What do you think I should do?

[naturelover]

Hi. I'm Carissa, and I'm 15. I posted something here on the advice boards once before, but overall, I'm pretty new to LDS.net. I wanted to ask something else here, because I'd really like your opinions on it.

My family is Baptist, but I want to become LDS. There are quite a few reasons that I want to convert, and I've wanted to for a while now. But my parents are completely against me converting. They think they're the only ones who are right, and they always bash the Mormon church saying it's false. I haven't told them I want to become LDS because I'm afraid of what they would say, but I think they can sense it, because they get so defensive any time the subject of Mormonism comes up. They run down the religion and try to think of a million reasons it's a "cult". My mom is the worst for this. And every time I try to defend it, she says something about how if I ever became Mormon she would practically disown me. So basically, I just have to sit there when they're running down the LDS religion because if I defend it I get in trouble. Any time I'm with my family, especially my aunts, uncles, and grandparents, I have to put on a big front and not mention anything about being LDS at all.

I also haven't asked my parents if I could go to an LDS church, because again, I'm afraid of what they'd say. Plus, where I live, there are almost no meetinghouses. I live in southern Michigan, south of Ann Arbor and Detroit. There are practically no LDS people where I live. The town that I live in doesn't even have one LDS church; the closest one is a few towns away, and that's the only one in the entire area.

I'm homeschooled, and I only have one good friend, and she lives over an hour away. Plus, her family is also strict Baptist, and if they found out I wanted to be LDS, they probably wouldn't let her hang out with me anymore. I've never mentioned to her, either, that I want to convert, just for that reason.

I really want to meet some friends who are LDS, because they would probably be like-minded and be a good influence, and then my parents might actually let me go to church with them. But I don't know how I would ever do that, because there are almost no Mormon kids my age where I live, and my parents won't let me go to an LDS church.

I'm so tired of pretending that I want to be Baptist just like the rest of my family, even though I really don't, just because they're so judgemental and I'm afraid of what they'll say.

I know my other question was very similar to this, so sorry about that if you remember reading it and it's starting to sound like a broken record. But I feel like I'm at the end of my rope with this situation. I just keep praying about it, because it seems like that's about all I can do.

So what do you think I should do? And thanks for reading this, since it's kind of long.

Edited October 7, 2009 by naturelover

[beefche]

At 15 years old, in order to be baptized, you would need your parent's permission. It sounds like that won't happen, so you will not be able to be baptized until you are 18--even then you may choose to wait because of your parents.

I think you should live the life of a Mormon just as if you are a baptized member. Obviously, you won't be able to go to church or activities unless your parents allow you to. But, you can study the Book of Mormon and the Bible. You can read the New Era (you can read it online), you can be modest in your speech, dress, thoughts, you can not drink tea/coffee/alcohol, you can be respectful to others for their beliefs even when they are rude to you for your beliefs.

One thing to remember (and I know it can be hard when you're 15) is that your parents love you and they do things because they are wanting all that is good and safe for you. Their objections to the Church are based on what they know. Right now at 15, you are inexperienced in the world--you should rely on your parent's for guidance and help. Your parents have experience in the world and know what's good for you. Obviously you are going to disagree sometimes and sometimes you might even be right. But, as a teenager, your responsibility is to honor your parents. Unless they are doing something harmful for you, you should respect their wishes.

I wanted to be baptized when I was 9 years old--but my father was so very much against the church. He wouldn't let me go to church or have anyone from the church over (not home teachers or anything). I grew up without Mormon friends. I had great friends growing up, they were Christian, but not Mormon. I was able to get baptized the day before my 19th birthday.

It was hard and long to wait 10 years to get baptized--but I lived as a Mormon the best I knew how during that time. I was then prepared to get baptized when the opportunity came.

Good luck and come visit us--we'll be your Mormon friends. :)

[will227457]

wait till your 18...then you can do what ever you want

[silvermoon]

beefche and Will are right. It is admirable that you have such a strong testimony of the church at your age and circumstances! The scriptures teach us to pray for our enemies. While I don't think your parents are an enemy because they only are doing what they believe is best for you, you should still pray for them and yourself and then just have patience until you are old enough to make that decision.

