by Benny Ware
It starts with faith. And since I was young, I pretty much had faith that Jesus was my Lord and Savior. That was stuff my grandmother taught me.
I moved to Bristol and I wasn’t really going to church. One day, while I was at the laundromat, some people talked to me about joining their church. But I lost the information, so I looked up a church online. I was looking for a church and I saw an ad that had The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I decided to give that one a try. That is where God told me to go, so that’s where I went.
I saw an ad in the mail about a truck and they gave me zero down and no payments for three months. It’s a lot easier for me to get to church in my truck. God was good and He found a way for me to get there!
Upon going there I was introduced to the missionaries by Bishop Keohane, and we started meeting at Dairy Queen. They taught me lots of great things like the Doctrine of Christ which is faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and then (their favorite) enduring to the end.
I was baptized on June 29, 2024.
After my baptism, I was able to go to the temple in North Carolina. They invited me to go to the temple to perform the ordinances, so that was pretty cool. I got to perform my first baptism. It was the most peaceful place I had ever been on earth.
Every Sunday, I get to partake in the sacrament which renews our covenant with the Lord, helping us to endure to the end. Because of the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity, I’ve been able to see the world differently. I can even tell I heal better.
Listening to a lot of those talks, which come from the scriptures in the Book of Mormon, I’ve been able to become a better peacemaker. The talk about peacemakers from the prophet was awesome!
When I first got to the church I was like, “I don’t know about this Book of Mormon thingy.” But I like how the prophecies in the Book of Mormon prophecy of things to come, and that’s the most compelling part. Like when Benjamin foretells the coming of Jesus Christ way before His mortal ministry. I like how it’s the same lessons from Jesus, but it’s so repetitive because we need it over and over again. I love the Book of Mormon.
#TKMTenderMercies
Barlows in TKM 