The Book of Mormon... have you read it?

[Zundrah]

RebeccaJ;5446642]ParkerD was bearing his testimony. Mormons usually end such a profession with a “in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen”. They say this so often, that it becomes habitual and gets all squished together like it is one word.

I remember you telling me that you were once a mormon, so i guess you would know what they are doing.

ParkerD is in missionary mode. Mormon missionaries call people who know little to nothing about Mormonism, and who ask questions “golden contacts”. IE, easy targets for conversion. It’s even better if you have had recent life turmoil, or emotionally hard times that you are still working through.

I was an athiest a year and six months ago Rebbeca! Does that shock you at all? I’m proud of my christianity!

 

[Zundrah]

I’d do it. Please return and report.

Are you serious!? Should I go then? I can tell you what it was like! I’ll mail Lydia now!

 

[RebeccaJ]

I remember you telling me that you were once a mormon, so i guess you would know what they are doing.

A reason ParkerD is here is to troll for converts. Mormons, like your friend Lydia, are always trying to get everyone else to be Mormons with them. Here in the heart of Mormonism, Utah, it becomes an annoyance.

I was an athiest a year and six months ago Rebbeca! Does that shock you at all? I’m proud of my christianity!

Funny girl, I was an atheist for 20 years. Raised LDS. Baptized Catholic in 2008. I too am very grateful that God led me to Him.

 

[Zundrah]

RebeccaJ;5446736]A reason ParkerD is here is to troll for converts. Mormons, like your friend Lydia, are always trying to get everyone else to be Mormons with them. Here in the heart of Mormonism, Utah, it becomes an annoyance.

Yes thay can be a little too much some times…

Funny girl, I was an atheist for 20 years. Raised LDS. Baptized Catholic in 2008. I too am very grateful that God led me to Him.

Our Father wants us to come home to his kingdom…where his son is…his spirit will guide us there eventually. We will always be with the Lord!

 

[ParkerD]

Hey, Parker D you’re hooking me here, finally you are starting to make sense to me now! How do I come to show my self “worthy”? I want to be closer to Christ and my Father but the catholic faith just confuses me! How do I receive the spirit above how I already have!?

What does Joseph Smith have to offer for me? I want to be closer to Christ’s will for me ultimately. Please tell me what I’m missing.

Zundrah,
If as you read the New Testament, such as the writings of Paul about charity (1 Corinthians 13) and about the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, then if you feel you want more of those qualities in your life I would suggest that the Spirit is guiding you toward those feelings, and will guide you on how to bring them into your life.

I think Christ gave sure promises to those who seek, that they will find what they are seeking, if they do it in a humble and sincere way. All the best to you.

 

[RebeccaJ]

Are you serious!? Should I go then? I can tell you what it was like! I’ll mail Lydia now!

lol, apparently you want to go, so go. I went to different religious services, when I was in RCIA, at first. Still deciding what I was going to do. There is a lot of beauty, and even truth, in many religious beliefs. In the end, it is not hard to see where Christ’s true Church is.

Put it this way Jennifer, a friend of mine told me when I was in RCIA, there is only one reason to be Christian and that is Jesus Christ. There is only one reason to be Catholic and that is the Sacraments, that Christ instituted and gave to His Church. The communion of Saints is a great bonus.

Pray for God’s gudidance, to protect you from what is false, and to bring you to His truth. Trust Him, and you’ll do alright.

(And don’t trust anyone who tells you what your own feelings mean. THAT is definitely a mark of a cult.)

 

[Zundrah]

lol, apparently you want to go, so go. I went to different religious services, when I was in RCIA, at first. Still deciding what I was going to do. There is a lot of beauty, and even truth, in many religious beliefs. In the end, it is not hard to see where Christ’s true Church is.

Put it this way Jennifer, a friend of mine told me when I was in RCIA, there is only one reason to be Christian and that is Jesus Christ. There is only one reason to be Catholic and that is the Sacraments, that Christ instituted and gave to His Church. The communion of Saints is a great bonus.

Pray for God’s gudidance, to protect you from what is false, and to bring you to His truth. Trust Him, and you’ll do alright.

(And don’t trust anyone who tells you what your own feelings mean. THAT is definitely a mark of a cult.)

Amen girl!

 

[zerinus]

How can I become a mormon and get out of the tight grips of those catholics that are choking me right now with too many teachings!? :whacky:

Easy. Find yourself a couple of Mormon missionaries, and they will put you on the right path!

Would I be re - baptized?

No; you would just be baptized! The old one didn’t count, remember?

ZERIUS! Hurry up and answer me!

I just did! :tiphat:

 

[Christian55]

No dianaiad, my friend Lydia promised me that she has spoken to her bishop and I can get into the temple at the first time I go! The bishop is her father - inlaw! She is a missionary there and has been since 1974 when she was 14 years old! Yay me!

Zundrah: Be careful my friend. I have been down this road myself. My experiences were very much the same as Anna Scott’s.

