I'm Staying Put In The Church Firm To The End

An open letter to ex-mormons, critics of the church, or otherwise to those who have had no desire to unite with the LDS church but would like to sway me to think after their manner of thinking but for one reason or another, then this letter is for you.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ and the laws or commandments given to us by the Lord are time tested and have been proved over the centuries. This is why I believe what I do and why I live the gospel. I have put Malachi 3: 8-10 to the test. I have seen the windows of heaven open themselves up to me hence this and many other things I have participated in as a member of this church has brought me peace, in my life. I have witnessed too much of the hand of the Lord in my life by obedience to the Laws and Ordinances of the gospel to now return and doubt. I have been 'born again' and snatched from an awful hell.

For any man or any one to come to me to then suggest I depart from or turn away from this and do so based on a 'quote I heard somewhere' or 'aren't Mormons just a bit too weird because of this or that' just isn't going to phase me. One have better luck prying a Jewish man from a quarter he found on the ground than one would have at successfully luring me outside the church to then find, as they suggest, the correct Jesus.

(Finding Jesus would then mean to get me to agree with their assessment of what Mormons really believe and then transition over to some form of Christianity or over to their church because it's "Jesus should be enough. Mormons teach you that his atonement isn't powerful enough to save you! Here, read this verse! "...then his grace is sufficient for you." but we know that in Ephesians, it says... etc" - SEE, the BIBLE disagrees with the Book of Mormon. Only a real idiot couldn't tell you the difference. Down with the impossible gospel of the Mormons!" or whatever they happen to say, using their own words of course... (sigh) - I testify to you and all who read this, that they make quitting sound so easy and so worth your time.

Call me a 'go against the current' kind of guy but that still, inviting water may not always be that still and safe, for long. Something turbulent may be awaiting. You may think you're trying to do me a favor by ensuring me that the water was supposed to be fine and that I should hop in, but I've made my choice. If it so be that there is safety zones ahead, then so be it. I'll stay on the shore where at all possible.

I trust and know myself only so much. So no, you'll find me on the shore over there. If you want, I'll wave at you all as I see you pass by. I have a life preserver tied to a rope in case you want one...for this is my charge, my privilege, my sacred duty. I am FAR from perfect at what the Lord would have me do. I have already missed many opportunities and in my weakness, I have failed to help several others along on the path.

I can only hope that in God's great plan of happiness, that there is enough mercy that can be applied to me, his unworthy and slothful servant. I can only pray for mercy at this great, last day, and hope that the little that I have done may multiply into great blessings and that the great things I have done may have been accounted for righteousness' sake and to glorify he who sent them.

Do not think or suppose that a mis-quoted thought or word from a prior leader in my church is going to dictate how I feel about them based on someone else's assessment of that event or statement.

Do not suppose for a second that even if someone's decades of scripture study will trump what I have discovered through humble prayer and personal study.

It will have all been worth it if I can some day be responsible for helping MANY find that source to where they can receive peace so that THEY and myself may ALL receive that exaltation in the Lord's kingdom. This is my prayer, in his name, Amen.

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Celestial Kingdom...

Life has it's ways to create distractions and deter us in the way. It has been over 1 year since I have acted out in such a way that proved serious enough to talk with my ecclesiastical authority. This day passes for sure as of the 1st of September. I had a sore repentance and it caused my body and soul much anxiety and depression. I'd like to bear a brief testimony to you all before fast and testimony meeting is to come. I may be doing there as well. Here it goes.

In 2013 My testimony has grown; 1) The Lord answers my prayers and that of my wife. Back in September/October, we decided to have another baby and it had been 8 years since. Our prayer was that she should have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. We asked for a girl and the Lord blessed us with one of his children. I am grateful to be a steward for one of his children and to have her in our family now. Summer is going on 2 months old. I now have a calling in my meeting house as a membership clerk in charge of keeping track of the church membership. (Assistant to the Clerk) and I love serving in the Lord's kingdom with this calling and that of being a father to 4 beautiful children.

2) I have a testimony of Tithing and earnest prayer; that the Lord indeed has and will continue to prosper me in my efforts to take care of my family. Without fail, every month, we are able to qualify for an extra bonus with my company and I attribute paying tithing as part of this benefit. One time, I qualified for that bonus on the first day of the month; out of the blue, as if right out of the Ether, I get a call from one of my cousins who asked me if I could sell him a sleep system. I said SURE! The Lord continues to show me how the windows of heaven may be opened up unto me but until this time, he takes care of me and my family day to day and with patience, I follow. He has never let me go hungry and my bills have all been paid. We always have what we need or want. I have been self employed since June of 2009 and I remain independent on self running on my own steam and this is how one works. Work as if it depended on myself alone but pray as if it depended on God for his help and guidance...