[talisyn]

You have access to the internet, obviously so I would recommend The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Mormon.org - Home

These are really good sites and will give you much needed information. I also like this one LDS.org - Friend because it has coloring pages (and who doesn't like computer coloring pages?) and LDS.org - New Era because it is geared towards young adults your age. Enjoy!

[naturelover]

Thanks for the helpful responses.. good advice.

Edited October 9, 2009 by naturelover

[xXTekXx]

Could you tell us a little bit about why you would like to be LDS? I can tell just by the fact that you say you want to be "LDS" instead of a "Mormon" that you have a bit of general knowledge about this church. I'm interested to hear how you learned about us and what makes you feel like you want to become a member.:)

-Tek

[naturelover]

Well, what made me really start to learn about the church is actually David Archuleta. I first saw him on American Idol, and he seemed so sweet and humble, and just generally like a moral kid with standards when most other kids aren't like that. Then I found out he was LDS, and I started doing some research on the church. It really seemed to make sense.

But that's another reason I'm kind of hesitant to tell my family I want to convert, because I'm afraid they'll think it's only because David Archuleta is LDS, when really, that's not it at all. He's just the one who first started to make me research the LDS church because he was a member. I hope my family knows me better than to think that, but you never know. They know I'm a big David fan, but I hope they realize I'm not superficial enough to actually join the church just because he's Mormon. What would be the point of that, anyway?

Anyway, I hope that's a good explanation of how I came to want to be LDS.

[pam]

Naturelover..I'm kind of curious. You sound like someone else I know. Probably just purely coincidence but have you ever lived in the Phoenix area?

[naturelover]

Naturelover..I'm kind of curious. You sound like someone else I know. Probably just purely coincidence but have you ever lived in the Phoenix area?

I did, but only for a few months. My dad lost his job there and we had to come back to Michigan, where we're originally from.

[Faded]

Religious bigotry at it's finest apparently.

It kinda goes with the territory. Most people will be friendly and talkative and social with you. Then they find out your a member of the LDS Church, and many of them seem to think you're a plague ridden leper and insane to boot. The non-religious ones don't change a bit of course. But a lot of religious sorts will look for opportunities to belittle your faith and criticize your beliefs. It's sad really.

Christ never taught his followers to hate, but often-times so-called Christians really and truly do (and cease to be followers of Christ in the process.) And that under-current of blind unreasoning hatred for Mormonism should tell you a lot about what spirit inspires it.

Many have be disowned by families, lost friends and been put through a whole lot of ridicule for joining Christ's Restored Church. Sometimes you have to do the right thing in spite of the consequences.

As has already been pointed out, the LDS Church will require your parents permission for you to be baptized before the age of 18. Hold on until then. Maybe your parents' prejudices will lighten by then. Pray for them and above all else, trust in God.

[naturelover]

Religious bigotry at it's finest apparently.

It kinda goes with the territory. Most people will be friendly and talkative and social with you. Then they find out your a member of the LDS Church, and many of them seem to think you're a plague ridden leper and insane to boot. The non-religious ones don't change a bit of course. But a lot of religious sorts will look for opportunities to belittle your faith and criticize your beliefs. It's sad really.

Christ never taught his followers to hate, but often-times so-called Christians really and truly do (and cease to be followers of Christ in the process.) And that under-current of blind unreasoning hatred for Mormonism should tell you a lot about what spirit inspires it.

Many have be disowned by families, lost friends and been put through a whole lot of ridicule for joining Christ's Restored Church. Sometimes you have to do the right thing in spite of the consequences.

As has already been pointed out, the LDS Church will require your parents permission for you to be baptized before the age of 18. Hold on until then. Maybe your parents' prejudices will lighten by then. Pray for them and above all else, trust in God.

That's exactly what's happening. They're always so quick to ridicule Mormons, who are Christians, and they don't realize that they're the ones who aren't being very Christ-like by constantly insulting other people. I guess I think it's really ironic that my family is so critical of other people who have a strong belief in Christ, when they themselves claim to be "true" Christians.

I'm not trying to put them down, because that would be just as bad as what they're doing. I still love them, of course, but I don't see why they have to be so judgemental.

And sorry if this sounded kind of like a rant; I guess I just had to vent a little.