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Stephanie Coleman Testimony
I was born into a large family, the oldest child of six
children. My parents were staunch
LDS members. My Dad came from pioneer stock. His own mother was a Danish
immigrant and convert to the church and his father had ancestors who worked as
the master mason of the Manti, Utah temple. My mother was a pioneer in her own
right. Her parents were both converts to the church and their lifestyles
changed as they became members of the church and raised their family in the
church. My motherÕs parents served three LDS missionsÉone to Ghana, Africa, one
to England, and another was a temple mission. My mother was a member of the
church her whole life, a firm believer and she and my Dad were married in the
Los Angeles temple when they were 21 after my Dad returned from his mission to
Denmark. A year later I was born and soon after my 5 brothers followed. My father took his priesthood
responsibilities seriously and he raised us as the church would have had him
do. He was a sincere believer. We read the Book of Mormon each morning at 6:00
am before heading off to early morning seminary. We had Family Home Evening
every Monday night, we participated in all church activities and we attended
church every Sunday. We bore our testimony in Fast and Testimony meeting almost
every Fast Sunday. We all went through each program that the church put
together for the primary children and the youth. Each one of us got baptized,
graduated from primary, received the priesthood {my brothers of course}, served
in callings, received Eagle Scout Awards {my brothers}, and the Young Womanhood
Medallion {me}. We all attended boys and young womenÕs camp each summer and
often helped organize it. I served as the Beehive President, Mia Maid
President, and Laurel President. I loved Young WomenÕs and some of my best
friends I met at church. I participated a lot in musical things and often I was
leading a youth choir or singing solos or duets at church for all kinds of
programs. I especially loved singing about Jesus Christ. My favorite songs to
sing were the ones about Jesus- ÒHis HandsÓ, ÒGreater LoveÓ. My favorite hymns
have always been ÒI Stand All AmazedÓ and ÒHow Great Thou ArtÓ. I have
also loved ÒI Know That My Redeemer LivesÓ. The Church was our life, our life
centered on the Church and all of our friends and programs we were involved in
were usually through the Church or with people we knew from the Church. We had
a good and happy childhood and had many friends that lasted all throughout high
school. Some of my closest friends were made through the Mormon Church. Our
sheltered, though happy, childhood paved the way to an us vs. them mentality and whoever was not part of the Church was a
ÒgentileÓ and was usually fair game for us to try to convert to the Church.
There were at least 3 or 4 families I can remember from my childhood that our
family worked diligently to help befriend in anticipation of helping to convert
them to the Church. Being sincere in our beliefs, we believed that we had the
truth and we had an obligation to share it with others. We didnÕt have many
friends outside of the church and those that werenÕt Mormon, were potential
Mormon converts. While I was a youth I
participated in early morning seminary and I would often read and study my Book
of Mormon and other scriptures until they were well worn out. I wrote in my
journal at least once or twice a week and read my scriptures every night before
bed. Often I would do this routine instead of homework. I loved reading the
scriptures. I used all kinds of lesson manuals and study guides to help me
understand what I was reading and I often felt my prayers were answered many
times, though I remember sometimes having a difficult time discerning if I was
receiving an answer or if I was just feeling good at the time. Also as a young
woman I remember having a difficult time understanding what God thinks about
women. Does he love us? Does he really care about me as a girl? My parents, as
a product of their times, were often quite gendered and believed that because I
was a girl there were certainly things I wasnÕt allowed to do and that I could
not do and that the church backed this teaching up. I could not go away to
college with their blessing, I could not go out later at night with my friends
and my younger brothers could, I could not have the priesthood {and I wasnÕt
supposed to want it either}, my role in life is to be a wife and mother and I
was to want and prepare for that above and beyond even a college education, and
I may someday be a plural wife in the Celestial Kingdom as this is a celestial
law. When I learned about this last teaching at church, I was deeply disturbed.
I was a teenager at the time and I was repulsed at this idea. I didnÕt want to
be one of many wives to someone! Did God not love me? Did he not care for me?
Are women not as important as men? Are we just property? I remember reading
some of the stories in the Bible about polygamy and being deeply unhappy with
some of the outcomes that I read about and not being convinced that it was a
teaching of God- especially since all the incidences of polygamy seemed to
result in some kind of heartbreak or terrible outcome. Being that I was young
and didnÕt want to deal with unpleasant things, I pushed it to the back of my
head and figured it would be something to ask God about someday. I remember
asking one of my young women leaders about this and was told to Òjust put it on
my shelf of things to ask God aboutÓ and that Òwe donÕt need to worry about
that teaching anymoreÓ. I believed her and put it behind me. I did not know in
my young mind that this was a normal response to someone who had hard questions
that often couldnÕt be answered positively. In the meantime, I continued
doing things I was supposed to be doing. I was an example, I was a missionary
to my friends at school, I read my scriptures, and I helped my brothers. I did
everything I know I was supposed to do. I believed that I had strong spiritual
experiences. I felt that I had the truth and that I had a map for my life.
After school, I would go on a mission and I would get married after that and
have a large family like a good Mormon girl should. I grew up wanting a large family
and wanting nothing more than to get married and have a family, and to learn
all that I can. It was what I was taught to desire. And so I did. I have been a
mother in many ways ever since I can remember as I did many things to be a
mother to my brothers. I was blessed {or cursed?}
with an inquisitive mind. My mom and dad said my first word was ÒwhyÓ? I was
always asking questions and when I participated in study groups or classes at
church I was the one in the front row raising my hand and constantly asking
questions. My teachers loved me but really I wanted to know why about
everything. I feel like I have been given this hunger to know things. When I
want to know something, really know somethingÉ I study it out, I look at it
from every different angle, I ponder it, I argue about it from each side, I
write and read about it some more, and try it on for size. Then I decide what I
really think about it. I pray about it throughout this process for
understanding and clarity and for answers. ItÕs exhausting really and my mind
is constantly going. ItÕs wonderful too when you learn something new or
understand something that you couldnÕt understand before. ItÕs painful when I
read about something and I find out that a position or idea I had about
something may not be what it really is and I change my thinking on it. ItÕs
also exhilarating. When I was a teenager
{possibly 16 or 17], our youth group was going out for the weekend to have a
wilderness experience. We were fasting and praying for a spiritual experience,
we had an obstacle course along the way, and then we went out into the woods
alone to have our own time with the Lord to find out for ourselves if the LDS
church was true and if Joseph Smith was a true prophet. I had always believed
my whole life that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I have always believed
that he saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. I always believed in the First
Vision and often bore testimony of it at church and to my friends that I shared
the gospel with. However, I had never had a personal testimony of that myself.
