Patrick's Conversion Story

Elder Welch:

Below is my (lengthy) personal account of my conversion story. I actually typed it out before for a talk I gave at a YSA fireside earlier this year and added a lot to it for you. It's longer in the part before I met you two because I figure you don't know all those details. Good luck writing your homecoming talk when you get home, but don't forget you got a couple more weeks in AL to help spread the gospel.


Try and go to an ice cream parlor called Milky-Moos in Troy before you head out. They have some pretty interesting flavors and it's all homemade. They used to make a cinnamon roll sundae that was really good at the one in Enterprise. I enjoyed Dothan 1st Ward this morning. Elder Thompson sort of helped point me to the right rooms to go to.


School starts tomorrow, and I go year round now. It's all going well though. Email me if you have any more questions for your talk. I realized I'm only one story and provided you with way too much info. Don't be afraid to cut a lot of it out.


Good luck finishing up the mission and have a safe trip home to NV.


Pat Baldwin
pgb0001@auburn.edu
(251)-648-5697

It was August when I first chatted with missionaries online. It was a pair of sisters on the online chat thing, and I was asking questions about what the Church believes about life after death. We had been talking in school about communicating with people near the end of life and were looking at different views on the subject based on life experiences/religious affiliation. The sisters were not native English speakers and we had difficulty understanding one another. They passed me off to a pair of American guys who wanted to Skype or something to "better answer my questions". I hesitated because my whole goal was to give as little info about myself as possible, but agreed to give them a junk gmail address I never use so they could video conference with me on google.



They answered some of my questions the first meeting and asked if we could meet again in a couple days. I said no. Now the original sisters and the elders were emailing that gmail address at least once a week with some Mormon Message or an invitation to meet with me again (I'm still on some Listserv in the Provo MTC and get an email from random sister missionaries every now and then). After a couple weeks, one of missionaries messaged and asked if they could call to share a message. I thought they were kind of pushy, but let them call as they shared a brief message about eternal families and the temple.



They finally answered some of the questions I initially asked during the first call (long after our essay/test on subject in school was over), but said they were out of time and would have to call back later to give me rest of story. I had no intention of joining the church and refused every challenge they gave for me to read the Book of Mormon, but we did read from it during their lesson.  The next call was weird. One of the elders finished his mission and had gone home, so there was a guy I hadn't met before. They began the lesson asking me what I'd do if I knew the Book of Mormon was true. I said I'd probably join the church, but I wasn't interested in changing religions and didn't think it was true.



Then they "challenged" me to read the Book of Mormon and prepare for Baptism the weekend after Thanksgiving. I thought they were crazy and did not want to speak with them anymore. I asked that they quit emailing me and that we end the chat. They said they understood, but wanted to know if they could send me a Book of Mormon. I was just interested in getting rid of them and said sure they could send me one. They took down my address and said they'd send it. Looking back I don't know why I was so willing to give my address but afraid to give my email address or phone number. I guess I just wanted them gone.



Here is where you and Elder Clayton come into the story. I thought they'd mail it to me, but after a week, I figured they forgot to send it. Then I came home from school one day to a pass along card in door with your names and phone number on it. I immediately realized what had happened. I was afraid you'd keep coming back until you met me and I did not want to be caught randomly at an inconvenient time. I also felt bad that yall may have driven from far away to only find an empty apartment. I called either the night after you left it or the next night and set up the first appointment.



I liked the first lesson and how you two weren't nearly as pushy as that one "new" elder I met on the last video conference. It's also way different to meet a pair of elders in person. Most converts I've spoken to share a real respect for what you guys do leaving for two years and all that. (I forgot for awhile but eventually emailed the elders and sisters i chatted with online that I was baptized)



I think you know the rest of the story for the most part. I offered the two of you iced tea every visit until the Word of Wisdom lesson finally came up. I basically asked Carson if he knew any polygamists the one visit he came. I genuflected the first time I went to sacrament meeting. I sat through all of Brother Booth's long stories that weren't related to the lessons at all. Most importantly, though, I began reading a chapter in the Book of Mormon each day after our second visit. ( I now know how rare it is for investigators to even read one chapter and what Elder Clayton meant when he called me "golden")



I'd love to say there was a specific chapter or story in the Book of Mormon that was the spark that let me know it was true, but I do not really have one. I struggled to know the truthfulness but kept reading and meeting with you guys because I felt religion was missing from my life especially after a fairly religious upbringing until my parents split. (I don't know if I ever told you two that I met with a Catholic priest once while I was taking the lessons) I struggled with modern prophecy a decent amount and the need for a restoration through Joseph Smith.



I got my answer late one night after reading 2 Nephi 30/31 I think ( you two had told me to pay special attention to that section ). It went over the importance of baptism and conversion like I had been learning in the lessons. I prayed afterwards in bed and that's when I knew what I had been reading all this time was true. I quit asking some of the questions that were keeping me from embracing the gospel (what would my friends and family think/will people think I'm going to hell/I don't want people to think I'm in a cult/can I really quit tea and alcohol forever/can i see myself living the perfect Mormon lifestyle). I had already gone to a sacrament meeting by this point and was also surprised by how normal the church service seemed. I agreed to be baptized around Christmas and before you two's next transfer.



It's almost 1.5 years later (Baptized 12/28/2013) and I do not really have any regrets. Doing baptisms for the dead with the youth next Saturday in Birmingham and currently counseler in EQ.



The End