith went there to pray to find which church was true, he was meet by a thick cloud of darkness as he describes it, and then was overcome by a light that was brighter than noon day. I too was looking to find out for myself if my church was true and was meet by a similar thick cloud of darkness before entering the grove.
When we got there, I did not know what to expect, but as soon as I took a step on the path that led to the grove, I felt the spirit very strongly testify to me telling me that something very special happened here. There was an overwhelming peace throughout the whole grove, I could not think of a more perfect place to pray and ask if the church was true and if Joseph Smith was a prophet. So, I prayed.
After my simple request I just sat there and felt the spirit come upon me telling me that indeed it was, and Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God. It felt so good to know that for myself, and that I no longer had to rely on my parent’s testimonies.
Ever since that day my testimony has only got stronger. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and will be forever, I love that man, and thank Heavenly Father every day for the gospel that has been restored. I also know that through the revelation that was given Joseph we now have the Book of
Mormon and is stands today as another testimony of Jesus Christ.”
I Am Converted 