I had never received a witness myself of the truth of that which I could rely
upon. I was taught as a child growing up that I could rely on my parentsÕ
testimonies and lean on them until it was time to be on my own. As I got older,
I felt I needed to have that witness of my own. My Dad and Mom were good
people. They did what the church taught was right and my Dad especially lived
his religion. He talked the talk and he walked the walk. He served others. I
felt that I needed that personal witness myself so I could do the same. So
during this wilderness experience, I read my Book of Mormon and read about The
First Vision of Joseph Smith in his own words {for about the hundredth time in
my life}. I thought about them and prayed about them personally. I prayed for
hours. I cried out to the Lord. I was never more sincere than at any other time
in my life. Nothing happened. I remember being confused and wondering why the
Lord didnÕt answer me. I had prayed numerous times before about whether or not
the church was true and didnÕt get an answer but I continued to live my life as
I should, thinking that eventually I would have the Spirit to answer me. Still
nothing. I was confused. After all these years and after this experience, we
had a huge testimony meeting and all these youth got up to bear their
testimonies about amazing things that had happened to them. Some of them were
youth who did drugs and lived in such a way that I questioned how they ever
felt the Spirit in the first place. Why did the Lord forget me? Why wasnÕt I
worthy to answer? I wrote in my journal that day about my experience and told
how amazing it wasÉ that I had this huge spiritual experience. I left out the
whole part about praying about the church and Joseph Smith. To this day I canÕt
believe that I lied in my journal. I was so concerned about how my own future
generation would perceive me that I even changed what I wrote in my journal! After this, I put this
experience behind me and ignored it. I continued to live the way that the
church teaches that I ÒshouldÓ. I loved to sing, be involved with scripture study,
and tried to improve myself each day. I considered myself to be close to God,
continued to believe in the church, lived the way that I should. It was then
that the best part of my life was beginningÉ I met and married my husband
Jeffrey who was a returned Mormon missionary from Brazil. We met at our best
friendÕs wedding. We dated for about 9 months off and on and we were married in
the Los Angeles temple on August 6, 1999. I always knew I would be married in
the temple. I had prepared and planned for it all my life and would settle for
nothing less. My first experience going through the temple was strange. I was
as prepared as I could possibly be. I studied everything I could about the
temple so I could be ready. I prayed and fasted, and couldnÕt wait to be there.
I remember going through the Endowment session and seeing almost my entire ward
there as well as my whole family. As the endowment session was progressing and
we were asked to make commitments to laws that I didnÕt know about before being
there, I remember thinkingÉ ÒAh! Wait! I need time to learn about that first!Ó
But there was no time to learn about it. You either accept it or you donÕt. I
remember thinking how strange this was. I felt like I was in a different
religion and I felt like this was very weird. I looked around at my family and my
parents and I figured that since they thought it was alright that this must
really be ok then. I had a billion questions about EVERYTHING in the temple. I
asked questions of my husband, my parents, the temple president, even the women
who performed the ordinances and no one had any answers for me. Most of the
time I was told that the more I kept returning to the temple, the more I would
understand. I couldnÕt understand why we would need to memorize tokens and
signsÉHe would know our hearts better than that, right? My husband and I would
return every week while engaged and every month after we got married. Most of
the time I had more questions and less answers as no one else seemed to have
any answers for me. I would pray and pray for answers and be filled with more
questions. I would turn to the scriptures for my questions and answers and felt
like I just had to keep attending the temple and eventually I would understand.
I couldnÕt wait to learn all the things in the temple that I wondered about. Looking
back, I can see that I often felt like I was a part of the EmperorÕs New
ClothesÉ everyone at the temple would say the temple experience was marvelous
and wonderful and glorious but they couldnÕt even describe or say why or what
was so great about it! They all had the same answer which was really no answer
at all. Was I the only one that didnÕt understand? Was I really that stupid and
everyone else got it? If so, why wasnÕt anyone willing or able to answer the
way to get this hidden knowledge that only certain people seemed to be privy
to? For a long time this bothered
me and I tried to brush it aside. I loved the Celestial room and spent hours in
there with my husband, asking more questions and praying together. I sincerely
believed that someday the answers would come, I just needed to pray more, study
harder, and dig deeper. And I did. After we were married, Jeff
and I were blessed to have 6 beautiful children, one right after the other. For
some reason they needed to come quickly and even at times when we were trying
to prevent pregnancy! We assumed that the Lord knew better than we did. I
believe that our children all came when the Lord wanted them to and they fill
our lives with joy. I love having children and being a mother. In this I have
felt that this was my calling in life and I have found much fulfillment. One
time as we were disciplining one of our young children, I remember Jeff and I
disagreeing over our discipline style and I told Jeff that our children were
innocent and pure and incapable of sin and that they could not be tempted by
Satan. He disagreed and didnÕt believe that and asked me where I had heard that
children werenÕt able to sin? I whipped out my Doctrine and Covenants, feeling
so self righteous as I read to him, ÒWherefore, they can not sin, for power is
not given unto Satan to tempt little children, until they begin to become
accountable before me;Ó {D&C 25:14} The accepted age of accountability in
the church is the age of 8. Jeff seemed to be surprised at that scripture and
hadnÕt learned that doctrine as I had. He felt little children were selfish and
needed to be taught what was right and were not so innocent. I thought he was
so wrong and how awful that he thought such horrible things about our children!
