Former Mormons- share your testimony why you became Catholic

[TexanKnight]

Good grief! How could that bore anyone? Great story!!! I had to chime in because I also “heard a voice”. I mean, it was a real, physical, audible voice that I heard with my ears, it wasn’t a “thought” in my head. And just like your incident, it came from behind me. If I had to guess, I’d say about eight inches behind the back of my head. It startled the you-know-what out of me. Raised the hair on my head, it did. It told me a direct answer to something I had prayed fervently for earlier.

Did the voice sound like your grandfather? Or someone else? The voice I heard didn’t sound like anyone I knew. It also didn’t sound like a male or a female. It sounded normal, but totally genderless. Thanks for your testimony, I enjoyed reading it.

wow…the voice I heard seemed like it came from the same place yours came from. No, it was not the voice of anyone I knew It was audible enough that I thought everyone else heard it too…if anyone had been there. The voice was just “there”.

Thank you for your kind words

 

[boomerang]

I also heard a voice, which answered a prayer as well My little sis was invited by a man she met online to a bbq at his place, with a bunch of his friends. She didn’t want to go alone, and I didn’t want her to go alone so I went as well. When we got to the house we knocked on the door and my future husband opened it. The moment I saw him this voice, audible and real, told me that I would marry him. I nearly turned around to see who had said that, but I didn’t b/c I knew there was no one behind me. And less than a year later, we were engaged! We have now been married for 10 years, and God could not have fit me w/a more perfect match. If you’ve read the book “Something Other Than God” by Jennifer Fulwiler, she had the same experience when she met her future husband. God is so amazing!

Holy Cow! Seriously?! That’s exactly what happened to me! I had prayed for God to send me a “man I could love” and three months later, a stranger walked into my restaurant and ordered and sat down a few feet away. That’s when I heard the voice. Right behind me. Loud, totally audible, just like a natural human voice, only distinctly genderless. I’ll never forget it. “You’re going to marry him” it said. I also wanted to turn around, even though I knew perfectly well there was no one behind me.

We started dating the next day, and hit it off immediately. Three weeks later he confessed to me that on the day we met (in my restaurant, the same day I heard the voice), he had a strange dream in which he was told by a disembodied voice “You have just met your wife”. That was the entire dream. He woke up and knew the voice was referring to me. He came back to my restaurant that day and asked me out, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. It’s been 22 years. Also, he was and still is, Catholic. He brought me back to the Church after I had left it. Why would God send me a Catholic? It must be His Church! God is good!

 

[RebeccaJ]

test

 

[Marie5890]

I’ve already told my story (feel free to use the search function)

Basically it came down to I no longer believe in foundational LDS dogma. It didnt hold up to intellectual reason

Spiritual realities will never come in conflict with science…or reason…

 

[RebeccaJ]

Hi Patty,

I’m a convert from atheism, but I was raised LDS (BIC). I was active LDS until I was 18 or 19 yrs old.

Coming from atheism, my struggle was with faith. I didn’t have it, I could see others did. I became curious as to why. I also had an academic curiosity about what the Roman Catholic Church taught, and had been reading online about Catholic belief and teachings.

I started going to Mass, at the encouragement of a Catholic acquaintance. I thought it would be a good way to learn what RCC taught. Which it was.

After nearly a year of studying online and going to Mass, I decided I needed to hear form a real live Catholic, particularly, regarding the doctrines of the Trinity. Catholicism was turning out to be rational in thought, and I found that surprising. But, the Trinity doctrines weren’t seeming so rational. I didn’t think it was possible that in the midst of all this rational thought, there were doctrines that didn’t have the same.

So, I showed up for a discussion on the Trinity, at a Catholic parish, which was one night a week for three weeks. What a discovery. People teaching faith and religion in so rational a way. I found it amazing. When that ended, the deacon teaching said he was going to be teaching RCIA in a few weeks.

I went home, and Googled RCIA. I was leery about attending something that was going to be pressing me to convert, ala, Mormon missionary style. Once I found that there was no pressure to convert, I started showing up to RCIA. Over the months I was in RCIA, I fell in love with the teachings of the Catholic Church. I found them to be rational, beautiful and a hidden gem that I had just discovered. It was like discovering a musical genius, like Mozart. Listening to the music, learning to play it myself, and studying music theory. But I wouldn’t call that faith.

