Rob and Glen outside general conferenceGeneral conference
Evangelizing at the LDS general conference was amazing! I am so blessed to share with these dear people. So many great interactions! I met my ex-Mormon buddy Joseph Martin there. He likes to carry a JosephLied.com sign. I met my ex-Mormon Facebook friend John Tharp for the first time today. He was with a group of Christian missionaries from FL. (My ex-Mormon buddy Paul Gee was leading that team, and he comes out every Conference.) John planning on moving out next year. Also met my ex-Mormon buddy Randy Fieeiki out there today. He is a local who has shared at our MeetTheExMormons.org. It was his first time outside evangelizing at general conference and he loved it! I saw my buddy Kevin Deegan from NY. Other friends were out as well including my board member for Courageous Christians United, Aaron Shafovaloff.
I also saw another friend, Katherine, who wasn’t out there to evangelize, but to attend the conference. He came by and told me that he hasn’t got as many hugs since he hasn’t been out front holding up his “Hug a transgender LDS.” So I gave him a hug. I told him I have been praying for him and that he would repent so that God would remove his wrath from him and have eternal life. He didn’t like the idea that God has wrath for him. Nonetheless, that is what John 3:36 says God has for those who do not believe and obey him.
Probably the best conversation I had that first day was with two young gals--Winter and Bree. They were agnostics, and at least Winter was an ex-Mo. The way she argued made it clear she was an ex-Mo. I gave them the gospel, and argued for Jesus on the basis of prophecy and His resurrection. I also gave them two scientific arguments and one philosophical argument for an absolute beginning of the universe and how that points to a radically different God who didn't come from anywhere like the LDS God.
Winter was also troubled by the problem of pain and evil. I told her that her problem wouldn't even be an issue if God did not exist. In other words, there wouldn't be anything objectively wrong with poor animals dying as the example she brought up. There would only be her dislike of it whereas another would like it, and that's all that may be said about the matter. She said she read C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, but hadn't read his The Problem of Pain, so I encouraged her to read it.
I felt really impressed to focus on inviting LDS to read and pray about my site--JosephLied.com. I continued calling people to read and pray about my site the next day as well.
 The next day was another great day at general conference and being able to walk around the Capitol with my sign enjoying the cherry blossoms. Two gals interviewed me outside general conference for a Tik Tok video. It was her first year out of Mormonism. Sadly, she said she had to choose her LGBTQ kid over the Church. She also took one of my newspapers.
As I was walking back from the Capitol, one gal asked me what the difference is between the tabernacle and the temple. She also took a newspaper.
Another gal invited me to come inside the conference with her saying that she had an extra ticket and she would have someone watch my sign! Ha! I told her my time outside was more important in warning people of the false prophet Joseph Smith. She asked what he lied about, so I went through a list with her. I focused on the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible and how it distorted God's word. She interrupted me to change the subject and simply talk about the Mormon rescue plan. I called her out on it, and as I was demonstrating how Smith biblically failed the tests of a prophet of God, she walked away into the Conference Center.
As the conference let out, I was talking to one LDS after another. Good thing, since my voice shut down from preaching. An LDS guy asked me about partialism and how this heresy fits with the Trinity. I have never had an LDS ask me about this before. I told him that there's an ambiguity on Jesus being part of God. He is certainly part of the Triune God, since He's not the Father nor the Spirit; however, Jesus is certainly fully God. He was a really nice and respectful LDS guy, who was genuinely open even though his friend he was with certainly was not.
Another LDS guy named Ken stopped by with his family, and he also was very open and respectful, who genuinely wanted to know what I held. I explained to him the biblical tests for being a prophet of God and how Smith failed all of them. I explained to him that God created the whole material universe and by definition could not be material, yet He as the Son entered the material universe in Jesus.
Then a Utah State student named Steven with a gal named Abby came by and told me he was writing a paper on the Book of Mormon. Steven was very polite and non-defensive, and simply wanted my answers to questions on the Book of Mormon. He listened to all my arguments against the Book of Mormon and my plea for him to reject Smith and become born again by trusting an infinitely more powerful God.
Rob and JosephAfterwards, I talked to Joseph. This was the icing on the cake for me. I saw him asking people for help/food the day before. He came back today to talk with me. He was raised LDS, but left it when it just wasn't making sense to him. He claimed to believe Christ and was trusting Him to make him right before God.
My LDS friend Bruce came by and was listening to me explain the differences between Mormonism and Christianity. He kept wanting to interrupt my train of thought with Joseph, so I finally told Bruce that he was being rude and he needed to wait before I talked to him. He finally got the point, and went across the street to interrupt some other conversation.
Anyway, Joseph understood how inferior the LDS God/Jesus is compared to what the Bible teaches. When I asked him if I could pray for him, he said I could. I asked what I could pray for him about, and he told me about his addiction struggles. He took my newspapers, and I wrote on there: Celebrate Recovery, Calvary Chapel, and Pastor Mike Lorange. Joseph seemed very serious about getting the help he needs.
After that, a friendly LDS bloke from London came by to meet me and my Catholic evangelist friend Glen Levinzon. We had a really nice chat with this LDS. It was his first time to come out for general conference.
After that, I met a guy named Cody who knows me from my church. Unbeknownst to me, he and some guys from our church were out there evangelizing!
Anyway, the Lord certainly answered my prayer for some receptive hearts. Of course not everyone was receptive. Others called us evangelists “haters” and I was referred to as a “clown”. We trust the Lord to take the seed of His word and germinate it in His timing.
MeetTheExMormons.org
Grover Allred came to our home to share his testimony of coming out of the Allred polygamous Mormon group. He is the son of the late prophet Owen. Grover also had two wives who ended up divorcing him. You can watch his testimony and see the pictures on our site.