Looking back now, I believe I was in the wrong. Having 6 children, I can
clearly see that little children are selfish by nature. They are innocent as
they do not know the things of the world but they look out only for themselves
and must be constantly taught to NOT do things that are wrong, they must be
taught to share and not be selfish, they must be taught to serve others, to
obey instead of to be defiant. It is in their fallen nature to sin. ÒFor all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.Ó {Romans 3:23} In the summer of 2005, I read
a book that my mother gave to me. She was getting rid of some books that she
wanted to throw away and one was a biography of Emma Smith. I have always loved
and admired Emma Smith so I thought I would take it off her hands. It was
called Emma: Dramatic Biography of Emma Smith by Keith and Ann Terry {Both
active LDS historians}. She gave it to me and I read it that summer. I was
shocked at the things I read; I was surprised that the authors were staunch LDS
authors, both of them historians. I checked them out and made sure they werenÕt
anti-mormons and they werenÕt. The book ended up being all about Joseph SmithÕs
polygamy and how Emma dealt with it {or didnÕt deal with it}. These historians
had an opinion that Emma had fallen from grace because she didnÕt accept her
husbandÕs polygamy wholeheartedly and that she was a bad example, etc. The
preface of the book actually says, ÒThat Emma had faults, and perhaps failed
her supreme test, is truth.Ó I about choked out my lunch when I read that! I disagreed
with the authors and remember thinking that they were wrong. But then I was
surprised as I read on to what an apostle of the Church said and that he seemed
to agree with themÉÓHeber C. Kimball remarked on July 12, 1857: ÔJoseph stood
for the truth and maintained it, she struck against it, and where is she? She
is where she is, and she will not escape until Joseph Smith opens the door and
lets her out.Õ It was a well told story in the Church that Joseph Smith had
said he loved Emma so much that he would go to hell and back for her! And an
apostle of the Church seemed to believe that she was in hell! Wow. That was a
HUGE judgment to be making for someone who wasnÕt God himself! I was not too
happy with the authors and more than a little upset with what I had read. As a
married woman, not only did I sympathize with Emma Smith but I could feel for
her situation and imagine how that would make me feel to find out my husband
was married to other women {Some of these women were young, only 14 -15, some
were also married to other men at the same time of their marriage to Joseph,
some he most likely had children with, and at least half he married that Emma
didnÕt know about until afterwards!} The picture I was seeing of plural
marriage was something that was that was full of secrecy, lies, and involved
loss of trust between spouses. It made me ask those same questions againÉ if
this was of God, does this mean God did not care for women as much as men? Why
would a man need 33 wives to obtain exaltation? How about 56 wives? Why would
God allow a man to promise a 15 year old girl and her entire family exaltation
if she was to become one of the prophetÕs plural wives? And the authors thought
Emma was in hell for not accepting this and having a problem with her husbandÕs
plural marriages? I think I would act the same way Emma did. I was so disturbed
by this book and this information that I set out to see if it was true or notÉ
most of the records and stories were not only verifiable but most of the
information was found in LDS archives. I learned quickly that I did not need to
go farther than my own bookshelves to find out what I needed to know. Much has
been written by our own LDS historians on the subject of plural marriage. I
tried so hard to put this behind me, and I felt nothing but revulsion to all
things polygamy and polyandry, so I decided I could not deal with it and I
needed to forget about it. I was pregnant with our 5th child at the time and
thought perhaps that I was just too emotional to be able to deal with this. Later that same month,
President Hinckley urged all of us members to read The Book of Mormon before
the end of the year. Feeling guilty for my angry feelings earlier and desiring
to be a better person and wife and mother, and wanting to follow the Prophet, I
began an intense study of The Book of Mormon {even though I had read and
studied it at least 15 times in my life thus far up to that point}. As I was
reading I came across some scripture in the book of Jacob which caught me by
surprise. I had read these verses many times before only this time it shook me
to the very core of my being. ÒAnd now it came to pass that
the people of Nephi, under the reign of the second king, began to grow hard in
their hearts, and indulge themselves somewhat in the wicked practices, such
as like unto David of old desiring many
wives and concubines, and also Solomon, his son.Ó {Jacob 1:15} ÒBehold, David and Solomon truly
had many wives and concubines, which
thing was abominable before
me, saith the Lord.Ó {Jacob 2:24} And again in verse 27É ÒÉFor there shall not any man
among you have save it be one wife;
and concubines he shall have none;Ó Why would the Book of Mormon
say that having many wives was abominable? Why was it sinful and wicked? What? I
didnÕt understand so I read the scriptures that were cross referencedÉ. ÒNeither shall he multiply
wives to himself, that his heart turn
not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.Ó
{Deuteronomy 17:17} Huh? I read all the other
cross referencesÉ ÒAnd David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and
there were yet sons and daughters born to David.Ó {2 Sam 5:13} The last cross reference I
read floored meÉ ÒDavid also received
many wives and concubines, and also
Solomon and Moses, my servants, as also many others of my servants, as from the
beginning of creation until this time; and in nothing did they sin save those things which they received not of me. DavidÕs wives and
concubines were given unto him of me,
by the hand of Nathan, my servant, and others of the prophets who had the keys
of this power; and in none of these things did he sin against me save in the case of Uriah and his wife; and,
therefore he hath fallen from his exaltation, and received his portion; and he
shall not inherit them out of the world, for I gave them unto another, saith
the Lord.Ó {Doctrine and Covenants 132:38-39} I kept reading Jacob 2:24 and
comparing it to the above verseÉ how could David be involved in wicked practices
of having many wives and concubines but somehow in D&C he only
sinned in the one case of Uriah and his wife? How is it that in the
verses in 2 Sam David TOOK the wives and concubines to himself {which was
condemned in the book of Jacob} but in the D&C it says he RECEIVED these
wives of the Lord?? WHAT? What was I missing here? In Jacob he is talking about
how the Nephites are continuing in wickedness such as David and Solomon of old
by desiring and taking many wives and concubines! Then in the D&C it is
explained away that what is talked about in Jacob is not really wicked at all?
