I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU!!!! WHY ARE YOU BAGGING ON THE MORMONS? YOU MAKE ME WANT TO GO TO THERE CHURCH EVEN MORE , WHAT ARE YOU  AFRAID OF? THEY ARE GOOD PEOPLE.

N___ S___

Dear Ms. S,

Thank you for taking the time to write and share your opinion. It's obvious you have strong feelings about your beliefs and I can certainly respect your zeal.

May I ask in what way you feel I am "bagging on the Mormons?" If you read the website carefully, you will notice that there are no disparaging or derogatory remarks about the Mormon people. They are indeed good people. I have family and friends who are LDS and I cherish those relationships. Mormons in general are outstanding and upstanding individuals who are devoted and sincere in their beliefs and have a desire to serve their Church, family, and communities.

I have nothing against Mormons. My ministry's purpose is to delineate the differences between Mormon doctrines and biblical Christianity so that people can make informed decisions. This is no different than "Consumer Guide" comparing and evaluating Ford and Honda vehicles. Consumers are welcome to purchase and drive whatever vehicle they choose, but they should have reliable and objective information available to them so they can base their purchase on sound knowledge. Ford Explorer owners had a right to know a few years ago that the tires on would blow-out at high speeds causing injury or death. If they still wanted to drive their Explorers after being warned, well, that was their choice.

Likewise, there are many doctrines and teachings in Mormonism that are not biblical. If a person does not care whether Mormonism is at variance with biblical doctrines and teachings after being informed, then he or she is free to continue in the Mormon religion. The problem has been that historically, LDS Church leadership has not been upfront with its members, nor with the non-LDS community, on what its core doctrines and practices are. They have not dealt honestly and forthrightly about its history, doctrines, and teachings. It is wrong for the LDS Church or ANY organization to attempt to hide, cover-up, or distort the truth in order to get converts or retain members.

 "Equipping Christians," along with many other ministries, exists to show investigators and truth-seekers what the Mormon Church is afraid to reveal. As Christians we have an obligation to protect the "body of Christ" from deception as much as possible. We are not doing anything different than Mormon leaders do when they warn their members against orthodox Christian teachings. Why is there a double-standard?

I, myself, was a devoted Mormon for 26 years. I was never "inactive" except for about six months when I was a teenager. I went to Church every week, even the Sunday after having a baby (nine times!). I am not "afraid" of anything, except offending God of the Bible, in Whom I place all my love, trust, and confidence. With all due respect, may I ask what you are afraid of? Why is a website that shows LDS teachings in comparison to biblical teachings so threatening to you?

My heart is filled with compassion toward you and I hope and pray that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will reveal Himself to you in a mighty way.

Tracy Tennant

I DON'T BELIEVE YOU WHERE EVER MORMON MAYBE THE REORGANIZED CHURCH BUT THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS HIDES NOTHING AND THEY BELIEVE THE BIBLE (KING JAMES VERSION ) AS LONG AS IT HAS BEEN TRANSLATED CORRECTLY IS ONLY PART OF THE GOSPEL , WHEN JESUS COMES AGAIN AND ADDS EVEN MORE SCRIPTURE, WILL YOU ALSO DENY HIM AGAIN? HOW SAD" YOU ARE NO DIFFERENT FROM THE JEWS.

