Rewind

Why does a person join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (also known as the Mormons)?
It amazes me to hear the explanation of those of other faiths with regard to people who convert to Mormonism. I hear words like cult, brainwashing, trickery. I've read articles on how to combat the Mormons when they show up at your door. I've seen videos of "preachers" supposedly "laying out the Mormon missionaries". I've realized most people honestly have very little to no understanding of what being Mormon really is.... Mormons are Christians..just as Baptists, Catholics, Pentecostals, etc... We believe in Christ. The same Christ as everyone else. The Christ prophesied of in the Old Testament and documented in the New Testament.
Mormon is just a nickname the world has given us.
Jesus Christ is the cornerstone, the foundation on which the was church formed, during the restoration of the gospel as directed by Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, through revelation to Joseph Smith. The world has turned that story into many things....... for those who want to know the real story..I suggest this link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySyv1I2e9RE

So, rewind to 2001...and my story...
I was a practicing Catholic. My mother's family deeply rooted in Catholicism for generations. My father a convert to the Catholic church prior to marrying my mother.
Church was an absolute must on weekends and church designated Holy Days of obligation.
I had no intention of ever leaving the Catholic faith. I did have a dear friend who was LDS and had given me a copy of The Book of Mormon per my request, yet after attempting to read it , I placed it in a drawer for safe keeping. My friend did tell me about latter day saint missionaries and how they go out into the world, at the expense of their family on money set aside especially for that purpose. I really thought it was remarkable for young men to take time out to share the gospel, at an age when their peers are into partying.. even if I didn't know exactly what the church was about or if I agreed with what they taught. My friend never pushed the LDS church on me. Like I said, the book was given to me upon my request and never did my friend ask if I read the book or what I thought.

Spring 2003-
Working as a home health nurse I would travel from town to town seeing patients. I love the elderly. Driving from house to house always gave me time to think and enjoy the beauty around me. I can't say I saw a LDS missionary that I was aware of during the 39 years I lived thus far. One day in April, I was riding around in a town about 25 miles away, trying to locate a patient's home. I turned onto a street and as I approached the stop sign, I noticed four young men, suits, white shirts, ties and name badges. I thought, "oh my, can't be". I'm sure they thought I was crazy and I wish to this day I had their names. I stopped my car, jumped out, asked them if they were missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and one of them responded politely, "yes ma'am, we are".....I was so excited to see real missionaries. I guess my enthusiasm came from never seeing any before. I told them I thought it was really admirable for them to take time out of their lives at such a young age to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. I explained to them I was Catholic, loved being Catholic, planned on staying Catholic..but, I thought what they did was great. I tried to give them some money for lunch, yet they refused. They did give me a "pass along" card. I told them goodbye and went on my merry way. Over the course of the next few weeks, it seemed as if in every town I went to , I ran into missionaries. I ran into missionaries at Wal-Mart in one town, at the hospital getting x-rays in another. I ran into a senior missionary couple at the doctor's office. I ran into missionaries everywhere...each time a different set of missionaries. I always tried to give them money for lunch, they would refuse and give me a pass-along card and I would give them my same speech about being Catholic... NOT ONE SET OF MISSIONARIES EVER ASKED ME IF THEY COULD VISIT MY HOME OR INVITED ME TO CHURCH... (I guess they didn't want my soul, haha) .... One day as I was riding through the countryside, in the middle of nowhere.. I crossed a set of two missionaries on bikes. I hit the brakes, pulled over....scared them to death....jumped out of my car, walked toward them.. I remember giving them the same speech about having an LDS friend, about thinking what they do is remarkable, about me being Catholic and staying Catholic.. I know they gave me a pass along card ..
but, what I remember most is ........
as I turned to walk back to my car....
this overwhelming, yet calm voice commanded me to give them my name and number and to
ask them to come and tell to me about their message.....
That is the first time in my life....
I felt the influence of the Holy Ghost...
I was not contemplating the LDS faith on any level.......and at that point, I still wasn't...I just knew I was commanded to do something and did it.

Recently, as I sat in church with a new Catholic friend ...who so graciously agreed to come and meet me at church one Sunday... he leaned over and whispered..
"I know the Catholic church has it's issues, but I don't understand what makes a person actually leave the Catholic church and convert."

The response came from my mouth without any thought..... I whispered back..

"The Spirit does"

(to be continued)