Photo by Paxton Tomko on Unsplash

Growing up, my dad was a professional photographer and we often had a dark room setup in our house. I loved to go into the darkroom with him to watch as he would process his film and create photos. The smell of the darkroom is highly nostalgic for me, and it was like pure magic watching negatives turn into photos in the dim red light.

When I was 14 years old, my mom and dad decided to get a divorce. It was devastating for me. I didn’t know what to think or what to believe. I had been taught my whole life that “families can be together forever, through Heavenly Father’s plan”. Was this still true? Was it ever true? Does Jesus Christ actually live? My soul desperately ached to know the answers to these questions and many more.

That fall, in seminary, we were focused on reading The Book of Mormon. My seminary teacher, who was my good friend’s mom, invited me to really read the scriptures that year. Reluctantly, I agreed. I hadn’t even made it through 1 Nephi when all of a sudden the Spirit burst into my heart and testified with power that The Book of Mormon is true and is the word of God. I uncontrollably wept as I read. When I finally came to dinner my dad asked why I was crying to which I simply responded, “I was reading The Book of Mormon.” He knew exactly what that meant and he too started to weep right there with me as he hugged me.

To this day, I still see my parents’ divorce as a negative in my life. However, from that negative I received the most important positive in my life: I gained a testimony that Heavenly Father loves us, and that his son, Jesus Christ, is our savior and redeemer. I learned that The Book of Mormon is true and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ’s one true church on the earth today. I gained an eternal perspective.

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