“Growing up I was Lutheran, and I regularly attended church. I would say that I was pretty religious throughout my childhood, and I certainly had my questions about Church. However, I had a lot of faith that it was just “the right thing to do”.
Around the age of 14 my family and I took a trip out west and on the way back we stopped in Salt Lake City. Stopping and seeing the temple had always stuck with me.
Over the next few years I still attended church consistently, but slowly became more confused about some doctrinal points like the Trinity and the idea of Original Sin. These 2 ideas, along with other concerns, made me question whether my church was the right one to go to. My parents were pretty open to the idea of me having questions and so I began to search around on my own trying to find answers to these questions.
In my senior year of high school, I began to date a girl that eventually
invited me to a sacrament meeting where I met the sister missionaries and received a copy of the Book of Mormon. I distinctly remember feeling the Spirit very strongly during this meeting, but at the time I did not know that’s what it was. After this meeting I decided to read the Book of Mormon and after I read 2 Nephi Chapter 2 I had a very strong realization that the Church was definitely true. I certainly had questions and did not know everything, but I knew I was headed in the right direction.
For me the defining scripture in my conversion process was 2 Nephi 2:25 where it states, “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy”. After this the decision was pretty easy, but it took about 6 months afterwards to become baptized. My parents were against the idea in a lot of
ways. They did a lot to try and keep me from baptism and tried several times to get me to join different churches. During this time, I met with the missionaries to go over my lessons and ask questions. Throughout, my testimony and certainty of the Church grew more and more. When I was 18 I was baptized the summer after I graduated high school. Shortly after I went off to college and found out about BYU. I got into BYU for the winter semester, was married 6 months after that and the rest is history.
To say the Church and the Gospel has given me immense blessings is an understatement. I have had many opportunities that I would not have had without the Gospel. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to learn about our Church and to ultimately become a member. My life, and others, has benefited so greatly because of this.
I Am Converted 