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It's hard to pin point where it all started-- to determine exactly when the first seed was planted. I recall seeing commercials when I was a young child--eight or nine at the oldest. I remember one about kids bringing a pizza to an elderly neighbor. It ended with brought to you by 'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.' It's amazing what a naive child I was. It never occurred to be that this was a religion. There were two religions in my childish world. Catholic and Protestant. If you didn't go to CCD, as far as I was concerned, you were Protestant.
I often wondered what this entity was, but I never asked anyone. I also remember seeing a commercial for a free book. I was an avid reader from a young age. I liked to escape from reality into a good story. The commercial was certainly appealing. A kind looking man, surrounded by what I thought looked like Indians. I never made the connection that the man was the Jesus I learned about in Sunday school. Besides, I had been taught that nothing was really free, so the number was never called and I never got my free book.
There was one final contact I had, and this one I am not so proud of. I was up in Boston the summer before my freshman year of college. I hadn't yet started investigating the church at this point, and I was riding the train with friends of mine. By this time I was disillusioned with God. I wanted nothing to do with Him. All I saw around me was pain and confusion, and it was His entire fault. On the train with us were two young men and they were talking to a Tibetan woman. (Yes, I eavesdropped.) They were talking about Jesus Christ to this woman, and it was obvious to everyone, except for these two boys in white shirts and ties, that she was not interested. Sure, she was being polite, but they were being rude, in my mind. She had told them she wasn't interested. She was Buddhist. I turned to my friend and said, 'Why don't they leave her alone? She isn't Christian. They should talk to Christian people!' Of course, the contradiction is obvious, but I know that I was really thinking 'Why don't they talk to me!
One summer morning, while being generally lazy, I was watching the Donny & Marie Show. I have always loved Donny Osmond. I found him to be quite the attractive man. My peers all liked Brad Pitt and I had a thing for Donny. Go figure. Anyway, I digress. I was watching the show and Donny was reading excerpts from his own book. My immediate reaction was 'for shame!'Self-promotion at its peak. But I like Donny and so I was easily swayed. I watched as he read about his life and wept openly. I thought 'Self, this is a book you need to buy.'
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