This part of our work just appeared on our plate as we began working with some of the new members. Their comments to us suggested that others had been trying to lead them away from the church, or in one case, they had been seeking out the anti’s on the Internet.
Most often, when a member falls into the hands of the anti's, they won’t open the door and speak with us anymore. Few members have not felt the Spirit testifying of the truthfulness of the Gospel Message as restored through Joseph Smith. When they entertain doubts, they enter a world of conflict. What they know by the Spirit is considered to be in conflict with ideas from another source. Because they don’t know all of the facts, and the anti’s are adept at presenting their case without regard to the facts, the spiritually weak are vulnerable. It takes a little experience as a member to be able to recognize that you can have questions but not have doubts. Our faith should be strong enough to remain steady while we seek out answers. The answers always come. My experience is that the Lord often allows us a period of time to live by faith before giving us the opportunity to get the answers. Then when the answers come, they increase our faith in marvelous ways, and even become a strong plank in our bridge over troubled waters.
A buffalo cow with a nursing calf, and other bison standing around watching the strange animals riding in the covered wagon.
I recognize that there are several points that I often make in my normal teaching that are points of testimony that came as a result of the questions that I have dealt with in the past. I have even reorganized my teaching plan so that I can include them.
Here you can see two bulls, both lying down, a cow and a calf. They are standing around an old wallow, called a "waller" in the tradition of this country. The bulls have horns that point upward, whereas the cows horns curve inward toward each other. The wallow is a place where the animals roll in the sand and kick it up onto their backs. They seem to get something out of it, for wherever buffalos go you will find these spots where all of the vegetation is gone. In the early days, wallows were found that were as much as a mile in diameter.
The sin of believing the anti’s lies is that people believe the report of the anti instead of believing the testimony that came from God. This is a serious sin. And sin leads to shame, and shame leads people to hide from those of us who are trying to help them. There is a difference between a member who is just lazy and therefore not active, and one who has believed an anti and therefore rejected the testimony from God.
Buffalo standing by the watering trough that was made from half a tire from a mining truck used in the open pit mining in Utah. The white pipes in the center keep the big animals from destroying the water supply system. These 3000 pound animals can jump 6 foot fences, so jumping into this trough would be easy for them.
Because we had already established feelings of trust with some of our new members we have been able to get them to listen to the truth, and their faith has been restored. In other cases, we are still trying to get a chance to help them. In one case, a new member has allowed himself to become trapped, and he has not only quit coming to church, but he is constantly trying to lead others down the same path. Those who worked with him tell us that he had a testimony at the time he was baptized, but there were influences in his family that were opposed to him being a member of the LDS Church. Eventually he began searching the Internet for the messages of the anti’s, and finally raised enough questions to feel justified in leaving the Church. We were able to work with him for a while when he was on the way out, and we answered every one of the questions he asked. However, he finally told us that he wouldn’t come back to church because he had so much conflict with his family when he came to church. Once he denied what he knew to be true, he very quickly became one of the anti’s himself. Several times we have been working with other new members, and learned that he had been trying to lead them away. We were actually meeting with one member when he tried to call to try to get him to go with him to his mother’s church. The fellow we were meeting with recognized the evil intent, and quit talking with him. We were blessed to be there at the right time, and so his faith was strengthened.
The touring party assembled at the entrance to the Sandsage Bison Range & Wildlife Area.
On perch is Elder Westwood, Back Row from left: Elder Sheeley, Elder Lewis, Sister Peat, Grandniece Riley, Elder Murphy, Elder Kuhlmann, Elder May, Elder Viehweg, & Elder Payne. Front row from left: Elder Howlett, Sister Howlett, Elder Trudo and Elder Duenas. It was a fun day.
Several times we have gone to visit someone, and found them in a stew spiritually. After a little conversation we have been able to find out what anti-Mormon message they have been confronted with, and we have been able to set things straight. At least three people have been blessed by our being there at a critical time to help them pull themselves back from the brink of destruction, and these have been wonderful experiences. One man now holds the priesthood because of our being there at the right time. We are grateful that past experience and study has prepared us a little in this area so we can help in such cases.
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