UGP 235 - Challenged to Ask God if the Book of Mormon was True, She Felt Nothing - Alicia Wilder – Part 1

Alicia’s mother’s family, the Becks, were some of the earliest settlers in her hometown of Utah, Alpine. Alpine is in Utah County, Utah, the county with the highest concentration of LDS in the world.

https://www.deseret.com/faith/2021/7/8/22569016/which-county-has-the-second-highest-concentration-of-latter-day-saints-hint-its-not-in-utah

Growing up in this generational LDS family, she describes her upbringing as full of joy, peace, and religious zeal. Alicia describes herself as a “Molly Mormon” who always wanted to please God. At age 14, the LDS Prophet challenged all church members to read the Book of Mormon and to pray to ask whether it was true. Alicia did and expected a spiritual experience but none came; she felt nothing and was puzzled but carried on. Later in high school, she met a young man with a similar desire to please God, Micah Wilder, and they often attended the temple early mornings before school to do baptisms for the dead.

After high school, Micah went on his LDS mission to Florida and Alicia eventually attended BYU. Although she sought God, she felt empty as if something was missing. “Where’s Jesus in all this?” she asked. Then she received an email from Micah that told her God is something more; His love is unconditional. To learn more about this love that she craved, she enrolled in a New Testament course at BYU. What she read in the NT gave her a glimmer of hope that she could experience this love.