Oddly enough, since I've been a convert to the Church, I
feel more Jewish now than I ever did.
It's enriched my experience with my Jewish heritage rather
than taken away from.
As you know, the Jewish tradition is rich in prophets.
In fact, the Old Testament is really the Book of Prophets.
Growing up, I really, really didn't give much
consideration to the prophets.
I could probably only name a handful.
Then I wasn't really much of a believer,
but I knew that they were prophets.
And for me to embrace the notion of a modern-day
prophet, a true prophet, one ordained by our Heavenly
Father, was not a leap of faith for me.
I just inherently knew that.
When I realized that Joseph Smith was the prophet of the
Restoration, the whole prophet piece, so
to speak, came together.
And I realized he's in a long line of prophets.
This guy's the real deal.
Richard recently retired as a computer technology systems
analyst and moved with his wife, Holly, from
California to Oregon.
They were baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints on March 19, 2006.