Question for the LDS? Some guidance, please?

Is this a true church? Yes, and the one that can answer the questions you have in a way that makes sense.

if I have learned one thing in my years on this earth - it is when praying be specific. when we have too many things going on inside our own minds it can become difficult to hear what God's still, small voice is telling us......I suspect, like others that you may have already received an answer, but you are having a hard time recognizing it. that may be because while you 'want' what you know is true to be confirmed - you may not be ready yet to leave what you thought you knew behind. and remember, God teaches us in parables (as He has always done). sometimes we learn one thing but not all the things we think we should know right now........we need to learn the patience of asking just one thing @a time so that we can learn that one thing and then move on. sometimes we have to settle with 'is this one thing true'......and then remembering that we can move on to the other things....like building a foundation. the base must be set strong and firm before we can move onto the next level.

it is not wrong to have questions. it is not wrong to look @different answers - even when they are wrong. in fact, it's silly not to try and find answers to our questions....but it is important to remember that we have to have the foundation first. never forget that faith is the first principle of the gospel. It is foundational -- and it is glorious. Christ Himself said, "because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." He didn't say "blessed are those who know." He said "believed." IOW, it is a "blessed" state to hope and believe, to have faith and not 'know'. we should not in any way feel embarrassed by the fact that we don't know the church is true, or that God and Jesus live. we should rejoice, in spite of our lack of knowledge.

the D&C describes "faith" and "testimony" as a gift -- something that people are either given, or not given......so it's perfectly scriptural and expected for some to have a strong testimony, and for others to survive on faith. this doesn't make those who do not 'know' inadequate......but simply one who 'believes', who has 'hope', who knows 'faith'. and it is a wondrous thing to those of us who lack that.

you said you are concerned over "how people have so much to use against Joseph Smith"......JS was not perfect - he was a prophet. just like many of the prophets of old were not perfect and made mistakes and wrong choices - so did JS. and it makes sense to me that the adversary would work overtime to make us doubt JS and his place in restoring the gospel. however, when one actually researches these claims - it has been my experience that they generally fall apart under scrutiny.....whereas JS and the gospel of Christ withstand close looking.

I will tell you this - who I am and where my life has turned could have created great problems for me with the LDS faith.....(ie: as a divorced single woman how will I ever get a chance @the celestial kingdom - many sites and info and people have tried to make me feel insecure about this).....but as these questions have arisen and I have researched them I have found this --- if I start with what I KNOW to be TRUE....God loves me and wants me to be happy, eternal progression and familial connections make sense, Christ died so that I could return to my Father, etc........the questions answer themselves. the LDS religion makes sense and provides answers that come from a living, merciful God concerned with me and my return to Him. it is only when I have allowed others doubts to infiltrate what I KNOW to be TRUE that the questions become unanswerable. and this knowledge, gained from doubts researched from a strong foundational belief in God, have increased my knowledge, granted me faith, answered my questions, and given me peace.

I will answer any questions you have if I can - feel free to email me.

I've been through the same thing you have. I use to constantly look at anti-LDS people's comments and it would really hurt. But think about it; we have most of the answers (I say most because even I know the church doesn't have all of them) to questions than churches that claim that they're the only true church can't answer. It's great that you want to move forward. Just keep praying for an answer. You'll know when you get it.

What do is ignore what most people have said already, well at least all the ones that were negative.

I am a member of the church, born and raised here in Utah. I even served an LDS Mission to Ohio. My Mission President ( The one that was over an area and a number of missionaries) said "if people simple look, they will see a religion that have a high belief in Christ, a strong support system."

If you want it to be true it will be. Continue in prayer, continue studying and reading the scriptures, continue with the Missionaries, and the spirit will guide you to what is true.

Moroni 10:3-5

Alma 7:9-12

Maybe you don't want to get an answer that it's not true because you already got the answer that it's true. Maybe you just haven't accepted your answer yet. But only you can know the answer to that.

Concerning Joseph Smith, that is something you have to sort out. I'm not telling you to not read anti-Mormon literature, but remember that it's put out by people who have an irrational hatred for the LDS church and they have no intention of being fair. They twist and manipulate information in attempts to make things sound bad. Their motivation is to make people confused and mistrustful.

Although I have been raised in an LDS family, I totally understand what you feel. When I was in college, I really started to have some doubts. For me it was largely due to choices I was making that were making it harder for me to feel the spirit. I listened to a lot of anti-Mormon stuff. Much of it, like you said was easily discarded as false, but other parts were harder for me to understand.

