# 66: HEFY

Sorry my picture today is sloppy.  It's supposed to be two LDS teenagers on a humanitarian mission, building a school.  They're wearing hardhats.  One teenage girl is using a shovel.  The hearts on their shirts represent the Christ-like love they feel toward the people they serve.  The brick wall in the far left of the picture represents the secure environment in which the faithful teens labor.

There are many other symbols in this picture, the meanings of which ought not to be revealed at this time, but if the Gentiles can discover their meanings through study, then so be it.  Just kidding.  Ha ha ha.

And sorry I'm starting my post with an apology.  LOL.  I'd love to write on this blog more.  I have lots of ideas for more reasons to stay LDS, and I'll write them down whenever I get around to it.  So stay tuned!

Did I mention I'm doing this blog for free, in my free time, which I have very little of, and I'm offering it to you for free?  I hope you appreciate what I do for you.  I could be sleeping, you know.  Or I could be watching Master Chef.  I've missed a lot of episodes lately, and I really like Master Chef.

Or I could be making myself a burrito with some of those yummy food storage beans.

Instead I'm sitting at my computer, slaving away at the keyboard, ALL FOR YOU!!!

OK, OK, less about me, more about HEFY...

A few months ago I went to a family reunion and one of my cousins talked about how she went to EFY during the summer, but it wasn't exactly EFY... it had and "H" in front of it, so it was HEFY, which stands for Humanitarian Experience for Youth.  Well, my cousin went to some third world country and built a school or an orphanage or something like that.  She's a really nice girl and it sounded really nice.  I think she got teary-eyed when she described how her love of the Savior and her love of humanity grew during her HEFY experience.

I had never heard of HEFY before, but it sounded a heck of a lot more productive than listening to John Bytheway make corny jokes and suffering through awkward church dances, which is what they do at EFY.

And then tonight I googled stuff and found the HEFY website, and their website looks just great.

HEFY isn't the type of thing that gets a lot of press.  It's not controversial.  There's probably been a hundred articles in the media in the last few years about the Church possibly withdrawing from the Boy Scouts of America due to all the gay drama.  But how many articles have you come across about HEFY?

Oh, I should mention that HEFY is not an official Church thing, but it's done by all LDS people, so it's safe to say that HEFY is the child of the modern LDS culture.

HEFY is great for Mormons with non-traditional testimonies, because it's all about Christlike service.  It's not about indoctrination or proselyting or the trivial aspects of Mormonism or anything like that.

I think the mission and actions of the HEFY participants are very closely aligned with the mission and actions of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  In that regard, it's a lot like justserve.org, which is another great thing that the Church has done.

If you stay LDS, you'll continue to be a part of a loving community that acts on its altruistic instincts, as demonstrated by the existence of HEFY.  You'll continue to be around good people, and you'll continue to participate in blessing the Earth.

# 65: The Stone Has Been Shown!

Ladies and gentlemen, have you heard the news?  The stone has been shown!  What stone?  The seer stone!  The very same seer stone that Joseph Smith used to translate the Book of Mormon!

Maybe you've never heard of the seer stone before.  Let me enlighten you:  Joseph Smith didn't really use the golden plates in the translation process.  That's probably what you learned in Seminary or Sunday School when you were a kid.  That's how I learned it.  I learned that Joseph Smith looked at the golden plates for a long time and prayed a lot until he was miraculously fluent in Reformed Egyptian.  Then, Joseph Smith read out loud from the golden plates, line by line, to a scribe, who wrote it down.

Well... it turns out that that version of the story was pretty much bogus.  It turns out that there are several eyewitnesses who describe the real "translation" process, and I use the word "translation" loosely.  The real translation process went something like this: Joseph Smith put a stone into a hat and put his face in the hat, deep into the hat.  He looked into the darkness, and then spoke the words to a scribe, who then wrote the words down.

And what exactly was Joseph Smith seeing when he looked into his hat?  That's a question that no one can accurately answer.  In my opinion, he wasn't seeing anything but darkness, a rock, and a hat.

