Conversion of an Anti-Mormon

Mormon.org ^

[fishtank]

This story you posted is about someone converting to a social club.

Speaking for myself, when I got saved, I was converted to Christ (p.s., I was NOT in the lds).

The weight of my own sin and my hopeless condition, and the reality of Jesus bearing THAT burden on the cross became clear. Those two truths set me free: that I saw my sin, and that Jesus lifted it from me. 100%, he lifted it.

Humbly, I ask you to notice the difference between the two situations.

[Tennessee Nana]

I was a committed born-again Evangelical Christian
________________________________________________________

I dont know what this is suppose to mean or what this woman believed before she met up with the mormons...

But Jesus told us to believe..or be damned...

She never said whether or not she actually believed in the God of the Christian Bible...the LORD Jesus Christ...

Whatever her faith was it was weak...and ignorant...

No real Christian with knowledge and an ongoing relationship with Jesus would give up Jesus for the pagan Joey Smith and his empty mormonism.....

[Cronos]

The Mormons ARE a Cult — thanks to Paragon Defender, I’ve found that out.

[Cronos]

The Book of Abraham — Egyptian payri dedicated to the God Osiris about funerary practises. how did J. Smith fake that to being a story about Abraham? he did it because no one could read hieroglyphics when J. Smith came up with his fraudulent group — what is silly is that people still follow this cult even when all it’s “histories” are proven false.

[Cronos]

JS — PD is correct, thanks to PD, I’ve seen the light. Before PD I didn’t know much about Mormonism, but after reading PD’s posts and visiting the links he sent, I realised that Mormonism is a made-up cult. On the LDS sites there is no information on why there is no historical / archaeological / genetic proof for LAmanaites or Nephites (no trace of any semites in pre-Columbine America) - and Mormonism’s “scripture” is as bogus as it’s history. Thanks to PD, I have realized the truth about the cult of Mormonism — thanks PD!

[Cronos]

PD: You can break out of your cult Godzilla. Drop the act, humble yourself and ask God for the truth.

But Godzilla isn't a Mormon. He's already asked God for the Truth and got it -- Mormonism is false.

[Godzilla]

Testimony of Mike Tea

Why I Left the Mormon Church
I was a member of the Mormon Church for 14 years, and find myself frequently disappointing people when I tell them that I enjoyed being a Latter-day Saint. You will understand that people expect to hear a little scandal with my kind of testimony, but I have none to offer. My wife was a member for 18 years in all, and we left together in August of 1986. Our time in the church was mostly happy. We started a family there and have much for which to be thankful, and very many happy memories. The church was good to us, being supportive through some very difficult times.

I served in various capacities including various clerical duties. I served as Sunday School teacher, Seminary and Institute teacher, teacher in both Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthood quorums, and Ward Missionary Leader. At the time of my leaving I was Elder’s Quorum President. Up to the time of my leaving I was a temple recommend holder and regularly attended the London Temple (right).

Why I Joined the Mormon Church
I remember my first contact with Mormonism, and the elders who taught me. I remember vividly the conviction with which I embraced the church and it’s teachings. I recall experiencing a burning in the bosom, not just once but many times, and can picture to this day where I was kneeling when it first happened. I could barely contain my excitement as I discovered more through the missionary discussions. This revolutionary message that the heavens were not sealed and that God spoke again through living prophets. I recollect my baptism at the District Centre then, before Wales had a Stake; It has two now.

In the Mormon church I met some of the most wonderful people you could wish to know. I remember my wife and I being prepared for our first visit to the temple by one of the counsellors of the District President. He was a lovely man, larger than life and full of love and encouragement. I remember the young people we grew alongside in the church and the times we had at District and Stake meetings, Gold and Green balls, temple trips, Fathers and Sons camps, even a visit to London to see Spencer W. Kimball (left). We married and grew up and had families and knew tragedies and triumphs, disenchantment and inspiration.

