VIDEO: “How a Facebook message led me to baptism” | Siggi’s Conversion | Iceland

How a Facebook message led me to baptism | Siggi’s Conversion – powered by Happy Scribe

Yeah, I thought that was awesome. I texted nearly all of my friends, just like I’m with the Mormon missionaries watching the Mormon episode of South Park. That was a good memory.

Hey, everyone. Welcome back. Back today we have two awesome special guests. One of them is all the way from Iceland. Iceland. I didn’t forget. I just wanted him to say it okay. And we’re here to hear about Siggy’s conversion story. And then we also have the additional perspective of one of the missionaries that was with him when he learned about the Church. So, I don’t know. Do you want to start first? Just tell us a little bit about yourselves, and then we can get into the story and how it all laid out.

Alex, do you want to start?

Yeah, I’ll start. So my name is Alex. I served my mission in Wednesday, MTC, December 2018. And I was there for a few months and then went to Iceland in February of 2019 and then came home December of 2020. And it was the hardest and best time of my life.

My name is Chicken. I’m turning 31. So Alex reached out to me on Facebook. And first I was like, great Mormons, what do they want? But then it was actually a quite pleasant experience, and I feel like I’ve gained a lot from it.

Yeah. I’m so excited to hear everything. Okay, so you said that Alex reached out to you. How did that start? You just randomly find a person on Facebook and then message them or.

Yeah. So in Iceland, for a long time, we were still a Nokia mission.

Nokia.

So we had little Nokias even in 2018.

Yeah.

And then just a little bit before COVID hit, we actually happened to get smartphones, and we didn’t really know why because we barely use them. But then Quarantine hit.

Why.

Yeah, right. But. Yeah. And so then we had to shift from not being able to go out and talk people to only being able to talk people on Facebook. And it was really hard. But, yeah, for anyone who doesn’t know what’s like the Facebook Messenger, you just kind of scroll through, you try to post uplifting content, but you also try to follow the spirit. And you see people say, okay, I’m going to share the gospel with this person. And that ended up being sicky.

How did you find him? Was it like on a group or.

I think he was just suggested friends.

Okay.

Yeah. Because I ended up becoming friends with someone on Facebook who happened to be friends with him. So Facebook said, hey, this guy, all right.

And so initial thoughts when you got that first message was, okay, what?

I was just like, why is this guy bothering me? Just like, what does he want? Because I said to him in English, like, hey, do I know you? Like, what do you want? Yeah.

Why are you reaching out?

And he responded, to me in Icelandic, like, hey, I’m missing from the truth of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. And I was like, great. So not in the mood for that because I was at a low point in my life. Been dealing with October and stuff. Would vitality be the right word. It’s like the will to live.

Yeah. Lost your purpose.

Yeah, I lost my purpose. And so I had zero expectations that this would lead me here.

So what made you say.

Like, yeah, I’ll meet or originally, I just wanted to meet them and make fun of them.

Classic. Okay.

And when I saw his companion, I was like, yeah, that’s what I’m going to do.

Yeah. He called him the poster boy of Mormonism because he’s just very clean, had perfect haircut.

We got to get some close up. Okay, so then how did the first meeting end up? Tell us about that experience for both of you.

We talked about the restoration, that we have some pizza and what South Park found.

What, another New Testament of Jesus Christ. Sweet. Okay.

Yeah.

So we Tom the restoration, and he said, yeah, I’ve heard of Joseph Smith and then proceeds to show us the South Park episode. Okay, well, I think it was something along the lines of, like, hey, I let you share something. Let me show you something. And that’s fair. Okay. Maybe a little unorthodox, but let’s do it.

Yeah. I thought that was awesome. I texted nearly all of my friends, just like I’m with the Mormon missionaries watching the Mormon episode of South Park. That was a good memory.

All right, so that first lesson is restoration, then South Park’s perspective and pizza. How long does it take to go somewhere else or. I don’t know. To me, that sounds almost like, okay, if I was a missionary in that moment would be like, well, that was an interesting experience. I don’t know what.

