Hello all:
I'm a Christian who is thinking about becoming apart of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. A little background on me... I've been Christian all of my life, though my dedication has varied. I went to a Catholic church for several years when I was a little kid (19 years old now), and then stopped. Several month ago, I decided it was time to stop being lazy and "walk the walk." I started attending a non-denominational church weekly, every day I read the Bible and an excellent daily devotional a friend gave me, and got rid of all the things and habits (nothing illegal or immoral!) that would prevent me from being the best Christian as possible. My life has improved greatly, and my faith is strong. I started looking around at the different denominations, and came across a few LDS websites. I'll be honest, at first, I thought Mormon beliefs were too weird for me to be apart of. But once I started thinking about it, it started to make more and more sense.
As I kept crossing denominations off because I don't agree with their beliefs or way of doing things, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only one that has stuck. I've been doing a lot of praying lately to see if this is the direction God wants me to go, so here I am doing research and investigating.
I've been to pro-Mormon and anti-Mormon sites during my research. The pro-Mormon websites have had the most convincing arguments, because they present evidence to back their claims up. I've noticed anti-Mormon websites, however, use a lot of "fluff" and make sensational claims about Mormonism that they don't back up with scripture or evidence. They are also impetuous: "OMG!! Look at this! Evidence the BoM and Momormism is fake! Members are leaving the church in droves!" That got annoying quick and led me to believe that if the only thing anti-Mormon websites can do is appeal to the emotional and ignorant side of people instead of their rational, thinking side, then maybe I was onto something.
I only have a few unresolved questions that I would like to have answered before I possibly make the jump to become LDS.
And one of the biggest things for me, is not having any family members who are LDS. I would be the first. I don't care what they think of me being a Mormon, but I guess it's the awkwardness that I'm the first and only that I don't like. I do know a few Mormons in real life and on the internet, and they are all stand up people. Another part to that is if someone asks me how long I've been LDS and I say "A couple of days; two weeks; six months", etc. I don't want to be looked down on because I'm new, though I'm sure that's an unfounded fear.
So there ya go! The encyclopedia version of my life story. If you read the whole thing, thanks for reading. If not, I don't blame you! I'm looking forward to becoming an active member on this forum.
-Seekos
