Born of God: Chapter 4

BORN OF GOD

The Story of My Conversion

Chapter 4: A Sure Foundation

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. -Helaman 5:12 http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/hel/5.12?lang=eng#11

It took a long time for me to build on that basic knowledge, that God really was there.  I started praying and seeking God's will in my life.  Over the course of about two years, I began to develop some faith.  I noticed that my life had gotten better.  I was happier, and for the first time felt I might have some kind of purpose.

But after some time went by, I felt like something was missing from my life again.  I did not know what  it was, so I sought out help from my Father in Heaven.

This was a huge step for me, to even believe in Him, but my understanding of God was probably a little different from other people.  For me, He was a very vague idea of a Higher Power.   I knew that He was there but I didn't know much about Him.

During this time of making changes in my life, I had also made some new friends.  I had been hanging around them once a week or so for about nine months.  There was something about them that was different from other people.  I wanted to know what it was.

So in the summer of 2009 they were preparing to go to Prescott, AZ for a spiritual retreat they did every year.  They invited me to come and I had no idea what I was getting myself  into.

When we arrived, I saw signs and a chapel that hinted very heavily that this was a Christian campground.  And as I came to find out, these people I had placed myself around were all strong believing Christians.  Well, I had more than a lack of belief in Christ and very strong opinions against religion, so this made me very uncomfortable and upset.  The last thing I wanted was to sit around and be lectured about a belief in Jesus.  I was fine with my vague "Higher Power".  But I had just driven thirteen hours to get here and I couldn't just turn around and go home.  So instead I went to the cabin I was assigned to stay in for the weekend, and I fell apart on my bunk bed.  I had no idea what to do and I felt completely trapped.  I was so far out of my comfort zone!

But I knew that there were few enough people there, that they would notice if I didn't come out for the planned activities.  And I knew my friends were the kind of people to come and find out exactly why I wasn't participating.  I didn't want to address that with them (that I did not believe in Christ,) so I washed my face,  put on a big, fake smile, and told everyone I had just taken a nap.  I didn't really have any other choice, so I tried to pretend I was OK. 

That first night I went off by myself for as long as I could get away, and I just cried.  I said a prayer to God (as I understood Him) and I asked for help.  I remember that I asked Him to just change whatever He needed to change in me, to get me through the weekend.

But I hated it!  Everyone was talking about their experiences with how Jesus had saved them and it was the last thing I wanted to hear.  The entire weekend was about recovery and change.  And I didn't want anything to do with it.  There were speakers and workshops all weekend that focused on the negative things in their lives and the steps to overcome.  I was not about to pour my soul out to all these people.  

The weekend went on, and I continued to be confused, emotional, and exhausted.  I don't know exactly what happened to me during those three days... But somewhere in there I began to really think about what they were saying.  I wondered if this was what made them stand out against the world.  I decided I needed to know if Jesus Christ was really who they said He was.  

I broke down and started to be a little more honest with my feelings and questions.  They told me that I could learn more about Him by reading the Bible.  And one of these new friends, Bobby, gave me an old, well-used copy to take home and read.  They told me to pray in the name of Jesus Christ.

I started praying, reading, and attending a non-denominational Christian church with some of these friends.  I began to notice some changes in my life.  I came closer to God and felt happier.  There was so much power in doing these things and my faith grew stronger.  Over time, as I came to realize that this was blessing my life, I knew that Jesus Christ must really be who they said He was. 

Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do. -2 Nephi 32:3 http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/32.3?lang=eng#2

I began to develop a relationship with Him and that proved to be a sure foundation.  Throughout the next several months, as I dealt with life (and the struggles that come with it,) I realized that I really did believe in Jesus Christ.  I had come to know Him in little ways and my life was better from that.

I testify that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He lives.  As we follow Him, we can all find happiness in this life and great joy in the life to come!

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me -John 10:27 http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/john/10.27?lang=eng#

Born of God: Chapter 3

BORN OF GOD

The Story of My Conversion

Chapter 3: Came to Believe
Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.  -Mosiah 4:9 http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/4.9?lang=eng#8


I spent a lot of time in my life, doubting there was a God of some kind who loved me.  I guess it took a lot of pain for me to consider another option.  Things in my life got pretty bad, mostly because of the choices I was making.  I was seventeen years old when I hit a rock bottom.  It got to the point where I saw no purpose at all in my life and did not know what to do.  I was faced with an ultimatum:  give up or get help.

People I knew spoke of God, and how He had helped them.  Well, I decided that if He wasn't real, then no one could help me, and there would be no hope.  But this was the last thing I could think of that might give me a fighting chance.  



I spoke to a friend on the phone one night.  I had fallen back into some old behaviors and I didn't know how to overcome the challenges that were in front of me.  Brian told me that this was Satan trying to hold me back and keep me from my potential.  I asked him, "Well if Satan is reaching out for me, then where is God?  Why isn't He reaching out to help me?"  I wasn't trying to argue.  I really wanted to know.

