Dear New Christian,

Let me first of all praise the Lord for your newfound faith in Jesus. Through the sacrificial life and death of Jesus you have been forgiven for all your sins! The very second that the Holy Spirit gave you faith you crossed over from eternal death to eternal life. Now that you are a child of God you are part of His eternal family and will live forever with Heavenly Father, Jesus and all other believers in Christ. Wow! There is nothing more valuable or precious in this entire world than the faith that you have already been given by the Holy Spirit. That is why the most important thing for you to do now, and for the rest of your life, is to feed this faith. The intent of this letter is to show you some insights that I have gained from my own experience and from the experience of hundreds of ex-Mormons that we have come into contact with over the years.

Many ex-Mormon Christians struggle with some fairly unique issues. While not every ex-Mormon will struggle with the same issues, many will. I wish to discuss two very important areas that will affect your ability to feed your new-found faith.    One deals with viewing the Bible as the pure Word of God and the other deals with finding a Church family where you can worship Jesus.

Probably the most important question that you need to ask yourself is if you believe that the Bible contains the pure Word of God. The LDS church teaches that “the Bible is true as far as it is translated correctly”. They teach that the King James Version is the only viable translation (besides the Joseph Smith Translation which they use sparingly but place above the KJV). The bottom line is that the LDS leaders instill an undercurrent of distrust for the Bible among many of its members. This benefits them because whenever a Bible passage disagrees with their doctrine they can claim that they have more current revelation that shows that the “pure word of God found in the Bible has been lost”. As a new believer in Jesus you need to come to terms with the fact that the LDS church does not teach the truth when it proclaims that the Bible has been “mistranslated”. You can trust that the Word of God has been preserved through the Bible.  No ancient writing has as much evidence as to its accuracy--thousands of ancient copies exist. These copies concur to a degree which is miraculous. “From God to Us, How We Got Our Bible” by Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix is a very good book that I highly recommend. It can be purchased from amazon.com for $10.49.

You will need to select a translation to use. I use the New International Version (NIV). It is a more accurate translation than the KJV (which is still an excellent translation). The NIV is a modern English translation. Many passages are clearer in the NIV than the KJV because it is written in the same English you use everyday. 

God has given us His Word in the Bible. The Word of God found in the Bible is His love letter to you. When you pray to God you are talking to Him. When you read the Bible, He is talking to you. The Bible is your sole source of authority. It takes precedence over human emotions, logic, reasoning or organized religion. It is where you can discover what truth is. You must let the Bible interpret the Bible. What I mean by this is that for passages that seem unclear, you must search the rest of the Bible to find the clear meaning. There are many wonderful Bible reference tools to help you study God’s Word--things like Nave’s Topical Bible, Strong’s Concordance of the Bible, the New Ungers Bible Dictionary, Logos for the computer and many more. Immerse yourself in God’s Word. Learn true biblical doctrines by using these reference tools to perform topical studies. I spent two years immersed in the Bible replacing the LDS beliefs that I had been taught all my life with the truth found in God’s Word. I studied many topics by using the Topical Guide in the back of my LDS KJV Bible and comparing that with the Nave’s Topical Bible. I would go to each passage referenced for the topic listed and read it in context to learn what God truly wanted to teach me. I would pay particular interest to those passages 'left out' of the LDS guide.

Because God does not tell us the answers to everything, there are things that we simply do not know. The LDS church has supplied its members with answers to practically everything. The LDS church gives its members many false commandments, things like women can only have one set of earrings or that it is a sin to drink a cup of coffee. The Bible does not tell us these things. It is a false teaching to add these things to God’s Word. Where God has given us freedom, we must not be tempted to take away that freedom by adding rules that are not from God. God’s Word is the final Word for Christians. Do not let any Church or person tell you otherwise. If any person or book offers a teaching that is contradictory to the Bible, that teaching is false!

To know the truth that God wants to tell you, you must STUDY His Word. In addition to the knowledge you will learn by studying the Bible, God’s Word works miracles in your heart. It is living and active [Hebrews 4:12 ( KJV)]. Reading and contemplating God’s Word will strengthen your faith. It’s what will protect you from falling into false teachings. Acts 17:11 ( KJV) states that the Bereans were of more noble character because they studied the Old Testament to make sure that what Paul was telling them agreed with the truth that they already had in the OT. Be like the Bereans and test everything that you are told with the pure Word of God. You will be amazed at how doing this will increase your faith in the truthfulness of the Bible. Passages that you used to think were false will take on new meaning when you study that passage with the rest of God’s Word. When you trust in the teachings revealed in God’s Word you find God true to His Word.

