Monday Memories

I am an adult convert to the Catholic faith. I was baptized on September 2, 2009 and received First Holy Communion that day. I had spent my life searching for the Truth, so this truly was the happiest day of my life.

Monday Memories

OK, so I'm making an attempt at some regular type posts. Who knows if this will last because, hey, it's shocking that I've done 3 blog posts in fairly recent days as it is. But, this weekend we stayed in a hotel room and for some reason the smell of the hotel soap/shampoo transported me back to Rome and I was remembering our honeymoon. <3 So, I thought it would be nice to devote some time to reminiscing about fun things that we've done. And, duh, today I'm going to talk a little about our honeymoon.

Jason has been an avid donor to Catholic Answers for a long time, and during my conversion this is where he pointed me to get many an answer. He had frequently read about and heard about all of the Catholic Answers Cruises and he really wanted to go on one. I did too and when the trip to Rome came up we thought it would be so fun! We were not engaged yet, but we booked the trip hoping that we would be able to be married soon and this could be our honeymoon. It was a tight squeeze...our wedding was Friday, September, 25th and we left for Rome the following Wednesday, October 1st.

[caption id="attachment_439" align="aligncenter" width="128" caption="At the airport"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_440" align="aligncenter" width="85" caption="This church quickly became a landmark for us to find our way back to the hotel. I believe it was St. Bartholomew."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_441" align="aligncenter" width="128" caption="The real deal everyone...yes, we met Karl Keating. Here he was lecturing outside of some ruins at the Roman Forum if memory serves correctly"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_442" align="aligncenter" width="128" caption="And here I am, crossing the Tiber!"]

[/caption]

The ever-important Tiber River. Converts to Catholicism sometimes refer to their conversion as "crossing the Tiber".

We saw some really awesome, beautiful churches. I wish I could post all of them, but we took so many pictures between our two cameras, so I'm just going to put in a couple.

[caption id="attachment_444" align="aligncenter" width="199" caption="The crucifix at The Pantheon"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_445" align="aligncenter" width="128" caption="This was some amazing artwork at one of the Churches. "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_446" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Not many pictures were allowed inside the Vatican so here is a picture of the entrance. Definitely amazing!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_447" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Entrance to St. Catherine's chamber"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_448" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Inside the chamber."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_449" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="St. Catherine of Sienna."][/caption]

These are just a few highlights. Hopefully someday I'll get all of the pictures organized and I can either post them here, or a link to a slide show. I love looking at the pictures because it reminds us how close we were to some saints. We walked in St. Peter's basilica where St. Peter is actually buried. We entered the chamber where St. Catherine of Sienna died and saw the chamber where they attempted to martyr St. Cecilia. What an amazing experience that I am so thankful for.

From Mormonism to Catholicism, My Conversion Part II

Well, I'd say it's time for me to get back to my conversion story. A good facebook friend of mine prompted me to want to finish it, or at least get the next part written. Even as I write this I am not sure how many posts this section (From Mormonism to Catholicism) will be because it seems like it took so long and was such an important part of my life. I posted before about my conversion from Secularism to Mormonism on a previous blog post that you can check out if you like.

I had been entrenched in the Mormon life for about 4 months when I met Jason. We met at work and I figured out that he was Catholic (he wore a St. Christopher medal, and hey, I'm smart), and after a few emails also learned that he was really moral and proper. He did not drink, he did not swear, he did not like movies with sex or other immoral things in them. And I thought that was so cool because I had lost all of my friends who weren't married with kids (those were my new Mormon friends) because of giving up drinking. So, I thought it would be fun to hang out. I did *not* have any desire to date him at that time, and he didn't have any desire to date me. Although, if you ask him, he's certain I had a crush on him. ;-) Anyway, I honestly just wanted someone to hang out with that I didn't have to worry about judging me for my new-found morals. We started spending more time together and since I was so "on fire" for my new religion and Jason is very dedicated and passionate about his faith, the subject came to religion.

