This is the story of @Ldsrprlpodcast Please make sure to check out her account and podcast because she really does an amazing job! This is part two of two. If you haven’t check out part one please do so.
The discussions began……he soaked it up! He loved everything about the gospel, he would read more than asked, and he was anxious to get baptized. Now that was tricky because I wasn’t willing to get married again. The missionaries that came to our door were sister missionaries. They were perfect for my boyfriend at that time and actually stayed through several transfers which we thought of as a miracle. They asked him if he wanted to get baptized and he said yes. Then they said well, if you want to get baptized you have to stop living together. We told them that wasn’t happening. We ended up meeting with the bishop who told us we could live together but needed to abstain from anything that would affect the law of chastity and us keeping it. That was so weird! But we did it. And you know what, it was amazing. It is so worth abstaining until marriage. I wish I had done this many years ago, but my life was meant to be different than what I thought it should be from the start of it.
We were married on a friday, he was baptized on a saturday, and confirmed and given the holy ghost on sunday. It was a whirlwind weekend fraught with issues such as his Dad. He didn’t like that his son was getting baptized, he would have preferred him be a Baptist. He said some things the day of the baptism that kind of ruined it, but thankfully we were able to work it through and move on. My husband has finally forgiven his Father and they have had a close relationship for a long time. His Dad hasn’t been converted even though we have tried, but he is kind and considerate now about our faith and work in the church. We have seen so many blessings come from our obedience and his Father has seen that too although not enough to get him to take the plunge :).
I found myself at church sunday after sunday sitting there for 3 hours. I was getting frustrated because I wanted to support him, but I wasn’t ready for all of this yet. I still smoked and drank and didn’t want to give it up yet!
One sunday we showed up late and sat in the back. During the sacramental song, I was so overcome with the spirit with christ that I couldn’t stop crying. I couldn’t sing, and I couldn’t gather myself. At the end of sacrament a few people came to see how I was doing and I was so embarrassed. But, I knew, it was time. I either step up to the plate or I would lose my then boyfriend. Thankfully I made the right choice 🙂 The tender mercies have not stopped flowing on us since I met him. Father in heaven blessed us even in worldly circumstances and brought us together through great love, devotion, and hope for us. The 3 months after the baptism was miserable. No one talks about the adversarial attacks after you make righteous decisions. With the help of my parents, a good bishop, and friends in our ward, we overcame the proving time I like to call it and learned a lot. Mostly, we learned that we have faith and love the gospel and love christ. The gospel plan of happiness truly is that and we want everything that is made available to us from this great plan of joy. We were sealed one year later at the temple, I had a sweet visionary experience of my husband and me, and we have been working as ward missionaries ever since. Among other callings ;). Typically in my ward you hold more than one calling and we do most of the time. We love it, but it is hard sometimes to do it all. So we take comfort in the counsel not to run faster than we can walk.
I remember at my first temple recommend interview there was a question at the end that asked something like if i felt i was worthy to enter into God’s house. I said oh yes, for the first time in my life I feel like I would be welcomed into the celestial kingdom and it was so wonderful, that feeling. I look back on that now and giggle but i was so naive to the ways of the church and yet it was truly what i felt. You see, the church was a club I could never quite participate in all it offered because I had always had a vice. I finally was able to partake of it all, including my patriarchal blessing, and there is no looking back. I will never do anything to compromise my discipleship again. I am devoted and my husband is. Life is so much better with the gospel in our lives and the faith we build and the spirit nurtures.
We have had an amazing life since we came into the gospel. We have easy comparisons and are so grateful. I hope something in this strikes you. It certainly has rooted us. One quick last story.
My husband loves to read the Ensigns. The scriptures were a bit foreign to him at first so he started with the magazine. He had been reading them for awhile, he loves how they talk about what we deal with today and gives hope/direction, when at my parents’ home he was sitting at the kitchen table reading an article and he felt this warm wrap around him, like a hug, like a warm blanket and the words spoken to him, “you are home.” Unforgettable! Thanks for listening to my story and if you don’t mind, check out my Instagram page and my podcast!
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