For more information on Joseph Smith's translation of the Book of Mormon, click here.

And, for a more faithful perspective, read the Church's essay about the Book of Mormon translation.

So, the big news is, the Church has had this seer stone locked away in a vault for probably about 180 years, but now it's finally been taken out, photographed and posted on the Internet, for all the world to see.  This is a step in the right direction.  This is a move towards transparency.  I applaud the Church for holding a press conference and showing a picture of the seer stone.

(Well, it's one of the seer stones.  I think Joseph Smith used a few of them, but this seems to be the most important one.  Let's not get bogged down in details.)

You should stay LDS because the Church is trying to be more open about its history.  If you feel lied to, take comfort in today's news.  Take comfort in the fact that the Church is taking steps to correct the mistakes they've made.

# 64: Rosemary M. Wixom! Primary General President!

This morning I went to www.lds.org just to see what was on there, and wow!  Front and center, there was a link to the general conference talk, "Returning to Faith" by Rosemary M. Wixom, the Primary General President.  The link had a picture of a sad-looking middle-class white lady in her thirties, which is pretty much an accurate representative sample of Mormons who lose their faith these days, and the lady was sitting alone in her room, gazing towards a window.  And the picture has a caption that says, "Afraid You're Losing Your Faith?  Focus on What You Know."  I feel for this lady!  Ha!  I know she's just a model, but if she was a real person, I would probably say something like, "You don't need to sit alone in your house and look longingly through windows, agonizing about anachronisms in the Book of Mormon!  Just don your Pioneer Day garb and bake whole wheat bread!"

Anyway... you should go read this talk.  It's great.

Sister Wixom is the sixty-fourth reason to stay LDS!

Oh and by the way, I just had another baby.  Well, my wife had the baby.  LOL.  So now I've got three daughters, and my life is kind of busy and blah blah blah, so, I have not written as much on here as I'd like, but I want you to know that I'm still around.  I still have faith in Jesus Christ and I believe that the LDS Church is a good Christian Church.  As crazy as it sounds, I believe I have been divinely inspired to stay LDS.

I was a young men's secretary for about a year or two, but about two months ago I got released from that and now I teach a Primary class.  It's a great calling and I'm excited to show the love of God to the little ones in my class each and every Sunday.

Take care.

# 63: Elder Uchtdorf!

You should stay LDS, even though you don't believe in the Church anymore, because Elder Uchtdorf gives such great talks.  He's the future of the Church, in my opinion.  And what is the future of the Church?  A bigger tent! With more love in it!  

Watch his most recent talks from the April 2015 General Conference!

On Being Genuine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihr1pUypXMc

The Gift of Grace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbypUwECb8E

Aren't those talks great?  Yes, they are great.

# 62: The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side

It might be a good time to review the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff.

Once upon a time there were three billy goats, Daddy Billy Goat, Mommy Billy Goat, and Baby Billy Goat, and they lived on a field of grass, and every day they would eat the grass.  Munch munch munch, munch munch munch munch.  One day, Baby Billy Goat was eating the grass, and he looked across the river, and he saw more grass over there.  And it looked greener than the grass that he was eating, and it looked delicious, and he wanted to taste it.  

So Baby Billy Goat went up to his Daddy Billy Goat, and he said, “Daddy Billy Goat, how come we never cross the river and eat some of that grass over there?  It looks so green.”

And Daddy Billy Goat said, “Son, I was born on this field of grass, and my father was born on this field of grass, and my father’s father was born on this field of grass.  So we’re staying here.”

So the Baby Billy Goat said “okay” and went back to eating the same old grass.  Munch munch munch, munch munch munch munch.

The next day, Baby Billy Goat was walking around, eating some grass, and he looked across the river again, and the grass looked so much greener over there, and he really wanted to taste it, so he started walking along the river, until he found a bridge.  And then he started crossing the bridge, walk walk walk, walk walk walk walk.  

POP!  It was the troll!   Meh, meh, meh, meh, meh, meh, meh!

