WEEK FORTY-NINE June 9, 2014
As a young missionary I noticed
and even warned investigators of the coming onslaught of anti-Mormon literature
that would seemingly, from nowhere, begin to fill their mail box. If happened
again and again, often with no return address, just someone stuffing it in the
mail box and driving off. It caused me deep reflection then as it does now, as
to the causal factors behind such an effort. I concluded the very fact of this
onslaught was itself a further witness to the truthfulness of the restored gospel
as no reasonable person would react so bitterly and ostentatiously regarding
beliefs of another than in no way infringe upon your own beliefs.
This week the onslaught has come
to Sister H and me. We received five different DVDs of that ilk, several tracts
and articles each containing the same hackneyed braying I saw as a young
missionary. Also a number of calls from missionaries in our mission regarding
appropriate responses to the same, requests to sit in with them to respond
which we have done, but which is seeming less and less prudent to me. At best
we offer some truths to reinforce the testimonies of our young missionaries
caught unawares and having neither the insight nor understanding necessary to
counteract such rude blasts.
We met with Brother Fifty in an
exchange with a young missionary excited about the prospect of laying out the
truth in an earnest and straightforward way causing me to reflect on our last
visit with this individual and thinking he will have no chance to do so. This
brother, who I believe has no interest whatsoever in discovering truth, would
deny he is married and the father of four if it would lead credence to his
argument. He comes from no established base, there is nothing to talk to him
about, and draws conclusions from meaningless words purposely to obfuscate truth.
He, as is his wont, had a number of slightly irritating questions, a screwed up
scenario of worlds and kingdoms both now and in the hereafter, all based on his
belief that Adam was the first Adam and Christ is the last Adam (or course, the
scripture doesn’t exactly say that, which he didn’t want to hear; 1 Corinthians
15:45 “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the
last Adam was made a quickening spirit”]. We worked through it from the
scriptures parrying each concern and establishing a pattern of truth, none of
which made a dent in his mind. Not a good experience for the missionary who
didn’t know the scriptures well enough to keep up, said he didn’t understand
what was even being said, felt unease and wondered about his competency. It
ended with the young missionary asking for an email for the brother to express
his concerns. I warned the missionary as we drove away that what he had asked
for won’t be forthcoming, rather the brother would be sending him a diatribe
condemning his testimony and beliefs. A few days later the missionary called to
tell me he hated to admit that I was right. Concerns weren’t expressed rather
an attack given. When asked what they can do I suggested he be asked to give
you five minutes to present in simple terms your belief, not scriptures or
quotes, just what you feel in your heart. And go with a young priest so there
is no one there for him to contend with. His response to you will indicate
whether you are to proceed with him and leave him to himself.
Gratefully we spent most of the
next day in the Newport Beach Temple fulfilling assignments in the baptistery for
walk ins that the Lake Forest Ward was unable to fill during the day time
hours. We both experienced a wonderful peace and sense of well-being in sharp
contrast to the night before and felt blessed to be given such a wonderful
service opportunity. Sister H had to fill in for one sister who was baptized
for 15 of her names but wanted the confirmation’s done while she was changing.
Fortunately I was in charge of performing the confirmation and was able to do
that for each name, after which I kissed her. Maybe a first for one performing confirmation
ordinances in the temple.
Met with the Four family who
shared a poignant message with us about how much he appreciated meeting with us
each week and discussing the gospel, that since he is no longer preaching he
had really missed such activity and wanted us to know just home much he has
appreciated us going through his book “A Preachers Read Confession” with him. This
week we discussed the chapter entitled “To God be the Glory.” As before I share
additional light and knowledge received through the restored gospel of Jesus
Christ.
