Michelle Grim
Life After Ministries
Originally, I was a sixth generation Mormon from Utah and in the Church for 30 years. I was considered an active Mormon until I graduated from high school and left Utah for greener pastures. In the spring of ’93 I came to the saving knowledge of Christ Jesus and I’ve been washed with His blessings ever since!
My first meeting with the Lord came at an early age. All Mormons are baptized at the age of eight. It doesn’t matter if you’ve accepted Jesus into your heart or not; you’ve now reached the age of accountability. According to the LDS Church up until that time children under the age of accountability can’t sin, but need to be baptized for the remission of sins and to become members of the Church.
As I prepared for the great event in January of 1972, I had it in my head that I would once again be perfect. The baptism didn’t do much for me that Saturday morning, but the next day changed my short-lived life. At their “confirmation” meeting to accept children or members into the Church, they handed me a King James Bible. They winked as they told me to go home and read it and not understanding they weren’t serious, I did just what they told me to do. I went home and began reading my beloved Bible. I began in the book of Matthew because it was the first book in the Bible with red letters…very simplistic I know, but this is how He spoke to me.
I spent many long hours sitting in my bed at night reading what Jesus had to say to the people. I was more interested in what He directly said instead of what anyone else had to say about Him and didn’t understand the concept of the epistles written by the apostles. I read in Matthew sixteen where He asked the disciples whom people thought He was. In verse sixteen Peter called Him “the Christ, the Son of the Living God”. I wasn’t sure what Christ meant, but sensed that it was powerful so I clung to it during any times of trouble, knowing that He was ultimately in charge and somehow I’d get through all the turmoil and confusion I faced being a Mormon.
For years when reading my Bible I imagined myself walking with Him in the villages while He taught the people about Himself and could almost feel the heat from his dusty sandals. It was very powerful to me in those dark days of childhood Mormonism. Not knowing the Church teachings contradicted themselves I was a perfect candidate to confuse and control. At the time we were taught to memorize the presidents of the United States at school, they would simultaneously teach us to memorize the presidents in the Mormon Church during our weekly evening activities at the Church. It added fuel to the fire of confusion for me.
Around the age of ten or so I began trying to match up the back of the OT with the Book of Mormon and chalked it up to my being female and stupid that I didn’t understand why I couldn’t catch on to the sacred teachings of the prophets. The Church leaders kept telling me it wasn’t for me to figure out. My job they told me, was to obey and do my duties; i.e. go to church and go to church some more.
As I dutifully attended primary and then MIA the more untrusting I became with Church doctrine. My main goal in life was to please Jesus. My family would teach me the stories of how my ancestors had risked their lives by getting on a boat from Wales and England, crossed the ocean and the plains of America to come to Utah. Somehow I had it in my head they must have loved Jesus more than I did.
It was during these impressionable years I had been taught that Jesus was married, the Mormon Church would one day rule America, and Joseph Smith had been tarred and feathered just for being a Mormon. I also learned that someday I would become a goddess wife to a man who would call my name so I could be allowed into heaven and that my sole purpose in life was to have babies.
Unfortunately, I was also taught that I had somehow sinned in the pre-existence for not completely siding with Jesus in the war in heaven. Sometimes I was taught I had stayed neutral and other times I was taught that I had completely sided against Him.
My biggest concern about the latter doctrine was how I would ever face my “elder spirit brother Jesus” because of my past behavior. I chose to not focus on the fact that we believed both Jesus and Lucifer were brothers even when the next door neighbor girl from Dayton, OH confronted me about it. I focused instead on what I could have possibly done to be cursed here on earth and why I had so dramatically changed my mind about Jesus.
Here on earth I loved Him with every fiber of my being and it embarrassed me every time I thought I must have denied Him in my pre-existent life with Him. I spent countless hours wondering if I had hid behind someone else while denying Jesus or if I had just been so openly rebellious and filled with hatred back then just as I was here on earth.
While growing up I always felt an overwhelming sense of needing to hide things. The things I needed to hide were my thoughts about Jesus and my studies of the Bible. It wasn’t acceptable that I thought of myself as a friend of Jesus. By the time I hit my mid-teen years I felt the relationship with Him mimicked the relationship my Aunt LuLu had with her older brother, Butch Cassidy.
She had published a book about her experiences with her older brother and spoke of the times he would come in and out of town during his escapades with the Wild Bunch. I remember she told us her relationship with him was distant because of age and their lifestyles. This is how I eventually looked at my elder brother, Jesus. The age differences and lifestyles became the thick wall of excuses that inhibited my ability to know Him better.
The estrangement in my relationship with God only grew when in June of ’78 the Church announced the prophet Spencer W. Kimball had received a revelation from God. He said that black people were now acceptable to the Lord and allowed to hold the priesthood in the Church. This had always been a bone of contention with me because of my own coloring. I’m not black, but I am much darker than the “light and delightsome” people in Utah. My family is black Welsh, or as they always said; “just dark enough to be dangerous”. I threw the Saturday afternoon newspaper down off my grandmother’s porch that broadcasted the prophet’s revelation and wondered why God hated me so much. What else was he going to change his mind about?
