[Teachldsseminary] CHAT: Jewish Conversion Story

[Marji]

Shared with permission.
Marji
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 Why I Converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
By Valerie J. Steimle

 My conversion story starts when I was seven years old. I was born to
two Jewish parents from Brooklyn , New York . My mother always felt
that there was something missing in her life and even read the New
Testament which Jews are discouraged to read. In the Jewish Orthodox
sect, it is forbidden. But as we were growing up (my sister and
brother included) we were taken to the local synagogue for Sabbath
services. At seven, I really wanted to go to the children's Sunday
school class which they held at a different time. She asked the Rabbi
and he said no. He said I was too old to start the Sunday school class
at seven and that all I could attend would be the regular Sabbath
service. It is amazing to me now how strongly I felt at the time when
I was not allowed to go. I did not want to go back to the synagogue at
all and wanted nothing to do with the Jewish religion. Two years later
my parents met members of the church and started taking the
discussions from the missionaries.

 I was very happy to learn about another religion even though I didn't
know anyone who was a member of the church nor did my friends know
anything about that religion. It was virtually unheard of at the time
in New Jersey . (1969) But we listened to their teachings and six
months later we were baptized into the church. Now, I had grandparents
who lived close by to us and we visited them often so my parents
decided that it was too overwhelming to tell them and the rest of the
family of what we did. So we were told to keep this whole church thing
a secret. We didn't discuss any kind of religion with any of my
cousins or aunts and uncles and they were a large group. Beside the
bar mitzvahs and weddings that occurred each year, we had family
yearly gatherings. My parents knew the church was the restored gospel
on the earth; they just didn't want our family to disown us. So it was
like living a double life. We went to church each week and were active
in the ward but when a family event took place we attended and spoke
nothing of the church. This seemed like a normal thing to me until I
was an adult looking back on what had happened and realized how odd it
really was.

 When I was 18 and living at Ricks College , my parents went to a
family bar mitzvah and somehow it came out that we did join the
church. My parents were finally ready to tell the family of what we
did and there were fireworks. They eventually accepted the fact that
we became Christians and we were able to teach them about what we
believe.

 Now the main reason I converted to the church was not because I
didn't want to be Jewish anymore, the main reason I converted was
because I learned then and know now that Jesus Christ is the Messiah
and he set up his church to be a guiding beacon in our lives. He was
able to restore His true Church through Joseph Smith so we can have
the gospel in our lives. That brings me great peace and with the help
of others I am able to do the temple work for my own family who has
passed on. They now have to chance to have the gospel in their lives
as well. The cousins who are left on earth have not caught the vision
of what we have but I never give up on them.

 I have never taken the church for granted and I am happy to be
counted as one who belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints.

Valerie J.Steimle Loxley, Alabama