“Ah!” The Baby Billy Goat screamed, turned around and ran away.  Then he went to his Mommy Billy Goat, and he said, “Mommy, do you think you could try crossing the bridge and getting some of that grass and bringing it back here so I can taste it?”

And Mommy Billy Goat said, “Um, I don’t think I really wanna do that because I have this friend named Debbie, and she’s a Billy Goat, too, and Debbie has a husband named Jerry, and one time they were going for a walk, and they found that bridge, and they were just curious, so Jerry started walking across the bridge, and then a scary troll popped out of the river and just did this ‘meh meh meh meh meh meh’ thing and they were so so so scared.  So Debbie and Jerry told me that I should never try to cross the bridge, so that’s why I think I don’t wanna try to cross the bridge even though the grass over there does look kind of tasty.  I mean, it really does look greener, doesn’t it?  Like, really really green.  You know what, Baby Billy Goat?  Sometimes when I’m alone, I think, what if I never really do what I want to do with my life?  What if I never really achieve my dreams?  What if I end up as an Old, Old Mommy Billy Goat and for my whole life I’ve just walked around the same old patch of grass, nibbling and nibbling and nibbling until I go crazy?  Question: When is Mommy Billy Goat ever gonna reach for her dreams?  Answer: right now!  OK! OK!  I’m gonna do it!  You’ll see!  You’ll all see!  I’m gonna cross that bridge!”

So Mommy Billy Goat started crossing the bridge, walk walk walk, walk walk walk walk.   

POP!  It was the troll!   Meh, meh, meh, meh, meh, meh, meh!

“Ah!” the Mommy Billy Goat screamed, turned around, and ran away.

Then Baby Billy Goat went up to Daddy Billy Goat and he said, “Daddy Billy Goat, can you please try crossing that bridge?  You’re so big and strong, maybe you won’t be scared of the troll.”

And Daddy Billy Goat said, “Son, I was born on this field of grass, and my father was born on this field of grass, and my father’s father was born on this field of grass.  But what the heck, I’ll give it a shot.”

So Daddy Billy Goat started crossing the bridge, walk walk walk, walk walk walk walk.

POP!  It was the troll!   Meh, meh, meh, meh, meh, meh, meh!

But Daddy Billy Goat wasn’t scared, he just put down his head, stuck out his horns and ran straight into the troll.  And he smashed right into him!  Bam!  And he knocked the troll off of the bridge and the troll fell into the river.  And the troll was hurt so bad that he couldn’t swim anymore so he drowned. 

Then Daddy Billy Goat said, “Come on, Mommy, come on Baby, let’s start crossing this bridge.”  And then they all crossed the bridge and got to the other side of the river.  And Daddy Billy Goat said, “Come on Mommy, come on Baby, let’s start eating this grass."  So they all started eating the grass.

And then, something really funny happened.  Baby Billy Goat was eating the grass, and it tasted okay.  But it wasn’t delicious.  It just tasted like normal grass.  And then he looked back across the river, and the grass over there looked greener!

And the moral of the story is: the grass is always greener on the other side.

As bad as life as an active Mormon seems sometimes, life away from the Church is just as bad, if not worse.  

Have a nice day.

# 61: MisterFake373

Some of you just coming across troubling LDS history might be surprised to find that some of your fellow Mormons, though totally active and committed, don’t have traditional testimonies.  I know that for myself, back when I was a True Believing Mormon, the notion that an active Mormon didn’t believe in, say, the First Vision, struck me as  blasphemous.  

(Although, I do remember a guy in my ward growing up who was a little odd.  He didn’t have a social security number because he thought it was the Mark of the Beast.  He wouldn’t let any of his kids get Social Security numbers, and I don’t think he even had a bank account.  He only dealt in cash.  But even still, this same guy taught Sunday School, and he was careful to point out the chiastic passages that supposedly proved the Book of Mormon true.  So, even though he had some funny interpretations of scripture, he still very much believed in the traditional narrative of the founding of the Mormon Church- you know, Christ set up the true Church, it fell into Apostasy, then God restored the true Church through Joseph Smith and a series of extraordinary events, including the First Vision, Priesthood Restoration, and etc.)  

