Hi, my name is Nadia Mondo.

I’m from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and I had a weird childhood. So my dad, he’s an immigrant from Syria. He is Muslim—pride and true, blue breed. I don’t know what they say. And my mom, she was a member of the Church but growing up was really inactive.

It was kind of weird growing up because my parents split, and my mom got remarried around the time when I was four, and we had a nice little nuclear family half the time. But the other half of the time, I was really fighting with wanting to be a member of the Church, wanting to receive the blessings of the gospel but not fully because my dad was so anti.

I remember when I was a kid, my dad would bring like computers with like 20 reasons why Joseph Smith is a liar and like put it by my pillow when I was sleeping. And I just was like, “Golly, like, this cannot be what other kids are going through, right?” Like everyone has a bishop dad or like a Relief Society president mom. And like, I don’t, you know? And it was great because in some ways— because I felt like the Lord was preparing me to to meet people who didn’t feel like they were— they fit into the mold of what we sometimes project onto the Church or onto the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I grew up, I had to make some decisions, right? It was weird at school. I didn't fit in necessarily all the time because when, like, my friends were going to go smoke pot, I was like, “All right, I’m going to go read the scriptures.” And then like, I was at home and my dad’s like, “Let’s go shop on Sundays.” And I’m like, “No, I love the Sabbath.” And it was just this kind of constant, walking on eggshells between do I want to be of the world? Do I want to be like of Christ’s Church? And even though I want to be of Christ’s Church, I don’t even get all the full blessings of Christ’s Church, like a baptism and the remission of sins or the Holy Ghost or a temple recommend. And moving on with that, I just did what I did, you know, I went to girls camp. I was on youth council as the only unbaptized member. You know me. And I gave talks in church. I was the only youth in my branch growing up in south Louisiana. But I moved forward, and I just I had a really defining moment right before I was getting baptized, about 17. I had to wait ten years to get baptized because of my dad. We were at the temple in Nauvoo, and it was just such a spiritual time, and I just felt so connected to Heavenly Father and to the Savior. And everyone was preparing to get ready for the temple, and all my friends were just excited and giggly. And I had to stay back because if you’re not baptized, you don’t get to recommend. If you don't have a recommend, you don't get to go in the temple. And I just felt like this anger, you know, this jealousy and this exclusion because I was living the gospel as best as I could at 17 and I loved the Savior, but I didn’t get to go enjoy some of His richest blessings.

And at that time, I just decided I’m going to. I’m going to go to the temple. I'm going to get these blessings. I'm going to be endowed. I'm going to have the gift of the Holy Ghost. I'll go on a mission. I’ll do whatever you want, God, just get me through this time.

And He did. And He’s still getting me through these times. And its— It wasn't easy. After I got baptized, right? I went on a mission, and all my friends still had stake president dads. And everyone had been a member for 30 years, you know, or whatever generations. But I felt close to the Savior, and I felt like He accepted me. And I still am learning to learn how He accepts me.

And I just I know that it’s hard sometimes with people in my situation to know how to treat us or what to say, but I think the most important thing is point us to the gospel, right? Point us to the Savior. I think of all the experiences and all the advice people gave me. The only advice that ever really mattered was when people taught me how to live the gospel, and they didn’t treat me like my situation was too big for for His Atonement, right?

That’s my— That’s what I have to say. Point them to the Savior and walk with them as they get to Him. And I know that everything else works itself out because of Him.