Jason andLaura
Laura's Testimony - IThought I was Righteous
I was always a very dedicated Mormon. I wouldbear my testimony, kept the Word of Wisdom, attended BYU, and married a returnmissionary in the temple. I always felt sorry for people who were not Mormon. Ibelieved that I was really lucky and blessed by God to be raised in the Churchof Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If everyone would just read the Book ofMormon and pray about it, I was convinced that they would know the Mormon Churchwas true. How could anyone truly be happy or complete without it?
Never in my wildest dreams could I haveimagined the wonderful peace and joythat I have found in leaving behind my religion and entering into a truerelationship with God. My greatest desire and prayer is for my beloved familyand friends in the Mormon Church and my dear father who is agnostic to discoverGod and understand the amazing gift of grace that He offers to us.
It is difficult to know where to begin intelling my story of how I came to leave the Mormon Church. For a belief that Iheld strong convictions for and founded my whole life on, the Church of JesusChrist of Latter-day Saints fell very hard and very quickly when I took myblinders off and God opened my eyes. Close scrutiny and sincere prayer to Godthat I might know what is true showed that the Mormon Church is not truthand is not of God.
My journal is full of my professions of lovefor the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and sincere belief in it. Iremember crying as a little girl in prayer to God that my Dad would know thetruth and believe in the Mormon Church. I read the Book of Mormon and prayedabout it. I never got a "burning in my bosom" but I still had greatfaith in it and felt that I didn't need a sign to have a testimony. I wasalways distressed at the Nephites pride problem and how they kept falling awayfrom God. I would often pray that God would help me not to become prideful andfall away from him. I did not realize that I wasfallen and separated from God. Romans 10:2, "they have a zealof God, but not according to knowledge", fit me pretty well.
Once in a while I would be plagued by doubtsregarding the truthfulness of the Mormon Church. I usually dismissed my doubtsas attacks by Satan. I would resolve to stand firm in my faith and push aside mydoubts or concerns. Now, looking back on my life, I believe that God was tryingto speak to me and have me seek Him.
I attended a General Conference in Salt LackCity in April 1989 with a group of friends from BYU. I remember a person handingout tracks that were considered anti-Mormon. My friends started talking abouthow the Mormon Church warns us not to take any such material or even look at it.I, of course, didn't take a track. I did wonder briefly why we should avoidanti-Mormon stuff. Surely, I figured, we did not need to be afraid of it. If itis not correct, we could reason with the person and show them that theymisunderstood.
I married my husband in the Washington DCtemple in April 1991. I had accomplished my goal since childhood to find areturn missionary that was committed to the Mormon Church and marry in a temple.I had resolved very early in my childhood to not repeat my mother's mistakeand marry a person who would not remain faithful to the Mormon religion. I didnot want my children growing up with a non-believing father as I had. My husbandand I loved the Mormon Church and tried to be faithful to the commandments. Wehad children while my husband was struggling to get a degree. During the first 7years of our marriage, we struggled to make ends meat. My husband's pay wasnever enough to cover food, housing, clothing, utilities, etc. We would usecredit cards to buy groceries, and we had to take out loans so that we could payour tithing. I felt that the sacrifices we made for the Church of Jesus Christof Latter-day Saints would be recognized by God and that He would bless us forthem.
It was after we moved to Virginia in 1999 thatmy husband started to feel a great dissatisfaction with the Mormon Church. Hedid not feel the spirit of love in the Mormon Church in this area. He complainedthat people shouldn't bear their testimonies that they "knew" theMormon Church was true only that they "believe" it to be true. Hedidn't seem to have the same dedication to paying tithing anymore and reallydid not enjoy attending Church services. I became anxious in regards to myhusband. My dreams of a dedicated on fire for the Mormon Church husband seemedto be disappearing in a puff of smoke. I figured that I was lucky though becausemy husband's parents are extremely dedicated to the Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter-day Saints. I believed that with me and his parents working on him thatmy husband would straighten out and regain a strong testimony and love for theChurch.
SEARCHING
Then came the fateful day in February 2001when we had our "Road to Damascus" experience. My husband was watching"FBI: The Untold Stories" on TV. The show was about Mark Hofmann andthe Salamander Papers. Curious, my husband went downstairs and did an internetsearch to see if he could find additional information regarding this topic. Hediscovered a lot more information than he had planned on. It must have been acouple hours later that he came to me. I could see that he was visibly shaken.My analytical unemotional husband was very distressedover information that he had found concerning the Mormon Church. He wanted me tolook at what he had found. I followed him downstairs to the computer room. Icouldn't imagine what would have upset him so bad. Anyway, I reasoned truthstands up to careful scrutiny and lies will fall. I thought I had truth on myside so I did not need to fear investigating this; after all, onlylies need to be protected.
When I read the information, I immediatelyknew that what it said regarding the Mormon Church was true. I knew instantlythat the Mormon Church was false and that I had been deceived by it.Nevertheless, my husband and I checked out sources to verify, for ourselves, ifthe information was authentic. We were able to get the History of the Churchbooks and verify that the statements concerning Joseph Smith on a website aretrue. The information I'm talking about is located at:
http://www.mindspring.com/~engineer_my_dna/mormon/misconce.htm
I went through the temple in 1991 and was verydisturbed to discover that before 1990 the temple ceremony was different. Myhusband who went through the temple in 1988 was able to confirm this. They hadpenalty oaths such as cutting ones throat, cutting one's heart out, and slashingthe abdomen and the five points of fellowship that is in Masonry. They discardedthis and some other stuff when they changed the ceremony in 1990. We prayerfullyresearched and went through so much material that it would take me a very longtime to give a full detailed account of everything.
Please search (Proverbs 2:2-6,11) andinvestigate for yourself. God wants us to prove all things (1 Thessalonians5:21). The Book of Mormon says to pray and base your faith on a feeling. Oneshould consider the fact that if a book is false than the method prescribed fortesting the validity of the book is also false. The Book of Mormon claims thatthe Bible was corrupted and many plain and precious parts of the Lord's wordswere lost or taken away. The Bible states that such a thing would be impossible.God's word (the Bible) never fell; it has stood through time. Isaiah 40:8states, "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our Godshall stand for ever." The Lord's words have never passed away, needingto be restored at a latter date. Jesus said in Mark 13:31, "Heavenand earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away." 1Peter 1:23-25 testifies that the word of God "liveth and abidethforever" and that it "endureth for ever". The Biblehas endured forever in its trustworthiness.
http://www.irr.org/mit/lostbooks.html has agood article regarding the Bible. It specifically addresses LDS beliefssuch as secret teachings of Jesus, an apostasy and removal of parts of theBible, that other inspired books that were rejected in the canonization process,and that God continues to give new revelation through latter-day prophets. Thearticle explains why Christians don't hold to such claims.
I have to admit that I was very angry andbitter towards the Mormon Church for the deep sense of betrayal that I felt fromit. I felt that the LDS Church had deceived and hidden things from me a member!I know that Jason was taught in the MTC to avoid certain subjects withinvestigators and present only certain parts of the Mormon gospel. Milk beforethe meat was the saying. Likewise, only certain parts of Church History ispresented to members of the Mormon Church.
DISCOVERINGGOD AND MY SINFULNESS
I had always thought that I was a Christian.It had irritated me that people would think that a Mormon was not a Christian. Imean just look at the name of the Mormon Church, The Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter-day Saints. Mormons believe in Jesus Christ. Now I finally see andunderstand what I couldn't before. Both Christians and Mormons use the namesHeavenly Father and Jesus Christ, but they believe in a totally differentHeavenly Father and Jesus. Same name but completely different nature, being, andpowers. The God that I came to know is not limited in any way. He can createthings out of nothing. "With God nothing shall be impossible" Luke1:37. He has always been God (Psalms 90:2). He is notprogressing. He has always been perfect. He is a different and much, muchgreater being than us. Hosea 11:9, "for I am God, and not man".There was never any God that has ever existed before or will exist latter on. Itis impossible for man to progress to become a God. Isaiah 43:10, "Yeare my witnesses, saith the Lord, ...before me there was no God formed, neithershall there be after me.
