Luke B. posted his conversion story on social media and has allowed Called to Share to share his story.
Growing up I was raised Christian, and had always had a connection to God and Jesus Christ. I have vivid memories from when I was younger of spiritual experiences, and feeling that my prayers were meaningful.
I went to one of those liberal mainline Protestant churches, and I attended church semi-often. I had a testimony of God up until about 7th or 8th grade, when a (very strongly opinionated) friend of mine, who had recently quit his religion for Atheism, convinced me to do the same.
I was very adamant about my Atheism for a long time, I saw religion as very foolish and irrational. I would watch YouTube channels and read information that further strengthened my lack of belief in a God.
Then some things started coming up in my life, and while I didn’t realize it at the time, having a lack of God in my life really did make things harder. When you feel like everything in the universe is ultimately meaningless, it makes life feel depressing.
Even during that time though, there were a few instances, times when I was especially downtrodden, that I decided to pray. Prayer really is powerful. But even still, that didn’t do it for me.
Quite a few years went by, stuck in this atheist scientific materialist worldview. Then I got into a conversation with the pastor of my family’s church and explained my views of religion. I can’t recall what we talked about exactly, but afterward I wanted to re-explore religion.
So, I did research on a bunch of different religions, everything from Islam, to Buddhism, to Baha’i, to Catholicism. One of my friends had at that time recently converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so I decided to talk to him about it.
I had already started reading the Bible from Genesis, and it seemed like a bunch of fiction to me. After talking to that friend, I decided to start reading the Book of Mormon as well. When I first started reading it, it seemed like it was clearly made up.
There’s this guy in New York who supposedly sees an angel and is given gold plates. I did some online research about it (particularly from anti sites), and was convinced that it was made up. Nevertheless, I still continued reading.
…having a lack of God in my life really did make things harder.
Then there was this one night that after reading the Book of Mormon I decided to pray about it, as my friend had said to do. I still wasn’t sure if I believed in God or not but I did it anyway. I remember having an overwhelming feeling of spiritual confirmation. I was still a bit confused.
My friend had invited me to meet with the missionaries before, and I gave a “maybe, probably not”. But after that experience, I gave in. When learning with the missionaries there was something that resonated with me. On top of that, I had good prayerful experiences with the Book of Mormon.
So I continued my search for spiritual truth. I started attending church regularly and had found FAIRMormon, a great supplement to help me navigate through all of the criticisms of the church.
There were some doctrines that really made sense. I wasn’t opposed to Christianity, but the history of Christianity seemed all too polluted by politics and power struggle. I really resonated with the idea of a great apostasy and then a restoration of the church of Christ.
Then at a certain point I made the decision to get baptized. I still wasn’t completely sure if I believed in God, but I felt guided by the spirit toward the Church enough to want to join. I also knew that if there was a God, this would be His church.
Since getting baptized my testimony has grown and grown and now I can more than confidently say that Jesus lives, that the true church of Christ was restored through Joseph Smith, and that Russell M. Nelson is our current Prophet on earth
Honestly, the sole thing that made me believe in God was the Book of Mormon. To this day, the Book of Mormon is still the keystone of my testimony.
Being in The Church of Jesus Christ has brought so many blessings to my life. I’m so grateful for everyone that I’ve gotten the opportunity to embrace the gospel with.
@Elaine Mary Williams, from steven john weaver as you joined the church of jesus christ of latter day saints i wondered if you could help me on a question mainstream archaeologists say that theie is no archaeological evidence to support the book of mormon yet the mormon church claim to have found some archaeological evidence can you tell me of what you have ;learned yourself about the archaeological evidence i am not baptized into any religion although i do have a strong belief in god and jesus christ and had been thinking of joining the church of jesus christ of latter day saints
STEVENWEAVER CROYDON ENGLAND I was reading with interest on how luke b had joined the church of jesus christ of latter day saints however people who have joined the church of jesus christ of latter day saints need to know that archaeologists cannot find any archaeological & even genetic evidence of the native american indians mentioned in the book of mormon this information comes from the mainstream archaeologists the events in the book of mormon never happened we know that the holy bible is true because much archaeological evidence has been found but none has been found with the book of mormon
STEVEN WEAVER CROYDON ENGLAND I HAD BEEN READING WITH INTEREST OF LUKE B CONVERSION FROM BELIEVER TO ATHEIST TO LATTER DAY SAINTS FOR ANYONE CONSIDERING TO JOIN THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS RE THINK AGAIN ALSO THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED INTO THE CHURCH CONVERT TO THE TRUE CHURCH THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH WHICH STARTED OVER 2000 YEARS AGO AND HAS 1.376 BILLION MEMBERS WORLDWIDE YOU WILL BE SURPRISED TO LEARN ARCHAEOLOGISTS CANNOT FIND ARCHAEOLOGICAL OR EVEN GENETIC EVIDENCE FROM THE BOOK OF MORMON ABOUT THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF AMERICA THE EVENTS MENTIONED IN THE BOOK OF MORMON NEVER HAPPENED HOWEVER WE DO KNOW THAT THE HOLY BIBLE IS TRUE AS MUCH ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE HAS BEEN FOUND JESUS CHRIST GAVE A WARNING IN THE HOLY BIBLE THAT MANY FALSE PROPHETS WOU;LD ARISE AND MISLEAD THE MANY IT ALSO SAYS IN THE BIBLE THAT IF AN ANGEL OR ANYONE THAT PREACHES A DIFFERENT GOSPEL TO THE ONE IN THE BIBLE LET HIM BE ACCURSED IT MAY NOT BE A DIFFERENT GOSPEL BUT SOMEONE WHO MIGHT PERVERT THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST WAS JOSEPH SMITH REALLY A TRUE PROPHET HOW MANY KNOW THAT JOSEPH SMITH HAD UP TO 40 WIVES ONE WAS A UNDERAGE 14 YEAR OLD GIRL HE WAS A POLYGAMIST POLYGAMY IS NOT TAUGHT IN THE HOLY BIBLE AND GOD WOULD CONDEMN SUCH PRACTICES PERHAPS JOSEPH SMITH SHOULD OF BEEN GIVEN A NICKNAME AS CASANOVA JOSEPH A MAN THAT SEDUCED WOMAN I HAD BEEN THINKING OF JOINING THE LATTER DAY SAINTS BUT NOW ON FINDING THURTHER EVIDENCE HAVE DECIDED TO BECOME A ROMAN CATHOLIC
Beautiful testimony loved it, I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1978, after praying and asking God if He were there, and feeling so light and full of joy, I knew that God was there. that night I had a dream and in my dream i was told that messengers were coming to bring me a message and within 2 days 2 young men wearing suits, whom I learned were missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I listened and knew that i wanted to be baptised, I am still a faithful member there is no doubt at all in my heart I know that this is Christs Church with the power and authority of His Holy priesthood.
Wow, thank you very much. Very powerful.
Beautiful and authentic testimony. I love this statement, “I also knew that if there was a God, this would be His church.” There is nothing like the Book of Mormon, a powerful testament of Jesus Christ with a promise that if you ask, God will answer you by the power of the Holy Ghost. That blows all of the anti-, atheism and negativity out of the water. You pray and God literally touches your soul. You now know God is real, prayers are answered, the Holy Ghost is real, and a powerful book, that testifies of the reality of Jesus Christ and his atonement, is true. That is life changing! Thank you for sharing.
Loved the remarks “I still wasn’t sure if I believed in God or not but I did it anyway.” Sometimes obedience is enough to get us moving in the right direction, exercising a particle of faith, until the the witness comes – and it does come to those who sincerely search.