CHRIST CAME TO THE AMERICAN CONTINENT AND SHARED THE TRUE GOSPEL AFTER HE WAS CRUCIFIED READ YOUR BIBLE (JESUS WOULD HAVE NEVER LEFT ANY OF HIS SHEEP)HE TOLD HIS APOSTLES BEFORE HE GOT ON THE BOAT  JUST WHERE HE WAS GOING.ARE YOU A WOMAN IF SO THIS EXPLAINS ALLOT TO ME, ARGUING IS SACRILEGIOUS AND I DON'T WANT TO ARGUE BUT YOU ARE HEADING IN A DIRECTION THAT I WOULD NEVER WANT TO BE IN IF YOU EVER NEW WHAT THE TRUTH WAS HOW COULD YOU DENY? IT IS IT GUILT? MY SISTER LEFT THE CHURCH BECAUSE SHE COULDN'T COPE WITH HER SINS SO SHE DECIDED TO DENY THE TRUTH SHE WENT TO EVERY CHURCH FOR 10 YEARS AND GUESS WHERE SHE IS NOW BACK TO THE FULL TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL ALL CHURCHES TEACH SOME OF THE TRUTH THEY ARE MISSING THE MOST CURRENT SCRIPTURES (THE BOOK OF MORMON ) PRAY AND ASK HEAVENLY FATHER IF ITS TRUE ? I ALREADY KNOW THE TRUTH.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU, HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES YOU NO MATTER WHAT ,BUT ME IM MOSTLY ANNOYED WITH PEOPLE LIKE YOU!!! GET A LIFE!  SORRY FOR NOT RESPONDING WITH SOME FAKE LOVE CRAP LIKE THIS (--  My heart is filled with compassion toward you and I hope and pray that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will reveal Himself to you in a mighty way.") HE HAS ALLREADY, AND IM FAR FROM PERFECT BUT THEN AGAIN SO ARE YOU AND YOU ARE IN NO POSITION TO PREACH. YOU PROBABLY GET PAID, MABEY THATS YOUR PROBLEM WITH THE CHURCH, ITS ALL VOLINTEER" NO ONE GETS PAID "WE ALL HAVE JOB AND GIVE 10 PERCENT TO HEAVENLY FATHER,   YOU ARE A LOST SOUL. A TRUE CHRISTIAN WILL LISTEN TO ALL CHRIST TEACHINGS, SINCERELY, N. S.

Dear N,

I'm sorry you feel what I said is "fake love crap." Why is it so hard for you to believe that an ex-Mormon can have genuine loving feelings for Mormons? Perhaps because your leaders have told you so and as a good Mormon you must believe everything they tell you. May I ask why you are shouting at me (using all capital letters)? If you really had the true Church and the real Holy Ghost, it would seem you would not be so full of anger and irritation.

I do not get paid a dime for sharing the truth about Jesus Christ with others. I sacrifice my time and money out of my own pocket to do the ministry work I do. At my Christian church (and most other Christian churches) Sunday School teachers, children's ministry workers, door greeters, janitors and others all volunteer their time without pay. Mormons don't have the corner of the market on that. In fact, many pastors teach the gospel without pay and work a full-time job in addition to preaching in order to make ends meet. Christians tithe and give offerings willingly, not because they are paying "fire insurance" as the Doctrine and Covenants states. Were you aware that the Quorum of the Twelve and the President of the Church get a living allowance paid from tithes and offerings? I learned that when I was still LDS.

What does my gender have to do with the facts? Whether I am a man or a woman has nothing to do Mormonism. Are you prejudiced? Are you a misogynist? Is that the best defense you can come up with against what I've written, that I am a woman? And what does your sister's alleged sins have to do with the truth? Her "sins" have nothing to do with whether or not Joseph Smith took other men's wives as his own. Her "sins" have no bearing on whether or not the revelations have been changed and contradicted from the Book of Commandments printed in 1832 and the later edition of the D&C.

If you read and knew the Bible for yourself and not just believed what they told you about it in seminary, Gospel Doctrine class, Relief Society or Elders Quorum, you would see what Jesus meant about "other sheep." In context He is talking about the gentiles, not the people in America. And really, when it comes right down to it, what does it matter to you what the Bible says since you don't believe it is the inerrant word of God? If you don't believe it has been translated correctly, then you can hardly use it to defend Mormonism!

You say you don't believe I was ever a Mormon. Well how do I know you are a Mormon? For all I know you are radical Muslim who hates Christians and are just writing to try to upset me or put me down. Maybe you are really an atheist that just wants to stir up some bad feelings. When you say you are LDS, I have the courtesy to take you at your word. I am extending to you the good manners of believing you are who you say you are. Can you not extend the same courtesy to me? I have not personally attacked you, yet you feel no compunction about impugning my integrity. May I remind you that you contacted me first and not the other way around? If you are a devout Mormon, why are you poking around so-called anti-Mormon websites? Do you have doubts?

Your unkind remarks and bitter attitude certainly does not make Mormonism seem attractive. However, you have not made me angry---only very, very sad for you.

