How I Became a Bahá’í, by Cindy Nielsen

I believe I met Wilma Yourex in about 1968 here in Cedar Rapids when I was about 12. She was my spiritual mother. She introduced me to the Bahá’í Faith. She came from a Quaker background. She was a widow at the time I knew her. She had made ends meet by taking in elders who needed help, but had gotten too old to safely do that any more when I knew her. I attended firesides for two years in her home till we moved back to the countryside, but I didn’t declare till my junior year of college at the university of Iowa. When I checked in with the Cedar Rapids Bahá’ís when I was back in the area, I couldn’t find anyone who knew her. I was attracted to the Bahá’í Faith when the Bahá’ís showed a film at the Unitarian church here in Cedar Rapids. I sat next to an elderly Bahá’í woman who was just delightful. I never did figure out who she was. Wilma put an ad for her firesides in the paper. It turned out my mother had met her before. I was extremely shy at that period of my life and my mother was desperate to socialize me, so she followed up and called Mrs. Yourex and dropped me off at her house for the firesides. I think I was the only seeker that came during that time. Rarely there was another Bahá’í. But I felt safe and comfortable in her home. As some of the youth told me a long time later, it is the spirit that attracts. At that time, you couldn’t really declare before the age of 15 and I felt uncomfortable doing so when my father was fairly hostile to religion. But I was a true seeker. I had already read the Bible from cover to cover. I was seriously looking at religions and mother brought me to the mosque. I attended Catholic Church with a friend. Mrs. Yourex tried to teach me through pamphlets and records. I remember there were pretty funny ones by Bill Sears. Then she gave me introductory books, but I really held out to read actual books of the Faith. I felt if this was a Prophet of God whose Words were going to change the world, I wanted to evaluate Him based on His Words, not those of others. She finally reluctantly loaned me some of her books on the Faith. I was pretty sure I wanted to be a Bahá’í, but I wasn’t sure the timing was right and when we moved back to the countryside, I put it in the back of mind to follow up on later, and did when I got to the University of Iowa.