I love hearing conversion stories. Every one of us has a story of how we came to know this church is true. In some cases, people have miraculous stories of conversion, like myself or like Sean. Others receive a simple witness through the Holy Ghost. No matter how big or how small the conversion was, we all much endure to the end. Like Sean, though the conversion was miraculous, the road back can be pretty treturous depending upon where you are coming from. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did.
https://twitter.com/worthyofzion/status/1901289575370395704
𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐭𝐨𝐧 @seanryanlayton
I left The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2011. Even after a 2-year mission in Peru, I became convinced that Joseph Smith Jr. must have been a fraud. Applying the same skepticism, my faith in the Savior quickly unraveled. I reasoned that a man couldn’t have possibly walked on water or come back to life either. If Christianity was a lie, I concluded, then all religion must be too. After all, weren’t religious zealots the ones behind 9/11? Didn’t religion lead to the dark ages?
Despite abandoning faith, and considering myself secular humanist/atheist, I held onto many of the values my parents and church leaders had taught me growing up. Regardless, I resolved to stand up for what I saw as “truth.” Like Saul of Tarsus, I turned against The Church of Jesus Christ and its people. Like other detractors today, I created YouTube videos, wrote blogs, and even started a memoir to oppose the Latter-day Saints.
Then in a small room in 2018, days after starting this memoir dismantling “mormonsim”, everything changed. The Lord brought me back. I saw a light so bright that I fell to the floor. At this same moment, I saw a vision, which lasted for many minutes. I knew God was real. I knew Jesus Christ was the Savior of the world. And I knew The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was His true and living church on the earth.
After this, while reading the Book of Mormon, God’s Spirit bore witness to me of its truthfulness and I received a powerful confirmation the book was of God, and that Nephi was a true prophet.
The following months were the hardest of my life. As I failed to live up to the light and knowledge I’d been given, and struggled to repent of my sins, I began to fall into darkness. The adversary had great control over me, and it suffices me to say that I’m lucky to be alive today.
Over time, through faith Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Lord helped me get back on my feet. His church was there for me every step of the way. He had loved me the entire time, even when I had been deceived. He’s more merciful than we can possibly realize.
Feel free to share. You’re invited to hear Him. Listen to God’s word through His chosen servants this April 2025, in preparation for the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
-John 3:16
https://churchofjesuschrist.org/feature/general-conference?lang=eng