Mormon Church has misled members on $100 billion tax-exempt investment fund, whistleblower alleges

Washington Post ^ | December 16, 2019 | Jon Swaine, Douglas MacMillan and Michelle Boorstein

[C19fan]

A former investment manager alleges in a whistleblower complaint to the Internal Revenue Service that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has amassed about $100 billion in accounts intended for charitable purposes, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Washington Post.

The confidential document, received by the IRS on Nov. 21, accuses church leaders of misleading members — and possibly breaching federal tax rules — by stockpiling their surplus donations instead of using them for charitable works. It also accuses church leaders of using the tax- exempt donations to prop up a pair of businesses.

[Elsie]

You’ve made yourself an authority on how we Latter-day Saints are not Christian. But you’ve never proven it.

Sorry; but JS came along and taught that the Christians of his day were NOT 'christians'. I think that YOU are the one that needs to do some 'splainin' here Lucy!

[Elsie]

We’re not Catholic, Protestant, Anglican, or Eastern Christians - we’re Latter-day Saints, the fifth branch of Christianity.

Fifth?

You mean #1; don't you?

I seem to recall the teachings of your religious organization as being the ONLY place to find 'truth' about GOD.

And that you guys are waiting even MORE truth; too!

[fproy2222]

“”The manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same manner as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, while the book of plates were at the same time hid in the woods.”
-—Isaac Hale (Emma Smith’s father’s) affidavit, 1834.”

Many people have said that. The Book of Mormon turned out very good for someone who”just pretended” to translate it with the help of God.

[Elsie]

Nice try, but your insistence on forcing our scriptures to support your misrepresentation does not work with someone who’s knowledgeable.

I see...

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The

Doctrine and Covenants

 Section 75

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Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Amherst, Ohio, 25 January 1832 (see History of the Church, 1:242–45). The occasion was that of a conference previously appointed. At this conference Joseph Smith was sustained and ordained President of the High Priesthood. Certain elders, who had encountered difficulty in bringing men to an understanding of their message, desired to learn more in detail as to their immediate duties. This revelation followed.

1–5, Faithful elders who preach the gospel will gain eternal life; 6–12, Pray to receive the Comforter, who teaches all things; 13–22, Elders will sit in judgment on those who reject their message; 23–36, Families of missionaries are to receive help from the Church.

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1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I who speak even by the ^avoice of my Spirit, even ^bAlpha and Omega, your Lord and your God—

2 Hearken, O ye who have ^agiven your names to go forth to proclaim my gospel, and to ^bprune my vineyard.

3 Behold, I say unto you that it is my will that you should go forth and not tarry, neither be ^aidle but ^blabor with your might—

4 Lifting up your voices as with the sound of a trump, ^aproclaiming the ^btruth according to the revelations and commandments which I have given you.

5 And thus, if ye are faithful ye shall be laden with many ^asheaves, and ^bcrowned with honor, and glory, and immortality, and eternal life.

6 Therefore, verily I say unto my servant ^aWilliam E. McLellin, I ^brevoke the commission which I gave unto him to go unto the eastern countries;

7 And I give unto him a new commission and a new commandment, in the which I, the Lord, ^achasten him for the ^bmurmurings of his heart;

8 And he sinned; nevertheless, I forgive him and say unto him again, Go ye into the south countries.

9 And let my servant Luke Johnson go with him, and proclaim the things which I have commanded them—

10 Calling on the name of the Lord for the ^aComforter, which shall teach them all things that are expedient for them—

11 ^aPraying always that they ^bfaint not; and inasmuch as they do this, I will be with them even unto the end.

12 Behold, this is the will of the Lord your God concerning you. Even so. Amen.

13 And again, verily thus saith the Lord, let my servant Orson Hyde and my servant Samuel H. Smith take their journey into the eastern countries, and proclaim the things which I have commanded them; and inasmuch as they are faithful, lo, I will be ^awith them even unto the end.

