Rob outside Temple Square
Temple Square Evangelism
Each day after Thanksgiving, Temple Square turns on their Christmas lights. This draws huge crowds, and makes it ideal for evangelizing and advertising JosephLied.com, especially when the weather cooperates as it has been. Prior to doing this, though, I went to the Capitol Theater downtown to hit an interfaith concert. Funny, but the way I practice my faith wasn’t really welcome there! After everyone went inside, I went to a very busy South Gate of Temple Square.
On this particular night, I had one of the most unusual experiences I’ve ever had there. One guy wanted me to stop preaching and talk to him. I did for a few minutes, but it became quickly apparent that this guy was an antagonist/time-waster. When I told him that I was going back to reaching more people, he started to interrupt me by trying to shout me down. Eventually he gave up, but before he walked away, he amazingly gave me a $100 bill! After I got done preaching, I went to a store to verify it wasn’t counterfeit, and sure enough, it was genuine! I have no idea what this was all about.
Another guy came up to me while I was preaching and grabbed my left bicep pretty hard. He told me that if I was going to preach against Mormonism that I should at least have my facts straight about what the LDS Church teaches. He did this when I was preaching about how the LDS Church denies that Christ really created everything. As he turned to walk away, I told him that he was either lying or didn’t know what he was talking about. The next day I noticed a nice bruise on the spot this guy grabbed me, and it’s faintly still there as I write this about a week and a half later. Yes, it was worth the $100! But all kidding aside, it was worth having thousands to preach and advertise to. In fact, the stats on the site went up over 100 visits from the day before, and that continued the following day as well!
By the way, this is exactly what I told some teen boys would happen when they kept telling me I was just wasting my time and no one cared what I was saying. These boys also denied my claims that the Book of Mormon teaches that God cursed people with dark skin and as they repented, their skins became white. Another black guy was there, and he confirmed what I was saying. In addition, I simply pulled out the Book of Mormon to read to them. That shut them up pretty quickly.
Tara and Melanie at Calvary Chapel SLCHigh School Group
Upland, CA Christian Academy came up again for another mission trip. There were about 45 of them, so we couldn’t host them at our home this time. Instead, we brought dinner to them at the church they were staying in town—Calvary Chapel. In addition to feeding them, Tara as well as her sister Melanie shared their testimonies to them. After that, I was able to debrief with the team and answer questions on Mormonism.
Meetup
Last month Francesco Amendola shared his testimony and some of what God is doing with Mormons in Italy. The Amendolas recently moved out from there to take over a gelato shop here in Salt Lake City. They are going to our church and have become good friends. You can watch his testimony here and see the pictures here.
We Need Your Partnership!
We not only need your prayers, but we need your financial assistance 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 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 any of our sites. Please keep in mind we have no financial guarantees each month. Ministry partners come and go as jobs do. If you’re not a partner, please consider joining 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 in your financial giving!
We expect God to provide for our needs through you. Why? Because the Bible is clear: “the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:14).
Merry Christmas!
Rob Sivulka
President, Courageous Christians United
P.O. Box 1374
West Jordan, UT 84081
(801) 738-0539
CourageousChristiansUnited.org
MormonInfo.org
JWinfo.org
MuslimInfo.org
****ADDITIONAL PRAYER REQUESTS****
1. Health and protection for our whole family
2. Tara’s family to be saved
3. Wisdom in all our dealings
4. Strength to keep going
5. Pay off our large debt primarily from medical and dental expenses
****MAILBAG****
Great Newsletter on your recent trips and experiences. As always I really appreciate hearing how God is using you and working with people on street. Blessings to you and your family.
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Peter was asked by the Lord “Who do you say I am[?]” and his response was “You are the SON of GOD” amen so Mormons say the early church “FAILED” which is what started me on my quest for truth and finding your site: www.mormoninfo.org and all the information within it, thank you!
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My sister just sent this. No hate but that's their perception
"Oh. My. Goodness. ...you need to breathe and relax. Love your Heavenly Father, his son, our brother, Jesus and listen to the Holy Spirit and make good choices in your daily life. Just be [yourself]. Be okay with others being their own person. Yes, study, the scriptures (esv?) whatever you believe, and pray. I have never said one hateful word against your church, who you follow etc. Anyway, he wants us to be Christlike in our every action, following the commandments etc. Love thy neighbor as thyself. You....... are NOT God. You only push people away with your judgement and rantings. Where I go to learn and worship, they teach only good. Unlike many others, they don't waste time on speaking bad of others or gossiping and spreading hate. Our lesson yesterday was about how important prayer is. I suggest you go see the movie, Meet the Mormons, that is a great description of what your sis is about. Stop reading crap into everything. Btw... i do have one question , I have noticed a lot of lately, I wouldn't think God would be happy with his children putting so much emphasis on tempting others or provoking others when pornography, adultry, etc are such huge problems and tearing people and families apart, so why do I see all these "Christians" posting pics, wearing in public, etc., low cut, tight fitting, bikinis, showing cleavage and more, short shorts, short skirts etc. You can be classy and attractive more so without all that. It just seams to go completely against who they are proclaiming to be while making others uncomfortable.
Bottom line, I cannot be comfortable around you.... You have spoken hate against me and my family and basically called me an idiot. I'm a good person..., who genuinely loves others no matter what and I live my life to try to be CHRISTLIKE everyday. Iam not perfect and i love that i know i can still improve and learn. I have studied and learned also and i believe what I believe. I don't use my family members or friends, I enjoy, appreciate and try to serve them. I also have to make healthy choices for my life and your anguish and hateful words literally make me feel sick. I feel sorry for you and pray for you. I hope one of these days you can get back to the basics and be comfortable being Jeff. Simply.... Love you."
Rob how would you respond? I would love to give her something that describes just gods personage the Godhead versus the Trinity.
[I replied:] I don't think she's ready for it. I'd simply say, "You may not demonstrate hate for us, but your own scripture does. You teach it in your church? D&C 1:30 and JS 1:19. That's hateful to me. So if somebody's talking smack about my church, don't you think I have the right to defend it? You seem to be defending your church, so I'm assuming it's fine for me to defend mine." After that, I'd just concentrate on 1 Pet. 3:1 until she's ready for 1 Pet. 3:15.
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Hello Rob,
I am a three week convert to biblical Christianity from Mormonism. I was looking over your website. Can you actually witness on BYU campus? I thought that was not allowed because BYU is privately owned. I graduated from BYU in 1981. How long were you Mormon? I just looked over your website rather quickly, but could not find your conversion story. Are you actually getting church members to look at your website? None that I associated with before would ever go to anti-Mormon sites. Maybe times are changing now. Thank you for your time. Look forward to hearing from you.
[I replied:] I praise the Lord for Him bringing you to Himself. How did it happen?
BYU will kick mission teams off now if they are discovered. I never had a problem with the exception of one older guy who had long hair. He stuck out like a sore thumb. Teams that go now just go to the cafe and have lunch with people.
I've never been LDS, but my wife was. Here's my autobio: http://www.mormoninfo.org/autobiography-15.
Yes, many LDS are checking out www.MormonInfo.org or www.JosephLied.com.
Your bro,R
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I've been a "true believing Mormon" for 39 years. My husband and I (along with our children), are giving serious consideration to leaving the religion. We don't live in Utah and we're having difficulty finding support groups. Do you know of any in the Washington, DC area?
Thanks in advance,
[I replied:] I have a friend in Maryland and one in Delaware that I could put you in touch with, but I don't know of any Ex-Mormon Recovery groups in the area. My friends also have never been Mormons, but are very understanding of what transition looks like. I would check out some churches in the area as well. I'd recommend checking out http://calvarydcmetro.org/. If you'd like, friend me on Facebook, and I can set you up on some helpful pages, including our MormonInfo.org/JosephLied.com one. Finally, there's http://www.meetup.com/exlds-worldwide/events/218089762/.
What got you guys questioning, if you don't mind me asking?
Praying for you! I know it's a rough and long transition, but knowing God is worth it! Please let me know if I can be of any further help to you.
[She replied:] Oh....many things got us questioning. Where do I even begin? Plural marriage in heaven (we were married in the temple), Joseph's many wives (including women who were already married and teenage brides), blood atonement, Joseph's disregard for the Word of Wisdom, Kinderhook plates, Egyptian papyrus, Joseph's history of fraud (hidden treasure/BOM translation using the same "stones"), the changing accounts of the first vision....I could go on and on...heart breaking really. The similarity between Joseph Smith, Warren Jeffs, and sexual predators. I'm trying not to be angry, but that's the hardest part, I think.
...I've lost all my friends. Been told Satan has taken over me. Oh the things I've been told! Ironically, I feel closer to Christ now than I ever did as a true believing Mormon.
I'll check out your links. It's too bad there aren't support groups here. It's hard losing my "family"....
[I replied:] Well how did you find out about all this? I mean most LDS have no clue about any of this, and they aren't out looking for it. Did you just feel like fact-checking your church one day?
[She replied:] i'm not sure how it started....it was about 12-18 months ago and I asked my husband a question that was bothering me (I can't even recall the exact question now...it may have been either about plural marriage in celestial kingdom or the prophets earning a salary through our tithing). I told him what I had found and he denied it. but about two weeks later he told me he researched my question and learned I was right. it just spiraled out of control from there. we even bought books trying to help us stay in our faith, but the more we uncovered, the more we felt we couldn't live in authentically. it took us a year before we finally told our kids. very confusing time for them as one was nearly done with seminary…
[I replied:] I have a Facebook Friend, who lives in DC who told me that there is a support group in DC! ...Praise the Lord for the internet and Facebook!
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You guys are amazing and I'm so encouraged by the work you do.
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I can't believe you lied about everything you put on this website!!!!!!!!!!! Joseph did not lie!!!! Why don't you go to an Mormon church one Sunday and find out the truth!
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Love what you are doing and sorry that I have not supported sooner!
You have an incredible ministry and God is using you in a powerful way!
[We] are now set up on monthly giving of $100 per month with you guys.
Keep the Faith!
You are a true Warrior!
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Yes the work you guys are doing are making it all the way here to South Carolina as well.
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