The deacon leading/teaching RCIA, knew of course, my Mormon/atheist background, and encouraged me to pray. Prayer, for an atheist, is ridiculous. Like talking to the ceiling. It felt very awkward, but, the deacon encouraged me to pray even though it felt awkward.

I kept my prayer simple, “God, if you exist, lead me to you.”

I started to feel like there was something really wrong with me. Why did all these people at Mass, with their visible faith, have that faith and I didn’t? Advise to “just have faith”, seemed to be telling me to, “just pretend you believe what you don’t believe”. Which is, something I can’t do.

At Mass one Sunday, a priest gave a homily where he said all people belong to Jesus. Everyone. He said everyone in the room was on their own journey towards Christ. Each of us in a different place on that path, but still, all on the same journey. It hit me, so hard, as I viewed my life as a path, my atheism, as a path to no where. To nothing. I recognized that I had been traveling a new path, for a few months, that was leading me to God. I had a real sense of not belonging. Of the atheist in the room that was messing it up for everyone else. Just having someone tell me that being on that path, where I was at the time, was OK, was what I needed to hear.

That was the day, the moment, that I realized I did have faith. I still had no intention of converting. I still went to Mass, to RCIA, still prayed. I went to the rite of election, where we were asked what we wanted from the Church, and our answer should be, “baptism, confirmation, eucharist”. I asked myself, if that is what I really wanted, and I could think of no reason to say no. I couldn’t deny my experience of God, leading me to Him, and that it occurred in the Catholic Church. No where else.

So, at Easter Vigil, 2007, I was baptized, confirmed and received the eucharist.

 

[Brandon_Cal]

I was born into two of the prominent Mormon dynasties in Utah in 1931. Pure bred pioneer stock, polygamist ancestors on either side. I’m so Mormon I bleed green jello.

I started to question the foundational claims of the LDS Church in 1978 when the Church opened up the priesthood to men of African descent. It’s not that I wasn’t happy for my Black brethren. The priesthood ban was one of those “put on the mental shelf and deal with later” sort of dogmas of Mormonism for me. The ban made no logical or compassionate sense, but I “knew” it was of divine origin so I accepted it with great reluctance. I had spent decades teaching others that there existed some unknown yet innate quality of Black men rendering them unsuitable for the priesthood because the Church I believed in so steadfastly told me so. For the Church to completely repudiate that teaching, over night, within the obviously politically expedient context in which the decision was made left a very sour taste in my mouth.

Over the next ten years I did what all members are warned not to do: consult non-LDS materials about LDS history, and then every last card of the house fell. I knew about polygyny, but polyandry!? Joseph Smith’s marrying of already wed women!? “Translations” of scripture that don’t even involve the source text!? Burning of the Nauvoo Expositor!? Multiple “First Vision(s)”!? It became readily apparent to me that Joseph Smith Jr. was a conman and a charlatan. He was no prophet of God, the “scriptures” he “translated” were figments of his imagination, and the “church” he founded was an entire sham.

I never lost faith in God, but I remained a closeted disbeliever in Mormonism. It never really occurred to me to investigate other denominations of Christianity (or even other religions for that matter). I felt that I knew enough about the rest of Christendom to still believe that there was an apostasy (something that Joseph Smith just so happened to accidentally get right). Without a new place to go I saw no reason to leave the place I was at, and so I’ve been here ever since. To this day I’m still a practicing member. I hold a temple recommend and various callings. All of my children, grandchildren, and my wife are active LDS as well.

It was some time around 2003 when I moved to Oakland, California that I had my first genuine exposure to Catholicism. The church a block from my house was under the care of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. They had a daily TLM Mass, and public chanting of Lauds and Vespers. While walking by one evening the doors were open and I could hear Vespers from the street. I crept in as inconspicuously as possible for fear that the Catholics may proselytize like us Mormons (Will there be nuns and monks keeping a careful eye for obvious visitors? Will they love-bomb me and want to have “discussions” with me?) Surprisingly no one took notice of me, so I started to make a habit of it.

