"Asalaamu alaikum! My name is Leah Notar Donato and I'm an 18 year old revert of a year and a half. I come from a catholic family, so you can bet your bottom dollar my parents aren't too thrilled about my decisions. It is very hard not having any support from them, but I pray they learn to accept me eventually. Anyway, let's get back to how it all started! At age 14, I became very close to someone who stood by me throughout many hardships. He was Muslim, yet we never discussed religion in depth until I moved away 2 years later. When he asked me about my own faith, I realized I wasn't as knowledgeable about Christianity as I thought. I couldn't explain certain aspects of my religion, and I wanted to get these uncertainties answered. I reached out to ministers, youth leaders, and even sat with a priest for 3 hours trying to understand things fully. I noticed that everyone responded differently and with opinions rather than evidence from the Bible...I was not satisfied with their feedback, which disabled me from standing confidently in my beliefs. During this process, A friend, began to teach me more about Islam. I watched Islamic videos and lectures for weeks and subhanallah every ounce of information I absorbed made complete sense to me. Everything was just so logical..it was simply undeniable. Initially, I was afraid to admit that Islam was the truth..I was terrified of the challenges it would bring. Regardless, I knew I had to choose between what was easy and what was right, and allhamdullilah I took my shahada shortly after. Since then, my heart is calmed knowing I've been guided to the straight path, which lets me have a sense of happiness even during the worst difficulties of this dunya. Now, I am trying to grow within my faith at my new college environment. I have joined my school's MSA group and Allah has already given me some wonderful friends that I have been praying for in order to help with the goal of increasing my imaan. I know I still have a lot to learn, but I look forward to continuing my journey through Islam. Words cannot describe how grateful I am to have been led to this peaceful, beautiful, way of living. Allhamdullilah ❤️