You see I had already been living with another change of mind of his. My great-great-grandfather’s children were still alive when I was growing up and I spent many a weekend visiting with “Grandpa Samuel”. His father, my great-great grandfather, was a polygamist. I remember a couple of the stories Grandpa Samuel told me about his childhood in polygamy. I literally have hundreds and hundreds of relatives. It was really no big thing for any multi-generational Mormon from Utah. All of us had the same testimony of the polygamous backgrounds. In my eyes though God had changed his mind twice now and it scared me that I would never ever be good enough for him. I was 14 years old and didn’t know who God was, but knew enough that he scared me.
When I was about 16 I had a terrible experience in the Ogden Temple. I was being baptized for dead people and taking the Mormon oaths when I became violently ill. I begged the man who was performing the prayers and baptisms to help me, but it was as if he was in a trance and my pleas fell upon deaf ears. On the way home I questioned my bishop about the experience and he told me it was God’s presence. I countered his view by telling him God had never done that to me before…he didn’t say another word to me all the way home.
The next day as I was walking down the church hallway to attend Sunday school, I heard my classmates laughing. The closer I got, the more discernible their conversation became. They were talking about my experience the day before and laughing because I was worshipping a different god than they were; they said the walls were going to cave right in on all of them because I was in the building.
This conversation stopped me dead in my tracks. After catching my breath I walked out, never to return to another Sunday school meeting. I was required to finish Seminary in order to graduate from high school, but that was the extent of my temple work from there on out. By this time my parents were divorced. My father had never been active for more than a year at a time, but my mother was greatly disappointed in me for this one. My father’s reaction to my short-leashed exodus was a non-committal attitude. He always told me in any situation that if I “had any doubts then don’t do it”. I figured that was a good enough excuse for me in this situation so I just didn’t go.
My mother had tried to keep me active by filling in as the primary teacher throughout the years or serving as the girls’ basketball and volleyball coach for our ward and now I didn’t even attend so she obviously lost her position. Looking back on it now it must have hurt her greatly I’m sure. Most everyone in her family was temple worthy Mormons.
By the time I had graduated from high school I was in complete rebellion. I began college, but didn’t pay attention to any authority figure at all. While going to school I also worked full time as a waitress downtown at a Chinese restaurant. It was there that I met and married my first husband. I had known Eddie for two months and the only reason I married him was because he wasn’t white. I thought if that didn’t get my parent’s attention then nothing would.
Well, it got their attention all right, but not the attention I was expecting! From the beginning he beat me regularly, wouldn’t allow me to speak English in my own home (originally he was from Sai Pan), and chastised each move I made in our home. I thought that if we moved to be near his family then it would fix things but I was wrong in the end.
I didn’t take my father’s advice on this decision and moved to Oklahoma City with him in May of 1983. By September of the following year I had three restraining orders filed against him and moved back home with my tail between my legs. The threats and beatings had become more than I could cover up, they were actually relentless within a year and it scared me. While I was there though, God was at work in my life without my even knowing it.
The first person I met in Oklahoma was a born-again Christian whose father served as a co-pastor of the church they attended. They would tell me stories of how Jesus loved all people, how He wasn’t there to condemn me, but to love me and continued to show me the patience and mercy God would have shown to me. I immediately fell in love with their disposition and wondered if all Christians acted like they did. It was also the first time I had ever heard of the word cult.
I finally made it out of Oklahoma, moved back home and began college for the third time when I met Kirk. I had a nagging urge to be married, but at the same time wanted so badly to go to school. I began studying World War History and the Jews. From the time I was a small girl, I had a fascination with a show that would come on the television each Sunday evening. I would sit and watch World At War every week while my friends would beg me to come outside to ride bikes or play with them. I couldn’t pull myself away. It baffled me why someone was out there killing all the Jews and could be so filled with hatred. I watched piles of bodies being loaded into garden carts to be taken away to the incinerators as I cried for the horrible loss.
By the time I got out of high school the fascination had turned into an indignant disposition towards Hitler, or anyone else that condemned God’s people. Ironically enough, the hatred I held in my own heart towards the Christians didn’t seem as bad. Somehow I had rationalized this for myself; the teachings of the Church couldn’t be as bad as Hitler after all…
In 1984 Kirk was in the Air Force at the time, stationed at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden. We began dating and I found out he was a recent convert to the Church, I was 20 years old. His girlfriend had dumped him right after he joined Mormonism and he wanted out of Los Angeles where he was from so he joined the Air Force and was stationed there in Ogden for three years. I had vowed to myself to never marry even though I felt that I was sinning if I didn’t and eventually I found that I loved just being around him. What Kirk didn’t know at the time was that he had fallen victim to his last girlfriend through the “date ‘em, dunk ‘em and dump ‘em” routine they play in the Church.