A close neighbor turned out to be a parishioner there. One day he noticed me leaving the church and approached me with a huge grin. “I always thought I’d catch you leaving a bar before I’d ever think to see you leaving a Catholic church! But don’t worry, your secret is safe with me”, he chuckled. Henceforth he became a sort of Catholic mentor. I went to him with questions and eventually I attended my first Sunday Mass. Holy Moly! I instantly fell in love with the liturgy. Couldn’t understand a word of it, but I loved it.

I began to wonder if my left over Mormon assumptions about other faiths was even valid. The linchpin of course would be the supposed Great Apostasy. If it really did occur then my experience of Catholicism was merely superficial and emotional. If it did not occur then Catholicism may actually be what she claims!

I began to read anything I could get my hands on about early Christianity. Patristic writings, critiques by detractors of Christianity, Catholic sources, Orthodox sources, even Protestant sources. I’m convinced that Apostolic Christianity is true and the unanimity of certain doctrines among all the Apostolic Churches is enough for me to accept them as well. I believe the Nicene Creed. I believe in the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. I believe in the Communion of Saints and in asking for their intercession. So why am I not yet Catholic? It’s because I feel that I’ve reached a road block in ascertaining which of the Apostolic Churches teaches “the fullness of the truth”. Papal authority and jurisdiction is a biggy, but not the only one. Are the Chalcedonians or the non-Chalcedonians correct? Does the quantity of “natures” of Jesus Christ even matter?

I may be stuck here for the rest of my days and since neither the Catholic nor the Orthodox church will accept me for baptism without confessing faith in the entirety of their dogma. I hope in God’s mercy that if I were to die tomorrow in this state that I’d have a shot at being covered by invincible ignorance, though I haven’t used this hope as an excuse to become complacent. Maybe one day, by the grace of God, I’ll have an epiphany of sorts and be able to make that leap of faith.

 

[RebeccaJ]

Hi Brandon Cal,

I have that Mormon “royalty” on one side. Pioneer/polygamist ancestors, that came to Utah in one of Brigham’s company of tens. That polygamy was live and real in my family, something to be proud of, and talked about often. It bothered me, and I wasn’t proud of it.

In my conversion, I used the Nicene Creed as the guide to what I believed and what I didn’t. Nothing in there about a Pope, no? Our baptismal promises:

V. Do you reject Satan?
R. I do.
V. And all his works?
R. I do.
V. And all his empty promises?
R. I do.
V. Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth?
R. I do.
V. Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?
R. I do.
V. Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
R. I do.
V. God, the all-powerful Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and forgiven all our sins. May he also keep us faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ for ever and ever.
R. Amen.

Still, nothing in there about the Pope.

For me, it just kind of followed, if I’m going to accept the Roman Catholic Church as Jesus’ and where God led me, then Pope it is.

Also, the Eastern Rites in the RCC…have you checked out the Maronites? There is a Maronite parish in our diocese, their view of the Papacy is more balanced than the polemics found among some Roman Catholics or Orthodox.

They select their Patriarchs, and technically, the Pope approves, but as pointed out to me by a RCC deacon, the Pope has never denied one of their appointments. They see themselves as appointing their Patriarchs, not the Pope.

I think it has to be understood, that the communion of Bishops is very real, in both Catholic and Orthodox, but also, Bishops and Patriarchs act very autonomously. In communion of course. Even lumen gentium, the dogmatic constitution, defines the Pope as acting in communion with all Bishops.

The only difference I can see between Catholic and Orthodox, is that we recognize the Pope has the final say in matters of faith and morals, but does the Pope proclaim anything that is not in communion with all Bishops and Patriarchs?

Only one instance, at the schism. Which, honestly, I view as a matter of egos gone out of control.

That’s my view. I’m sure there are strong feelings and opinions otherwise. I could have easily become Catholic or Orthodox. For me, it was that where I live the Orthodox are tightly knit and tied to a country or ethnicity. It was difficult enough for me to enter the Land of Catholics, let alone add in the Land of the Greeks. LOL.

Pick one, and get baptized. It really does matter that you are not baptized while accepting the faith. Believe and be baptized.

 

[boomerang]

Over the next ten years I did what all members are warned not to do: consult non-LDS materials about LDS history, and then every last card of the house fell.

