Jim,

Thanks for the response on the DVD's. You said if I wrote a few paragraphs about my son's fall into Mormonism that you may put it on your web site. I think that is a wonderful idea. If it can help keep someone else from suffering the same thing my family is going through it will be worth the effort. The only problem is that my son's story is kind of complex and lengthy. I guess I can try to outline it here, and leave it up to you as to how much of the story will fit into your website?

 First let me say that ours is a strong Christian family.  So it can happen to anyone. It's easy to see why unchurched, wayward people looking for a seemingly wholesome, family-oriented way of life could fall for the Mormon sales pitch. Why would the product of a Christian upbringing, active in the church youth groups, playing in the church band, etc. fall prey to the Mormons?

My wife and I spent hours and hours counseling with our son. I spent the better part of 10 hours in a car with him on a trip to visit a college and discussing Mormonism. This all was before he dropped  "the bomb" on us. We were warning him about what they would try to do to him. He assured us he "wasn't going to turn Mormon". I personally spoke to the mother of the Mormon girl my son had dated after the girl gave my son a copy of the Book of Mormon (with a personal note written in the back). I asked them to leave my son alone and that we did not want them to attempt to convert our son.

My son was off to school in Minnesota, the young lady was off to BYU. My wife and I were relieved that they were now separated, and prayed that each would find new lives and friends due to this separation. By the way, the Book of Mormon was given to my son for his 18th birthday (the age of independence in WI) I'm sure this was planned this way, as once he turned 18 we had no "legal" influence on him. Anyway, just a couple of weeks into his freshman year, our son called us to invite us to his "baptism".

My wife and I were stunned to say the least. Turns out all the time he was telling us he would be rejecting Mormonism, the girl's father ( a leader in the Mormon church) was conducting brainwashing sessions with my son. I am convinced that the girl's family felt that (other than not being a Mormon) my son was a worthy mate for their daughter. He was very successful in school, athletics, a gifted musician, and a leader. The only thing missing was him not being a Mormon and they were not going to let anything get in the way of changing that. The next year or so was filled with so many things it would be impossible to outline here. I could write a book.

 Let me be clear, my wife and I pulled out all the stops. Non-stop prayer, long meetings with both the Pastors at our church. We did get our son to meet with them as well. We found a pastor from a near by church who led a Christian congregation in Salt Lake City. My wife and I met with him and he agreed to counsel with our son (during summer vacation when he was home). This pastor, like you, saw first hand the pain and destruction the Mormon cult has had on it's victims and their families. He met with our son to no avail. He reported to us that our son was truley ignorant about the truth of Mormonism even after over a year of brainwashing. He had fallen for the "milk" not the meat.

Someone/something had control over our son. It was obvious he was not making decisions on his own anymore. He dropped out of the school in Minnesota where he was going to school for free due to academic/talent scholarships. He transfered to BYU. We found out that he was accusing us of being "abusive parents" seemingly to justify his actions to some degree or another. We have an older son and one younger, both were stunned at these allegations, which were brought out in the open in a family meeting we had at our home.

An example of the hold these people have on my son's brain is typified by a couple of situations that are mind-blowing. My eldest son, Chris, was planning to be married in July of 2005. Despite everything that had happened with his brother, he asked him to be his best man. Mike (the Mormon son) agreed to this. He had already transferred to BYU, and was planning on going on his mission after school was out for the summer of 2005, but said he could probably postpone his departure until after the wedding. A couple of months later he told us that he was leaving on his mission in December of 2004!  So he could "get on with his life" It was obviously not his decision. It was clearly dictated by someone else. Presumably to distance himself from his family. and to minimize the possibility of him getting cold feet about being a Mormon and thus the Mormon family's "little girl' would lose her prince charming??

Another example came during the family meeting we had. I am a prostate cancer survivor and continue to be tested for relapse. I posed a question to Mike in front of the whole family. I asked him what if my cancer came back and it was terminal and the doctors said I had six months to live. Would you postpone your mission? He said "I would have to think about it". He could have easily given me the answer that I wanted to hear, that he would stay with me to the end and then go on the mission, but Mormons don't lie, right? He said what was in his heart, and it's sad that him going on his mission would be more important that being with his father in his last days.

This not my son, this is a zombie created by an evil cult trying to portray itself as a main-stream Christian religion. There is much more to this story, but I've already burned up enough of your time. Mike is returning from his two year mission in a couple weeks. We're not sure if we will see him or not. He was allowed to e-mail us once a week and has called on Christmas and Mother's day. I pray for him every day, and have used every opportunity to educate anyone who will listen about the truth of Mormonism. I find everyone I talk to is shocked, and those who have visited your website (and others of it's kind) report to me their amazement about the true core beliefs of this dangerous cult and what they represent.

Thank you for your ministry. God bless you as well as all those who have suffered at the hands of Mormons.

Dan Weber