I got off the phone with Brian and I pondered the things he had told me.  And I had a little thought cross my mind.  "Maybe God is reaching out to you... through Brian."

Even though it was a little thought, I had some big feelings follow it.  I couldn't breathe and  I was overwhelmed with feelings I'd never had before.  I didn't understand right away that it was the Holy Ghost, confirming that thought in my mind.  

I called Brian back and asked him what was happening to me.  The feelings of the Spirit were so foreign to me that I did not even recognize that it was He who was touching my heart.  I was shocked.  The Spirit doesn't always create such strong feeling in us but at this time, He was making sure I knew what I needed to know.

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God  -Romans 8:16 http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/rom/8.16?lang=eng#15

So I came to believe in a Power greater than myself.  That moment started it, but it took time to begin to build a relationship with Him.  I started to exercise faith in Him by making changes in my life and believing that He was there to help me.  I began to pray, seeking His guidance in my life.  I found that as I listened more and more, I was able to start recognizing the quiet whispers of the Spirit.

Over time, my life improved dramatically.  I still had a lot to learn and I had a long road ahead of me.  But even with that basic bit of knowledge, I became so much happier and I felt that I had more purpose in my life.  This experience gave me much needed hope and pointed me in the right direction.  I don't know where I would be if it were not for a loving Father in Heaven who reached out to me that night.  And all I had to do was ask.

And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.  -Luke 11:9-10 http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/luke/11.9-10?lang=eng#8

Born of God: Chapter 2

BORN OF GOD

The Story of My Conversion

Chapter 2: Walking in Darkness
Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.  -John 12:35
http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/john/12.35?lang=eng#34

I can remember when I first began to walk into the darkness.  At a young age, I did not have a firm testimony or foundation established and when things in my life got a little rocky, I abandoned ship.  I don't know what I had prayed for before, but at age 8 I remember praying for my family sincerely and asking God for the blessings I thought we needed.  They were probably the first truly genuine prayers I had ever said.  When I didn't get the answers I was hoping for, I was hurt and devastated.  I felt that either God wasn't really there or He didn't really love me.  I began to distance myself slowly over time so I wouldn't be hurt again.  Praying seemed pointless.

As a young girl, I watched others in our church have spiritual experiences and I wondered what was wrong with me that I couldn't feel it.  I felt like it wasn't working, and when other people in my life introduced me to other avenues, I thought maybe I could be happy living life the way they did.  Even though their lives weren't consistent with how I had been raised, I found myself completely willing to give anything a try.  I left the Church and went down every other path I could find.

I tested the waters for many years, telling myself that the path I had started on was not the right one; I had already tried it and it didn't work; the things I had been taught could not be true.  Over the years I forgot everything I had been taught as a kid.  Any faith I may have had as a child dwindled, and my resentments toward God and religion swelled within me.  And then there were some times where others' actions hurt me and it just made me doubt even more that God was really there.



The more I separated myself from God and from my family, the more lonely I became.  The mistakes I made caused me to have bitter feelings of guilt and shame.  I was unwilling to change, and without repentance there was no forgiveness; there was no relief from the bondage I had put myself in.  I was walking in darkness without direction, and life began to feel so hopeless.

When we disobey God's commandments, this is what it leads to.  It may start out as a little twinge of guilt and maybe a small void in our heart, but sin will never lead us to true happiness.  That is what I learned through my own personal experiences.

For some of us it takes a great misery or rock bottom to make us want a change in our lives, but it is never too late to step out of the darkness and into the light.  We all have those things that we have to overcome, and we all have trials that can lead us to God and strengthen our faith in Him.  For me it seemed like it took a thousand little steps over the course of several years.  But I have been able to overcome so much!  Looking back at who I was and how I used to feel, I am amazed by the change that is possible because of Christ.  The void and deep sorrow I felt before is gone.  Today my heart is full.  "I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see." (Amazing Grace)

My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more.  -Mosiah 27:29 http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/27.29?lang=eng#28

Me :)  October 2012

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)

Don't Go Chasing Shadows...

SHADOWS

Yesterday we were visiting with a good friend and while we were talking, her dog, Freckles, came up and sat on my lap.  Freckles turned her body so that she was facing the shadows in the corner and she refused to look at anything else.   She wanted to get the shadows but couldn't.  She was staring so intensely for probably an hour and after a while she even began to shake.  I tried to point her in a different direction but she was persistant in finding the shadows.  While this may seem silly to all of us, how often do we have a similar attitude?

"If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you'll never enjoy the sunshine."