In my searching, I began to come to therealization that I really did have a sinful nature. I had always thought I was arighteous person. I figured that I lived a better and more righteous life thanmost people in the world did. I wasn't perfect of course, but I felt that Ihad done a good job of keeping all the major commandments. I would feel badthough. While I had never killed anyone, kept the Word of Wisdom, saved myselffor my husband, tried to do good things and help others, I continued to fallshort and sin every single day. All it takes is a sinful thought or omission ofwhat we should do. I would lose my temper with my kids and husband. I could notbe perfect as the Lord commanded. (Matthew 5:48) Even 3 Nephi 12:48says to "be perfect" which is a present condition not"become" which refers to future. No matter how hard I struggled ortried I could not stop sinning. James 2:10 says, "For whosoevershall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty ofall."
Ephesians 5:5 tells us that no uncleanperson has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. (Even 1 Nephi10:21 and 15:24 state this.) "But we are all as an uncleanthing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags" Isaiah 64:6.Flesh cannot conquer flesh. I was helpless to change myself and be perfect.
SAVEDAND REDEEMED
The occult symbols on the temple andsimilarity between the temple ceremony and Satanism were the last straw for me.They freaked me out. I was convicted that in my ignorance I had been servingSatan and not God. I was finally able to let go of the Church, the system, therules, my works, and everything I had known and give myself to God. Everythinggot swept off the throne of my life and God was finally given His rightfulplace. I knelt in prayer and acknowledged before God my sinfulness. Iacknowledged my total dependence on Him and accepted the wonderful free gift ofgrace that Jesus offers us. I surrendered myself to God and His will. I acceptedHim as my MASTER and BOSS. I may not be the best servant but I am His. Iexperienced the most profound sense of peace and love that I have ever known.Even the anger and bitterness I had been feeling towards the Mormon Church leftme. I do not base my faith on just my feelings though. The Bible is my measuringtool. I test all things with the Bible, which is God's very word.
Jesus is truly our Redeemer and Savior. He isnot an example or model of how to earn God's favor but is our substitute. Heearned Heavenly Father's forgiveness for us by His suffering and death. He wasthe blood offering for our sins. The law points out our sinfulness to us.Jesus is the only one who could keep the whole law. It is like a huge chasm thatonly Jesus could jump over to reach heaven. It doesn't matter how far each ofus is able to jump; we all fall short. Mother Theresa might jump a lot fartherthan Bill Clinton. They both fall far from the other side. Only through Christdo we get there. We are captives or prisoners to sin. Only Jesus can set usfree.
The Bible is very clear that our works do notsave us. (Ephesians 2:9) All of our works are stained with sin. (Isaiah64:6) Faith in Jesus is what saves us. (Genesis 15:6 and John 20:31)When we still believe in our own righteousness and works, we are not placing ourtotal faith in Jesus Christ. We are not taking the wonderful undeserved gift ofeternal life that He offers. "For they being ignorant of God'srighteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, havenot submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is theend of the law for righteousness toevery one that believeth." (Romans 10:3-4)
We are free from the condemnation of the lawwhen we come to really know Jesus, repent and accept His sacrifice on the crossfor us. "And you, being dead in your sinsand the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him,having forgiven you all trespasses;blotting out the handwriting of ordinancesthat was against us, which was contrary to us, and tookit out of the way, nailingit to his cross." (Colossians 2:13-14) I pray that you seekto know God and be saved by Him.
In Christ's Love,
Laura
I do want to express my thanks to myhusband's wonderful extended family. Jason's extended family are trueChristians who walk with God. For 29 years his grandparents, aunts, uncles andcousins and the churches they attend have been praying for Jason's parents,him and his brothers. The last 3 years we had prayers specifically said for us.They never preached to us, but boy did they pray. Most of all I praise and thankGod for His great mercy and answering the prayers said for Jason and I. Thesupport, strength, and help that God has given us has been truly supernatural. Ithank him every day for saving us. My hope is that you will let him save you aswell.
