Any Mormons willing to share their conversion or reactivation stories?

Question

I'm also looking for any other pro-lds links if you have them.

Email me at my screen name address. The site is: http://justinodhans.googlepages.com/

Answer 1

does your affluence assure you of deeper connections with the meaning of life?

Answer 2

What is reactivation stories?

Answer 3

HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS, HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS ALL FOR ME!

Answer 4

Sure.
When I first passed the college I would eventually go to. I knew that I needed to be there. I didn't know why, but I knew that what ever it was that was calling me to it, would be explained soon after I got there. That was the summer before I "went off to college". I had gone to a Jr College for about a year already. That fall, some friends and I were talking one night and the conversation steared towards religion. They were each talking about what they believed and what their church believed and how sometimes the two differed, and questions they had, etc. All I knew is that I was Methodist, and my Mom and Grandma were Methodist. I could describe the service, but little about my own beliefs or where the Methodist church stood on certain issues. It was funny how out of about 10 of us, there was only one from each religion. I felt out of place in the conversation and wanted to know what I believed (thinking that whatever the Methodist church believed is what I believed too). I went to the college all-Christian building where they had a luncheon every week and some of the different pastors were there too. I asked what the Methodists believed. He said that my question was too broad and that I needed to narrow it down. I didn't like his answer. My dorm was right across the street from the Library. So I went and looked in the religious section for a book on what Methodists believed. I found a wonderful book that had a 2 - 5 page write up on all the religions of the world (or at least most of them). In reading what it said about Methodists, I learned that while there were some things we agreed on, a lot of it made my head spin. It was so contridictory, and seemed like just a lot of words, but never really SAID anything. It was like who ever submitted this write up didn't know what they believed either. It occured to me that I needed to find a church that believed what I believed. So over the course of the next few days I searched the book diligently, looking at both Christian and non-Christian religions. I quickly learned that while there were aspects I felt I could learn from non-Christian religions, I could not deny the Christ and so I focused only on Christian religions. The book was arranged alphabetically and I soon began skimming over a lot of it. Having no luck, so far I decided that I really liked the entries that had a list of their beliefs. It made reading it much easier if there was a list, versas these long drawn out paragraphs that said essentially the same as the previous ones. So, if it didn't have a list, I didn't even bother with it. The week ended and I was no closer to finding what I was looking for. One of the group, a Mormon, asked if any of us would like to visit each others church. We thought that would be fun. It would be a way that we could all learn more about each other, in a safe environment, and not be pressured by those we didn't know at church to "come again". She offered to go first. No one said they would go, so feeling sorry for her, I volunteered, as did a Catholic girl. I went to the library once more before that Sunday. I was at the M's anyway, so I looked up Mormon - I might as well know something about the church before I go, I thought. And to my surprise and delight, a list of their beliefs! Thirteen brief statements that for the most part fell in line with what I believed, at least much more closely than the write up about the Methodist church did. When we went to church that Sunday we arrived about 10 minutes late. As soon as I crossed the threshold into the chapel, I felt startled. Even though we walked in in the back and no one saw us except those few people on the stand, it felt like the whole world was looking at me. After a few songs a man I later found out was the High Counsel representative stood up to speak. He said that he was given a topic to speak about a couple of weeks ago, but something happened about 10 minutes into the meeting. It was as though a bolt of lightening hit him, but he knew it was the Spirit, and that he needed to give a message that was quite different than what he had planned on giving and he hoped that those in the congregation would bear with him. This caught my attention, because I knew we had arrived late and were the last ones to enter, and his words so far were very different than what I was used to. A topic ASSIGNED to him, and he asked permission from the audience to speak on something other than what he had prepared???? Very different. I listened and tried to follow what he was saying. It was as though he was answering questions that I didn't even know I had, almost before I could even think of them. It was as though he were reading my mind. I don't remember exactly what he talked about, but he gave me new insight on the OT. I remember he mentioned Moses and Abraham and Noah. I know now he was using the Pearl of Great Price. I was facinated, enthrawled. It came time for the meeting to end, and