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

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Iprayed that the Lord would let me know if I had
found the truth. Then one afternoon, after driving
home while repeating my frequent prayer, I saw
the missionaries helping a neighbor.
on multicultural worship practices, in which I had been
shown why these religions were inaccurate according to
the Bible. Yet new questions now rang in my head: What if
the Bible was inaccurate? What if everything I had believed
to be true was wrong?
From the earliest years of my religious training, my family,
church, and professors had educated me on the danger
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I had
seen almost every anti-Mormon movie, prayed for the lost
souls giving tours of Temple Square, argued with LDS
peers, and taken classes comparing the Book of Mormon
with the Satanic bible. Decades of anti-Mormon training
had equipped me with the tools and motivation to stay far
away from any LDS affiliation. Although I wanted to open
my mind to all religions as a form of truth, I did not allow
room for the LDS Church.
Best Thing—or Brainwashing?
While deeply involved in my study, I had the opportunity
to start a new career. During my training period, I met several
employees; one was a striking woman who immediately
caught my attention. She accepted my awkward
invitation to join me for dinner one night, and as we ate,
we discussed religion and the fact that she was a Latter-day
Saint. Realizing that my desire to accept all world religions
should have extended even to this church, I decided to
overlook our religious differences. I asked her out for another
date. I was shocked when she told me that she didn’t
feel it would be right, as dating outside of her church did
not fit within her ethical standards. She told me, however,
that she would love to consider me a friend.
At first this upset me greatly. I thought her decision to
date only Church members seemed overly pious, lacking
the love of Christ. I argued with her for some time about
this, but to no avail. That night I spent many sleepless
hours pondering and debating my position. After serious
reflection, I decided that while I would never dedicate myself
to a religious practice for the love of a person, this
woman was worth at least investigating the one church I
had sworn I would never consider.
As I thought about my coworker, I came to realize that
the attraction I felt for her was focused on her morals and
integrity. She was unlike women I knew who were desirous
to live a carefree, unaccountable lifestyle. My Latter-day
Saint friend had no false pretense, and her commitment to
her faith was overwhelming. I decided that she had either
found the best thing in the world or she was suffering from
the worst case of brainwashing I had ever encountered.
ILLUSTRATED BY BRIAN CALL