We discussed so many aspects of our religions, it was really neat...and it was really heated. It got to the point that we couldn't have the discussions in person. We were soon sending emails back and forth. Jason would question something, and I would counter, sometimes hatefully; I distinctly remember even sinking to the "yeah but all those pedophile priests..." and he answered really well. He did not deny them, and he did not defend anything. This was so new to me, because often if you question a Mormon about polygamy you get some major defense of the situation, or you get some major anger. Also, as I've stated before, I did not have a lot of religious background, so I did not know the Bible particularly well. Moreover, there is a lot of stuff that as an "early" Mormon you aren't necessarily told. So, when Jason would ask something, I'd take it to the Missionaries or my coworkers. That sort of made Jason uncomfortable, but I think it also gave him some leverage. When he asked me why I did not drink tea and I told him because it was in the Doctrine's and Covenants, he was able to really push it and help me to question it more. Honestly, I don't even know if he knows this or not, but some of the conversations we had about why I would blindly follow some random proclamation to not drink tea or coffee stuck with me the most. I spent some time on Mormon Apologetics websites trying to get a good answer, and couldn't come up with one.

The conversation that really sent me questioning the first time though was about Communion. I was babysitting for one of the families, and was using their copy of the Bible, BoM and D&C but couldn't find the answer. Jason asked me if we believed that when we received Communion it was the body and blood of Christ. I said yes. He questioned me, and said that most non-Catholics believe it's symbolic. Based on the prayer that is said before the Sacrament (what Mormons call Communion), and the fact that it has to be said PRECISELY or it was not valid, I believed it was more than symbolism. I made a phonecall to one of my coworkers, and spoke with his wife. She told me of course it was symbolic, otherwise it would be cannibalism. Well, how do you argue that?! So, I regurgitated what she told me to Jason and we moved on. But I didn't. Jason quoted John Chapter 6 to me and I went home and read and reread that. Jason said that if Christ was being symbolic, why would He not clarify. He pointed out other parts in the Gospels where Christ corrected those that had things wrong, but I didn't remember the specifics of those references. What spoke to me was Christ present; yesterday, today, and always. How intriguing, how exciting, how could one not want that?

**Looks like my trip from Mormonism to Catholicism will take longer than one post. ;-)**

Guest Blog

Today, I have a post over at the blog for one of my favorite Catholic bloggers, Sarah Reinhard. She asked for some guest posts during Advent, as she knew she had a special little Advent/Christmas present coming (a baby boy!), but it just posted today. I talk about the Gift of Penance and what my first Advent as a Catholic meant to me.

Come check it out at Snoring Scholar.

From Secularism to Mormonism; Part 1 of My Conversion Story

So, I've been meaning to post about my conversion. I'm going to do it in at least two different posts because there are two parts to my conversion.

I was raised in a pretty secular home; my mom taught us to pray, and a basic moral code. Growing up, if you'd asked me I would definitely had said I was Christian. But, in that broad "I don't kill anyone, and I'm a pretty decent person" sense of the word. My mom did not have us baptized for a number of reasons, primarily because she thought it best to let us choose which faith we wanted. I think that she had the best intention with this, and I think that she did better for us than her parents did for her.

Growing up I had a huge desire to be close to God. We went to church sometimes as a family, but when I went regularly it was with a friend. I was drawn to her Lutheran faith with all the rituals and the solemnity involved. I was drawn in (NOT pushed away) by the fact that I was not able to receive Communion there. They were a strict congregation, and you weren't allowed to receive unless you were a Lutheran.

As I mentioned, my parents did their best to instill a moral compass based on their experiences in the world. Their experience was relatively secular. I don't mean this in a bad way; this is how my parents were raised as well, and I know that they did their best to teach me what was right and what was wrong. Unfortunately, I didn't hear all of what they were saying, and they also didn't say it all. I made a lot of bad choices from about 17 years old to 23 years old; I'm not going to go into what these choices were because I don't want to think about them that much. They didn't make me a better person, I'm not glad I had those experiences, and I don't have any desire to relive them. Suffice it to say, they ran the gambit of bad choices and sins; I am incredibly thankful that my baptism washed it all away and yet I still felt compelled to do extra penance. But, I digress.

