Footprints In The Sand

"One night I dreamed I was walking

along the beach with the Lord.

Many scenes from my life flashed

across the sky. In each scene I

noticed footprints in the sand.

Sometimes there were two sets of

footprints, other times there was one

only. This bothered me because I

noticed that during the low periods of
my life, when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints,

so I said to the Lord,

"You promised me Lord,

that if I followed you, you would walk

with me always. But I have noticed

that during the most trying periods of

my life there has only been one set of

footprints in the sand.

Why, when I needed you most, have

you not been there for me?"

The Lord replied,

"The years when you have seen only

one set of footprints,

my child, that is when I carried you."

I know that Christ is always there for us. Guiding us and helping us along the path. Whether he is carrying us, or walking beside us holding our hands He is always there. He loves me, and he loves you.

-Marco's Conversion-

I come from a large family of Catholics, there's twelve of us to be exact. The youngest being 22 and the oldest 53, myself being the second youngest. As you can see, the youngest of us are separated by a whole different generation then the oldest of my siblings and by being so there's an anvantage that comes with it. That being that as a much younger sibling I get to sit back and looked/look at how my older brothers and sisters live their lives as parents and even grandparents, who do not have the fullness of the Gospel and their lives. As I looked at the limited happiness in their lives and how they raised/raise their children, I saw a glimpse of myself as a father and I didn't want that kind of life for me and my future family. Therefore, I began the task of looking for our Heavenly Father, who is always there for all of us but that up untill then I refused to accept him into my life.

Coming from a Catholic family I was always taught as a child not to open the door on people from other religions, however, I always thought that to be disrespecful and uneducated. So one day two elders came by and nocked on my door, and thankfully I was there to open the door on them and from then on my life is changed for the better: They both had a big smile on their face and they both seemed really happy, and that was my first impression of them. They asked me if I had afew minutes of my time to talk to me alittle about the book of Mormom and I happily accepted. They told me alittle bit about it and right away they asked me if I wanted to get baptized, which at first it took me by surprise and I responded "I'm already baptized." So they explained to me how the LDS Church truely does have the fullness of the Gospel and why it is important to get baptized in it. To which I responded that "I'd think about it", they gave me a book of Mormon and asked me if it'd be ok if they came by sometime. I agreed, however, for two to three weeks I didn't read the book and I avoided them.

Untill finaly they did come by and talked to me alittle more about the Gospel and how the LDS Church does things. I enjoyed our session and started reading the book of Mormom, and about two or three weeks after that I attended church for the first time. I was surprised at how happy people seemed to be and that first day although I enjoyed the talks and Sacrament meeting, 3 hours seemed alittle long coming from a church in which you attend for just one hour (not that I went much). That was only the first day, from then on I've enjoyed every minute of it. I'm glad I made the choice to read the book of Mormon, come to Church and most of all, get Baptized! I was told by my wonderful Missionaries that in the future when I looked back to how I used to view life, I'd be able to see a difference in my life after getting baptized. But honestly I've seen a great change in my life since I started coming to church and I'm grateful for my Missionaries, my new friends, our Church leaders but most of all for our precious Gospel. I'm grateful for our savior Jesus Christ who atoned for our sins so that we could have a chace to live with our Heavenly Father again and I know I want to be more like him and be the best I can possibly be.

-Marco