Starting Point: My Ancestor’s Conversion Stories (IHACD4)

The McBride’s have been members of the Church for a long time – almost since the beginning. In 1831, my G-G-G-Grandfather, Thomas White McBride, was baptized a member of the Church in Ohio, along with My G-G-G Grandmother Catherine John, and their daughter Isabelle.

How do I know this? Their son James wrote it down. He didn’t write much, but he did write down the bare-bones details.

“While my father lived on the Red Haw, a branch of the Mohegan river (Wayne County, Ohio) came first to us the sound of the everlasting gospel, as revealed to man in these last days. It was the gospel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; proclaimed by two elders, Thomas Tripp and Harvey Green. I was then about thirteen years old. My father, who previously had not felt to join any Christian denomination, now opened his house, and welcomed the elders to his home.

The first sermons preached on the Red Haw, by elders of this church, were preached in my father’s house in April 1831, by the above named elders. Soon after, my father, mother and sister Isabelle were baptized and confirmed members of the church, by the same elders.” (Link)

James eventually got baptized in 1838, but it was his parents, Thomas and Catherine, who get the props for being the first McBrides to take the leap and join the fledgling Church.

It is possible that the name Thomas White McBride might seem a bit familiar to you. He is best known for being an early Church martyr. He was the old man who was sadistically murdered at the hands of Missouri mobs at the Haun’s Mill Massacre. His remains were buried in the well at the site. (More details here.)

I am grateful for what Thomas and Catherine did for me, and saddened at the great cost. I am also appreciative of James McBride for writing it all down.

An ancestor from my mother’s line joined the Church very early as well. In September of 1830 he was baptized by Oliver Cowdery. You might have heard of him, his name is Parley P. Pratt. Now I absolutely know his conversion story – because Parley wrote it down. In fact, he wrote a lot of things down. His autobiography is 643 pages long! (And for Kindle, it is only 99¢)

Sadly, in 1857, he too was murdered – left to slowly bleed to death after being shot and stabbed on a road in Arkansas.

I am grateful to him for his incredible testimony, sacrifice, and – again – the fact that he wrote it down. At the end of the post there are links to 2 videos that tell his conversion story.

Some of my other family lines that go way back are Joseph Smith’s Uncle John (1832), Horton David Haight (1845), Anderson Grigg (1841), etc. But I don’t much about any of these conversion stories. Why? Because I can’t find that they wrote them down anywhere!

Much more personal – my very own mother had an incredibly rich LDS heritage – completely unbeknownst to her.   Turns out that some of the descendants of Parley P. Pratt and Anderson Grigg has taken a multi-generational “vacation” from Church activity. My mom ended up finding the Church on her own and converted when she was 16 years old. Only to learn “Surprise! We are all Mormon, too!”

Here is the sad bit: I know very few details about her conversion story, because she never wrote it out, and I never pressed the issue. And now she is gone.

——

Every family has a “Starting Point” where someone took a tremendous leap of faith and and became the first member of the Church in their family line.

Was it you? If so, you have my most sincere admiration.

Which leads me to this:

As my long-time readers know, the first Sunday in June has been set aside, (by me) as International Hug a Convert Day. (Or IHACD, for short.) This year it falls on June 7th. IHACD has become one of my favorite things on this blog, and I can’t believe we are already in our fourth year. You will laugh, you will cry, you will be strengthened.

I love converts. I love to hear their stories – the challenges they overcame – the faith they relied on – the miracles they experienced – the way the Lord lined up the dominos just right. I also have come to realize that publishing these stories is my small way of pushing back against the morass of those willing to shout their stories of de-conversion on the internet.

CONVERTS:

If you would like to share your own story on IHACD4, I would consider it a great honor.   I will be running stories for a week, beginning on June 7. Type it up, and email it to me at mmm@middleagedmormonman.com, and be sure to include a photo. It doesn’t have to be long, or fancy. Short and simple is just as powerful.  I will include as many as I can. This is a safe place, and I won’t allow any critical comments.

Remember – this truly is international. Last year we had stories from all over the world: Hungary, England, China, Australia, Germany, etc.

Even if you do not want to publish your story – write it down anyway, and give you loved ones a copy before you file it away. Too often we let those important events slip by without documenting them. There might be rough times where you might need to revisit those experiences and feelings.

If you are hesitant because you don’t know how to write it up, please look here: “Conversion Stories.”  I have archived most of the stories from this event over the past three years. They are not all fancy, but they are sincere.

READERS:

Read, and comment. Nicely. IHACD is a day where only love and appreciation will be acceptable on the comment page.  Also, spread the word on Facebook or Twitter, or whatever your favorite social media site.  I will post Facebook links throughout the week from June 7 – June 13.

You can also help by sharing this link today so that more converts know that we are excited to hear their stories.

• If you are interested in how this idea came about, read this post from 2012.

• June 7th is also Fast & Testimony Meeting for most of us.  It would be a great time to express appreciation for those who had the courage to join the Church – whether in your family history, or someone else’s. We are all here because of someone’s conversion story.

• For every conversion story, there is usually a missionary story as well. Write those down.  Your posterity needs them, and you might, too.

FINAL REQUEST:

Please, I beg of you, don’t write a comment saying, “We are all converts.” I will delete it.

I know, I know – at some point in time, we all need to experience a conversion. But unless your conversion required you to have an interview with missionaries, be baptized, and be listed on the church records as a convert baptism – I’m not talking about you – even though I am extremely happy you are on board.  Maybe one day we will have a “Hug Someone Who Already Belonged to the Church, and Then Was Converted Day.”  June 7 is not that day. (But if you need a hug, let us know.)

So please send in your stories, and don’t wait until after IHACD has already started – by then I will have already filled the slots. (Probably 21 this year) If you have questions, give me a holler. Thanks!