When I moved to Lamar, in 2005, I started working at the hospital. I was now at the back end of my life of bad choices and I was hurting in so many ways. I had such a longing to be close to God, but I was so afraid of stopping the destructive path I was on. Not, afraid in that I loved what I was doing, but afraid in the sense that it was all I had known for so long that I didn't know what I would do without that. I had some toxic people in my life that made me feel horrible, but who I felt like I had to keep in prominent places in my life.

Basically, I was ripe for the picking. Insert wonderful coworkers who happened to be Mormon, who spent A LOT of time telling me that I'd make a good Mormon and basically otherwise prepping me. Finally, I was invited to "hear the lessons". If any of my readers knows about Mormons, this is when the missionaries come over and tell you "all" about becoming a Mormon. (only they don't tell you everything. Stay tuned for my blog post about Mormonism to Catholicism) Well, in my case, I was invited over for lunch on a Sunday to my boss' house and the missionaries met us there. The first two were goobers, I won't lie. But, my boss and his wife corrected them and made what they were saying make sense. Sort of. Remember how I mentioned that I didn't have a lot of church in my background? Well, that certainly helped the missionaries because I didn't know any better than what they were saying. Since I knew so little of Scripture, I certainly didn't know anything about Church history. So, OK, I could totally buy that there was an apostasy. I mean, they used Scripture (from the good ole King James version which I had at home), so it must be the truth right?

From that first lesson on, I was entrenched in this wonderful group of people who were fighting to have me learn at their homes. Everyone wanted me to come over and spend time with me, and learn and be part of their families. It was so breathtaking; I've never been so wanted in my life. I needed people to want to be around me; I needed good, wholesome people to think I was worthy. I have to say that I think that is what made my conversion so easy for them. I didn't question anything; when some of my friends or family brought things up, I asked but took the Mormon responses easily and unquestioningly.

I worked with 3 Mormons; one was my boss, one came back to church because of me, and one...well, he and his wife were like "the cool" crowd at school and people just wanted to be around them. She was so cool in fact, she didn't come to anything for work (picnics, dinners, etc), and you never could tell if she liked you or was just being polite. But, they had me babysit so I think they liked me. ;-)

Oh yeah, the kids....if nothing else had sucked me in, that would have. I love kids and I always have; I got to babysit and otherwise hang out with these wonderful little people who adored me.

My family tried to be supportive by coming to my baptism, but they didn't understand it. They didn't understand this major shift that was happening in my life. I think, sometimes, they still don't understand it. One of the major rules of being a Mormon is no alcohol. This is because Joseph Smith said it is a bad thing, it is in the Doctrine and Covenants, and you. just. don't. do. it. So, I gave up drinking. Blind obedience made me quit alcohol, it wasn't until my true conversion that realized why I needed to give up drinking.

So, when asked how I was converted to LDS, I think it's safe to say I was fellow-shipped in. They saw a weakness, a need, in me and they seeked to fulfill it. I don't think that this is a bad thing, I think it's just good "business" so to speak. I don't think anyone becomes a Mormon because of documentation or history. That isn't even what they rely on, it's a "burning in your bosom" kind of religion; you have to feel the prompting of "the Holy Spirit". I put that in quotes for a reason; I think that the LDS church is a product of Satan deceiving us on Earth. I don't say that lightly and I don't say that meaning that I think that Mormons are knowing Satanists. I say it out of genuine concern for their souls. Most Mormons are good and true, and they think that they are following the Holy Spirit. However, Satan is a deceptive guy and he can mimic the good feelings that the Holy Spirit gives us. Also, just because we are bound by religion, does not mean that God is. The Holy Spirit can work through Mormons just as much as He can through good, holy Catholics. I think that at times I did feel the true Holy Spirit. Like when I was at a family's Monday night Family Home Evening and we were playing games (religious or not) and the older kids were helping the younger kids. Or when I was teaching the Sunday School class about the Old Testament. But, when it came to teaching actual Book of Mormon stuff, no, I don't think that is the Holy Spirit. More on that in my next post though...

Endometriosis, or the Wrath of God?!

One of my favorite tweeters, @VitaCatholic, got me talking about endometriosis--or more specifically using the pill to treat the pain associated with it. I mentioned my bout with it, and she thought I should do a post about it, so here I am. :) Thanks, by the way.

