WHOA.
The past few days have been a whirlwind. Time with my sisters was THE BEST. I love them to death and it was really life-giving to spend time with them. We didn’t end up getting to go to the ward or FHE after all because the times had changed. We did have a really great time hanging out though, together and with the Filers. On Tuesday night we went to Heart of the Matter, which is a Christian TV broadcast. There we ran into a group from Biola’s ministry to Mormons. It was really cool to talk with them and exchange contact information and hopefully try to work with them in the future. It’s amazing how God works!
Saying goodbye to my sisters was really, really hard. It made me really homesick and it made being away feel much more final. I miss them a lot. But I only had a few hours to grieve before the next big thing started. Wednesday night I picked up Charlie from the airport. He’s a short-term guy from Long Island, New York. It’s been really cool hearing his testimony and seeing God’s work in his life. He has only been born again for about a year and his passion for God’s glory is really encouraging. It’s been great getting to talk through the madness of this world with him.
Thursday was a rollercoaster. Charlie watched a documentary on the LDS gospel compared with the Christian gospel which was really eye-opening for him. Then we went to Weber State for an outreach event put on by Intervarsity, the Christian club. It was really cool to see them interacting with people around them and to talk with them ourselves. After that we went to a lunch at the LDS Institute. We sat with a few people and instantly started talking with them, asking questions and pushing them on some things and getting their opinions of others. It was a really cool conversation and we were both amazed at how well the conversation flowed. Before we knew it every table around us had been cleared, taken down and rolled away. We finally got up after an hour or more of talking through some really cool things. The girls we were talking to asked if we wanted to talk to Brother so-and-so because he could answer our questions better. And older man approached us and instantly began to try to psych us out and scare us. It worked. We were both really freaked out. It felt really dark and ugly and scary. It was pretty awful. The girls defended us, saying we had only asked questions (which it really was not an aggressive conversation at all). After we got their contact information we left feeling really down. I don’t really want to go into the details of that whole encounter but mainly it just felt Satanic and scary. That feeling was really horrible. After that we went to Temple Square and walked through the Church History Museum and the Convention Center. We had a good conversation with some LDS people there which was mainly about whether or not heaven is being with God and all believers or being with family and God. We left pretty discouraged still about all the darkness and how convinced these people are and how Godless it is. I was feeling really down. I didn’t want to be here anymore. I want to be home where I feel safe and loved and see Christ glorified in the church that I love so dearly. I don’t want to be here where it’s so dark and people are so hostile and mean. I really didn’t want to go to my Book of Mormon class. It was a really low feeling. But when we went back to the Blue House Russ debriefed us and he said that the old men in the church are just like that and like to intimidate younger people and especially women. That felt better. I can learn to deal with it if that’s the habit, I guess. I just wasn’t expecting it. He also said it was good that those girls saw the leaders they trust so much being jerks to young people who hadn’t done anything they saw as offensive. I didn’t think of it that way but it was really encouraging. After that I went to the Book of Mormon class and it ended up being not too terrible. I was SO grateful to God for that. Next was Intervarsity where we got to worship God. It was an outreach night and five people came to Christ. How encouraging! The theme was scars and God put a scar on my heart to ask his help in healing. After I was able to talk with the girl who wants to start a group for people exiting LDS and it was really great. The night ended wonderfully!
Today (Friday) was also crazy. Charlie had a lunch meeting with a Christian construction company out here called Building God’s Way. It was the best meeting of his entire life. He got to see godly men do something they are passionate about for God’s glory. How great is that! I did something super strange for me. I met with a lady who had contacted Russ and just wanted to talk to someone. She was in her fifties and is LDS born and raised. She kept talking about brain damage and I got the feeling that she may be a little bit paranoid, but we had an hour and a half conversation over Subway about all the suffering she has experienced in her life. She has been rejected by her ward and by her family. She wants to leave Ogden because she wants to meet new people (and in LDS you can’t go to a different ward unless you move into a different ward). She doesn’t know where to go. We talked about who Christ is in the Bible and about the fruit that his church is supposed to have; it’s supposed to reflect him. I finally just told her I don’t think that her church is Christ’s because it’s not reflecting Christ and it doesn’t show the fruit of the Spirit. I also told her I don’t get at all why she would stay there; it offers her nothing as a single woman and they don’t show her Christ. She said it was the truest church in the world and that she knows that because God revealed it. We had a good conversation about that. In the end I prayed for her and she cried. It was really cool to feel God prompting me to say things boldly but in love. Keeping the conversation on Christ is rather than the LDS church is kept both our hearts in line. She cried and thanked me and we are going to meet again, but she still is convinced some change other than religion is in order. I do not believe that this time next year she will be a Mormon. It was a great conversation. After that we went down to Salt Lake to visit Sandra Tanner’s ministry. She and her husband were both LDS and have for the past few decades been doing ground-breaking research on LDS. They are really the start of what this whole ministry is today. She was not in, but we talked with someone there and explored their literature a bit. It’s a cool ministry. Following that we went to an event at the Institute. We were both really jumpy and nervous, but it ended up going alright. We made some connections with people and didn’t have the same type of conversation as before but we made friends over dinner. That was followed by a speaker. The hymn we sang was one I have been dreading. It’s called “Praise to the Man” and is a worship song to Joseph Smith. I will put the lyrics below. Hearing 200 of our peers sing that is one of the most awful feelings…Charlie was nearly crying with anger and I wanted to leave really badly. After that a guy spoke up and it felt like we were listening to Satan give a sermon. It was just really bad. The whole thing was about the LDS Church, as is everything. The power over people is extraordinary. Afterwards we both felt really discouraged and wanted to leave right away. I was blessed to run into a guy I know from Intervarsity who had been invited. It’s amazing the blessings you feel seeing a Christian in such a dark place.
Afterwards we watched an episode of Heart of the Matter which felt better and went to help out Russ with his daughter’s birthday party. That was really fun and we got to talk through some things and felt a lot better. I really like having Charlie here. He loves God so much and is so excited about what is going on. He talks a lot and it’s so great to hear someone glorify God after listening to the opposite. He had an awesome idea tonight and I want to launch it as soon as possible. There are 14 million LDS members. He wants to get 14 million Christians to start praying for them. How incredible would that be? I heard a statistic today (that I would like to verify because I find it hard to believe) that 850 people out of evangelical backgrounds per DAY are converting to LDS. That is insanity. Why can’t we get fourteen million Christians to pray for these people? We want to try to figure out how to do that, so I’ll keep you posted.
I haven’t spent much time with Joe the last week because of all of this, but I found out today that the hospital messed up on what they were supposed to do for his blood work so they have to redo it. This is really frustrating for him because it’s taking a huge toll on his everyday life and the stress and worry about what it could be is really draining. Please pray for him.
#27 Praise to the Man
1. Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah.
Jesus' anointed, "that Prophet and Seer,"
Blessed to open the last dispensation;
Kings shall extol him, and nations revere.
CHORUS.
Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven,
Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain,
Mingling with God's he can plan for his brethren,
Death cannot conquer the hero again.
2. Praise to his mem'ry, he died as a martyr;
Honored and blest is his ever great name;
Long shall his blood, which was shed by assassins,
Stain Illinois, while the earth lauds his fame.
Hail to the Prophet, &c.
3. Great is his glory, and endless his priesthood,
Ever and ever the keys he will hold;
Faithful and true, he will enter his kingdom,
Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old.
Hail to the Prophet, &c.
4. Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven;
Earth must atone for the blood of that man!
Wake up the world for the conflict of justice,
Millions shall know "brother Joseph" again.
Hail to the Prophet, &c.
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