Steve Washenko
July 10, 2015
10 Years a Mormon
Ten years ago today I made a decision that forever changed
the course of my life. That decision was to join The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. In January of 2005, two Mormon missionaries, Elder Price and
Elder Spitzenberger, knocked on my door in Cedar City, Utah. I was just
completing my junior year in college and had been struggling with questions
about the religion I was brought up to believe in.
For those of you who don’t know my full story, I was raised
in a church formally known as The Apostolic United Brethren. Less formally, we
were referred to as the Allred group. Allred being the family name of two
brothers who were the leaders of this church. The church was known for their
practice of plural marriage. A practice The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints had abandoned over 100 years earlier after a revelation to
stop the practice. The struggles I had been having in my mind were specifically
about plural marriage.
The summer before starting my fall semester of my junior
year I was excited about being part of “The Group,” a name we as members of
this church had given ourselves. My excitement wasn’t over the practice of
plural marriage but over other beliefs The Group proclaimed. Things like a
belief that Christ was soon to return and that his return would bring about
great destruction in the Salt Lake and Utah counties and that leaders would be
needed to lead our people to safety. Each Sunday I would meet with other boys
my age and we would discuss how we would organize ourselves in the event of an
emergency and where we would go to take care of our members. These discussions excited
me and gave me purpose and a vision of who I thought I could be.
After returning to school in Cedar City, Utah, I was away
from that excitement and the hard facts of what my church really stood for
began to settle in. I remember countless nights where I would cry myself to
sleep in agony after pleading with Heavenly Father that plural marriage would
not be something He would ask of me. As I look back on those months it was a
very dark time for me. Eventually, as if to say it was time to make a decision,
I had a dream. In my dream I was in the middle of a bright valley. The sun was
shining and radiant and, for lack of better words, something was out there that
just felt like freedom. When I looked down I realized I was standing in a hole
and I was holding the lid to that hole. Inside the hole was darkness. I knew
that if I went down into that hole I was closing the lid on my future forever.
Eventually I made the decision to close the lid and retreat to where I had come
from. Just as I closed the lid I woke up in a terrible panic with the feeling
you have after having a nightmare. When I finally settled down I knew that the
darkness I had receded into was my old church and that by choosing to stay I
was choosing to live a life of darkness where light would never shine.
It was about a month after this dream that those two elders
knocked on my door. They wanted to share a message with me about Jesus Christ
and His restored church. As they shared their message there was something about
it that felt hopeful. I felt like I was getting a glimpse of that light I saw
in the valley of my dream. At the end of their message they asked if I would
like to learn more. Almost instinctively I said, “Yes!” Meeting with the elders
was one of the most special times in my life. When they taught me I knew their
message was true. I knew it came from a loving Heavenly Father who had been
watching over me and who had a plan for my life that was different from what I
had been raised to imagine. They shared with me lessons about the restoration
where Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His son Jesus Christ. Even though I had
been raised hearing this story, somehow when they shared it the story felt
innocent. Almost as if they had seen it themselves and their witness had no
pretense or agenda but only to share what they knew. They taught me about a
plan of happiness that had been prepared for me and that if I chose to follow
the teachings of Jesus Christ I could be part of that plan. They taught me
about faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy
Ghost. I learned about living prophets just like those in the Bible and Book of
Mormon. Eventually I attended a conference where I heard the voice of then
President Gordon B. Hinckley. As he spoke something inside of me told me that
he was a prophet of God.
Everything felt so wonderful and yet the time came that I
had to make a decision. Continue down the path I knew had no future or abandon
the faith of my fathers and join this church that felt so bright and full of
light. After several months of meeting with the elders, studying the scriptures,
going to my church in the morning, the LDS church in the afternoon, and nightly
firesides (sermons) at the LDS church I was beginning to burn out. One Sunday
night I came home to my apartment and started talking to my roommate Daniel
Gates. I told him how hard it was to make a decision and that I felt so many
voices in my head all the time pulling me in different directions. He then
looked at me and said, “Steve, ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be
opened unto you.” After he said this, I closed my eyes and said a prayer. The
most incredible thing then happened to me. Almost in an instant all of the
voices in my head disappeared. My mind was completely clear. I then heard a
voice in my mind as clear and as calm as you can imagine say to me, “My son,
this is my true church.” Heavenly Father spoke to me and told me The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was His church and that He wanted me to be a
part of it.
