I’ve been Catholic, Protestant, mystic, atheist, and even tried my hand at paganism. I’ve been on this journey of trying to find God and have a relationship with him. As an infant I was baptized a Catholic and had my first communion as a child, but no real faith foundation or understanding of the Catholic Church. Prior to April of 2023 I did not believe in God or the Bible for about 2 years, and didn’t think it was possible to ever believe in God again. Yet, in my soul I was craving Him all along while I was trying convince myself to just believe in something. I was so lost and hurt on the inside trying all the self help info there was but nothing was truly working. It wasn’t until April of 2023 that my friend got married in a Catholic Church in Edinburg, Texas and my wife and I made a 5 hour drive to attend. I was trying to find any reason not to make that drive and stay home-Thank God my wife wasn’t going for it. We made the drive to Edinburg and walked into a beautiful Catholic Church in the valley of Texas. I stare around at the icons and the people kneeling and begin to feel an overwhelming sense of anxiety and frustration. I started to feel like I was going to pass out and think “maybe there is a spirit in me that’s not happy-but wait, I don’t believe in spirits, or God or the devil. So what’s really going on?” The priest then reads from the book of Tobit, and being confused I look to my wife and ask what the book of Tobit is because I’d never seen it in the Bible. Being the researcher that I am, I had to look it up, and found out that the Catholic Bible had more books (7) than Protestant Bibles. So that alone sparked my interest, and then the Eucharist came out. Even though I didn’t know at the time that it was the true presence of christ, it was still a surprise to me when I saw the bread and wine arrive at the alter that the anger I was feeling had vanished and my anxiety was replaced with peace. Leaving the church that day got me really thinking. A few weeks prior to this wedding I was researching anything I could to disprove God but in the process it was making me think about Him more. I truly believe that was Him calling me to Him. The morning after the wedding I wanted to go to the Basilica of our lady of San Juan in San Juan, Texas. My grandma would take us there as a kid and I remember how beautiful and holy it was. I used the excuse to my wife and her family that came along, that its just really massive and they have a great gift shop where you can get beautiful gifts for your family. I was telling myself that as an excuse too but deep down I knew what God was doing. He was calling me home. We arrived at the beautiful cathedral in south Texas and I was instantly marveled at the holy art and felt his presence everywhere. That day forward I sought out God and wanted to know the truth of his church. I first read the book of Tobit at work the next day, and after almost putting it down twice due to not wanting to accept that angels could actually come down, I still kept reading. I finished the whole book in one sitting and was completely blown away by the story. I then decided to look into the history of the church. I was told that Catholicism is wrong and to stay away from it most of my life. But both of my experiences of God calling me to him was in a Catholic Church (one a few years ago at my wife’s Grandpas funeral) and again at the wedding in April. I thought to myself, “I didn’t listen the first time, and become a Protestant, so maybe I should listen to this call to Catholicism that God is wanting to reach me through”. So I studied the early church and found out about the Eastern Orthodox Church. I thought to myself “oh here’s some traditional views that aren’t a part of the Catholic Church”. I don’t know why I was still hesitant to become Catholic but I decided I was going to go to an Eastern Orthodox Church that was over an hour and half away from me. I woke up too late and couldn’t make it in time so I read online that you can go to a Catholic Church if no Eastern Orthodox Church wasn’t near. I went to the local Catholic Church that my dads grandparents were raised in and buried right outside of. I prayed the rosary and observed the mass. After leaving that mass and coming home to my now wife, I told her that I enjoyed mass and will start going every Sunday. To my surprise my wife wanted to go to St. Lawrence in Sugar Land, Texas. She was taken there years prior and told me how beautiful it was. We continued going to St. Lawrence and I kept researching and reading about the early church and studying the Bible through a Catholic lens. Through that time I  came to realize that the Catholic Church is the true church of Jesus Christ and the apostles. In the past God kept calling me home to the Catholic Church but I let the world tell me about it instead of finding out for myself. Now having done the work myself to seek him in Catholicism, I know it to be the truth. Moving forward I hope to be a resource for anyone that’s interested in becoming Catholic or just curious on the church’s beliefs. God is merciful and never gave up on me even when I continued to give up on him and I’m so blessed that I found him in the Catholic Church where he always wanted me to be!