When we left, we left behind a full life, cherished friends, and good memories. Believe me when I say that our decision to go was not made lightly. And unlike some you might come across, we had nothing against the church, no complaints. Our friends were shocked at our leaving - so were we.

It took less than a month for us to make our momentous decision and, whilst this may seem hardly enough time to fully consider the issues, I assure you we were convinced and had no doubts. I realise now that that month was the culmination of a longer period of questioning and seeking. In the end ours was a real “road to Damascus” experience and, like Saul, it was as if scales fell from our eyes.

Contrary to what you might think, I am not part of an anti-Mormon group. I am not an anti-Mormon at all but a Christian. I am a member of a local Baptist church and my life is taken up with full involvement there. My time is not spent pouring over anti-Mormon literature, nor is it spent finding ways to “get at” Mormons. I do, however, share my experiences and findings with others in the same spirit in which Mormon missionaries go around the doors. I have found the truth and, especially in relation to Latter-day Saints, wish to share it.

I am sometimes asked why I now “fight” the Mormon Church. Mormons I meet ask why I try to convert church members who are, after all, already Christians. I might ask the same question of Mormon missionaries. When they find a Christian on the doorstep do they back away saying “Oh, you already know Jesus”? They do not, because they believe that there is no salvation outside the Mormon church. I believe there is no salvation inside the Mormon church and so, by the same token, I proselyte Latter-day Saints.

Why I Became a Christian
I have already said that I was happy as a Mormon and that I have no complaints about the way the church treated me. The inevitable question is, “Why, then, did you leave? There must have been something wrong”.

I recall it was one Friday evening, the children were in bed, and there was a quiet moment when we looked at each other apprehensively. We had not been discussing church, either that evening or that week, except in the general way. I remember how we tentatively but finally agreed that there was something wrong. There was an unspoken, undefined, significance to that word “something” precisely because we had nothing to complain about.

One of us, I don’t now remember who, said, “It’s not working, is it?”, and the other one agreed. Again an unspoken understanding of something we had never discussed or given the vaguest expression to, yet we each knew what the other meant. Our faith was not “working”. What did we mean by that? We didn’t then know or understand, but we felt an earnest desire to put right whatever it was we felt was wrong because our church membership was important to us.

It was then that we made a decision that, to this day, makes people stare. We turned to a Christian friend. It seems almost inconceivable, especially since we had no reason to shun our church friends, that we should do such a thing. I believe God was in all this. Of course I would say that, wouldn’t I?

I believe our friend John could barely contain his excitement at being presented with such an opportunity. He did hold himself back, however, and simply invited us to church. “Come and see” he said to us. It was in that church that we experienced such a love for God that we were left wondering what it was that we thought we had been experiencing for all those years. Don’t misunderstand me. I am not suggesting that Mormons are loveless, or that they have no genuine desire to serve God. But this was different.

So far we had seen something special in our friend John, something that had caused us, inexplicably, to trust him. We had experienced something amongst John’s friends - an intensity of love and devotion that was so new to us as to be heady, like new wine. Now we wanted to understand. If this was right how did it square with what we had experienced and understood until now? If this was wrong how did these poor people come to be so deceived?

John gave us a modern translation of the Bible (NIV) and encouraged us to read it without any commentary or Bible study aids. He suggested we start with Paul’s letter to the Romans. It was important to us that we should gain an understanding of things and so we now decided to review what we had already experienced, and what we could say for sure we knew, before we went any further. We had already agreed that God would not condemn us for honestly seeking his face and striving for a better understanding of his will. We now agreed that we would trust God to answer our prayers and resolve for us the, so far undefined, misgivings we had about our faith. Not about the Mormon church, but about our faith.

A Message of Grace
The thought that the Mormon Church might not be true had never entered our minds. No-one had spoken against the church in our hearing and we had not looked at any anti literature. Our struggle was not over doctrine. It was about our experience of God. In this spirit, then, of seeking God and trusting him for direction in a very personal pilgrimage, we read his word. It was here we discovered grace.

