How I Became a Bahá’í by Matt Olive

HOW I BECAME A mike by Matt Olive, submitted May 29, 2022

In 1980 I was living in Corning, Iowa and reading books about the Bahá’í Faith. I also read the Adams County Free Press occasionally – the weekly local newspaper. The Editor would solicit folks to write neighborhood news columns from the different townships and he would include them in the paper. So and so went over to so and so’s house for an evening meal and desert – that type of local news. I usually skipped this section of the paper. Probably Les and Betty Rogers’ prayers moved me to read this section of

the newspaper one time, and I was shocked to read that Les and Betty Rogers went somewhere to visit Bahá’í friends.

A few weeks later I called Betty saying I had been reading about the Faith and was interested in it. Of course, she was overjoyed and invited me for a visit. She later told me that the only reason she agreed to write the column was for an opportunity to mention the Bahá’í Faith. Another odd thing about this contact that we both found curious, was that I was renting a farmhouse just up the hill from Les and Betty’s. This was the first time I met Les and Betty and but for the chance reading of the local column I might have never met them.

I met with them a couple of times and I remember them taking me to Atlantic, Iowa to a meeting at Dick and Janet DeLoughery’s. Dick and Janet were Bahá’ís who were living in Atlantic at the time. Unfortunately, I would be to be moving to Boston, Massachusetts within a few months. I sensed Betty was disappointed about this and I felt bad for them since they had just found a seeker.

I declared as a Bahá’í within a year after arriving in Boston. I vacationed to Iowa each summer to see my parents and of course I would see Les and Betty also. I remember they had Bahá’ís from Council Bluffs out during one of these visits and they would make old made ice cream which everyone always enjoyed. They invited Bahá’ís from Council Bluffs out regularly. Les and Betty attended events in Council Bluffs regularly at the time. I remember they took me to a Bahá’í event at the botanical gardens in Des Moines one of the summers that I was back visiting.

I moved back to Corning in 1994 and remember Les and Betty as the sweetest couple you would ever want to meet. They were very warm, welcoming and hospitable. They were extremely knowledgeable of the Faith. We remained close friends until their passing.