The following conversion story was shared by Hanna Seariac.
I was born Catholic to two parents who shortly after divorced. My mom was a Latter-day Saint, but we practiced Catholicism when I was young.
As I grew older, I became more interested in religion and went through various phases, flirting with different types of Christianity, and ultimately decided that a Catholic college would direct my path. I was enchanted by high church and wanted to go down that path.
I got to the Catholic college and fell into a group of really strong Catholic friends. This solidified my interest in Catholicism and I began dating someone quite seriously while also looking into religious life (i.e. religious sisterhood).
In the process of discerning, I decided to write a book defending the Catholic faith. I hadn’t told my parents of what my decision was, but I was sure they would guess. At the same time, I struggled with some decisions I made in high school and hard some events out of my control.
While writing this book, I decided to confront the truth claims of the Latter-day Saint Church beginning with eternal families. As I argued against the Church, I started having more questions than answers.
In an attempt to answer my questions, I began reading and viewing anti-Latter-day Saint material such as the CES Letter, The God Makers, View of the Hebrews, etc. and found myself feeling like those writing the anti-Latter-day Saint stuff were wrong.
I shoved it aside and continued down the path I was on. One night in St. Joseph’s chapel, I prayed deeply and told God that I didn’t like the person I had become and the path I was on. I asked Him what I could do to change. I was told to read Moroni 7:41.
Upon reading that verse, I knew that I had to be a Latter-day Saint and I had to leave Catholicism behind. In a Taco Bell parking lot shortly after this, I felt prompted to move to Utah, transfer to BYU even though the deadline for fall had passed.
Miracle after miracle occurred and I ended up in Utah, feeling like I needed to be there, but unsure of how to proceed. I navigated my Latter-day Saint singles ward, but was still dating my Catholic boyfriend.
After agonizing over the fact that my choices were not aligned with God, I prayed and asked God what to do and God replied: “Hanna, do you trust me?” and I said “Yes.” Within the next day, my boyfriend broke up with me.
I felt impressed to read Moroni 7:41 again, and so I did. I made a promise to God to keep the temple covenants I have made (whole long other story of how that happened, but I was endowed at 19 – no mission or marriage plans) and to sacrifice everything I had to Him.
After I made that promise, I felt cleansed by the atonement of Christ. I became a completely different person, changed through the blood of Christ and inspired to defend The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I used to regret how far I fell from Christ and how long it took me to devote myself to Christ’s Church, but the entire time God has shown me that my sins, shortcomings, and the tragedies that I have experience are swallowed up in His Atonement completely.
I have seen God’s hand in my life so clearly and distinctly that I cannot deny it. He changed me so completely from who I was– something I was incapable of doing on my own.
I prayed deeply and told God that I didn’t like the person I had become
This is His Church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. I am 100% sure of it. I know God is real and I know He loves us. I know He sent His Son to us. I know that the prophets are men of God.
No matter how far I have fallen from Him, He has picked up and walked with me every step of the way. There’s nothing I can do to repay that. What I can do is preach His word and follow Him now. For this opportunity, I am so grateful to my Savior.
We can all be pioneers. We can all follow Christ in a higher and holier way than we used to. We can all sacrifice our will to the Lord’s, choose Him and His Church over the world, and become better because He Lives. That’s how I became a Latter-day Saint.
To learn more about Hanna, you can read more from her on Medium here.