I could really use some help here... I moved to Utah when I was 14 and had never even heard of a Mormon. I was a very active boy scout however, and in Salt Lake if you wanted to go to scouts it was at the Mormon church. So I went and eventually got talked into getting baptized. I never really ever cared for the church and led a very weird life. I started dating my first wife when I was 14 and got married to her when I was 17. I moved out of my parents house and 14 almost 15 and lived with her until we got married. She was 11 years older than I was. She was Mormon growing up and while we were married for 14 years we tried re-entering the church several times. There were a lot of reasons it never really worked out for me/us. A few years ago I really started to realize that I was not in love with my wife. I started to feel angry at her because I never had a normal childhood or young adult life. I owned a restaurant and bar in Oregon after moving back and met someone else who happened to be my wife's best friend at the time. We started talking and realized we had so much in common. We were both in relationships that were very un-healthy and toxic. We both divorced our spouses and then started dating after being friends. This woman is truly the woman of my dreams. She is the most amazing mother of her two daughters from her previous marriage and we married almost a year ago and have a beautiful baby boy. This is where it gets interesting. After realizing I was going to have this baby boy things changed a lot. I have been far from the church for a while now. I have owned a bar been a heavy drinker done lots of things wrong. My wife was also a heavy drinker when we met and then stopped when she got pregnant and has decided she does not want to do that anymore. She wants to have a drink occasionally just not all the time. I have been drinking way to much and it has really affected things at times. I have talked to my wife in ways that make me feel like the biggest low life ever. I want to change so badly and I have come to realize what I really want is to re-enter the church and have friends that love their kids and family as much as we do. I want to have friends who want to get together and do things that do not revolve around liquor. I want friends who will be there for us anytime we need them the same as we would be for them. The problem is she is not so hip to the idea of going to the Mormon church. She has not been a church person really ever. She was forced to go to the Catholic church growing up but was also molested by the family members forcing her to go. We have attended the Lutheran church as a family and they all liked it. I did not mind it and the people were nice but it is not the same. I need to feel that sense of community. How do I convince her to give it a chance? How do I explain what the church really can offer our family. I need a document that tells the story of a family the converted and the difference it has made in their family, their marriage, and their lives. Please help!
