TattooBlackVest

Hey AtticusFinch, Hows everything going? :) TBV x

yay for the brits!

You moved to England, are you insane?! lol I wanna be in Canada! Im actually in Scotland, its a bit better than 'that place' lol :)

Its just the top half of my left arm...not a vest! lol its pretty much how i visually described myself to someone recently. i have tattoo and wearing black vest. so it sounded good when i meshed it all together. im gonna add a pic to my gallery and people can see it. TBV x

Wow Carl. Thanks for sharing your story and im sorry for all that happened. I cant imagine how tough that must have been. I really hope everything works out for you and that you recieve lots of encouragement from this site (which you will!). I only signed up a few hours ago but it feels great already. There are so many understanding people on here. TBV x

Just read the last part of your story - incredible! Im feeling so inspired by it!!!! :) Surely its a sign, the Lord really makes things come together doesnt he?

Amazing story Atticus :) I think the LDS church is were you need to be. I am inactive, i want to be active and have a testimony....im just too much of a wimp. But i have that longing also of wanting to be back in Sacrament and among members and going to the temple. I think its the age old story that we come across material that poses great opposition to our beliefs. I think you can find good and bad in all. I come from a Catholic family and and Italian background, i still love all that throwing the hands up in the air and shouting 'Oh Dio!' (Oh God) and wrapping the rosary beads around my hands and praying. There's nothing wrong or bad about it but in my heart i steer toward LDS. And they can throw all the 'But this is a contradiction...' or 'But this cannot be proven...' at me. For a 14 year old boy to have the impact that he had and at that time, i think well somethings got to give. For me its like even if Joseph Smith was to turn up at my bedside and tell me it was all a lie, i wouldnt even be mad. And that sounds crazy and i cant explain it but being LDS made me feel whole and purpose-driven. It made want to be an example to others. It seems like the spirit is very strong within you no matter how hard you try to fight it. Maybe you should give it another shot and im sure there are great blessings waiting for you, just like when your mission was so successful :)

Hi Deb, I get like that too. There are some doctrines that i just dont understand...its not that i flat out dont believe them....i say now that i just dont understand but it doesnt matter to me because there is something about the church that i 'love'. I am so drawn toward it and i just seem to believe that its the Holy Spirit telling me its true. There has been so many instances where ive had a thought of the church pop into my head then 5 minutes later ive saw missionaries getting off a bus or an email buddy of mine from Utah will send me an email that day and im amazed. I come from a Catholic background and my parents couldnt understand why i would want to join the church. Im not great at justifying things and going into depth about scripture...plus they werent too interested but i just told them how it made me feel and that i wasnt being naive about it and as long as i was happy and a good person...then they werent too bothered at all. In fact my mum even turned up for my baptism :) TBV x

Hi Michael, Your story is so very similar to mine! I have posted my story here on this Introduction forum. I was raised Catholic and the same for me i was at a crossroads. I eventually joined the church, it was a great feeling and very rewarding. Sure, do your investigating and find out as much as you can. Dont get discouraged as there is opposition in all things but i really do hope you find what your looking for. The church does offer a wonderful sense of community and purpose :) Once you gain a testimony of the BOM then all falls into place....it did for me :) TBV x

Hey, I would certainly love to hear you story. Perhaps it will help me and others too! TBV x

Hi there, Well i was advised to write a wee intro...so i will! Im Bex, in 23 and im from Scotland. I will copy and paste what i wrote on the LDSLinkUp site which is maybe a bit easier for me and for you to get to know me :) I read everything (i mean everything) about the church when i was 18 and for 2 years proved to myself i could do it. Then when i was 20 (2005) i stepped into a ward and that was me baptised, confirmed...you know the drill. I got to do baptisms in the Preston Temple which was amazing! So i was active for maybe 8 months then i became inactive. I became questioning, drank, partied, not to mention i have a sleeve tattoo (and yes sometimes i think ugh, why did i)....i was pretty much was not living as i was supposed to. I met lovely people in the church no doubt i really loved (love) them and would often feel bad about who id become and the neglecting of the church, WOW, etc because with me its 100% or nothing at all. So its been a very long time since ive been to church. I tried and failed to get back into it. I think essentially what draws me to the church is the sense of community and family within it and sure i admire the lifestyle, we could certainly do with more of it in the world. Im very much a defender of the church and its members because the way i see it is that if the church isnt true (i do not think thats the case!) then at least the church remained true to itself and the members tried to make this world a better place. So you could say im somewhat of a liberal mormon. I have lots of church material and read it regularly. I would never throw it away because i never say never. Just because i dont attend church now doesnt mean that in the future i wont have some drastic change of heart and go back. I do have a testimony that is undeniable. I remember my baptism and how amazing i felt. Anything is possible. I would love if i had more friends in the church that i could actually spend time with and chat with and just be myself with. My family arent in the church and i find it hard to go alone. Perhaps meeting the right person would make everything click into place, i dont know. I would love to raise a family in the church. So yeh, thats me. Im a good person. I do love the church, i do have a testimony, i just find it very hard to attend and stay committed. Of course its my fault i know. If i married and raised a family in the church that would be amazing.