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Former Member Of Unitarian Church
The Journey Has Been Wonderful
By Thomas Hughes
My wife was in the LDS church for about 6 months
when she was around 5 years old, and had good memories of it, but
was not a member when I met her. Her and I, along with our two
children, moved about 100 miles away from where we met to a town
outside of Nashville, TN called Murfreesboro. We were smokers, and
drinkers. We even smoked marijuana on occasion, and I was a gambler.
One day while I was at work, the elders of the
local Ward knocked on our door. My daughter answered and came
upstairs to tell my wife that there were these men in suits at our
doorstep. She didn't know what to expect. She came to the door to
see the missionaries. She invited them in, but since I was not home,
they decided against it.
She told them that I would probably not be
interested in their message (which I wasn't at the time), and she
asked if they had any sisters that they could send over to our house
to teach her. They said there were some sister missionaries
available, and they would be happy to send them over.
The next night, I was home, and the sisters showed
up. I didn't smoke in the house, but I was outside smoking when they
came by. They came in, and I sat down at my computer in the living
room, drinking a beer while playing poker online. My wife was behind
me with them taking the first lesson.
When they were done, they asked my wife if she had
any questions. I then removed myself from the poker game I was in,
and turned around to begin to ask a ton of questions. The look on
their face and my wife's face was one of total shock.
They had no clue that this guy who was on the
computer the whole time was actually listening to them. The next
week when they came over, I gave them my undivided attention.
When taught the words of wisdom, I put down my
cigarettes and alcohol without issues. Several months later, I was
prompted to quit caffeine, and dropped it, but the withdrawal from
that was a 3 day fight of cold sweats, nausea, high fevers, and
sleeplessness. I consider it a greater habit to break than
cigarettes ever were!
My wife and I were baptized March 12, 2005. I
personally baptized my oldest daughter a month later! In May of this
year, I blessed my youngest daughter and my new born son at church,
and that day was the first time I ever got my mother to come to
church with us.
In June of this year, my wife and I flew out to
Mesa, AZ, where my wife's brother and wife were waiting for us to go
to the Mesa Temple to receive our endowments. While there, my wife
and I were sealed together. As of July 1st of this year, my whole
family was sealed together in the Nashville Temple.
The journey has been nothing short of wonderful,
and I have no doubt that the LDS church is the true church. The
proof is in the "before and after" pictures of our lives. Praise be
to God!
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