I would love to hear more about how you reconciled each of the doctrinal differences as you made steps toward conversion. It’s not often for a convert to be at such a high level of biblical scholarship. That makes your story even more special. I think this story and even follow ups are really good for missionaries to listen to. I have sent your come follow me on to my missionary son, and will send this too. Thank you!!!
What a wonderful story of your conversion. I’m so glad I bumped into it! 💕☀️ My husband read the Book of Mormon to prove it wrong to some friends of his that were members of the church. Needless to say, his heart was softened and he ended up converting. We met and married a year later. How I love hearing stories from genuine, humble seekers of truth! It strengthens me… so again, thank you for sharing.😊
Thank You Sister Roach. You are a precious treasure who has gained a new perspective on what that means to The Lord. And what you can now share in a way many of us can't is priceless. Your story and testimony is powerful. Thanks again.
Love your story and the manner in which you present so clearly and articulately! You are blessed with so many gifts and talents that will bless the lives of many others inside and outside the Church. Thank you for your beautiful testimony and spirit.
This reminds me of a convert we had when I was an inexperienced, unprepaired kid missionary in michigan. Jim had been a minister of a couple of different churches but was still searching. The spirit converted him and he lived the last 40 years of his life active and happy in the LDS church.
I have enjoyed all your videos so far which have helped me see our church from other ways. I thoroughly loved hearing your background and how you found the church. Total respect here for your journey and what you had to give up to make the choice you did.
I love hearing your story. I’m particularly interested in conversion stories as I’m in a mixed faith marriage and always struggle with how to share with my wife without being pushy. Thanks for your perspective in all things and I can’t wait to keep learning from this new series.
Welcome home. I was baptized at age 22. Coming home is how I felt. I am now 63. A mission in Bolivia, marriage, 8 children later, words cannot express the gratitude for the two Elders who knocked on my door.
Thank you for sharing your story! I grew up in the San juaquin valley too; Riverdale, South of Fresno. I love listening to your podcast. I love your perspective. I love that you do the research and you help me see from an Evangelical perspective. This is very helpful to me when with my friends ,when they have questions. It also helps answer my questions about them. Thank you so much
Thank you for sharing this! I love your other FAIR videos and was so curious about your conversion. You are a shining example of what it means to follow the Savior.
Thank you for telling your story. You strengthen so many with your faith and knowledge and talents. I heard you tell your story on another podcast years ago and it really touched me and stuck with me. It is wonderful to see your podcasts on FAIR LDS. Congratulations on the four year anniversary of your baptism!
I am so sorry that happened and I am so grateful for the "me too" movement that is holding men accountable for this awful treatment. American Christianity had been asleep at the wheel on this one and it is absolutely inexcusable. It is such a tragedy. I am so happy that my daughters are growing up in a world where brave women like you have paved the way to make it easier for them to speak up when men make inappropriate comments or worse. You are amazing.
It seems to me that your premortal covenants and desires to learn and grow toward the truth were fulfilled. I sense you were guided and every step was necessary. In our extremities, we come close to our Father. Thank you for sharing, I needed this video this day.
I love your story...AND....I was there in that stadium with you that night! Wish I'd known of you then! That was a great night. ❤️ I grew up in California, too! Thank you so much for sharing and also for the series you are doing... it's so incredibly insightful and helpful.
Thanks for sharing your story. May you receive in return for your faithfulness in following in the footsteps of the Savior, "taking up your cross, or his cross daily and walking with Him, may you receive light & understanding & peace & success in life & most of all, knowing that you are a precious daughter of God & that your spiritual awareness from childhood on up shows that your spirit was & is a noble & great spirit & you were not left alone in the wilderness of life but you accepted God's call to learn further what your eternal destiny is.
Great story! So many questions. Have you re-connected with Alisa? How are you making a living now? What about the lawsuit? How are you situated now? Why was getting "unordained" necessary? What did that process look like? Is the kind of abuse you suffered far more commonplace than we would think in the Christian community?
I have reconnected with Alisa. She's a dear friend. If your curious about the law suits you can read all about them at the website of the newspaper that covered it, the Modesto Bee. Search my name and you'll find it all. And yeah, sadly this kind of abuse is more common than it should be.
Thank you Jennifer for your story. I can only imagine the vulnerability of sharing such personal information on the internet ... and yet being such a recent convert. I also appreciate your insights about sectarian Christiani perspectives. Looking forward to your next post on FAIR.
What an inspirational conversion story. Quite frankly, I'm surprised that given your religious training and experiences and the depth of your scriptural knowledge that you were not put off by the typically-simplistic nature of discussions that one encounters in Gospel Doctrine classes. One could justifiably be quite dismissive of the elementary level of many of those discussions from the point of view of a theologically-trained individual. I congratulate you on being able to see past all of that to the value of the simple truths that are contained in the restored gospel.
Thank you for this great podcast, as well as these asides. I appreciate them both - the things you focus on in Come Follow Me have been some of my favorite Come Follow Me material.
The moment you knew the church was true is your story. When ever age that was for you. I have friends in the church who say that they have always knew, they have never questioned it... they have just always known it. That to me is an amazing experience to have. If that is yours that is really really rare. You could even write about it and people would be helped by the experience. God speed.
Beautiful story! Wonderful. Conversion stories are always the most touching and testimony building testimonies I hear. Yours was so very interesting. I will save this video and share it with others. Thank you!
Sister Roach. conversion story testimony you shared. I’m so happy that you found what you were looking for and I hope that you always keep your great attitude about this truly restored gospel of Jesus Christ.❤
Beautiful testimony! So curious to know how the experience of the Spirit may or may not have differed from when you were participating and in ministering in your former church?
Welcome to the family! God bless you... a wonderful story an incredible strength....my mother 70 years ago also had lost numerous friends but a wonderful spiritual life until her passing .. thanks Jennifer
I am grateful when I come across another adult who was an oddly religious child. I fascinated with the Bible & Jesus Christ, enjoyed VBS and was nurtured by loving members of the churches I then attended. So thankful they helped me learn to recognize the Spirit through their loving ways. And that I continued searching for what I felt was missing which eventually lead me to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints many years down the road. Thank you for sharing your story so well.
Jennifer, I would love to talk with you about your experience at Divinity school. I'm a member of the church and I'm seriously considering a theological masters program (biblical studies in particular). I tried to email you but got something wrong with your email address. If you are willing to discuss, let me know how we can get in touch.
Curious about your thoughts on the Book of Enoch that came out in 1940’s with the dead sea scrolls. Though not canonized, definitely feels like scripture.
So let me see if I have this right. You were raised in an apostate church, probably a liberal methodost or Episcopalian? Then you felt comfortable in mormonism because of your happy days as a child? That would explain how you fell into a cult
She decided to leave the uncreated god and go after a god that was once a man who lived on a planet and was ordained a god. She literally doesn’t believe in the god of the Bible who knows no other god.
