Who has the best conversion story?

Question

Whether you are a buddhist, catholic, atheist, agnostic, christian, saddist or what have you ... I want to know how you came to believe in one thing or not to believe in anything.

Answer 1

I guess I don't really have a conversion story. I have really just always known that what I have been taught is the truth. There are times in my life when I have had experiences that just confirm that even deeper and times when I am not as strong and faithful as I could be. But for the most part I think I have always known who I am and where I am going. I know that the gospel I hold dear is true and have always known that. I know that God loves me and that Jesus suffered so that I can live with them again. I know that if I am faithful that I can live with my family forever. I have always known that. I cannot pinpoint one moment when I really knew- It has always just been a part of me and who I am.

Answer 2

I was a very devout Wiccan, but I pretty much stopped identifying with that label once I found myself practicing ceremonies out of guilty feelings of obligation, rather than because I wanted to.

This didn't happen overnight, and nobody "converted" me. I just came to the conclusion that this wasn't working for me any more, so I dropped it. I found myself doing the same with a few other things that initially looked exciting. It was a while before I found something that truly fit me, which was about 10 years ago.

I have a feeling that there are a lot of "church-goers" and the like who similarly carry on something they don't believe in anymore, either out of habit, or fear of being ostracized by their relatives or community. I wish people could at least be more honest with themselves.

Answer 3

My own story is kind of boring. Parents converted when I was 2 to the LDS faith, and I was basically raised in. I fell away as a teenager, then came back and gained my own testimony when I was 20.

But my parents’ conversion story is hilarious/ wonderful/ inspirational!

My dad was raised in a God fearing household that believed in the Bible, but didn't really attend any church devoutly. As a teenager, he and a friend began compiling a list of what they thought the true church of God would have based on the teachings of the bible. After three years of searching and nothing fitting, he kind of gave up and stopped looking.

At 18, he married my mom; she was 17. Mom's older brother is a Baptist minister, so that is the faith she was raised in (her brother's almost 20 years older than her).

Dad enlists into the USAF and they are shipped off to England. My dad meets a man at work that he really likes and respects, and eventually discovers this man is Mormon. Dad is very interested, as this religion seems to fit his old list but the fellow gets reassigned before their discussions get very far.

Then my dad gets reassigned. To Hill AFB in Clearfield, Utah.

My Baptist uncle finds out they are going to the Mormon capital and promptly sends my mom a copy of the Godmakers. She promises to read it, but with a new baby (me) and another on the way, she just never finds the time.

She is 9 months pregnant with my brother (he's obviously running late) and it's the middle of a burning August with no air conditioning. My dad has met another Mormon at work, who is so overwhelmed by Dad's questions about the church, that they have decided to have the missionaries come over. My dad gives my mom about an hour's notice that the Mormon missionaries are coming for dinner. Needless to say, she is not happy and is fairly hostile towards the missionaries that night.

But, she eases up and converts in the next two weeks. By this time, she is almost a month overdue with my brother. But she wants to be baptized right away, so they schedule it for the following Sunday.

That Sunday, the Elder that was supposed to baptize them is gone, no explanation. But the other missionaries are ready to baptize my parents.

My dad stands a head and shoulders above the Elder baptizing him, and it's the Elder's first time. The Elder dunks my dad so fast, the witnesses joke there wasn't enough time for the water to close. But the Elder has also managed to give my dad a bloody nose in the dunking, so they call it good.

My poor mother is so big in pregnancy that there are no white dresses to be found that can fit her. So she's in a giant bathrobe. Dunk one. Nope, her tummy didn't go under, gotta do it again. Dunk two is successful.

One hour after they are confirmed, my mother goes into full-blown labor and has my brother the next day.

Several months later, my parents get a letter from the family of the Elder that had been a no show at their baptism. They were very close to this Elder and had really been saddened by his absence, but had assumed he had been transferred. If it was not for this Elder's testimony, my mother would have not converted, or taken much longer. The letter they received gave them shocking news. The Elder had been diagnosed with leukemia right before his mission but had insisted on going on his mission anyway. Right before my parents’ baptism, he had taken a very bad turn for the worse, and returned home where he died peacefully with his family in attendance. This Elder spent the last few months of his life teaching the Gospel, and is the reason my family was brought into the gospel.

Answer 4

I grew up in a home with a Catholic dad and Mormon mom. When I was 18 I was baptized into the LDS church. It wasn't until almost 10 years later that I was really converted.

gw

Answer 5

I was raised a Lutheran, then deconverted to atheist. There was nothing spectacular about it. I just kept asking questions and getting answers. I talked to people of various religions, looked into the nature of belief, read a lot, and did a lot of thinking about the subject. Eventually, I had to admit to myself that I was an atheist. I no longer had any belief in any gods.

Answer 6

I converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints almost 5 years ago.

I was raised Catholic but when I was in HS I studied the Catholic church & came to the conclusion that they didn't teach all the same things as Jesus taught. For example they teach in the Catholic church that if you lost something pray to this saint, if you are feeling depressed pray to this saint, and so on. The scriptures state that you must pray through Jesus Christ to get to Heavenly Father & no one else. The catholic church also has statues of saints & people are always kneeling before them & praying to that saint. This is false idol worship. Needless to say I fell away from ALL churches for about 15 years.

5 years ago I started watching a TV evangelist by the name of Creflo A. Dollar & I started reading my Bible again. This evangelist started making me realize my full potential as long as I follow Christ & he stated that if you believe you need to find a church & be baptized, so I made a list of churches in my area (excluding the catholic churches) & prayed about the list. After I prayed about it I was going to go to each church & find out which one fit me best. About 3 days after I prayed about the list 2 missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came knocking on my door. I let them in because I felt this was in answer to my prayer. They taught me the first discussion & let me a BoM (that's right it is the bomb) & asked that I read some passages they had marked & after I read them they asked that I would pray about what I read. I did this & that evening when I prayed about what I read & what the missionaries taught me the Holy Spirit filled me with joy & let me know that what I learned & read was true. I started going to church after the elders taught me the 2nd discussion & was baptized a month later. That was 5 years ago & I haven't regretted a moment of it. I got my endowments a year after I was baptized. My wife went to the Temple with us that day as support & while I was having my endowments done the Spirit told me I was going to marry her. We were married 3 months later. We took my endowments date & flipped it. I had my endowments done on 7/11/03 & we got married on 11/7/03.

Answer 7

I was born as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints(LDS) Or known also as Mormons. As far as I can remember my WHOLE family (generation of family) has been apart of the church...Its fun to learn about your families past.

Answer 8

Listen to this mans personal testimony. He is Jewish. It is an awesome testimony if you have the time to listen. It really encouraged me to never give up on prayer.
http://www.mcleanbible.org/media_player.asp?messageID=961

Answer 9

Its a very boring story. I was raised lutheran I am Lutheran, I will always be Lutheran!

Answer 10

i was born Mormon....ya their it is.but i believe that my grandpa found are LDS missionary's when he was walking home drunk from the bar..lol