Well, whether you like it or not, some of the members in your ward, or your stake, don’t have traditional testimonies.  For today’s blog post, reason # 61 to stay LDS, I’m highlighting MisterFake 373, not to be confused with me, MisterFake371, or with MisterFake372.

I’ve never met MisterFake373 in real life, but I’ve chatted with him a bit on the online forum for weirdo Mormons, New Order Mormon.  He agreed to answer a few of my questions and have them posted here.  He’s a nice guy.

My intent with doing this interview is to show you that there are really nice people in our Church who don't have traditional testimonies, but who still want to stay involved with the Church and live the LDS lifestyle.  To any True-Believing Mormons (TBM's) reading this, my questions for you are: would you want to kick this guy out of the Church?  Is MisterFake373 better off in full fellowship with the Church, or should he be shunned until he regains his testimony?

Without further ado, here’s the interview.  

Where are you from? 

The Northeast U.S.

How old are you?

I’m in my 50’s.

What do you do for a living?

I’m a teacher.

Were you raised in the Church?

No.  I converted in my early 20’s.

Can you share your conversion story with us?  

I essentially converted due to the influence of a friend who I admired very much. He had actually moved away prior to my conversion, and did not know I had joined the church for a number of months. He was not exactly what you might call a true believer, and although he was raised in the church he did not serve a mission. That said, I was pretty much a "golden" covert, and in my own research I had read A Marvelous Work and a Wonder. The first missionary lesson was about the First Vision, and I still believe Joseph Smith had this experience (although I also believe it has been spun by the modern church).

Looking back, are you glad you converted? 

I sometimes wish I had never converted, quite frankly.

What was your upbringing like?

My family was not religious, but my parents taught me and my siblings good moral values.  Because I was a non-member, I did not go to seminary or Boy Scouts.

Did you serve a mission? 

Yes, I did serve a mission. It was generally a good experience but I always had trouble with the "business" aspects of it and I felt the rules were overboard (and that was then!)

How did your testimony grow and change over the years?

I can't say my testimony grew significantly during my TBM (True-Believing Mormon) years, although I did have what I thought were spiritual experiences and I do believe I was becoming closer to God.  I did believe in Jesus Christ.

When and how did you lose your testimony?

I lost my testimony about ten years ago due to a serious event in my life that I am unwilling to share with strangers. It is enough to say that the event shook me to the core.  

When answers to prayers did not come, I began to question why this happened to me/us and why God was not responding in the way I had been taught He would/should. My loss of testimony was more of a process than a singular event.  I think parts of my testimony dropped away over a period of several months.  At one point I was agnostic, if not completely atheistic.

Losing my testimony was devastating to me and my family. Words cannot describe the pain. The worst part of the whole ordeal was my perception that I was alone in my feelings and others could not or did not understand.  There was nowhere to turn for comfort.

How did you regain your testimony of Christ?

I can't say I regained a testimony of Christ. Not that I don't have one. I do. But now it's different. I did regain a testimony of God. Let me use an analogy. Losing my testimony was like a building being demolished, or rather, disassembled.  I used parts of the old destroyed building (faith/testimony) to build the new one.  But I also used new parts and discarded old parts. Once I had a different view of God (as in Heavenly Father) my view of Christ was also able to be reestablished. My current testimony and beliefs regarding Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are not TBM views.  But I don't really know what others are actually thinking or feeling when they say "I know God lives" either.

Why did you go back to Church?

Frankly I went back to church as a direct result of President Uchtdorf's "Come, Join With Us" talk. Perhaps it was a tender mercy that I happened to hear it, but it was a life-changer. I realized that I was not the only Mormon without a traditional testimony. But more importantly, I realized that I could go to church, even with my doubts and questions.

How were you received when you went back to Church?

I had trepidation in returning to church. I did work with my priesthood leaders before my return and they probably helped pave the way a bit. I was well received. Pres. Uchtdorf is right.

