My parents are against my joining the Mormon Church. How can I become a member of the Mormon Church and please my parents at the same time?

Question

 
Dear Gramps,
My mom and dad who don’t even communicate are against me getting baptized in the Mormon Church. I really want to but am unsure if I can live up to the commitment especially around my family who expect me to be just like them. Also I am a middle child who keeps the peace most of the time and can’t stand my parents to be unhappy with me. I was brought up to conform and to obey the guilt. At first my families were supportive until I talked about baptism. I was raised completely agnostic and my family members are scared of being judged by my new lifestyle. Why is this so hard? I want to please my Heavenly Father and myself but my loved ones are precious too.
Christine, from Coquitlam, BC, Canada

Answer

Dear Christine,
As long as you are a dependent child–i.e., not yet of legal age–you are legally bound to be obedient to your parents. There would be no problem with expressing your desires, but it would be well to let your parents know that you would be happy to be under their direction as long as it is required by law.
Once you are of legal age, you are free to carry out your own decisions. If you believe that the Mormon Church is as it claims to be, the true and living church of Jesus Christ, then it would be well to affiliate with the Church at all hazards, since your eternal salvation is worth more than anything else in the world.
 

Gramps