A letter from May 2nd, 2011

Dear FutureMe, I'm Ashley and I'm a mormon. There are many parts to this story and I find it hard to tell sometimes. I'm splitting this up into sections that make sense for me and I'll label them. Thank you for caring enough to read this if you actually do follow through(: Family Background When I was a newborn my parents were members of the LDS church. My Aunt and my two cousins were also members. My Aunt got my parents interested in the church. However I do not think my Uncle was a member but his parents were. I don't really know that much about my family background or which of my ancestors were LDS but I'm looking into it currently. A lot of my family is from Europe and I'm so excited to trace back my lines. Anyways, my parents recieved many callings in the church and it became really stressful for them. My father was busy traveling for his job and my mother became stressed caring for me as well. In the end my parents decided to leave the church. They however are not sure if they ex-communicated or just left. My Background I've always have been the good girl or the goody goody of my friends. Always striving to do the right and fearing for the consequences of others behaviors. Even though I knew I wouldn't be in trouble still to this day I don't like seeing people in a bad situation and I will give my all to make something bad not happen or to persuade someone not to do something. I was raised in the Methodist church here in Kansas. I have always believed in God, it's just how I was brought up. When I was 7 the pastor at our church had relations outside of his marriage and the members of the church found out. My parents decided to leave that church as well did other members. Across the years I attended various churches around the area. I have always loved going to church, it has a feeling of peace and happiness. However with those churches I'd go and then the feeling wouldn't last the rest of the week or day. A New Beginning Highschool proved to be tough and my long time friends found their way out of my life. I found myself looking for new friends and something new in general but I didn't quite know what it was. Freshman year my 1st hour was Orchestra and it was a really care free class. We would discuss religion multiple times; we were all kind and curious about other beliefs. Many of my classmates were mormon at the time and I had no idea. Katie was my stand partner in Orchestra and we played violin. Katie was mormon and I had no idea! Everyone in the Orchestra had really high standards so it was not easy to tell the difference. One day during a discussion in Orchestra, Katie brought up her religion. A lightbulb clicked in my head. This was what I was looking for. I asked her many questions and she asked if I wanted to come to church with her. I hesitantly said yes not knowing what my parents would think and what journey I would take. Like A Kindergartner's First Day The first church service I observed was Stake Conference. Katie had told me that this was not how regular church was and that there are many wards in a stake. It started out good until I had no idea what they were talking about or doing. You know when you sustain someone and you raise your hand? Yeah, looks pretty weird for someone knowing nothing about it. I warely raised my hand each time feeling more and more confused. I became so confused and I asked Katie what the heck we were doing. Her and her mother had muffled laughter but proceeded to write down the answer on a piece of paper. I didn't fully understand the concept but I was more aware of what I was "voting" for. I Wanted That Book Katie had showed me the Book of Mormon at school and had said that she felt she needed to give it to someone and wanted to give it to someone. Little did she know that I really really wanted that book and to see what it was all about. The Book of Mormon proved to be as good as I thought and I'm happy to this day with it. My First Dinner My first dinner was a little bit of a shock. Katie had asked me if I wanted to meet with the missionaries and I eagerly said "YES!" However I didn't know there was going to be a lesson involved with the dinner. It was a little awkward during the lesson. They asked me questions about the bible that I felt I should know but didn't because of my lack of church knowledge. I felt embarrassed for not knowing much about anything but Katie sat next to me and I felt comforted. These missionaries started me off but the next to mentioned really got me going on a straight and narrow path. Learning Two most important people that helped me to become the person I am today were the elders. They taught me so much that no one else could. They took the important learning and made it fun for me. Countless hours of white boards and jokes. It was such a blast. I looked forward to every single meeting. All of these meetings took place in Katie's house and then moved to my house when my parents allowed it. (When I first wanted join I had to wait until I was 18 however through prayer and pure understanding my parents allowed me to join. Prayer really does work.) I don't want to wait that long I was hesitant to be baptized. I didn't know if it was really what I wanted. Through prayer and reading the scriptures I knew it was the best path; the only path. I wanted to be baptized. I wanted to live a life of love and family. I wanted to be a Latter-Day Saint. The missionaries worked hard to schedule my baptism and at one point offered to have it a month away. I told them flat out "No." I couldn't simply wait that long. It ended up being a week. I had investigated the church for about 4 months and was baptized on June 24, 2010. A month after my baptism my brother became interested in the church. He was baptized in July; he was 13 when he was baptized. Where Am I Today? I'm 16 and I'm absolutely loving life. I'm very involved with the church and all of my close friends are the young women in my ward. I've been in the Winter Quarters Temple too. I'm First Counselor for the Laurels in my ward. I've set my mind on getting married in the temple and no where else. This is where I want to be. Sometime this next year my story will be in the New Era and if you read it, it will be pretty much what I just told you(: I continue to love learning about the church and enjoy hearing all of your stories.