Becoming a Bahá’í

Hello! At seventeen, I have just declared myself a Bahá’í after eight months of researching the Faith. “Yahoo!” I hear you cry.

My experience is quite hard to describe, but I will try. I have always been agnostic: never had a religion. There was always something in the back of my mind telling me God was there. I always tried to worship in some way, but I have never felt fully comfortable until now.

The first time I felt Bahá’u’lláh's words speak to me in full potential was at a devotional held in the Forest Cafe. There was a feeling of acceptance, respect and utter elation from Him and the other believers of our beloved Faith. When I read the Hidden Words that night they meant a lot more than they had before. I now understood, the beauty of Bahá’u’lláh's words more. That was when I knew that I wanted to keep this experience and the beliefs with me for the rest of my life and this is an experience I will treasure. It is weird to think back to almost eight months ago: I knew nothing about this wonderful religion. Thanks to Laura Hemmati and the people I've been introduced to – I found not only my religion – but some amazingly good friends. My friends and parents have taken it really well, thankfully they're all open-minded. It's great to be part of the construction team! I look forward to meeting you all and fasting, feasts, Bahá’í New Year and of course the bundles of fun I'm bound to experience at the youth weekends. And for those of you who want to know the new Scottish Bahá’í population is now roughly 700 and one!