We were married in May of ’85 and received orders and moved to Ramstein, Germany, just one month after our wedding. Once again God intervened in my life and the first person I met after arriving in Germany was a born-again Christian whose father was a pastor. Again, from a different denomination.
We became good friends immediately, and I couldn’t explain it, but there was just something about her that I couldn’t resist. Not long after we got there I began working for the USO as a tour guide. My main duties were to teach basic German and take military members and their families into the local economy to teach them how to order food, utilize the bus and train systems and show them local sites. The main events of the local sites were the Lutheran Churches. I taught the newly stationed Americans about Martin Luther and the Reformation.
Ironically enough, I had never heard of Martin Luther and wasn’t allowed to look at crosses as a Mormon. I ended up memorizing the script they gave me and taught the military members and dependants about the cross of Jesus and Martin Luther with his 95 point thesis. God is really funny! My friend Claudia would answer the questions I had regarding the Reformation and God, but it just didn’t make sense to me.
On the days Kirk had to work and I didn’t I would take a walk around a little lake that sat at the bottom of a hill across the street from our house. I’d walk down the long cement staircase and when I’d get halfway down I would stop, turn around and sit while I talked to God. At the top of that hill was a large white cross on top of a Lutheran church. I began wondering why my church was so adamantly against it and wondered if the people who had crosses had a different God than I knew.
In October of ’88 Kirk received orders back to the states (Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, NV), but this time we were expecting our first daughter, Mallory. She was the catalyst for our exodus from the Church.
After being several weeks overdue Mallory died while in utero from a lack of oxygen; and was stillborn on October 27th. At her funeral the bishop told us we were going to hell because we hadn’t been married in the temple. I buried my daughter on that cold, windy day along with the Church. I couldn’t believe Jesus would send me to hell for not being married in a certain building. It couldn’t have been made any clearer to me than this. My heart had never hurt like that before.
While the bishop kept yammering on about our sin of not being temple worthy, a visual entered my head. On one side I saw that large white cross from Germany and on the other side a large white Mormon temple. But like in Germany I couldn’t take my eyes off the cross.
Later that day I questioned my mother about what the bishop said and she told me she didn’t hear that in his message. I truly thought I was going crazy. Sadly, Kirk and I didn’t even discuss what had been said until years afterwards and only after we were saved.
After Mallory’s death I chose to close myself in at my apartment. Kirk would leave each Monday morning for some far off place to work on the Stealth Fighter jets and return on Thursday nights. After several months of crying and shutting society out of my life, I went out and got a job. I was lonely, and exhausted; I needed to be around people again and craved someone to talk to each day. Once again God had His hand in all of that as well and true to form the first person I met was a born-again Christian. Only this time there was more than one!
I began questioning my new found friends Shirley and JoAnn about God. I wanted the truth this time and I didn’t want any made up stories with their own ideas. They showed me Jesus’ patience and love and were classic examples of what it meant to be a Christian.
After several months had passed by I called Claudia’s dad to ask him about Mallory. I wanted to know if he thought I’d see her again so he flew me out to his home in Colorado for a visit. It was there that he shared the entire gospel with me and the truth about Mallory. My heart hurt so much over the loss of her. I couldn’t imagine not feeling or touching her again and my arms physically ached from not holding her. I’ve never experienced that type of physical pain before or since. I left Colorado with a better understanding of Jesus, but still didn’t invite Him into my life as Lord.
In August of 1990 I sat in stunned silence as I listened to the voice on the other end of the phone and the first thing that came to my mind was the baby I was carrying. Kirk and I were expecting our second daughter, Jacquelyn. The voice was Kirk’s commander telling me Kirk had been sent off to the Gulf War. He couldn’t tell me where he was at that moment or when I’d hear from him but just wanted to let me know “not to expect him for dinner”. I wouldn’t see Kirk again for seven months, and by that time Jacquelyn was almost two months old. Thankfully God brought Kirk home to me and he decided to get out of the service full time after serving nine years in active duty.
At the end of that enlistment we moved out of Vegas and north to the Reno area in the summer of 1991 where Kirk joined the National Guard. His parents became our life savers for the next several months as we moved in with them and our new baby, but early in 1992 we moved yet again when Kirk was offered a job in the Seattle area.
Not long after we got unpacked and moved into our new home we found out we were expecting another daughter. I didn’t believe everything about Mormonism at this point but couldn’t pull myself away from the deep cultural aspects of it. I craved needing to bring babies into the world, but didn’t know why. So baby number three within four years was on her way.