So, the title of this post sounds ominous. Bear in mind that I am not normally one of those people that thinks that ALL bad things that happen to someone are a direct punishment from God. I'm not even sure that I totally think that my short, intense bout with endometriosis was, but if not it would be highly coincidental. So, the story.

I am a convert, before I was Catholic I was a Mormon. Before I was Mormon, I was nothing. I mean, if you asked me, I would have probably said I was Christian, but would have meant it in the the generic I-like-to-help-people-I'm-a-good-person-and-I-believe-in-God-and-Jesus sort of way. Becoming Mormon was probably an integral step in my full conversion, as scary as that sounds. Some day I'll have to do a post on my conversion. At any rate, when I was Mormon I met my now husband who has always been a faithful, devout, Catholic. We became pretty good friends and spent a lot of time hanging out. As a "good" Mormon, I tried my best to engage him in debate and convert him. However, he always had much better responses (the Truth will generally help your case considerably ;-)) and often I could not respond to him without checking with my Mormon authorities first. In fact, I was appalled when some Christian church didn't think that we were Christians, I didn't know much about Mormon theology because I hadn't gotten TOO far from the meat and bread part of training.

So, I had been having a lot of doubts, these doubts were gnawing at me. I mentioned to my best friend (my now husband) and we started discussing my leaving the Mormon church. I also started mentioning it to the people I was friends with in the Mormon church. This was because I was a "good" Mormon, I needed to give them the chance to combat it. And they did, sort of, with love. Man, can those Mormons love, in the love your neighbor as yourself sort of way. I had phone calls and visits and people showing such concern for me. And for various reasons, I faltered. I decided that maybe the Mormon church wasn't "right" but at least they were nice, and cared about me so much, so couldn't that be the Holy Spirit?!

And, that's when the cramping started. I had never experienced cramps in my life until this time in my life. And this was a double you over in pain kind of cramps. These cramps, literally, knocked me down when they started. It was at work, and I was in so much pain. To top that off, I started bleeding every 7 days. Heavy, painful period. Lasted only a few days, but when it comes every 7 days, that's a whole lot of bleeding. Couple that with the excruciating pain, and well, it sucked. :-| Bottom line, it was awful.

I went to the local GYN in Lamar, and he put me on the pill. Guess what? Didn't work, I had break through, horrible bleeding. Ridiculous cramping still. He didn't know what else to do besides a hysterectomy which was off the table at this time. I decided to see my old GYN in Greeley, CO who I had always trusted and liked. He did some hormonal testing, everything was normal. He put me on pain killers, because by this point I was unable to go to work for 2 days every 7 days. He also put me on a couple types of estrogen. Our last resort was either putting me into a sort of fake menopause, or laparoscopy to see if it was endometriosis and try to remove what was there. I opted for surgery.

In the meantime, my doubts about the Mormon church were still gnawing at me despite all the love that those Mormons bestowed on me. Then one day at work two ladies I worked with were having a conversation about Heaven. I was not involved, just in the room. One of them asked the other "do you think there will be marriage in Heaven" and the other one said "I don't know, I've never thought about it" and the first said "Well, I don't, Jesus said there won't be, so there can't be". Wait, what?! Stop the train. This is one of the foundational Mormon "truths", that there IS marriage in Heaven, that you can be with your family for eternity. So I joined the conversation. And I researched. And I talked to my friends that were various Christian denominations, and I talked to Jason who was taking a sort of laid back approach to this during this time in the conversion. Everyone agreed. The Mormons were wrong.

I had pretty much made up my mind to leave the Mormon church when I went in for my surgery. I was REALLY nervous. I have always wanted to be a mom, and I was frightened that it wasn't going to be possible. The doctor went in and looked. And guess what? No endometriosis, nothing. There was a small piece of scar tissue on my bowel that he thought might have been causing some pressure, but really nothing that was on the uterus would account for the horrible cramping or incessant bleeding.

