Mom, I am going to Utah!

I came to Utah for the first time in August 2008. And here is where everything changed. I already knew that the church was good, I knew that it was going to change my life, I met Michael’s family and I started wishing a family like that, I remember saying to myself: “I want a family like this one” I wanted my kids to be close to god like Avram was the day I met him. But I was afraid that I didn’t have a strong testimony yet to tell my parents that I was going to get baptized, I didn’t want them to think that this was all about Michael. I was afraid. I was praying to gain a strong testimony, to be able to understand the Book of Mormon, nothing, I could not get an answer.
I felt that I had to have some spectacular answer to my prayers (something like the first vision). But nothing happened. I had to instead proceed with the small whisperings of the spirit that did continue to guide me. I think it would have been easier to have some big sign from the Lord but I decided to act on the small promptings I received. I just knew it was the right thing to do.
While I was here I met a wonderful man, Brother Arturo Morales. I remember the day I talk to him very well, I remember the way I felt when I stepped into his home, but what I remember the most are the words of comfort and the extraordinary testimony of what my life could be if I just made the right decision. He told me that I didn’t need to know by memory the Book of Mormon, and that I did have a testimony because I knew the church was good, I knew that it was going to change my life and because I had read the Book of Mormon and that I knew that the things I read there were true. His testimony and the spirit I felt that day made a great impact on my decision to get baptized and I want you to know how grateful I am for him.
That was the answer to my prayers.
When I returned home from Utah I knew I wanted to be baptized. I tried to drop hints that I wanted to be baptized but I was totally ignored. Then came what I call round three. I had to tell my parents that I was going to be baptized and I wasn’t asking for permission, again. My heart melted as I witnessed the hurt, disappointment, and anger in my parents’ faces. I got baptized six months later I came here. And even though I was going against my parents will I felt confident because I knew it was the right thing to do. I was acting upon answers to prayers.
My Dad started hating my visits to their bedroom. I had prayed for the wisdom and courage to face my parents when Mike and I decided it was time me to come to Utah to live and go to school. How could I ask my parents to let me leave? During the fourth round I once again saw the pain and hurt on my parents face as I followed the impressions that I had been given to leave home, learn another language and to live in a different country. That was another hard decision, I left my home, my parents, my brother and my sister, my beloved pets, my lifetime friends, but once again I was blessed with a wonderful family that was waiting for me here, I remember my first day here in Dave and Sherrie’s house, she told me: “I want you to feel like this is your home” and let me tell you something, there has not been a day that I don’t feel like that is my home, or that I am not loved and care for and I will be forever grateful for that too.m