I didn't want it to. I wanted to hear more. My friend said there was a Sunday School class for visitors we could attend that might answer more questions. We went, but I couldn't imagine anything like what I had just experienced. For some reason the teacher (who was about my age, and I later found out had just returned from a mission) was having trouble starting the class. It's like he didn't know where to start. I was getting frustrated. Just then, the man who spoke came in. He introduced himself by saying, "Was everyone who is in here in the the previous meeting?" Of the 8-9 of us there, 6-7 of us said we were. Then he said, "One of you needed to hear what I said. How was it? Do you know? I've never given a talk so influenced by the Holy Ghost. I don't even know what I said. But one of you needed to hear it. Which of you was it?" He went around the small room, and a couple of people said it wasn't them. And one person said they guessed it was them, that they had been coming to church for several weeks now, wondering if it was true. He never got to me. The teacher said we needed to start class. But I knew. I knew it was meant for me. We exchanged glances a couple of times, and I think he knew too. I never saw him again, but I also never missed church after that day either, except once at spring break and for a month between semesters. I got a copy of the BOM that Sunday. That was in early April - it must have been the Sunday after General Conference because I didn't attend a General Conference until later. In early May the semester ended and I had to go back home for almost a month. I spent the majority of that time reading the BOM. I didn't know it at the time, but I was fasting too. I ate once a day during that month. Eating was a bother, I needed to know more about these Nephites and Lamenites and what was happening to them. The lessons were so multifaceted - like a diamond. I probably read 10 - 12 hours a day, making sure that I understood what was being said as I went. Later, I learned I was studying and pondering. I prayed a lot too. For the most part I read from the beginning and tried to work my way through the book, but someone marked Moroni's promise and I took it to heart. I prayed constantly that God would let me know that it was true. Finally, one day, I recieved an answer in my mind, but so clearly that I thought it might actually be in the room with me. It said, "You know it's true. You've always known it's true, haven't you. Now stop asking me if it's true. You know it. Do something about it when you get back." (Notice that there wasn't a question in the answer, but a statement.) While startling, and even a little scary (because I didn't think I would really get an answer), I knew. I didn't know what I needed to do when I returned to college, but I knew I needed to get back as soon as I could. As I reflected on the experience, I realized that I had recieved an answer to my prayer many times before then. And I knew that I would do what ever it took to be associated with the Church. My testimony then was very brief - The Book of Mormon is true, and whatever church abides by its teachings must be true too. And it is that church that I must be a part of.
The next week was excruciatingly long. Every hour seemed like a day and every day like a month. My friends were taking me back to college and one was the member who had invited me to church to begin with. I told her that the first thing I needed to do when we got back was meet with the Bishop. The Bishop just happened to be an art teacher at the college, and the three of us had taken an art class from him the previous semester. She said that it would have to wait until the next day - Sunday. Ok, I said reluctantly. The next day, I told him that I wanted to be baptized into the church. "Today, if possible." He explained that I needed to meet with the missionaries, that they had a series of lessons to give me. "...OK, if I must. Can we get them over here today? How long are the lessons? Can I just take them all at once?" I think it was then that he got a little excited. He made a call to the Stake President, and they talked for a while. The missionaries came on Tuesday - they explained that they were on splits, but they heard that I was excited to hear the discussions. I told them I was, and that the only reason I was meeting with them was because I wanted to be baptized as quickly as possible. This really excited the missionaries. The next day I had the second and third discussions (back when they had to be given in order). This time, I had two different missionaries. I told them I wanted to be baptized on Sunday. The next day I had two different missionaries and had the next two discussions. Friday I had the final discussion and one of the missionaries who was there on Tuesday and the other missionary that was there the day before. Saturday they came back with a third who had to ask me questions. And then on Sunday, after the block of meetings, I was baptized. That was on June 7th and I was 19. A month a two days later I turned 20. At some point during that week of missionary discussions, the missionaries were talking to each other and said I was "Golden". It was years before I learned what that meant, and that not everyone who joins the church as a convert is "Golden". It just seemed so natural to me.
So that's part of my conversion story. The complete story is very long and parts of it are very sacred to me.