It started in 2016 I was living in Manhattan
and I wanted to be really close to God, I wanted to see just how close you could get
If I could just get a little bit closer that would be amazing, we're talking about God here!
And you read about God speaking to people and I'm just like,
can I get a just a taste of that, just a taste would change my life.
So I was looking at my resources to do that
and I thought "hey why don't I start with the Book of Mormon, they're always pushing that."
And I wasn't an avid Book of Mormon fan at that point but I thought I'm just going to experiment,
So I took a Book of Mormon and
I prayed, and I said "help me get people to read this" basically.
And I'm like my way of doing that is, because I don't like going up to people,
is I'm going to just read it everywhere I go in the city.
So I took my Book of Mormon
and I kept my promise and wherever I went in the city whether it was on the subway
or through Time Square or down the street, I was reading it or holding it.
My walking around took me to Roosevelt Island,
which was a little strip, it's a little island in between Long Island or Queens in Manhattan,
so I got there and at the very tip of the island is Roosevelt Park
and I was there, and I was reading
and I thought about all the people in the city that had seen me read the book.
You know on that island you can see the whole city,
a dramatic landscape of buildings because you're right there.
At that moment I was reading and I read in the Book of Mormon in Alma where Alma is talking to his son,
and he's saying, "I'm gonna pass on the plates to you"
and he says "but you have to treat them with care
so they don't get lost because one day the whole world is going to read it."
And then he says
and it just hit me, like you may believe this is foolishness in me
and I thought about all the people in New York, the hundreds of people that had seen me read
and at that moment like the weight of the city and the rejection
You know you hear things about the church they just come up and it just like bothered me at that moment.
You know I grew up in Virginia there weren't a lot of members and whenever something Church came up
it was just hate! I got a lot of hate just a lot of like,
well what about this about Joseph Smith or what about this and you know it's just like oh my gosh
I was just getting hit with it all the time.
You know you don't want to listen but it just kind of builds up and at that moment it just bubbled
when I read that scripture.
At that moment
I cried out to God in my heart, with this book,
"are you there" it was a really big feeling!
And I said "if you are and if you hear me, tonight when I go to the ward FHE,"
because I was going to help the missionaries with some investigators.
When I go and the missionaries give their lesson, have them read this scripture.
We went, and I wasn't expecting anything, but sure enough,
as they gave the lesson they gave it on charity,
because you know very basic, it's for investigators and then they just said,
"we'd like to close with a scripture and then they read
and whoa from now on like I cannot take anything lightly.
I've got to read my scriptures every day, I've got to pray.
I'm just like I am, I've got to because now I know so clearly that there really is a God
and he endorses this Book of Mormon and therefore this church.
What are you supposed to do with that knowledge!
I'm totally okay with whatever questions or doubts I have because
I mean oh my gosh!
That was basically my experience
that they read it! And I I texted the missionary later because we were texting,
and I said "why did you read that, why!" looking for some other sort of explanation
and they just were like, "oh my gosh!"
we weren't obviously, that wasn't a very relevant scripture but the Spirit just really told us to."
I feel honestly a lot happier a lot of the time.
I am kind of a worry kind of person, I have a lot of things I'm stressed about with my family
and my life, I'm just like is this gonna be okay?
But I can relax because I'm like oh my gosh there's a god who is totally aware of me!
I just feel like I'll just be more relaxed and happier and more at peace just because of that experience.