Testing the words of LDS leaders with Biblical Truth:
February 2010
Aaronic Priesthood Manual 2
* What we must do to help our family become an eternal, celestial family (pages 23-24):
Write Sealed and Worthy on the chalkboard… President Phillip Sonntag told this story about the time he was serving as a mission president in New Zealand. A new missionary told him that his family had been taught the gospel by missionaries while living in Scotland. Everyone had joined the Church but his father… When the young man was set apart, the stake president promised him that if he were faithful and worked hard while on his mission, his family would be unified in the gospel and would eventually be sealed in the temple. The young elder said he wanted that more than anything in the world… In interviews with President Sonntag, the elder always asked, “President, am I a good missionary?” Finally, with three months of his mission left, the elder asked a different question, “President, why hasn’t my dad joined the Church?” President Sonntag assured him that the Lord would keep his promises. The elder said, “Well, then, I’m going to be a better missionary.” With tears streaming down his face, he added, “I’m going to work every waking hour so I can complete my part of the agreement.”… “Yes, Dad. Saturday.” Another long wait, then, “All right, my son. All right.” The phone was hardly back on the hook when there was a shout for joy that nearly took the mission home roof off…
• What did the missionary do that showed he really cared about his family and wanted them to become an eternal family? (He wanted his father to be baptized. He loved his family. He worked hard as a missionary. He challenged his father to be baptized.)
• What can you do to help your family become an eternal family?
Test these LDS Words with Biblical Truth:
What struck me when reading the story in this Lesson was the heavy burden placed upon this missionary. He was promised that his family would be sealed in the temple “if he were faithful and worked hard while on his mission”. What if his father had not converted to Mormonism? Did God allow his father to convert because the missionary worked hard and was faithful? What about all those who work hard and are faithful but do not receive what was promised them by an LDS leader?
Mormonism itself claims that all blessings are received only through obedience. “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated— And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” (D&C 130:20–21)
My life as a Mormon was very painful because I knew that I was unworthy. A bishop once promised me that my dead daughter would appear to me in the Temple “If I was worthy.” If you would like to read more about this painful time in my life, go to this blog Post: “Is feeling “Unworthy” a Blessing?” written January 10, 2009; or, Click here:
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