Why I am Mormon Part VI

So not that my prayer that I uttered to my Heavenly Father was anything amazing worthy of immortalization or anything like that. What it amounted to was a lot of crying, a lot of begging and a lot of pleading to know the truth. How long I was on my knees I really don't know it seemed like an eternity. I begged to know if he was really there. Was the book of Mormon true? Was Joseph Smith a prophet? I wanted to know and despite my tears and begging no angelic visitor appeared to me nor did a burning bush. After what seemed like hours of crying and pouring my heart out something changed. It was like a whisper, if I hadn't been there I wouldn't believe it myself or perhaps I would think I was crazy. But I heard a whisper and I know it just like you know that you breath and blink and live. That voice told me something that would stick with me throughout all my days. "God Lives, Jesus Christ is his Son and your savior and he lives, Joseph Smith was a prophet and the Book Of Mormon is true." After I heard this, my tears stopped for a time, a smile crept onto my face. I felt so amazingly happy. I felt like I had just came in from a cold winters day( one of the days where your hands, feet and ears are frozen from playing so long and hard in the snow) and then found a warm and delicious cup of hot coco.(talk about a burning in the bosom that wasn't heart burn) I knew it was true! I knew that I really did have a Father in the Heavens and that I was his son and he loved me. He loved me so much he sent his eldest and most beloved son, my brother, Jesus Christ to this Earth to pay for my sins as well as everyone else's. I knew this and the joy that brings to ones life is a gift beyond measure that I would give up everything I ever owned or would ever own to simply possess this knowledge. I got off my knees and crawled into my cold bed, but the coldness really didn't bother me all that much. And then before I drifted off to sleep I started to cry again but instead of tears of sorrow, anger, and wanting I cried simply tears of joy as I never had before. I was happy.

So the next day I had a meeting with the sisters. I was excited to meet with them for I had told no one about what happened to me the night before. As that evening approached I was almost giddy in anticipation of telling the sisters what I now knew. Well they cam over and we sat down. The sisters asked if I wanted to say the opening or closing prayer. I told them I would say the opening prayer. As they bowed their heads I bowed mine as well for I knew I wasn't talking to the invisible grand poomba or the big kahuna in the sky. I was talking to my loving Father. As I prayed I felt good and happy. When I said the Amen the sisters looked up and smiled at me and I smiled back. They asked me why I prayed the way I did and I told them I had something to tell them. I then told them I had found out for myself that God was my father and Jesus was his son and my savior, that Joseph Smith was a prophet and the Book of Mormon was true.

Now if you have ever seen a little kid when the learn they are going to Disneyland or when they learn they are going to go to the ice cream shop then you know what it was like when I told the sisters my news. They smiled and happiness echoed in their eyes. They asked me how I felt about what I had learned and I told them I felt good and happy about it. They then asked me why that was and I told them because its true.

Well now the sisters pulled a fast one on me or so I thought. They started to talk about the twelve apostles that walked and talked and ministered with Jesus during his mortal probation. Then they pulled out these cups with the names of these twelve apostles on them. They then started to tell me about how an apostasy took place after these men were killed and the Church that Christ set up was lost. That yes people still knew about Christ and talked and preached about him but they said the authority and power to act in God's name was lost. Men said that they had it but the problem was that as time went on the teachings of Christ became diluted and changed. Not all of them but enough that it wasn't the same.

It would be like if Jesus had set up a church and when he ascended into Heaven he left it in the hands of Peter, James and John and the rest of the twelve. However as they were killed they didn't pass on what power and authority they held. Then Mr. Pious Brown comes along and says that in Christ's church the way he meant it to be there shouldn't be any music. Now some people agree with Mr. Brown and some don't. So Mr. Brown starts a church where no music is played but they still teach about Christ. Now a Mr. Jade Green comes along and says that Christ really taught that music is okay but that paintings of Christ were not really allowed or statues of him. Mr Green goes and starts a church that will listen to music and teach of Christ but there aren't any statues or pictures. Now a Mr. Snow White comes along and says that there must be some things in the teachings of Jesus that are true and some that well they don't agree with what Mr. White thinks is right so they should be thrown out. Now Mr. White gets everyone together and they decide the only fair way to decide what should be correct things that Jesus taught and the things that are not true would be to vote on it. So they form a council and debate and vote and argue until they come up with something that has some things Jesus taught but considers other things to be false. Well as time went on more and more people decided what they thought was correct and wrong and formed their own church. Mr. Red decided the only was to baptize people was to sprinkle, while in Mr. Green's church they poured water on the person's head and in Mr. White's church they dunked them under the water. Everyone came up with what they thought were the true way of Christ according to them. So the sisters asked me who's church Mr. Whites church was, was it Jesus's? I said it was Mr. White's. They then asked about Mr. Greens church was that Jesus's or Mr Greens. I told them Mr. Greens. Well you get the idea of where the sisters went with this. They told me that Jesus's church was lost to the world.

