Well to start;
I was raised in the Catholic church since my father n his family are all Italians n Catholics n got baptized when I was young think 8or10 years of age... My father wasn't a regular church goers so after my baptism we didn't go to church much at all... My teen life I started getting sick of the fights I'd see about religions so I even started hating all religions n stuff about it even start covering my ears/eyes if I heard/saw anything dealing with religions like a vampire does...
I did collect a number of versions of the bible because I wanted them for research for a stage in my life I was interested in writing horror stories because of a writer named H.P. Lovecraft very good short story writer of horror from the 1930's era... I notice that lines in each bible maybe vary n even change means between them but the chapters means stayed the same in all of them so, I decided to only hold the meaning of a chapter not the lines/verses when reading/sharing the bible since a line could be twisted to what ever a person felt/wanted but the chapter's meaning was harder to twist n it was the same between the different bibles...
I saw many signs that I should get back towards the father n his son but I was young n wanted to do what I wanted to do... I became a member of the Jaycees that part of their creed was God n then joined a company call A.L. Williams(MLM - selling insurance) n their president believe in put God/Jesus 1st. n family 2nd company 3rd... but still I wasn't into it, humbug :-)
Then I saw the mini series 'Jesus of Nazareth' n when Jesus said he came here for the sinners it opened my heart to learning more of him... Shortly after that I ordered the free book of Mormon to add to my collection of scriptures n I got a call asking if a couple people could come n talk to me about Jesus I said sure... About a week later I started talking n reading about Jesus with the missionaries from the Mormon church n about a few weeks later I felt I should join them n did n got baptized Oct. 1990 in Windham, ME... I was whole heartily into the church even helping the missionaries go out to others homes... After a couple years I had a falling out with a leader in the church that cause me to not be as active any more I went to church here n there but was drifting... I moved to another city n didn't feel as part of that group so I drifted even more n only went to church once in a while... Later I became a drunk n stopped going all together...
In April 2008 I had a very bad stroke as I openly share with people that changed my life, when I became a drunk I was so depressed I wanted to drink myself to death... When I finally was able to a wake after my stroke n stay awake I wanted to live!!! I felt a renewed sense of life n happiness n being thankful for being alive!!!
I feel I was given another chance at life n to share n spread the love I was feeling from God, his son Jesus n the gift of the Holy Ghost/Spirit...
I moved to Florida in 2009 n went to local Mormon church n just didn't feel at home so I searched for a while til November 2011 when I was told of a cool church called Bayside Community Church here in Bradenton n they also just opened a west pampas near my location. I went and really enjoyed it n the people n the local pastor Mark Childers So I decided this was right n where I needed to be I followed the Holy Ghost/Spirit n now call Bayside Community Church my church of choice n believe I was lead to it by the Holy Ghost/Spirit!!! I would like to be baptized in this church but my current abilities makes that a super hard challenge to do...I was told since I have been baptized twice before I don't really have too but I would like to some time...