About half way through that pregnancy my life would make another dramatic change. I was out on a walk with Jacquelyn in my little neighborhood when I saw two women standing outside chatting. I walked right up to them and noticed one of them was wearing a cross so I approached to ask her what the cross meant to her. I introduced myself by saying, “Hi my name is Michelle and I’m a Mormon”. She replied by saying “Hi, my name is Nancy and I will pray for you”.
Nancy was the first person I met here in Seattle. This time her father wasn’t a pastor, but she sure did know her Bible! When Axi was five months old I invited her over for coffee (yes coffee) to drill her on Jesus.
I asked her if she thought I was in a cult and the first thing she asked me was if I believed in the Trinity. I had never heard of the word Trinity before, so I asked her to explain. She sat with me for hours that day and invited me to church for the following Sunday.
Before she arrived to pick me up that morning I called to bag on her invitation, but she refused. She actually began praying over the phone that Satan get behind us and leave us alone! I was aghast that anyone would pray over the phone. Nancy arrived five minutes later in pants which I thought was abhorrent at the time and drove me to church. The parking lot was filled with people laughing and children running around. I had never seen anything so irreverent in my life!
It was nothing I had experienced as a Mormon, which was beset with rules and regulations on how to worship God. But as we got out of the mini-van and walked towards the church, I looked up and there stood a little white cross at the top of the building. As I entered the front doors I heard God say to me “Michelle you’re finally home”. I got on my knees an hour later crying as I had never cried before. Jesus suddenly became real in my life that day.
I quickly lost my entire family in Utah. I’ve been shunned since then and have found no greater joy since! The loss of hundreds of relatives is no comparison to what I gained in having Him in my life and the lives of my family now. Kirk was saved a couple of years after I was and now our daughters, Jacquelyn and Alexandra (Axi) walk with the Lord as well.
(2010 update: Axi will be studying music composition and voice with Hill Song in Australia for college next year and Jacqui is studying with Missionary Aviation Training Academy to get her pilot’s license so she can go back to Ethiopia to serve the Lord).
As a child I asked the Lord for three things. I wanted a husband who I could travel the world with; three daughters and a church with a little white cross on top. He gave me all those things and more!
About two years after I got saved I met Ed Decker. Ironically enough once again, I had spit in his face back in ’83 when he was speaking on Mormonism in Oklahoma City. I told my Christian friends he was lying, not wanting him to expose the truth about Mormonism to the world. And in keeping w/ God’s sense of humor, I began working alongside him! Then in May of 2004, Ed himself renewed our wedding vows for Kirk and me in his backyard at the edge of the Snoqualmie River. Our girls served as our witnesses before God and Ed’s wife Carol served us our cake! We invited an ex-Mormon I befriended and a good friend who mentored me when I got out of the church.
My life is now spent with exit-counseling for Mormons, going on missions to the various places where Mormons congregate in order to witness and warn young people to stay away from those Mormon missionaries. My life is full and complete with all that He has for me to do!
My journey after I left Mormonism was as dramatic of an experience for me as the journey towards Jesus. I know without a doubt that I am called to do this work with the Lord. Not that I am the instigator or supplier of the “work”.
Only He is in charge of all that I do each day. I cannot imagine life any other way now and the longer I am a Christian the more amazing it is to me that I lived my life as a Mormon for 30 years.
I close with Jude 1:24-25;
“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”
Wow, thanks for this testimony. Powerful story of God’s abundant grace and power!
Thank you so much! I pray that not only my story but the stories of others reflect the overwhelming love and power of God and what He can do in the life of every single person. And much like your story of how a perfect stranger confronted you about God – He did that to me as well! Amazing how He works isn’t it? Praise God! BTW – I love your blog – great job!
In Him,
Michelle
My roommate and I think it’s funny, kept me laughing for a while. I think this is one of the funniest I’ve read in a long time. I just like how the writer has the LDS faith “all figured out” but it almost appears to me that this person is too busy witnessing to Mormons that he never took the time to actually know someone that was ACTIVLY practicing the LDS faith. Let’s just set that straight, former members don’t count either. Now I will say that most of the organizers where once practicing members that somehow read a verse or something and was converted but they were probably just offended and never knew the the church to begin with. They can’t even refer to it as “The church of Jesus Christ of Latter days saints.” If they even knew it was called that because apparently the way they refer to it they never took the time to learn the real name of the said religion.
It’s really funny how the individual refers to the members of the LDS church as “the mormon.” So what you’re saying is I’m some dumb animal, I mean… what a jerk.
LDS.org calls themselves Mormons.
Brian, I’m interested in speaking with you. I’ve been studying with mormon missionaries for the last few months and still have many questions. I have yet to be “lead of the spirit” as to deciding if Joseph Smith is actually a prophet. The book of Mormon seems to be poorly writen and when looking up these prophets within the book have led to nothing. The only information about the people in the book is in the book. Have yet to find any mention of them in history.