We finished two meetings with
Brother Forty-Two this week. He is leaving Monday, June 9 for a ten day
preaching tour with the Church of God in Queens, New York exclusively on Daniel
and Revelation. We finally completed 2 Nephi 2 which is such a clear and
concise explanation of the plan of salvation that he just kept saying “wow” as
principle and truth after truth was given. He told us he needed to know it all
we were telling him was true. “I don’t want information. I need to know if it
is true. If it is I have to change my whole life.” He then shared a number of
concerns he had come across in an internet review which we answered. As we were
leaving he asked me to review a couple of DVDs from with Brother Forty-Two, The
Bible vs. The Book of Mormon, 2005, by Living Hope Ministries, in Brigham City,
Utah. The other one by Pastor Fran Sankey, entitled the Mormon Jesus: B. Jesus According to the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons): Jesus is the first spirit child begotten
in heaven by Elohim (God) and one of Elohim’s wives. However, he is not the
only begotten son since Jesus’ brother, Lucifer (who became Satan), was also
begotten by Elohim, in addition to billions of other spirit children. When it
was time for Jesus to come to the world to redeem mankind, Elohim came to
earth, married the Virgin Mary and had sexual relations with her to produce the
baby Jesus. Jesus grew up, married Mary, Martha and Mary Magdalene, and paid
for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane before being crucified. [Fran Sankey]
For which I wrote up the
following on our return visit later in the week: Poppycock!!! Fran Sankey’s
characterization is not only untrue but an apparent purposeful distortion of LDS
theology. To do it so blatantly, suggests her own credentials be examined.
Following is a more accurate description of the Mormon belief of Christ, and in
the words of God Himself:
Of Jesus Christ, God the Father
hath said, “mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of
grace and truth; but there is no God beside me” (Moses 1:6). “Worlds without
number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the
Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten” (Moses 1:33). “He offereth
himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who
have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of
the law be answered” (2 Nephi 2:7). “No flesh can dwell in [my presence], save
it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth
down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the
Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first
that should rise” (2 Nephi 2:8). “He shall make intercession for all the
children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved” (2 Nephi 2:9).
LDS theology teaches that the
phrase “Only Begotten Son” refers only to Jesus Christ (John 1:18; 3:16; Jacob
4:5, 11; Alma 12:33-34; D&C 20:21; 29:42; 49:5; 76:13, 25) and is both a
description of his lineage as well as a name-title. All individuals who ever
live on this earth are spirit children of our Heavenly Father (Numbers 27:16;
Hebrews 12:9), but Jesus alone is the Only Begotten of the Father (Moses 5:9),
meaning the Only Begotten in the flesh, because God is his Father (Luke
1:31-32) on earth as He is in heaven. How this was brought to pass has yet to
be revealed. But as God affirmed, in His own voice, on the day of the Savior’s
baptism, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
On our second visit we reviewed
the above, answered a number of questions he had and learned some details about
his upcoming 10-day preaching tour. This time he said, “If I am going to be
baptized I need to make sure this is true” and proceeded to give us three other
DVDs, Mormonism, by Charlie H. Campbell, from the Apologetics Ministry;
Mormonism uncovered from the Tower to Truth Ministries, another Pastor Fran
Sankey and Mormon Temples and Book of Mormon, two others from the same source. He
asked that I be ready to review them upon his return in two weeks. Havling seen
the book of Mormon one previously which claims archeology supports the Bible
but not the Book of Mormon, I told him with respect to biblical archeology
there remains widespread dispute, among competing experts, as to the existence
of the following, to name just a few:
The Flood
The Tower of Babel
Did the great patriarchs Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob ever exist
Joseph in Egypt
The Exodus
The conquest of Canaan
Kingdom of David
Kingdom of Solomon
The Temple of Solomon
Further, the purported argument
from silence put forth to discredit the Book of Mormon is equally as damning to
the Bible yet, if fails for another larger reason—the absence of evidence is
not evidence of absence, a truth that seems to have been conspicuously missed
in all efforts to undermine the Book of Mormon through the absence of
archeology. If archeology alone is the sole arbiter establishing truth or
error, both books fail the test. Perhaps that is an indictment of archeology
rather than the Bible and the Book of Mormon.
Brother Forty-Two did accept an
invitation to learn when the Book of Mormon is true by giving it diligent study
and pondering and then asking God in the name of Jesus Christ if it is true. We
told him that there is no better witness than God himself as to whether the
book if inspired and contains the word of God and to rely solely on man’s
collective wisdom is a serious mistake if he wants to knows truths of God—there
I simple no better source than God himself, which he agreed was true.