When you’re at Church, do you feel like an outsider?

No.  I don't feel like an outsider.  Although, I do sometimes feel like an observer of those who believe differently. I think my relationships with the people I knew are the same as they were before I lost my testimony. The people I liked and associated with I still like and I still associate with.  I'm not especially fond of some other people, so I keep my interactions with them to a minimum, just like before.

Do you plan on staying LDS for the rest of your life?

I don't know what the future holds. I will probably stay LDS, but activity level is uncertain.

What spiritual things do you do now?  Do you attend church regularly, pray, read scriptures, have family home evenings, etc.?  

"Spiritually" (I'm not sure that's the right term, but I'll go with it), I do attend church regularly. However, I frequently skip Sunday School and often I am looking at something else during priesthood. Depending on the topic and speakers, I'm sometimes looking at something else during Sacrament Meeting as well. These something else's are often church related, but not always.  I do sometimes just surf the net. I pray sometimes, not regularly and not in the way most LDS prayers are said (I never ask for anything). I read scripture weekly, but not necessarily daily and I mostly read from the Bible, especially the New Testament. I sometimes read the Book of Mormon, rarely the Pearl of Great Price and never the Book of Abraham. My children are grown; we do not have Family Home Evening.

Why do you do these spiritual things?

I attend church mostly for social reasons, although I won't deny that I do sometimes feel uplifted by messages I hear there. Likewise with scripture - when I read scripture I am usually looking at something that puzzles me (like prayer) and I am sometimes uplifted by what I read. I believe loving our neighbors to be a universal truth, and I appreciate that Jesus emphasized this principle. I do sometimes feel what I believe to be the Spirit, but it is not necessarily (or even very often) related to being in church, reading scripture, or prayer.

Do you have a temple recommend?  If so, do you have any reservations answering yes to all the questions?

I do have a temple recommend, but I have not actually been to the temple in several years.  I believe the temple to be mostly symbolic. I did at one time have some reservations about some of the questions, but now I no longer do.  I think they're vague on purpose. I have also been known to point out to people that there is no question asking if I believe in the Book of Mormon, if I pray or study scripture every day, if I believe Joseph Smith or President Monson is a Prophet with a capitol P, or if I believe in polygamy, among many other things. In other words, I think people read way too much into the questions.

What advice do you have for those who have lost their traditional testimonies?

I like the StayLDS advice that I see there frequently - take it slow, focus on what you do believe, and don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Something else I learned there is that the gospel and the church are not the same, and I have found value in separating actual Bible-referenced doctrine as opposed to church policies and traditions.

Can you share your current testimony with us?

My current testimony is very simple: I believe Jesus is the Christ, and I believe the most important thing we do in this life is love and care for our neighbors. Anything else is nothing more than an appendage to these essentials.

Is there anything else you would like to say to the good readers of Reasons to Stay LDS?

Well, you didn't ask me specifically about callings or church service.  I don't mind admitting that I'm a high councilor and that my stake president is aware of all that I have told you here.  The rest of the high council is only partly aware of my doctrinal and historical issues with the Church.  (They do all know that I was inactive).  My assignments aren't any different from the assignments that the other high councilors have.  I'm assigned to advise a ward, I oversee an auxiliary, I'm in the regular speaking rotation, and so on.  The talks I give are centered on the Savior and core gospel principles.  Fortunately, all of our assigned topics are aligned with those ideas because our stake presidency believes in sticking to the basics.  My wife is TBM.  I have a son on a mission right now, and another son preparing his papers.  I have a daughter who graduated from BYU and also questions, but not to the extent that I do.

Wow, that's really neat that you're on a high council.  Just that fact alone shows that people with doubts aren't shunned in the Church.  Those with non-traditional testimonies just have to learn how to navigate the Church a little differently, like you're doing so successfully.  Also, it sounds like you have the perfect Stake President for Mormons like us.  Either that, or he's desperate to fill callings.  LOL.  In any case, thanks, MisterFake373, for taking the time to answer all these questions.  And thanks for sharing your story with strangers on the Internet.