You must mean the final name they decided on… “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”. Check your history, they had other names before that one…
The writer of the post was a practicing member of the LDS church for close to 2 decades… and SHE was actively practicing the “current” LDS faith during that time. I myself was a member (born into it) for 26 years… I was there when Kimball changed the Priesthood requirements to include the “blacks”. Been to the temple a few times, baptisms for the dead, marriage/sealing ceremonies, went to seminary every morning before school, passed the sacrament, blessed the sacrament, gave talks, bore my testimony on “Fast” Sunday numerous times. My Grandpa was the contractor that built the church in our Ward (helped him work on it) Dad was choir director, Uncle was Elder’s Quromn Prez, etc…
How would you like to be referred as? The “most perfect book ever written (over 3,000 changes since it was first penned) is called the “Book of Mormon”. That is how the world refers to members of the LDS religion. Even members refer to themselves as “Mormons” or “LDS”
Why don’t former members count?
What would you like to talk about?
Having grown up as a Protestent Christian I learned of Christ. During my high school years I started to wonder why there were so many different churches and why they could not agree on who Jesus was is and what his teaching are. The leaders of each of these churchs came togeather and voted amoung themselves on what God ment in His Word and they came up with many different answers. Which was correct?
Unlike Michelle, after study and prayer I have found that Heavenly Father directs His children today with a Prophet. Please study about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints form what the Church teaches, and not from what outsiders say we teach.
fred
Fred,
Denominations of the Christian Church have different ways of worshipping Him. Each denomination may interpert some things differently but still agree that they worship the Triune God, that the Bible does not err, and that Salvation is by Grace alone (undeserved love) which is not earned.(three points) The denominations all are part of Christ’s Church.
Conversely, Mormons have different meanings of the words used in the Christian Church. God, Jesus, Holy Spirit and others mean entirely different persons in the LDS.
These are two different religions. LDS is not a denomination of the Christian Church for the reason that they don’t agree with the three points noted above.
god bless you people and yes stay away from the morman cult..i am out and god bless ed decker for his great work.. ansester of peter grant the excile
Fred – I know what the LDS church teaches from the LDS church… Any of the “outsiders” that I have ever read or talked to, also know what the LDS church teaches…
Unless there are some new teachings that we don’t know about… or maybe they are “secret teachings”…
I’m not going to say if I am LDS or not…But I will say that I find it funny how people have such strong opinions about a “church” when usually it was the “people” within the church that led them away or offended them. If you are going to be religious and attend a church, go because it’s the house of the Lord, and he should be the reason you are there not the people in the church. His church and his gospel is what we need to worry about. Don’t fool yourselves.
Amanda – I fully agree with your view on “why” people should go to church… I go to church becuase I love worshipping the Lord and fellowshipping with the body of Christ. I would never stop attending a certain church because of the people. I would stop attending a church that started teaching doctrines that are contrary to the Bible. The “church” (or “ones called out” in the Greek) is the total sum of all those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ. We are the body, He is the head. It isn’t about any one certain denomination or organization, they could never save you. It is all about Jesus and His finished work on the cross and His glorious resurection.
I don’t tell people about “my” church… I tell them about Jesus and what He has done for all of us. It’s not about religion, it’s about a relationship with Jesus that really matters.
As for me, I was born and raised in the Mormon church. When I was 26 I was challenged about some of the odd teachings and beliefs that I was raised to believe. I was invited to a Christian church and the Holy Spirit stirred my heart to investigate Biblical Christianity. I ended up leaving the LDS church and gave my heart to Jesus. I have attend non-denominational churches all around the country and they all have one thing in common… They teach the Word of God from the Bible…
You can read my testimony on this blog site
http://lifeafterministry.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/ex-mormon-testimonies-8
Camden,
I left the Protestant Church I was born into because I found my friends of other religion understood God differently than I had been taught and I wanted to know why. I hear from folks like you that say they do not belong to a church, or denomination, and they study only what is in the Bible. I find that the differences among “following what is in the Bible” people are as diverse as the ideas among denominations. I know some find the differences to be “minor”, and I agree that some are, but I find most differences to be major.
How do you know that your interpretation of the Bible is the correct one?
Many things of what you said is true here but you also left out very important doctrinal teachings in “your” testimony about the body of the church? YOU attend a non-denominal church, yet Christ said to be baptized in my name, if this is so, then where is the authority to baptize people from your non denominmal church? If, you say from the bible, then you would have to acknowledge the bible had people in authority to do so, yes? Apostles prophets and priests. Does your church [people] possess this authority? And if you state yes, from whence came it? Who recorded it so? And where is it taught openly?
Many things wrong with what you say also but allow me to quote you this—>>(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 123:12)
For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it—And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
peace to you.