I began to read anything I could get my hands on about early Christianity. Patristic writings, critiques by detractors of Christianity, Catholic sources, Orthodox sources, even Protestant sources.

Hello Brandon Cal. I enjoyed your testimony. I feel that the internet is affecting both of our churches drastically. In the case of the Mormons, people are now able to see for themselves the hidden history of Mormonism that was inaccessible before, causing them to question the validity of it. Many people are leaving Mormonism because their eyes have been opened.

With Catholicism, it’s just the opposite. Catholics are now easily able to defend their church from the Protestant and secular lies that have been circulating since the Reformation, and as a result many people are coming home to Rome.

It’s great for Catholics to have the world of information at our fingertips, but for the Mormon church, I think that same access to information will prove disastrous.

 

[onegirlinchrist]

Amen!

Mormonism always felt off even though I tried really, really hard to accept Mormonism and the teachings of the LDS church. Thanks be to God because He never gave up on me!

Agreed, Amen! I feel thankful that it made me uncomfortable. I wonder how to explain what’s going on for those who love it. All I can think is that if it’s not true, it’s not true. And there’s no way people could really be as comfortable in it as we think. We can’t see into people’s hearts and really know what’s going on.

That said, I do sometimes feel lucky…why did I get lead out of it? I have a brother getting married soon, all pumped up after serving his mission, ready to go to the temple and start his Mormon life. He seems happy; certainly, I want him to be happy. However, I find it interesting that nothing about the faith bothers him (as far as I can see).

I am particularly surprised by those who do not question the faith after experiencing the LDS endowment. I actually never participated, only watched on youtube. I was shocked. I had no idea that went on behind closed doors. If that doesn’t raise eyebrows, what will?! If people will accept all that Masonic nonsense, what more can God do?!

 

[onegirlinchrist]

I should also mention that while the social aspect of Mormonism is definitely attractive (at least for me), another thing that I found attractive, and many do, is what I call the “facade” of Mormonism, or “missionary Mormonism”. The thinking usually goes like this:

“Oh, apostles, prophets, continuing revelation, temples, etc, just like in the Bible!”

After awhile,

“Wait, the prophets don’t really function like the Biblical prophets…the LDS temples aren’t like the Biblical temple and tabernacle…where is the revelation…”.

Good point! I only realized quite recently that the Mormon Prophet doesn’t function like the Prophets of the OT. Mormons say, “we have restored the structure of the original church,” but where in the Bible do you see a Prophet with 12 apostles? The Prophets in the OT were called from various segments of society to preach a message of repentance, but they didn’t head the Jewish Church in an institutionalized sense (to my knowledge), and certainly not with 12 “apostles.”

I think part of the problem might be that Mormons use the King James Bible exclusively. It’s harder to read. So people read their Bible less!

 

[PaulDupre1]

Good point! I only realized quite recently that the Mormon Prophet doesn’t function like the Prophets of the OT. Mormons say, “we have restored the structure of the original church,” but where in the Bible do you see a Prophet with 12 apostles? The Prophets in the OT were called from various segments of society to preach a message of repentance, but they didn’t head the Jewish Church in an institutionalized sense (to my knowledge), and certainly not with 12 “apostles.”

I think part of the problem might be that Mormons use the King James Bible exclusively. It’s harder to read. So people read their Bible less!

I have never met a Latter-Day Saint (including the few GAs I have met and talked to) who understood anything about the bible.

In my experience, Mormons pay lip-service to the bible in order to garner potential converts, but they really care nothing for it and don’t study it seriously.

Paul (formerly LDS, now happily Catholic)

 

[onegirlinchrist]

I may be stuck here for the rest of my days and since neither the Catholic nor the Orthodox church will accept me for baptism without confessing faith in the entirety of their dogma. I hope in God’s mercy that if I were to die tomorrow in this state that I’d have a shot at being covered by invincible ignorance, though I haven’t used this hope as an excuse to become complacent. Maybe one day, by the grace of God, I’ll have an epiphany of sorts and be able to make that leap of faith.

