What I Believed

In my senior year of high school, I dated a Latter-Day Saint (Mormon) boy.  His father was the Bishop at the time.  He didn't teach me much about his religion, but I was given the Book of Mormon and read the Joseph Smith story in the beginning.  It not only sounded believable, but I actually felt like I was experiencing the events in person, rather than reading the account of them in a book.  It was undeniable to me that the events actually occurred.  At one point, as we were comparing doctrine, something jumped out at me as the truth.  To this day I cannot remember what it was.  All I know is that as we went our separate ways when I went off to college, I told him "mark my words...the next time we see each other, I will be a member of your church."  I was reminded of the LDS church several times through the next 7 yrs, with ads on TV--I even ordered another Book of Mormon one time and read in it a little.  But in those years, I still remained faithful to the church of my birth.  In college, I became more involved with my church, and at the same time was exposed to many non-Catholic religions.  I had many friends whose churches I attended if I was staying with them on a school break, or if they asked me to attend with them while at school.  Some of the denominations were Methodist, Congregational, UCC, Freewill Baptist, Jewish and Buddhist.  Although I was never "looking" for a different church, I remember thinking to myself each time "I like such and such about this church, but I don't really believe such and such."  I determined never to trade my "Catholic" problems for those of another church.  I would only change my religion if I believed EVERYTHING about its doctrine.  Now, the problems I had with the Catholic church were
1. Babies who were not baptized would go to "Limbo"-some place between Heaven and Hell, not right into the arms of a loving God.
2. Good People all over the earth and throughout time who had not heard the gospel of Jesus Christ would be damned for not being Christian/baptized.  And in other churches, "accepting Him as their personal Savior."
3. People could not confess any of their sins to God without the Priest as mediator, in a private "confessional" booth, and the punishment to receive absolution being to say so many rote prayers assigned by the priest.
4. Lack of personal relationship to the Priest, who had so many congregants, how could he possible meet the needs of so many?
There were probably many more issues I had, but these were the most problematic for me.  Incidentally, the Catholic Church has in recent years changed its stance on infant baptism...now babies who die without it will go directly into the presence of God.

Next Post:  How Thom and I found the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Donna grew up knowing God

I had always believed in God, and in Jesus Christ...I was never converted or taught.  From the time I was about 4 yrs old, I begged my aunt and uncle to take me to church with them (we were all catholic).  I felt the presence of the Savior at church, even if I didn't understand what was being said.  When I was old enough to ride my bike to church, I did.  When I was old enough to drive, I drove.  My brother and sister used to laugh at me on summer Sundays when I would go off to church dressed up while they were dressed to lay out in the sun.  In high school I had a friend Tonia, who went to a Bible group and always read the Bible.  At work, she used to talk to me about scriptures, and even though I had read much of the New Testament, I started reading a lot more.  It was about this time that I started receiving personal revelation from God as I sought answers from him.  The first experience I remember was when I was when I would be doing my homework, and look up at the clock...many times it would read 8:15, then change immediately to 8:16.  At that time, Tonia was telling me that if I prayed to be shown something from God, I should just open up the Bible to a random place, which God would guide me to, and there would be an answer there.  But this time, after seeing the 8:15-8:16 thing many times, I decided to go to the Bible and see what was on those pages.  I turned to page 815 in the Old Testament.  It was the cover page to the book of Jeremiah.  I turned the page and started reading.  Verses 5-7 caught my attention: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee;  and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.  Then said I, Ah, Lord God!  Behold, I cannot speak:  for I am a child.  But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child:  for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak."

Although I did not believe I would be a prophet, I knew the Lord was speaking to me when I read these verses.  I felt that the Lord had a mission for me in my life...that he had something important for me to do.  And I knew that he knew me, before I was born, as he had known Jeremiah.  My faith continued to grow.  As I went on to college, I joined a Bible study group, that also had singing and guitar playing, which I loved.  I wrote 3 songs for the group meetings and really enjoyed myself.  I continued to attend the Catholic church at that time, although I also appreciated the groups I hung out with, which were clearly more evangelical in nature.  I began to feel that the man I was to marry would have to believe the same things I did if I were to have a satisfying marriage.   More on what I believed in my next entry...