Huh? I am no rocket scientist, but it didnÕt take me long to figure out that
this is a major contradiction here! I did a search back and forth
trying to understand why there was such a contradiction in the scriptures
between the D&C and the BOM. No matter how you turn these scriptures inside
and out, they contradict each other. The Lord can not condemn DavidÕs plural
wives in one verse and then say that they were GIVEN to him in another verse
and have these both be correct!! The mental gymnastics that requires is
ridiculous! I remember asking my husband about this on the phone while he was
deployed overseas as I was clearly confused over this. He had never heard of
this and was as confused as I was. He thought that perhaps there was a typo! So
I borrowed my friendÕs scriptures to look them up in hers as well just to make
sure. Sure enoughÉ the same verses word for word. I asked a trusted friend of
mine who was LDSÉ her husband taught at BYU. I was so concerned about this. She
read through all the verses and said that the D&C clarified the other
scriptures and that there was a provision in Jacob 2:30 which says, ÒFor if I
will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people;
otherwise they shall hearken unto these things.Ó She said that itÕs ok if the
Lord commands plural marriage for more seed. It still didnÕt make sense thoughÉ
why would God say in one verse David TOOK the wives and in another he RECEIVED
them of the Lord and in one verse it was abominable before the Lord and in the
other verse it was GIVEN TO HIM OF THE LORD? I went online to the LDS apologistÕs
website and read through their articles on the subjectÉhoping they would have
an answer that would make sense. They basically said the same thing as my
friend and so I emailed a few of them for more clarification. When I continued
to ask why there was this contradiction, my character and my sincerity was
immediately attacked and I was accused of being a troublemaker who never had a
real testimony. I was really devastated by this and felt completely
misunderstood. I just wanted to understand! Since when was it a sin to ask a
question?! I found myself surprised and
not sure what to think. I hit my knees and asked the Lord for understanding. I
told Him I wanted to know what the truth was. I wanted to be given the truth no
matter whatÉ was plural marriage a Godly principle? Was it a Celestial law?
Would I have to live this someday? Did Joseph Smith practice this law divinely
and was Emma really in hell for not accepting it completely? Was Joseph really
a prophet of God? I sincerely wanted to understand. I was tired of being in the
dark and not sure what was right on this issue. How could I teach my daughters
about eternal marriage if someday that marriage could include plurality of
wives in the next life if I didnÕt even know for myself whether or not it was
truly from God? In the meantime, I was in
contact with a Christian friend of mine from an email support group named Tina.
She was a godly womanÉ raised a large family and she loved Jesus Christ. I
talked with her about my concerns. She knew quite a bit about the Mormon faith
and she wanted to understand what I was concerned about. I asked her about
polygamy from a Christian perspective. She explained to me that the Christian
view on polygamy was that even though it was practiced in the Bible, it was
never commanded by God but just tolerated by Him, like many other cultural
things His children do that are not of Him. She said however that this is much
like divorceÉ.not commanded by God, but tolerated as His children are sinful
and will do things He doesnÕt want them to do. She reminded me that the first
instance of polygamy mentioned in the Bible is of a wicked descendant of Cain
named Lamech. ÒAnd Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and
the name of the other Zillah.Ó {Genesis 4:19} He also took the wives to himself;
it was not commanded of God. Also in AbrahamÕs caseÉ his wife {not God} gave him his plural wife and in the case of JacobÉ he
was tricked into plural marriage by a master schemer! As we talked my friend
explained the Christian beliefs regarding marriage, polygamy, prophetÕs, the
test for a prophet found in Deuteronomy 18:20-22, and about temples. She asked
me if I knew about masonry and the freemasons. I told her I had ancestors who
were master masons for the Manti, Temple. She led me to a website of the
freemasons. I was immediately uncomfortable with the website, something about
the symbols on the front page creeped me out. So I clicked out of the website.
On another page I saw pictures of the outside of the Salt Lake and Logan
temples with the same exact symbols on them! I didnÕt believe it. I figured it
was a website trick. I learned about freemasonry then for the first time and
about Joseph SmithÕs involvement with freemasonry. I had never heard of this
before and I loved to study Church History so I told Tina thanks and I hung up.
I contacted my LDS friend whose
husband works for BYU. I trusted her and she is a studier like me. She knew all
about freemasonry and said that it was not evil, but just like a fraternity. I
began reading my 7 Volume History of the Church for understandingÉ and found
that Joseph Smith rose to the sublime degree in freemasonry, just before he
instituted the temple ceremony and that the temple ceremony is very similar to
freemasonry. Again I went on the LDS apologistÕs board and asked them questions
all about this and was told that freemasonry was just a perverted form of
temple worship and that Joseph instituted the real thing. How are we to know
this? Lots of plural wives and secrecy, an unhappy prophetÕs wife who suffers
so much for the kingdom and then up and leaves it as soon as Joseph dies
because she doesnÕt want to be someone elseÕs plural wife? Then symbols on the
temples that are Satanic in nature? Contradictions in the scriptures that is
not answerable? I couldnÕt help remembering that I had prayed and asked the
Lord for understanding and for truth. I stayed up until all hours of the night
reading and studying until I felt my eyes would fall out. I read and studied
the Bible about plural marriage and poured over Church History trying to
understand why Emma did not know about half of JosephÕs plural marriages.
Whywas he was going to abandon the practice just before he was murdered? I got
to a point where I was so worn out and tired and so exhausted from my studies
that I would cry in frustration and from lack of understanding. I felt like I
was being brought down into the depths of despair and I found myself wishing I
didnÕt know all of the things I was learning about and wanting to go back to my
na•ve existence before. But I wanted understanding more and I continued to pray
for that. I had many long talks with my husband and tried to figure this all
out in my brain. I found myself trying to
learn about and discover for myself throughout this search who God really wasÉ
what really was He and who was He? What if Joseph Smith was wrong and was
deceived? What if He didnÕt really know the nature of God? I began reading the
Bible and found myself surprised by what I read, especially in Isaiah about the
nature of God and JesusÉ ÒI, even I am the Lord; and
beside me there is no saviour. I have declared and I have saved, and I have
shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses,
saith the Lord, that I am God.
Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my
hand: I will work, and who shall let it?Ó {Isaiah 43:11-13} -Jesus Christ is GOD! ÒThus saith the Lord that
made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee: Fear not, O
Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.Ó {Isaiah 44:2} -He formed me from the
womb, not in a pre-existence! ÒThus saith the Lord the King
of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the
last; and beside me there is no God.Ó {Isaiah 44:6} -There is no other God? In
the Mormon Church I was taught that there were three separate Gods {Heavenly
Father, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost} but that we worship only the Father. How
could there only be one God? WouldnÕt God have known about the other ones? ÒFear ye not, neither be
afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? Ye are even
my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? Yea, there is no God. I know now any.Ó -My Christian friend
explained to me that the Trinitarian belief of God is that there is ONE GOD as
these scriptures explainÉ ÒFor thus saith the Lord that
created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath
established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am
the Lord and there is none else. I have not spoken in secretÉÓ {Isaiah 45:18-19} -Trinity: One God
eternally manifested in three distinct personsÉFather, Son and Holy Spirit. ÒÉwho hath told it from that
time? Have not I the Lord? And there is no God else beside me; a just God and a
Saviour: there is none beside me. Look to me and be saved all ye ends of the
earth: for I am God, and there is none else.Ó {Isaiah 45:21-22} -Again, if the belief I
had been taught in the Mormon Church was true that God and Jesus are separate
persons and separate Gods, then wouldnÕt Jesus who is supposed to be speaking
above know about the other God his Father? -Jesus says to look to Him
and be saved. I pondered these things in
Isaiah and then read more and couldnÕt stop. I found myself reading in JohnÉ ÒIn the beginning was the
Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.Ó {John 1:1} -The notes in my
scriptures said ÐÔJesus is the WordÕ. This scripture was a great example of the
Trinitarian concept of GodÉ Jesus was with God and WAS God BOTH in the
beginning!! He wasnÕt my spirit brotherÉ HE WAS WITH GOD AND WAS
GOD in the beginning! He was not a created beingÉ HE WAS the Son of God and the
Creator and as such He could not have been there in the beginning if He was a
spirit brother of mine. The scriptures say that God is everlasting to everlasting
and has no beginning or endÉ and this verse clearly shows that Jesus has no
beginning or end either! He became flesh and did the will of His Father on
earth. My Christian friend Tina eventually
put me in touch with another Christian friend who had been LDS and lived in
Utah {I have forgotten this womanÕs name but I will never forget her!} This
friend and I talked about my concerns and then we talked about Jesus Christ. We
spoke for a good two hours. She asked me what I knew about and believed about Him
and we discussed the nature of God. We read scriptures together about God and
tried to understand the nature of God. It was clear that the Old Testament
scriptures as well as New Testament scriptures taught that Jesus Chris was the
Only Begotten Son of God, and that He was my God, not just a God as doubting Thomas says when he sees his master after His
resurrection! I loved the analogy she gave meÉ ÒGod the Father is up on the
judgeÕs stand and you are the accused. You are found guilty as charged for your sins. After handing out your
sentence, God the Father comes down off the stand and takes on flesh and in the
person of Jesus Christ, He takes your punishment for you!Ó I couldnÕt help the
feeling of gratitude this image put in my mind of my Savior. We read some scriptures which
talk of how someone can be saved É ÒThat if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and
shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same
Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.Ó {Romans 10:9-13} I had always been taught
about this mighty change of heart while growing up, had read about it and wanted
itÉ not knowing how to get it, thinking that maybe someday if I worked hard
enough at being as righteous as I could that eventually I would arrive to that
spiritual place. But I realized the folly of this thinking. Maybe I just needed
to confess with my mouth and believe in my heart? But thatÕs too easyÉ right? We read onÉ ÒFor by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the
gift of God: Not of works, lest
any man should boast.Ó {Ephesians 2:8-9} It wasnÕt long after this
study of the scriptures and doctrine and discussing the nature of God and realizing
the full magnitude of the reality of my sins and my brokenness that I found
myself on my knees, in the bathroom with the door locked, in the dark. I poured
my heart out to my Savior and told him that I accepted His gift of salvation,
that I wanted to be forgiven of my sins, and that I was not worthy of such a
gift but that I was willing to receive it. I asked Him to take over my life, to
work a mighty change in my heart. I remember feeling silly as I said these
words and at the same time overcome with gratitude as I paid attention to the
words carefully. For the first time in my life I really meant it and I wanted
to be forgiven. I came out of that dark bathroom {the only place for privacy in
my house} feeling like something was different about me. I wanted to share this
with someone, especially my husband at that time, but I was afraid of someone
else thinking this was silly but I felt a change come over me after that. I
remember afterwards hearing the words in my head Ònew creature in ChristÓ. I
know I had read that before so I opened the Bible and searched for this verseÉ ÒTherefore if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold all things are
become new.Ó {2 Corinthians 5:17} The best way to describe how
I felt was new. Definitely born again. After this experience however
I didnÕt know how to make sense of my newness, my experience with the Lord and
with the questions I had about the church doctrine. I was only beginning my
journey to know the Lord. I didnÕt know how to reconcile anything and I was
living in a state of cognitive dissonance. And then suddenly without warning
and without my ability to have my questions answered or reconciled, I had
almost every trial thrown at me that I was most unprepared for. Within a few
weeks in the midst of my studying the answers to my questions about the issues
of polygamy and temple worship and whether or not Joseph Smith was a prophet,
my father very unexpectedly passed away at the ripe old age of 49. I learned of
his death while on my way to the hospital to give birth to my 5th baby. The
turmoil and confusion that was thrown at me from every side was huge. Two days
after giving birth, we went to the funeral and my cousin and I sang my fatherÕs
favorite song ÔHow Great Thou ArtÕ at the funeral- coincidentally, a very
Christian [not LDS originated] hymn. It was the best gift I could give my DadÉ
my testimony of my Savior and My Lord. From there on, I continued to have every
trial come at me from every side. I was pounded upon with my newborn baby
coming ill with RSV pneumonia, my husband being taken away for a 4 month
deployment, and thrust into single motherhood just 3 weeks after giving birth.
It was a difficult time and I was concerned what this meant. Had I been wrong?