I had some cramping for another week or so, but the bleeding had stopped. By the time I had informed all of my Mormon friends I was leaving the church and had started looking seriously at the Catholic faith, the cramping had stopped as well. By the time my next cycle came along, all my Mormon "friends" who were so good at loving me before had stopped that loving. But I'd found a better love. Christ in the Eucharist. Although I could not receive Him yet, I could sit with Him, and visit Him, and pray to Him. And that love far exceeded any love that I had ever known. And I found when my period started, I didn't have any cramping associated with it, just like what it had been my whole life; and the bleeding didn't start again in 7 days.

So, that's my (long, sorry!) story about endometriosis. I don't know for sure if it was the wrath of God, or a warning, or purely coincidental. But I have a feeling that while I'm getting all of this down my guardian angel is chuckling and thinking "boy, it sure did take a lot to get her convinced!" ;-)

Apologetics Does NOT Mean I'm Sorry

I've been listening to Catholic Answers Live and EWTN Open Line when I'm feeding the baby and when I'm picking up around the house. I really enjoy the open forum questions; I especially enjoy Tim Staples, Jimmy Akin, and Patrick Madrid--in no particular order. And of course, Patrick Coffin the best radio host ever!

Today I was listening to Patrick Madrid's show from last Thursday and a caller asked about how to talk to non-Catholics. (I was changing Dominic's diaper when the caller was talking, so my memory could be a bit off here! ;-)) Patrick told a couple stories about how he changed the hearts of two different people. One was a woman who's husband was Catholic and she needed Patrick to answer her questions in order to help bring her to the Faith. The other was a former Catholic who's heart Patrick opened with a simple phrase "I did not say you stole the money". I'll direct you to EWTN's site, and Patrick's podcast to hear the whole story. http://tiny.cc/yae9a

Apologetics has been on my heart and mind these past couple of days when I have been faced with some of my old, becoming new, coworkers. I used to be Mormon. I was a convert to Mormonism sucked in by some of my coworkers (3 of them to be exact) and lured by their wonderful "fellowshipping" (the word makes me cringe now!). When I left, many of them took it personally; the ones I worked with especially. My boss at the time locked me in his office with him and read me scripture and from The Book of Mormon. One of the other ones got really hateful and our working relationship suffered incredibly. I was close to these people before I left, really close to them. I babysat their kids, I went over for meals, one of the people I spent nearly every lunch and many evenings hanging out with her and her family. I couldn't bring myself to tell them the whole reason why I left at the time, and found myself apologizing for their hurt feelings. I thought it would hurt them so bad to tell them that I think the basis for the religion can only have one of two grounds; a) their founder, Joseph Smith, was a liar and con-man (which many believe, but come on even the best con-man wouldn't DIE for his con) or b) that Satan had tricked their founder and all subsequent members into believing that it was the one true church. Option "b" is what I think it is. How do you tell someone you think they're being tricked by Satan to believe a ridiculously elaborate religion? Heck, how would you tell someone you think they're being tricked by Satan period when they believe so firmly in something?!

I hope I get the opportunity to discuss my leaving with them.I feel ready to, I just don't know if I'm ready to bring it up. So, I hope one of them does; I'm ready to test out my apologetics. I think they'll be surprised when I don't say "I'm sorry."

Roman Missal - 3rd Edition - Coming To A Parish Near You!

As most of you have probably heard, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has been working on rewording the English translation of the Roman Missal to more accurately reflect the approved Latin text.  I have been downloading the various iterations of Ordo Missae White Books that have been issued, and have the latest greatest copies.  I was on the USCCB's website for an unrelated matter and stumbled across this handy page that highlighted some of the verbal changes.  This will help you psych yourself up for the changes:

http://www.usccb.org/romanmissal/examples.shtml

The 13th Day

Jeanine and I just finished watching "The 13th Day". I must admit that I liked the 1952 version "The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima" a lot more. This newer version left out a lot of detail and was (in my humble opinion) cheesier than a 200 pound block of Mozzarella.  Also, the young Lucia's voice drove me nuts and every time she spoke I wanted to puncture my eardrums with a dull Q-Tip.

I probably shouldn't be so harsh.  I do applaud the movie makers at trying to get this very important and relevant message out to a larger audience.  Unfortunately, this must have been done on a very small budget.  The graphic effects of the 2009 version aren't much better than the 1952 version.