So it ended up being a 1,500 dollar order of which my cut was 20%. It came right before tax season. With that sale, we had our 200-300 extra in profit to then pay for our tax debt which wouldn't be much but it was there and we didn't have to borrow. In this manner has my testimony grown. This and that God helps or helped me to understand the anxiety and depression I was going through and for me to understand that he is ALWAYS there by my side even if my own body was or is incapable. It has been over 1 year since I made a covenant with the Lord to behave more like one of his disciples and more like the Christian man in Israel that I ought to be and the priesthood holder that he would more like me to be. I have a long way to go. I know the power of the atonement is a very real thing; and that God who is our heavenly father is earnestly interested in every single one of us and our lives, based on his ability to snatch me out from the awful hell I had created for myself.

This is my testimony to you of which I leave to you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

"God Spares Men In Order To Let Them Repent," By Josh Nelson

It was April 7th, 2009 when I was involved in a semi-truck roll over accident.

I received very few injuries, a few stitches in my head behind my ear and a tiny scratch on my left shin. Instead of being in a physical coma, the Lord has had to awaken me out of a spiritual one and this additional time has allowed me that opportunity. I awoke today having been given 4 additional years to be with my beautiful family to which I am eternally grateful. I am thankful nearly every minute, that I am alive, and that I had been spared. I have been permitted to tarry for a wise purpose, maybe only known to God, but for this purpose do I still seek those answers.

I have not always treated well the days of my probation and in some regards, have floundered during these past few years. In some definite ways, I exchanged folly for godliness but in others, yet I had truly not changed my stripes completely. I had not become the new creature, in Christ, that I could have become. I had ceased to care and then subsequently, the spirit of the Lord had withdrawn from me until a great fear had come over me. This past month and a half, I decided to make a change that would alter my course for the better and that this would be the ultimate life changing decision that I feel that my father in heaven would have me do. That I would confront my past in a way that I had never done prior. That I would not only hold fast to the decisions that I had made to be valiant and to remain on the Lord's side, but that I should also have every right and authority to be there acting in full favor of the Lord and under no hypocrisy.

I walked the streets of my neighborhood allowing my soul to be harrowed up in unfortunate events that became my story and that in turn, became my past, and that those errors in judgment and outright rebellion against God and against the things I knew to be true, I found myself in the gall of bitterness and with a dark cloud surrounding me. My soul ached and my eyes were gushing with tears as I described to the Lord my sincerest hopes that perhaps the destroying angel could pass me by and that perhaps I could be redeemed, for I had feared that I too, may have committed the unpardonable sin of denying the Holy Ghost, and sinning against the greater light of knowledge, which I had been so entrusted to bear up in a more triumphant manner. My thoughts brought me all the way through my neighborhood and I found myself pleading and yearning in a way that I previously had never done. The very thought of not being able to return home was demoralizing to me.

I made a choice, and if successful. It should completely release me from the bands of death and hell and abolish the evil one and his hold on me, forever! I came home and recounted to my wife about the things that I had done and about the awful state I had gotten myself into and confessed to her my desire to make this a permanent life long decision and I confessed to her of my fears and my worries. I let her hold me as I rid my eyes of all of my tears until they would no longer flow; they had dried up. We held each other. We prayed together. We resolved to stay together and to be a forever family and that we would work harder to find ourselves once again, in the temple of the Lord and to know that we should be faithful to those covenants and that we would be faithful to each other!

Where I have trembled because of my iniquities, Satan now trembles as he sees one of the weakest saints upon his knees.

I do not glory in having a colorful life but having gone to the furthest of the outer limits and have charted my course towards the great brightness of the heavens at the heart of God's love, I will pick up some stragglers along the way and show them the peace that can surely come so long as my repentance is a faithful and an enduring one.

Today, nearly 4 years after the crash, I declare my independence from the bands of death and of hell. Today, I square up with the Lord and covenant with him that my mistakes should be a thing of the past. That the sins that did so easily beset me are no more and that I dare not offend the Lord. I have set my back towards my days of err and of self-deceit.

I no longer droop in sin. I no longer give cause to the evil one that he may pluck from me the joy and happiness that truly is mine to have, if I would allow it and I do.

