- Feb 5, 2002
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The Apostles failed in their mission. They neglected to properly appoint their successors. When the last Apostle died, the keys of the kingdom were lost from the earth. The Church given to them by Jesus lay in ruins, overcome by the forces of hell. The so-called Christian Church was no longer the Lord’s Church. A new organization, a “great and abominable church,” came into existence. This wicked church, founded by the devil, became known as the “Catholic Church.” In her corruption, she took away many plain and precious parts of the gospel from the Bible, rendering it useless for conveying the full gospel plan. It remained an apostate church until the keys of the kingdom were once again restored to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon), I knew that all this was true. I knew the Great Apostasy had happened. I knew Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he had been entrusted with the task of bringing to mankind the Book of Mormon, the divinely inspired scriptures that were “Another Testament of Jesus Christ.” Most of all, I knew the church that Joseph Smith had restored and organized was true. I knew all of this by the power of the Holy Spirit. After all, we Mormons just knew these things were true, because we had complete and unquestioning trust in all that is Mormon.
I was born and raised in Utah, the older of two children. We were brought up in a nominally religious home, and yet religion played a major part in our lives as we were growing up. My parents were also born and raised in Utah in families with connections going back to the early Mormon pioneers, who had settled the Great Salt Lake Valley in the mid-1800’s.
My great-great-great grandfather on my mother’s side was probably the first in my family to join the Mormon church on February 14, 1832, less than two years after Joseph Smith founded the church. Grandpa Alva Benson convinced his wife, father, mother, and the rest of his father’s family to join the church in the winter of 1832. They moved to Jackson County, Missouri in November of 1832 but were driven out of the county by a mob, because they were Mormons. In 1834, they moved to Clay County to join with the main body of the church. Four years later, they were forced out of Missouri by a combination of militia troops and vigilantes, after Governor Boggs issued his infamous Extermination Order on October 27th, 1838. The order described the Mormons as being in “open and avowed defiance of the laws, and of having made war upon the people of this state.” It stated that “the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State, if necessary, for the public peace — their outrages are beyond all description.” My family eventually settled in Utah in 1852, five years after the first Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley under the leadership of Brigham Young, the successor to Joseph Smith.
Continued below.
From LDS Deacon to Catholic Deacon - The Coming Home Network
As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon), I knew that all this was true. I knew the Great Apostasy had happened. I knew Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he had been entrusted with the task of bringing to mankind the Book of Mormon, the divinely inspired scriptures that were “Another Testament of Jesus Christ.” Most of all, I knew the church that Joseph Smith had restored and organized was true. I knew all of this by the power of the Holy Spirit. After all, we Mormons just knew these things were true, because we had complete and unquestioning trust in all that is Mormon.
I was born and raised in Utah, the older of two children. We were brought up in a nominally religious home, and yet religion played a major part in our lives as we were growing up. My parents were also born and raised in Utah in families with connections going back to the early Mormon pioneers, who had settled the Great Salt Lake Valley in the mid-1800’s.
My great-great-great grandfather on my mother’s side was probably the first in my family to join the Mormon church on February 14, 1832, less than two years after Joseph Smith founded the church. Grandpa Alva Benson convinced his wife, father, mother, and the rest of his father’s family to join the church in the winter of 1832. They moved to Jackson County, Missouri in November of 1832 but were driven out of the county by a mob, because they were Mormons. In 1834, they moved to Clay County to join with the main body of the church. Four years later, they were forced out of Missouri by a combination of militia troops and vigilantes, after Governor Boggs issued his infamous Extermination Order on October 27th, 1838. The order described the Mormons as being in “open and avowed defiance of the laws, and of having made war upon the people of this state.” It stated that “the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State, if necessary, for the public peace — their outrages are beyond all description.” My family eventually settled in Utah in 1852, five years after the first Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley under the leadership of Brigham Young, the successor to Joseph Smith.
Continued below.
From LDS Deacon to Catholic Deacon - The Coming Home Network