Was I really not doing what was right? While my daughter was in the hospital
struggling through her RSV pneumonia, I met with priests and pastors and clergy
members and even an LDS doctor. Their answers to my questions swam in my head
amidst all the chaos of my lifeÉ the LDS doctor was convinced that all I needed
to do was go to the LDS church and just attend sacrament once in awhile and
that temple work wasnÕt necessary. I began studying my Bible and
reading Bible studies that helped me to understand the basic doctrines of
Christianity. The Lord put one person after another into my life at certain
points to help meÉ even though I wasnÕt sure what to do or where I should go. I
could not make sense of the questions I had. I finally came to the realization
that Joseph Smith was not what he claimed to be. I remember clearly the night
that this happened. I was again reading my Book of Mormon and sincerely trying
to believe what I read and studying my heart out, determined that because I
really had a changed heart now that the Lord would answer me this time. And so
I asked again as I had many many times before. I got on my knees and poured out
my heart to the Lord and asked Him to tell me if The Book of Mormon was true
and if Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I remember hearing the words, ÒNo.Ó
There was a resounding peace and then a feeling of devastation. It had to be
true! It couldnÕt be false! I prayed again, ÒI already gave you my answer. By
their fruits ye shall know them.Ó was my answer this time. But werenÕt the
fruits of the Mormon church good and sweet? Look at all the good that the
church does! I thought back to the issues with plural marriage and the lies and
the secrecy, the women who I had read about who had lived horrible lives sharing
their husband with other women for this Òhigher lawÓ. Brigham Young and Joseph
Smith both taught that you had to practice polygamy to go to the Celestial
Kingdom. Was this a good fruit? We no longer practice this anymoreÉ is it
really that important anymore? So many people told me it was not that important
of an issue at allÉ since we donÕt believe it anymoreÉ but we DO believe it!
ItÕs right there in Doctrine and Covenants 132! It has not been removed! We
donÕt practice it but I was taught we would live it in the Celestial Kingdom.
But then what about the answer to my prayer? Is it a good fruit to teach my
daughter that their only eternal hope is to someday be a plural wife to their
beloved husband? Is that something that God would want us as His daughters to
work hard in this life for? To share their husband with another? {That didnÕt
like heaven to me!} If that were true, why did He not create more than one wife
for Adam in the Garden of Eden? Why would He command in the scripture, ÒTherefore, shall a man leave
his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.Ó {Genesis 2:24} You canÕt be one flesh
with more than one! As much as I believed the answer the Lord had given me, I
was concerned by it. I was married to a wonderful man, I had 5 beautiful
children, and I had been a good faithful Mormon my entire life. What was I to
do? I found myself desiring to read the Bible. I wanted to learn about the
things I hadnÕt read about before and I joined a Bible study group and found
myself trying to find a good church home to attend. I vacillated back and forth
between wanting to please my husband and keep our family the way it has always
been to wanting to please God and desiring with all my heart to worship with
others who believed as I did. Attending the Mormon Church became difficult as I
could not tolerate hearing about Joseph Smith. I was annoyed by his birthday
celebration broadcast on BYU TV two days before Christmas but nothing special
was done on Christmas for Jesus. I was concerned over so much emphasis on
Joseph Smith and so little emphasis on Jesus. My heart was just yearning to
worship and wanting to learn about and know Jesus. I went back and forth trying
to find another church to attend, worshipping at times at different Christian
churchesÉ knowing that all those who accept Jesus as their Savior belong to His
Church which is the Body of Christ! Denomination is not importantÉjust
different worship styles but all believers in Jesus Christ as their Lord and
Savior and no talk of Joseph Smith. I loved the times I would sing and sing and
sing the Psalms to the Lord and felt as if I was truly worshiping Jesus! I did yo-yo back and forth however with
not knowing what to doÉ should I just leave the church or should I just believe
in Jesus as I do and continue to attend the Mormon Church? More than anything
else I was afraid of my husband being disappointed in me, not loving me
anymore, and losing respect for me. I felt at such a crossroads already,
completely caught unaware with where I was in my lifeÉ this is NOT what I had
ever envisioned happening in my life! But I loved my husband more than life
itself {and still do} and his love and respect is something dear and precious
to me that I never want to lose. My gripping fear of losing that has kept me
vacillating back and forth, feeling like I had one foot in one camp and one
foot in another at the same time. At one point a friend emailed
me and said, ÒStop making your husband your God.Ó I didnÕt think I was doing
that but I guess in a way we can let other people in our lives become our God
instead of God by how and where we place them in importance in our life. I prayed about what to do and the Lord
led me to write my exit letter and leave the LDS church. It came about through
my children of all things. I realized I can not be a liar to my children. I
have to be a woman of integrity. It happened one Sunday when I was asked to
substitute in primary for my daughterÕs class. I sat down to read the lesson
for class that day and as I read the words of the lesson, I knew instantly that
I could not go and teach these thingsÉ that I would be a liar. I couldnÕt teach
what I didnÕt believe and act like I believed it. I couldnÕt purposely be what
I feared being mostÉ a hypocrite. That Sunday propelled a series of actions in
which I wrote letters to family and friends and the church to leave the church.
My family was so shocked and surprised that they didnÕt know how to respond and
at first they believed it was a joke. Me, Stephanie Coleman, leaving the church
seemed like a joke to themÉ it would beÉ I was one of the strongest members of
the LDS church in my family. I was
an example to my brothers. I had always done what was right. So I can see how
they thought it wasnÕt true. They were understandably very upset and my brother
attempted to Òlove bombÓ me back into the church, using the missionary
commitment pattern on me to get me to agree to read The Book of Mormon again
and talk with him. I was too afraid to not agreeÉ I was still unsure because
this was such new territory and I felt fear that what if I was wrong? Plus more
than anything I didnÕt want to lose my family or disappoint them. However, I
got to the point where I couldnÕt continue because I already knew the answers.