I am no longer reminded about my past by anyone that matters but I may remind the devil and all of his angels about their futures and that I will have no part in it. They can count me out. Table for the 1/3 of the hosts of heaven previously cast out now minus 1...

I would like to thank one of my heroes; and thank Nephi for his words as they were recorded and numbered to be 2 Nephi 4:17 til the end, I should think... and also for James. For his words during his short sojourn upon the earth. He taught me to not be double minded. To not try and be of the world and still be of God. I am guilty of the many things, he wrote, in James chapter 4 but as of this Sunday coming, I am guilty of those things no longer!

It is my solemn testimony that God lives, and that Jesus is the Christ. NO force beneath the earth or on the earth can remove me from my place. I have buckled myself in the chair. If I need to use the restroom, I may just hold it. I want NOTHING to remove me from this seat again. Next stop, Eternity!

I say hereby write this and testify to you of these things, and that these words are true and faithful, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

Trick of Treat - How the world views the Book of Mormon for Good or for Evil

While most people fit into one of these two categories, it's safe to say there isn't only "TWO" types of people but for the sake of this article, let's assume that there are either people "for" or "against" God revealing the works of his people from any dispensation. These two groups can be summed up in "One of Two ways"

The Book of Mormon is a trick!
A fiendishly clever counterfeit that poses as the word of God.
or
The Book of Mormon is a treat!
An example of the Love our father in heaven has for all of his children.
I am here to declare that it is an ABSOLUTE treat and that it declares unto the world that Jesus Is The Christ.

I have noticed in my dealings with any and all of my fellow man, that this question nearly comes up all the time.

Why do you even want this "Book of Mormon" when the bible is enough?
It comes up either in acute curiosity or sometimes with foul language from those that mis-understand the goodness of God and his gifts.
One You Tuber once said, "Book of Mormon, WHAT A LOAD OF "censored", how can Mormons claims to be Christians when they follow such inconcievable "censored"? Even Jehovahs Witnesses and Catholics follow Bible alone..."

They almost mean to ask us, "Why can't you be happy enough with the Bible?"

Its not all about that. Even if Joseph Smith only translated one sentence of the "Book of Mormon" and for sake of humor, lets say it was this one:

"My father Lehi dwelt in a tent" (which is an actual verse in Nephi)

And if Joseph translated one verse and Joseph Smith passes away in middle of the night and the Lord decided to go ahead and make Oliver Cowdry in the contemporary prophet, Joseph Smith would have still been responsible for helping to bring forth the Book of Mormon.

By Joseph Smith becoming a prophet, it was useful in the reopening the communication channel between God and Man and that is a very important thing! For many purposes that could take up volumes of time and giga-bytes of space here on Blogger, I'll stick to the topic at hand: Trick or Treat?

Perhaps its not all their fault for being skeptical of the Book of Mormon.
After all, it is an idea so foreign to their understanding, that some can't help but look at it with a doubtful eye.

They are not taught by their seminaries or their pastors or their teachers that God goes about his work "causing all people to write the things of God" to later become a testimony and a witness that he is God... but the Book of Mormon isn't about just ANY group of people.

It would be "easier" on the world if it were a trick then the cunning and craftiness of Man could continue interpreting the scriptures how they pleased, mankind would continue to try and "secularize" the words of God, following ONLY those things they consider more important and ignoring many of the "Plain and Precious" things which entails the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon helps to condemn such foolishness of men.

It can be so easily missed by the learned and by those who "draw near unto him with their lips only" because to "TRULY KNOW" the savior, one must have that personal relationship with him. Believe Christ and not just "Believe in him." Even the Jew and the Muslim believes in him and calls him a "Great Prophet" and an "ICON worthy of mention." What separates True Christians from Johnny Christians is the simple fact that "real followers of Jesus actually follow him and are doers of the word" and "knowers of the word are content with being experts on the words of Christ"

The purpose of the Book of Mormon is to "Testify of Christ and his divinity" and any true believer in Christ would have to agree that Jesus Christ is divine! They feast upon the words of Christ that teach man all things that they must do for salvation!
(2 Ne. 32: 3)

What is this Book of Mormon anyhow?

"It is a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting gospel." ...
"The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon. The record gives an account of two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. This group is known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians. "
Introduction to "The Book Of Mormon"

But who were these "Nephites and Lamanites?" The bible doesn't mention them?