14 And again, verily I say unto my servant Lyman Johnson, and unto my servant Orson Pratt, they shall also take their journey into the eastern countries; and behold, and lo, I am with them also, even unto the end.

15 And again, I say unto my servant Asa Dodds, and unto my servant Calves Wilson, that they also shall take their journey unto the western countries, and proclaim my gospel, even as I have commanded them.

16 And he who is faithful shall overcome all things, and shall be ^alifted up at the last day.

17 And again, I say unto my servant Major N. Ashley, and my servant Burr Riggs, let them take their journey also into the south country.

18 Yea, let all those take their journey, as I have commanded them, going from ^ahouse to house, and from village to village, and from city to city.

19 And in whatsoever house ye enter, and they receive you, leave your blessing upon that house.

20 And in whatsoever house ye enter, and they receive you not, ye shall depart speedily from that house, and ^ashake off the dust of your feet as a testimony against them.

21 And you shall be filled with ^ajoy and gladness; and know this, that in the day of judgment you shall be ^bjudges of that house, and condemn them;

22 And it shall be more ^atolerable for the ^bheathen in the day of judgment, than for that house; therefore, ^cgird up your loins and be faithful, and ye shall overcome all things, and be ^dlifted up at the last day. Even so. Amen.

23 And again, thus saith the Lord unto you, O ye elders of my church, who have ^agiven your names that you might know his will concerning you—

24 Behold, I say unto you, that it is the ^aduty of the church to assist in ^bsupporting the families of those, and also to support the families of those who are called and must needs be sent unto the world to proclaim the gospel unto the world.

25 Wherefore, I, the Lord, give unto you this commandment, that ye obtain places for your ^afamilies, inasmuch as your brethren are willing to open their hearts.

26 And let all such as can obtain places for their families, and support of the church for them, not fail to go into the world, whether to the east or to the west, or to the north, or to the south.

27 Let them ^aask and they shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto them, and be made known from on high, even by the ^bComforter, whither they shall go.

28 And again, verily I say unto you, that every ^aman who is obliged to ^bprovide for his own ^cfamily, let him provide, and he shall in nowise lose his crown; and let him labor in the church.

29 Let every man be ^adiligent in all things. And the ^bidler shall not have place in the church, except he repent and mend his ways.

30 Wherefore, let my servant Simeon Carter and my servant Emer Harris be united in the ministry;

31 And also my servant Ezra Thayre and my servant ^aThomas B. Marsh;

32 Also my servant Hyrum Smith and my servant Reynolds Cahoon;

33 And also my servant Daniel Stanton and my servant Seymour Brunson;

34 And also my servant Sylvester Smith and my servant Gideon Carter;

35 And also my servant Ruggles Eames and my servant ^aStephen Burnett;

36 And also my servant Micah B. Welton and also my servant ^aEden Smith. Even so. Amen.

 

[Elsie]

I followed Moroni 10:4-5

Remember what the Prophet Joseph Smith (1805–44) declared: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book” (History of the Church, 4:461; Book of Mormon introduction).

[Elsie]

How did you get to be a Protestant first?

[Elsie]

What do you teach about your rewards in heaven?

Well; do you believe the bible or NOT??

1 Corinthians 2:9 KJV

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

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If you think you KNOW what is in store for you in heaven; Then you've been taught a LIE (or else the Bible is WRONG.)

[Elsie]

It helps to know what some of the rewards in heaven are.

BEFORE you tithe?

Are you assuming that the more you tithe; the better your 'rewards' will be?

Sounds quite materialistic to me.

[Elsie]

You sure ask strange questions.

Maybe you should stick to stating just what you believe about these things; since what we ‘believe’ is of no consequence; right?

[Elsie]

I wish there were some way to put a counter on how many times I’ve shared LDS material with folks on FR.

Some topics get a bit more play than others; but I know the count is WAY over a thousand.

[fproy2222]

“The poor members everywhere in the world are not saddled with a building debt that they will take decades to pay off.

