As I said earlier, I hit a small snag. My wife, Tiffany, and I were talking about the Catholic Church. Living in the bible belt, it’s difficult, especially, for someone just converting to Catholicism without having a deep knowledge when it comes to Catholic apologetics.
You get the dirty looks, the smug faces, the ridiculous pedophile jokes, the tone of voice changing in the midst of a conversation about Catholicism. Like I said, it’s rough. I feel that I’ve handled myself quite well with 80-90% of any criticism that has come my way. Tiffany, on the other hand, has decided to stay mostly quiet so that she won’t have to deal with any of these problems. She brought up the point that although she believes a majority of what she has heard from me, read in Rome Sweet Home and Catholicism for Dummies, and what she has gotten from the internet, it is still something that people around here assume that you should be embarrassed by.
I am not embarrassed, but that is the attitude of a lot of people around us. “Why would you want to go to a church like that?” “You guys sure got out of church early considering everyone had to bow and worship Mary before leaving.” Things like that get old… quick.
I simply ask for your prayers to keep my head up and my faith strong. 
Hi Rodney– these are heady days to be a Catholic. Enemies of the Church are everywhere, they attack from the outside and the inside. Be strong, you’ll make it.
My parents were converts in another heady time in the church, in the tender and confusing days after the Second Vatican Council of the 1960’s. Take comfort that you’re not alone, even when it feels that way. When you get settled into your home and new parish, my advice is to get involved early. Find a Father’s Club or a bible study or the Knights of Columbus, they’ll be happy to have you even if you haven’t started RCIA yet.
Bless your journey! Rome Sweet Home is a great book, you’ll probably find yourself turning back to it when you need a boost. As far as apologetics go, let me suggest “Why do Catholics Do That?”, it’s a good primer for apologetics (a few parishes around me even use it as a RCIA textbook!). If you’re an audio kind of guy, look up “Archbishop Fulton Sheen”. He was a Catholic Archbishop who had a popular radio (and later, TV) broadcaster who put together an awesome LP collection that people have converted to MP3. It’s good material.
I’m going to add you as a link on my site. I love people’s personal stories about discovering faith. Keep up the good work!
Blessings
–Joe