Well, I'd probably rather just answer the question in person but seeing as I may not have the opportunity to speak with everyone right away, or because you may not be so curious that you'd ask, here it goes.
Anyone who knew me in high school or especially in my first couple years out of high school might be shocked to hear that I believe in God. I certainly didn't back then. I thought that any religion could be good. Something you believe in and encourages you to do good can't hurt you too much right? But I also saw religion as more of a type of wishful thinking. A way to see reality in a different light than it actually is, just to make you feel better about your existence. It's funny to think back at how much I used to laugh at the thought that anyone could believe in God. And now I am so certain He is there and He is our Father in Heaven who actually loves us.
It all started with a conversation I had with my brother, Gary. It was Summertime and I had moved back in with my parents for a bit and I was bored. I was working a dead-end job, I was living at home, I had dropped my classes at school because I worked to many hours and lived too far from school. I was in a bit of a rut. Gary encouraged me to move in with him in Provo, Utah. I of course was thinking that was the most ridiculous idea I had ever heard of. Utah! Do you know how many Mormons are in Utah?!? That's the last place I wanted to be. It had taken me long enough to distance myself from those weird people that actually live their religion and seem to try to make people feel guilty if they don't have high standards. Well... I ended up going. He lured me in by pointing out the friends and family that I love being around who all happen to go to school in Provo. He told me of the many fun things to do there. And he reminded me of how I had just been complaining that I was bored of being around home and that I need to do something new.
So out in Provo I really enjoyed myself. I learned to snowboard, I made lots of friends, and I got back into school. I occasionally attended church with my roommates so that I could socialize and meet more people. I fully intended on never being a "Mormon." One day I was talking to a bishop and he simply asked me if I had ever read the Book of Mormon. I hadn't. He invited me to read it before I wrote it off as false. I figured, "I read all the time, why not read this little book? That way when people ask me why I don't believe in the religion of many of my family members I can at least have the backing of the fact that I've read their book." So I read it. I didn't really give it justice though. I spent about 10 months to get through it because I didn't read it too often. I then had a very good conversation with one of my cousins. She helped me to see the importance of having the right attitude about all of this. So I decided to really give it a chance and put some attention to it. I read the book over the course of two weeks (which is more like my time-frame for reading a book) and it's crazy what happened. It's about as hard to describe as trying to describe the taste of salt to someone who's never had it before. But I felt a feeling, and somehow I knew God was there. It's funny because I know that if someone shared a similar experience with me just a few years ago I would've shrugged it off. I can say though that it's not something to just be shrugged off. Since that time I've read a lot from the scriptures (the Book of Mormon and the Holy Bible) and I pray all the time. I just know that they are true accounts. But what's even more powerful and important to me, is the way God will answer questions we ask him in prayer. He has led me to do and say many things. And I have also done many other good things based on what I have learned from the scriptures. There is a hymn that says "Be thou humble and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand and give thee answers to thy prayers." It's true. The only way anyone can know that it's true is if they will put the promise to the test: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you"(Matthew 7:7) I put it to the test. I am a changed man. And I love it!
