Former Presbyterian Church Members
Believing In Heavenly Fathers' Promises
By Lesa Glen
My journey to the True Church began when I was
about 12 years old. My Aunt had given me a Bible for Christmas and I
was thrilled. My parents took us off and on to the Presbyterian
Church and finally I asked why we were not Baptized. My mother then
took us one day to the Church and in the Reverends office he put
water from a bowl onto each one of us kids foreheads.
It was a very confusing time for me because I did
not feel the spirit and knew that this method of Baptism was not
within the teachings of the Savior. I went to church with friends of
different religions and nothing ever felt right. I went on to marry
years later, had a daughter and we never took her to church because
my husband and I were of the thought that ALL churches were
hypocritical.
Many years went by and when our daughter was
almost 19 I found myself pregnant (surprise) and 39 years old. I was
counseled by a high risk Dr. to abort my baby because it more than
likely would have Down's Syndrome, plus I had the Kell
Antigen...another story in itself. I cried and cried and prayed to
Heavenly Father to give me the strength to handle whatever it was
that was in store for my family and this new baby.
I also made a covenant with Father, which I
would raise this new baby in a church if he would make her healthy.
I went on to have Hannah, my healthy beautiful daughter. He kept his
part of our deal and I still was not sure where I wanted to go to
church. While Hannah was an infant we acquired a computer and I went
online to a Chat room called "MomsRus".
I ended up chatting with a girl named Dani, who
like me had an infant. If you have ever been in a chat room you know
how you can not get a word in edgewise so it wasn’t God's plan for
us to meet. We would sit at our computers and nurse our babies...and
chat with one another. Soon we became the best of friends. She
shared with me that her 3 year old daughter Kathryn had died from
injuries she sustained from getting hit by a car.
We cried together and I asked her how she could
have even gone on... and that is when she told me of her faith and
her church family.. and without them that things might have turned
out differently. She told me that she belonged to the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and I was curious.
Was this the church Heavenly Father wanted
me to raise my daughter in? Soon the missionaries were at my door,
as Dani's Dad had called the Cherry Hill Mission. (Dani and her
family live in Utah.) I listened to the missionaries a few times and
then began to turn them away. I felt confused. Dani and I still were
friends and chatting online.
One day when I said Doug and I needed to get out
alone together she told me that she would bet that there would be
some nice girl from the church that would be willing to sit with
Hannah. I called the Missionaries and didn't leave a message. Within
two weeks these new missionaries were at my door and I decided to
earnestly seek the truth. I prayed with them and began reading the
Book of Mormon.
I prayed to Heavenly Father to ask if this
was the true church and in my heart I felt a peace unlike I had ever
known. I got Baptized in 1997 with Dani there beside me. She flew to
New Jersey from Utah for my special day. I know that Dani was the
vessel that God used to introduce me to the Gospel.
I know without a doubt that this is the restored
Church. The Church of Jesus Christ. I have a strong testimony of
faith. in believing in the promises that Heavenly Father has made.
My husband was baptized into the church in 2005, 8 years after I
became a member. He was endowed on Oct. 14th of this year and is 1st
counselor in our little Branch.
I prayed for him but could never really
imagine my husband accepting the gospel and being an active member.
We never know what God's plans are, or how someone can be touched by
the Gospel. We should never say NEVER about anyone we know...all
should have a chance and hear for themselves of God's love for us
and his son's atoning sacrifice.
This church IS the true church....we have a
living Prophet today on this earth, President Gordon B. Hinckley. We
are blessed to have the Book of Mormon...Another Testament of Jesus
Christ.
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