How did I keep or regain my testimony? It really came when I focused more on myself and my relationship with God. I focused more on the atonement and as I did, I was able to feel the Spirit in my life more often. In the end, through the Holy Ghost I was able to understand the doubts that i had. As I read the Book of Mormon and continued to follow the commandments I received a testimony of them. I find that my biggest struggle is to remember what I have felt. We often feel the Spirit, but luckily we are given times when we have to act in faith on what we have felt. I have gone on to serve a mission, and found that this was also the hardest thing for others to do. It is scary to act on faith, but it is so worth it.

I just returned from an institute lesson for young adults. It was on faith, we talked about Heb 11 and Alma 32. We also looked at Alma 30 and related it to faith. Basically I walked away realizing that I need to focus more on what i know and less on what I don't know.

Hopefully that helps you a bit. If you want me to go into more detail, feel free to send me a message.

When one gazes upon a beautiful work of art, they do not wish to find fault - unless of course they too have a work of art in the competition.

When someone has read the Book of Mormon and prayed, but not received an answer, it can usually be traced to one of two things. Before God will answer our prayers concerning the Book of Mormon, he usually expects us to be willing to follow him and keep his commandments. This is called "real intent" in the Book of Mormon. He also expects us to be sincere - we must really want to know. God doesn't reveal things just to satisfy someone's idle curiosity. If you have been studying for a year, can I assume you have finished reading the Book of Mormon? If so, then when your heart is right your prayer will be answered.

I my case, I didn't see a burning bush, or even receive a burning in the bosom. When I stood up from my prayer, I just knew without any doubt that it was true. I don't even know how I knew, or how I went from doubtful skeptic to true believer in one minute, but I did. Suddenly I wanted to learn everything I could about the church and about the Book of Mormon. I didn't just read books - I devoured them. I was like a thirsty man at an oasis. I suddenly knew that there was a God, and that he did intercede in human affairs, and I wanted to know everything about him.

I was born into the LDS church and active for 40 years, marrried in the Temple, etc. Here's what I can tell you. No LDS person will try to tell you Joseph Smith was perfect. He wasn't, and they all accept that. The Church never teaches that he was not a fallible human being.

Ultimately, you need to choose what is right for you, not based on what others say. I am a scientific pantheist, but I like the LDS church and have nothing against it, even being an "ex." It's a wonderful culture.

If you choose your spiritual path based on what others say, you'll never find the one that's right for you. As my LDS mother used to say... "If in doubt, go with your gut feeling."

After all of your searching, pondering, questioning, etc the most effective way to find the answers to this question about Mormons or about anything else for that matter, is to ask the one person who would know the answer. That is, ask God. Tell me, would not God know if what the Mormon's teach be His truth or not? If you believe God is a passive, disinterested deity that could care less about you, then of course you would not want to ask him anything. On the other hand, if you believe that God cares about you, wants you to be happy and successful, if you believe that God would want you to know the truth, they you would apply God's words from the Bible found in James 1:5...."If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God..."

Millions of sincere Mormons have done this. I have as well, and that is why I am a

As I read thru your question and ponder over it - what comes across most strongly is the impression that you already know the answer. You manifest it thru your desire for strong LDS responses to reinforce that which you already know to be true. It is not an easy time - especially because of the way you taken the path to get to this point. The anti-LDS literature has some a dark & evil spirit which surrounds it and can cause not only confusion but also makes it more difficult for the Holy Ghost [who testifies of Truth] to reach you.

Desire to know truth is the first step - regardless of what other may say. From this desire, you need to act [prayer, scripture study, gospel discussions w missionaries, church attendance, etc]. I would counsel you, that if the answers do not seem forthcoming thru prayer - to seek forgiveness. Repentance is a strong part of the conversion process to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is one of the first principles of the gospel of Christ. First is faith - and then that faith becomes an action of seeking repentance from Jesus Christ thru His atonement.

Ignore those who state that it 'isn't true' - I state this for several reasons: first, someone who can call evil good and good evil has lost such a sense of eternal truth that they have no credibility to me. we all have the Light of Christ and from this can develop the ability to be drawn to Light and Truth - thru our actions, we can lose this ability.

The way for you to move forward is to do exactly that. There is a path which you must follow to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That path includes taking the discussions, praying, attending church and accepting the challenge to being baptized - then following thru with the interviews & baptism. You are not finished with your conversion at this point - rather, it is the beginning. Seek out greater knowledge of the gospel thru church attendance, scripture study, and prayer. Listen to General Conference. Ask your bishop/branch president for a calling. These things give you greater opportunity to learn for yourself and experience thru service the principles of the Gospel of Christ.

I testify to you that I do have a certain faith and knowledge of the truthfulness of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ - that only in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is found the fullness of that gospel and the priesthood authority to conduct the ordinances of the gospel of Christ.

best wishes

It is the Holy Ghost pulling you back. You know it is true in your heart and seem to have already received the confirmation but you are not willing to accept it. Keep praying and it will be OK.