They then told me how Joseph Smith had restored it and how God called him to be a prophet. (Now I was thinking at this time, "Duh, I learned that last night.") They then turned the paper cups around and they had pictures of some old guys in suits on them. The sisters told me these were the apostles and that there was a prophet living today. Now I told the sisters to hold on a second. All I had prayed about was to know if God was really my father, If Jesus was his son and my savior, if Joseph Smith was a prophet and if the Book of Mormon was true. I didn't ask about no Gordon B. Hinkley(why did they add his middle initial anyway why not just call him Gordon Hinkley.) and some other dudes. Now the sisters tried to bear testimony and explain things to me. But I then asked them wouldn't Mr. Green's church say they were the true church and had lost nothing and had everything and were the real church. I asked the sisters how I know another apostasy didn't take place after Joseph Smith died. They tried to assure me it hadn't but I told them the Catholics and every other church out there said the same thing.

Once again I was in a tough spot. I knew something about the truth but some other things seemed kind of fishy. I thought this prophet guy must have some kind of angle. Well come to find out he wasn't paid there goes that one.... guess he is not like a televangelist. But from what I knew people just don't do things without some ulterior motive. So I figured he was just a better B.S. artist then most of them out there. He has to be getting some kind of kick backs. (little did I know about the church retirement program at the time for prophets and apostles.... its heavenly ;) )

Well luckily enough the sisters told me about something called General Conference coming up two weekends from now and I could see and listen to the prophet and apostles speak over T.V. and that I could decide for myself if they were just really old con men. I asked them where this conference was. They told me Salt Lake City. I asked if only Mormons were allowed to come and since I didn't wear the special hat I couldn't attend. (lol if only I knew about special hats) They told me anyone could go as long as they had a ticket. Well I then asked them, yep you guessed it where do I get a ticket. They told me bishops and stake presidents had them and could give them to people. Well I was in luck I knew two people who fit those descriptions. With the sisters still sitting there(I didn't want to miss my chance) I called up Bishop D. "Bishop D can I have a ticket to General Conference?" "Who is this?"he asked. I answered, "This is JD, can I have a ticket please?" "Who?" he questioned again. "JD," I replied. Bishop D then asked me where I was and I told him my apartment he then told me to wait five minutes and he would have a ticket to right over to me. Well when he brought me the ticket and I held it in my hand well a little musical started going through my head and I wanted to run throughout the dorm singing... "I have the golden ticket. I have the golden ticket." I didn't know why I wanted to do this I just felt really happy and excited.(and yep you guessed it.... yet again it wasn't heartburn when I got that burning in the bosom.) I told Bishop D I was going to meet this prophet of his and shake his hand and I knew enough of God now that I would know if he was a real prophet or just another religious con man. I told the sisters the same thing as well as President Clark and everyone else I could talk to about it. I think Bishop D half expected to see me on the six o'clock news with the heading man arrested for trying to assault the LDS Prophet. I also told Bishop D, the sisters and President Clark that if this prophet of theirs didn't have time for me to shake my hand then I didn't have time for him or his false church. Because Jesus had time for everyone even little children so his prophet should have time as well.

Well I ended up going up to conference with two sisters from the ward. We went to the Saturday Afternoon session. Now in the conference building when you first get there, a low roar and mumble of thousands of people talking reverberates throughout the place. Then all of the sudden silence so complete you could have heard a pin drop... and then everyone stood up. . . . .