December 2004 Ensign - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...
December 2004 Ensign - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...
December 2004 Ensign - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...
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16<br />
Iprayed that the Lord would let me know if I had<br />
found the truth. <strong>The</strong>n one afternoon, after driving<br />
home while repeating my frequent prayer, I saw<br />
the missionaries helping a neighbor.<br />
on multicultural worship practices, in which I had been<br />
shown why these religions were inaccurate according to<br />
the Bible. Yet new questions now rang in my head: What if<br />
the Bible was inaccurate? What if everything I had believed<br />
to be true was wrong?<br />
From the earliest years <strong>of</strong> my religious training, my family,<br />
church, and pr<strong>of</strong>essors had educated me on the danger<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Church</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jesus</strong> <strong>Christ</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Latter</strong>-<strong>day</strong> Saints. I had<br />
seen almost every anti-Mormon movie, prayed for the lost<br />
souls giving tours <strong>of</strong> Temple Square, argued with LDS<br />
peers, and taken classes comparing the Book <strong>of</strong> Mormon<br />
with the Satanic bible. Decades <strong>of</strong> anti-Mormon training<br />
had equipped me with the tools and motivation to stay far<br />
away from any LDS affiliation. Although I wanted to open<br />
my mind to all religions as a form <strong>of</strong> truth, I did not allow<br />
room for the LDS <strong>Church</strong>.<br />
Best Thing—or Brainwashing?<br />
While deeply involved in my study, I had the opportunity<br />
to start a new career. During my training period, I met several<br />
employees; one was a striking woman who immediately<br />
caught my attention. She accepted my awkward<br />
invitation to join me for dinner one night, and as we ate,<br />
we discussed religion and the fact that she was a <strong>Latter</strong>-<strong>day</strong><br />
Saint. Realizing that my desire to accept all world religions<br />
should have extended even to this church, I decided to<br />
overlook our religious differences. I asked her out for another<br />
date. I was shocked when she told me that she didn’t<br />
feel it would be right, as dating outside <strong>of</strong> her church did<br />
not fit within her ethical standards. She told me, however,<br />
that she would love to consider me a friend.<br />
At first this upset me greatly. I thought her decision to<br />
date only <strong>Church</strong> members seemed overly pious, lacking<br />
the love <strong>of</strong> <strong>Christ</strong>. I argued with her for some time about<br />
this, but to no avail. That night I spent many sleepless<br />
hours pondering and debating my position. After serious<br />
reflection, I decided that while I would never dedicate myself<br />
to a religious practice for the love <strong>of</strong> a person, this<br />
woman was worth at least investigating the one church I<br />
had sworn I would never consider.<br />
As I thought about my coworker, I came to realize that<br />
the attraction I felt for her was focused on her morals and<br />
integrity. She was unlike women I knew who were desirous<br />
to live a carefree, unaccountable lifestyle. My <strong>Latter</strong>-<strong>day</strong><br />
Saint friend had no false pretense, and her commitment to<br />
her faith was overwhelming. I decided that she had either<br />
found the best thing in the world or she was suffering from<br />
the worst case <strong>of</strong> brainwashing I had ever encountered.<br />
ILLUSTRATED BY BRIAN CALL