KRISTIN DAVIS' PERSONAL STORY

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I was born and raised in the LDS faith, attended church every week, followed the teachings of the church and did my best to be faithful in every way. I attended Ricks College and later served a mission in the Philippines further solidifying my "testimony" of the truthfulness of the LDS church. After returning home from my mission I found a "worthy priesthood holder" and married in the temple, we started our family and remained "gold star" members of the LDS faith.

I have always been a happy person and fairly content with my life, however I began to have experiences with other groups of people that made me question some of the beliefs I had held for so long. Years before The Sealed Portion I gave up on the notion that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was the only true church. This belief just didn't match up with what I had experienced and with what I knew in my heart. But I couldn't see any reason to not continue my membership and try to do good in the church. Surely there was no other religion that was truer or was doing more good in the world, so why not just stay put.

And so began my search for truth. I knew that what I had wasn't it, when I looked around at the people in the church I could see that it wasn't working, and I yearned for more. It never occurred to me to look in religious veins, instinctively I just knew religion didn't have it. So I began searching in the "Self Help" vein of new age gurus. Much of what I found made a lot of sense to me and did have big impacts on my life.

My husband and I had many discussions of religious issues and the new age information I was exploring. He on the other hand continued his search in a very religious vein. He read everything he could find that could possibly shed light on Christ's life and mission etc. He'd get excited about something and then ultimately determine that it was not what he was looking for. So when he told me he had found The Sealed Portion it didn't even register with me. I just said "Okay Dear" and didn't think about it again. Some weeks past and my husband brought it to my attention again, only this time he had read almost all of it and was obviously convinced it was legitimate. My first reaction was panic, what had he gotten into? What impact was this going to have on our lives? Had my husband lost his mind? He had ordered two copies of the book and gave me one to read. The next day I began reading in earnest, I had to know what had caused such a huge change in my husband.

Well I opened the book and began reading from page one, first I read the story about Christopher and how he had obtained the plates etc. Next came the book of Lehi, I continued reading and became very alarmed with the information. The book of Lehi was discrediting the church that I had devoted my entire life too. I had a very hard time accepting that this could be the truth and my initial reaction was just to toss it. But because my husband was already so convinced I pressed on. I began the Sealed Portion and probably read about a third of it. When I came up against the parts about the family and how they were evil etc. I lost it. I put the book down swore I would never read it again and went to talk some sense into my husband. We had a very heated discussion about it and I basically told him it was not the truth and I wasn't going to let him turn my life and his upside down for this.

He was very patient with me and just let me think about it for a time. He never mentioned it again, he just waited for me to come around. Several weeks past and I found myself thinking about the things that I had read. As much as I didn't want to admit it, they actually did made sense, and the things The Sealed Portion pointed out about the LDS church were in fact things that I had witnessed with my own eyes. I continued attending church and performing my calling and as things would occur at church the words of The Sealed Portion would come to my mind and I couldn't deny that Moroni had gotten it right.

So I picked up The Sealed Portion again and continued reading, it was a very difficult time for me as I read and learned that all I had believed and relied on in the past was in fact a lie. I cried every day as I realized that I had been deceived my entire life and all that I had held dear was not what I had believed it was. Yet I could not deny within myself that The Sealed Portion was in fact the truth. Some portions of the book brought me joy like I'd never felt before and others excruciating pain but through it all my mind began to be opened and finally everything made sense. There were no more gapping holes in doctrine, everything fit and everything had its place. This was what I had been looking for.

After completing The Sealed Portion my husband and I had many late night talks as to what we should do. We knew that leaving the church was going to be very difficult for us and our families but ultimately we knew we couldn't continue supporting something we knew in our hearts wasn't true. So about 5 months after reading The Sealed Portion we went to our bishop, asked to be released from our callings and told him that we weren't coming back. We did not tell him about The Sealed Portion or give him specifics of why we had made the decision we had. There was a period of time where we didn't know how things would turn out with our families, they were very distressed and tried every tactic to talk us out of our decision. But eventually our families came to terms with our decision and we now have a respectful relationship with them.

The Sealed Portion put me on a path of discovering truth. It has made my life very simple, do unto others as you would have them do unto to you. No more laundry lists of tasks to be completed to please God. Seeking happiness is now my daily thought and goal, being able to put down the heavy load I have carried my entire life has allowed this happiness to be a part of my daily existence.

This journey has not been an easy one, there have been many ups and downs along the way. I have read each of the books of this Marvelous Work and a Wonder and have continued to increase my understanding. Sometimes it seems ignorance was bliss - living in a world that sees most things differently that I now do, can at times be emotionally trying. But through it all I know that this work is the ONLY way we will have a chance of bringing peace and equality to this earth where all humans being have a chance at happiness. For this reason I support this work with all that I am.

Kristin Davis