You're welcome.

# 60: Mormons Actually Go To Church

A new survey just came out that shows that Utah leads the nation in people attending weekly worship services.  Here's the survey.  Obviously, Utah holds the record for church attendance because there are so many Mormons who live there.

It's nice to belong to a religion in which it's the norm to take it seriously.  Too many other Christian denominations these days are suffering from a lack of interest.  I've seen some of this first-hand.  So many of the non-members I grew up will say, if they're asked, that they are Christian, but then they never go to Church.  I saw a church marquee once that said, "What difference does it make which church you belong to if you never go?"  And I thought that was a good point.

The LDS Church has its own fair share of inactive, lukewarm members, but I feel like in the LDS Church there is a bigger ongoing effort to reactivate less active members than in other denominations.

Christ instructs his followers to take the gospel seriously.  He asks people to drop everything and follow Him.  How can we follow Christ today?  He's not personally here to tell us specially how to follow him.  Well, I think the least we can do is make an effort in attending weekly meetings.

(In other news, Utah also leads the nation in depression.  Uh... since this is a blog mostly focused on the positive aspects of Mormondom, all I'll say about that is... the Church has room for improvement.)

If you stay LDS, you'll be in the company of people who take their religion seriously, who strive to follow Christ's teachings, and who actually go to church.

# 59: The Case for Christ

You should stay LDS so you can more completely follow and worship the one true God, Jesus Christ.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a Christian Church.  I view Joseph Smith as an imaginative Protestant minister with a lot of neat ideas.  Regardless of the Book of Mormon's historicity, it does its job of bringing people to Jesus Christ, just as the fictional parables that Jesus made up impart correct principles.

One thing that I've seen first hand with people who lose their testimony of the LDS Church is that they lose faith in Christ altogether.  It's very sad.

Thankfully, throughout my faith crisis, I've been able to maintain my faith in Christ.  How?  Well, I've read books by C.S. Lewis, "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom, various articles in Guideposts magazine, and I've learned about the Shroud of Turin.  I've also read the New Testament and pondered it carefully.

I also recently found a video that is very convincing, and it helps me maintain my faith in Christ.

It's a presentation called "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel.  Mr. Strobel used to be an atheist, (with a law and a journalism degree, by the way) but he investigated Christianity and he ended up converting.  I think he makes a convincing argument.

Here's the presentation:



If you're struggling with your testimony of the divinity of Jesus Christ, please take the time to watch this presentation.  If you know anybody who is doubting the Bible or the claims of Christianity, please send this video to them.  Remember, spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ is one of the most important things you can do in your life.  You really can change people's lives for the better.  You really can aid in the salvation of your spirit brothers and sisters.  Be a missionary!

# 58 Mormons Respond Well to Criticism

I was listening to Hugh Hewitt on the radio the other day, and he was talking about the big story of the recent terror attacks in Paris.

Have you heard that news?  On January 7th, 2015, three radical Muslims went into the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper, and started shooting people.  Twelve people ended up dead.  Why did they pick Hebdo as a target?  Because Hebdo had run items in its publications that were offensive to Muslims.  They made fun of the founder of Islam, Muhammed.

Hugh Hewitt had Mark Steyn on as a guest, and they had some interesting things to say about how two different cultures, radical Muslims and Mormons, react to criticism.  I've put some of that transcript here, and I put my favorite part in bold:

Mark Steyn: It’s one thing to say oh, we should be sensitive about this, and we should be sensitive about that. But when lunatics are actually killing people over a drawing, you’ve got to be on the side of the people who do the drawings...

Hugh Hewitt: Yeah, unequivocally, 100%, not you know, I wish they hadn’t insulted the Prophet, but unequivocally, 100% on their side.

