I was born into a family and culture that valued truth and justice and the pursuit of excellence in every aspect of life. My father taught me to search out truth and, when I found it, to hold fast to the truths I found. May his soul rest in peace.
I believe my father and my mother did a good job of instilling in me a love of truth and a desire to know and do God’s will. I know they had hoped that I would embrace the truths they held dear, and for many years I did, but, Jesus had a different plan for me. He was to take me on a wondrous journey from Zion to Rome, a journey I am still walking.
As you may have guessed, I am a convert to the Catholic Church. I was born and raised in a Latter-Day Saints family, in the “Vatican City” of Mormonism, Salt Lake City, Utah. I, like most Mormon males, was ordained to the various levels of the LDS priesthood, was married in the temple, and taught Sunday school.
I was active in church and eventually taught seminary; I worked with the missionaries in our branch in Germany. I worked hard at fully understanding my religion and tried to live it. I would say that for all practical purposes my life should have been Mormon from the womb to the tomb.
I always wanted to know the truth about my God and his creation. I recall many nights closing my prayers with, “Father in heaven, please lead me to your truths and give me the wisdom to perceive them.” He did, but not quite in the manner I expected-I really wasn’t looking for a different religion, but wanted to strengthen my faith in Mormonism.
As I read and studied to prepare my lessons for the seminary class I was teaching, gaps and inconsistencies began to appear in my Mormon theology. The answers given by Mormon teachings were often in direct conflict with the Bible, were baited, or used circular logic to explain away problematic doctrines.
Like many other Mormons, I decided to stop looking and move along with the “inspired” program-except for one thing: I could not in good conscience teach doctrines that I felt were questionable, and I asked to be released from my seminary teaching position. Being ostracized from the LDS community (we were living in Germany at the time) would have left us without social support, support that is necessary when living in a foreign land.
For that reason I asked for a release on the grounds that my duties at work required more of my time. Had I given them the real reason, I would have been labeled an apostate, and life could have become uncomfortable, a gamble I wasn’t willing to take. I was released from my teaching duties, and our life went on. I stopped studying, and in time I grew lazy when it came to church activities.
Within a year of moving back to the States I was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The doctor said, “If there are any trips you would like to take, I would advise you not to put them off.” Just as my life was beginning, I was told that I would not have long to live. I didn’t want to die and leave my pregnant wife and two small sons. The prognosis was grim-they didn’t think I would live to see my daughter born. Again the Lord had other plans.
After several surgeries, we moved back to Salt Lake, so my family would have the support of our extended families at home. I didn’t want them to be alone if something happened to me. Death seemed real and imminent. Many things went through my mind, but one thing I knew: It was time to get right with my Creator! I began to study again; it felt good to pick up my King James Bible and read. Somehow I knew that God would take care of me no matter how things turned out.
Slowly I gained my strength back, and a year later I went back to school, studying anthropology and archaeology at the University of Utah, hoping to find answers to some of mv questions about mv church. Instead of finding answers, I only found more questions and inconsistencies. The holes in Mormonism became caverns. The archaeological evidence to support the Book of Mormon, the cornerstone book in Mormon theology, was nonexistent. It didn’t take many years of study to find that there was absolutely no scientific evidence to support it. For instance, many types of metal coins were described in the Book of Mormon, but to date none have been found. On the other hand, we have found most of the coins mentioned in the Bible, including the “widow’s mites.”
I also found that the piece of papyrus used by Joseph Smith to translate the Book of Abraham (one of the books in the Pearl of Great Price) was in fact a fragment from the Tibetan Book of the Dead and had nothing to do with the Book of Abraham as is claimed.
My doubts grew when I compared the historical and archaeological evidence with the records of Mormonism. I felt crushed, like a child who finds out that his parents have deceived him about Santa Claus. I had been taught that the Mormon Church was the only true church of God and that all other Christian churches were the “offspring of the daughter of all lies, the Catholic Church, and the rest deceived by Satan.” Lost, with nowhere to turn, I gave up. The truth could not be found.
Somehow, through the divine mercy and grace of Christ, I was alive years after I should have been dead, my cancer was cured, and the Lord was preparing a way for me to hear and understand his gospel. A good friend, later my sponsor, invited me to go with him to his RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) class. I really didn’t want to go, but I didn’t want to offend my friend either, so I went. From the first class, truth began to replace the misrepresentations I had been taught about Catholics and the Catholic Church.
Looking back, I truly feel sorry for Fr. Pellegrino, the priest God sent to be my teacher. I was not what you would call an easy sale. I questioned everything and read most of Father’s library, from the Baltimore Catechism to dogmatic theology. Fr. Pellegrino, with elegance and honesty, answered all the questions I fired at him. I found that there is ample evidence to support the Church’s doctrines and beliefs. It is the Church Christ himself established, and its fundamental doctrines and creeds have not changed in two thousand years. They have remained constant, in harmony with the earliest Fathers of the Church.
In my journey I have found something that may help you to separate the sheep from the wolves. Our God is a God of truth; all of his acts are open, plain, and pure. Just as the sun rises on both saints and sinners, his gospel is open to all. He proclaims no secret doctrines or ceremonies, because he is the God of light, who works in the open. If this man or that man claims to have secret knowledge that is hidden, open only to a select few, the doctrines he is teaching are without doubt false. Our God never works in the darkness of secrecy. He gives to all men openly and freely.
God has given us a measuring stick (almost six thousand years of history and sound archaeological evidence that supports the written traditions of the Fathers and the Bible) to illuminate what is true and expose what is false.
His Church will teach that there is one God in three divine Persons, that before him there are no other Gods, and there will be no other Gods after him: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is One!”
His Church will teach that he is present in the consecrated bread and wine at the sacrifice of the Mass. Even when our Lord was on earth, Scripture tell us, this was a hard doctrine for men to understand. When he presented it, many of his follows turned away, never to follow him again.
His Church will teach that we need to seek forgiveness for our sins- forgiveness from God and forgiveness from God’s community on earth, through confession to Christ’s ministers.
His Church will teach that Christ has died for our sins and that he is the spotless victim and sacrifice offered up to the Father until the end of the world. No longer would animal sacrifice or secret temple ceremonies be used or be acceptable to try to gain entrance into the Kingdom of God.
His Church will teach that love of God, obedience, and purity of heart are the keys to the Kingdom.
Above all, his Church will teach that Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again!
All this teaching is found in (and only in) the Catholic Church.
To paraphrase the Mormon missionary’s line, I say it is my testimony that the Catholic Church is Christ’s Church on earth. It is his will that we use this vehicle that he has established, rich in sacraments, to draw near him and to return to the Father. I believe he wants us to pray often for his guidance and help. I believe in the power of the rosary and the loving gift that the Lord has given us: “Man, behold thy Mother; Mother, behold thy son.” I believe the pope is the vicar of Christ on earth, and I give him my prayers and my support. I know Jesus lives, loves us, and desires us to follow him within his Church.
Being born and raised with a set of religious values does not ensure that you have the truth. We all must ask God to take our hand and lead us back to him. We all need to become converts to Christ.
I pray that you take this in the spirit that it is given and that it helps you to come closer to the Lord. Please remember that it is in reality a message of Christ’s divine mercy. Consider this invitation to search out Christ’s plan for you.