God bless you on your journey! I was just where you were at a few months ago, per investigating the apostolic churches…

What ended up being helpful for me was my exasperation with hunting for the true “church of the Bible.” I found myself grumpy and knee deep in books, trying to figure things out when it hit me: there must be a better model. It must not have been God’s original intention for every new convert to have to become an expert in ancient history, scripture, and languages before they can make the “right” choice. That’s when I really gave the Catholic Church a chance. Also, I realized that the Bible wasn’t even compiled until the late 4th century. So for almost four hundred years, there was a church up and running, with it’s own hierarchy, traditions, and scattered scriptures. I found myself pretty interested in that church.

If God didn’t expect us to become experts on theology and ancient history, He must have established a church that would be authoritative and identifiable without our hunting the globe over. The unified hierarchy of the Catholic Church since ancient times is truly compelling in that light. It’s a church people all around the world know and recognize. It has a central authority figure who can speak for Christ when needed, and who keeps the Church unified.

Something that bothered me with my experience researching doctrine, is, I never knew for sure if I was right. The Bible is so vast. Someone can always find a verse that seems to contradict your idea. Besides, do you really know if you’re interpreting the verse correctly? What do you do with the verses that seem to contradict it? How do you harmonize the Bible? Is the translation you’re reading truly trustworthy? Have you accurately factored in the historical context of the verse? The search nearly drove me mad. I knew that, no matter how much I thought things through or researched, I’d never know. It would always just be my best guess. Thus, I didn’t feel at peace.

The proliferation of sects under Protestantism, (and the proliferation of apostolic churches), show that, outside of the Catholic Church, it’s anyone’s guess. In His Intercessory Prayer, Jesus prayed that His church would be “one.” The Catholic Church is “one,”…the breakaway churches are most definitely not one.

I think that’s a pretty big clue…

Consider the four marks of the church as stated in the Nicene Crede (one, holy, apostolic, catholic)…who best demonstrates those marks?

Also, promises in scripture that Christ made to his followers per the Holy Spirit and how it would guide them into all truth…Paul’s writings in the Book of Ephesians about the Church being Christ’s body, with Christ as it’s head. The Church is a divine, not human institution. Therefore, apostolic churches with their own Pope, like the Coptic Church, are functioning under the idea that somehow the hierarchy that they got their priesthood from was ok for 300-ish years, but then went apostate so they are justified in having their own pope. That’s inconsistent though with the words of scripture, which state that the Church will be glorious from generation to generation:

Ephesians 3:20-21

“20Now to him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we desire or understand, according to the power that worketh in us; 21To him be glory in the church, and in Christ Jesus unto all generations, world without end. Amen.”

(Not sure if that was at all helpful, but I can relate to your journey!)

 

[PaulDupre1]

Good point! I only realized quite recently that the Mormon Prophet doesn’t function like the Prophets of the OT. Mormons say, “we have restored the structure of the original church,” but where in the Bible do you see a Prophet with 12 apostles? The Prophets in the OT were called from various segments of society to preach a message of repentance, but they didn’t head the Jewish Church in an institutionalized sense (to my knowledge), and certainly not with 12 “apostles.”!

onegirlinchrist,

You are quite correct. The OT prophets were always on the fringes of society. Often, as with Jeremiah, their lives were constantly in danger because they condemned the status quo in their cultures. They called out the kings and princes and the rich for their decadence and their oppression of the poor, condemned sin and idolatry of every kind and warned of impending doom if the society did not repent and turn to God.

And what they warned of really happened, unlike Joseph Smith who gathered wealth, aspired to political power, participated in disgusting, sinful behavior and lied about it, and prophesied of things that never happened.

Paul (formerly LDS, now happily Catholic)

 

[PaulDupre1]

God bless you on your journey! I was just where you were at a few months ago, per investigating the apostolic churches…

What ended up being helpful for me was my exasperation with hunting for the true “church of the Bible.” I found myself grumpy and knee deep in books, trying to figure things out when it hit me: there must be a better model. It must not have been God’s original intention for every new convert to have to become an expert in ancient history, scripture, and languages before they can make the “right” choice. That’s when I really gave the Catholic Church a chance. Also, I realized that the Bible wasn’t even compiled until the late 4th century. So for almost four hundred years, there was a church up and running, with it’s own hierarchy, traditions, and scattered scriptures. I found myself pretty interested in that church.

