Dec

12

I have already published this story in another website, but since this is my blog I think I want to have this here.
In the past couple of weeks I have been talking to a special person in Italy who found my Italian blog and became interested in knowing more about the Church. While talking to this person by email I noticed how people do not get interested in the Mormon Church by chance, especially in a place like Italy. They are usually people who have the courage to ask themselves and others deep questions, and who do not accept things with blind faith, but look forward to find what they are looking for using a positive faith, the kind of faith I found by reading one of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them (Ether 12:27)

Faith without Works Doesn’t Work, July 1991

For someone like me, who was born and raised in Italy, it really looks like a miracle when someone, in that country, has the courage to ask questions about religion and search for answers without becoming cynical and give up religion althogether.

So, this is the part of my story that starts from the beginning, while in another post I have the story about the last period before I met the missionaries.

” I was not born and raised in Utah, among the Mormons, but I was raised a Catholic in Italy. When I was 10 years old, my father died because of lung cancer (he used to smoke) at age 47. His death changed everything in my life. I was then the only child of a widowed young mother (33 years old). In spite of all the efforts made by my mother to help me cope with the situation, very soon I realized that something had changed not only in my outward normal life, but also inside me. I wasn’t anymore like many other children who could go about being just children without many problems and especially without many questions about life or sudden sadness.

Because of the death of my father, I noticed that some people started to treat me differently and, over time, I had to face some hard questions about the purpose of our existence here on the earth. I didn’t realize how important what was happening inside me was until I was 13 or 14. However by the age of 14, I was beginning to be highly unsatisfied with the world around me and with the answers that my teachers, family, or religious ministers gave me to the important questions of life. I was beginning to realize that perhaps something was missing in the worldview and beliefs of most people around me, but I was not sure what.

It is important to stress that the presence of the Catholic Church were so strong in my environment that I can still remember a time, when I was about 9 or 10 years old, in which during a lesson at school about people with other beliefs, I asked myself: “How can people not to be Catholic? Do they know that they will all go to live forever in… (a very bad place)? Why they don’t change religion and become all Catholics?” Such was the power of tradition in my environment.

The death of my father, however, started to change my situation. The Lord sometimes works in mysterious ways to bring about His purposes. In fact, after the death of my father, my mother reduced her involvement with the Catholic Church. She was still a Catholic, but, perhaps because she didn’t find the help she was looking for in that organization to cope with her loss, she started looking elsewhere.

She started reading books about oriental religions and philosophies such as yoga, Zen, and Buddhism; in particular, she started reading about and practicing yoga. Her exploration opened up a new world to me. Suddenly, I was learning about other religions and philosophies and I was discovering that there were a lot of good things to be learned. I began to realize that perhaps the Catholic Church didn’t have the best answers to the questions of life. Moreover, and especially, I began to be familiarized with the concepts of spiritual progression and the idea of spiritual self-improvement. Not that these concepts are completely absent from the Catholic tradition, but in the daily life of a Catholic they are almost absent, since they are usually stressed only for those who abandon the “normal” life and became “full-time, forever single, priests or nuns.” My favorite Catholic “hero” was Saint Francis of Assis, but I didn’t like the idea that a religious man or woman should give up marriage to pursue a religious life at its best.

I had a dear friend, Stefano, who was a member of a small Protestant group. I had always been fascinated by the fact that this and other Protestant groups rejected the principle of celibacy in their church. When people like me are immersed in a strong Catholic culture, even these little examples or ideas can make a big difference over time and give us the courage to pursue something different in spite of the strong pressure of the tradition.

When I was 15, I had another key experience. The setting was a trip to Rome. The purpose of the trip was to take the Catholic youth from all Europe to meet with the Pope. At that time I was involved with the Catholic youth of my parish, even if I was beginning to question some of our beliefs. During that trip, something special happened.