Thank you for sharing your testimony! I cried as I read and could relate to so many of your experiences. Praise the Lord. He was faithful to bring people into your life who were willing to witness to you 🙂 Do you mind if I share a link to your testimony on my blog? sendthelight.wordpress.com
Oh Heather bless your heart! Yes, share it with whomever you choose! I’m on my way over to your blog to check it out right now. 🙂 I’ll want your testimony on this blog if you don’t mind. I can never get enough of hearing what God does in people’s lives. This culture is so different from that of Mormonism and even after almost twenty years it still feels new. Strange how that happens isn’t it? God is SO good!
Michelle
Thank you for the go ahead. I am like you. I just can’t get enough of hearing how people meet Jesus. Of course testimonies of people getting saved out of Mormonism are dear to my heart but any testimony of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus is so precious and I love to hear them any chance I get! I just discovered yours and the others you have on your blog. Brought me to tears!
I still remember what a shock it was in my late teens to discover that people actually leave the Mormon church. That is just one of the reasons that I try so hard to put my testimony out there…for all of the young and/or sheltered LDS that aren’t even aware that there are options. I grew up in a small predominantly LDS town and I had just never heard of such a thing!
I like how you have a page of testimonies. I’d like to do that. Where did you find other peoples’ testimonies? I know of a few people I could interview. I think I’ll start there.
I agree that you and I are now part of an amazing culture…the body of Christ…my faith IS MY WHOLE LIFE! In Mormonism my faith and duties and beliefs in general were so compartmentalized into a separate little place. Away from school or work or social occasions. It was mostly just a Sunday thing. Even in our little Mormon town. I just so want other LDS to experience what I have! To know Jesus Christ. To feel grace, forgiveness, joy.
I have been saved for 15 years and it is still so easy to recall what it felt like to experience those things for the first time. I am compelled, despite the discomfort and awkwardness it sometimes causes, because I just want them to know they have options! So many of them just don’t even realize that.
hmmm. Forgive me if you get two replies. I wrote a long heart felt response and it seems to have been lost. Thank you for letting me share your testimony and of course you may use mine! God Bless YOU!
Too funny – no prob.
Thanks again! I shared your testimony at sendthelight.wordpress.com. Then I decided to reblog it at thehomesteadatspringcreek.wordpress.com. God Bless!
🙂 All right darlin’ I went to your site with the intent of getting your testimony and reblogging it here. That was a week ago. When I got there I forgot what I was doing (done that 3x now on your blog) because of all the wonderful stories and good food stuff so tell me dear one, is it on your blog and can you send me a link or if you have it written at all? We’d love to have it here!
Michelle
Sorry! Probably confusing because I have two blogs. My testimony is written out here:
http://sendthelight.wordpress.com/my-testimony/
There is just a link to my testimony here:
http://thehomesteadatspringcreek.wordpress.com/about/
Thanks!
No I’m sorry – I didn’t mean to imply it was YOUR fault – it’s MY fault – ha! I get sidetracked with food…I’m always looking for ways to gain weight as it’s a constant struggle with me. I know it’s the other way around for everyone else in the world but for me I’m happy if I can gain 2 lbs….argh!
Thanks for the link and I can’t wait to read your story. 🙂
Michelle
I am delighted that you weren’t confused but distracted by something you found interesting! And…like the rest of the country…I am so jealous of your weight problem! LOL Make my pineapple upside down cake. That will pack on the pounds 😉
what i dont understand is that the book of mormon has changed over the years. Isnt that wrong or rather proof that its False. If it was true in the first place why change any word? If they have true prophets wouldnt they know not to change a word?why would they have to change it over 3000 times?Dont they belive in the bible also? Doesnt the bible say to not change any words?
Donald – Therein lies one of the many problems with the claims by the LDS church (Mormonism).
Joseph Smith claimed that the Book of Mormon was the “most perfect book ever written” yet there have been close to 4,000 changes. He claims that he received direct interpretation from God to translate the “reformed Egyptian” writings into English.
Grammatical errors abound, but besides those, some doctrinal changes have been made as well. If only we had the “gold plates” today to compare… but alas, the “angel of light” Moroni took them from Joseph, once he was done transcribing “the most perfect book ever written”.
There are whole chapters of Isaiah within the Book of Mormon, that are word for word verbatim what the King James Version Bible says. I am sure that the translations received through revelation would have been written in an 1830’s American English and not in a 1611 “King’s English”. (Unless we are to believe that is how God speaks and writes)
The method described regarding how the translation was received is of occultic origins. Joseph Smith would place a stone inside a hat. He would place the hat over his face (to block out all the light), and a small piece of what looked like paper would appear inside the hat with the next word, phrase, or sentence on it. He would then tell his transcriber what the piece of paper said.
Even on the original 1830 edition of the first Book of Mormon, the cover page reads; “Joseph Smith Jun. – Author and Proprieter”. Later editions read “Translated by Joseph Smith Jun.”
Thanks for stopping by and hope to hear back from you after you search through more of this blog-site.
Romans 15:13
whats the story of the gold plates? Can they prove that they have them or ever had them?
