greetings

[kimiko]

Hello everyone. I'm new to this forum, obviously, and to the Church as well. I was baptized last June. It's feels wonderful to have finally found this Church and be a part of it!

[Hemidakota]

Great to hear and being an active convert, brings excitement and zeal for others. Welcome.

[FunkyTown]

Welcome, Kimiko! We'd love to hear your conversion story. :)

[mliff]

hi and welcome Kimiko

[kimiko]

Welcome, Kimiko! We'd love to hear your conversion story. :)

I'd be happy to share!

It started back in February of last year when I was attending a United Methodist church. For years I had bounced between churches but could never commit to one because things just never felt right to me, like there was something missing. I couldn't quite pinpoint what it was though. Then one Sunday during the sermon, I was overwhelmed with the feeling that I was not in the right church, but I didn't know what to do about it. So after taking Communion, I knelt at the alter and prayed for guidance. I asked God to show me what I needed to do to find a church better suited for me and how I could feel complete. The response I got was... nothing. As a person who feels I must immediately fix everything, knowing that I needed to do nothing and be patient was not exactly the response I was looking for!

But that's exactly what I needed to do. About a week later, my then boyfriend (who is a returned missionary) started talking to me about the Church he attended. He told me about the Plan of Salvation, and I was filled with such relief! For years, I had wondered what my purpose in life was and what will happen to me when I die. I have so much comfort now that I know what my mission is. We continued to have discussions about the Church, and eventually I met with the missionaries. I was probably the easiest investigator they've ever had because I had already started reading the Book of Mormon and was constantly asking my boyfriend questions. We also visited the Orlando Temple grounds, and it was there that I truly received my answer that this Church is true and that my boyfriend was meant to be my eternal companion.

I was finally baptized in June, and my boyfriend and I were married civilly in September. We are now preparing to be sealed in the temple, and I've never been happier.

And that's my conversion story.

[Dr T]

Hi Kimiko. Welcome.

[not_ashamed]

Welcome to the site. Beautiful conversion story, thanks for sharing it.

[bl8tant]

Welcome, Kimiko! What a wonderful conversion story you have-- thanks for sharing it with us all.

[dazed-and-confused]

welcome, from one convert to another. uh, by the way....LOTS of converts here...lol.

[AndieJ]

I'm new and I really don't know how to do this. I spend a lot of time online researching for other people, making sure what they write is correct, but I've never been in a social networking site. I might post this and then lose the thread and have no idea if anyone responds to me at all.

But I guess I'm reaching out. We live in an area where the church isn't very strong and my son is following the "not strong" route. He is 17 and anything we catch him doing he denies. He goes to seminary. He goes to church. He comes to family scripture study. But I know he is immoral. What do you do? What has anyone done? I'm kind of sick all the time.

[not_ashamed]

I'm new and I really don't know how to do this. I spend a lot of time online researching for other people, making sure what they write is correct, but I've never been in a social networking site. I might post this and then lose the thread and have no idea if anyone responds to me at all.

But I guess I'm reaching out. We live in an area where the church isn't very strong and my son is following the "not strong" route. He is 17 and anything we catch him doing he denies. He goes to seminary. He goes to church. He comes to family scripture study. But I know he is immoral. What do you do? What has anyone done? I'm kind of sick all the time.

Welcome to the site I hope you find your way around. As for your son, all you can do is love him, guide him and show him the way. His agency allows him to choose the rest. 17 is young, I left home at 16 and didn't return to the church til I was about 29 I turned out fine. That's not to say that your fears for him aren't very real or that you shouldn't worry. I just think at his age the biggest thing is knowing that even if you don't love every decision he makes, you do love him. I'm not sure I know of any 17 yr old that doesn't make immoral decisions, come to think of it i'm not sure I know of anyone who doesn't at times. Just keep doing what you are doing, you are leading the way at some point he will follow. Good luck :)

[MormonMama]

Welcome Kimiko and Andie!

Andie, my heart aches for you. I don't any wise advice other than what has already been said: love him with all your heart and just try to teach by example as best you can. Hopefully he is just going through a phase, testing the waters as it were. I know how painful it is to watch your child going in the wrong direction, especially if their actions are hurting others as well. Pray, pray, pray for him. I believe a General Authority once said that wayward children would return if they were taught correctly, so just keep doing your best to raise and teach him righteously. Then you're going to have to turn him over to God and let Him do the rest.

[AndieJ]

I do pray, but it's like they don't go anywhere. And then I sometimes think that maybe if we hadn't put so much emphasize on being sexually pure that he would have talked to me about things. At least there would have been a dialouge. How do you just live the days with your other kids?

Thanks for answering and talking to me. I can't talk to anyone in the ward. My son is very personable. He is good looking and talks well to adults. Everyone thinks I am the luckiest mother in the world to have him. They just don't know it is two-faced. And certainly I don't want to walk around and discuss his problems. But I know he is hurting girls.

I have trouble finding the beauty of the day.

[MormonMama]

Sometimes it seems as if our prayers are not being answered. Sometimes the time is just not right, sometimes they are being answered but our own emotions are getting in the way and we can't discern the answer. I know there have been times in my life when my prayers were not answered right away and other times when they were but I just couldn't see it at the time.

It is hard, but don't give up. Ultimately your son must make his own decisions, no matter how painful his choices may be to you.