The Day I Will Remember

I have to give a talk tomorrow in church on "Deepening your Conversion".  I am referencing a conference talk given by Oscarson (Gen. YW Pres) and a couple other talks and quotes, but I wanted to share my mom's conversion story, so I called her to make sure I had it straight.

Three years after her father passed away, my mom and her mom and little brother moved from Montana to Seattle.  An LDS family helped them move and they introduced my mom to some girls who were also LDS.  My mom came from a good Catholic home, but when invited to mutual by these girls, my mom said yes.  She was 15-years old.

My mom continued to attend mutual.  She went to girls camp.  She participated in what is now Personal Progress and qualified for all the awards.  She went on temple to trips from Seattle to Oakland, CA even though she was not able to go inside.  She even saved her money all summer and paid for a year of 5am early-morning seminary (you use to have to pay for seminary).  She said that that year in seminary was her most successful school year; she had the best grades ever.  My grandma would not allow her to attend another year of waking-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-church-school-before-school classes, so my mom gave the money she saved to another student who could not afford it.  Still, my grandma would not allow her to be baptized.

My mom turned 18 on December 22, 1969.  7 days later she was baptized.  Her mother would not attend the baptism.

I asked if there was a turning point, a time when she really had confirmation that this gospel was true.  She said one night she was reading the Book of Mormon, she hadn't even gotten to Moroni's promise, about when Alma was crying, "Oh, that I were an angel." She stopped and thought, "Is this real? Did this really happen?  Or is this just a good story?"  She prayed to Heavenly Father and asked him those questions.  She said that she was immediately filled with the Holy Ghost and felt a peace and love that she had never before felt.  It was then that she knew this gospel was more than mutual and girls camp, this gospel was true.

Although she didn't know it, I was in tears as she shared her conversion story with me.  I love to hear my mom bare her testimony.  It strengthens mine.  I think that if she could do what she did without any familial support, I can do great things too.

We said our goodbyes and I finished writing my talk.  It is now as I reflect on our conversation that I want to be able to tell my children my conversion story.  Sure, I was born into the church, but I want to tell them the moment I knew it was all true.  I do have a story.  It's not as great as my mom's, but I do have one nonetheless.  I want to share my testimony with my children.  I want my testimony to strengthen theirs.  And I want their conversion stories to be shared with their children one day.

So, here's to testimony.

Here's to sharing it.

And here's to a Better Mommy Me.