Richard E. Turley Sr

Bridging the Gap between Uncertainty and Certainty
Sunday, April 5, 1998

About 10 years ago my wife and I spent most of one Sunday hosting a young graduate student from Harvard University. This young man had come to Salt Lake City to see if the Church was "for real." His parents, who lived in New England, had told him they had taken the missionary lessons and were planning to be baptized. He asked them to hold off until he came to Salt Lake City. During his tour of Temple Square and other Church facilities, he said that he wanted to speak with someone who also had a scientific and technical background. My name was suggested, and I subsequently received a telephone call.
At the time, our schedule was tight, and the only day we had to visit with this young man was on Sunday. We told him that if he wanted to see what Mormon life was like, we would be happy to have him spend the day with us. We had an interesting and enjoyable time with the young man. We took him to two sacrament meetings that day, one where one of our sons and his wife were speaking and the other where we were the speakers. As we entered the building for our speaking assignment, we were met by the bishop, who quickly took us to his office for a prayer meeting. All of us, including our young friend, knelt around the bishop's desk, and the bishop offered a humble, unrehearsed prayer.
From the bishop's office we entered the chapel. We introduced the young man to a young couple and he sat with them during the meeting. My wife and I spoke about the Book of Mormon, which was ideal, especially for the young man, because he had been challenged to read the Book of Mormon.
After the meeting, we took him to our home, where my wife served him one of her delicious dinners. The balance of our time was spent in sharing with him our testimonies of the Book of Mormon, of Jesus Christ, and of the restoration of His Church. The next day the young man returned to Boston.
We later had the opportunity to speak to his parents. He had reported to them that indeed the Mormon Church is "for real." He also mentioned to them that through his study of the Book of Mormon he was able to remove the doubts he had about Jesus Christ.