Repent, Convert, Converse

In Old Testament, the word translated into English as ‘repent’ is the Hebrew word shuwb. This word also means to return, to turn, and to convert. The word repent seems to me to have taken on a somewhat negative connotation in Mormon culture. The English word ‘convert’ has a more positive and inspiring feel to it. ‘Convert’ comes from two root words – the prefix ‘con-’, meaning with or together, and ‘vert’, meaning to turn. To convert means to turn with. The Book of Mormon gives the complete idea of being converted with the phrase “converted unto the Lord,” which phrase is used a handful of times. The word ‘converse’ is closely related to the word ‘convert’. The root word ‘verse’, which also means to turn, comes from the same parent root as the root word ‘vert’. If we take the word ‘convert’ and replace it with its sister ‘converse’, then the phrase “converted unto the Lord” morphs into “converse with the Lord”. The concept of conversing with the Lord as we are converted to him is what repentance can mean.