I grew up in a Pentecostal church. My aunts were big believers, still are, in going to church every Sunday morning and Wednesday nights. I was always urged to go to bible camps and summer camps for church.

If I didn't have a ride to church, they always found a way to get me there. So from a very early age, I was introduced to God and practically grew up with people who lived Him immensely. I learned to enjoy it and even now my mom takes me and my siblings to church on Sundays when we can and I still enjoy it. I also enjoy the lunch we have afterward.

I also quickly learned that other religions weren't the religion we were supposed to live by simply because it was not ours. It was weird to know that and to abide by that rule and most of my friends at school were Catholic and I knew that they were supposed to be the wrong ones because my religion was the supposed right one. Right?

I learned to quell my tongue whenever they spoke up about what they do in church and how they do penance because they do all the things I was taught you weren't supposed to.

For example, I do not pray to Mary in any way or ask anyone but God to forgive my sins. While I was taught all the things I was supposed to do and not do, I have always wondered. Wondered what exactly other people were doing in other churches. I have been to a Baptist church before and knew immediately that it wasn't for me and that was perfectly fine. I didn't want to go somewhere that didn't feel like it was meant for me and that's what finding your church is all about. I continued with my regular Pentecostal church and loved it.

I recently found out that one of my roommates at school is Catholic and for awhile I didn't know how to talk to her about God when I needed it. I knew she had a bible and that we had to have some part of the word in common. I am definitely not the best Christian out there, nor will I ever be but I wondered how different her religion was from mine.

At the time, I still had not found a church near me, mostly because I was scared to go on my own, and to this day I still hadn't and she invited me and our other roommate to a Catholic church in town. I pondered this for a few hours and felt like I was going to be condemned by anyone I tried to speak to about this because I wasn't Catholic. This was supposed to be against everything I was against! I was worried what my family would think or any of my friends who knew what religion I practiced.

The night before Sunday, I announced to my roommates that I would go if they agreed to come with my to a Pentecostal church and they both quickly agreed. Note that I did not agree to this just because I wanted them to go to a Pentecostal church but also because I was curious about the Catholic side of things.

I was very surprised when I found out that Catholics follow a schedule for Mass and that no matter the church you go to, they all teach the same things despite geographical distances. I also learned that they kneel a lot - when coming into the church, before getting into pews, and when they pray.

It was interesting and a little odd to hear the phrases the memorize and say back to each other as a congress. I guess it's not that different from my church as we always say 'Amen' when something good is said or something we like. Mass felt like a unity as everyone did everything together and then there was me - standing a few seconds too late after the others, not kneeling or uttering phrases did I didn't know.

Most of the kneeling I didn't do, not because I was being offensive but just that it wasn't what I practiced but I respected those who did and tried to stay silent and follow along as they did their prayers and such. I did try to sing along with the choir as music is my favorite part of church thought their music was a little out of date and much slower that what I am used to.

Overall it was an experience. I don't see myself becoming Catholic anywhere in the near future but I now have a sense of understanding of what they do and how they do it. I will continue being a Pentecostal and practice my religion. Thank you to St. Josephs for welcoming me and my roommates to your church and I wish you the best in your endeavors.