Thea's Testimony

 Thea Long Bynres is one of my heroes! She was willing to share her testimony with all of us. She's an inspiration and a blessing! Thank you Thea!

My name is Thea, pronounced Tia, and I am a new convert. I would like to share with you my testimony of how I found the true church.
Before I start I will rewind to how I got to this point in my life. I married at an early age of 18, really I would turn 19 the next month. At 21, 22 and 23 I had my children. I was married for 20 years and filed for divorce because of infidelities and a husband that couldn't stay sober for very long. I wasn't perfect in my marriage. I put my children before my husband when he was home from deployments or TDY trips but it was hard not too when I had to put them first while he was gone. Yet, I accept my failure in the marriage.
I was raised as a Southern Baptist but at age 26 I was going to a Protestant church, then I tried Methodist, Non-Denominational, Baptist, Pentecostal, Assembly of God, and Apostolic.
When I gave up on my marriage I met an Apostolic man. He was a Pastor's son. I thought I could trust a man who said he was called to be a Pastor and wrote sermons. In my pain, I thought, I learned a valuable lesson that people lie. No matter if they were called of God. You can't trust anyone. This man played with my heart and my mind. He was abusive both mentally and physically.  I became strong and I removed myself from his presence. I left the Apostolic denomination and I had a bad taste in my mouth about men. I was alone for almost a year.

Fast forward....On April 17, 2012, finding myself at the end of my rope, I was in prayer. I had been in search of something that I just couldn't find; a place where I could get the answers that my soul knew was right. I had been in search for this place for over 14 years.  I thought I had found it, that last time, but I knew my spirit wasn't completely content. 
So, I was praying.  In my prayer I was telling Heavenly Father that I was giving up on my search for the true church. I believed it didn't exist. I told Him that I didn't think church was what He intended it to be and it was the peoples fault. "So, Lord, I am going to stop going to all these churches in my search and just read the Bible at home."  I felt good about my decision, yet sad at the same time. It was so sad that the truth couldn't be found, just partial pieces here and there.

The very next day was my brother's birthday. I had been texting him that afternoon wishing him a happy birthday. He was telling me how he was having lunch with a friend of his. Then all of a sudden he told me his friend wants to be friends on facebook and I need to accept his friend request, I could trust this guy. Hmmmm...well, I trusted my brother. So, his friend and I became friends and talked on the phone that day into the evening. He wanted to come and meet me and take me out as soon as possible, he said. That kind of scared me a little so I wanted to let him know that I will not be intimate with a man until I marry. If he was that type of guy, I knew that would deter him from coming. He answered that he was LDS. I didn't know what that was, so he said he was Mormon. I heard about the Mormon religion but didn't know that much about it. I thought what the heck, why not just ask. So, I asked him what he believed. That is when he gave me his testimony. As he gave me his testimony, he had no idea that he was answering questions that I specifically asked Heavenly Father in silent prayer over the past years. It was making the hairs on my arms stand.  I asked him how I could get this book of Mormon and he said from the missionaries. Well, I was leaving the next day to go to Atlanta for a week and I needed it now! So he told me about Gospel Library on the smart phone app. I downloaded it but first I got on the site Mormon.org.  I saw the chat button and got Elder Zayne Callahan. Everyday that week in Atlanta, I was on the phone with the Missionaries at 9 pm talking for an hour about the church. On the second day I asked them how I can get the Holy Ghost and he said you have to be baptized. Well, lets do that this weekend, I said. I wanted it now! But it didn't happen that quick. That following weekend I met the Sister Missionaries, Sister Jensen and Sister Nordstrom and we were together a lot in the next few weeks. The week of my baptism my 2011 Genesis Coupe was totaled by my son, he was fine. My house was broken into and there was $3500 worth of damage. I lost my job and the man who gave me his testimony decided that we were meant for each other. He thought that I was going to the church because of him. But that wasn't the case.

I was baptized on May 12, 2012 and on May 13th confirmed. The next day I was depressed because I was lonely. I made the commitment to become LDS because of my faith and knew I finally found the true church. But in this church, with my age, I didn't think I would find a man because those around my age were already married and had families. So, I thought maybe I would be alone for the rest of my life.

That is when the sisters just happened to come over. They sat with me and listened to my worries. Read some scriptures to ease my mind. Then they had a great idea....get on LDSSingles.net.  I told them that I was not getting on another dating site. I had already done match.com and plentyoffish and a couple of other ones in the past year and I didn't like how I was treated online. So, they tried to ease my concerns by letting me know of a couple they just visited who met on that site and married. They are so happy and there are good people on there. I finally said I would check it out. 
At 2 am I woke up and thought why not start a profile. I put on there that the only reason why I was there was because the sisters told me to be on there. That my Bishop had this to say about me. I will not be pursuing any man. He would have to pursue me. That this was what I wanted in a man...someone to think of me all day at work and on his way home, stop and pick fresh flowers or just bring me a rock...you know...hey honey, I was thinking about you all day and on the way home picked up this rock and thought of you because my love for you is solid. 
I was tired...I was being goofy...I just didn't care how I came across really. I was just me. Not trying to impress anyone. I also made a rule with myself that I would not give out my phone number to anyone for at least a week. That rule, ruled out 15 men who didn't want to wait a week.

In a state away, on the day of my confirmation in another ward, there was a man who was approached by his Stake President. He was asked how his girl was doing and this man let him know that he was no longer with this girl. The Stake President sat down and proceeded to tell him that he needed to get back on the single scene and this man said no, he wasn't ready. But the President persisted until this man agreed to get involved.
Around the same time I was making my profile, he was making his.
He found me and sent a flirt. I emailed him back the next day. He emailed me back and told me a lot about himself and what he believed. We seemed to hit it off slowly for the next 3 days on email, then he asked for my phone number and I gave it to him. That weekend he came to meet me and go to church with me. As soon as I saw him I knew he was the one and prayed that I wouldn't mess it up.
When he opened my car door to drive me on our first date, to church, I looked down at the seat and there was my rock! Yep, he was definitely the one. :)
2-1/2 weeks later we were married by my Bishop. We have been married now for 3 months and just bought our first home. We plan on being sealed in the Nauvoo Temple next May. We have never missed one sunday without each other since we met in person on our first day on May 20th.
It's amazing how Heavenly Father blesses us when we give up all for Him.


Blessings,

Thea Long
Cell: 931.206.2156
Email: thealong@me.com
Website: www.diariesofafruitcake.com