December 2004 Ensign - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

Up until a few years ago, I was a
follower of the modern trend to
take far too much liberty in the
practice of religion. I tried to be selfsufficient
and individualistic, and I
denied that such a thing as “the true
church” existed. Only by the grace of
God am I now able to share my story
of finding the truth.
I was raised in a very loving Christian
home. Our family would spend the
majority of our week either involved in
church activities or preparing for upcoming
opportunities to serve. For years I
was involved in child and youth religious
programs, preparing myself for eventual
enrollment in Bible college. Given my
aptitude for music and my love for the
Lord, my desire to achieve a degree in music ministry
came quite naturally. I completed the degree and accepted
a position with a church congregation, where
I was responsible for hundreds of church attendees each
Sunday morning.
THE FAITH
I TRIED TO
AV ID
As a minister, I had been
taught to stay far away
from the LDS Church. But
the Lord had a different
plan for me.
Over the course of time, I realized
that while I knew God existed, I
had a hard time believing that everything
I knew about Him was accurate.
Several years after accepting the
calling to serve as a minister, I resigned
my position. I knew that I
could no longer lead a group of wellmeaning
members in a practice that
I myself was unsure of. I would not
be a hypocrite to God, my family, or
the members of my church.
In Pursuit of Truth
For the next several years, my life
was a downward spiral. My wife decided
to start a new life without me
and took our daughter with her. I
lost my job. I lost my home. My faith crumbled, and anger
overtook me. I decided that the Lord could not possibly
exist in the way I had always felt He did. This philosophy
led me to an intense study of all world religions. This type
of study was not new to me. I had taken numerous classes
BY ROBERT MARSH
ENSIGN DECEMBER 2004 15