dancingmunchkin

My parents are divorced, and I have a wonderful relationship with my mom but she's skeptical about the whole religion thing. I don't have a very strong relationship with my dad, but he seems to be more open about everything. I just don't know if I should take the risk of my mom judging me for ten years or if I should just wait. I feel as if it will be easier to tell her that I've decided to join a church that she has her skepticisms about when I'm not exactly living with her anymore. They probably suspect I do have an interest in the Church. I saw the Book of Mormon musical last year, around November, but I had previously researched Mormonism before and had found it interesting. After the show, my Catholic friends took it as it was, a satire about a group they (I'm assuming) hate, where as I wanted to delve even deeper into the history and doctrine of the various groups that make up the Mormonism movement. After I saw the musical, I wanted a copy of the Book of Mormon, and asked my father if I could request one from the Church. He didn't want me to do that, I'm assuming because he didn't want missionaries trying to contact us, so he got a copy from his girlfriend, who is Lutheran, but has a Mormon neighbor who gave it to her. Because of this, I'm partially trying to make it seem as if the Church is an inside joke (which it partially is, but I try my hardest not to disrespect a religion I find so fascinating). Trying to cover up what I'm doing is not at all right, but I don't want them to think I'm crazy and strange. I don't want to burn a bridge with my parents because of what I believe. ...I guess I just answered my own question. I'll be waiting until I'm 18, and most likely have moved away. P.S. I feel so extremely hypocritical now, for 1) asking a question that I already knew the answer too and 2) wanting to join a church that preaches honesty, but covering up my own interest in that organization from my parents.

Hello! I am 17 years old, will turn 18 in January, and have had an interest in the LDS Church for a solid year now. I went to a Methodist private school for elementary and middle school, despite being raised without religion at home. I've had an interest in finding the religion for me for almost 3 years now. I have read every section on mormon.org and visit lds.org several times a week. I got a copy of The Book of Mormon from a family friend and read both it and the Bible often, and I pray every day. I've just begun the seminary Old Testament home-study manual in order to dig a bit deeper into LDS doctrine to see if it's something I really agree with. Some concepts threw me off a bit, and my uneasiness about some bits of doctrine had me considering other groups, even though I've been focused solely on the LDS Church for a couple of months now. Despite this, I feel like I just keep on getting pulled back to the Church. I feel very strongly that the Church is for me and that the lifestyle is something I want to follow. My only issue now is that I'm not sure if I should ask my parents if I can convert, or just wait until I turn 18. My parents are against organized religion and I'm pretty sure they already think I'm crazy because I have such an interest in religion. I'm afraid they'll say no, and then think I'm being influenced and am too young to make this decision on my own. I could wait until 18, but I so desperately want to become a member. If I do wait until 18, I'm not sure if I should wait until I go to university, or convert while I'm still living with my parents. I'm not sure where to go, or how to approach my parents if I do decide to ask now. Thank you. Update Aug. 19: I told my mom how much religion means to me, and how my study of various religions has brought me hope, peace, and happiness. She said that that was fine, but she didn't want me to become a "Mormon follower or join the FDLS" (she's watched the TV show "Escaping Polygamy" and I think it's made her paranoid that I'll go and join some creepy cult, FLDS or not) and she said that it was okay if I had a normal relationship with God and joined a regular church. It was a bit disheartening for me because I know that I'll have to wait and I'm not sure how I'll bring up the topic of conversion when the time comes. Aside from that, I asked my dad (who is much more open with me exploring different religions) if we could go to church - as we did visit a Baptist church a few years ago - and he said that we could consider going this Sunday. I'm not sure where we'll go, but I'm hoping that we'll end up at a LDS service one week.