It was April 14, 1982 when I entered the waters of baptism. Not many people were present, as it was in the middle of the week and in the afternoon; it was a Wednesday, I believe.
I was very happy.
After the baptism, performed by a member of the church who was a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood, I received the gift of the Holy Ghost and was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by another member of the church who held the Melchizedek Priesthood.
I was on cloud nine.
What did being baptize mean to me? It meant, that all I had done in the past had been forgiven and washed away. I was going to start from scratch and, from that moment on, I had taken upon me the name of my Savior, Jesus the Christ, and promised that I would follow in His footsteps.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Sunday, November 17, 2013
More questions were answered in following meetings. Each meeting left me in awe at how much Heavenly Father loved me and wanted me to be happy.
Soon enough, I no longer wanted to ask questions to trip them... I was now asking questions because I seriously wanted to know more and feel of their love and His love for me.
Through their teachings of our Savior, I felt I wanted to be more like Him.
I wanted to be the kind of daughter Heavenly Father would be proud of. I knew He would love me no matter the choices I made, but I wanted Him to be happy about the way I was living.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
The day came for me to meet with the sister missionaries again.
I asked them the questions that had been bothering me and, to my surprise, they had answers for them, and they made sense.
I was impressed, but at the same time I was still kind of leery and decided I was going to find questions to ask with the purpose of tripping them up. Certainly, there must have been things they did not know and had the answer to!
I think I had taken it as a challenge to aggravate them with my questions and I wonder what they thought of me. Nonetheless, they always had a smile on their faces and never once were they belligerent or made me feel I was not worth of an answer or their time.
The first question I had came about as I was reading the Book of Mormon, and Nephi was ordered to kill Laban. I thought, "Wait a second! we have been given the commandment thou shall not kill and here he is ordered to kill...what is going on?"
The two missionaries not only reminded me of Noah and the Flood, but also asked me to read a few verses down from where I had stopped and, sure enough, the explanation was there. "... It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief."
Even the Bible explains this concept. Check out John 11:50: "“And you do not consider that is profitable for us that one man should die instead of the nation, and not that the whole nation perish."
With this question now answered, I moved on to the next one...
I asked them the questions that had been bothering me and, to my surprise, they had answers for them, and they made sense.
I was impressed, but at the same time I was still kind of leery and decided I was going to find questions to ask with the purpose of tripping them up. Certainly, there must have been things they did not know and had the answer to!
I think I had taken it as a challenge to aggravate them with my questions and I wonder what they thought of me. Nonetheless, they always had a smile on their faces and never once were they belligerent or made me feel I was not worth of an answer or their time.
The first question I had came about as I was reading the Book of Mormon, and Nephi was ordered to kill Laban. I thought, "Wait a second! we have been given the commandment thou shall not kill and here he is ordered to kill...what is going on?"
The two missionaries not only reminded me of Noah and the Flood, but also asked me to read a few verses down from where I had stopped and, sure enough, the explanation was there. "... It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief."
Even the Bible explains this concept. Check out John 11:50: "“And you do not consider that is profitable for us that one man should die instead of the nation, and not that the whole nation perish."
With this question now answered, I moved on to the next one...
Sunday, November 3, 2013
The day came for me to meet with the two sister missionaries (Sorella Dotti e Sorella Anastasio).
It was their "P" day (Preparation day: a day set aside for the missionaries to do their laundry, their grocery shopping, cleaning, and writing letters to family and friends)...
Those two young ladies gave up part of their day to come and see me, as that was the only time I could meet. Although disappointed that they were not dashing young men, I respected and appreciated the fact that they made a sacrifice to come and see me.
One of my sister missionaries (now married and living in Arizona) reminded me that the first thing I said to them was, "I am not going to join this church unless I know it is true."
I remember that statement. The reason behind it was that I did not want to join the church and then not attend because I had problems with what they were teaching (like it had happened with the Catholic church).
They began the lessons by teaching me about Joseph Smith and the First Vision.
They gave me a copy of the Book of Mormon to read and set up another appointment.
The first thing I did, once I got back home, was to read in the encyclopedia about the Mormons. I felt like I had opened a can of worms! So many questions started swirling in my head, but only one was weighing heavily on me. I could not wait to meet with them again and ask about that particular issue!
It was their "P" day (Preparation day: a day set aside for the missionaries to do their laundry, their grocery shopping, cleaning, and writing letters to family and friends)...
Those two young ladies gave up part of their day to come and see me, as that was the only time I could meet. Although disappointed that they were not dashing young men, I respected and appreciated the fact that they made a sacrifice to come and see me.
One of my sister missionaries (now married and living in Arizona) reminded me that the first thing I said to them was, "I am not going to join this church unless I know it is true."
I remember that statement. The reason behind it was that I did not want to join the church and then not attend because I had problems with what they were teaching (like it had happened with the Catholic church).
They began the lessons by teaching me about Joseph Smith and the First Vision.
They gave me a copy of the Book of Mormon to read and set up another appointment.
The first thing I did, once I got back home, was to read in the encyclopedia about the Mormons. I felt like I had opened a can of worms! So many questions started swirling in my head, but only one was weighing heavily on me. I could not wait to meet with them again and ask about that particular issue!
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