 -Morris West


Do you ever find that even when things are going well in your life, there is at least one thing to disrupt your happiness?  Sometimes I have a talent for focusing in on one or two negative things, when everything else in my life is great!  And then I'm upset that life isn't perfect :/  Well life isn't supposed to be perfect.  It's practice.  God just wants us to get really good at finding the light in our lives.

Yes, sometimes we have trials to face and mountains to climb...  but we have to look in the right direction if we are going to "come off conqueror".  D&C 10:5
http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/10.5?lang=eng#4

There is light all around us!  There is peace, joy, laughter, optimism... Do we seek after these things or do we insist on facing the shadows of our lives?

"Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows." -Helen Keller

I know that we will all find more joy in our lives if we look to the light around us, instead of focusing on shadows.  And no matter what we are facing in life, we can have joy as we count our blessings and thank our Father in Heaven for all the light He has given us.


"In sunshine and in shadow we look to Him, and He is there to assure and smile upon us." -Gordon B. Hinckley  http://www.lds.org/search?lang=eng&query=sunshine&collection=general-conference

He Heard Me

PRAYER.


I don't know how or why God chooses to answer certain prayers in the way He does.  And in the moment of trial or distress, it can be hard to recognize God's hand in our lives.  These are some experiences I had that showed me that God really does care aboout me, and that He does answer prayers.


Sometimes we have those trials or circumstances in life where we desperately need His help; where nobody else but God can help us.  I know I have had those times where I was terrified about the possibilities in my future.  My little nephew Zachary, had open heart surgery recently, when he was about 3 months old.  This was one of those times for me.  My sister comforted me, saying that Zach would be OK.  And he was.  I didn't know why God grants us certain blessings (or miracles) at times, but I was so thankful for this one!

 

Then at other times in our lives, we have little things come up; things that probably seem insignificant to everyone except us.  Last week, I lost my CTR ring.  It was a little something.  But it meant something to me.  It wasn't the most important thing in the world by anyone's standard.  But I prayed for 2 days that I would find it, because I knew that God could help me.  I told my doubtful mind over and over again, that He could.  And then one morning, I checked my pocket (a pocket that I had already turned inside out 3 times before.)  And there it was.

 

I don't know about you but I realized recently that sometimes when I pray, it feels like I am sending an email out into the universe, and that God will check His inbox when He can get around to it. And sometimes I treat it as something very casual.  But that is not how it works... Not for God anyway.

 

Last week one night, it was time for bed, so I got down on my knees and said a prayer.  I didn't have some overwhelming experience, but I did feel something different...

I felt like my Heavenly Father was sitting down next to me, listening to every word.


And at that moment I knew that He does not only hear and answer our prayers, but He really LISTENS.  Logically, I've known for several years that God answers my prayers.  But right then, it wasn't about giving me blessings or answers or anything else... I had peace, just knowing that he heard me. 

God really is there. 
He hears our prayers... and answers them! 

Repentance: not a four-letter word.

     Repentance can sometimes seem like an ugly word.  Why does it scare us away? It was never meant to be a punishment.  It was a gift from our Heavenly Father.  Guilt and shame (and separation from God) are natural results that come when we disobey His commandments (a.k.a. sin.)  But repentance is the way out from that pain.  It is the solution.

"REPENTANCE... a change of mind, i.e., a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world."  - Bible Dictionary

"Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy."  - Alma 36:21

Sometimes I think it can be hard to know what repentance should look like.  So here are some specific steps we can take to grow and change.  The six R's of repentance:

1. Recognize:  Before anything in our lives can change we must first be aware of what needs to change.  Life doesn't really fix itself.  If we aren't aware of what is wrong, we should start thinking and praying about it.  

2. Remorse:  Chances are that if we don't feel any kind of conviction for our behaviors, we probably won't stop doing whatever it is that we are doing (or we won't start doing what we should be doing...)

3. Reveal:  We must then take some time to talk to God.  We have to humble ourselves and come to Him, confessing our sins.  Ask for forgiveness and help to overcome them.  He already knows what we've done and how we feel about it, but He requires our humility. 

4. Restitution: Make amends in any way we can.  If we have harmed another, we need to make it right for them (not us) if we can.  It isn't about us having peace over the situation, it is about them.  If making amends hurts someone else we are doing it wrong.

5. Refrain:  We should forsake our sins:  Turn them over to the Lord and do them no more.  He has the power to help us walk away from the things Satan is using to pull us in.  If we humble ourselves and have faith in Him, He will turn our weaknesses into strengths.

6. Record:  Sometimes old feelings of guilt and shame will come up even when we have completely repented.  When the Spirit helps us know that we are forgiven, we should write down those feelings of peace, and do our best to remember what the Lord has already shown us!

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." - Ether 12:27

Through Jesus Christ we can accomplish the things that seem impossible.  He loves us more than we could ever know!  Don't lose hope!