As some of you may know, I was raised Mormon. My parents were strong in their faith and did all they could to raise well-rounded children who were also strong in the faith. Everyone ultimately chooses their own path in life and for me, it was not following the Mormon religion.
Jonathan was raised Baptist. He was strong in his faith and loved attending church and youth group and ultimately that's where all his friends and aquantinaces and memories came from.
By the time we met and married neither one of us was "strong" in any religion, and we were ok with that. It wasn't until I was pregnant with Amelia that we started discussing going back to church because we knew we wanted to raise our kids in a religion, we just weren't too certain which one. We tried out the Baptist church and we tried out the Mormon church but we were really just pretty lazy on Sunday's and would rather watch football than go to any church. A few more months went by and I decided I really wanted to meet some stay-at-home moms if I was going to become one of them myself, and from all I knew the best place for me to do that would be at the Mormon church. A poor excuse to go back, but it brought me back to church and I am more than grateful for that.
More than getting me back to church, I'm grateful that I married a man who wasn't completely turned off by going to a Mormon church. I mean, let's face it, not everyone jumps at that opportunity. :) There was no pushing or pursueding, there were no arguements, but from the beginning he said, "I'm comfortable where I'm at, I'm happy where WE are at, I'm 30 years old and I don't think I need to convert religions to make my life any better than it is." And that was ok with me. We agreed though, that whatever WE were going to do, WE were going to do together, and how lucky I am that he was open to what I was comfortable with.
Over the course of weeks and months we started attending church on a semi-regular basis, going to "investigators" nights at newly made friend's houses, and having the missionaries over to dinner on occasion. We became good friends with one set of missionaries in particular and we found ouselves hanging out with them a lot. They would help us with our projects around the house and then teach us, or Jonathan, lessons about The Church. And over the course of weeks and months Jonathan became very receptive to the things they were teaching. Things started to come together, to make sense to him in a way that religion had never made sense before, and all his doubting questions were being answered in a way that made him start to believe that the things he was learning were true. All the while, I was being "re-converted" to a church that I had never given a chance.
In March, 2011, Jonathan decided to be baptized.
One of the most valued principals of our church is that families are eternal, not just until death do you part. We believe that if you live worthily you are able to go to the Temple to be sealed together as an eternal family. We are thrilled to have been given that opportunity on August 11, 2012.
I thought I would write this blog for a few reasons: For all the people who saw my Facebook pictures and had questions, especially, "Kari is doing WHAT these days?", for myself as a reflection of how much has changed in the past 4 years for the better, and for everyone who had no idea because I am never vocal about religion. My hope is that this doesn't taint anyone's view of me or Jonathan, just gives a glimpse into our lives right now, how happy we are, and how blessed we feel.
