How I Told My Recent Converts.

 So I never wrote about how I came out to some of my recent converts.

   It was not something I planned on doing, at least not this early on. There are only a select few that I had planned telling ever.

   I was really afraid that if my recent converts knew I was gay it might damage some of their testimonies, and I really did not want to be the cause of that.

   Anyways, this recent convert family, let's call them the Jimenez family. They despite being mexican are very progressive. The father and kids especially.

  I did not have qualms about telling them, but I was planing on telling them in like a year or so.

   So this is how it happened. I was visiting my mission a few months ago, and I was staying with the "Jimenez" family, and the second to the oldest lets call him Juan, was going to be baptized the Sunday that I was there. But he changed his mind like 15 minutes before the service was supposed to start. So his dad the missionaries and I were talking to him and trying to understand what he was thinking and feeling.

   He told us that earlier that day in church as he was watching the 20 minute restoration video he thought to himself this is all made up, the church god and all of that. That is the sentiment he has had before and it seems that he never really quite got that testimony. So he wanted to know logically why there had to be a god so we talked to him for awhile about that, and then he came out with his other doubts, one of them being denying gays the right to marry and homosexuality being wrong. The oldest daughter (lets call her Dharma) also had a problem with that as well. They made the points that I have made as well. If gender is eternal and so important, then why are there hermaphrodites? and many more points that I have thought of myself.

     The missionaries responses were what we have all heard time and again from church leaders. One of the missionaries even talked about homosexuality being a choice, I corrected him on that point, but I could not say what I truly felt with the rest of it.

    The topic of homosexuality had come up before with them when I was still serving my mission, but we had always been able to state the church's position on it and move on to a different topic. This time the discussion was intense, and since I could not express what I felt I left the room.

  "Hno Jimenez" was moving in and out of the room, so I was able to pull him aside and tell him that I wanted to talk to him and his 2 oldest kids about what we had been talking about, but that we couldn't do that till the missionaries left. Later "Dharma" stepped out for a minute and I was able to tell her the same thing.

    So later on the missionaries were going to leave but "Hno Jimenez" found out that they had not eaten, no doubt they had been planning on eating at the baptism which was no longer going to happen. So being the wonderful person that he is "Hno Jimenez" went to go make something and they followed him to the kitchen. 

    So "Dharma" and I were alone in the living room, and she asked me if I could tell her what I wasn't able to tell her with the missionaries there. So in a low whisper I told her I was gay, and started to tell her my story. We ended up going on a walk together so we could continue our conversation because the missionaries ended up coming into the room.

   She told me that she had thought that I was gay, but had thought that I must not have come to terms with it yet.

   When the missionaries left I told "Hno Jimenez" and "Juan" what I had told dharma and a bit more. About halfway through the rest of the family got home. So we drove to the Santa Monica pier to finnish talking. I just did not feel like I should tell the rest of the family at that time.

    One of the things that was so amazing that I pointed out to them as we neared the pier. Is how amazing it is that God placed me there at that time.       There are not that many gay Mormons that choose to go on a mission knowing they are gay that it won't change and believing that gay marriage is right and good. So for me to be sent to people that have an issue with the church's stance on that subject and to boot for me to have been visiting them when the subject came up and actually being able to share with them my story was a miracle. Both "Dharma" and "Hno Jimenez" were blown way just as much as I was. Unfortunately "Juan" thought it was a really big coincidence. Or at least thats what he said, but I'm sure he will come around.