I am always amazed at how people who were fellow saints fall away, then persecute the church after they leave?…..As if this is their [ yours included ] mission to spread your version of seeing the light and coming to “christ” only AFTERWARD, when you have left his church?
Well a scripture comes to mind straight away, D+C 122/1-3.
We [ church ] welcomes you back, if you so choose to make, the steps of repentance is out lined, the path is set and narrow!
Reclaiming the lost sheep is one thing, but when they make their own ministries and make themselves “pastors”, they have fallen further that they expected.
Joseph Smith claimed that the Book of Mormon was the “most perfect book ever written” yet there have been close to 4,000 changes…..
What were they the 4,000 changes, were they grammatical or punctuations or complete versions?…………..were they just plain mistakes when printing, or were they doctrinal?….huge difference between WHAT YOU imply and the real facts!
Please site the 4,000 changes, so everyone may discern for themselves?
For example…
Original 1830 Edition, Book of Mormon….1Nephi 11:21..the Eternal Father……1 Nephi 11:32…the Everlasting God
Editions 1837, 1888, 1920, 1964, 1978 ….son of the Eternal Father
…son of the Everlasting God
BOTH correspond as factual…Isaiah 9/6…YOU also forget, Matthew 1/23….NOW what about Hebrews 1/8?
(Book of Mormon | Mosiah 16:15)
Teach them that redemption cometh through Christ the Lord, who is the very Eternal Father. Amen……Corresponds to John 1/14..strange eh!
You are blinded by Lucifer into thinking God Almighty cannot fulfill his own words thru his servants the prophets…….YOU are like the Jews of old, openly fighting God, not us, we didn’t re-establish his kingdom, HE did!
Your christianity is nothing but an apostate branch of the mother church, the holy roman catholic church….think about it?
You can find the Golden Plate information in the post here:
http://lifeafterministry.com/2012/01/25/the-golden-plates-of-mormonism/
Donald – Check out the link Susan posted above… There is no real proof that anyone ever had anything. The reason that the angel Moroni took the plates into heaven (as I was taught growing up) is that if the plates were still here, than there would be physical proof of the whole Joseph Smith story, from the first vision to the translation… we were supposed to believe it all on faith. “Just believe” is what was expected.
It is funny that recently I was mocked by some Mormons when I tried to explain salvation by grace alone. I was accused of being a devil for preaching that someone could be saved through belief alone. One of them said, “You Christians in your “just believe” salvation story”. (they believe it is belief + works)… but I digress
I am not really sure that any of the witnesses to the gold plates actually ever really saw them either. I believe that the plates were always covered with a linen cloth of some sort. You could make out the size and shape, but not see the gold plates or turn the pages to see the “reformed Egyptian” heiroglyphics.
Your answer found in every Book of Mormon preface? Also, read Joseph Smith History about “reformed Egyptian” hieroglyphics on Professor Anton?
Your story is a real inspiration. Its amazing though, that one prophecy of Mormons may actually come true eventually because of a hate that we as Americans try to ignore or act like isn’t there. We question a mans religion, place of birth, and beliefs because of his color and ignore everything about another man because of his color. Its amazing how God shows us who we really are.
Great post.
Interesting post. I am LDS and have been for over 30 years. In those years:
I have never been taught that Jesus was married (though I personally believe it’s possible), I ‘ve never been taught that the Mormon church would one day rule America. Other statements made in your testimony that I find puzzling are that you were taught you sinned in the pre-existence? As a Primary teacher for the last five years, I can say that is something we have never taught about the preexistence. My daughter served in the Primary and became “inactive” during my time in the Presidency…I certainly didn’t “lose” my position as a result of her actions as you claim happened to your mother. Thankfully, she eventually found her way back – she was never shunned or chastized from anyone…she was loved. I can never imagine a Bishop or any member of the church telling anyone that they are going to hell because they weren’t married in the temple. Neither of my children were married in the Temple – both married non members. One inlaw has since converted and the two are planning to go to the Temple soon. The other inlaw attends church regularly but has not made a decision to do more than that. Not being married in the temple certainly doesn’t condemn anyone to hell. You also state that you were taught you would never face Jesus? You claimed to be given a Bible during the “confirmation” meeting…I’ve never heard of a “confirmation” meeting.
It was interesting that you referred to Jesus and Lucifer as spirit brothers. This is one statement you made that I recognize as truth…and it’s the statement so many use to somehow cheapen our belief in Jesus Christ. It’s made to imply that we somehow elevate Lucifer and diminish Christ. Obviously to the thinking person this is not the case. Since we believe that all of us existed as spirit children of God – including Lucifer…(he was indeed cast out after the war in heaven) – that all of us (including Lucifer) are spirit brothers and sisters of Jesus. This in no way diminishes the feelings we have for Jesus Christ. He is our Savior, the only begotten son of God. Our salvation is only gotten through Him. Lucifer was cast out, became Satan and is evil. Not at all what the “spirit brother” statement implies.
