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Former Member Of the
Pentecostal Church
"God Does Amazing Work In People"
By Don Stewart
It took me only 50 years to discover true faith in
religion.
I didn't know what I was looking for until I found
it looking for my great-grandmothers grave in New Mexico. (and we
really found it) She was part of a 100 wagon train that walked
across the country in 1877 and unfortunately contacted small pox and
died while carrying twins.
She was buried in Raman, New Mexico along with her
twins in a beautiful meadow in the low mountain range near the
Arizona border.
But this conversion story takes precedence at the
moment. (patience)
When I returned from a local church one day
recently, my daughter-in-law, Mindy gave me the phone and said "You
have a call". I heard a voice I had not heard for over 50 years. My
long lost cousin Dick from Arizona. Actually he was not lost, I was
and didn't even know it.
I did not know it then but it turned out to be the
most important call I have had in many, many years.
My cousin and I sort of grew together up in a
small town in Arizona on small adjoining farms, attending a one room
school house a couple of years and carrying water from a wash well
near the farms.
We were 8 or nine years old and didn't know that
running water and inside toilets were available to people around the
world. (what was electricity when we could use kerosene lamps?
Biggest nights of our lives were listening to the
heavyweight fights on radio. Remember Joe Louis, and Billy Conn?
What was Television?
Our greatest entertainment was trying to see
images made by the clouds overhead. In other words it was a long
time ago in real time .
Somehow over fifty years passed and we grew up and
went our separate ways. Dick on to Electrical trade school in
Chicago and me to minor league baseball, he became an electrical
engineer much in demand currently in Alaska keeping the Alaskan
pipeline pumping.
He became a missionary for the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints building chapels in South America. He
married his best girl at 19 and remains happily married to this day
in Lakeside, Arizona. (Velma is a terrific lady as I gained 10 or 15
lbs.)
Back to Dicks telephone call. He had been
searching for me for several years and through the power of the
Internet, he got my telephone number and called.
If you have never felt the power of the Holy
Ghost, here is how it works. Dick was prompted several times to hook
up with me (somehow).
Upon learning that I was planning a trip to
Ventura, California to see my brother, Clifford who had suffered a
stroke, he said if you are going to be that close to Lakeside,
Arizona, "I'll drive on over and pick you up and we can spend some
time together".
It was the best time together you can imagine. I
suspect that it was no coincidence. We had a couple of months
visiting other cousins, seeing beautiful countryside of Arizona and
New Mexico. (taking long walks around a beautiful lake in Lakeside)
But something was happening during our long
drives. I asked about this church that had been so powerful in
Dick’s life over the past 58 years. He is a humorist first grade and
is loved and respected by everyone who knows him. (Why did I want to
be just like him)
Just as the power of the Holy Ghost worked its
magic for out reunion timing, the questions wouldn't stop coming our
of my mouth and the answers came out of Dicks mind so clear and
logical, that I had to know more about this church of nearly 13,000,000.
He was a great teacher as well as were some
members in the local ward in Lakeside. (Missionaries are usually
around 19 years old are trusted to be teachers of the church
activities.) They are the best ambassadors for the church.
Making a long story (however interesting) short.
After being further educated by visiting missionaries, I asked to be
baptized into this amazing church and was duly dunked by Dick on May
5th and confirmed a member of the church the next day.
I have since returned to Virginia, hooked up with
a local ward here of the church and remained truly amazed by the
feelings that keep coming up for me. Some of the church members have
become outstanding friends. God does some amazing work in people.
You may ask if there have been changes in me since
my conversion. Answer is that I feel the power of the good Lord more
than ever. The Holy Ghost is real and I suspect that Jesus has
started a work in me that won't end at my demise.
Thanks brother, cousin, Dick for making that call.
You have made a quality difference in my life and I will always be
thankful. One question, however, how come it took you so long making
that call?
Since joining the LDS church I have noticed a big
difference in my life. I had wasted much time in other searches in
other churches. But I Thank God that I finally found the one to
bring me the truth.
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