For all the Mormon church had going for it there was one area in which it singularly failed me. I was looking for something when I joined and I began to see that it was the one thing the church was incapable of delivering. Peace with God. When my wife and I became troubled we really did not understand why. We just knew - I knew - that something fundamental was missing from our spiritual experience. It was only as we began seeking with a determination we had never known before that we saw how radical would have to be the change in our lives if we were to go on with God.

When I set out to read Romans I was looking for a solution to the problems of my faith as a Mormon. I was not trying to sort out the Mormon Church. I was trying to sort out Mike Thomas. I wanted to get right with God so that I could be a better Latter-day Saint. Now you might say that I had a peculiar way of doing this. After all, going to a non-member etc. But God was in this from beginning to end so how could I do otherwise?

It was now that I did the one thing I had never done before. I knelt before God and asked Jesus to be my Saviour. I had believed in him for years, but I had been taught that the way to salvation was by obedience to the Mormon church. The church had effectively stood between me and God.

I came to see that there is only one mediator between men and God, the man Christ Jesus. I realised that the head of every man is Christ, not an organisation. I saw that all who came to him would not be condemned but would receive eternal life. I had an assurance of eternal life, something I had never known before, something no Mormon knows because the Mormon church teaches that salvation is by obedience, and so it is arrogant and presumptuous to say that you know. The Bible told me that I could know, the Mormon Church told me that I couldn’t. I chose to believe the Word of God.

Now I was faced with a dilemma. Could I give up all those things that had been my life up to now? Leave my church friends? People think that obedience is all about the ten commandments and that sort of thing. Really it is about attitude. What really is the most important thing in your life? Put like that there was no other choice. I left the Mormon Church and embraced my newly discovered joy. My life since really coming to know Jesus bears no comparison to all those years when I only thought I knew him. Iremember the sobering realisation of what was happening when my wife one day said, “You realise we can’t go back?”

I made the right choice and discovered a God who truly proves his faithfulness. So many scripture promises came true for me when I sought him and and discovered that “if you seek him, he will be found by you” (1 Chron.28:9). Coming from a system that saw obedience to law as the way to God I was brought to rejoice in the fact that “a righteousness from God , apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify” (Romans 3:21). The assurances of God’s Word are a blessing to me beyond anything I could hope or ask. I know that through faith in Jesus I have eternal life as a present possession and a guaranteed inheritance (John 5:24). I just thought you would like to know.

What we Discovered in Romans
What did we find in our reading of Paul’s letter to the Roman? We travelled what we later found was called The Roman Road. It is one of many journeys through the Bible designed to help us understand the fundamentals of God’s Word. I reproduce it here:

THE ROMAN ROAD

This is a simple explanation of the gospel, using scriptures from the Book of Romans - hence the name. It can be easily marked in your Bible by writing the first reference at the beginning of Romans, and then in the margin by each reference writing the reference which follows. Thus when you want to share the gospel message from the scriptures, you do not need to remember a string of references, you just need to look at the book of Romans and follow the road through it. The references and a brief description follows. Feel free to explain them in your own words.

3:10 - There is no-one righteous, no matter how good we are or how hard we try.

3:23 - All have sinned and fallen short. It is impossible for us to measure up to God’s standard.

5:12 - Death came to all men, because all sinned. It is our nature to sin.

5:8 - Because of God’s love for us, he sent Christ to die for us - while we were still sinners, not because we had done anything to earn it.

6:23 - The wages of sin is death - wages are what you earn as a result of what you do. The gift of God is eternal life - you do not earn a gift, or deserve it. God gives the gift because He loves us. We do not need to work for it, only accept it.

10:13 - Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, regardless of who they are or what they have done. You only have to call.

10:9,10 - True, heart-felt confession of faith in Jesus is what it takes to be saved, not works.

[Godzilla]

But Godzilla isn't a Mormon. He's already asked God for the Truth and got it -- Mormonism is false.

Most definitely!

[Paragon Defender]

Interesting. All of your “issues” are addressed at the links provided yet you claim there is not information.

