Allow me to begin by starting with one of my favorite passages of scripture found in the Bible in 1 Corinthians 13:1-8, 13 "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away� And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." Let us all remember these words from Paul, let us all understand that we are to love each other, not to hate, or condemn each other. And for all the anti-Mormons out there (see my Anti-Mormon section here), please try to remember these things the next time you twist and abuse LDS beliefs. I say these things after much experience and study of anti-Mormon deceptions, and although I do love you anti-Mormons, I really am sad to see the anti-Mormon method of "saving" people.

Well my story relating to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints begins when I met my wife at the wise old age of 16. But before I get started at that point, I would just like to give a bit more background on my upbringing. I was raised in a traditional Protestant family, this being something I am very grateful to God for since I was taught good morals, respect, love, and many other important qualities. The problem came that as I grew mentally and spiritually, I felt very unsatisfied. I had so many questions and so few answers (some questions listed below will be addressed on this website). After having reached the "wild" teenage years, I had really lost touch with my spiritual side of life, feeling completely out of tune with anything remotely related to God. (My point is not to put down the Protestant faith or to tell my life story, but only to portray the fact that I have experienced beliefs outside of Mormonism and to relate my experience of joining the LDS Church.) So my many questions went unanswered: who is God? What will happen to my family after death? Will we ever see each other again? What will happen to those who never hear of Christ and pass away without the opportunity? How can one heaven and one hell be fair? What about deathbed repentance? All of these things just made no sense to me, so I came to the conclusion that too many inconsistencies and gaps existed in the faith I had been raised in.

Now considering these inconsistencies, I can now relate how I eventually converted to the LDS faith. I met my wife, who has been a member of the LDS Church since childhood, while I was working part-time at a local library. We had discussed our beliefs a few times, but I was too stubborn to accept anything she had to tell me about Mormonism. A few weeks after we had begun dating, my father, now a devout Free-Methodist pastor, came to the knowledge that my girlfriend was a Mormon. He subtly tried to inform me about the "Mormon facts" (common Mormon rumors which many LDS members are just tired of hearing) to try to keep me on the "right" track (Protestantism). I listened to him and reassured him that I would never become "one of those Mormons".

Well "those Mormons" really had me wondering about all those "Mormon facts" my father had told me about. So I began my investigation. My plan was to go to work at the library, do my daily task for the librarian, and when I had some spare time I would read some literature concerning Mormonism and find the error in their (Mormons) ways. Hey, I was a pretty smart 16 year old guy who had the entire world in his hands (so I thought), surely I'd find the way to tell my girlfriend that she was headed towards destruction. So the next day, I carried out my plan.

That day I proceeded with the plan. I searched for "Mormon" on the computer at the library to find anything incriminating. What came up was "The Book of Mormon", (order a free copy of the Book of Mormon here or read an online version here) I patted myself on the shoulder, and went to look for its call number. Once I had found the shelf where the Book of Mormon was located, I felt a strange feeling I had never felt before. I suddenly felt that my plan was not going to go the way I had thought. Something was telling me that the contents inside this book were going to have a profound impact on my life. Peace and a feeling of great interest came over me, I remembered that I had so many questions concerning God and life, and I quietly hoped that I would soon find the answers. I knelt down, pulled the book from the shelf, and then walked over to the nearest table and opened it up.

Upon opening it, the title page read

"THE BOOK OF MORMON: An Account Written by THE HAND OF MORMON UPON PLATES TAKEN FROM THE PLATES OF NEPHI

About 2 years after the above experience had taken place, my wife and I were married and we were moved to North Carolina (California, my home, was then about 3000 miles away) because of military obligations. This relocation, along with my wife's constant but loving way of reminding me of the importance of seeking out God and her example to me, and of course the whispers of the Holy Spirit, I slowly began allowing the walls of stubborness to weaken and I actually began listening at the local LDS church meetings instead of just going to accompany my wife. Almost 3 years after my initial experience with Mormonism, I received the LDS missionaries into my home, and I was finally baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

My wife and I now have 2 children, we're back in California, and we're very much involved in the LDS Church. I give thanks to my God and Creator for all that He has given me and all that He will continually provide me with, for my patient, faithful and understanding wife who was there for me and never gave up, for my 2 boys who He has left in the care of my wife and I, to teach them all that we know to be true and just and to give them the greatest gift possible found through the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I also thank my parents for all that they have taught me, and for raising me the best that they possibly could have. I also thank my good friend (an ex-missionary) who I will only mention as "Smith" who was there for me in the military in Okinawa, Japan, assisting me through the anti-Mormon deception (see my Anti-Mormon section here). He helped me to stay on the straight and narrow path (where are you Smith??) and to him I partially owe the credit of my firm testimony of the LDS Church today. Lastly, and certainly not least, I give thanks to our Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was sent here to redeem all mankind from the fall, who loved us so much that He came and suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross for my sins and for all mankind's sins, He who came to do not His will, but the Father's, He who is the greatest example of meekness, kindness, humility, long-suffering, patience, love, and obedience, He who, through His Holy Spirit, has directed me to His True and Restored Gospel, and has shown me the validity of the Book of Mormon and the experience of the boy Prophet, Joseph Smith; to Him I owe my life, and all that I have, to Him and the Father I hope to return to with my family by my side, these things I leave with all who are in search of the truth, in the Holy Name of our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ, Amen.