I knew he had read materials from Covenant-breakers. I told him that he would not find his answers by reading misleading sources.

Mr. and Mrs. Horton and their child came to the Center that evening for the fireside. This time he began to ask questions on the authority of Shoghi Effendi and why some people had rejected him. Right away I knew he had read materials from Covenant-breakers. I told him that he would not find his answers by reading misleading sources. He had been to the National Library and taken out The Divine Art of Living and Baha’u’llah and the New Era as well. Mr. Horton asked why there were no sects in the Faith since they existed in all other religions. I explained that Baha’u’llah and ‘Abdu’lBaha had written Wills and Testaments and appointed a successor after themselves thereby safeguarding the unity of the Faith. He reiterated the point that he felt he needed to understand the Faith well before accepting it and asked for patience. He said that he had first heard of the Faith from a talk by Dr. Elsie Austin to a group of lawyers in which she said that she had always been ready to challenge and make arguments until she asked herself whether she was coming to Baha’i meetings to argue or to discover the truth. As a result, she decided to inquire from the bottom of her heart, and gradually she was convinced. During our conversation, Mr. Glenford Mitchell arrived and joined our discussion. He said that Mr. Horton should investigate the Faith freely and try to coordinate what his heart was telling him with what his mind could accept.

(The Memoirs of Shamsi Sedaghat by Shamsi Sedaghat edited by Hillary Chapman - 2023)

https://bahai-library.com/sedaghat_chapman_memoirs