"I realized that Grace is the only way to God. It is a free gift!"

I was first introduced to a Christian church through my best friend Amie in April 1997. The reason that I went to church with her that day was, I worked in the nursery in my wards Semi-annual General Conference, so when Amie invited me to go with her I thought what the heck and went. I went again in October of 1998 and I really learned a lot. But my favorite part about those visits was the warmth of the people there. I also was impressed by the singing and the pastor who did a prepared sermon. In the Mormon religion there is no professional clergy, just the members give talks.

So, after October, I was invited back to go to the Annual open house. Beginning then my Mom started going to the Evangelical Free Church every week because she liked the atmosphere. A year later mom accepted Christ. What led her to Him, was my parents got divorced in June and dad got engaged in July, which was hard on everybody, but especially my mom becuase she was still in love with him. In the Mormon church it is required to get married in the temple. If a man or woman wants to remarry in the temple, the ex must say that it is ok. It really hurt my mom a lot, so she was praying one night and Jesus came and said I am here. She accepted Christ and was no longer worried about the temple sealing.

At this time, I was getting ready to serve on a Mormon mission. My mom was not happy about the idea and we had a lot of in depth converstations about religion and the nature of God. Mom wanted me to go with her to church, so I did sporadically. I met Pat then and she invited me to sing in the Joyful Noise group, so I started singing with them. I really loved the wamrth that I felt while in Evangelical Free Church, plus the Christians I interacted with had a light that I had never seen before.

Then Amie, invited me to join the Graceland(college bible study group) so I started up with the bible study too. I ended up being active in two churches. Both had very different theogoly. The most prominent emotions I felt during that time was confusion and hurt. I thought I made the right choice to go on a mission but at the same time I started to question my beliefs.

I sat down and talked to Pastor Scott on March 22 and told him that I was submitting my missionary papers in May. I asked him a question, "How do I get to know Jesus?" The main thing that really tore me apart was that black men did not receive the mormon preisthood until 1972. This really bothered me, so I made an appointment to talk to Pastor Scott the next week.

During the week I was really nervous about seeing Pastor Scott, so I read the whole missonary prep manual. That Wednesday I went in. I was nervous but also excited for some odd reason. I got there and Pastor Scott invited me to sit down and we began. The first question he asked me is still with me today. "Anna, when you get to the pearly gates of heaven, and God asks you why should I let you in, what would you say?" I answered, "Well, I've followed the commandments, I have been doing my best, I pay tithing and am an active member of my ward." His repsonse blew me away because of it's conviction and simpleness. "I will say, that man right there, Jesus Christ did everything, there is nothing I can do, because he did it all." That response really got me thinking. During that 90 minutes we went through the belief of God being a man on another planet, the trinity and latter revelatlion. My favorite idea though is that grace is free. Near the end of the session I realized that Grace is the only way to God. It is a free gift. I accepted Jesus into my life on the spot and told Pastor Scott, "I don't want to go on a misson, I want to get baptized on the next availvble baptism date." Then we prayed together. The reason I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I really and truly accepted Jesus as my Savior is that I wasn't confused or hurting anymore. The peace and joy I felt and still feel is so immense that I can't describe it in words.

I know that the Bible is the Word of God, and that having a relationship with Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior is the best decison I ever made.

In his holy name. Amen