A newspaper reporter in search of a story found the good news of the gospel and on June 4 was baptized into the church.
"Joining the Church has been the most important thing I have ever done in my life," said dianna Greening, a writer for the Milwaukee Sentinel.Sister Greening's exposure to the church came through her association with John Humiston, who had returned in March from serving in the Spain Barcelona Mission and was working as a car salesman in Greenfield, south of here.
"My manager arranged with Dianna to take a sports car for a test drive, and then do an article about it," recalled Humiston, a member of the West Allis (Wis.) 2nd Ward.
After her test drive, the newpaper reporter called the dealership to ask the manager a question about the car Humiston said. The manager was not in, so she began to converse with Humiston. During the conversation, he mentioned his mission in Spain.
"A light went on in my head and I thought this might make an interesting story," she recalled. "So I asked John if he would let our paper do a story on his experiences. He said yes."
Humiston said the reporter called him back several times to ask probing questions about his belief in God and the purpose of life. "From the way she talked, I felt comfortable in talking about these things, and that she would be reverent about them," Humiston said.
A series of telephone interviews for the newspaper article took several hours, Humiston said. He added that most of the journalist's questions dealt with Church doctrine, far beyond the scope of the newspaper story she was planning.
"At one point during our conversations," the reporter related, "John said to me, 'God wants you to be happy, Dianna.' That really touched me at the heart for I had not been happy for a long time. I called him back later that day and thanked him for those words, with tears welling up inside of me."
Her story about Humiston was published in the Milwaukee paper May 9. It occupied most of a page, with a photo of him standing next to a car at his workplace.
"His story is a simple one, pierced with love and spirit," was the lead sentence of her article, which was replete with quotations from Humiston regarding his feelings about his mission and the gospel.
Their association did not end with the publication of the news story. he came to her home on May 5 - their first face-to-face meeting - and gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon.
"I was impressed with his professional, clean appearance, but more important, ith the look of humility in his eyes," she said. "That really moved me.
"I felt such a sense of warmth, but also a lot of guilt. Somehow, I knew I should have been willing to crawl halfway around the earth to get this book instead of his coming to me with it."
She said after he left she read and was touched by a brief note he had written on the title page.
"I then read the introduction and the experiences and testimonies related by Joseph Smith. As I read his testimony, I became excited and I knew it to be true. i could actually feel myself there wit hime. My mind reeled with joy."
Over the next month, she developed her testimony of the true gospel of Jesus Christ, she said, and overcame doubts and fears about joining the Church. She visited Church meetings in Humiston's ward and was impressed by the kindness and helpfulness of the people there.