Feb
22
My Testimony: why I do believe
February 22, 2007 by Giuseppe Martinengo 6 Comments | Filed in Giuseppe Martinengo, Giuseppe' s Conversion Story, Martinengo's Family, Mormon Church, Mormon Missionaries
I have previously written about what I think prepared me to receive and understand the message of the Mormon missionaries. I will now focus on the time when I met them and received my testimony of the restored Gospel.
At the end of 1984, I was almost 20 years old. By that time I had dropped from school, since I had realized that the physics taught at the University would not help me find what I was looking for. Most of my friends and relatives couldn’t understand exactly what was going on with me and some of them tried in different ways to help me but without any concrete result. The problem was that I knew what I didn’t want, but I was not sure about what I wanted.
Nobody around me seemed to have the answers I was looking for. However, I had the feeling that I was in the right path. I had faith that by following the best principles I had learned and trying to improve my life by getting rid of what was not in harmony with my ideals I would finally find the answers.
On a certain day close to the end of the year 1984, I was in my home, reading a book, when I felt the sudden urge to go for a walk in downtown Asti, my home city.
While I was walking in Corso Dante (one the main streets of the city) I saw two young men, two missionaries, walking toward me. One of them later told me that he didn’t really want to talk with me, but I looked at them and they looked at me and we stopped and started to converse. I remember that they asked me what I believed about the Savior. I can’t remember what I answered them, but they left me with a pamphlet about the Mormons, and asked for my home address.
A few days later, the same missionaries rang at my doorbell. My mother answered, and since they asked for her husband, she said that he wasn’t there. The missionaries then left before I could talk with them. I wasn’t completely ready yet.
A few more days passed and I finally reached the right point. I can remember that I was laying down on my bed, tired of my apparently fruitless search. I offered a simple silent prayer, in which I basically said, “I have done all that I knew I should do, now I really need help since I don’t know what to do next”
As soon as I expressed my thoughts to God, I started feeling an incredible peace and I felt as if heaven was close to me. In that exact moment, the doorbell rang. This time I was alone at home. I went to answer at the door and the missionaries were there. When they entered the living room, and shook my hand, I knew that they had the answers I was looking for.
Later, I realized that what I was looking for was not just a set of doctrines or a nice church, but the feeling of the Spirit. When they entered my home, I felt that they brought with them that nice Spirit, even if I didn’t know what it was at that time.
I understand now that the Lord gave me several experiences in which I felt His Spirit. Those experiences were so sweet that I was always looking for that feeling, even if I couldn’t name it.
The missionaries’ teachings fit perfectly together with my understanding. They were answering my questions about where we come from, why we are here, and where we will go after this life.
As I have written elsewhere, when the missionaries showed me the filmstrip of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s First Vision, it was difficult for me to contain my tears. I felt that the story of his search for truth was in some ways similar to my own. My search had lasted longer, while his had been probably more intense. Moreover, he had been chosen to have the glorious vision of the Father and the Son while I had to content myself with two missionaries. However, those two missionaries were like angels to me, bringing with them the answers to my deeply heartfelt questions.
However, in spite of all these feelings, I still didn’t have a solid testimony. It was the reading of the Book of Mormon that brought to me the confirmation of the truthfulness of all those teachings and experiences.
Early in our discussions, the missionaries mentioned the practice of fasting. They didn’t stress that point too much, but for some reason I began to read the Book of Mormon while fasting at the same time. My later experience in teaching families and individuals with other missionaries showed me that it is not easy to find someone who accepts the challenge to fast while reading the Book of Mormon. However, those experiences also convinced me that when people do it, and they are sincere in their search, it is almost impossible for them not to receive an answer. And, in fact, that happened with me.
In less than a week, I read the entire Book of Mormon. I would fast for 24 hours, then have a lunch, and then fast for another 24 hours. My mother really thought that I was behaving strangely. At some point in that process, I decided to kneel down and ask if those things I was learning were true. I did it, and, after my prayer, an incredible feeling of peace surrounded me, a feeling similar to the one I had just before the missionaries came to my home, but much stronger. Together with those feelings came the answers to my specific questions about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and of the Church. I received a confirmation by the Spirit of God that all that the missionaries were teaching was true. From that moment, to paraphrase the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith, “I had a testimony; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither wanted I do it”.
I knew that the Church and the Book of Mormon were true and I was eager to learn all that was possible about the Church. However, my mother was not at all happy with my new “discovery” and, although the missionaries tried to teach her the day they challenged us to be baptized, it became clear that she was not interested like I was. Her opposition created some problems that led me eventually to leave my home.
However, I had finally found what I had been looking for after many years and this was what really counted. More than 20 years have passed since that day and I have had many experiences that reinforced that initial testimony.
So, why do I believe in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Simply because I know that it is true. The Spirit of the Lord testified it to me over and over again after that first experience. I don’t believe what I do because the Church is a wonderful organization, I don’t believe because I have friends, I don’t believe because the doctrine is clear, understandable, and sound, I don’t believe because someone told me so, but I believe because, in fact, I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true.
After all we can say and do, each person will have to honestly search, ask, and receive an answer directly from God about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and of the Church. I searched, asked, and received my answer, and therefore I can honestly say that I know that these things are true.
Comments
6 Comments so far
[...] The second part deals with the period of my conversion and according to a couple of friends, it is the best part, because it is shorter and really contains my testimony. This is the link: My Testimony: Why I do believe [...]
Dear Giuseppe~
What a great story! Thank you for sharing it. I, too, am a convert. I’m second-generation Italian (Trifilettis and Bellos) and live in Utah. I don’t often meet many Italian members of the Church. I’ve enjoyed trying to trace my family lines.
I also searched for the purpose of life and was actually ready to abandon life altogether when I heard a still small voice tell me to have the courage to live on and instilled in me a confidence that I would find the truth. After returning to the Catholic Church and asking questions, being disappointed, and picking up a Bible–I read the NT thru and took notes. I then went on a hunt for the true Church. About to give up on that, I walked into a Baptist Church and found an anti-Mormon brochure. I read it. The negatives fell away and I knew the teachings of the Church were true and what I had expected. I searched for a Book of Mormon which I found in a little library and then read it thru the nite. But what excited me so much was that in that library I found a pamphlet about the purpose of life. It thrilled me and I nearly squealed when I read it. I knew it was true and what I had been looking for. After reading the Book of Mormon, I then called the Church, met a family from Australia who invited me to their home and had the discussions. I later served a mission to GR.
Thank you for sharing.
How hard is it to set up a blog?
k_merk@yahoo.com
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Hi,
I read your testimony, and I was wondering if you would be interested (or know anyone who would be interested) in contributing to my book? Your story seems to be a great one to include, but I was wondering if you could expound on it, or contribute something in addition? As you may know from my profile, I am attempting to write a book about religion, focusing on the culture, experiences, and beliefs surrounding all various kinds of religion, not just the plain black and white histories of them all. I want to write about why people believe, their lifestyles, and what turned them on (or off) to religion. Please let me know if this is a project that you would be interested in being a part of.
Kind regards,
Mark
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[...] This story was first published in my blog at Giuseppe Martinengo’s blog [...]
[...] This story was first published in my blog at Giuseppe Martinengo’s blog [...]
[...] was inside, which I did and I found that email from Forbes. Then I felt inspired to pull out your conversion story that I had printed from the internet, so I decided to read those 2 [...]