I Was Riding My Own Path… Until God Redirected Me

Elder Patterson had every reason to stay where he was. He had a girlfriend he loved, a mountain biking career taking off, a social media following, drag racing on weekends, and college plans in place. Life was good. He was not searching for anything.

He was also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who had spent years reading anti-church material, disagreeing with church history, and telling anyone who asked that the Church simply could not be true.

In this episode of Choosing Jesus Christ, Sister Hawker sits down with Elder Patterson, a missionary serving in the Idaho Falls Idaho Mission from Cave Springs, Arkansas, to hear what happened when a bishop on a mountain bike trail refused to give up on him.

A Bishop on a Trail and a Conversation That Would Not End

Elder Patterson moved from Kansas City to Bentonville, Arkansas as a teenager. Bentonville is known for two things: Walmart and mountain biking. He crashed five or six times in his first 20 minutes on a trail and decided he loved it.

Mountain biking brought him his closest friends, his best memories, and eventually the person who changed his life. He met a bishop from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on a trail one afternoon. They hit it off the way mountain bikers do. The bishop invited him to lunch. Elder Patterson told him he was a member but did not believe a word taught at the pulpit.

What followed was almost two years of weekly, then twice-weekly conversations. Every week Elder Patterson came with new problems. New reasons the Church could not be true. New church history questions. Every week the bishop answered them. Every week he invited Elder Patterson to read and pray from the Book of Mormon. Every week Elder Patterson said no.

The Question He Finally Asked Himself

By the time he graduated high school, Elder Patterson was planning to attend the local university with his girlfriend, looking at apartments, still riding bikes, getting into drag racing, building a social media following. He felt like he was at the top of the world.

Then one afternoon after another lunch with his bishop, he sat alone and thought about the man's life. Not his answers to church history. His actual life. A wife who clearly loved him. Kids who wanted to be good. A career he found meaningful. A house that felt like a home.

Elder Patterson asked himself an honest question: if I keep doing what I am doing, will I end up with what he has? Every part of his teenage instincts wanted to say yes. But he could not convince himself. Something in him said no. Probably not.

That night, for the first time, he got on his knees and prayed vocally and earnestly. He told Heavenly Father everything. He asked if the Book of Mormon was true. He asked if the church history questions could be justified. He asked if God knew him and loved him after years of speaking against what he thought of God. And he made a promise: if this is true, I will serve a mission and live by what the Book of Mormon teaches.

Then, almost as an afterthought, he told God he could not do any of that if his girlfriend was still in the picture. She did not believe any of it either.

Three days later, she called and broke up with him. She told him she felt prompted that he needed to serve a mission.

A Feeling He Could Not Explain Away

Elder Patterson did not cry over the breakup. What floored him was the feeling that came with it. He had never felt anything like it. He had felt thrills from winning races. He had felt the rush of overcoming hard things. But he had never felt peace. Not like this. Words came into his mind that his Heavenly Father had heard him. That He loved him. That the Book of Mormon was true.

He went to his bishop the next day. They started mission papers that afternoon.

He is clear that not everyone gets an experience like his. God does not always answer with a girlfriend breaking up with you on cue. But he got what he needed because he finally asked with a real desire to know. That made all the difference.

He also did not stop having questions after that night. He still had every church history concern he had walked in with. But now instead of reading against the Church, he read the Church's own resources. He prayed about the questions instead of just thinking about them. Every question he took to Heavenly Father eventually found an answer with that same peaceful feeling. He says 100% of his questions have been answered. Not all at once. Not in visions. But as he kept looking, he kept finding.

What He Knows Now About Joseph Smith

The biggest stumbling block for Elder Patterson had always been Joseph Smith. Church history. The early days of the Restoration. It all sounded, in his words, like snake oil.

Now he calls Joseph Smith one of his strongest testimonies. He points to the translation of the Book of Mormon: roughly 1,200 to 1,400 words translated per day, by a young man with little formal education and no knowledge of ancient scripture. He compares that to some of the most celebrated authors in history producing a few hundred words a day at their very best.

His conclusion: it is not possible without God.

He ends his testimony the same way he ends every conversation on his mission. The most important part of his faith is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ loves every one of His children. He loves those who no longer attend church. He loves those who have questions. He loves anyone listening to this podcast. No question is too big. No history is too complicated. Every answer is available to anyone who wants it badly enough to actually ask.

Key Takeaways

1. God is patient. He used a bishop on a mountain bike trail for almost two years before Elder Patterson was ready to listen. He does not give up.

2. Honest questions deserve honest investigation. Elder Patterson spent years reading against the Church. When he finally read the Church's own resources prayerfully, his questions found answers.

3. The quality of your prayer matters. Elder Patterson had prayed before. He had never prayed with a real desire to know. That one prayer changed everything.

4. God answers personally. The way He answered Elder Patterson will not be the way He answers you. But He answers.

5. If the Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, every other question becomes answerable. That is the foundation everything else rests on.

Want to hear Elder Patterson tell this story himself? Listen to this episode of the Choosing Jesus Christ Podcast. And if you have questions you have been sitting on, visit ChoosingJesusChrist.org. Our missionaries are ready to talk.