They were the standard Sunday School answersÉ and the answers still troubled
me. But it wasnÕt helping me. It was just frustrating me as I was continuing to
read and learn over again things I had already learned before. I wanted
questions answered that couldnÕt be answered satisfactorily. The one question
no one could answer for me is the biggest problem of all in trying to
understand Joseph SmithÉ ÒIf Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and restored this
church on the earth, then why are there over 9 different, contradicting
versions of the First Vision? Which one am I supposed to pray about? Which one
really is the one that happened and which one is the ChurchÕs teaching on the
Godhead?Ó I had read Joseph SmithÕs dairies and journals. I had poured over
histories about Joseph Smith written by LDS church historians who came to the
same conclusionÉ this wasnÕt information that you had to find on a website. Our
own LDS scholars know about these different, conflicting accounts! This was
right there for all to see. I had read straight out of JosephÕs own handwriting
his first account of the First VisionÉ ÒMy mind became exceedingly
convicted of my sins and by searching the scriptures I found that
mankind did not come unto the Lord but that they had apostatized from the true
and living faith. There was no society or denomination that built upon the
gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded in the New Testament and I felt to mourn for
my own sins and for the sins of the world. For I learned in the scriptures that
God was the same yesterday, today, and foreverÉTherefore I cried unto the Lord
for mercy for there was none else to whom I could go and obtain mercy. The Lord
heard my cry in the wilderness and while in the attitude of calling upon the
Lord in the 16th year of my age a pillar of light above the brightness
of the sun at noon day come down from above and rested upon me. I was filled
with the spirit of God and the Lord opened the heavens upon me and I saw the
Lord. He spake unto me saying, ÔJoseph my son thy sins are forgiven thee.
Go thy way, walk in my statutes and keep my commandments. Behold I am the Lord
of Glory. I was crucified for the world that all those who believe on my name
may have Eternal lifeÕÉMy soul was filled with love and for many days I could
rejoice with great Joy and the Lord was with me. But I could find none that
would believe the heavenly vision. Nevertheless, I pondered these things in my
heart.Ó {The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith, edited by Scott H. Faulring,
pages5-6, 1832} This was not the official version of the First Vision we read
today which shows Joseph seeing God AND Jesus. In this account he only saw
Jesus. The First Vision account today we are taught was written in 1838 even
though this event supposedly happened in 1820. Our basis on the nature of God
and Jesus being separate beings with bodies of flesh and bone is based on
JosephÕs First Vision account. The entire doctrine of GodÕs nature and JesusÕs
nature is based off of this story. If this story wasnÕt true, if Joseph was not
a true prophet, then no matter how great the rest of the church doctrines
sounded to meÉ they could not be true either. They were based on a lie. Why did
my 7 volume set of The History of the Church include a prophecy by Joseph Smith
that Jesus Christ would return to the earth in the 2nd coming in 1890? If a
prophet makes a false prophecy, is he still a prophet? The Bible seems to say
he isnÕt! The clincher came for me when reading the History of the Church and I
came read a discourse Joseph gave shortly before he was killed. He boasted that
he was better than Jesus and that no one, not even Jesus could keep a whole
church together like he could! I think my whole world fell apart then. ÒI have more to boast of than
ever any man had. I am the only man
that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam.
A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter,
nor Jesus ever did it. I boast
that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from
Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet.Ó {History of the
Church, Volume 6, page 408-409} As I read this I realized that herein lies the
major problemÉ Joseph even taught that Jesus was just a manÉHe was not our God,
but an exalted man, which is why he didnÕt see how blasphemous it was to boast
such a thing against our Lord and Savior! The other issues that plagued
me constantly: Why would a prophet of God command that in order to reach the
highest degree in the kingdom of God that a man must have more than one wife?
If polygamy was only in place for a time, why is it taught that it will be a
Celestial law? If it is a Celestial law, why is there no command for it
anywhere in the Bible? Why are all the most important doctrinal teachings of
the LDS church not to be found anywhere in the Bible or the Book of Mormon? {Temple
sealings, eternal marriage, plural marriage, the plan of salvation such as
premortal life and preparing to become Gods of our own worlds}. No matter what I learned, I
seemed to easily became afraid that maybe I was wrongÉ after all, the more I
have learned that I know, the more I find out that I know nothing at all and I
have so much to learn. When my brother talked with me on the phone for three
hours, I found that I could not speak and I was terrified that maybe I
was wrongÉ? I was so afraid that I had made a mistake {even though the
week before I had the reassurance from God that I was doing the right thing}
that I immediately called up the Bishop and recanted my resignation and told
him to hold onto my letter. I agreed to read and study the Book of Mormon
again. As I did so, I found myself becoming sleepy every time I would try to
study, even though I would plow through. I sincerely started over and tried
with all my heart to believe, to do and be what I had been taught, and for
awhile I believed I was going to be ok, that I could believe again and that
eventually someday I would believe in Joseph Smith. I should have known by now
that the Lord does not get us to do His will by using fearÉ so I should have
seen that as a clue since that was my main motivation for attempting to stay in
the churchÉ fear. I was afraid of losing my family, my husband, my children,
everything. What if my husband didnÕt love me anymore? What if my family
disowned me or didnÕt treat me the same way ever again? What if my children
didnÕt respect me? What if I am wrong and I die and find out that I was
mistaken? So out of my fear I continued
to go back and forth to doing what I had been taught was right. I figured my
parents were good peopleÉ so I could not be wrong, right? By their fruits ye
shall know them. WerenÕt the fruits of the Mormon Church good fruits? I thought
about that a long time. If the fruits were good, why was my mind so filled with
fear of losing my family at the thought of leaving the church? If the fruits
were good, why were only certain people helped in the church and others werenÕt
{only tithe payers, active membersÉetc}? If the fruits were good, why were we
taught that we had to earn our way to heaven and why was grace glossed over? If
the fruits were good, why were we preparing to become Gods someday when in
Isaiah the Lord clearly says that before Him were no Gods formed neither shall
there be any other Gods after Him formed? If the fruits of the church were
good, why was I taught as a child that I couldnÕt be friends with those who
werenÕt of my faith unless I was trying to convert them? {Jesus did not hang
out with all the Christians all the time! He spent his time with the sinners!}
If the fruits were good, why were so many meetings scheduled and so much TIME
out of our life scheduled around the church so that there was no time for any
real meaningful relationships with our families or with the Lord? If the fruits