You mentioned having met Ed Decker. You stated that you had previously spit in his face as a member of the LDS church. I can’t imagine that any church leader would approve of such behavior. I’ve never met Ed Decker but have read some of the stuff he’s written about the church. There are many out there that have no problem twisting the truth to suit their ends. I’ve read things that were obviously written by people who claimed membership but had obviously never set foot in an LDS church. It’s unfortunate.
I apologize that this post is all over the place…I just can’t grasp the things that you’ve claimed. I’m sorry that your experiences were so off the wall.
I’m glad that you are happy in your new found faith but am curious to know why you would spend so much time tearing down the faith of another.
Hello, tjc1254:
A long time ago in 1970, I was a struggling Christian in Tyler, Texas who strongly believed in Jesus Christ of the Holy Bible, though I didn’t associate myself with any Christian denomination. It was when I was 19 years old that I met Barry Erickson and Craig Burgess, two full-time Mormon missionaries from Utah. Knowing nothing at all about Mormonism, and with a scanty knowledge and understanding of Christian biblical doctrine, I read the Book of Mormon and accepted, as fact and truth, what those two missionaries told me about Mormon theology, doctrine, and history. Though I had, under my mother’s influence, memorized many scriptures in the Holy Bible, I had not understood their contextual meanings. Erickson and Burgess, however, provided those meanings for me in terms of the theology and doctrine that they swore to me was true and correct. I recall reading the Book of Mormon (BOM) verses in Moroni 9: 10 & 19:
” And now, if ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles. And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.”
I recall asking Burgess and Erickson if the God the Father of Mormonism, as described in the BOM, was everlasting to everlasting and really changeless. Their answer was that “God has no beginning or end, is everlasting to everlasting, and changeless. That’s what the BOM says, and that’s what we believe.” So, I accepted what those two missionaries told me about Mormon theology and submitted to Mormon baptism. I was working and going to college at the time, and Burgess and Erickson told me that I had a pay a tithe of my earnings to the Mormon ward bishop, a fellow named Franklin, before I could be baptized. So I paid 10 percent of my gross part-time earnings to the Mormon Church and was baptized into the Mormon church
That was the beginning of my real education in real Mormon LDS theology, doctrine, and history. For the first five years of my Mormon experience, I was a continual stake and district missionary in the U.S. Marine Corps, and read and studied only what I was told to read and study; that is, Mormon Church approved books, materials, and scriptures. It wasn’t until after I had been married in the L.A. Temple, in 1973, that I was challenged by a Baptist minister, to whom I had tried to teach Mormonism, to read the Journal of Discourses and Joseph Smith’s 1844 King Follett Discourse, and then, again, the Holy Bible. I asked several bishops, stake presidents, and mission presidents about these writings, and was told falsely that they were just opinions of past Mormon leaders, and that I would do better by not reading them. That just whetted my curiosity, and so I found a Mormon seventy who had the Journal of Discourses in his home along with a diverse library of other published Mormon materials, and began my reading and study. What I read as 19th Century canon LDS scripture, expounded in Mormon general conferences by Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and the other succeeding Mormon prophets, greatly disturbed me, for it was just opposite to what Craig Burgess and Barry Erickson had told me was LDS theology. Yet, I was a victim of cognitive dissonance, a stubborn reaction to truth and the realization that I had been misled by the Mormon missionaries, which caused me to cling to what I knew was becoming very false. It is like a guy buying a lemon of a used car that is represented by the salesman as a great automobile. When he pays for it, drives it off the lot, and the thing starts falling apart right in front of his eyes, he doesn’t want to believe that he actually bought a lemon. That is the way I was. I began seeing the unraveling of Mormon theology and doctrines right in front of my eyes.
Then I read “Lesson 21-Man May Become Like God,” one of the 39 lessons of the 1984 LDS Melchizedek Priesthood Study Guide, Search These Commandments.” All of the lessons of this official 1984 study guide, especially “Lesson 21” were proclaimed, and venerated, as canonized LDS scripture and doctrine by the 1984 LDS First Presidency comprised of Prophet, Seer, and Revelator Spencer W. Kimball, and his three apostle counselors, N. Eldon Tanner, Marion G. Romney, and Gordon B. Hinckley. What does “Lesson 21” proclaim as real Mormon theology and the ultimate destiny of each, and every, worthy Mormon elder? If you believe the BOM, that God the Father has no beginning or end, and does not change, and it also states that in Lecture 2 of the Lectures on Faith (which were the only canonized doctrines and theology of Mormonism before 1925), you will be shocked at the content of “Lesson 21.” Well, let me just say that you should go to the MormonThink.org website, where a PDF copy of “Lesson 21” is posted. Read it!!!!
Website :MormonThink.org is for sale. Did it move? Pls. Check this. Thx.
thank god for your life