My testimony

I was introduced to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints approximately 3 years ago.  When my husband requested a visit from the missionaries in the area. Two very sweet sister missionaries came for a visit. We had lessons with them for approximately 6 months. Then  our family started going through some issues with our oldest daughter who at the time was a 17 year old high school senior who  knew everything and no one could convince her other wise.  Also some other matters were going on in our family. So I told my husband that the sisters needed not to come back because we were perfectly ok in our church and with all the issues going on we didn’t need to confuse our children anymore.
Fast forward to earlier this year I am thinking February or March. I really can’t remember exactly what month but it was still cold out. Two Elders stopped by and started meeting with us again. Due to my husbands job he was not home except two days a week and that was Wednesdays and Thursdays. The Elders were only able to visit on Thursday evenings due to our family’s crazy schedules. But I sit on the board for a baseball leagues for adults and children with disabilities and also a committee member for Henry County’s Relay for Life. Thursday evenings were usually the night of choice for both organization’s. So a lot of times I was hit or miss on the lessons.  My husband consistently met with the missionaries and grew in understanding and wanted to know more and become a member of the church. As for me I was a Nazarene who was content, comfortable, and happy or  I thought I was happy at my church. My mindset was no one was going to convince me otherwise. At one time I did make the statement I would me a Nazarene till the day I died….. In June my husband set a baptism date. I was not happy our family had always went to church together. I didn’t want to be a wife who went to church with her kids by herself. We had already been baptized with our oldest daughter. Which was a very special event to me due to the fact that the man who baptized us was tragically electrocuted to death while trimming trees for a member of his church on July 30, 2005. I felt being rebaptized would be making a mockery of him.
The night before his baptism I told him he had to choose between his family or the church. …. I was very upset and the children and I left and went to stay at my parents house because my family was not going to attend two churches. that’s not what my family did. It wasn’t fair. That weekend was a very dark weekend for me. On the day of his baptism my phone rang and it was a former elder that had recently went home. He told me I needed to go to his baptism. He also was very reassuring and supportive to me and made sure I knew he loved me. I didn’t go to the baptism. I was a very un happy person for awhile…..
One evening the Elders stopped by and asked me if I wanted them to continue to teach me. I actually said yes…… So they continued to teach me. The whole baptism was my hang up. I didn’t want to make a mockery of my baptism. We were having a study with the Elders on September 7th and Elder Wood asked at the end of the lesson if I would kneel and pray ask if the book of Mormon was true and if Joseph Smith was a true prophet of  Heavenly father. I knelt and prayed and received my answer…. Well ok I had no idea what to do now. I didn’t know how to leave my church…. I had responsibilities and was a teacher. Well the answer began to come the next day. I was leaving my house to go to a PTO meeting. I would have usually slipped into a pair of flip flops and just went but I took the time to put my tennis shoes on. Grabbed my purse, phone, keys, and told my family goodbye and out the door I went. If you know me I rarely leave the house by myself. I have my kids with me and everyone else’s kids since I have a daycare and am always babysitting. Well I fell down 6 cement steps. I am laying at the bottom of the steps and in severe pain. I didn’t know what to do. I did have a lady stop but she wasn’t much help since she had a fear of cats and a cat was sitting on my porch.. So I start panicking and realized my phone was in my purse. So I called my husband and had him come outside. So he came out looked at me and called 911. I ended up in an ambulance and in ER. I had sprained my shoulder, my left ankle was severely sprained, my left knee was dislocated, and had a really bad abrasion on my right knee.  The elders were at our house shortly after I came home from ER to offer a blessing. This began my transition to breaking ties with my former church. I just didn’t realize it. I was unable to do anything. Moving from the recliner just to do simple things we take for granted was a major feat that would result into me being extremely exhausted. I am a very busy person and always on the go. So I really had nothing to do and I was bored so I read and I read a lot. I read a lot of the book of Mormon. It really brought great comfort to me. The church I attended was in Spiceland which is about 10 minutes from New Castle and I told my husband many times during my recovery that I felt spice land was a thousand miles away. The people I attended church didn’t seem concerned about me. It really hurt me. But the people of the branch in new castle were so awesome to help me and my family. The sisters brought meals, offered to help with my children, sent texts, called, offered to help in anyway and also visited me. During this time I felt ok with taking myself of the membership in the Nazarene church. I felt at peace with everything. The issue with my baptism weighed heavily and I did talk to the missionaries about my concern. They invited me to pray about it and I received my answer.
On October 29th which is less then two weeks myself along with three of my children Maddy, Jared, and Jalen will be baptized at 6pm. This will be an amazing evening for our family and it will be one step closer to our family being a forever family. I now know without a shadow of a doubt that Joseph Smith is the Prophet of the Restoration, The Book of Mormon is True. Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet and this church is Jesus Christ’s true church. I bear this testimony  in the name of Jesus Christ amen!!!