Praying for you with genuine love,

Tracy

I WAS LOOKING FOR CANOGA PARK WARD I USED TO GO TO AS A CHILD AND YOUR WEB SIGHT JUST POPPED UP I DEFINANTLY WASN'T LOOKING FOR ANTI MORMON ANY THING AND I SEE YOUR A HOPELESS CASE ANY WAY. YOU ARE WAY OUT THERE IN LEFT FIELD AND IM LAUGHING,NOT ANGRY, BUT I SURE HIT A NERVE WITH YOU ALLOT OF WOMAN HAVE A PROBLEM WITH POLYGAMY BUT YOU SHOULD LOOK AT THE BIBLE SEE HOW MANY WIVES THE PROFITS HAD BACK THEN, AND JOSEPH SMITH DIDN'T TAKE OTHER MEN'S WIFE HE TOOK WIDOWS IN BECAUSE THERE HUSBANDS DIED DEFENDING GODS CHURCH AND YOU ARE SO NAIVE TO THINK THE BIBLE WAS NOT MESSED WITH IT WENT DOWN THRU MANY GENERATIONS OF KINGS OF ENGLAND AND SO ON.

JOSEPH SMITH RECEIVED THE TRANSLATIONS THAT WHERE TAKEN OUT OF THE KING JAMES VERSION TO BENEFIT MAN, BUT NOTHING WAS CHANGED OR DISTORTED, HE ONLY ADDED WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE ALL ALONG. MAN YOU ARE REALLY TWISTING THE FIRE INSURANCE THING!!! LOL YOUR FUNNY!!! AND   I SAID IM NOT PERFECT, I SHOULDNT BE WASTEING TME ON THIS AT ALL BUT IM RIGHT (YOUR WAY WRONG  YOU WILL FIND OUT SOMEDAY HOPEFULLY NOT TO LATE.PS I USE CAPITAL LETTERS ALL THE TIME NOT TO SHOUT ITS JUST EASIER :-)

Well, thanks for replying. Did I know you from the Canoga Park 2nd Ward in 1974/75? You did not hit any nerve with me. In reading over our emails to each other, I do not see one mention of polygamy until you brought it up out of the blue. Where are you coming up with this stuff? You don't know me, yet you presume to know whether or not I have a problem with polygamy? Why not just address the issues instead of going off down rabbit trails? If you are looking for a brouhaha you won't find it here.

I would like to bring one thing to your attention regarding polygamy and Joseph Smith. This is something you can check out for yourself. You can get on the Church's genealogy website (in fact, I think it can be found at LDS.org) and look up Smith's marriages. If you research his wives genealogy you will find that he married several who were married to men still living---they were not widows. Unless you are afraid to look.

As for the Bible, you are only parroting what the Mormon Church has told you. If you study the real history of the Bible you will find it is reliable and trustworthy. Evidence confirms the Bible. There is NO reliable evidence for the Book of Mormon.

Neither one of us will be laughing in the end. If you reject the truth of the Bible and Jesus of the Bible, you will be in hell. I will not laugh at all. I will be very sad because you had been warned but chose to ignore the evidence. It is a demonic spirit that makes you laugh at someone you really believe is a "lost soul." If the love of God were in you, you would be sad over me and trying to reach out to me in compassion. Your laughing only confirms that you do not belong to Christ.

RESPONDING TO ("As for the Bible, you are only parroting what the Mormon Church has told you"). NO I DON'T NEED TO HEAR IT FROM ANY OTHER SOURCE ITS A FACT THAT ALL RELIGIONS HAVE REWRITTEN THE BIBLE THEY ALMOST REMOVED THE WHOLE SECTION OF REVELATIONS, I LEARNED THIS FROM  THE AMERICAN SCHOOL SYSTEM, NOT CHURCH.

("If you study the real history of the Bible you will find it is reliable and trustworthy. Evidence confirms the Bible.")  THERE IS NO PHYSICAL EVIDENCE OF THE TRUTH OF ANY OF THE SCRIPTURES JUST OUR FAITH IS ALL WE HAVE.

("There is NO reliable evidence for the Book of Mormon.") LOOK IN THE FIRST PAGE THERE IS SEVERAL WITNESS TESTIMONIES: HEAVENLY FATHER DOES NOT MAKE IT THAT EASY WE HAVE TO HAVE FAITH, THEY ARE FINDING TEMPLES AND HIDDEN CHURCHES IN SOUTH AMERICA THAT DO SHOW THAT THE STORIES IN THE BOOK OF MORMON ARE TRUE AND THAT THERE WAS A GREAT MULTITUDE OF PEOPLE AT THAT TIME,  BUT ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS ASK HEAVENLY FATHER, IM  SORRY FOR OFFENDING YOU AND NO I DON'T THINK I NO YOU I WAS BORN IN 19__.

Dear N,

I won't continue to write if you don't want me to; I respect your privacy and your email address. I would like to keep in touch if you are willing. I will not attack you. I would like to explore a couple of the things you said and try to understand what you mean.