Please read Anna Scott’s story. Kolab is a star, not a planet, but an easy mistake, when one has gone through so much trauma.

Finrock,

My Mormon friends did answer my questions. They confirmed the very beliefs that you say are “either misconstrued LDS doctrine or not LDS doctrine at all.”

They confirmed the following as beliefs of the LDS Church: God has a wife and lives on another planet (Kolob); there are other gods of other worlds; Joseph Smith wrote that he believed that Adam was god.

Even now, there are websites that confirm these beliefs, and even say Mormons believe that God was once a man, which fits the writings of Joseph Smith.

I would have let this go; but since you are denying that these things are doctrines of the LDS Church; I will tell you more about my experience with the Mormon church.

A Mormon bishop and his wife were my neighbors, before my divorce. I had known them for years. I admired the strength of their family. The bishop seemed like the father I never had. So, after my divorce, they invited me to their church. For weeks, I took lessons at the bishop’s home- with the Mormon Bishop and two Mormon missionaries.

I was at a very vulnerable point in my life. I wanted to belong someplace. I was a single mom, with no family in my city.

So, I went to the Mormon church and finished all the lessons. There were things that concerned me about the church services. I rarely heard the name of Christ spoken. Almost without exception, testimonies began with a statement of belief that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I was told that there are three heavens. I was also told that God, in the flesh, impregnated Mary.

I did eventually decide to join the church. The day before my baptism, a family member called me and told me about the Mormon belief that God has a wife and lives on another planet (kolob,) and men can become gods. I was so shocked; because none of this was discussed in the lessons-except a passing mention of exaltation-with no clear explanation.

So, I called the Bishop’s house and spoke to one of his daughters. I asked if these beliefs were true, and she admitted that they were. I was really shaken, but I did proceed with baptism. After the baptism, things became very strange. Every time I tried to read the Book of Mormon, I would feel ill–as if I were in a place of darkness.

Then one evening, I heard a knock at my door. It was a friend of mine who drove from another state for a surprise visit. During her stay, I told her that I had been baptized into the Mormon church. She told me she had taken the lessons many years ago. She also told me she found one of Joseph Smith’s early books. Smith actually wrote that he believed Adam was god.

I knew I had to break the connection with the Mormon church as quickly as possible. So, I called the bishop’s wife and told her I did not want any further connection with the Mormon church. She came to my house and asked me why. I told her all the things I had learned about the Mormon beliefs. She acknowledged that they were all true.

When I told her about Joseph Smith’s writings that revealed his belief that Adam was god, she could not deny that either. She said she was familiar with the “Adam/god theory.” I told her I felt that I had been deceived. During the lessons, I was told that the Mormon church is a Christian church–with the same beliefs in God and Jesus as other Christian Churches.

It didn’t end there; members of the church kept calling me and showing up at my door. I kept telling them I was not coming back to the church and to please stop contacting me.

It still didn’t stop. I received phone calls. I received things in the mail-which I marked “return to sender” and left for the Postman. Then, I started receiving things in the mail with no return address-a clear attempt to get me to open the package.

I finally had to write a formal letter to the church–telling them I would consider any further contact harassment—(though I had been harassed, since the moment I told them I was not coming back.)

I was Baptized into the Christian Church again. The whole Mormon experience taught me that blind trust in people and their beliefs can be a dangerous thing.

Now, I look to God. I pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to “distinguish between the spirits,” and to reveal God’s Truth to me. I study the Bible. I study the history of the Church. I participate in Christian Forums.

Yet, at the end of the day, that which I hold as Truth, comes from God, and from God alone.

Perhaps you denied these beliefs, because you do not believe these things. So, I make no judgment concerning your faith or what you actually believe. I have no right to judge anyone. I have simply relayed my experience with the Mormon church.

1 Corinthians 2:11 (ESV) says, “11For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”

As I said in my post, I hold no ill feelings toward the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints/Mormon Church. However, I did have a very traumatic experience with this church.

May God Reveal His Truth to Us All,
Anna

 

[dianaiad]

No dianaiad, my friend Lydia promised me that she has spoken to her bishop and I can get into the temple at the first time I go! The bishop is her father - inlaw! She is a missionary there and has been since 1974 when she was 14 years old! Yay me!

She’s been a Mormon missionary since she was 14?

Wow. That’s quite a term.

Zundrah, go ask your friend again.There has been some misscommunication.

 

[Zundrah]

zerinus;5446827]Easy. Find yourself a couple of Mormon missionaries, and they will put you on the right path!

Zerius, you are actually quite sweet!

No; you would just be baptized! The old one didn’t count, remember?

Heh… Okay!

COLOR=“darkred”]I just did! :tiphat:

LOL

XXX JENNIFER XXX

 

[ricko]

I’d like to point out one thing (among many others) about the BOM that I find odd.

