THE K I N G ’S BUS I NE S S
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repugnance tow ard him , bu t before we parted, he bad won an invitation from me to my house. A fter th e first call, he and o ther elders were con stan t vis itors, and won my complete confidence. They wielded an influence over me which I can h ard ly understand a t the p resen t time, b u t a t th e same tim e I was no t an easy convert. It took nearly six months of reading Mormon books, and tracts, and num erous talk s in p ri vate and in public. They began w ith a long ta lk on faith, and k ep t th is up un til it was impressed on my mind. About the different sects of Christianity they said th a t th e re should be only one church, and th a t Mormonism was th is one; hiding the fact th a t th e Mormons them selves are split into several sects. Baptism by immersion of course I believed. This rig h t mode of baptism Was a point in th e ir favor. Then came the very allu ring doctrine they teach of repentance afte r death, tak en from pas sages like 1 P eter 4:6. This doctrine practically allows a man to lead a sin ful life in th is world, and also to hope for forgiveness in th e h ereafter. But can any one find it ta u g h t in th e Bible th a t God gives us any such prom ise as th is? By the way they tw ist scriptures to su it themselves I was led to believe th is doctrine to be true. By o ther m isuses of the Scriptures I was gradually led to believe th a t the m inisters of all other churches had absolutely no rig h t to adm in ister the ordinances of the Gospel, th a t is, to baptize and to adm inister th e Lord’s Supper; th a t only th e Mormon “ P riest hood” had th is righ t, which was handed down to them by Joseph Sm ith; and th a t no one can he saved unless he has been baptized by one having th is au tho rity . I was led into accepting all these things, and much more nonsense and Mormon fables, very gently and gradually. It seems to me novr th a t my m ind must have- been as P au l says, 2 Cor. 4:4, “ blinded by th e god of th is w orld.” However th is may be, a t the
end of about six months, I was ready to be baptized, and on Jun e 22nd, 1901, I was baptized a t th e lower end of J e r sey City in New York Bay, and had hands laid on me “ for th e reception of th e Holy Ghost.” A t once I became an enthusiastic Mormon. I gave ou t Mormon tracts and literatu re , and sent many of them by mail to the South, and I introduced th e elders to many of my friends w ith th e hope th a t they would also become Mormons. I was so active and earnest th a t I was rew arded on December 1st, 1901, by being made an officer in the Sunday School, and being ordained as a “ p riest” a t th e same time. I forgot to say th a t sho rtly before I was baptized I had gone to a m inister to ask some questions about certain passages in th e Bible (a strang e m in ister, not caring to face my own p asto r). I told him th a t I was investigating Mor monism, and afte r answering my ques tions, he told me th a t th e Mormons worshiped Adam as God. I had heard nothing of th is before, and w ent back to the elders, to E lder Thomas, and also to E lder Samuel Neff, th e la tte r being counsellor to the P residen t of this Conference, and both of them flatly and most emphatically denied it. I believed them , th ink ing it a falsehood against my much maligned friends. They never miss a chance to throw a slu r a t the m inisters for preaching for a salary, and boast themselves of preaching w ith out pay. A t the same time, they expect all who are members of th e ir church to pay one-tenth of th e ir incomes into the Mormon treasury. Ju s t where it went to I Was never able to find out. I was told it was used for the vicarious works of the church. I will tell you a t th is point th eir a ttitu d e on polygamy, as ta u g h t me by the elders. They claim th a t no p lu ral m arriages have been celebrated for about eleven years, b u t th a t th e prin ciples of it are unchanged, it being a direct command from God to Joseph
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