"Truth shouldn't fear excavation." -Russ East

If the days are always going to be this long, then I really need to start going to bed a lot earlier... I (Mary) woke-up around 8:30, which, for normal missions trips, is kind of late.  No regrets.  The guys and I began setting up the filming equipment for an interview with Russ East.  For those of you who do not know, Russ is an ex-Mormon.  His heart and ministry is devoted to serving the LDS community.  Basically, he has my dream job, or his wife does :)  You can read Russ's full testimony here: http://upfc.org/about/.

Along with being the founder of a Mormon ministry, Russ hosts a Christian talk radio station: AM820, which I had the privilege to be on this morning.  The radio station only feeds to Utah, Colorado, and another state I forget, so all you Californians won't be able to hear my smooth, deep, radio voice, unless you are planning a trip out to Ogden tomorrow morning.  Nevertheless, it is pretty exciting to think of how effective Christian radio broadcasting can be.  Sure it holds a cheesy reputation, but just knowing that Mormons, Christians, and Atheists alike tune-in anonymously, is pretty nar.

For those of you who do not know, Matt Champagne is in the process of filming a documentary on Mormonism.  He thought it would be best to interview ex-Mormons, because they truly know all the ins and outs of the LDS church.  Russ positioned himself in front of the camera, turned on his mic, and rocked it.

Why did you leave Mormonism?
The lack of evidence for it. 
This seemed like a sufficient answer to me, but I wanted more than a surface scratch.  Then he followed up with: "Truth shouldn't fear excavation." whoa.  When we take a look in the book of Mormon, we see a great battle being taken place between the Nephites and the Lamanites.  This famous battle was located on the hill Cumorah in Palmyra, New York City.  The LDS church owns this hill, and therefore, prohibits any excavation of it.  I have always known this, but I have never known why.  Wouldn't they want to reveal to the world their findings!?  If they, or any religion for that matter, claim to have the truth, then why not share the evidence if there is some!

What this topic really boils down to is faith.  Biblical faith.  What does biblical faith look like?  Still trying to figure that one out, but I do know that God asks us to test and seek the truth daily, so that we may always be prepared for an answer as to why we have such hope (1 Peter 3).  I remember asking an LDS friend of mine, what she thought the meaning of faith was.  She said, without hesitation, that faith is believing in something that you cannot know.  All I can remember thinking is: bummer.  Her definition of faith sounded more like a 50-50 chance: hit or miss.  You put all your eggs in one basket, and pray that it works out in your favor.  The truth is, I can tell anyone that the sky is orange.  I can believe in it, wholeheartedly,and have faith that when I walk outside, they sky will be orange.  Now, we all have been given access to whether this statement is true or not.  Just walk outside, look-up and there we will see a blue sky.  So where is the parallel?  Well, what I have learned through the Bible, is that faith is having reason to believe in something as truth, not just blindingly believing in it because it appeals to me.  I can say the sky is orange all I want, but my retina tells me otherwise.  I have reason to believe it is blue, and therefore have faith that every morning, I will see the same light blue haze that effortlessly paints the sky.  Hopefully this analogy makes sense....!

I believe that Jesus is God, not because he makes me feel good, or because he was a good teacher.  I believe in Him because the Bible is the inspired Word of God, which there is great evidence for.  The New Testament alone has over 24,000 manuscripts.  Second place is given to the Iliad which falls short to only 700 manuscripts.  I can physically go and walk along the paths Jesus walked along.  This is great news.

After Russ's interview, the three of us hopped in the car and headed to Temple Square.  Matt needed to get a few more shots of the different ornate buildings, and I was excited to talk to some sisters.  But the excitement didn't last long.

Let me back up a bit.  In March, my Christian high school took some juniors and seniors to Utah for an outreach missions trip.  We toured the sites with two sisters from the Philippines.  We asked them some tough questions, but we were honestly searching for the truth.  We just wanted answers. 

So what does this background have to do with today?  Well, as Shane and I entered the Assembly Hall, I overheard a discussion between two sisters and what seemed like Christians.  I cordially walked toward them and asked to join the tour.  I locked eyes with the same sister that showed us around last time.  She recognized me, so I decided to keep quiet.  I listened in to the discussion they were having about the trinity.  Shane and I pulled the guy and his wife aside.  He told us his name was Reed and that they had just moved out here to Utah to church plant.  Awesome! 

We moved into the visitors center, where it showed the layout of the temple; how it was made, who made it, and what its purpose is.  I really didn't have any intention of saying anything.  I didn't want to make the sisters feel uncomfortable, and it seemed like Reed had a good conversation going.  I glanced over at a plaque that showed a picture of the Salt Lake Temple baptismal font.  Right underneath the picture was the verse 1 Corinthians 15:29, "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead if the dead rise not at all?  Why are they then baptized for the dead?"  This is a verse that can easily be taken out of context if we are not careful.  I asked the sisters if they wouldn't mind explaining to me the context of this verse.  She looked at me and said that I should ask my missionaries at home this question.  I watched her reach into her back pocket, they exchanged a glance and quickly said their goodbyes.  She called security on us.

We shook hands with Reed, and went on our way, hoping that the sister had an itch on her hip.  She didn't.  5 minutes later, 3 tall men dressed in LDS attire began trailing behind us.  As they got nearer and nearer I knew I was about to have my first encounter with Temple Square security.  My sister is a pro at it, but I on the other hand, hate getting in trouble.  To this day, I cringe every time I leave a store, worried that I may have accidentally stolen something, and that the beeper would detect it.  Lame, I know.  Anyways, one man in particular towered over me.  His voice was deep and his eye contact was intrusive.  He asked Shane and I to leave or to "play a fair ball game."  He admired that we were so strong in our faith, but then said "I am a good person too because I went on a two year mission."  He told us that the "tours are not for questions."  Oh.  Well that's weird because the sisters asked us many times if we had any questions.  I didn't want to risk getting kicked off Temple grounds for the rest of the trip, so I smiled, was polite, and we went on our way.  I couldn't believe it. I asked one question, and security came after us!

We walked to the front of the temple, where Shane was able to take some more footage.  I watched a Mormon family of 8 kids gather around the front door of the temple to take a picture.  My eyes teared up.  I walked away quickly, and kneeled down on a bench.  I cried as I repeated these words: "they are so lost."  What the heck?  I have been here for 24 hours and I have already cried.  It's going to be a long 2 weeks...

It is cool to think about how many other Christian missionaries may have come across these sisters paths.  I talked with them 7 months ago, and today I saw another group ministering to them.  It's all about planting seeds!

We left Temple Square and headed to Cracker Barrel.  Just for the record: so good, especially after a day like this.  Now I am back here at the Blue House, exhausted.  I cannot wait to see Courtney tomorrow morning. Yes!  It will be nice to have another female with me.

Well I am off to bed. 

Prayer for:
~safe travels
~energy
~empathy
~open hearts and minds

Goodnight friends,
Mary

Here are some pictures of Temple Square:

Salt Lake City Baptismal Font

Salt Lake City Assembly Hall