"What's a Mormon? What are you not allowed to do? Do you celebrate Christmas? Are you a 7th wife?
These are a lot of questions I've been asked since I told people that I was going to be baptized or when I happily tell them "because I'm Mormon!"
So in November 2014 I chose to be baptized and I was baptized on the 28th of that month and it was the greatest day of my life without doubt. I started off thinking Mormons were a type of biscuit to actually being one... Yup, writing this and it still hasn't sunk in. So for living in Scotland I was a normal 18 year old who loved going out and partying every weekend, but deep inside I had all these questions about life that I never ever thought I would be able to find the answers to.
"What even were we before we were born? But why are we even here in the first place? What happens when we die? That can't just be it..."
And yes, these were my questions and yes, these are probably most non-members questions about life that trouble them too. Some don't admit that it troubles them or some just brush it under the rug and continue in their day to day life. But for me, I like to get obsessed with finding things out and I won't stop until I do. We are most known for the things that we don't drink, our emphasis on the family and the Book of Mormon, but in the end the central message of our religion is our Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness for His children and the Atoning sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ and I was 1000% ready to hear this message. So church members volunteer themselves to represent Jesus Christ and his church of Latter-day saints for up to 24 months and share the gospel with people like me. Their purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. And yes these are the people with black name tags that knock your door... And luckily they found me!
Something had to change.
My lifestyle before the church was completely different. I was involving myself and surrounding myself with things that conflicted with the LDS lifestyle. I wasn't about to give it all up for something that could just be a phase in my life. I not only loved the missionaries that were teaching me, I didn't realise that I also loved what they were teaching me. I went from being terrified from going to church and from praying, to carrying my Book of Mormon with me everywhere. I would deliberately hold it out so someone would ask me what it was. I didn't have a huge understanding of it, but I needed to share it. I still hadn't recieved a answer to my prayers if I should be baptised or if the things were true. I didn't understand how to listen to the spirit's teachings. And that's okay.
I continued to listen to the missionaries and go to church. I had such a hunger to know the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was still drinking tea and coffee regularly, so I decided to completely stop and give it a bash. The next lesson, I was taught the plan of salvation, this is technically the second lesson the missionaries teach, but it wasn't for me. As I listened to everything they said, I realised this was all I ever wanted. My whole life I had these questions in the back of my mind about our purpose and life. The sisters did not know that at this moment, they were angels sent to me. I agreed to be baptised.
Just the beginning.
Everyone was so worried that I was changing, that Joanna would be gone. My family was terrified for me. They wanted me to explore other religion options. They kept asking "Why this church? Have you really looked into it?". It was hard to make them understand you cannot google "why the lds church", you can only ask God. I prayed for them every day that they would understand my happiness. They came to my baptism and supported me anyway. As I was being baptised, the spirit not only worked on me, but on my Gran. She grew up catholic her whole life and the spirit testified to her that what her granddaughter was doing was right and by the right authority.
The next year in August 2015, she was baptised.
Everything was changing, it wasn't the end of everything, but just the beginning. God has given me things I haven't even asked for, but he knew I wanted. My family hold Family Home Evening each Monday for missionaries - and sometimes teach it too!
I was the happiest I've ever been. I was floating everywhere. When things went wrong, I used to think it was the end of the world, I didn't know how to handle my anxiety. I always thought nobody knew how I felt. But someone did. I started to plan things for my future. I started to pray for my spouse, wherever and whoever he was. I was changing and planning everything for the better. I taught with the missionaries almost every week, was I meant to serve a mission? I didn't know but I knew one day I would, it didn't matter right then. Because it was just the beginning.
My lifestyle before the church was completely different. I was involving myself and surrounding myself with things that conflicted with the LDS lifestyle. I wasn't about to give it all up for something that could just be a phase in my life. I not only loved the missionaries that were teaching me, I didn't realise that I also loved what they were teaching me. I went from being terrified from going to church and from praying, to carrying my Book of Mormon with me everywhere. I would deliberately hold it out so someone would ask me what it was. I didn't have a huge understanding of it, but I needed to share it. I still hadn't recieved a answer to my prayers if I should be baptised or if the things were true. I didn't understand how to listen to the spirit's teachings. And that's okay.
I continued to listen to the missionaries and go to church. I had such a hunger to know the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was still drinking tea and coffee regularly, so I decided to completely stop and give it a bash. The next lesson, I was taught the plan of salvation, this is technically the second lesson the missionaries teach, but it wasn't for me. As I listened to everything they said, I realised this was all I ever wanted. My whole life I had these questions in the back of my mind about our purpose and life. The sisters did not know that at this moment, they were angels sent to me. I agreed to be baptised.
Just the beginning.
Everyone was so worried that I was changing, that Joanna would be gone. My family was terrified for me. They wanted me to explore other religion options. They kept asking "Why this church? Have you really looked into it?". It was hard to make them understand you cannot google "why the lds church", you can only ask God. I prayed for them every day that they would understand my happiness. They came to my baptism and supported me anyway. As I was being baptised, the spirit not only worked on me, but on my Gran. She grew up catholic her whole life and the spirit testified to her that what her granddaughter was doing was right and by the right authority.
The next year in August 2015, she was baptised.
Everything was changing, it wasn't the end of everything, but just the beginning. God has given me things I haven't even asked for, but he knew I wanted. My family hold Family Home Evening each Monday for missionaries - and sometimes teach it too!
I was the happiest I've ever been. I was floating everywhere. When things went wrong, I used to think it was the end of the world, I didn't know how to handle my anxiety. I always thought nobody knew how I felt. But someone did. I started to plan things for my future. I started to pray for my spouse, wherever and whoever he was. I was changing and planning everything for the better. I taught with the missionaries almost every week, was I meant to serve a mission? I didn't know but I knew one day I would, it didn't matter right then. Because it was just the beginning.
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