When the 116 pages of the BOM manuscript went missing, Smith got very upset about it. To a non-Mormon, we’re thinking what’s the big deal? Simply retranslate the missing pages! That’s if God is really involved in the process of course. If He isn’t involved and Smith does the translation again then the words will be different, hence the fraud will be exposed. So, according to Smith, God caused the writer of the BOM to address the missing 116 pages, over a thousand years before the event happened. Sure He did.

Now, God thought it important enough to address the missing manuscript in the BOM but God didn’t think it important to state in the bible that when He gave the Keys to Peter that it was conditional. That is, if the people in the Church turned into bad people then Christ would take the Keys away. Not a word about that condition in the bible which is of paramount importance, yet God would address something of much lesser importance as the missing 116 pages.

Of course the truth, I say the TRUTH is that God was not involved in the translation process at all. Since He wasn’t and Smith was making it up as he went, he would not get the wording exact and if the manuscript turned up the fraud would be exposed.

 

[dianaiad]

I’d do it. Please return and report.

Indeed. I would be rather interested in that report.

 

[Zundrah]

She’s been a Mormon missionary since she was 14?

Wow. That’s quite a term.

Zundrah, go ask your friend again.There has been some misscommunication.

But I said to her that she once told me that people couldn’t go in there straight away but she said that it wouldn’t count with me because she spoke to the bishop!? What’s the comfirmation to go into the temple then? I know you believe that the spirit will be damaged or something if the wrong person goes into the temple right?

 

[Christian55]

Zerius, you are actually quite sweet!
Heh… Okay!
LOL

XXX JENNIFER XXX

Zundrah, please read my Post #268 to you.

 

[Zundrah]

Indeed. I would be rather interested in that report.

When did the great apostacy happen? What year was it dianaiad?

 

[ParkerD]

I’d like to point out one thing (among many others) about the BOM that I find odd.

When the 116 pages of the BOM manuscript went missing, Smith got very upset about it. To a non-Mormon, we’re thinking what’s the big deal? Simply retranslate the missing pages! That’s if God is really involved in the process of course. If He isn’t involved and Smith does the translation again then the words will be different, hence the fraud will be exposed. So, according to Smith, God caused the writer of the BOM to address the missing 116 pages, over a thousand years before the event happened. Sure He did.

Now, God thought it important enough to address the missing manuscript in the BOM but God didn’t think it important to state in the bible that when He gave the Keys to Peter that it was conditional. That is, if the people in the Church turned into bad people then Christ would take the Keys away. Not a word about that condition in the bible which is of paramount importance, yet God would address something of much lesser importance as the missing 116 pages.

Of course the truth, I say the TRUTH is that God was not involved in the translation process at all. Since He wasn’t and Smith was making it up as he went, he would not get the wording exact and if the manuscript turned up the fraud would be exposed.

Rick,
Christ didn’t need to communicate a “conditional authority” because the precedent was already well established in the Old Testament. Priesthood keys were always conditional on the righteousness of the priesthood holders who had been given those keys and responsibilities.

Martin Harris’ wife was very much against her husband’s involvement with the Book of Mormon translation, so of course she would have made it seem that the manuscripts did not agree by making changes if Joseph were to have re-translated the same set of pages. She was the one who took the manuscript pages, and it is a sure thing that she would have made changes to show Martin Harris that he was wrong to trust Joseph Smith. That’s the kind of person she was.

 

[Zundrah]

ParkerD
Zerius
Dianaiad

I have to leave the internet cafe now but good night to you all (it’s 7:30pm here). God bless you all!

And you rebecca and Christian55!



xxx jennifer xxx

 

[RebeccaJ]

Martin Harris’ wife was very much against her husband’s involvement with the Book of Mormon translation, so of course she would have made it seem that the manuscripts did not agree by making changes if Joseph were to have re-translated the same set of pages. She was the one who took the manuscript pages, and it is a sure thing that she would have made changes to show Martin Harris that he was wrong to trust Joseph Smith. That’s the kind of person she was.

How do you propose she would make changes to a document written in ink?

 

[usemelord]

Wow! I’m gone for a half day and all of a sudden four pages of posts behind. After reading and catching up on what has transpired with this mushrooming thread, I found it more than a bit curious that there was no challenge (unless I missed it) to the assertion by one of the LDS contributors that baptism outside the LDS church was not valid. I found that claim to be astounding, unbelievable and preposterous. Unless I misinterpreted what was stated, how can Mormons not only stand on such a notion, but essentially simultaneously nullify all the multitude of baptisms (surely in the billions of people) in the preceding 1850 years (prior to the invention of the Mormon religion) that were performed “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”? Sounds like the LDS church is painting with a rather broad brush by asserting the only a Mormon baptism is a valid baptism. So, will you Mormons out there clarify this for me? Is this what you truly believe? And you others out there, non-Mormons (especially Catholics), what say you? Personally, it doesn’t bother me considering the source; i.e. as a four year convert, I know, and am comfortable, where the truth lies. I put all my trust in the Bible, not some other manufactured tome fabricated by an uneducated, inarticulate, illiterate con man who was once sued by the U.S. government for fraud. Oh, by the way, that would be JS.