Jason's Testimony - Saved byGrace
The reason I'm writing this is so I can add mytestimony to the world about the Deity of Jesus Christ and His plan ofsalvation, that we are saved by grace. First a little background. My parentsconverted to Mormonism when I was about 2 years old. I grew up as an activemember of the Mormon church, attended BYU, served a full time mission, andmarried in the temple. My callings included primary pianist, ward organist,primary teacher, and nursery worker. I must admit however that I wasn't the bestof home teachers. My belief that the Mormon church was the only true church ofGod on the earth was based on the Book of Mormon. I must have read it a dozentimes. I didn't read the Bible because it was supposed to be unreliable. Whybase my faith on something that I couldn't trust? That all changed, and here'show.
One day I was watching the FBI untold stories.The show was about Mark Hofmann and the Salamander papers. I was curious aboutthe events that transpired so I did an internet search on him and the papers. Iwas surprised to find that not only was there an abundance of information aboutMark Hoffman, but there was tons of other interesting things that I came across.It didn't take me long for my testimony to crumble about the Mormon church. Itwas not what it presented itself to be. I felt lied to and deceived. Thank Godmy wife came to the same conclusion. It took her only a few minutes to reachthat conclusion because of the preponderance of the evidence. Anyone wishing todo their own investigation can start off with www.utlm.org (Utah Light Ministry).
For the next few weeks/months my life was inshambles. My wife and I were expecting our third child and everything I believedin I found out was a hoax. Not only did I think that the Mormon church was ahoax, but was it possible that Jesus was a hoax? Could it be we evolved fromapes and that God does not exist? These questions really bothered me because myfaith was in an institution, the Mormon church, and not the person of JesusChrist, who is God over all, His name be forever praised.
The first thing I needed to do was find out ifthe Bible text was reliable. Since the Mormon church teaches that the Catholicchurch corrupted the Bible, my first task was to do some research in this area.It turns out that, as most teachings of the Mormon church are, this one is falsealso. The Bible text is reliable. There are some good resources for those whowant to do their own investigation. A good start is "The New Evidence thatDemands a Verdict" by Josh McDowell. Another good book is "Case forChrist" by Lee Strobel. Both of these books can point you to otherauthoritative resources for Biblical reliability. It turns out that the Catholicchurch did not and does not control the Bible text. There are over 5000 NewTestament Greek manuscripts, plus the writings of the early church fathers thatquote the New Testament manuscripts. Also the Dead Sea Scrolls discovery shouldput to rest any idea that the Old Testament text is not reliable since they aredated to 150 BC, before the Catholic church even came into existence. Howeverthe most authoritative source that the text is reliable should come from theLord Jesus himself as quoted in Mathew 24:35 "Heaven and earth will passaway, but my words will never pass away." My advice to any Mormon is to geta different Bible translation than King James. There are some good ones outthere. My personal favorite is the New International Version (NIV). Some othergood ones are New King James Version (NKJV) and the New American Standard Bible(NASB). The NASB is supposed to be a very close translation, almost word forword translation from the Greek and Hebrew. All three translations use today'sEnglish instead of 16th century English and therefore make the Bible moreunderstandable. Also it makes it harder to twist the meaning of the words, acommon practice in the Mormon church.
The second thing I needed to do was convincemyself was that Jesus is not a hoax either. If Genesis could be discredited,then Jesus could not be who he said he was. Some good places on the internetthat I found helpful are www.answersingenesis.org and www.icr.org . I won't go intodetail now about them, but for anyone who has some doubts and concerns can dosome of their own investigating at these very good web sites. Also a good bookto start out with is "In 6 Days" and can be found in either website's bookstore. Psalm 19:1 states "The heavens declare the glory of God,the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Paul states in Romans 1:18-20"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessnessand wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what maybe known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. Forsince the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal powerand divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has beenmade, so that men are without excuse." From the evidence of creation I'mconvinced that there is a God. But that doesn't necessarily mean that Jesus wasthe son of God. What evidence is there that he was who he claimed to be. Thefirst and foremost is the resurrection. If he did rise from the dead then Jesuswas God. There is also fulfilled prophecy. Jesus fulfills all the Old Testamentprophecies concerning the Messiah. Then there is the Holy Spirit. He is the onewho ultimately convinces you that Jesus is Holy One of Israel. By the grace ofGod I was able to be convinced that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the LivingGod. But then what must I do to be saved. It's easy... read on.
