BYU-Idaho student Vanessa Perez-Perez and her gospel journey | Radio

BYU-Idaho Radio · Vanessa Perez-Perez Shares Her Conversion Story

REXBURG -- BYU-Idaho is home to so many different students from around the world. Although, many of the students on campus are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- the faith that sponsors the university -- not all students are members of the Church.

BYU-Idaho student, Vanessa Perez-Perez, did not grow up in the Church. She was introduced to the faith as a teenager.

"I actually worked at Pizza Pie Café in Mesa, Arizona, and it was my first job," Perez-Perez said. "I just turned 16. I was looking for a place to work, and the owner of this store was a member of the Church, and so he hired a lot of people from his ward."

In the process of getting to know her co-workers, Perez-Perez began to wonder why they seemed happier than she was when they were seemingly going through many of the same things she was.

"I just kind of just started doing my own individual research with it," Perez-Perez said. "Then I was like, could it be that it's because she's a member of this church, or that she's going to church?"

Perez-Perez says she grew up Catholic but was not very active. After she and a friend had stopped working at the restaurant, she decided to text him and ask him if he wanted to hang out. She received an interesting text that would change the course of her life forever.

"He was like, 'I only have time to hang out Sunday from eight to ten, like, in the morning,'" Perez-Perez said. "I was like, 'That's super specific. That's so weird.' He's like, 'Yeah, I honestly only have time to hang out during church. And even then, it's not much of a hangout. But you should come down and just, come to church with me if you're not doing anything.'"

Perez-Perez ultimately decided to go to church, and she enjoyed it. She continued going to church. That being said, at the time, she says she was not interested in joining the Church. It was then that she received another text from her friend inviting her to a dinner with his family.

She arrived for dinner under the impression that she would be the only guest but was soon made aware of two other guests who would be joining them -- the missionaries. After a lesson, the missionaries invited her to be baptized, but she was still not ready.

Just a few days later, Perez-Perez found herself back in a pew at church. After the meeting, as she was leaving, she felt prompted to talk to her friend's father about setting up lessons with the sister missionaries. One night, after a few lessons with the sisters, she drifted off to sleep.

"I had this dream," Perez-Perez said. "I just saw basically, a hand, just like, white and a hand reaching down towards me, and that's literally all I saw. Then, I opened my eyes and I was like, I need to get baptized tomorrow."

She was baptized soon after that experience. As her high school years were winding down, Perez-Perez had a decision to make. She had applied to a private Catholic school, but after a friend mentioned BYU-Idaho, she talked with other friends and asked Heavenly Father to guide her. After much thought, she decided to turn down a full-ride scholarship from the Catholic university to attend school in Rexburg.

She says it is a decision she is happy that she made.

"You draw closer to Christ," Perez-Perez said. "Just being really good Christlike examples. I think for me, the biggest thing was definitely the influence of people."

This interview is part of the BYU-Idaho Disciple Journeys Podcast.

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Disciple Journeys Podcast