Temple Square Experience

Nothing But the Blood of Jesus Got Me Kicked out 

Dear FPW's (Faithful Prayer Warriors),

 

Yesterday was our Temple Square Field Trip. I have to say that I do feel empathy for the LDS Temple Security guards because we arrived with about 50 missionaries and as we pulled into the parking lot the mission team from Ankeny, Iowa, was also unloading (I am guessing with about 30 or so more missionaries). LDS Temple Security's job is to NOT allow Christians to witness to their people and 80 well trained Christian missionaries invaded their turf. This reminds me of our Lord's promise found in Matthew chapter 16, Jesus said, "I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Try as they might to hold the fort, yesterday, we stormed the gates and there was nothing they could do to hold us back. 

 

DO NOT GET THE WRONG IDEA!!! We were not making a scene of any kind, we were just one-on-one speaking the truth, quietly and in love. And, I think I can speak for the LDS Security when I say that this type of  battle is a nightmare for them to fight because how do you kick godly Christians who love Jesus and are only speaking truth about Jesus off of the property of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints without looking like the bad guy. Yesterday a multitude of LDS people were challenged with the truths about Jesus and His glorious gospel message.

 

 I wish you could have been a fly on the wall last night as the groups arrived home and shared their stories. I also wish I could have each of the Christian missionaries share their amazing stories with you but as that is obviously not possible I will share a personal experience that I had yesterday with a young LDS lady named Nancy. Multiply my story by 100 and you will get an idea of the impact we had on Temple Square yesterday...

 

I was on the sidewalk just outside the North Gate at Temple Square passing out Jesus Christ / Joseph Smith DVDs when Nancy walked by. I offered her a free DVD and she responded by saying something like this, "No thank you, I am VERY happy in my religion!". 

 

And, I smiled and said, "I am VERY happy that you are happy." Not exactly sure why I said that - it just came out - but it must have caught her attention because a few moments later she walked back to me and asked, "What is your agenda?"

 

So again I smiled and said, "I think that Jesus is the most important person who ever lived on this earth and I think that His words are the most important words that were ever spoken. I just want the LDS people to trust Jesus and His words."

 

Nancy looked puzzled and asked, "You don't think we believe in Jesus?"

 

I think my response caught her off guard, I said, "I think you love Jesus but I don't think you know what Jesus actually taught."

 

Again she looked puzzled so I pulled out one of our new 4 step witnessing tracts (The Eternal Marriage Tract) and said, "I think this may help you to understand my point."(These tracts are GREAT because they draw them into the conversation and lead them down the path we want them to go. It is almost impossible for the conversation to get side tracked.)

 

This was when Nancy asked, "Can we sit down in there and talk about this?" and she pointed inside Temple Square to a bench in the shade. 

 

I said, "They won't let us talk about this inside of Temple Square."

 

She said, "I think it will be okay, nobody will care."

 

So I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Why not", and we went in, sat down and continued our conversation. I was surprised that we were able to sit there and talk as long as we did - probably for about 30 minutes. Then an LDS security guy spotted us and strolled by. A few minutes later he came back with 4 other big bouncer security guys and said, "We can't let you have this kind of a conversation on our property!"

 

Nancy said, "Oh, it's okay, we are just having a very nice conversation about what Jesus taught."

 

The Guard said, "No, you don't understand, you cannot have this type of discussion on temple property."

 

So I asked, "We can't talk about Jesus on Jesus Christ's property?"

 

The Guard then told us that it was really my T-shirt that bothered them. He said that if I wasn't wearing that shirt they would probably let us continue. 

 

I GET REALLY FRUSTRATED WITH CHRISTIANS THAT THINK THERE IS SOMETHING CHRISTIAN ABOUT MORMONISM!!! 

 

How could this shirt be offensive to any true Christian???

 

THE FRONT SAYS

 

 

THE BACK SAYS

 

 

At this point in the confrontation, Nancy said, "This is my fault, I asked him to come in here and sit down, it's MY fault, we will finish our conversation out there." 