Jacob
I got a call back from the guy I mentioned in the January newsletter. He entered a treatment program in Ogden and had to go 45 days without a phone. He finally got one, so he straightaway called me. I was able to pray for him and some of his needs. We continue to stay in touch with each other. I keep bugging him to get plugged into a good Christian church. See the Mailbag section for a correspondence I had with him over Easter.
Rob, his dad Bob, and our LDS friendLDS friend
In my last newsletter, I talked about an LDS friend of ours and how he has been influenced by LDS Michelle Stone on the polygamy issue. Last month, he stayed with my folks again, but this time he went with my dad to a discussion on Mormonism today by the Mormonism Research Ministry staff at the Utah Christian Research Center. He seemed to really enjoy it and could tell how much everyone had a heart for the LDS people. Not long after that, Michelle Stone put out a video explaining that she would be stopping her podcast and taking it down. It sounded like the Church was putting the pressure on her to do this. God continues to be moving on our LDS friend’s heart.
LDS missionaries
I also was able to talk to a couple LDS sister missionaries as they were walking in my neighborhood. I asked if they had some time to talk. The lead missionary said, “We don’t have time to bash.” I immediately realized they knew who I was. It was later confirmed when I invited them to check out my JosephLied.com site and she said she already had. When she told me that they didn’t have time to bash, I told her that I simply had some questions concerning their beliefs. I asked her if she’s read the Bible and if she sees anything different from what her church teaches. She didn’t see anything different. I asked her about her views of the afterlife, and she held that given God’s love, everyone will eventually get back to God since He loves all His children. I asked about outer darkness, but it seemed even there, she held may eventually get back to God. If she could be wrong about the truthfulness of Mormonism, and she agreed she could be. I asked about whether she holds that God is an exalted White man. She didn’t know and didn’t care what color He is. I asked if whatever color He turns out to be would that color be supreme. Here, it still didn’t matter, since her view of “supreme” wasn’t really literally supreme.
I asked if she was aware of the biblical tests for a prophet of God. I explained that Joseph Smith failed all of them. Why would God even give us tests if we all end up with Him eventually no matter what we believe and do? She just didn’t care. So I asked if I could pray for them, and she was fine with that. I prayed that God would open their eyes to the truth and draw them to Himself and protect them from Satan.
We need your partnership
If you’re looking for ways to store up for yourself treasures in heaven (Matt. 6:19-20), may I suggest investing in our ministry? We not only need your prayers, but we need your financial partnership as well. Keep in mind that your investment is not simply for us, but for the lives of others we reach with the gospel. The standard way to financially invest is by writing a tax-deductible check to Courageous Christians United (CCU). For more information on various ways to invest in this ministry, including online giving, please see our “Invest” page on our sites. If you’re not a partner and are blessed by these monthly updates, please join our team and let us know soon. We’d love to be your missionaries here in Utah. Many thanks to those of you who hold us up in prayer and/or in your financial giving!
Be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:6)!
Rob Sivulka
President, Courageous Christians United
6694 S. Sol Rise Dr.
West Jordan, UT 84081
(801) 792-6373
MormonInfo.org
MeetTheExMormons.org
JWinfo.org
MuhammadLied.Info
AbortionIsMurder.Info
Mailbag
How many people approached you guys on their own? And how many seemed to embrace the message you had?
[I replied:] Some always approach us. Some embrace the message, but not immediately. Seed takes time to germinate.
[She replied:] thanks - I was just wondering how many this time?
[I replied:] I document most of them in my posts that approached me and I interacted with more personally. Others I will talk about in the April newsletter. But I don't hardly ever see anyone repent then and there. I've had people write me years later telling me how I played a part in their conversion.
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We mentioned your newsletter in our latest MAVEN Parent Podcast episode (Tittled: Should You Teach Your Kids About Hell? April 29th) The story of your dad asking you whether you wanted to go to heaven or hell got me thinking so we opened the podcast with it. 🙂 God bless you! Love,
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[Rob to Jacob:] Did you find a good church?
[Jacob:] Not yet
[Rob:] Well keep looking. You going to one for Easter I hope.
[Jacob:] I don’t celebrate Easter.
[Rob:] Why?
[Jacob:] It’s not in the bible I don’t celebrate Christmas either not in the bible man made religion
[Rob:] So should churches use microphones or pianos? Those aren’t in the Bible either. Why does something have to be in the Bible before it’s used? Are you from a Jehovah’s Witness background?
[Jacob:] Nope god say be holy not this or that one body one church Jeremiah 10:3-4
[Rob:] So is it unholy to thank God for things not in the Bible that we can use for His glory? Pizza?
[Jacob:] It’s pagan holidays god said it I’m just the messenger
[Rob:] That’s like saying a recovery program in a church is pagan if it can be proven to originate its principles that you are using outside the Church. That is a fallacy of thinking called the genetic fallacy, and that principle isn’t found in the Bible either. It’s like saying if you learned 2+2=4 from a witch, then you can’t accept it. Every good gift comes from above as James 1:17 says even if we are introduced to them by pagans. Do you use the days of the week or month? Those all derive from pagan names. So what you need to do is demonstrate why if something isn’t found in the Bible that entails it can’t be used and you need to demonstrate how celebrating Christ’s birth and resurrection in church is pagan, and even if you can do that, you need to show how it’s not good when we use good pagan things like we do with the calendar names.
Regardless, just like your recovery program, you need to be in a good Christian, Bible teaching church to help you grow in your faith even if you don’t buy everything they teach.
He is risen!
[Jacob:] Yes he has Rob
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