You prove yourself an anti-Mormon activist and propagandist.

[Godzilla]

Interesting. All of your “issues” are addressed at the links provided yet you claim there is not information.

Not addressed - dodged, obfuscated, explained away AND NO OFFICIAL CHURCH PRONOUNCEMENTS. Another instance of the mormon 'evidence' failing epically.

You prove yourself an anti-Mormon activist and propagandist.

My pd - still going on with the mind reading and ad hominem attacks to 'prove' you are right?

[greyfoxx39]

THIS is a wonderful testimony of Jesus. Thank you Godzilla for posting it.

This statement really says it all for the Inmans, doesn't it? "I am sometimes asked why I now “fight” the Mormon Church. Mormons I meet ask why I try to convert church members who are, after all, already Christians. I might ask the same question of Mormon missionaries. When they find a Christian on the doorstep do they back away saying “Oh, you already know Jesus”? They do not, because they believe that there is no salvation outside the Mormon church. I believe there is no salvation inside the Mormon church and so, by the same token, I proselyte Latter-day Saints."

We proselyte not only LDS, but the "dear readers" who may be lured into mormonism by the non-Christian missionary campaign by 52,000 missionaries and TV and radio recruitment campaigns. We provide the truth that mormon leaders hide away from even their own members.

[Colofornian]

THIS is a wonderful testimony of Jesus. Thank you Godzilla for posting it. This statement really says it all for the Inmans, doesn't it? "I am sometimes asked why I now “fight” the Mormon Church. Mormons I meet ask why I try to convert church members who are, after all, already Christians. I might ask the same question of Mormon missionaries. When they find a Christian on the doorstep do they back away saying “Oh, you already know Jesus”? They do not, because they believe that there is no salvation outside the Mormon church. I believe there is no salvation inside the Mormon church and so, by the same token, I proselyte Latter-day Saints." We proselyte not only LDS, but the "dear readers" who may be lured into mormonism by the non-Christian missionary campaign by 52,000 missionaries and TV and radio recruitment campaigns. We provide the truth that mormon leaders hide away from even their own members.

ALL: If you are a Mormon, you are not alone in your struggle to considering exiting the Mormon church.

Interest from all Mormons and former Mormons is high. How do we know. Well, one of the top three 2010 FREEPER Lds threads drew 1,442 replies:

See 580 Reasons (& counting) Why You Should Leave the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [II]

[Godzilla]

More reasons to leave mormonism -

http://www.latayne.com/365-reasons

Today’s reason:

Reason # 170– The Testimony of Olavo dos Santos Martins

I got to have my first contact with the church through his missionaries in ´77. I had been a student of English and I´d been needing people to talk to, out of my regular classes.

Well, my father was the one who knew them and introduced them to me.

We started our chats on saturday mornings and that was where I got to have my contacts with them, the Ensign mag and the BoM.

My mom and I got the 1st. discussion. But, we didn´t want to go on.

In 1980, I got to know the principal of the Language School I had just started to work in was an LDS. My interest in the BoM revived and she introduced me to a new set of missionaries.

They taught me and baptized me about two weeks later on the 3rd. of May, 1980, along with three other people.
Well, I kept on going to the church, received both priesthoods, the lesser and the higher and in ´81 went on a full-time mission. Four months later I came back, sick and disillusioned. I was threatened to death by one of my companions with a knife. I was honorably relieved and served as a District missionary and later on as Ward Mission Leader twice. I served in almost every calling, but for bishop, stake counselor and financial clerk. I even served as a High Councilor. I got married to a returned short-term sister missionary whom I got to know as Stake missionary. We were sealed in São Paulo´s Temple along with our first son. (We married in Paraguay and had to wait for one year to be sealed in SP.)

I stayed in the church for 30 years. Last year I accidentaly ran into some “anti” mormon info through the web but stopped looking into it. : I still had the cognitive dissonance!