Maybe I could share something that stuck out to me. Was that during the lesson or maybe toward the end of the lesson, you said something about and I’m paraphrasing, but it was like, I can just feel something special or something there’s something. And so, yeah, I think we kind of ended saying, when can we meet again? And you said, yes. I want to hear more. Whatever you guys have, I want to figure out what it is, something like that.

So it’s more of like a feeling in that moment than the actual what was being taught.

Yeah.

Okay.

Well, when they went into the three Kingdoms of Glory, because I’ve already know I’ve always feared death a lot.

Okay.

Fear death, like, a little less than I did. So that grabbed me. I think that was the throwing of Alaso and roping me in completely. I was like, yeah, okay. I like this.

Okay, well, I remember, too. You texting us after we gave you the Book of Mormon, and we encourage you to start with the introduction, but also the testimonies of the witnesses. And then you write about three witnesses, and then you sent it to us and you said you said like, wow, I think this is legit or something like that. We’re like, yeah, maybe we’re only dedicating your time to this right now.

I know that eventually, since you mentioned before that you’re kind of in a low point dealing with alcoholism, kind of losing will in life. And as missionaries, I know that there’s a lesson where you teach the word of wisdom. Do you remember that lesson? Do you remember what that was like?

I mean, I already was at the point where I wanted to quit drinking.

Okay.

But it wasn’t going really well because it’s an addiction super hard. Yeah. There were some funny calls in between where they had to deal with me being not in the best place, but I’m ready. How is it I appreciate them not giving up on me, so that was great. Do you have any insights on that regarding that specific lesson?

I think when we brought it up, we mentioned coffee because coffee is a big part of Icelandic culture. It’s just a time of day called coffee time. Yeah, coffee teaming, that was our main worry. But then he kind of said, I don’t like coffee. Oh, okay.

Sounds good.

We were aware of some of the other issues, but I think we talked to you about how the spirit, just the gospel can help with it. And you said you’re pretty much like, all right, let’s give it a go. And then there were a lot of times throughout Sikki’s progression that throughout your progression that we didn’t have to do anything but you would call us. Yeah. Just not in a good headspace, but just ended up being able to talk and be there, I think, is what helped. And it helped us a lot.

Too, honestly, without me knowing, I think we got a lot closer than most of the missionaries get to the people they teach you two specifically or you and both just all the mission, I think.

Yeah.

Because it’s only eight elders.

Yeah. In the whole country.

Yeah. It’s a small mission, but others got closer to some than others, but they’re all good kids.

Yeah. It’s great. A lot of times when I hear conversion stories, sometimes there’s like, family or friend struggles when someone decides to go to Church. Was there any of that for you?

No, nothing.

Wow. Okay. That makes it easier, right?

Yeah.

All right, so next question. So you met together. Were you guys still meeting when you got baptized or how long was that time new missionaries, just like, what’s that like?

He had actually gone home when I got baptized.

So how long was it from your first lesson to your baptism?

It was November 2020, and I got baptized February 2021.

Okay. And now I know that a lot of times people have experiences where, like, as a baptism gets closer once they make the decision to get baptized or right after the baptize or both, sometimes it kind of feels like things get more difficult, whether it’s maybe you’re wondering if the faith that you’ve developed is as strong as you thought it was, or if just like, things in your life in general are more difficult. Do you feel like you experienced that at all?

Yeah. After all, this got way worse.

It did, yeah.

I mean, that’s a thing I’m still dealing with. It’s a PC that never goes away, but I’ve been clean for a long time. Thank you. And this guy right here.

Yeah. It really helps to have that so far. Yes. Okay. And then I’m also curious to know from Alex’s perspective, so you’re talking about in that very first time you meet with Sigy, he’s showing South Park kind of saying, like, I’ve heard about this Joseph Smith guy before. Let’s watch this together. Was there anything in that sort of experience that caused you to learn something about Justice Smith or Church history in general that you didn’t know of before that maybe was concerning, or were you pretty aware?

I was pretty aware. I love history, specifically Church history. And so that ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved learning about Church history. So all the good, the bad, whatever. Obviously South Park isn’t 100% factual or it’s a little hyperbolic, but I knew everything. And so I think that might have actually helped the fact that I kind of had a previous knowledge with some of this stuff. Three witnesses, Joseph Smith, everything. Maybe that helped a little bit.