The Old Testament doesn't mention them by name but there are hints regarding this people and that of many others who the Lord has said would be among "The Isles of the Sea" as quoted by Isaiah. (See Isaiah 23: 2; 24:15; 42: 10)

The family of Lehi, and primarily Nephi, spoke of themselves as being part of this extended branch of the house of Israel and mentions several times that they are this people whom Isaiah had mentioned.
(1 Ne. 19: 10, 12, 16; 21: 8; 22: 4; 2 Ne. 10: 8, 20-21; 2 Ne. 29: 7)

2 Nephi Chapter 3: Verse 4
4 For behold, thou art the fruit of my loins; and I am a descendant of Joseph who was carried captive into Egypt. And great were the covenants of the Lord which he made unto Joseph.

So this people, being descendants of the House of Israel, also wrote of their prophesies and of their faithfulness to God while living upon the Promised Land or as many of us now know this land today as, "The American Continent" (primarily in Central America.)

Furthermore, the Old Testament dates back to as late of around 600 B.C. which was right along the time that the family of Lehi disappeared from the history of the Holy Land. (Perhaps if the Nephites had made a sea voyage back to Palestine at around 33 A.D. and handed over some of their scripture to Peter and his apostles, that 600 year gap could have been filled and it would have been included in most Christian churches and considered canonized but this is not what had been prophesied of Nephi should be the fate of the record of which they were creating.

Like Isaiah, who knew of the scattering and migration of many of the House of Israel, the Lord showed unto him the coming forth of a new record and called it
"The Stick of Joseph" or the "Record that would proceed forth from the seed of Joseph" and one day would become reunited with the "Stick of Judah" or the "Record of the Jews" at some future date.

¶ The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. Ezekiel 37:15-17

There is "no record" of any writings of Joseph that exist in the Bible so one must acknowledge that this record should come forth from "The Seed of Joseph" in order to fulfill the prophesy of Ezekiel and be made known unto the remnants of the house of Israel at some future time. All words of the Lord shall come to pass and shall all be fulfilled and there is nothing that the Lord speaks through mouth of his holy prophets that shall not come to pass.

It is with a joyous heart that we as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have this record and it stands as a witness of Jesus Christ and that he speaks to all that are of the House of Israel as he did in the Holy Land, as he did unto the seed of Joseph, who occupied the Isles of the Sea, and he will yet reveal records which have not yet been uncovered that belong to the Lost tribes of Israel who were also commanded to write these things.

Nephi recognized that the records which he kept would aid to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ and that there would be more to come!!!

"And it shall come to pass that the Jews shall have the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall have the words of the Jews; and the Nephites and the Jews shall have the words of the lost tribes of Israel; and the lost tribes of Israel shall have the words of the Nephites and the Jews. 2 Ne. 29: 13

The Book of Mormon is this truly a "treat" and not the "trick" that it is so ignorantly referred to as from time to time.

It's purpose is to primarily convince the Jews and the Gentiles that Jesus is the Christ. By the hand of Mormon as it is written on the "Title Page" we learn that:

Wherefore, it is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites—Written to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of Israel; and also to Jew and Gentile—Written by way of commandment, and also by the spirit of prophecy and of revelation

Many Christians know that the Jews are of the seed of Abraham and part of the Abrahamic Covenant which still stands today. God will bless all nations and kindreds of the earth through the "Abrahamic Covenant." This "lost tribe" of Israel is no more lost to the world and we now have their record.

There are many who believe in Christ but so few actually "believe him."
I echo the words of my heroes of the Book of Mormon.
Like unto Nephi, Ether, Benjamin, Mosiah, Alma the Elder, Alma the Younger, Ammon, Helaman, Mormon and Moroni that these are the words of Christ. As part of my testimony, I add the words of "Nephi" when he wrote:

And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness. 2 Nephi 33:11

I too will stand along side these men (who have since centuries passed away) at that great bar and testify that these things are true. For I used their words and through their testimonies, helped many to "Come unto Christ" through the precious truths that they wrote.

I know with no shade of any degree that this work is directed of the Lord of Hosts Those who have faith in Christ, and have ears to hear, shall recognize his voice when he calls for them. I truly know our lord and savior and know them to be his words. I know that we have a prophet of God on the earth today and his name is "Thomas S. Monson" and that he stands as a special witness of Jesus Christ for our day. God has restored the fullness of the Gospel on the earth and the work to "Bring to Pass the Immortality and Eternal Life of Man" is being directed by his prophet and apostles alive on the Earth today in his holy name I declare these things, even in the name of the resurrected Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.