My Long Journey from Mormon Deception to Truth

I was born into a large Mormon family, and was nurtured in Mormonism from my earliest years. It was all I knew. The LDS church begins their indoctrination as soon as children are old enough to talk properly, so I grew up convinced that they were "the only true church." At their fast and testimony meetings I stood up along with the rest of the branch members and bore my testimony to this fact. I loved going to church, as well as to the MIA.

However, I was an avid reader. And in time it became apparent to me that Mormon literature was contradictory. For instance, the Book of Mormon clearly contradicted some of the major teachings in Doctrine and Covenants, as well as in the Pearl of Great Price. And there also seemed to be far too many flaws and errors in Mormonism for it to have originated with God. Common sense made me suspect that its origins were both human and fallible.

The many and varied excuses that were offered concerning these problems were not convincing.

An older member of our branch counselled me to pray for more faith. However, to my way of thinking, God must have given me brains for a reason. Surely He would not want me to pray for faith to believe that obvious contradictions and errors were the truth ..... bearing in mind that He represented both truth and righteousness?

Eventually, convinced that Mormonism was nothing more than a deception, I began to think long and hard about leaving the church. But it wasn't easy. (I have since discovered that many LDS church members keep quiet about their troubling convictions so that they won't have to face the trauma and, more likely than not, the family rifts and lost friendships that would result if they spoke out.)

When I finally took the plunge and stopped going to church, my family was naturally upset. My father told me that one day I would get down on my knees and beg God to forgive me. It was awful having to face this all on my own. But there was nobody to turn to for support. All those I was closest to were Mormons.

As I had always had a deep longing to really know God, I began to look into other belief systems. However, Mormon indoctrination is very effective. It had utterly convinced me that biblical Christianity was an abomination in the sight of God, and that the Bible was filled with errors and omissions. I had come to the conclusion that if Mormonism was wrong, then it stood to reason that biblical Christianity must be even more so. So I carefully avoided having anything at all to do with it.

Over the years I looked into eastern mysticism, spiritualism and a lot of other isms, as well as transcendental meditation, yoga and the like. I read every book in the library on spiritual thought or religion that I could lay my hands on, except of course those that were Christian. But none of them seemed as though they were on the right track.

Eventually an acquaintance shared with me how her recent Christian conversion had changed her life. It was the first time I had ever heard the biblical gospel of salvation. And I just couldn't stop thinking about it. So one day I knelt down all on my own at the side of my bed, prayed to God about it, and asked the biblical Jesus Christ to be my Saviour. I surrendered my life, such as it was, to Him. And He honoured that prayer.

Since then my life has never been the same. It was as though all the lights had been switched on. For the first time ever, I was able to understand spiritual things with crystal clarity. It was tremendously exciting. The teachings of the Bible became so meaningful, and I developed such a hunger for the Word of God, that I could hardly bear to put it down. So I carried my Bible around with me from room to room as I did my housework. I also bought a little pocket Bible so that I could take that with me in my handbag whenever I went out.

Later on, when I read John chapter 3, I realized what had happened to me. I had been born of the Spirit (born again, or born from above, as some translations of the Bible put it).

My deepest regret is that I had to wait so long to come to know the One who had loved me enough to die for me, and to experience the joy of true salvation and that wonderful peace that passes all understanding. Even in the midst of trials and heartache there is an inexplicable joy that just keeps bubbling up inside of me all the time. It is now a great many years down the line since my Christian conversion, and I still have that amazing peace and joy in my heart.

Sadly, there have been times when I have let my Saviour down. However, He has never ever let me down. My life has not been easy and I have been through more than my fair share of adversity, heartache and suffering. But He has given me the grace to cope and has filled my heart with joy, and my mouth with songs of praise, even in my darkest hours. He has also provided for my every need. And I will never ever stop thanking and praising Him for what He has done in my life, especially since I didn't deserve any of it.

But most of all I am grateful to Him for suffering and dying for me, in my place, so that I could be set free from guilt and condemnation for the sins I've committed. When I die I will go to be with Him forever, and I'll have all eternity to sing His praises.

Rather than asking God to forgive me for leaving the LDS church, I regularly get down on my knees and thank Him for bringing me out of it, and for leading me to true salvation in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

However, it hasn't all been easy going. Because of my spiritual convictions, my oldest sister, who had spent time on the Mormon mission field when she was younger, told me that I was of the devil and that she wanted nothing more to do with me. [I clearly remembered having been taught by the LDS that the only way we could lose our Mormon testimony was if we listened to the devil.] Our once close and loving relationship was wiped right out as though it had never even existed. But I felt that she was just as much a victim of this tragic and unnecessary rift in our relationship as I was.

Another thing that saddens me is that because of Mormon indoctrination against both Christianity and the accuracy of the Bible, many disillusioned Mormons who pluck up the courage to leave the LDS church either become agnostics or atheists; or else get involved in eastern mysticism. I want them to know that there is a God of unfathomable love, mercy and compassion who will enable them to overcome Mormon indoctrination, and to come to a saving knowledge of the true, biblical Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour.

"All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out" (John 6:37, NASB).