By reading the Bible I came to realize thatsalvation does not come from human works, it comes only from the grace of Godfor those who believe in Jesus Christ. Here are a few of the versus to back itup. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and onlySon, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."John 3:18 "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does notbelieve stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name ofGod's one and only Son." John 6:27-29 "Do not work for food thatspoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man willgive you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval. Then they askedhim, What must we do to do the works God requires? Jesus answered, The work ofGod is this: to believe in the one he has sent." John states the reason whyhe wrote the book of John in John 20:31 "But these (the book of John) arewritten that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and thatby believing you may have life in his name." Acts 16:30-31 "He (thejailer) brought them (Paul and Silas) out and asked, Sirs, what must I do to besaved? They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved -you and your household." Romans 3:21-24 "But now a righteousness fromGod, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophetstestify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to allwho believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of theglory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption thatcame by Christ Jesus." Romans 10:9-10 "That if you confess with yourmouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from thedead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and arejustified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." 1Corinthians 1:18-25 "For the message of the cross is foolishness to thosewho are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For itis written 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of theintelligent I will frustrate.' Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar?Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of theworld? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not knowhim, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save thosewho believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but wepreach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of Godand the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom,and the weakness of God is stronger that man's strength." Ephesians 2:8-9"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not fromyourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one canboast." 1 John 5:11-13 "And this is the testimony: God has given useternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he whodoes not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you whobelieve in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternallife." The message of the Bible is clear. The only way to get into heavenis to believe in Jesus Christ plus nothing. Period. Nothing that you or I can dowill allow us to earn our way into heaven. No amount of temple attendance,completing a full time mission, paying tithing, etc. can get you or I intoheaven. If you believe it is by works and not grace, then you don't have thefaith to get into heaven. Just as Jesus said in Matthew 9:22 to the sick woman"Jesus turned and saw her. Take heart, daughter, he said, your faith hashealed you." And in Matthew 9:28-29 when he heals the blind men "...Do you believe that I am able to do this? Yes, Lord, they replied. Then hetouched their eyes and said, According to your faith will it be done toyou." He didn't ask any of the people he healed to do any kind of works.The only thing he asked is for them to believe that he can heal. There weretimes when Jesus was unable to heal because the people lacked faith. It's notthat Jesus couldn't heal. He could have done anything he wanted. He didn't healbecause the people didn't believe. In the same way if we trust in our humaneffort, church membership, Joseph Smith, etc. Jesus will not forgive us and giveus eternal life. He asks us to trust Him and believe in Him. It's the onlyrequirement to get into heaven. If the thief on the cross had to rely on humaneffort, he'd be up the cross without a paddle. Instead Jesus shows us thateternal life is only determined on our belief and faith by saying to the thief"I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
My only hope is that anyone who reads thiswill decide to make Jesus Lord and Savior of their life. Eternal life is easy.If you want it say this simple prayer. "Jesus, I know I have sinned againstyou. I'm sorry and I ask you to forgive me. I have nothing to give you in returnfor your gift of grace. I now give my life to you. Come into my life and be Lordover me. Thank you for the gift of eternal life that you have just givenme." If you said this prayer and meant it you have just crossed from deathto life. You now have a ticket to heaven and out of the hell that is eternal. Ifyou don't believe it then you just made Jesus into a liar.
For anyone who is struggling with leaving theMormon church and needs someone to talk to, you can get in contact with my wifeand I. We would be happy to give comfort, assurance, and friendship toanyone who needs it.
In Christ,
Jason
EmailJason and Laura
