The Police Officer Who Chased Down Missionaries: Austin King's Conversion

Austin King grew up in Prestonsburg, a small town of about 5,000 people in Appalachian eastern Kentucky, with no religious background at all. "I didn't believe in any like organized religion," he recalls — when he thought about church, he thought of snake-handling congregations. From boyhood he knew two things he wanted: the military and police work. He served 17 years in the military, including six in the Marine Corps Reserve, and became a police officer around 2012.

At about age 6, he had answered a knock at the door to find two missionaries — super friendly, wanting to talk about Jesus Christ. His mother shut them down quickly and angrily, and they left him a small card with a picture of Jesus. She told him they were Mormons, and he concluded "that must be a bad thing" — in eastern Kentucky there are very few Latter-day Saints.

Then, one quiet night on patrol, parked side by side with a fellow officer to kill time, he noticed two young men in white shirts walking down the street. "I'm thinking in my head, I'm like, I think they're Mormons, but I'm not really for sure. And then all of a sudden, I felt" — an unexplainable urge to speak with them. He chased the missionaries down in his patrol car, stopped them, and asked if they were Mormons. They set up a follow-up appointment.

The missionaries challenged him to complete the lessons and be baptized within a month. He finished all the lessons in a week and was baptized a month later — meeting his future wife, Savannah, the very day of his baptism. He quit tobacco, alcohol, and coffee cold turkey after ten years of use, something he had repeatedly failed to do on his own. He later married Savannah and was sealed to her in the Washington D.C. temple, where her family had been sealed for generations. His younger brother also joined the Church and recently returned from a mission in Mesa, Arizona.

Looking back, Austin compares his experience to Joseph Smith reading James 1:5 — "except his sacred grove was a police car." He now recognizes the Spirit had been guiding him throughout his life, and affirms his knowledge that the Church is true and that modern prophets continue to guide members today.