I asked her to share her feelings of her story and this is what she wrote...
"My conversion story is something I do enjoy to recount. I feel very blessed by the journey I have taken and continue to grow in joy and love for our Heavenly Father and our savior Jesus Christ because really, this is just the beginning!
My journey began with a desire. A desire to walk with the Lord, to ensure my son knew God, to learn more about God and Jesus, and to follow Their ways.
This desire grew within me each day. As a result, I acted upon that desire by going to a church. I also began to really feast on the words in the Bible. At first, it was wonderful, I felt my heart changing in good ways and I was growing spiritually.
However, after going to the church for several months, I still felt like a stranger. I would stay after the service and let my son play with the other children, and hope for an opportunity to talk to the other parents. I managed a bit of small talk with some church goers, but for the most part I remained an outsider to the regulars. I felt discouraged and somewhat confused. If these were followers of Christ, why weren’t they being more Christ-like?
I remember several occasions praying to God and asking him to help me find a church that would feel like a family. I’m not sure of an exact time frame, but not too long after those prayers, there was a knock on my door. And I answered it.
I was greeted by two missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder Day Saints who wanted to share a message about Jesus. At that moment the most amazing thing happened: I let them come in and share their message.
It was amazing to me because my brain was not involved in that decision, my response to let them in was purely reflexive. I am 100% certain God heard my prayer. That He was listening intently and he answered my prayer with those two missionaries. I also believe the reason I let them in was by the power and influence of the Holy Ghost.
Now when I first started learning about the church, I was pretty skeptical. However, I kept an open mind because I didn’t know the first thing about The Church of Jesus of Ladder Day Saints. I turned to the Bible quite often as a source of either confirmation or denial of what the missionaries were teaching me.
When I read Luke 6:43-45:
“43For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bringeth forth good fruit. 44For every tree is known by its own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble gather they grapes. 45A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”
Those verses resonated within me with such force. I felt I was being told, “These people are the fruit of the church, look at them.”
And so I did. My experiences with the people of this church have been absolutely wonderful. I tell you sincerely, each and every person I have met and come to know within this church, I deeply care for and love.
What’s more, I know those sentiments and feelings are reciprocated just as sincerely as my own. In my heart and mind, that is one of the greatest testaments to this church. The people are the fruits and they are good. I am so grateful to have them as a part of my life.
Of course, with every conversion story, we need to talk about The Book of Mormon. To be honest, when I first started to read it I didn’t believe it too be true. I thought, “There’s no way.” I just couldn’t understand why God would give us MORE to read…as if the Bible wasn’t already enough. The other thing I didn’t do as I was reading, which the Elder’s had asked me to do, was to pray about it. Looking back, I don’t think I wanted to know because I wasn’t fully ready to accept the truth. However, as I continued to read and I continued to learn I felt something change. I noticed how amazingly, light, free, and happy I felt after each meeting with the Elder’s. I noticed my understanding increase and felt the truthfulness of The Book of Mormon with every turn of the page. Finally, I was ready to know straight from the source, God Himself, if these things were true. Was this book truly His word, were these real people, was this the true church of Christ? For this, I turned to a Book of Mormon prophet
And when ye shall receive these things, I exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are 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. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. (Moroni 10:4-5)
I did just that. When we put our preconceived notions aside and completely rely on God’s perfect knowledge alone, then and only then will we receive His answer clearly without mistake. I received my answer from on High, an emphatic and resounding YES! It is true. I know it is true. Not because some mortal man dressed in a nice suit told me. Not because everyone I’ve met is so wonderful and lovely. Not because I have been persuaded by kind words. But because I went straight to the source, the one source I know I can count on to lead me in straight paths. Our one true and living God, our Heavenly Father told me: yes this is the true church, yes the Book of Mormon is My word, yes this is your prayer answered. Unmistakable was the burning of bright truth felt within my heart and soul.
I had a date set for my baptism. Another hitch in the road came up; my best friend was not so keen on me becoming Mormon. You see, I had voiced myself when I thought this church wasn’t quite right, and I voiced my confusion to her very openly…so when I started to have a change of heart she thought that was not wise on my part. I tried to tell her all the things I have just discussed, but to no avail. These answers weren’t good enough for her. So, I decided to ease her mind I would pray one more time on the matter before I got baptized. And to my dismay I got a distinct impression telling me I was not ready. I cried, I fasted, and I spoke to others about it (namely my Elders). In the end, the eve of my baptism, I decided to postpone. I was still certain everything I had learned and experienced was true. What was I missing? I pondered this is my mind for quite some time. I then gave in to what my friend was telling me, that the church was wrong. I would miss church meetings here and there. I stopped reading the Book of Mormon. I started to feel confused all over again. I was still having missionaries come over. But I was beginning to slip from their grasp.
I started looking for answers on the Internet. Trying to find unbiased information about Mormonism is NOT easy let me tell you. Unfortunately all this just made me more confused. Which way should I go? I felt compelled to continue going to church and seeing the missionaries. But why? I began to examine the start of my “adventure”. I remembered the feelings and experiences I had had. I wondered if they were true feelings and experiences, or if I was misremembering. I began praying long and hard to help guide me to an answer. One problem; my faith had been a bit damaged. Result; a clear answer could not be heard or determined. Except one day something struck me: when I had been having these feelings and experiences I was listening intently, I was reading the Book of Mormon, and I was actively engaged in what I was learning. I decided very prayerfully that I was going to follow all the church had taught me, I would read the Book of Mormon every day, and I would listen to what the Spirit would have me do.
As I began again, so to speak, to my amazement the feelings of light and joy and peace and love came flooding back into my life. I felt the Holy Ghost’s presence once again. I prayed once again to know what I should do. Again, I heard the voice crystal clear: Yes, this is the true church of Christ, yes the teachings are true, yes I will always be here to guide you through difficult decisions, and yes you are now ready to be baptized. Oh what relief! When I think of this journey of coming to the truth, that is what I feel relief. Because the more I think of certain things that have happened throughout my life, I know this is what I have been searching for. What relief and comfort my heart has been filled with as I share my story. No one, not even the missionaries can make you believe. The beauty of this church is they have made known again what was lost: every person on this planet can have a deeply meaningful and true relationship with God and Jesus. They can speak to us and give us direction and revelation. What’s more is they speak to and give direction to the WHOLE body of Christ (meaning the whole church-worldwide) through a prophet on the earth today. There is no guess work in that! The key is in Moroni’s advice. You have to have full faith and REAL intent. Then you too can know the truth. God is our Father, Jesus is our Savior, and they love each and every living soul and want them to come home. There is a straight and narrow path which leads to that home. The question is, are you willing to go straight to the source to find for yourself what that true path is? I pray that you are.
Love,
Melissa Baxter"
This is a picture of Melissa and I and her son Wyatt in the grove at winter time.
So remember when hit with adversity or conflict just "toe the line" and you'll be fine.
