Correct Information

There are a lot of misconceptions about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Why? I believe that it is because people get the wrong ideas from members who perhaps don't explain themselves well or don't live a life that correctly portrays our beliefs. (Which happened in Book of Mormon times too! Alma 39:11) If there are misconceptions about our religion, it is almost certain that there are misconceptions about other religions. I believe it is very important find out information from a reliable source. Heavenly Father has taught us many times "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God..." (James 1:5) So if I want to know what God says, I will ask Him. If I want to know what somebody else says, I will ask that person.

As a missionary I spent 6 months in a very small town in the very most southern part of Bolivia called Bermejo. Bermejo is in the middle of a beautiful luscious jungle. I've never seen such a beautiful landscape! This would be the most beautiful place to live except for the hellish heat and insects that bite up your skin like you are their last meal. One Elder said, "Bermejo is the preparatory state for hell." Despite this, these were 6 of the most cherised months of my entire life.

There are 4 branches in the Bermejo district. There are even 2 chapels! This is remarkable for such a small town where there are no buses you hardly ever even need to take a taxi. There is also a Jehovah's Witness chapel in the middle of the town. While I was there, there was also a German missionary named Juan.

I met Juan one day when we were walking down the street of their chapel. I was new to the area and didn't know that this building belonged to the Jehovah's Witnesses. Juan was painting the outside wall. He was tall and white (obviously not Bolivian) around 30 years old. Perhaps looking for an opportunity to speak English, I spoke to him. I asked, "What are you doing in Bolivia?" He answered, "I am a missionary." I said, "Oh really? We are too!" (As if he couldn't tell by our name tags.) I found out later that he and his wife had lived in Bolivia for several years already and planned on staying for much longer. I always said "hi" to him when we passed him in the streets. Bermejo is really small. We saw him at least once a week.

While my companion and I went about our business, we met several Jehovah's Witnesses. One of the most basic commandments that we taught to investigators was to keep the Sabbath Day Holy. It is important to devote the day to the Lord. We show our devotion to Him on Sunday by going to church meetings and keeping a reverent attitude throughout the day, even at home. One day we asked a Jehovah's Witness family what their church believed concerning this commandment. They weren't sure. (Which is understandable for a family had not practiced their religion with much devotion.) So the question remained.

Jehovah's Witnesses have some interesting doctrines - a few of which are very close to the sacred doctrines that we believe in. So I was interested to know what they thought about keeping the Sabbath Day holy, a commandment that most of the world does not observe, or at least they observe it very differently that we do.

One day I saw Juan walking up the street. He was passing by the small store where we were making photocopies. I stepped out of the doorway of the store and stopped Juan to talk to him. (He was a little surprised). I told him that I wanted to know what the Jehovah's Witnesses believed concerning keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. I explained to him, "I want to ask you because I know you know the answer. If I ask just anyone, I may not get clear information about your church." He stopped and looked at me and said, "I really appreciate that." He then continued to explain to me what they believed (if you are interested, ask a devoted Jehovah's Witness, not me).

Just like it had happened many times as a missionary, I said something else that perhaps I didn't realize would make a big impact. "Will you do me a favor?" He said, "It depends... " (that probably made him nervous, haha!) "If you ever have a question about our church, will you please directly ask me?" He said he would. Then he asked for a Book of Mormon. We gave him one.

A year later another sister missionary went to serve in Bermejo. A few months later she told me a story about going to see Juan. Juan had that Book of Mormon and was full of questions and the sister missionaries spend over an hour going into detail about the Plan of Salvation and other doctrines. Juan explained to them, "I want to ask you because I know you know the answer. If I ask just anyone, I may not get clear information about your church." That sister missionary didn't know about the conversation that Juan and I had had over a year earlier.

Conclusion:
If you want to know what someone thinks, ask that person. Go to a reliable source. The time that I directly asked Juan about his church led to his returning to the missionaries later to ask them about our church. I really appreciate what Juan did.

So if you have questions about my church, you can ask me and I will help direct you to the source of my answer. For example, "How do you observe the Sabbath Day?" Here's my answer: "Thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates... wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." (Mosiah 13: 16-19, also Exodus 20) And I would also look up some talks by Church leaders and give you my personal experiences in following these commandments.