HMMMmmm…

https://www.reddit.co...";

Do you mean this?
r/exmormon
1998—Poor Mormons in Brazil sell their gold tooth fillings to help pay for a Mormon temple. Mormon cult leader, Pres. Faust buys some member tooth fillings and shows them off in Mormon meetings. Disgusting. ??

____ __
What I see is someone giving what he has of value, something he can replace with a less costly option, and giving it so he, repeat so he can help in the Lords work.

Something like the widow’s mite.

Do you think the poor should not be allowed to contribute, even though it is not required?

How selfish of you if you do.

[IWONDR]

“What I hope for is that all brothers and sisters in Christ (LDS, Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, etc.) would quit arguing over how many angels can fit on the head of a pin. To claim someone is not a Christian when they in fact claim that they are is just silly. Time would be better spent witnessing to adherents of Islam, for example. But do as you will... peace.”

amen!

[fproy2222]

““Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits”

Matthew 7:15–16”

By you standards, your idea of proper, both Matthew and Luke are false prophets.

ARE YOU SAYING THAT MATTHEW AND LUKE ARE FALSE PROPHETS?

Matthew 24:34 King James Version (KJV)
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Luke 21:32 New International Version (NIV)
32 “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

[fproy2222]

“Well; do you believe the bible or NOT??

1 Corinthians 2:9 KJV

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

Did you stop at only one verse, or did you just copy and past someone elsie’s work?

Either way, you left out the important part of God’s teachings training on how to get the information.

The Bible teaches you how to learn of these things.

9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

[Elsie]

Do you think the poor should not be allowed to contribute, even though it is not required? How selfish of you if you do.

Is this found in the LDS Lame Strawmen 101 textbook?

[Elsie]

Does LDS teach you that they have NOT been fulfilled?

How Unchristian of them!

[Elsie]

  9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Paul sure was NOT talking about JS and his followers!

Live by the Bible; die by the Bible.

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Alma 40:11-14, 20

11 Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life.
12 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.
13 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil—for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house—and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil.
14 Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this estate, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection.

20 Now, my son, I do not say that their resurrection cometh at the resurrection of Christ; but behold, I give it as my opinion, that the souls and the bodies are reunited, of the righteous, at the resurrection of Christ, and his aascension into heaven.

 

 

 

LDS scholar Robert L. Millet wrote, “With the restoration of divine truths concerning God’s plan of salvation, we know where we came from. We know why we are here. And we know where we are going when death calls each of us to pass through the veil that separates time and eternity.”

Nowhere is the plan of salvation more clearly and fully taught than the Book of Mormon.  Thanks to the Book of Mormon and these other revelations, Latter-day Saints today are blessed with greater knowledge about the next life than any other known group of people in history.

 

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Those who were obedient to God’s commandments will live in the highest level of heaven with God, Jesus, and their families.
Those who choose not to follow God will not enjoy the full glory of living in the presence of God.

Mormons believe that hell can be the anxiety and heartache you feel when you’ve sinned. Those feelings don’t go away after death and can prevent people from enjoying the highest level of heaven. This is why Mormons believe that people must repent of their sins before Judgment. Without repenting, people cannot progress to the highest level of happiness that they could have. In this way, hell can be a state of mind because you know what reward you could have had.

Mormons have many unique beliefs, but their views on heaven aren’t that far out of the ordinary. If you take the time to study the reasons behind Mormon beliefs, you’ll easily see why Mormons believe as they do. You may not agree with them, but there’s nothing to lose by seeking to understand and respect the beliefs of others. https://community.today.com/parentingteam/post/what-do-mormons-believe-about-heaven

 

 

A depiction of the Plan of Salvation, as illustrated by a source within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

 

The three degrees of glory are most clearly described in section 76 of the D&C. In the preface to section 76, the following explanatory text is given:

A vision given to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, at Hiram, Ohio, February 16, 1832. Prefacing the record of this vision, Joseph Smith’s history states: "Upon my return from Amherst conference, I resumed the translation of the Scriptures. From sundry revelations which had been received, it was apparent that many important points touching the salvation of man had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled. It appeared self-evident from what truths were left, that if God rewarded every one according to the deeds done in the body the term 'Heaven,' as intended for the Saints' eternal home, must include more kingdoms than one. Accordingly, ... while translating St. John's Gospel, myself and Elder Rigdon saw the following vision." At the time this vision was given, the Prophet [Smith] was translating John 5:29.^[1]

[1]

Although Smith died in 1844, the compilation of his actions and words was not completed until 1856. Apostle Willard Richards was the chief editor of the work from 1841 until 1854. Apostle George A. Smith was the chief editor from 1854 until its completion in 1856. After Smith's death, apostle Wilford Woodruff allowed his extensive journal entries to be used to coordinate dates and clarify statements made by Smith. The completed work was read by and revised by church president Brigham Young and was published in 1858 by the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints under the title History of Joseph Smith.

Most of the material that resulted in History of Joseph Smith had been originally published in serial form over a 25-year period in the Times and Seasons, the Deseret News, or the Millennial Star.

Revision, renaming and republication[edit]

Beginning in 1902, a general authority of the LDS Church, B. H. Roberts, was commissioned by the First Presidency to work through History of Joseph Smith and correct errors, add corroborative material, improve the narrative, and provide commentary on the events. Roberts's extensive revision of the work resulted in it being republished by church-owned Deseret Book between 1902 and 1912 as the seven-volume History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The work soon became nicknamed the Documentary History of the Church, a usage which has only recently been abandoned by Mormon historians.

 

 

Live by Mormon scripture; die by Mormon scripture.

 

 

[Elsie]

...it has been made known unto me by an angel...

I wonder...

Did Alma shake his hand first??

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 Doctrine and Covenants       Section 129

 

Instructions given by Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Nauvoo, Illinois, 9 February 1843, making known three grand keys by which the correct nature of ministering angels and spirits may be distinguished (see History of the Church, 5:267).

1–3, There are both resurrected and spirit bodies in heaven; 4–9, Keys are given whereby messengers from beyond the veil may be identified.
1 There are two kinds of beings in heaven, namely: Angels, who are resurrected personages, having bodies of flesh and bones;
2 For instance, Jesus said: Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
3 Secondly: the spirits of just men made perfect, they who are not resurrected, but inherit the same glory.
4 When a messenger comes saying he has a message from God, offer him your hand and request him to shake hands with you.
5 If he be an angel he will do so, and you will feel his hand.
6 If he be the spirit of a just man made perfect he will come in his glory; for that is the only way he can appear;
7 Ask him to shake hands with you, but he will not move, because it is contrary to the order of heaven for a just man to deceive; but he will still deliver his message.
8 If it be the devil as an angel of light, when you ask him to shake hands he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything; you may therefore detect him.
9 These are three grand keys whereby you may know whether any administration is from God.

       Joseph Smith

[Elsie]

Nowhere is the plan of salvation more clearly and fully taught than the Book of Mormon.

Well Bob; the D&C's MIGHT add a little bit more information...

[Raymond Pamintuan]

Hi, Elsie, I’ve been waiting for you.

Before we begin, tell me more about yourself, specifically, which of the thousands of Christian denominations do you belong to and within which family?

I’m assuming you’re Protestant (defined as belonging to a church that believes in Sola Fide and Sola Scriptura) instead of Catholic, Anglican/Independent Catholic, or Eastern Christian.

Second, for proper dialog, let’s stick to just one topic at a time or several, but no more of the spamming of dozens of items, because it accomplishes nothing, except illustrate the fact that you’re very good at cutting and pasting.

Otherwise, I’ll just be replying with “So what?” or “What’s your point?”

As for myself, I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints denomination within the Latter-day Saint branch of Christianity.

What about you?