If God didn’t expect us to become experts on theology and ancient history, He must have established a church that would be authoritative and identifiable without our hunting the globe over. The unified hierarchy of the Catholic Church since ancient times is truly compelling in that light. It’s a church people all around the world know and recognize. It has a central authority figure who can speak for Christ when needed, and who keeps the Church unified.

<snip…>

Exactly! What most people in modern Western society don’t understand is that, until very recently, 99.9% of the world’s population could not read. So an appeal to Sola Scriptura in the context of an ancient culture is absurd.

Jesus left us with an authoritative body of apostolic teachers who teach, orally, what the apostles taught orally. We call it the magisterium (Latin for “the professors”) but, like always, it is the unbroken line of apostolic teachers who continue to protect, defend and communicate the gospel that was “once and for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). “Once and for all” does not really allow for new doctrine to be introduced, does it?

If you can read, all the better, but even the lowliest among us (those whom Jesus treasured most deeply - Matt 25:40) can receive the gospel through the Church that He set up to preach it and bring its sacraments to all nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples.

Paul (formerly LDS, now happily Catholic)

 

[Miriam1947]

The attached file has helped many Mormons resolve the difficulties with the LDS church.

cesletter.com

 

[PattyPryor]

Thanks to all those who posted. I have shared my story in the past… but here it is updated

I was born and raised Roman Catholic. My church was a block away from my house. I remember riding my bike to Mass on Saturdays. I would go and sometimes bring my friend if she was spending the night at my house. I was raised to love and serve God and went to CCD classes. My parents couldn’t afford Catholic School. My brother was never a good kid. Always searching in his life and getting into trouble. My parents didn’t sit me down and recite a rosary with me or things like that. I learned in CCD. My parents made me go to church every weekend and I hardly complained. I was a good kid and always felt like I heard a voice of God, I was teased and it was good to know I was loved and accepted by God even when my classmates didn’t. I had a great bond with my 2 aunts who were once Franciscan sisters (long story as to why they left) but both were very holy. I remember spending nights there and saying rosary with my grandma. My grandma had Alzheimer’s but we had a wonderful bond that i feel continued long after her death when I was 11.

When I turned 22 they decided that they would be combining my church and 3 others into one. They kept saying not to worry about the building- we were the church. I looked at everyone around me upset and hurt. Every memory of “Church” was in that building. Around this time Elizabeth Smart was brought home after being kidnapped for 9 months. I had prayed for her and found it to be a miracle. I went to the Church and before you knew it i was having missionary discussions. I fell for the missionary and I believe really joined for him. After he was transferred the day of my baptism I left 3 weeks later. My parents were never happy but went to my baptism. They had given me so much info on the church and how wrong it was before I was baptized. I was told not to look at it by the missionaries. After I left I went back to the Catholic Church.

Around 2 years later I felt like I should go back to being a member of the Mormon church. I was sad because our new ‘church’ was just a meeting room. I was also wanting to go to college for Theology. The day I was to go to the college I told them I could not go right now. I had missionary discussions and all that. Even thought I knew it was wrong I joined. I was hurting and liked the community. I left about 8 months after being baptized Mormon. I have not been back. Saddly, my friend who went to Mass with me is still a Mormon member. I blame myself for her joining. If I wouldn’t have been interested the first time she would never have joined.

After I left I decided to get my Theology degree at a Catholic College. I was happy to be back to the Catholic Church and even liked the new church worship spot (not a church yet) because the Priest was wonderful and taught me so much. I was growing so much with my studies and stuff. I have to stop and say the Catholic Church does something wrong (I know they are working on it) We don’t learn the bible a lot. I learned more in 2 years at college than my whole life as a Catholic.

My priest (who was also my teacher at the college) put in a request to help build the community more and build the church. He would stay another 7 years. He was approved and was very happy. Then one day the bishop transferred him because of a priest passing away. The new church was just starting to heal from all the combining then the priest was gone. The church today isn’t doing so hot. I decided I needed a church to worship in so I joined a Catholic Church in a town 20 minutes away. They had combined 6 churches into 3. They kept the original churches. It felt good being in a Church again. Sorry I know a church is a family of believers but part of me still sees a church as a building.

