Johnny & Janet Page — Pentecostal Minister's Heart Softened After Family Deaths (1995–2001)

Johnny Page's conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a powerful testament to how the Lord uses the trials of mortality — even the loss of loved ones — to soften hearts and prepare His children to receive the restored gospel.

Johnny was raised Pentecostal in Madisonville, Kentucky. He was not just a casual member; he became a Pentecostal minister, starting his own church in a city that didn't have one. He pastored that church for about three years. He had strong moral standards — he didn't believe in drinking, smoking, cursing, or immoral living — and he was devoted to his faith.

Janet, his future wife, was a lifelong member of the LDS Church from Kentucky. She had been active in her youth but became inactive around age 18, marrying a nonmember. She was inactive for about four years but never lost her testimony. She said: "I have never not had a testimony of the Church. I grew up going and knowing that it was true. I've known that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and the Son. I've known it my whole life." After her brother-in-law confronted her about when she would return to church, she made an appointment with her bishop and became active again, raising her four children in the Church as a single mother after her divorce.

After being divorced about eight years, Janet decided she wanted to remarry but only to a faithful Latter-day Saint. Then she met Johnny — a Pentecostal minister. She recalled thinking: "Father in heaven, what is this?" But when they spoke on the phone for the first time, they talked for three hours. Johnny said: "It felt so natural speaking to her. Everything just clicked." Two nights later they had their first date.

They married in 1995. Johnny did not join the Church immediately. He was a Pentecostal minister, devoted to his own faith. But the Lord was working on Johnny's heart through the trials of life.

Two significant deaths in Johnny's family softened his heart:

— The death of his sister-in-law (Janet's sister)

— The death of his mother

These losses — coming in the years after his marriage to Janet — caused Johnny to reflect deeply on the purpose of life, the nature of God, and the question of where his loved ones had gone. The Latter-day Saint doctrine of eternal families and the plan of salvation spoke directly to his grief. The Lord used these painful losses to open Johnny's heart to the restored gospel.

Six years after marrying Janet, Johnny was baptized and became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He recognized key differences between his former faith and the restored gospel: the nature of the Godhead (three separate personages rather than one), the priesthood authority (which he had not recognized in his former church), and the unity of doctrine (taught the same worldwide through a living prophet).

Johnny's conversion is remarkable for several reasons:

— He was not a casual seeker. He was an ordained Pentecostal minister who had started his own church. His conversion required him to lay down his ministerial identity and embrace a new understanding of the Godhead, priesthood, and prophetic authority.

— The Lord used the trials of mortality to prepare his heart. The deaths of his sister-in-law and his mother softened him in ways that doctrinal arguments alone could not. The Lord knew that Johnny needed to confront the reality of death and the hope of eternal families before he could fully receive the restored gospel.

— His wife Janet's lifelong testimony and faithful example were instrumental. She had never lost her testimony, even during years of inactivity, and her return to full activity demonstrated the power of a sincere witness lived over time.

Johnny Page's conversion stands as a powerful witness that the Lord is mindful of each of His children, that He can use the very trials of mortality to soften hearts and open doors to the gospel, and that the restored truth about eternal families and the plan of salvation speaks directly to the deepest needs of the human heart.

Fuller account of this event (the complete account as preserved in Johnny and Janet Page, 'Why I Believe,' Episode 20 (Mormon Channel, broadcast.lds.org)):

Johnny: 'And then, my sister-in-law passed away, and that was a big blow to us. And then, my mother passed away. And it just—it really started to soften my heart. I started looking at things a little bit differently. I started wondering, you know, where are they? What happens to them? And, you know, the Church has the answers to that.'