On the specific day, thousands of youth were ready to meet the Pope in the Saint Peter’s Basilica. We had been preparing for months for this special meeting. Youth from all over Europe had traveled to get there. Obviously, the Pope was not present when we arrived and so we all sat on the floor of the church and started singing. I really didn’t sing, but I listened for at least an hour to those Gregorian lyrics but I started feeling bad. I had great expectations about that special meeting with the Pope, but after a while I began to think: “What am I doing here?”; “Why I am here after all? Just because others told me that it would be special?” I struggled for a while, but then I decided to stand up and leave. I had a feeling of relief when I left that strange atmosphere in the Saint Peter’s Basilica. I had an uncle in Rome and I decided to visit him and spend some time with his family instead than meeting the Pope: not a big deal anyway, I thought.

On the way back to my city in northern Italy, while still on the train, I had the opportunity to tell what I had done to our main guide, a very outgoing and friendly priest. I told him about my feelings, my doubts, and the fact that I had left the meeting. I began to ask questions about Catholic beliefs. After listening and discussin with me for some time he finally said: “If you believe these things, then you are not a Catholic”. That was really a strong and challenging statement, a call back to orthodoxy. I was a little perplexed, but I replied: “Then, I am probably not a Catholic!”

I suppose that the Spirit of the Lord was present that day to support me and open my mind, because I felt relieved when I said what I was really thinking, and I was not afraid of the priest’s reaction. After that episode, my search for answers was directed mainly outside the Catholic Church, since even that apparently open-minded priest had failed to help me to understand. When confronted with hard questions, he couldn’t find anything better than suggesting that I rely on blind faith or consider myself a heretic!

Several years passed after that episode and I continued to meet with my Catholic friends, but I was now always more involved in reading books about other religions. Books were my main font of information about religion. One author that really had a strong influence on me for a period, for example, was Sri Aurobindo. I can’t remember the details of what I read at that time, but Sri Aurobindo, in his books, suggests that humankind can evolve spiritually beyond its current limitations and reach a future state of “supramental” existence. This would be like an “evolutionary” step for humankind that should lead to a divine life on Earth. (This make me thing of the Millennium now, even if according the Bible this “almost divine life” will not the product of “evolution”; but at that time it was an interesting concept that gave me some hope and meaning for the future).

Based on my current knowledge and testimony of the teaching of the Mormon Church, I can’t avoid thinking that by reading his writings I was moving a step forward in the direction of understanding key Mormon concepts, some of which are not clear or even accepted by many traditional Christians. I believe that the Spirit of the Lord teaches people according to their language and understanding, and moves forward the true seekers one step at a time until they are ready for the fullness of the Gospel.

My search for the truth continued to intensify until it reached its climax when I was 19 years old. One day, I was in Torino, where I was supposed to be moving forward with my studies in physics. I had chosen to study physics not because I wanted to become a new Einstein, but because of books such as The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra, books that discuss the parallels between modern physics and eastern mysticism. It is probably unnecessary to say that since my interest for physics was nothing more than another step in my search for the truth, I was very disappointed with my undergraduate program at the University of Torino. Therefore, as in many other occasions, on that particular day I was not studying physics but I was reading a book about the history of Indian philosophy.

At a certain point, that day, I decided to go for a walk to relax and think about life. While I was walking downtown someone stopped me and asked me if I wanted to do a psychological test. I didn’t mention it before, but I had also been interested in psychoanalysis and psychology, and I especially liked books such as Eric Fromm’s The Art of Loving or To Have or to Be? and so on. Therefore, I was somewhat curious about this test.

That test was the beginning of my last step in my search for the truth. After that, I had lost my fear of disconnecting from the Catholic tradition, and I was almost incomprehensible to my family and Catholic friends. I can say now that I was ready to meet the Mormon missionaries, and especially to understand and accept their message, less than a year later, because of all those experiences.

But who was behind that psychological test? The people of Dianetics and Scientology. Their focus on personal improvement and their blending of scientific, religious, and psychological knowledge attracted me for a short period, even if I never became really involved with them, because after the initial interested, I realized that they didn’t have the answers I was looking for. However, even this relatively negative experience had at least one important positive outcome. Scientology completely severed my last psychological (and some doctrinal) connections with the Catholic Church. I freed myself even more from the weight of tradition and I grew stronger in the belief that there was something out there, in some place, in some organization, or in some book, that could help me answer my questions about the purpose of life.

