Friendship and Faith

Now in my 60’s, I joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 16.  It has been said that there are two elements to complete conversion: 1) a spiritual conversion and 2) a social transition.  For me, the social transition came first.

While sitting in my high school biology class in the fall of my junior year, a young man would drastically change the course of my life with a simple question: “Would you like to play basketball with our church team?”

Well, I loved basketball and I had seen what kind of a person this young man and his friends were.  I was attracted to them.  They seemed happy, comfortable in their own skin.  His offer was accepted, and the following Saturday night I drove to North Hollywood High School, where the church basketball games were played.

I have to admit that I was nervous.  Would I be accepted?  Rejection is no fun at any age, particularly as a teen.  Upon entering the gymnasium they were already warming up.  They stopped, greeted me enthusiastically, and made me feel very, very welcome. 

At that time a player who was not a member of our Church could play on the team as long as he attended two Sunday services and two mid-week youth activities a month.  And so I started attending, still enjoying my association with these young men.

After several weeks of this, the same person who invited me to play with them asked if I would be interested in listening to the missionary lessons, which I was happy to do.  He would come over with them to my house every week.  After they left the home I always felt such a warm feeling, although I didn’t understand the source.  They taught me the gospel of Jesus Christ and invited me to be baptized.  I knew it was right for me.  It was exactly what I needed, and I sensed that this was right in the eyes of my Heavenly Father.

My baptismal service was so beautiful.  Again, I felt that warm feeling, that loving feeling which I now understand was the Holy Ghost, testifying to me that this was right.

My social transition was in place, and my spiritual conversion was well on its way.  I needed to know if The Book of Mormon was the word of God, however.  I read it my first year as a member, but without the deep desire that was necessary.

Two years later I found myself reading the book again, this time with a real thirst to know if it was of God.  I read, studied, pondered and prayed, and received a powerful conviction I will never deny.  This Spirit filled me with such intensity that I knew it was true.

Since that day so many blessings have come into my life.  My conviction that God is real, that Jesus Christ is my savior, and that this Church and its doctrines are true has grown a thousand-fold, and continues to grow.  I was allowed to serve a two-year mission to Mexico, married a wonderful young woman who has made me a better man, been blessed with three faithful sons, and am now enjoying my time as a grandfather.

Raising our sons in this church has made an enormous difference.  We have tried to follow the counsel of our leaders, and our boys have blossomed with gospel teachings from us as well as their youth leaders and many wholesome activities.  They are now raising their families in light and truth, and this beautiful cycle continues on.

I am so grateful.

Craig Dixon

Otay Lakes Ward

Looking Beyond the Grade

I gained a testimony that the Book of Mormon was a book from God while attending my freshmen year of college. That year, I took a Book of Mormon class which required the students to read the entire book by the end of the semester.  I foolishly procrastinated this assignment until that last few weeks of school which forced me to begin a marathon read of the Book of Mormon. I admit that I started reading the book for the wrong intention – to get a passing grade. But, as I read, I felt a change occur within me. I started reading the book because I liked the way I felt inside when I read it. One day, after walking out of a class, I began reviewing in my mind what still needed to be completed for the day and remembered that I hadn't read in the Book of Mormon. As this thought came to my mind, I recall feeling excited for the opportunity. It didn’t feel like another school assignment anymore. It was something I wanted to do. When I got back to my dorm room and started reading, a powerful warm feeling entered in my chest. It continued to grow until it filled my whole body. I recognized that it was coming from God so I knelt down to pray and thank him. As I was praying, I knew that God was telling me the Book of Mormon was true and from Him. I fervently thanked him for this spiritual confirmation while reveling in the immense joy I felt.

I did finish the book that semester and I did pass the class. But, the most precious thing I gained was a spiritual witness that the Book of Mormon was from God.

Nathan Price
Chula Vista 1st Ward

Discovering Truth for Myself

I was blessed to have been raised by parents who were faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).  Raising their children in the gospel was important to them because each came from homes where one or both parents were not active church members.  They wanted their children to enjoy all of the blessings of a gospel-centered home, many of which they had missed out on as children.  As a result, the gospel was an integral part of our family life. 

