My year at college was both exciting and challenging. The classes I had required much study time and preparation. I had several different jobs to help supplement the many costs of being a student at this Christian University. I also had the opportunity to date which I did not have in high school. By the end of the year, I learned that I would not have the opportunity to attend another year. Even with the scholarship and jobs, the costs were too much for my parents to keep paying. Now I had to decide what the next step in my life would be. I returned home and began working at Lee”s Grill again. I think that it is also important that I mention that I had met and started dating a college student by the name of Richard Himes from Augusta, Kansas. He would become a part of my life for the next three years.
I am so very grateful for the guiding direction from my Heavenly Father in the next decision in my life which was to become a nursing student at Mercy School of Nursing in Oklahoma City for the next three years. My experiences there would not only prepare me to be a nurse but would also prove to be another turning point in my life. I was assigned a roommate from Lima, Peru whose name was Rocio Maria Torres who became Chio to all of us. I eventually learned that she was of the Mormon faith but had to keep that a secret because she was here at this school on a Catholic Nursing Scholarship. This school was a Catholic institution and was supervised by nuns. She was afraid that if they would discover that she was a Mormon, she would be sent home. I did not know anything about being a Mormon except for the movie I had watched about Brigham Young and the pioneer Mormons. Chio became part of my family and was like another sister to me. In our last year of nurses training, we were transported by an airplane to St.Louis, Missouri in May for a three-month pediatric training at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. For the first time, Chio was able to attend her church and I wanted to go with her. I had visited many different churches through the years searching for the answers to my questions about who I was, where did I come from and what was my purpose in being here on this earth.
I think now I would like to share the story of my conversion to the restored gospel and how I became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints known as the Mormons. My first meeting to attend with Chio in St.Louis, Missouri was a testimony meeting. The testimonies that were shared in that meeting that day prompted me to want to know more about this new religion that I did not know existed at this time. Chio contacted the missionaries to begin teaching me. Their names were Elder Brether and Elder Minor. After the first discussion, I knew that this church had the truths that I had been searching for all these years. I must have shocked these two young missionaries when I told them that I wanted to be baptized immediately. They graciously informed me that I had to have all six discussions first so they gave me all six discussions within the week. I began reading the Book of Mormon and was scheduled to be baptized on August 3rd,1967. During that week I received two phone calls that asked me to not be baptized into this church. One phone call was from my dad and the other one was from Richard Himes. I did not understand why they were so against me being baptized but I knew that the Holy Spirit had witnessed to me that this church had all the truths that I had been searching for. I remember on the day I was to be baptized that it was very stormy with many dark clouds but as I was getting dressed after the baptism the clouds parted and the rays of bright sunlight came through the window, giving me such a feeling of peace and love. I continued to read the Book of Mormon which is another witness that Jesus is the Christ and the Jehovah of the Old Testament. I also embraced the belief in Joseph Smith as a Prophet and of a living prophet in our day to lead and guide us as in the days of old. I had always believed that God is my Heavenly Father, that Jesus Christ is his Son, and the Holy Spirit are three distinct beings. Also, the importance of families being together forever is another truth that I believed. We returned home from our rotation at the children”s hospital and finish out the year.
