Sunday, February 21, 2010

My vast knowledge of religion

So, I have a funny story to tell. You may have heard this before, but I wanted to get it out there for everyone to see just how evolved I am in my religion. It's a bit long, but worth it! Keep reading!

I was raised Southern Baptist, as most people in the Bible Belt of the country were. Now, when I got into high school, I began to experiment a bit with other religions. Now, I'm not talking Wicca or anything, but I went to a few churches that were a different religion other than Baptist. One was even nondenominational!

Anyway, do you remember the infomercials that the Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder Day Saints used to have? I do. They talked about the Mormon religion and it sounded interesting, so I thought, what the heck? I may as well check it out! At the end of the infomercial, it showed a phone number to call and get a copy of the Book of Mormon. So, me being the follower that I was, picked up the phone and began to dial. I happily gave all my contact information to the rep on the other end of the line and began the wait for my very own copy! I could hardly wait, I was going to learn all about this new religion that I did not know a single soul who had ever been a Mormon. I was quite the cosmopolitan girl! Suffice to say, two days later, I forgot all about the book.

Then, one day, I received this package and it turned out to be my Book of Mormon. I got all excited again and decided to read it to find out what this religion was all about. Now, I was working at Chick-fil-A at the time, so I was all excited about it. I was going to go and tell my Christian co-workers all about this new religion I had uncovered.

Well, I began to read the book. When I got to the part about Jesus discovering America, I quit reading. Surely that wasn't right?! Wasn't it Christopher Columbus? Were my history books deceiving me? I looked at the introduction to the book and found that Mormonism was founded by the great Brigham Young in 1830. So, I knew it was a little fishy at that point. I put the book down and forgot all about my foray into becoming a Mormon.

Now, fast forward a month or so. At the time I still lived with my parents, I was about 17 or 18, I'm not sure. One night, I was there all by myself and the doorbell rang. Of course, I answered it. Three men in black pants and white shirts were standing on the front porch. They asked if I was home. I told them it was me and asked them in. (No, I didn't ask who they were, but they knew my name, so surely they were safe, right?! Yes, I am *that* naive.)

I invited them into the living room and they gave me their names, Elder Smith, Elder Jones and Elder Jackson. They had come from the Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder Day Saints to talk to me about the Book of Mormon that I received.

They begin their whole talk about the religion, the benefits and the true greatness of becoming a Mormon and living a true testimony to Jesus Christ. They talked for maybe 20 or 30 minutes and asked if I had any questions. I told them that I was just amazed. At that point, they all got big grins on their faces and thought they had reeled me in. One of the Elder's asked me what I was amazed by. To this I responded...I have never heard of anyone named Elder and here all three of you are named it! What a coincidence.

No, I'm not kidding. It took them a minute to regain their composure, but when they finally did, they explained that it was their title in the church, not their first name. After that, I had nothing. I really was that naive. I promise! In some aspects, I still am, but hey, that's one of the qualities you love about me, isn't it?

Keep reading, maybe one day I'll tell you about my experience with polygamy.com!

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