I cannot remember a day of my life without the gospel.  One of my earliest childhood memories is of attending Sunday worship services and running a toy car along the top of the back of the pew.  A few years later my family was a member of a married-student congregation.  My siblings and I were the only “primary” aged children (ages 3 to 11) in the congregation so my mother was asked to serve as our “primary teacher.”  I specifically remember one lesson she taught about 2000 young warriors whose lives were spared because of the faith they placed in their mother’s faith in God’s power to preserve them.  And like the “Stripling Warriors,” who relied upon the faith of their mothers, I believed the gospel because my mother told me it was true.

Then at age 14 I happened upon a verse of scripture contained in the Book of Mormon which reads, “And when ye shall receive these things (the Book of Mormon), I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost (Moroni 10:4).”

Upon reading that passage it occurred to me that I did not have to rely upon the faith of my parents, that I could know for myself whether or not the Church were true.  I decided then and there to read the Book of Mormon and put Moroni’s promise to the test.  I began reading that night and over the course of several weeks read the entire Book.  After finishing, I set the book aside, knelt at the side of my bed and offered a prayer to God, asking if the Book of Mormon were true. 

I hoped to see an angel, like young Joseph Smith, or to receive a dramatic spiritual manifestation as an answer to my prayer.  What I did receive was, a sweet, peaceful reassurance and a calming confirmation that what I had believed all along was true, that God lives, that Jesus is His Son and our Redeemer, that the Book of Mormon is true and the Church that Jesus Christ established through Joseph Smith is His Church.

To this day, that spiritual witness burns within me so that like my parents, I too can testify that this Church is true.

Adam Dunford
Chula Vista 3rd Ward

Learning How to Float

My roots in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints reach back to the pioneer days of the mid-1800s.  Many of my ancestors sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe, crossed the country by wagon train, and settled in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah.  I was taught the gospel of Jesus Christ from an early age by my parents.   As a family we prayed, studied the scriptures, attended church meetings, and learned to serve those around us.  I was afforded a rich environment where my faith in Jesus Christ took root and grew.

A convert to the Church must come to accept doctrines and teachings they may not have been taught in the past.  Prior to baptism, they must gain a testimony, or conviction, that the truths taught by modern prophets and the Book of Mormon are, in fact, true.  Those of us born into the Church face a different task.  We too must gain a conviction, but we must come to believe that what we have been taught from childhood by our parents is true.

As a teenager, I attended a religious class our Church provides for high school students.  We met every morning at 6:00 AM before school.  There, on a daily basis, I learned from the scriptures and gained an understanding of where we came from, our purpose here on earth, and where we are going after this life.  I read the Old and New Testaments, the Book of Mormon, and other modern scriptures.  I prayed about the things I learned, and by the influence of the Holy Ghost came to know the things I was being taught are true.

At age 18, I left home and began college on the other side of the country, away from the influence of my parents.  Like a newly constructed ship being launched into the water, it was here that I found out if my faith was strong enough for me to float, or if I would sink.  I quickly found that my desire to continue in the ways I was taught remained strong.  I continued to read, study, and pray.  I found myself reaching out to those around me and strengthening them.  At the age of 20 I embarked on a two-year mission for the Church and saw the gospel bless the lives of many people in the country of Poland where I served.

Now, as a father, I have the same responsibility my parents had.  My wife and I teach our children just like we were taught.  We help them and encourage them, but all the time realize that what we are really trying to do is help them come to a knowledge for themselves that these things are true.

Those born in the Church are not different from converts to the Church.  We may be introduced to the Church at an earlier age by our parents, but we must gain our own faith just the same.  We must study the same scriptures, pray to the same God, and receive a witness from the same Holy Spirit.  I have done this and I know that you can too.

Bill Warner
Chula Vista 3rd Ward

Undeniable Feelings

I received my testimony of the Book of Mormon when I was in high school. I had spent a year diligently reading and studying it. While I didn’t understand every part, it was like no other book I had read. When I came to the end, I prayed to know if it was true. I was a teenager with only a small amount of faith and didn’t know what to expect from my prayer. As soon as I asked if the Book of Mormon was true, I felt light and heat inside my body and electricity on my skin. I knew it was the Holy Ghost testifying to me that the Book of Mormon was true. I can’t remember if it was an out loud prayer or a thinking prayer. It did not matter. I felt something real. I have read the Book of Mormon many, many times since then.

Jody Bregg
Otay Lakes Ward