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.

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