It may seem of little importance to some, but to have the courage to be unorthodox, to challenge at least in our own mind the tradition is an important step before we can be ready to receive a testimony and to accept the restored gospel. This was especially true for me, since I didn’t accept to be baptized in the Mormon Church for social reasons or out of a temporary interest, but only because I was touched by the Spirit, after contemplating the simple but powerful architecture and logic of Mormon doctrine. The concept of obtaining a testimony of the truth by the Spirit of God implies that to rely on tradition to believe is not enough, even when the tradition is true.

I can testify with all my conviction that the scripture that read “seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Luke 11:9) is true, because the Lord guided me by the hand through many different experiences until I found what I was really looking for, the true Church of Jesus Christ once again established on the earth.

The Dark Ages of my life were dispelled when I finally met the missionaries and I can only be thankful that I was born in a time when the true Church is present in the face of the earth. I can’t imagine the hardship imposed on those people who tried to find the Church when it wasn’t on the earth.

I need to recognize that I owe to the Catholic Church my first limited understanding of and belief in Jesus Christ, belief that never left me even when I was focusing on other religions. However, I owe to these other religions and philosophies a better understanding of many true principles and a more opened mind that helped me not to be afraid when I finally found the true Church of Jesus Christ.”

You can follow the link to find a version in video of Before becoming a Mormon.

There may be a few differences among the video and the written story and this because when I write I am more relaxed then when I am in front of a camera! But these little differences or omissions should not be used against me. In fact, I understand better now why there are a few slightly different accounts of the First Vision of Joseph Smith.

Our memory is not always perfect, our audience may not be the same, the circumstances in which we find ourselves may be different, or we simply want to stress different points at different times.

Dec

4

Since I became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) I have been involved with missionary work. My involvement has always been a natural consequence of the happiness that came to my life because of the work of Mormon missionaries, who found me and taught me, many years ago in Italy.

I remember spending many hours with the missionaries in Italy, talking to people, including my friends and relatives, about what I had found and the happiness that it had brought to me. However, as it often happens, most of them were not interested in what we had to say.

When I moved to Brazil, I had many wonderful experiences working again with missionaries and serving in several positions in the Mormon Church, most of them related to missionary work. During my last three years in Brazil I had the privilege of serving as a counselor to two wonderful mission presidents, and my vision and experiences in that area really grew exponentially.

To move to Utah a few years ago was an interesting change. Now I live in an area where most of the people are members of the Church, or they heard about it several times. I realized that opportunities of doing missionary work are still available, but they come in a different form, and I need to confess that I felt almost  “inactive” in missionary work for a few years, even because my time was consumed by school, work, and family to a level that I was not used to in the past. All of this was complicated by the fact that I had to learn a new language and how to live in a new environment.

Three years ago I joined the More Good Foundation, and I enjoy being involved again with missionary work, even if it is a new kind of missionary work, a “virtual” one.

When More Good Foundation started, we were seen with a little suspicion even from many members of the Church who had not yet made the connection between the Internet and missionary work. In fact, we can say that when we started, the information available on the Internet about the Mormon Church was clearly dominated by its critics, because members (with a few exceptions) had not been involved in it.

It was a great day for the missionary work in the Church when, a little less than a year ago, Elder Ballard gave his first speech about online missionary work at the graduation ceremony at BYU-Hawaii.

And it was even better when Elder Ballard repeated a similar message at BYU Idaho.

One of the suggestions of Elder Ballard in his talks was about creating and regularly writing in a personal blog, like this one. Since I speak a few languages, I created gmormon.com (in English), GiuseppeMartinengo.org (in Italian), Gmormon.org (in Portuguese) and gmormon.net (in Spanish).

It takes time to write for these blogs, and it is harder in some languages (e.g. Spanish). At times I have the impression that they are not as useful as I would like them to be. However, this week something happened on my Italian blog that really convinced me that it is worthwhile to keep going.

