ings of the Mormon Church, I began to see discrep ancies between the simple gospel of the Bible and the complex “ gospel” of Mormonism. It is hard to describe just how I felt when the doubts began to arise. I think I might say that I felt “ fenced in” by a maze of Mormon doctrine. I know now what it is to experience what Paul had “ feared” would befall the Corinthians when he wrote: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the ser pent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3). The very teachings of the Mormon Church that had at first been so “ fascinating,” I now found frustrating. It seemed to me that every time I opened my Bible, some verse would leap out at me to refute the doctrines I had embraced. There was I Corinthians 2 :2 : “ For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified.” ; 2 Timothy 1:9: “Who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,” ; and Titus 3 :5 : “Not by works o f righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us.” As I look back on the last two years of my life as a Mormon, I am amazed at the wonderful work ing o f God in drawing me back to Himself. In His own perfect way, He brought back memories of an experience with Christ that had brought peace in stead of perplexity. He brought me into contact with Christian people who prayerfully and care fully witnessed to me. He timed circumstances and events so perfectly that I could not but see His will for me. I f I had never known anything better, perhaps I could have been satisfied with Mormonism, but, once having known reality, I could not stay con tent with just religion. The little chorus “ Some thing Happened When He Saved Me” kept run ning through my mind. Although I was still not ready to turn away from the doctrines o f Mor monism, I had to admit that something had hap pened that night in my youth, and I could not make that experience fit my understanding of my present religion. I tried to explain to myself that I had just not gone deep enough into the Mormon faith and so I continued to search the Mormon scriptures, and to work harder to fulfill my duties in the church. It was at this point that I began to experience a desire to attend a Gospel service in a funda mental church such as I had known in the past. I found myself longing to join in the singing of familiar hymns and to hear a message entirely
lets and books written by the authorities of the Mormon Church. Within three months I was completely con vinced that Joseph Smith was indeed a prophet of God and the instrument through which God had restored the Gospel in its fullness to the earth. On August 12, 1960 I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ o f Latter-Day Saints, with the full intention of influencing my family and friends to become Mormons. I wasted no time in becoming active in the church. In a short time, I began to act as a sub stitute for the teacher of the adult Sunday School class and often I played the piano for the Sacra ment Meeting. I put forth every effort to lead our children into my new church. Our two oldest boys, then eight and ten, were soon eligible for baptism, for, accord ing to Mormon teaching, the age o f accountability is eight years, and all children who understand the “ gospel” are baptized at that age. Later, when they were twelve, they were or dained deacons in the Aaronic Priesthood, and at fourteen the eldest was ordained a teacher in that Priesthood. I was proud and pleased that they had been interviewed and considered worthy to hold these offices. My responsibilities and involvement in Mor- monism continued to increase. I became the regular teacher o f the adult Sunday School class, and also served as a Relief Society visiting teacher. Since leaving Mormonism I have been asked if I ever would have considered myself a “ good Mor mon.” While avoiding the words “ a good Mormon,” lest I sound proud, it certainly must be said that I was a busy and studious Mormon. I sought not only to give myself to activities o f the church, but also to ground myself in the doctrines of Mormon- ism, which I considered to be divine. During my first few years in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I was con stantly fascinated and amazed at the answers that Mormon writings seemed to give to questions that I had always pondered. Most comforting of all was the Mormon teaching on baptism for the dead. If any o f my loved ones should die without turning to Christ, I would not need to be too concerned, for there would be opportunities after this life, and I could be baptized for them. It was, however, my desire to know and under stand all the doctrines of the church that finally became an important factor in bringing me out of Mormonism. As I studied more deeply the teach
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THE KIN G 'S BUSINESS
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