Yeah, I definitely think that. And from my experience to it when I was a missionary, that a lot of times the people that you’re drawn to by the sphere that you kind of find and teach, it’s almost like you guys were meant to go through this together. I think it’s a really cool feeling that I had. It kind of sounds like you guys have had that, too.

There is a topic that I would like to get into that people are preordained to have hardships. It’s like in the spirit world where you can say, like, yeah, I need to become better at this. So when we come to this world, we have certain difficulties. Like, do you get what I’m saying?

I think so, yeah. You can continue with it. I think I’ll follow, yeah.

So, like, with my disability, I think I must have been very arrogant in the spirit world, so I was ordained with this ability to keep myself humble.

Do you want to let us know what that is, what that’s been like?

Yeah. I was born with only two fingers, which isn’t that hard to spot, but nobody really knows why something happened in the womb or something. And it doesn’t limit me as long as I don’t work as being like a shoe salesman where I have to tie shoes.

There’s only one career you can’t.

Yeah. Basically. Besides that, I’m pretty good at everything, but I think it was meant to humble me because I’m not a very humble person, and I think I wasn’t humble in the spirit world either. So I think there’s a reason for everything. Also, the Atlantic mission President. Well, he wasn’t the President. He was a Councilor.

Yeah. So Iceland is part of the Denmark Copenhagen mission. So we have our mission present in Denmark, and one of his counselors stays in Iceland. And so we kind of consider him our mission President because he’s the only one we really ever see.

Okay.

So when he was two years old, he got his hand stuck in a meat grinder. So one of his hands looks like my hand. And when I first saw him, I was like, hey, friend.

I mean, you guys bonded over that. Yeah.

It’s like a second father to me. Even though he just said, I’m not going to be your Utah dad, he’s like, yeah. I was like, you’re still my dad. Yeah. I think that is too random to be random.

Well, obviously, I don’t know, but we’re all given something that’ll kind of humble us. I remember when we were teaching, I think it might even be the lesson before we were planning on inviting you to be baptized, we talked about baptism, I think, in the plant Salvation. And you just asked, So when can I be baptized? We kept our cool, but inside we’re, like.

Got him.

Yeah. You remember that? Yeah. And so I think the humility plays a huge part in that.

Yes. And also, we have a sister serving in Iceland that has a hand disability as well.

She’s surrounded by friends.

Yeah. So it’s too many people who have a similar disability in such a small mission to make it random.

Yeah. It’s kind of like, I don’t know, like, join our family where we all are like each other, and that’s really cool. Yeah. Okay. Well, I just want to say thank you guys so much for coming and especially piggy all the way from Iceland to be here. Thanks for having me. I mean, maybe not for this whole purpose, but maybe that’s really cool. Is there any last thoughts that you have, maybe about your story or just, like, advice that you want to give to anyone who may be going through anything similar to what you did or still are going through?

I mean, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, everything is possible. I mean, I’ve done some sketchy things in my life, and I haven’t treated people like they should be treated. And I feel like I wasn’t irredeemable. But then I learned that Jesus is our savior. Through his atonement, we can be forgiven. So I like that. And I feel like I’ve changed my life, like 180 deg. So for anyone that’s still struggling just with anything. The atonement it just works wonders.

That’s awesome. That’s such a powerful testimony. Thank you so much. And Alex, do you have any last words to share as well?

Yeah, I mean, I think so. While Sticky was kind of going through one of the low points in his life, I was going through one of the hardest in mine. Serving a mission in Scandinavia isn’t typically a super easy thing and especially with Kobe going on never really got to see people stuck inside all day and so I was just feeling super down all the time. I think it was kind of natural that we would find each other both at low points and I mean through Sikhi my testimony has grown so much. Scriptures say I’m paraphrasing bias. Basically, even if one person comes unto Christ, how great will be your joy and that’s exactly how I feel. So if you’re learning about the Church or if you are getting ready to serve a mission, whatever just know that everyone’s a missionary, everyone’s helping each other grow their testimonies and it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in my life.

I love that so much. Thank you guys so much for being here and please let us know in the comments if you have any questions particular Alex, if you have anything else that you want to say and be sure to like this video out and subscribe for more thank you again. See you guys. Bye.