This year I decided to investigate further. I downloaded “The Changing World of Mormonism,” by Jerald and Sandra Tanner. And after a whole month, I was convinced I had been in the wrong religion. I got deeper and deeper into my investigation. I stopped going to church. My two children left it too. Only my wife has stayed more or less active in the church. My children refuse to go back. Me too. I consider myself a post-mormon, even though my name is still in Church records. I´ve got my letter of renunciation ready to handed to the bishop. I´ve been seriously considering delivering it to him to have my name eventually removed.

Nowadays, like you and other ex-mormons I´ve become a deep investigator of the church. I´ve got a huge library of web-archives in my computer. And, as the times go by, I thank Our Lord and God for having rescued me out of the “Mormon Mirage (and delusion!)” that mormonism is.

[SZonian]

Thanks, but I’m free of the mormonic cult. Praise the Lord! The joy, the freedom, the feeling that comes from not having to pursue perfection in order to gain godhood, the relief of no longer carrying the burden of relying upon my own efforts to be saved, but trusting in Jesus Christ and Him alone. You too can have that feeling PD, take your blinders off and look to the true Christ of the Bible, not JS’s version.

No going back for me. Saw what it can do to otherwise good people.

It grinds their personal freedom and will down like grist in a mill. Blind obedience is demanded to men who can’t even prove they’ve given a true prophecy.

A cult created by a lecher, a thief, an adulterer. Yeah, if that’s what you call “truth”, I want no part of it and I’m working earnestly to get my family free of it.

You can keep your “truth” PD, the only truth I need is found in the Bible and in Jesus Christ. Mormonism has a very thin veneer of Biblical truth.

This is my witness to you as an EX-mormon.

Your continued ad hominems notwithstanding.

[RobRoy]

>>I found it incomprehensible then that everyone would not want this expanded, updated, self-correcting and plenary version of Christianity.<<

Huh? Need I quote the Bible scriptures that fly in the face of that remark?

These testimonies are interesting, and rather sad. It would be interesting to read the testimonies of some men in prison that converted to islam. There are quite a few of them. It doesn’t mean they did the right thing.

[Godzilla]

>>I found it incomprehensible then that everyone would not want this expanded, updated, self-correcting and plenary version of Christianity.<<
Huh? Need I quote the Bible scriptures that fly in the face of that remark?

You probably won't - that was her referring to her mormon period - not her life as a Christian.

[RobRoy]

Godzilla, is that you, or a testimony you found? It’s pretty powerful.

[RobRoy]

Never mind. After reading it I forgot that it said at the beginning who’s testimony it was. :)

[RobRoy]

>>Mormon people are, as a group, wonderful people to know, and it hurts to know that they are lost.<<

Yes, I have several Mormon friends. The problem as I see it is this:

Christianity and the Bible are about two things: 1) Man’s relationship with his Creator, and 2) Man’s relationship with his fellow man.

I think mormonism nails number 2 pretty well. But that ends when you become worm food. Heck, Solomon covers it in Ecclesiastes, when he says over and over that a man’s lot is to eat and dring and enjoy the fruits of his labor - and that it is good.

But Christianity brings it to the next level - man’s relationship with his Creator. There is where it drops the ball miserably. It has the appearance of Christianity, but ignores the Cornerstone rejected by the builders. That is, Jesus as God in the flesh, along with his perfect atonement and grace via the shedding of His blood as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.

I have a very personal and intimate relationship with my wife. The people she works with, and friends, and family also have a “relationship” with her. But she is quite literally a different person to them than she is to me.

Regarding Jesus, Christians are the Bride. The relationship is personal and intimate. With mormonism, islam, and any other religion that at least admits Jesus existed, they have a “relationship”, but He is a completely different “Person” to them.

It is best to be the bride.

[RobRoy]

>>Guy sounds like he was happy in the Mormon church, and is miserable now. That’s weird.<<

I don’t see it that way (btw, it’s a female name). First, lets get this out of the way first - Christianity is not about happiness. It is about Joy.

Now, she doesn’t seem unhappy. Rather, she seems more “sober”. I think of it as the concept of everyone having their “cross to bear”.