WITNESSING IN UTAH - June 2011

Well, another Manti Utah Mormon outreach has come and gone, but the thousands of seeds that were planted will continue to grow, hopefully bearing fruit in the days, months and years to come. Doug and I spent 9 days in Manti Utah, giving us 7 nights of witnessing to the LDS people on the streets outside the Manti Mormon temple grounds where the Mormon Miracle Pageant is held. Even though it was obvious that the LDS attendees were much lower in numbers than in previous years, it didn't seem to hinder the evangelism efforts of the 200+ Christian missionaries that showed up both weeks of the pageant. Every Christian missionary had many conversations and hundreds of tracts were handed out. As Chip Thompson has coined, "God is good all the time."

Monday is an off day for the pageant, so many of us headed to Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City to witness, specifically with the Sister Missionaries and anyone else God led us to. After finding our Christian Brother Jeff at Temple Square, who had just arrived in Utah, we set out to see who God would lead us to. I had a great conversation with a "Museum of Church History" worker about temple marriage to gain exaltation to be "as Gods" and how Lucifer, Adam and Eve were removed from God's presence for desiring to be "as Gods."

Later Doug, Jeff and I ran into our friends from Tri-Grace Ministries.  About that time, a couple Sister missionaries came walking by and stopped to talk with us. They asked us our names and what brought us to Temple Square, so we explained to the Sister Missionaries that we were Christian Missionaries here to share the gospel. One Sister asked us if we would be interested in a personal tour of Temple Square, now is God good or what?!!

Our first stop, was the statue of Joseph Smith's claim of receiving the Melchizedek priesthood from Peter, James and John. Of course, our discussion was on the problems about the LDS claims to the LDS priesthood. One Sister asked us if any of us had ever read the Book of Mormon. Chip and I both said we had and I added that I had grown up LDS. The Sister paused for a moment and then we were off to the Tabernacle. About half way through our tour, this Sister confessed that she almost left the LDS church over false prophecy before coming on her mission and she asked me why I left the Mormon Church. I shared my testimony with her about finding the real Jesus and giving my life to Him.

While in the museum, where the huge Jesus statue is housed, we had both Sisters separated into two groups, with each of us having different conversations with them. Doug and Jeff where standing by praying when they noticed another Sister Missionary call on the house phone and then two temple guards showed up. About that time, the  Sister said it was time to move on and when she passed the temple guards, she waved them off and said that we were just fine.  She led us into the "families forever" room where there was no one else to hinder our discussion on the problems of the LDS view of families forever.  Then we ended up in the Conference building were we had a 45 minute discussion on LDS prophets, false prophecy and on the Biblical Jesus. Our tour was over 2 hours long and consisted of conversations on all major doctrines and not once did the two Sisters try to end our conversation. Even when they said they had to go, these Sisters were asking us questions about what churches we attended and why we were all in agreement with each other. Was that a Divine appointment or what?!

At the Pageant, I had many conversations this year about my shirt that states, "Why Don't Mormons Believe the Book of Mormon?" One of the verses from the Book of Mormon I used most was 2 Nephi 11:7: "For if there be no Christ there be no God; and if there be no God we are not, for there could have been no creation. But there is a God, and he is Christ, and he cometh in the fulness of his own time." Not only does the verse state that Jesus is God but it also states that Jesus is our Creator so Jesus could not be our elder spirit brother. Along with Colossians 1:16 makes a great argument that Jesus is the Creator of all thing in heaven and in earth. after showing the Biblical precepts that are taught in the Book of Mormon and how they differ from current LDS doctrine, I would usually end my conversations by saying, “If you truly believe the Book of Mormon, you can't believe in current Mormon doctrine.” Not once did I have an argument after I explained my question on my shirt in why Mormons don't believe the Book of Mormon. One youth even stated that it scared him in what the Book of Mormon taught. Note: For more Book of Mormon Scripture examples like these, see my article here:

WHY DON'T MORMONS BELIEVE THE BOOK OF MORMON?

For the past five years, Doug has been witnessing to an LDS guy who comes every year to talk to him. Usually, I join their conversations and this year, the conversation was if Joseph Smith could have really seen God face to face as Smith claimed. Doug showed him verses like John 1:18 and 1 Timothy 6:16, that no man has seen God nor can see God. I showed Dan D&C 84:21-22 that states that no one can see God and live without the power of the priesthood. I reminded him that as a 14 year old boy, Joseph Smith had not yet received the power of the priesthood. He tried to say that Joseph Smith was an innocent boy at 14, yet when asked if he was innocent at 14 or if he knew any innocent 14 year olds, he admitted that he knew of none. He then did admitted that he watched the "Jesus Christ/Joseph Smith" DVD that has caused him to question some things about the Mormon Church. He also admitted that he looks forward to seeing us each year and talking with us about doctrine.