As out Bible Study this week we
discussed doing hard things from the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I made a presentation
of overcoming fear using Alma 58:9-13 and enjoyed one of those rare experiences
where it feels as if the spirit is doing the teaching and you are a listener
along with everyone else. Have not had that experience nearly as often as I did
as a young missionary. Brother Forty-five, our Catholic investigator turned to
me and said, “Brother Haddock, your words were very inspiring.”
We also met with Brother
Forty-One this week. He has not been to church in over 25 years and told us the
longer you are away the harder it is to get back. We discussed the needs of his
family and presented the idea that perhaps needed blessings would come their
way if he gave back to the Lord as he had promised. He said he would consider
it. Sister H asked about a blessing suggesting his oldest son who is active. He
thought should he do it he would ask for one from his home teacher. Later in
the week I alerted the home teacher to our discussion for which he was grateful
for that night he was going to be visiting with him.
Our meeting with the Twenty-One family
was cancelled due to family illness. For the same reason they did not attend
Sunday either. But he did have his final interview with the Stake President and
on Sunday, June 15 he has asked me to confer upon him the Melchizedek
Priesthood and ordain him to the office of an elder. With the evening free we
accepted the invitation to attend a baseball game with the 13-year old son of
the Two family. They won the playoff game into the season ending tournament,
then blew out one team, beat in thrilling fashion another along the way and
were playing in the championship game. They lost 23-1. The starting pitcher
walked the first 6 batters, then hit after hit and by the end of the top of the
first they were down 8 runs. Emotionally they were shot, couldn’t make a single
play in the field nor get a hit. In a five inning game our boy only got to bat
twice. The first time he walked, stole second and third and scored their only
run on a groundout. The second at bat he hit a scorching line drive that went
right into the glove of the pitcher without him even knowing it.
Sister H had called Sister Six
about some sensitive matters and a question I was going to ask her husband. She
gave us some insight but in praying about it I felt it was not het the time. So
when she called a few days later and I told her that she was thrilled. Not for
the information but because she had the same feeling and was worried it had
come because of her fear. So she was extremely grateful to learn another had
the same impression.
Sunday morning I took Brother Six
to Stake Priesthood meeting and we had a good talk about his visit this week to
pick up his daughter in the East and bring her back to live with them as she
battles cancer. They will be able to have dinner together on Father’s Day which
he sees as a real treat. Later in the day we discussed Elder Packer’s April
conference address on how he received his witness the gospel was true and
compared it with me always knowing the same. We shared ideas relative to such
answers and confirmation come in a myriad of ways and the danger of determining
one way in advance as opposed to a willingness to receive whatever the Lord
gives, in whatever way He gives it.
In answer to a question one of
the missionaries asked me, I sent by email a couple of paragraphs from Elder
Bednar’s April conference address that answers his question beautifully:
The Savior Succors His People
Alma explains why and how the
Savior can enable us: “And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions
and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which
saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he
will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his
people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be
filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the
flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities” (Alma 7:11–12).
Thus, the Savior has suffered not
just for our sins and iniquities—but also for our physical pains and anguish,
our weaknesses and shortcomings, our fears and frustrations, our
disappointments and discouragement, our regrets and remorse, our despair and
desperation, the injustices and inequities we experience, and the emotional
distresses that beset us.
There is no physical pain, no
spiritual wound, no anguish of soul or heartache, no infirmity or weakness you
or I ever confront in mortality that the Savior did not experience first. In a
moment of weakness we may cry out, “No one knows what it is like. No one
understands.” But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He has
felt and borne our individual burdens. And because of His infinite and eternal
sacrifice (see Alma 34:14), He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm
of mercy. He can reach out, touch, succor, heal, and strengthen us to be more
than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do relying
only upon our own power. Indeed, His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
(Elder David A. Bednar, “Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease,” Ensign, May 2014,
89-90; CR, Apr 2014.)