Mark Steyn: Yes, absolutely. And I say that, you know, and the thing about, Islam is a very peculiar religion. It’s an insecure religion in that sense. And Bill Donohue is fortunate in that he represents, or purports to represent a religion [Catholicism] that is actually more secure, and can shrug off insulting provocations. And one of the disturbing things about this is the way so many people who matter, starting with the President and the senior figures of this administration, are willing to put freedom of speech up for trade. The professions of regret at what happened yesterday from the administration are in contrast, for example, to their criticism of Charlie Hebdo three years ago. They didn’t think, they agreed with Donohue that Charlie Hebdo shouldn’t have done those cartoons. Yet funnily enough, Hillary Clinton is sitting in the Book of Mormon, the big hit Broadway musical, laughing her head off and giving a standing ovation to the most obscene provocations against Mormonism. What’s the difference? 

Hugh Hewitt: Let me ask you as well, on Sunday last…

Mark Steyn: Yeah, the only difference is that Mitt Romney isn’t going to kick your door down and open up an AK-47 on you. 

Hugh Hewitt: Yeah, the Mormons will bring you a strudel. The Mormons will simply drop off some baked goods and smile at you. That’s the difference.

Here's another article about how nice Mormons are in response to criticism.

You should stay LDS because, collectively and individually, Mormons respond well to criticism. 

And Mormons get criticized a lot.  Anybody who has served a mission knows what frequent rejection is like.  Over and over, when the missionaries knock on their door, people say, “No thanks,” or,  “I’m not interested,” or "Get the beep off of my beepin' porch before I get my beepin' dogs to beepin' bite you, you good for nothing beepity-beeps!" My personal favorite rejection was, “If ya’ll are out soul-winning, you can keep moving along. I’ve already been won.”

And how do missionaries respond to this rejection?  They just smile and wave and say, “OK, see you later.”  And then they move on to the next house.

The Mormon Church as a whole does the same thing.  When the Church gets mocked on Broadway in the Book of Mormon musical, the Church responded with this classy one-sentence press release: 

"The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but The Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people's lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ."

When I hear about the way in which the Mormon church behaves in the public square, I'm proud.  We are a mature, healthy, Christ-centered religion, and we get along well with everyone around us.  We're a good group to be a part of, and it's my pleasure to remain a part of this group.  I hope you'll stick around, too.

# 57: The Story of MisterFake372, Part Two

Recently I wrote about MisterFake372, a man who resigned from the Church because of historical and doctrinal issues in 2010, but who had recently undergone a change of heart and desired to return to the religion of his youth.  Here’s the link to that blog post.

Now that over a month has gone by since that blog post, I’m happy to report that MisterFake372 has been readmitted into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He has been baptized.  I was fortunate enough to be able to attend his baptism last Sunday evening.

I left my wife and kids at home, and I drove for half an hour to get to the baptism.  I have to admit, I wondered if the baptism was really going to be worth the drive.  My life can be busy, and I like having my own free time to spend with my family and to pursue hobbies. But this baptism felt important to me, so I made a small sacrifice of time and attended it.  

During the drive, I listened to Catholic radio, which I do often.  The talk-show hosts were talking about how Catholic Saints are canonized.  Somebody called into the radio show and asked if a righteous non-Catholic could be canonized, someone like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, for example.  The talk-show hosts said no, a non-Catholic cannot be a Catholic Saint, but they also clarified that non-Catholics can still go to Heaven.  I thought that was interesting.

I got to the church building. I was unfamiliar with it because I had never been to that meetinghouse before.  When I walked through the doors, the beautiful sound of piano music greeted me.  I followed the sound, hoping it would guide me to the right place.  The music got louder and louder until at last I found the right room.  I walked into the room, and I felt the Spirit.  

There were a lot of people there.  I’d say over fifty.  It was nice to see such a great attendance.    

I sat on a cushy folding chair in the front row, and in a minute Misterfake372 emerged through a doorway, all dressed in white.  He said hello to me and shook my hand.  He was very emotional.  I could tell he had been crying.  He cried a lot that night. 