It was then I moved and found a job as a DRE in a parish and things have gotten a lot better. I love the fullness of the Catholic Church. I will admit I have moments where I want to go back into the Mormon church or I do go to sacrament meeting and leave half way through. I don’t want to be Mormon. It is a process and I am still trying to find balance.

I think a lot of me goes back once a year for 5 minutes is because I never got to go to the Temple and I lost friends after I left. I also worry that I made a mistake salvation wise (this feeling lasts like 30 seconds lol) My friend who joined is still my friend, we just don’t talk religion.

I am still trying to find a good balance. I want to study more and read even more on Catholicism. It is so rich. I do feel home and I believe my family and my Grandma in heaven sent me back.

 

[Brandon_Cal]

In my conversion, I used the Nicene Creed as the guide to what I believed and what I didn’t. Nothing in there about a Pope, no? Our baptismal promises:

V. Do you reject Satan?
R. I do.
V. And all his works?
R. I do.
V. And all his empty promises?
R. I do.
V. Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth?
R. I do.
V. Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?
R. I do.
V. Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
R. I do.
V. God, the all-powerful Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has given us a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and forgiven all our sins. May he also keep us faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ for ever and ever.
R. Amen.

Still, nothing in there about the Pope.

…]

Pick one, and get baptized. It really does matter that you are not baptized while accepting the faith. Believe and be baptized.

Yes, and if I could find a Catholic or Orthodox priest willing to only baptize me, I would’ve done so years ago. Problem is that conversion to either church requires Confirmation/Chrismation as well.

At the start of The Profession of Faith for Catholics, the Priest asks you “Do you believe and profess all that the Holy Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God?” The Orthodox require that a candidate answer in the affirmative to the question “Do you accept the dogma, liturgy, cannons, discipline, and moral principles of the Orthodox Church?”

I cannot in good faith say “I do” to either of these (yet).

 

[SteveVH]

Yes, and if I could find a Catholic or Orthodox priest willing to only baptize me, I would’ve done so years ago. Problem is that conversion to either church requires Confirmation/Chrismation as well.

The sacraments of initiation are Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation. Through Baptism we enter the Church, the family of God, as through a door. If you received only Baptism it would be like standing in the doorway and not sitting at the table with the rest of the family? You would be hungry and very soon discouraged.

At the start of The Profession of Faith for Catholics, the Priest asks you “Do you believe and profess all that the Holy Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God?” The Orthodox require that a candidate answer in the affirmative to the question “Do you accept the dogma, liturgy, cannons, discipline, and moral principles of the Orthodox Church?”

I cannot in good faith say “I do” to either of these (yet).

Then take your time. Get your questions answered. And when you can say “I do” we will all rejoice.

You are in my prayers.

 

[RebeccaJ]

Yes, and if I could find a Catholic or Orthodox priest willing to only baptize me, I would’ve done so years ago. Problem is that conversion to either church requires Confirmation/Chrismation as well.

At the start of The Profession of Faith for Catholics, the Priest asks you “Do you believe and profess all that the Holy Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God?” The Orthodox require that a candidate answer in the affirmative to the question “Do you accept the dogma, liturgy, cannons, discipline, and moral principles of the Orthodox Church?”

I cannot in good faith say “I do” to either of these (yet).

Only those who have a valid Christian baptism, and are received fully into the RCC via confirmation, make a profession of faith. A non-Christian convert does not make a profession of faith. But I understand what you are saying.

 

[Darryl_B]

I may be stuck here for the rest of my days and since neither the Catholic nor the Orthodox church will accept me for baptism without confessing faith in the entirety of their dogma. I hope in God’s mercy that if I were to die tomorrow in this state that I’d have a shot at being covered by invincible ignorance, though I haven’t used this hope as an excuse to become complacent. Maybe one day, by the grace of God, I’ll have an epiphany of sorts and be able to make that leap of faith.

My friend, I was raised christadelphian, and when I realized that we were so far from Truth, I then spent 18 years wandering as a non-denominational in a transitional period before I could actually overcome my upbringing and embrace Catholic dogma. I sincerely pray that others don’t take the time it took me to come home.