I wrote a post about the critics of the Mormon Church and someone posted a comment. The comment led to my response, and then another comment, until I decided to write an email to this person. After a few more exchanges I realized that she was interested and ready to listen to the missionaries. I am not sure what will happen, but it is difficult to describe the joy I felt for having been the instrument to connect a precious daughter of heavenly father to the missionaries. Some of the email she wrote were really inspiring, and confirmed to me that there are special people that the Lord prepare to listen and accept the gospel. They recognize the truth when they hear it, and they are separated from the truth only because they do not know where to find it. It is our responsibility to help them find it.

The great thing about the Internet is that it helps to find people who are really interested, or better, people who are really interested can find information about the Church even if they are shy, or leave hundreds of miles from the closest church or missionary. Sincere seekers of the truth can learn on the Internet about the gospel and talk to the missionaries only when they feel ready.

I have no doubts that the Internet is going to help hundred of thousand or even millions of people to find the truth and help the missionaries to spend more time teaching, instead than finding people to teach.

In short, to have our personal blog and to learn how to make it a little more effective is a worthwhile effort. We need to use our skills to foster the work of the Lord. We need to lenghten our stride, the time has come.

Oct

27

Luca’s mission in Massachusetts keeps having consequences in connecting me again with my past, the time when I was first baptized as a member of the Mormon Church in Italy, long time ago…

In a previous blog I mentioned how he helped me to reconnect with the missionary, Elder Burton, who first found me in Italy.

Now, through the same James Burton, I got a picture of Emanuele Smorta, who was baptized just a few months before me in Asti, Italy, and who was one of my first good friend in the Church. I remember him exactly the way it looks in this picture, but I suspect that currently he looks a little older…

Emanuele Smorta and Elder Burton

Emanuele Smorta and Elder Burton

Oct

9

Yesterday a friend told me that he found something interesting about me at this website:

newyorktimesbestsellerlist.org

If we scroll down we can find one very nice video about the conversion story of brother Ott Dameron (my good neighbor)

and my own conversion story. The funny thing for my friend was that they titled my video by saying

Watch The founder of More Good Foundation, from Italy:

I have been working for the More Good Foundation from the beginning, and I am still doing it, but the real founder is David Neeleman, the famous Mormon, the same person who founded JetBlue and now Azul, in Brazil.

In any case, the website also call the Prophet, president Gordon B. Hinckley,

Revered President Hinckley…

We do not call “reverend” our prophets, but what is important is that they provided a great link to a very good video, where President Hinckley shares his testimony

Oct

6

I have written before about my conversion story and how I became a member of the Mormon Church.

This is a very interesting picture of the day of my baptism.. I was skinnier and younger, obviously


Elder Forbes, Giuseppe, Elder Stout

Elder Forbes, Giuseppe Martinengo, Elder Stout

Now Luca, my son, is in the mission field, looking for people like me, ready to accept the Gospel and the Church. My son had an exchange of emails with one of the two missionaries who taught me the gospel first, and the one who confirmed me a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

This is an excerpt from the email that was written by Lynn Forbes (Elder Forbes) about how he remembers those times:

I would be happy to share my recollection of how I met your dad…. It was sometime in December of 1984. I had only been in Italy a little over two months, so was still in the process of really learning Italian. Me and my senior companion (Elder Burton) were doing street contacting in Asti, where we would go to the busy streets and try to talk to people about the gospel, and arrange to visit them in their homes if they would let us. I actually think I remember some of our conversation with your dad on the street that morning. We would typically look for men who would be in the age range where they might be married, so your dad was younger than we might usually stop. I really believe that Heavenly Father knew your dad was ready for the gospel - so, we ended up stopping him anyway. I think I totally messed up what I wanted to say, but, somehow your dad invited us to come to his house with our message. It wasn’t until January that we ended up getting to talk to him. By that time, Elder Stout (I think you’ve met him) was my senior companion. I do remember the day that we finally spoke with your dad, because I wrote about it in my journal. That afternoon, we had been tracting (knocking doors) without much success. At one apartment building, we actually had a couple of interesting things happen to us - first, on one floor, after we knocked and told the person inside who we were, we heard a dog barking as someone who was angry was unlocking the door - we decided to leave that floor and go to another floor. On that floor, a lady got really angry with us and told us we better get out of the building or else. So, we left the building. As we left, that lady dumped a bucket of cleaning water on us from above. We talked about what we should do - and decided we would try to pass by some of our street contacting names. Your dad was the one we decided to see (he was only a name on a sheet of paper, at that time). Anyway, we went by his place (his mother’s home), and he let us in, and we taught him the first discussion. We asked him to read from 3 Nephi (Christ’s visit) and we made an appointment to return in a couple of days. When we came back, he had read all of 3 Nephi, and had started at the first of the Book of Mormon. He said he knew it was true and that he wanted to be baptized. It seems like we returned every day, or every other day for a week or so. He finished the BofM soon. The only problem we ran into was his mom. Because of her, we put off his baptism until February - she was still very angry - you probably know that part of the story from your dad. But, he ended up being baptized. Elder Stout baptized him and I confirmed him. His confirmation is still one of the times of my life that I felt the Spirit the strongest. I don’t think that Elder Stout and I were “special” missionaries. We were just out, doing our best, and Heavenly Father did the rest. That is the key to missionary work, I think - to be out “opening your mouth” and doing your best - it sounds like you’ve learned that. I’m glad you are having a great mission - seeing the gospel change people’s lives - it really is a beautiful thing. You will look back on your mission as a great time in your life - when you had the privilege of devoting all your time to the Lord. There will be times in the future when you will miss that.

Aug

1

This is an interesting story about what happened to my family approximately 20 years ago in the Swiss temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

At that time, in 1988, my wife and I lived in Asti, Italia. My wife, Giovanna, was expecting our first child and the closest temple was in Zollikofen, Switzerland. We had been to the temple previously only a few times and we enjoyed being there. A trip to the temple would require several hours, and as new parents we were extremely concerned with all the changes that would happen after the birth of our first son. We were thinking that probably we wouldn’t be able to go to the temple for several months, at least.

Therefore, in spite of Giovanna being seven months pregnant, we decided to accept the invitation of a member of our branch to go once more to the temple. Our relatives were not active members of the Church and this idea seemed to them a little crazy, but we felt that it was the right thing to do.

This video describe what happened and what I believe about Mormon temples. I think it is wortwhile to watch it.

Jul

30

Since I met the Mormon missionaries for the first time in my life, at the end of 1984, and I heard the story of the prophet Joseph Smith, I have always had a great admiration for what he did. I strongly believe that

Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fullness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum” (Doctrine and Covenants 135:3).

This is a short video about what I think and believe about Joseph Smith

Jul

19

Several months ago I created my first video with the story of when I met the Mormon missionaries and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many people have watched it and I have received some good feedback. I wish my English was better, but I know that my accent did not prevent good people from appreciating it (or detractor from criticizing it anyway…).

Last week I decided to record a similar video that contains the story of a few experiences I had before meeting the Mormon missionaries. Those experiences prepared me over the years to understand and accept the message of the Restoration.

At this point I can’t avoid making fun of myself and comparing it to Star Wars movies. The second trilogy tells the story of what happened before the first trilogy….

Similarly this second video tells what happened before the first video. But I am not Darth Vater…

I have the impression that in this second video my English is better, but natives will better judge if this is true.

Giuseppe Martinengo: before becoming a Mormon

Apr

29


After almost 4 years I graduated in December 2007 with a PhD in Marriage, Family, and Human Development at Brigham Young University. However, since Commencement Exercises are held in April and August only, December graduates are invited to the April commencement following their graduation.

Therefore I went to the April commencement last week. During this ceremony, since I was the only one receiving a PhD, my name was read first and I had to walk across the stage to receive the diploma but only after being “hooded” by my graduate committee chair, Dr. Jeff Hill. It was an interesting experience.

A few pictures:

My wife and I

Last one, Dr. Jason Carroll, myself, Dr. Jeff Hill

Feb

22

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.