Later that week I met with the missionaries again and we
knelt in prayer and we each took turns praying that I might know that the
priesthood (the authority to act in God’s name) was in the LDS church. Again I
felt peace and I knew that every worthy male member of the church could hold
that priesthood.
The Sunday after I received my answer of which church was
Christ’s church I called my parents to discuss with them what I had learned. My
mother was heartbroken and my father warned me saying I was making a terrible
mistake. They asked me to drive back up to Riverton, a suburb of Salt Lake City,
and meet with their leader Lemoine Jensen. I drove up and attended their
afternoon services and then later Lemoine asked me to sit on the stand where
everyone could see me and my parents told him about the situation I was in and
that I wanted to join the LDS church. The only thing I remember him saying was
asking me whether I knew black people were allowed to be members of the LDS
church. Puzzled and not exactly sure why he was asking me this question I
responded yes. He asked me if I was okay with it and I said I was. I think he
was trying to warn me about black people being part of the LDS church and that
they were now allowed to receive the priesthood and enter the temple. Looking
back at this awkward meeting I can hardly believe how racist and self-righteous
the people of this church are.
I left that meeting and drove back down to Cedar City, a
three hour drive, and as I drove I felt like I was shedding off of me all of
the ideologies I had been taught to believe that were keeping me from fulfilling
my purpose in life and finding the plan of happiness the elders had talked to
me about.
Because of my background and being raised in a polygamous
church I had to go through several interviews to demonstrate I truly did want
to join the LDS church and my purpose in joining the church was no to simply
enter an LDS temple or to serve a mission and then ultimately return to The
Group as members of The Group had often done. My first interview was with the
mission president assigned to the area where I lived. He is a leader of usually
150 missionaries and holds the keys for convert baptisms. I remember feeling so
naïve and not really understanding the purpose of the interviews. My next
interview was scheduled with Elder Holland. Elder Holland is one of the twelve
apostles called to assist the prophet but also sustained as a prophet, seer,
and revelator because of a special witness he has that Jesus is the Christ, the
Redeemer of the world.
The day came for my interview and I asked my brother John
and his wife Cynthia to come with me since I was incredibly nervous. I really
had no idea who I was meeting since I really had only been asked to pray and
learn about whether President Hinckley was the prophet. As we parked in the
basement of the church office building in downtown Salt Lake City we entered
the elevator and went up to one of the top floors where we were greeted by
Elder Hollands assistant. She showed us into his office and he immediately
jumped up from his desk and came over and shook my hand and gave me a hug. I
felt so loved by him even though I had never met him before. He did the same
for my brother and his wife and then we all sat down. He asked me if my family
was okay with me joining the church and whether I understood the LDS church was
the only church with God’s authority and priesthood. I told him I did. He then
asked me if I had any questions. Not having been more prepared for my interview,
I thought inside myself what would be the one question that would answer all
questions and I asked him how he knew Jesus Christ was the head of this church.
He answered by saying he knew more surely that Jesus Christ was the head of
this church and was leading it every minute than if I was to come over and
punch him in the face. He then looked out the window and said he knew more
surely than he could see the next building just outside the window. I felt the
same feeling I had felt many times since meeting with the elders that what he
said was true. We then left his office and he said to feel free to contact him
any time with any questions.
After this interview I was interviewed again by the mission
president and then I waited as the elders must have been finalizing things for
me to get baptized. It might have only been a few months of waiting but it felt
like an eternity. For some strange reason I felt like my prayers were not being
listened to anymore. I felt alone in my decision to join the LDS church because
I didn’t have those same feelings I had been having when I first was meeting
with the elders. Looking back now I realize I was being tested to see if I
would stay to course with the answer I had been given. Finally, on a Saturday
night at a ward members home (the Seguins) I met with the elders again. As I
sat in the lesson the elders stopped and looked me in the eyes and said,
“Brother Washenko, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be
baptized?” A flood of emotions came over me as if the culmination of all I had
been feeling and learning finally came to a point where I had to choose whether
I would act on what I had learned. I immediately answered, “Yes!”
No sooner did I say yes did the missionaries have me in my
final interview the next day, Sunday, July 10, 2005, with their district
leader. I remember them asking me if I believed that God was my Heavenly
Father, that Jesus Christ was the Savior and Redeemer of the world, that The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the only true church, and that
President Gordon B. Hinckley was the prophet. As I answered yes to each of
these questions I distinctly remember my faith growing inside of me. An
experience I have had each time I have been asked these questions since for my
mission interviews as well as my temple recommend interviews. I love answering
these questions.
I was baptized that evening. Daniel Gates baptized me. I
came up out of the water and wanted to shout for joy. My brother John, Skylar
Witman, and the elders confirmed me a member and gave me the Gift of the Holy
Ghost. After those words were spoken I again heard a voice as clear as any
voice I had ever heard say to me, “I am so proud of you.”
All my life I have wanted to be a good son and be part of
something greater than myself. Being a member of the LDS church I know Heavenly
Father is proud of my choice to join His church. I am part of something greater
than myself and as I have served in the church I have found so much joy and
happiness with my fellow brothers and sisters. I have not once regretted that
decision I made 10 years ago today.
Membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
After joining the LDS church I enjoyed the constant
companionship of the Holy Ghost. I felt myself being taught constantly by the
Holy Ghost and correcting in my mind things I had been taught about children
taking the sacrament, the purpose of the Book of Mormon to be a second witness
that Jesus is the Christ, and that our purpose in life was to have joy.
A little over a year after joining the LDS church I received
my mission call to serve in the Taiwan, Taichung mission where I would need to
learn Mandarin Chinese. I will never forget one of my first nights on the
island of Taiwan when I laid in a bed half-way across the world from where I
had grown up. I was in a different world, speaking a different language, and
among people I didn’t know and began to feel alone and somewhat frightened. I
looked out the window and saw the moon and felt in my heart Heavenly Father was
somehow here on this island just like he was one the couch in my college
apartment. He wasn’t just here for me but He was here for all of His children
and I had been given a special calling to teach His children about His plan of
happiness just as I had been taught. I loved being a missionary. Even now I
look back on those two years as the two years that spring boarded my life into
the person I wanted to become and the direction I wanted to go.
Sitting on the plane ride home from my mission I could think
of only one thing: Sister Jacob. Ironically enough our first date happened to
land on my 4th year anniversary as a member of the LDS church, July
10, 2009. Being with Shirley felt so incredibly right and wonderful. I proposed
to her skydiving in Tooele, Utah, and she accepted. We were married on November
20, 2009 in the Salt Lake City temple.
Since being married we have been blessed with two wonderful
children that have brought us more joy than we could have possibly imagined.
Shirley graduated with her master’s degree in Piano Performance from BYU. I
took the LSAT, twice, and was accepted into the J. Reuben Clark Law School also
at BYU. While in law school we moved to Hong Kong for a summer internship.
During my second year of law school I took the GMAT, also twice, I’m not a fan
of these graduate tests just in case you were wondering, and was accepted into
the Marriot School of Management MBA program at BYU getting an emphasis in
supply chain. We completed my first year of business school and are now living
in Cincinnati, Ohio where I am doing a summer internship for GE Aviation
working as a contract administrator for a supplier in Turkey making sure parts
are delivered on time and meet quality standards. I absolutely love this
industry. We will move back to Provo and finish up my last year of school and
next year I will graduate with my joint JD/MBA from BYU in April, 2016.
Just a few weeks ago I had the privilege of conducting the
baptism for a new member in our ward here in Cincinnati. As I prepared to
conduct the baptism I couldn’t help but think of my own baptism and realized
that just 10 years ago the Lord had picked me up from a small polygamous church
and had brought me into the light and blessed me more than I could have
possibly imagined. I will forever be indebted to and am eternally grateful for
those two elders who knocked on my door and shared a message with me and
invited me to learn more.
