That is entirely up to him. He may believe you are ready right away, and maybe not for a long time. If you are really serious about this, you must develop a relationship with him in order to progress.

The original text of Mosiah 21:28 reads: "And now Limhi was again filled with joy, on learning from the mouth of Ammon that king Benjamin had a gift from God, whereby he could interpret such engravings; yea, and Ammon also did rejoice." The problem, of course, is that king Benjamin was dead by this time (Mosiah 6:5). This reference was changed to 'Mosiah' in the 1837 and subsequent editions. However, it appears that this was not the only place where such a change was made. The original text of Ether 4:1 reads: "...and for this cause did king Benjamin keep them, that they should not come unto the world until after Christ shew himself unto his people." Again, Benjamin was changed to "Mosiah" in subsequent editions. The fact that there are two such changes leads one to speculate that Joseph Smith may possibly have had a slightly different course in mind for the life of King Benjamin and had perhaps killed off Benjamin prematurely while rewriting the lost 116 pages of the Book of Mormon. The original text of I Nephi 12:18 reads: "...yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God, and Jesus Christ, which is the Lamb of God..." The problem here is that the name 'Jesus Christ' was not revealed to the Nephites until II Nephi 10:3. "Wherefore, as I said unto you, it must needs be expedient that Christ--for in the last night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name--should come among the Jews..." In order to correct this contradiction, the text of I Nephi 12:18 was changed to read 'Messiah' instead of 'Jesus Christ'. How does the church explain that?

As Yarnladyishere wrote how long it will take will be between you and your bishop. It will also depend on the seriousness of the sins that led to your excommunication and (unless things have changed) the elders who sat in on your disciplinary council. They will also have to be convinced of your worthiness for rebaptism. However, don't let any of that discourage you. God does want you back and if you rely upon Him, He will help you.

To Glenn, The true church... Counterfeit Christian churches often make it a point to cast doubt and suspicion on other churches or denominations, with the leader oftentimes claiming that only his church is true. While many groups hold that the Christian churches do have partial truth, it is taught that full truth has somehow been lost and can now only be found in the "one true church." This may involve utilizing Christian terminology while having a different meaning behind those particular words. An example is the Watchtower Society, also known as the Jehovah's Witnesses. This group, founded by Charles Taze Russell in the 19th century, teaches that those who belong to any church outside of "Jehovah's" church are doomed to annihilation. Only those who belong to the Watchtower organization have a chance to attain "Paradise Earth." This is why Jehovah's Witnesses are adamant in sharing their faith door to door, even attempting to convert those who already attend Christian churches. The Jehovah's Witnesses will often use words that sound reasonable to a nominal Christian (i.e. "Jehovah's Christian Witnesses," "salvation," "Jesus Christ," etc), but they are usually reluctant to tell potential converts that the meanings behind these words are completely different than what has been historically meant.

Sit down with him and ask him, the three of you can certain work through this and between you, the bishop and the Lord. When the Lord says you are ready, the other two (meaning you and the bishop) will know it. It isn't easy but it happens, I know of what I speak.

every church out there claims to be the 'only true church' and condemns other churches, don;t try and claim LDS is wrong based on this. Why are you trying to prove LDS is wrong anyway, its up to the members what they believe in. Have you ever met someone who is LDS? asweetguy4u2knowHR if you have found truth then rejoice in it and do what you can to correct what you have done. IN most churches it is a consutlation between the bishop/preist and yourlsef.

It is probably about that same time that one very close in my family was also excommunicated. For certain legal reasons for the first 5 or more of those years he was not even able to do anything about it. But gradually, over these past years or so he has been regularly attending most of the time, and wants to get back into full fellowship and receive callings in the Church. He has been working back and forth between bishop and stake president, etc., now for quite some time. It was only recently, however, that his stake president felt it time to seek the possible "go ahead" from Church headquarters. When the appropriate info is handed to the stake, the high council will convene with him to consider readiness for re-baptism. Many of these excommunications and the restoration of blessings depend on the precise nature and gravity of the offense/s that initially took place, and, quite often, considerations also include the Church member's standing within the Church at the time of offense. There are various factors at play which, overall, affect the final outcomes. Just continue to be patient, My Friend, and all will work out for your overall good and betterment. May God bless you in love and patience.

Im sorry but some people frustrate me with their answers. Since when did God declare his forgivness can be decided by a man? Never. In the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord stated that a man may know if someone has repented of their sins because they will confess them and forsave them. You have confessed, a confession which led to your excommunication, and if you confessed serious sins commited after your excommunication but you have since forsaken your sins then you have repented and should expect full fellowship in the Church. Remember that your rebaptism is only for re-entry in the church, the same covenants are not made again as you already made them at the time of your baptism.

My friend, I have not been where you are now, but I have known a few who have. Others have already given excellent advise, so I shall not repeat what they have said, but I will tell you this, no matter what you are required to do, do it with patience and longsuffering. The Lord wants you to show him how serious you really are, and probably inpress on your mind just how serious your offense was in terms of your salvation. But in the end, it will all be worth anything you will go through, I promise. It appears you have made up your mind to come back, I am proud of you for that decision, welcome back.