General Conference Attendees Share Conversion Stories
Contributed By Sam Lund and Sarah Burchett, Church News staff writers
During general conference on October 3 and 4, 2015, converts from all walks of life gathered in Salt Lake City, Utah, to hear the voice of the prophet. Some shared their conversion stories with the Church News.
Article Highlights
- Sara Fussenegger joined the Church as a medical student in Salzburg, Austria.
- Friends from Hong Kong joined the Church through missionaries and then became missionaries themselves.
- Christine Davies felt like she had tried every type of baptism available in Singapore, but then she learned about priesthood authority.
For many members of the Church, becoming converted to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and the Church is a process. For some, that process takes place over a lifetime. For others, it is a defined moment in time. During general conference on October 3 and 4, 2015, converts from all walks of life gathered in Salt Lake City, Utah, to hear the voice of the prophet. Some shared their conversion stories with the Church News.
“The best decision ever”
Sara Fussenegger is a newly graduated medical school student from Salzburg, Austria, who was baptized in March of 2015. She investigated the Church for a year and a half before her baptism. It all started with a familiar-sounding story: She was in a rush and getting ready to hurry out the door when two “well-dressed” guys knocked on her door. They talked and gave Sister Fussenegger a Book of Mormon. She started taking discussions with the sister missionaries. After a year of investigating, Sister Fussenegger had a special experience. “I saw myself telling my little son … the story of Samuel the Lamanite, and I could see it. … It felt like I could touch him.” It was then she realized that she wanted to raise her children in the gospel, and the first step to that dream coming true was baptism. Sister Fussenegger calls her decision to be baptized “the best decision ever.”
“Missionary work is wonderful”
A chance meeting and piano lessons led to the conversion of May Tzu Han Weng and Stephanie Kwok from Hong Kong. Sister Kwok’s piano teacher was a stake president who brought her to church, and Sister Weng’s mother met missionaries in the supermarket and later introduced them to her. “Missionary work [is] wonderful,” she said, “because almost all of the members in Hong Kong found the Church through the missionaries. Both women have since served missions, Sister Kwok in Hong Kong and Sister Tzu Han Weng in Taiwan.
“Baptism again?”
For Christine Davies from Singapore, her conversion started with an invitation to attend church. “My husband, who was then my boyfriend, invited me to church,” she said. “It was a fast and testimony meeting, and the Spirit was so strong.” She started meeting with the missionaries. They quickly challenged Christine to be baptized, but she held back a little.
“In my heart I was just thinking, ‘Baptism again? I’ve done the immersion. I’ve done the sprinkling. I don’t need it.’ But when they came again, we knelt down and prayed and they asked me a simple question, ‘If somebody is speeding, can you give them a ticket?’ I said of course not! I don’t have the authority to issue a ticket. And with that they said, ‘Yeah, exactly. In the Church you need power and authority.’ I just accepted that and said let’s proceed, and I got baptized.”
