Conversion Stories - R.K. Owen

It was in the late 1970's. I was 19, a student at the University of Minnesota, and walking through the student union en route to the eating area to meet some friends. A couple of young men in 3 piece suits (the fashion at the time) were passing out surveys regarding religion to any and all who would stop.

I took the survey and headed towards the eating area. Fortunately for me, I didn't find any of my friends that day, else we would have had some fun answering the survey. Uncharacteristically I filled out the survey seriously, as I ate my lunch and smoked a cigar. I even put my name, phone number, and address on it to discuss my answers with them if they desired.

About 2 weeks later, these 2 young men came to my door (I was living with my parents at the time). My father came down to my bedroom as I was studying and told me a "couple of religious nuts" were at the door for me. This got me angry, I told them that if they want to see me to call me first, since I'm quite busy with my studies as a physics student.

This must have scared them off a bit. They waited about 2-3 weeks more before they called me again. They wanted to meet me at my home, but I felt uncomfortable with that since my parents have almost no religious inclinations. They offered to meet me just off of campus. I accepted this arrangement.

I met them at the UofM LDS Institute of Religion, they introduced themselves as Elder Curtis and Elder Ward. I was a little confused "You both have the same first name?" They explained that "Elder" is a title for missionaries and is related to the priesthood.

They taught me, what they called the "First Discussion". I found that many of my views of God and religion coincided with what they described. At the time, there were some news stories that claimed that the first 17 pages of the Book of Mormon were written by someone else than expected. I asked if this shakes their faith at all. They said absolutely not. (I think the claim about the Book of Mormon was later shown to be false, since the person with this evidence was shown to have forged documents and was involved in a mail bomb plot.) The Elders asked to meet again, which I consented.

What struck me was the absolute equitability of the gospel. Because everyone, dead or alive, will be given the same chance to accept or reject it. This is one reason why Mormons are very interested in genealogy. Also, Jesus Christ didn't just live, preach, and set up His church near Jerusalem, but that after he was resurrected He visited with the people in the Americas. This is the foundation of the Book of Mormon. Where we end up is contingent on our faith and actions, because as you know action speaks louder than words. This religion isn't just a once-a-week thing, but something you live every day.

I won't go into detail about every encounter, After the 3rd meeting they challenged me to baptism, I said I wanted to read the Bible first. After the 4th meeting they challenged me again, I said I wanted to read the Book of Mormon first. After the 5th meeting again they challenged me, I said I wanted to wait after I went camping up in northern Minnesota (in the middle of winter!). After they left, I looked in the mirror and I knew I had to get baptized, for I knew what they taught me was true ... it's something I felt deep inside. I knew that I needed to do something about it, either accept it fully or deny it and know that I was denying the truth. Well, I chose to accept it and to live my life accordingly.

I later told the Elders that I would be baptized after I went camping. I wanted to get away and do something I hadn't really done before - pray. Of course, the Elders were concerned and were urging me to get baptized sooner. I had made my decision and stood by it.

I got baptized January 5, 1978 and have never regretted my decision. I'm still strong in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and pray that I'll endure to the end. Some people will say there are many "restrictions". In fact, I would say I'm freer now, than I have ever been. Take for example: drinking alcohol. I used to do quite a bit of it, and I saw I was fast becoming an alcoholic like many of my ancestors before me. Now I have perfect freedom to choose to drink if I wish to; however, if I were to do so then I must accept the consequences of my actions and I would no longer enjoy some of the rights and privileges of being a member of the Church. However, let's look at the converse. An alcoholic is enslaved by his addiction and lacks the same freedom and rarely can they just choose to forego alcohol.

Having adopted this lifestyle, I find I'm far healthier and happier then the alternatives I had envisioned.

I hope my story has touched something inside of you. It describes the events that brought me into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you will pray earnestly and honestly, you can know for yourself whether the LDS faith & Book of Mormon is true or not. You can't rationalize and prove God's existence. Highly trained people fall into this trap. They don't really understand that there are things in math & physics that are literally taken on faith and from that framework you can deduce further properties. Are these "proofs"? All you have done is shown a consistency with "reality". However, in physics there as been many times when these fundamental beliefs have shifted: classic physics, relativistic physics, quantum physics, whatever-the-next-physics may be. For things of the spirit, sometimes you just need to "feel" the truth. That's the purpose of the Holy Ghost.

If you get baptized, do it because you "feel" it's the right thing to do. And if you do, then remember that feeling and it will carry you over those times when you might have questions or doubts. If you decide to get baptized, I would like to know and perhaps I can put your conversion experience here also.