From Troll to Testimony: Aubert's Baptism

A month and a half ago, someone that I had been teaching for about a month got baptized. The first time I talked with him on chat he didn't seem very sincere so I kind of shrugged him off and suggested he go to church and read the Book of Mormon. A few days later he came back on and said that he had gone to church and that he really wanted to learn more. So I excitedly said that we could teach him.

As the lessons progressed, I realized that he was more prepared to hear and receive the gospel than I ever imagined could be possible. From the very beginning he had deep insight and understood everything that we taught. He not only understood each individual concept, but he understood the meaning behind it. I was continuously amazed at how intelligent he was!

Sure he faced some challenges along the way, but in the end Aubert was able to get baptized and is now a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am very grateful for the opportunity that I had to teach Aubert and get to know a little bit about him. Here is his testimony and the story of his conversion!

I am Aubert, I am a 16 year-old student from Quebec, Canada, and I’m a Mormon. I was baptized on December 18th, 2011, and confirmed a member of the Church on the 25th (it was the most amazing Christmas present EVER). Let me tell you how I found the Church.

Anyone who is quite familiar with the Internet knows that the Mormon chat on www.mormon.org is a tool MANY people use for fun. I used to be one of those people, and that is how I found the Church. I used to go on the missionary chat and ask missionaries stupid questions like: How do magnets work? I and other Internet trolls would disguise sentences like that one and ask the missionaries until they realized we were just fooling around.

One day, as a school project, I was asked to pick a religion and write a paper about it. It was quite a big paper, and after good thought, I chose the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints. I decided, for some reason, that instead of simply doing a research using Wikipedia, I would read the Book of Mormon, meet with missionaries and go to Church so I knew what I was talking about. I ordered a book of Mormon, and it was delivered to me by two missionaries. I was surprised to learn there even was a chapel in my town, and I was filled with what I would later learn was the Holy Spirit when I met up with them to talk about the basic beliefs of the Church.

After they left, I started reading. I read it at home at first and then started to bring a PDF version of it to school on my iPad, reading it whenever I could. I met up with the missionaries a few additional times, and then I decided to go to Church.

That Sunday was the day that changed my life forever. I remember the love I could FEEL between the members, and the simple joy that seemed to live in all of them. I had never been to Church in my entire life, my parents being less active members of the Catholic church. I attended Church a few more times, and then decided to get baptized.

This is where the hard times began. I confronted my parents about it, and they seemed to be very receptive and, even though they didn’t necessarily approve of the beliefs, they told me it was my choice. I felt greatly relieved, but I learned later on that it had caused more of a problem. My parents started being sad, and I had to ask them every day if something was wrong until one night, I asked them if it was because of me getting baptized. They said it was. They said they were scared that the Church may drag me away from them, and ruin our family. I assured them it wouldn’t, but they couldn’t just take my word for it. Nevertheless, I was baptized on December 18th after I promised them it wouldn’t change our relationship.

Aubert and his local missionaries

Most people recall they felt extremely good after they were baptized. I, for one, did not. I suffer from anxiety, and had a major anxiety attack after I was baptized, worse than any I had ever experienced. I was lying in bed at home, crying, thinking it was the wrong thing to do. I thought I had made the biggest mistake of my life, and when I had no one to turn to, I turned to Elder Ryan Tucker, whom I had Skyped with from day one. We talked for a while, and he told me that Satan often trials our faith right after we’ve done something right. For hours, I was simply disgusted with myself. I talked about it with my parents and they wanted to help but nothing could change the situation at that moment.

Then suddenly, when I thought it was all over for me and that my life was now a mess, I felt great. I was overwhelmed with joy, love and happiness. I couldn’t help but dance around, and run all over the place. I was extremely happy about my baptism, and felt like the luckiest person in the world. I was extremely grateful for Elder Ryan Tucker, Elder Fallentine, Elder Flores, Elder Nzojibwami and finally Elder Jose Osorio, who was the one to baptize me.

And you know what? I still feel that way today. I feel extremely happy and the Gospel has made me the man I’d always wanted to be. As I like to think about it, I entered the baptismal water a teenager and emerged a man. I am extremely grateful to the missionaries for this wonderful change in my life. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that the Church is the best thing that ever happened to me. This is my testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

P.S.: My parents have now realized that the Church not only respects their lack of interest for our beliefs, but it helps me become a stronger, better person and that has a massive positive impact on our family dynamics. (: