By way of introduction...

There have been many great conversions mentioned in scripture. The bible tells of Saul, who was visited by Christ, himself, on the road to Damascus. Moses came from noble and privileged circumstances and had to humble himself to trust in God and lead others. Ruth gave up the beliefs she had been taught for a better and more correct way. In the Book of Mormon, Alma Sr. is converted to the Lord due to the testimony of Abinidai. Of course, the most famous conversion story in the Book of Mormon is the conversion of Alma Jr. Much like Saul, going about against the church and persecuting and killing faithful members, Alma Jr. was visited by an angel and was brought to know the error of his ways. Alma Jr. was so frightened or maybe, as he says later, was so 'harrowed up by the memory of his sins' that he spent much time in a comma of sorts, becoming converted to the Lord. Once he awoke, he spent the rest of his life in service to God. I was not visited by an angel, nor was I privileged enough to see Christ himself and have him correct me. In a way, God did come and speak to me about my need for conversion. He used earthly means, but the message still came across and I am blessed that I was able to receive that message and follow it. Born of goodly parents, brought up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and having once myself been privileged with a knowledge of Christ's gospel in both former and in these latter days, I had a lot of things going for me; but a trial of my faith proved, at the time, too much for me and I fell away. While I never physically murdered anyone, I brought people away from the teachings of Christ. Mostly, I led myself further and further from the light. In the midst of my rebellion, I was saved. It came in the form of my mother and a video issued by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am not as Alma. I am not like Paul. It has taken, and is taking time for me to become fully converted; To give up those pesky sins that still hold me back from being a true instrument of good and a missionary of Alma and Paul-like caliber. Nonetheless, I am converted every day. I would like to tell you a bit about the road back and of the struggles and blessings that have come with each step. My hope is to, not only find progress for myself in looking back at the road I have traveled, but that maybe someone out there who is struggling with an addiction to alcohol, someone struggling to recognize the purpose behind the loss of a child or a sibling, someone struggling with feelings of same-gender attraction, or someone who is a faithful member of whatever faith they profess to be a part but may not fully recognize the true steps of living all one believes; that maybe that person can learn from my successes and failures. My prayer and my wish is for us to become more fully converted together. Let us do so now. Let us start now. Let us begin today, right now, to make the change and make the choice to become converted to the Lord.