Dave

As a young man growing up in the 50's, I wouldhave considered my life as normal. I played ball, chased girls, and attended amainline church with my family. At age sixteen I attended a Billy Graham Crusadeand went forward to accept Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. When I sharedthis important event with my family and pastor, neither seemed to care. Mypastor even told me that the Second Coming of Christ was a myth. Knowing thatthis wasn't true, I turned away from the church and walked out into a worldlylife. By the time I was 25 my family had also left this church and joined theMormon Church. About this same time, I got married to a girl who had grown up inthe same denomination as I had. Because neither of us knew the word of God, wedecided to follow my family and join the LDS Church.

Even though my wife and I moved away we becamevery active in the Mormon Church. She in the women's Relief Society and Sundayschool. Myself, I held many callings in leadership positions. As we were raisingfive children and enjoying our 24th year of marriage, she was diagnosed withleukemia. Six and half months later she passed away, leaving me lonely, confusedand scared. Eventually I packed up the children and moved back to Columbus, Ohioto be near my extended family.

While I was attending a cook-out with somefriends, I ran into Shirley, who had been married to an old friend of mine. Myfriend had died a couple years earlier, also from cancer. Shirley and I struckup a friendship. We found we really enjoyed each other's company. As we becamecloser, Shirley explained to me that our relationship could go no furtherbecause she was Christian and I was a Mormon. This didn't make sense to me. Ithought I was a Christian, only I had more of the truth than she did. I defendedmy stand, but when some questions I had about the Church surfaced she sharedwith me both her beliefs and the differences between Christianity and Mormonism.I started reading some Christian books on Mormonism and soon realized she wasright; I had just wasted twenty-four years of my life in the wrong church. Ithen had total recall of the long forgotten born-again experience I'd had when Iwas sixteen. Jesus had been with me along. I was lost and did not realize it.

I immediately wanted to make restitution formy failure. I wrote letters to my family, bishop and friends, detailing why Ihad left the Church. I quickly found out that convincing my loved ones of theTruth I had found was not an easy task. My son was on a mission trip to Polandand very unhappy with my decision, then and now. My mother and sisters wanted tokick me out of the family. My brother-in-law and youngest sister, who employedme, made the atmosphere at work so unbearable I had to quit my job.

Shirley and I started attending churchtogether. I was so excited. I just felt so free, so alive. Weeks after leavingthe LDS Church, I decided to celebrate the Lord's Supper in a communion serviceat my new church. I remember being very nervous about it. This was the firsttime in over 30 years that I was going to take real communion. In the MormonChurch you take the Sacrament every week. It becomes routine and meaningless.The LDS Sacrament consists of bread and water as opposed to the Christianchurches' use of bread and wine or grape juice. Now, looking back, it occurs tome that bread and water are what prisoners receive in jail or on death row. Thiscomparison paints a graphic picture, doesn't it?

When I took Christian communion for the firsttime in so long, it seemed like a low electric currant surged though me from thetip of my head to my toes. I started to cry. I cried all day and even into thenight. I was surprised that a grown man could cry so much, but I did. It feltlike a cleansing was coming from deep within. I knew that God touched me andwashed me white as snow. I had a lot of baggage left over from my Mormonexperience; twenty-four years of complete deception and falsehood. It wasstaggering. I realized the harm I had caused in helping people to believe a lie.My entire family was in the LDS Church plus many of my closest friends.

A few weeks later God showed me a realmiracle. I did not have any idea of what was about to happen. I decided to bebaptized along with my two girls. When I came out of the water I felt great.After about five minutes I realized that I had no pain anywhere in my body. Godhad completely healed my knees of arthritis. I had been taking medication everyday to stay on top of the dull pain, but from that day to this I have not hadpain in my knees again. They are like new. What a mighty God we serve.

Since my rededication to Jesus, God has placedthis burden in my heart to help Mormons see how deceived they are. Four of mychildren have accepted Jesus, but my oldest son is still an active Mormon. Mymother, my two sisters, my brother-in-law, and all their children are still inthe LDS Church. I pray every day that they will find the real Jesus. I also havea burden to educate the Christian community about the falsehoods of Mormonism.

Many Christians think that because mostLatter-day Saint people are warm, friendly, family oriented, God fearing, andhonest they must be Christians, too. This is not true. Mormons are deceived inthinking that they are the only ones who have the truth. Please pray for them.They are just as lost as anyone who has not accepted the real Jesus. Mormonism'sgod is a man who became a god. Mormonism's Jesus is the spiritual brother ofLucifer. Mormonism's Holy Ghost is a separate god of male personage with nobody. Mormonism promotes belief in three separate gods while denigrating theChristian doctrine of One God in Trinity. While claiming to be Christian, theLDS Church has convinced its members that they will someday become Gods if theyperfect themselves through obedience to Mormon laws and ordinances.

Since I left the LDS Church, my life is filledwith joy, happiness, and peace. My heart praises God daily for what He did forme on the Cross. Jesus truly does live in us. He made me a completely differentperson inside. I have a newfound love for Jesus, the Bible, and my fellowbrothers and sisters in Christ. I also have the capacity to love people moredeeply than I ever could when I was a Latter-day Saint. Life is exciting. I seemy prayers answered. I have experienced the promise that "The Truth WillSet You Free."

Praise the Lord, He is worthy to be praised.

Dave Smith
Lost Lamb Ministries

PS: Shirley and I were married on December 16,1994

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