The opening song was, “I Feel My Savior’s Love.”  I knew all the words by heart, and I sang them loudly.  I don’t sing well.  I’m pretty sure I’m tone deaf, and I can’t read music, but I sing with gusto.  I hope the people sitting next to me don't mind my off-key singing.  Even if they do mind, I'll sing with gusto anyway.  :)

As I sang along with all the other people gathered there, I felt the Spirit.  I thought how peculiar it was, and how beautiful and how wonderful it was, that such a group was gathered together on a Sunday evening for such an occasion.  Here we were, over fifty family members and friends of MisterFake372, coming together to celebrate his public commitment to God, singing a song together, a song about feeling the love of God, and wanting to give that divine love to others.  What could be better?

After the opening prayer, one of MisterFake372’s long-time friends gave a talk on the Holy Ghost.  I don’t know his name, and even if I did, I wouldn’t share it on the Internet, so I’ll just call him Sam.  

Sam told an interesting story from his mission.  He said that shortly before he got his mission call, he had a dream that he was a missionary, talking to a family in Spanish.  Then he got his mission call to serve in an English-speaking mission in Florida.  When he got the call, he was confused, because he thought his dream was telling him he would be serving a Spanish-speaking mission.

Well, one day on his mission, Sam was knocking on doors with his companion, who happened to be a Brazilian fluent in Portuguese.  They were trying to decide which area to go in.  They were planning on going to one area, but then Sam got a really dark feeling.  They decided to go to a different area, and when they did, Sam got a good feeling.  This good feeling was the Holy Ghost, Sam said. They got to one house, where nobody spoke English.  But Sam’s Brazilian companion spoke enough Spanish to hold a conversation.  I guess Portuguese and Spanish are similar.  So, Sam’s companion and a Spanish-speaking lady talked for a long time about the gospel.  At that moment, Sam realized that his dream had been fulfilled.

In his talk, Sam also commented that he overheard a child at the baptism ask, “Why is MisterFake372 crying?”  Then Sam said that someone answered, “Because he’s feeling the love of his Heavenly Father.”

After the talk, MisterFake372 was baptized.  Many of the kids got right up next to the font so they could get a better view.   He was fully immersed in the water on the first and only attempt.  MisterFake372 hugged the man who baptized him. 

Next, the piano player played more church hymns, while people chatted.  

Once MisterFake372 and the man who baptized him were back, there was a special musical number.  It was a lady singing, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”  For me, this performance was the highlight of the night.  Even though I can't sing well myself, I can certainly appreciate good music.  The lady sang extraordinarily well.  She sang all three verses of the song, and she had the song memorized.  Part of the song was sang a cappella, and to me that was the most moving part of the performance.  Well, the entire song was moving, but during the a cappella part, I became immediately aware of the silence between the words she was singing, the quiet in the room.  No children were making any noises, no cell phones went off.  The performance was the definition of intimate.  It was so honest and real.  It was the type of performance that cannot be recreated.  Even if I would have filmed it and posted the video of the performance here, it just wouldn't be the same.  Watching a video on a computer screen can't compare with the experience of dressing up, going to a church, sitting next to people, and seeing and hearing live music.

Then MisterFake372's brother gave a great talk, and then the ordinance of confirmation took place.

MisterFake372 then bore his testimony, which mostly consisted of him thanking people and crying.  During much of the talk, he held his five year old daughter in his arms, and said that she was a big reason that he was returning to Church.

We sang a closing song, which was, "The Family is of God," a relatively new Primary song, and then someone gave a closing prayer.

Overall, it was a wonderful evening.  Attending the baptism strengthened my resolve to stay LDS.  I hope the best for MisterFake372 and his continued spiritual journey.  I believe he is where God wants him to be: back in the LDS Church, living the LDS lifestyle.  Some of his beliefs may still be a bit unorthodox, but that's okay.  He is currently a member of the Church in good standing.  But more importantly, I believe that he's in good standing with God.

On my way out the door, I helped myself to a cookie.  

As I drove home, I left my car radio off, and drove in silence.  I wanted to be alone with my thoughts.  I didn’t want the magic of that night to end.