Born of God: Chapter 1

BORN OF GOD

The Story of My Conversion

My story might be a little backwards.  A lot of people in the Christian world choose to get baptized when they feel the Holy Ghost in their life, and they realize that Jesus Christ is their Savior.  For me, it was the first step to a very long journey that eventually led me to a knowledge of who my Savior and Redeemer truly is.  This is the story of my conversion.

My Baptism (Oct. 1997)

Chapter 1: Born of Water
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. -John 3:5 http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/john/3.5?lang=eng#4

 I grew up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I was a quiet kid.  Our family was pretty normal (I think...) but I can remember from a young age feeling a little disconnected from the world.  I got baptized at the age of eight, like everyone did in our church.  I had a basic knowledge of the Gospel principles, but I didn't really have a testimony of them.  I was eight.  I still don't remember much about that baptism, other than the song my siblings sang. http://www.lds.org/music/library/childrens-songbook/when-i-am-baptized?lang=eng 

At a pretty young age, I started getting into some trouble: testing boundries, questioning everything...  I began to wonder and doubt if God was even there.  I began to shut down.  My parents taught me that God loved me, but I didn't feel like He was answering my prayers.  Therefore, (in my mind) He either wasn't there or didn't love me.  It didn't really matter which was the case.  I didn't want anything to do with Him if either of those things were true.  I think I was thirteen when I told my parents that I wasn't going to church anymore.  I was done with church and done with God. 

I spent a lot of time resenting the fact that I got baptized so young, when I had very little understanding of what I was doing.  In my rebellious teen years, I called it peer pressure.



Elder Clem, Me, Elder Norton (May 2010)

So how did getting baptized at eight years old have an impact on me? 

Looking back, it seemed like my life went downhill after that event.  Well, about twelve years later, I had reached the point where I wanted to know just what was missing from my life.  I sat down in my apartment with some missionaries who taught me about that baptism that I knew so little about.  Elder Norton asked me if I could remember my baptism.  And for the first time in a long time, I could remember something.  Through the power of the Holy Ghost, I could remember the feelings that I had that day.  I had been happy.  I knew that I was doing something good.  

Elder Norton, Me, Elder Evans (Aug. 2010)

My understanding has grown so much and I am grateful now that I was baptized when I was eight.  Why?  Because I received the gift of the Holy Ghost.  And even though I made many mistakes and even turned away from God, the  moment that I was ready and willing to come back to Him, He was right there.  He had been there all along, really.  I was the one who had turned my back on Him.  I look back now, and I can see how He was guiding me every step of the way.


Mosiah 5:7 And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters. http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/5.7?lang=eng
 

My family at my baptism (Oct. 1997)