of the church were good, why did they care so much about visiting teaching and
home teaching numbers {as if it was a job} instead of worrying more about
individuals? If the fruits of the church were good, why were only certain
people ÔallowedÕ in the temple? If the fruits of the church were good, why did
it separate familiesÉ those who werenÕt members canÕt even attend their own
family members wedding because they arenÕt ÔworthyÕ! If the fruits of the
church were good, why does it teach that you can only be saved with your
spouse? What a huge burden that is on a marriage and how little room that
leaves for focusing individually on your relationship with Jesus Christ and
instead how much more it forces you to be more concerned with how someone else
is behaving instead of focusing on your own sins. How judgmental I have been of
my husband over the years because of this teaching and how much I have to
repent of this! I realized something through
my study and prayers the next few months. I realized that living in fear like
this, in fear of losing everything and everyone I love is not of God. I
realized that the fruits were not what they appeared to be and that was the
hard partÉ it ÒLookedÓ good on the outside. I realized the fear of losing my
family was keeping me from worshipping and believing how I really do and
instead was keeping me in bondage. Jesus Christ wants us to worship Him with
our whole heart and love Him with our whole heart and have no other Gods before
Him and I think I was making my family and my husband my God. 2 1/2 years after giving my
heart to my Savior Jesus Christ and asking Him to be the Lord of my life and
accepting His gift of salvation, I am just now starting to feel strong
enough to truly stand as a witness for Jesus Christ and to do what the Lord wants
me to do. It is not any easier, but I have felt the Holy Spirit working in me
and things that have terrified me before are not as scary anymore. I have been
fellowshipping and worshiping with other Christian believers and studying the
Bible. I have been turning to the Lord more for my support and my comfort. So
far though the difficult part is not wanting to disappoint my entire family and
fearing their rejection. I believe something different than they do. But, I am tired of living a lie and
pretending that I believe like everyone else. It is a difficult way to live, it
makes me a hypocrite, and it makes me a liar to my own husband and children. If
I am to be a woman of integrity I must follow and do what is right and what God
wants me to do regardless of the sacrifices and the trials. I know that as the
Bible says, a Christian life is not an easy one and is usually wrought with
trials. The only difference now is that I am not allowing the fear to grip me
and paralyze me from doing what I know is right. I know that others will not
understand and I expect that, but I will hope and pray that new relationships
will be formed, and new opportunities will abound to discuss those differences.
That as the scripture says, my ÒÉfaith should not stand in the wisdom of men,
but in the power of God.Ó {1 Corinthians 2:5} I seem to take one step
forward and then three steps back but at least I keep taking that one step
forward! As I was thinking on these things one day, I prayed and asked the Lord
if leaving the church was the right thing to do and if so that He needed to make
it clear to me that it was, that I needed to be bolder for Christ and stop
trying to keep one foot in each camp. That was a difficult day and then on my
email showed up a woman who I had come to know in our LDS homeschooling
community years before. She had been an example to me of a good LDS mother and
wife and I had come to her for counsel on more than one occasion regarding
homeschooling and other issues in my role as a wife and mother. I thought of
her as a Titus 2 woman. ÒThat they may teach the young women to be sober, to
love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at
home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not
blasphemed.Ó {Titus 2:4-5} She was a great example of these above
characteristics as she emulated them with her husband and her 10 children. When
I clicked onto my email that morning, what did I find? This woman whom I
admired and respected and had felt led to seek counsel from more than once in
my life {and hadnÕt heard from for at least a year}, was posting on an email
support group telling about her conversion to Jesus Christ and her journey out
of the Mormon church! I about fell out of my chair and I knew without a doubt
that this was GodÕs answer to me! Her
joy in the Lord is contagious and she is still that same woman I sought counsel
fromÉ the only difference is now she knows Jesus Christ! As I have decided once and
for all to remove my name from the records of the church, to take a stand for
Jesus Christ and to be an honest person, I have been reminded on more than one
occasion that, ÒÉGod hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of
love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of
our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of
the gospel according to the power of God; 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, But is
now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath
abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the
gospel;Ó {2 Timothy 1:7-10} I believe that this is the
beginning of a great journey and I would like to thank those who have helped
me, everyone who has helped
me and stayed up with me all hours of the night answering my questionsÉtalking
with me, praying with and for me, fasting for me, emailing me, reading with me,
you all know who you are. For my family for loving me, even if we do not agree
or believe the sameÉ my brothers are special to meÉ their love and concern for
me and my relationships with them and their families are so important to me and
my family. I plan to have many more good times, and great conversations with
themÉthis is just the beginning as I said above. Most importantly I want to
thank my husband, a man of integrity, one who has shown me nothing but respect
and love throughout this whole process. He has qualities that are rare to find
in these days of super-technology and instant everything and there are many
ways that I respect and admire him for his work ethic and his dedication and
love for our family. While we deal with this time of change, he continues to be
supportive and respectful and ever a gentle and patient husband to me and a
loving father to our children. While I do not know the future and what lies in
store for us and our family, I do know that my gratitude for him is endless. I
admire him so much. I am more in love with him now than I was the day we were
married. I pray for him daily and for our family. As for me, this is just the
beginningÉ for ÒThere is therefore now no more condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin
and death.Ó {Romans 8:1-2} I do not feel the condemnation anymore, a weight has
been lifted, and I am truly free from the law of sin and death!! I am truly
free! You may contact Stephanie at jeffcolemanfamily@comcast.net ******************** A big heartfelt thank you to
these people below who have been instrumental in my journey and who have
helped, prayed, sent materials to me, and just been good friendsÉ. Sharon Taylor, my mentor and
dear friend- www.westview.cc.org Jim Spencer of Maze Ministry
at www.mazeministry.com, Glenn Evans from Institute
for Religious Research Ð www.irr.org Tina from the Momys group!
{and her friend who helped lead me to Jesus!} Scott Peterson from Defending
Your Doorstep Ð www.defendingyourdoorstep.com Sandra Tanner at www.utlm.org Ben and Jen Rast at www.contenderministries.org Janis Hutchinson, IRR mentor at
www.irr.org Fran Sankey with Tower to
Truth Ministries at http://www.towertotruth.net/Mormon/mormon_main.htm
Yes, Jim, there were no
Nephites and there IS life after Mormonism! |