New members of the Mormon Church are taught that while some of the other Christian denominations have some of the truth, they are the only ones who have all the truth. Which is the beginning of the indoctrination and brainwashing. After all, how could you ever leave a church that has “all the truth” for one that has a fraction of it?
As Mormon leader Elder M. Russell Ballard stated in the October 2016 General Conference talk – “If any one of you is faltering in your faith, I ask you the same question that Peter asked: “To whom shall [you] go?” If you choose to become inactive or to leave the restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where will you go? What will you do?”
In his article Elder Tad R. Callister echoes this same absurd chain of thought –
“In truth, this Church ruins its members for any other church, because, like this missionary, they know too much. If people leave this Church, they will usually end up traveling down one of two paths — either they will become a church unto themselves (because they will never find another church that has more truth than they already have) or they will head down the road of agnosticism.”
They think that there can’t possibly be anything better than the Mormon Church. I like how Callister just assumes people flounder around and never land on solid ground after leaving the Church. He can’t even conceive the thought that there’s something, someone out there that’s so much better than Mormonism. What about Jesus? What about finding a solid Bible believing church that can help you grow and learn about God?
When I left the Mormon Church, I knew nothing about the one true God of the Bible. I knew nothing about grace or how someone is truly saved. What I “had” was a lot of lies and false doctrines floating around in my head. It took me a while to be able to replace all those false teachings with God’s truth. The only thing being a member of the Mormon Church did for me was pull me further and further away from Jesus.
In the article he talks about a discussion he had with a missionary about all the major doctrines of the church. Such as a belief in a pre-mortal existence, baptisms for the dead, the Three Degrees of Glory, the family being together forever, and continuing revelation from modern day prophets and apostles.
These are all the things I had to work through when I left the Church. I had to replace their twisted view of God’s word with His truth. Through study and many wonderful teachers who loved and knew the Bible I was able to replace the toxic lies about God and how He views us with the wonderful knowledge of grace.
Like Satan, the Mormon Church is very cunning, they know exactly how to twist and use the Bible to their own advantages. Despite their claim, none of their major doctrines are found in the Bible. God never taught us that we had a pre-mortal life, there are many levels of glory in heaven, or that we should do baptisms for the dead.
At the end of his article he states –
“Once we have crossed the line of doubt and come to know that the doctrinal teachings of the Church are true, then we don’t have to agonize over and dissect every statement of the prophets. We don’t have to weigh them against our finite standards of justice or our limited understanding of eternity — instead we can accept them as the will of God and move forward in a positive, constructive way.”
Should people not doubt their leaders when they are teaching false doctrines? The trouble is Mormonism starts off with the unsubstantiated belief that “the Church is true” and all other churches teach false doctrines. When you start off with a biased point of view it makes it very difficult to see past it. For them the Church is true, it doesn’t matter what the Bible says or what their leaders have said or done in the past.
Leaving the Mormon Church hasn’t spoiled or ruined me one bit for any other church. In leaving the Church I’ve learned who God truly is, about grace and what it means to be saved. I’ve learned what my talents and gifts are, and where God has “called” me to be. Unlike in Mormonism where you’re told what your calling is, and where God wants you to serve.
Aside from our salvation, leaving the Mormon Church has been the best thing that has happened to my family.
In Christ,
Melissa Grimes
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