The second area deals with the importance of finding a church family. The true Church of Jesus Christ is built upon the rock of faith -- faith that Jesus is the Christ; the Messiah, the Son of God who came to save us. God’s True Church , of which Jesus is the head, consists of everyone that calls upon His name, relying on Him for their salvation [Matthew 16:18 ( KJV), Ephesians 1:22-23 ( KJV), 1 Corinthians 1:2 ( KJV)].

God’s Word tells us that Christians should meet together often. Many ex-Mormons are very leery of any organized religion. This is very understandable considering that the LDS church has deceived us. I spent nine years as an agnostic after I left the Mormon church. I had a huge distrust of anything that resembled Mormonism or even Christianity. It was only through the power of the Holy Spirit and a six-year old neighbor girl that I was brought to faith. At the time I lived on the east coast where there were not very many Mormons. There were even fewer Christians who understood the LDS religion and knew how to answer my many questions. I had been brought to faith by the Holy Spirit but I was lost as to what to do next. I went to over twenty-five different churches over the course of about a year before I found a church that I could trust. I have been at that congregation ever since and it is my family. The members there have been very patient with me and understand the many idiosyncrasies that often accompany a person with an LDS background.

The church congregation that you choose to worship with will be very instrumental in whether you are feeding your faith the pure Word of God. Find a Church that places the Bible as the sole source of authority on questions of doctrine. Because the LDS church teaches its members to use feelings as a way to discover truth, you might have a tendency to use your feelings as your source of authority. Do not do this. God’s Word tells us that our emotions are not to be trusted. While our emotions can be a wonderful addition to a Spirit-filled life, we must not use them to discern truth. God has given us His Word as a means to discover truth. It is there for us to study and learn from. Find a church that does not place feelings, emotions, logic, reasoning or tradition above God’s Word.

How can you know if your church does this? Only by questioning what you are told and by studying the Bible to make sure that what you are being told agrees with what has already been revealed in the Old and New Testaments. (Just like the Bereans did in Acts). Never be afraid to ask “Where does the Bible support that teaching?” If you find the pastor, reverend or teacher cannot answer you, do your own topical Bible study and find the answer for yourself. Revelation 2:2 ( KJV) shows that the church in Ephesus “tried” some people that said they were apostles and found that they were liars. The fruits of a prophet or teacher are his or her words. Test these words with the Word of God.

It is important that the church that you choose to attend offers basic Bible information classes. If a church does not offer any basic Bible information classes, that says a lot about that church. When I was searching the different churches many of their Bible classes were focused on the end-times. While it is good to study Revelation and Daniel, it does not speak well for a church if that church focuses 90% of its sermons and Bible classes on a topic that comprises less than 5% of the Bible. Look for a church that studies the entire Bible and serves you a well-rounded spiritual diet.

Basic Bible classes can assist you in your learning by helping you to look at the world differently. Understand that if you have been a Mormon all your life there will be things that you need to look at in a completely different light. Because there are so many biblical words that have been re-defined by the Mormon church, you may be confused at times. Be patient with yourself. I made myself a bookmark for my Bible where I wrote down the meanings of some of the words that I had difficulty remembering (words like justification). It’s almost like being brought up in a world where you are told that green is red and red is blue and blue is green. You are using familiar words but not realizing that they have different meanings. Studying our web site, particularly the contrasts section, can help you become familiar with the differences between the biblical definitions and the LDS re-definitions of words.

There is a wonderful online resource for new Christians I can point you to called “whataboutjesus.com”. This web site is not written specifically for ex-Mormons, but it does have sound Biblical teachings including a glossary of Christian terms and words and a guide to help you study the Bible. On the home page click on “Explore the Bible” and you will find 16 basic Bible lessons to help you learn more about Jesus.

Enjoy the peace of God that transcends all understanding! Bask in the knowledge of complete forgiveness through Jesus! Relax in your new-found Christian life and praise Jesus for the rest of your life. If there is anything that I can help you with, please email me personally at becki@truthinlovetomormons.com. I praise Jesus for your new life in Christ. Welcome to the family--God’s eternal family.

Grace and peace,

Becki