I´m Christiane from Germany. I was baptized in the 2000 in Cologne, Germany. At this time I was 20 years old. I started a conversaiton with two missionaries in front of a McDonalds. Later I realized how surprised they probably were: Hey, a young woman talked to them, after a day full of frustrated contacts they had ;o).
Because the rules of the Church (taught through our Heavenly Father) I stopped a lot of things. From one day to another, I stopped, smoking, drinking coffee (alcohol wasn´t a problem for me because I didn´t like it so much), looked for a new flat (I shared a flat with a friend I knew from my work in a restaurant) and looked for a new job so I didn´t have to work on Sundays anymore.
Four weeks later (after the talk in front of the McDonald) I was baptized. The Elders had to teach me the lessons in a really fast way.
But that isn´t the end. One year later I was engaged, and then my engagement was broken. This bad thing started to pull me into doubt. I still knew that everything was true, but I lost my connection to my Heavenly Father. I lost the contact to my ward…I started to be inactive.
The years passed. Three years later I met my husband-to-be (We married six years later. At this time we already had two sweet daughters.) I didn´t think about the church anymore. Because of the example of some of the members I had decided that the church was wrong.
Short after the birth of our third daughter I had a birthday. And there starts the second miracle of my life. Two sisters saw a birthday list with my name on it. They also found my new address and started to visit me. (Nobody could explain me how this worked. This list has been lost and the ward could not find my information for a long time.)
First I wasn´t happy about this, but then they brought the leader from our women’s Relief Society with them. This woman had the feeling to say something special to me: “ Yes, you are right. The members aren´t perfect. But you can try something: Start to live like an active member for just four weeks: Go to church, read in the scriptures, pray and follow the commandments. If after that time nothing has changed, then live your life however you want. But if something changes, then you follow the commandments for the rest of your life, regardless of what will happen in the future with other members.”
I tried. My husband was baptized last year in June (just six month after my birthday) and our oldest daughter(9 years old) will be baptized on June 2, 2013. (That’s today!)
Recently we were in the Frankfurt Temple. I received my endowment last month, and my husband will get his endowment next month.
This is our story in the short form. And I give you my testimony: God takes care for us all. Like it is written in Matthew 6: 26
“Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” Although I didn´t feel worthy enough to go back, and I didn´t look for a way back to Him, He looked for me, and created a wonderful way to bring me back together with my whole family.
I´m so thankful for so much undeserved love. This I want to write you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
~ Christiane Petzsold ~
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LOVE it!!!! Thanks for sharing!
Danke! Thanks so much for sharing your story.
Oh my! Yes! Hugs and kisses and more hugs for Christiane and your whole family! What a wonderful day!! And hugs to your inspired and inspiring RS Sister!! Thanks for sharing your testimony!
Love this! Thank you for sharing.
Hugs to Christiane! How grateful I am that God gives us another chance.
Hugs to you, Christiane!
Thank you for sharing your story, Christiane. And congratulations on your daughter’s baptism today! Best wishes to you and your family! *hugs*
Bless that RS president for being brave to issue you the challenge. Hugs to you!