The Pie of Daisy

My conversion story is full of minute details that have yet to be fully captured on paper which makes it complicated when people ask.. so how did you come across the Church? Yet the more people I meet, the more stories I hear and the more testimonies that are shared with me... the more I realize...all these stories simply collide in a beautiful harmony that is a constant tune reminding me that everyone is a convert to this Church. Whether that chance encounter was from a knock on the door from missionaries, a missionary approaching you on the streets, a friend sharing the gospel, an acknowledgment of truth after searching for yourself, a determination to prove the Church wrong, a curiosity to know more, or simply a leap of faith... we all have our conversion stories.

The commonality is nothing more than a sincere surrender of pride that results in a desire to know the truth.

So I make no attempt to make this blog entry a story about the conversion, but instead to offer a bit of simplicity in the long story that is me coming to know the Church is true.

I was e-mailing Keiko, a good friend from Colombia that I was lucky enough to meet this summer based on a chance encounter she had with Quinn on a train that resulted in us sharing the gospel with her and many more summer fun time memories, and explaining to her the happiness that I felt from the gospel. But upon doing so, I paused and backspaced to the word "happiness." It's no surprise to anyone who knows me that I was happy before the gospel, meaning my life was one that had meaning. I laughed, I partied, I worked hard, I saved money, I hung out with family and friends, I made friends easily, I was boy crazy, I liked telling stupid jokes and I was-yup, you guessed it... happy!

So as I was about to tell her I am happier - I stopped. That simple phrase, as succinct as it attempted to be... was not doing it justice. I was not just happier. I was .... and the word came to me. Fulfilled.

I started to liken my life before the gospel to that of a pie chart. I had many things in my life that made it 100% but there was still a void there despite the pie looking full!

There's actually no room for anything else in my life in this pie chart... but what the gospel did for me was... created an outline to my life, redefined some of the parts in my pie and kicked out useless parts that didn't contribute fully to the "happiness" in my life.

My pie is a bit different now, but it's a more complete pie even if it looks just as scattered as above.. it just has a stronger circumference of faith keeping it together.

p.s. Andy was next to me as I made that chart, otherwise.. would I have put him as less, more, categorized him with a previous category or none of the above? *snicker and giggle.