For example, you wrote, "THERE IS NO PHYSICAL EVIDENCE OF THE TRUTH OF ANY OF THE SCRIPTURES JUST OUR FAITH IS ALL WE HAVE."

Then in the following paragraph you said, "THEY ARE FINDING TEMPLES AND HIDDEN CHURCHES IN SOUTH AMERICA THAT DO SHOW THAT THE STORIES IN THE BOOK OF MORMON ARE TRUE AND THAT THERE WAS A GREAT MULTITUDE OF PEOPLE AT THAT TIME"

Maybe I'm wrong, but those seem like contradictory statements. Are you saying that only the Bible has no evidence and must be taken by faith? I'm not sure how your two comments fit in together.

There is actually overwhelming evidence that the places, people, and events of the Bible are real. Of course, you are right, there is an element of faith involved, but God does not require blind faith. Did you know that in the last few years archaeologists were able to find the anchors from the ship the apostle Paul was shipwrecked on? They were able to find them by the coordinates Paul gave in the book of Acts! There have been chariot parts discovered in a portion of the Red Sea where the Exodus took place and the Egyptian army was drowned. The book of Daniel was dated by historians (non-Christian, as well as Christian) to have been written many years before some of his prophecies came to pass.

Did you know that science also supports the Bible? The Bible talks about paths in the sea, the sun making a circuit around our galaxy, and many other amazing things that were way ahead of its time. There are also medical facts that people did not know back then, but they do now. For example, God instructed that male Jewish babies be circumcised on the 8th day of life. Modern science has shown that on the 8th day of life there is a clotting agent in the blood that is at its highest peak! Many books have been written about these things. Even liberal scholars, who do not believe the Bible to be inspired by God, agree on its historical evidence.

The Masoretic Jews honored and revered scripture, so much so that they took painstaking efforts to ensure they translated each word correctly. To them it was a sacred calling. Even if the king should enter the room while they were copying the scrolls, they could not stop to bow to the king, even on the penalty of death, because they feared God more than man. They did not copy word for word, but letter for letter. The Old Testament has been preserved with accuracy by God's power. In 1947 when the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered, they found an entire manuscript of the book of Isaiah. This manuscript was one thousand years older than the existing manuscripts at that time! It was over 96% accurate. The only differences were minor variations in spelling. That's incredible!

There are over 5,000 manuscripts of the New Testament, some of them dating to within 30 years after the crucifixtion of Christ. There are over 25,000 fragments (portions of the New Testament) and they are all in perfect harmony.

You also made an interesting remark when you wrote; "ITS A FACT THAT ALL RELIGIONS HAVE REWRITTEN THE BIBLE THEY ALMOST REMOVED THE WHOLE SECTION OF REVELATIONS I LEARNED THIS FROM  THE AMERICAN SCHOOL SYSTEM NOT CHURCH."

May I respectfully ask if you believe everything that is taught in the American school system? For example, evolution, the earth being billions of years old, the Founding Fathers of our country being promiscuous and unreligious, that premarital sex is okay, and abortions are nothing more than eliminating "lumps of tissue?" I'm sure you are aware that our schools often teach things that are not based on proven facts, so why are you quick to believe what they teach about the Bible? This same American school system would also denigrate the Book of Mormon if given the chance, because our public school system is anti-religious anything!

The point I am trying to make, is that if you are going to defend your faith and beliefs (not just to me, but to anyone throughout your life); if you are going to share the Mormon gospel with people you meet in the years to come, it is important to make sure you are well-read and know the facts, otherwise they will just blow you off. I am not saying this in a derogatory way. Peter the Apostle admonished in 1 Peter 3:15 (paraphrase) "Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you." In other words, know what you believe and why, so that when people ask why you believe what you do, you can give them good reasons.

If someone (an atheist perhaps) asks me why I am a Christian, I need to be able to answer intelligently. If I just say, "Because I grew up Christian" or "Because I prayed and God told me the Bible is true" or "Because it makes me feel good and it changed my life," you can bet they would not ask me anything else (except for maybe, "Are you serious?"). Any religion can change a person's life if they really believe it. Drugs can change a person's life! A Positive Mental Attitude seminar can change a person's life. A changed life is not proof in and of itself that something is true.

Anyway, I appreciate your taking the time to write me. I do value your opinion and respect your feelings. By the way, I have a daughter your age.. It's a great thing to be young!

Warm regards,

Tracy

(Note: Since this last exchange, I have not received a response from "N")