by Sister Moore and Sister Bird
The missionaries were in Target and found Connor as he was roaming the aisles. They invited him to church so Connor brought them over to his mom Shena and said, “I found these girls! Do you want to go to church with them?”
But it took some time for Connor and Shena to actually come to church. That first weekend they were sick, so they didn’t attend sacrament meeting like they had planned. Then Shena had to work on Sunday. But even though they didn’t come to church, they agreed to let the missionaries begin to teach them.
As she began to learn, the first question Shena had was, “Why would God, if he loves us and we’re his children, why would he send any of his children to burn in hell?” The missionaries were able to answer that question! They taught her the Plan of Salvation and Shena felt the spirit so strongly. After that lesson, everything just made sense to her.
Shena loved that central to Heavenly Father’s plan for the happiness of His children was the family. Another principle that helped her make the decision to be baptized was the hope she felt of being able to see family members that have passed away.
Ever since meeting with the missionaries, Shena has been the happiest she’s ever been her entire life. This was something that stood out to Connor and helped him decide to also be baptized. He saw how much it meant to his mom and how much it was changing her life. As he was preparing for baptism, the missionaries asked him to pray about this decision. He heard the Spirit tell him it was the right decision and moved forward with excitement!
A few days before her baptism, Shena found out her friend Ann, who she had known for a long time, was also a member of the church. At her baptism, she heard a voice while she was changing in the bathroom. She immediately recognized it as Ann’s voice. The familiarity of her voice just gave her extra reassurance and confirmation that she really was doing the right thing. She had no idea Ann was going to come so that was a special moment for her.
Shena and Connor were baptized on April 12, 2024.
A cool memory for Connor from his baptism was that his hair was still wet from his baptism when he was ordained a Deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood.
Shena and Connor went to the temple the day after being baptized. They had been members for less than 24 hours as they were immersed under the water a second time, but this time it was on behalf of family members that had passed away. Shena and Connor both said being baptized for family members was so special and that they felt the spirit so strongly as they were in the temple.
They continue to see God’s hand in their life and have found so much joy in being members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Barlows in TKM 