 

So, we finished our conversation outside the gate. This was an amazing conversation because Nancy was what we would call a "Molly Mormon" - she was wholly sold out for Mormonism. And we discussed in detail the LDS doctrines of Eternal Marriage, The Preexistence, The Great Apostasy of the Christian Church, and Priesthood Authority. I was able to explain to her that none of these foundational doctrines of the LDS Church were ever taught by Jesus and in fact Jesus flat out disagreed with them. She was visibly shaken. 

 

She then bore her LDS testimony and I was able to show her, using LDS Church materials, that her testimony based upon feelings could not be trusted. I told her that the only person she could fully trust was Jesus and that the only words that would stand the test in the final judgment were the very Words of Jesus himself. Before my conversation with Nancy ended she promised that she would read the Gospel of John with the eyes of a child - that is she would read Jesus Christ's words and just trust Jesus to be true. Nancy also promised that she would contact me by e-mail to continue this discussion. 

 

Please pray for Nancy, our conversation was earth shattering to her. I am certain she had a very bad night last night wrestling with the truths we had discussed. Please, pray with me for God to open Nancy's eyes to His truth. AND, also pray for all the other LDS people who were challenged in similar ways by the army of Christian missionaries that invaded Temple Square yesterday. 

Four "Sisters" & 

The Big Bad Security Guard

Dear FPW's (Faithful Prayer Warriors),

I am certain that not all of you will be able to read all of our Manti Pageant Updates... but I committed myself to send a daily update for those who promised to pray every day for our outreach - so if you don't have time to read these we totally understand. But, PLEASE KEEP PRAYING whether you have time to read these or not.

THE FOUR (LDS MISSIONARY) SISTERS AND THE BIG BAD (LDS) SECURITY GUARD

On Monday we took the Manti Week #2 Mission Teams to the Salt Lake City Temple so they could experience the deception of Mormonism first hand. We sent about 40 Christian missionaries into the various venues surrounding Temple Square while the TGM Staff (myself, Shane, and Josh), went to the North Gate of Temple Square to witness on the public sidewalks. We of course talk with anyone who wants to talk but primarily we pass out the Jesus Christ / Joseph Smith DVDs. These DVDs are wonderful seeds that compare the teachings of Jesus and Joseph Smith and we were able to pass out over 100 DVDs to Temple Square visitors.

In the afternoon, something very unusual happened - four LDS Missionary Sisters came out onto the public sidewalk and leaned against the wall (it was a very hot day and I am sure the shade the wall provided was the draw). Well, of course we saw this as a God given opportunity to share the truth with these young ladies. So we all, one by one, tried to engage the sisters in conversation but they had obviously determined that they were not going to talk with us. This really bothered me and after praying about it for several minutes I again walked up to them very deliberately and said, "I am really bothered by the obvious tension that exists between us. Do you believe that Jesus is the most important person who ever lived on this earth?" 

They all nodded and said, "Yes, of course we believe that."

I then asked, "Do you believe that the words of Jesus Christ are the most important words that have ever been spoken in this world?"

Again they all nodded in agreement.

And I said, "We also believe that Jesus and His words are the most important thing in the world. So why can't we talk?"

One of the sisters very hesitantly said, "What do you want to talk about?"

And I held up side one of our boasting visual and asked, "Do you agree with Alma 26:12? It says, "I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things." 

They said, "Yes, do you disagree?"

I said, "No I agree with Alma 26:12 because it contains a true principle taught in the Bible." I then flipped the visual around and asked this, " The greatest prophet that ever lived said this about Jesus...  "He must increase, I must decrease." Who was this prophet? (Hint, he was the prophet who baptized Jesus.)

They all said, "John the Baptist."

I said, "Right, and why do you think Jesus said that he was the 'Greatest' prophet?"

They all looked at me and shrugged their shoulders so I said, "It was because he said, 'Jesus must increase and I must decrease.' John wanted all the glory to go to Jesus."

I then flipped to the other side of the tract and said, "Would you agree with this statement from Ezra Taft Benson (he was an LDS prophet about 20 years ago), President Benson said, "In the scriptures there is no such thing as righteous pride - it is always considered a sin... Pride is essentially competitive in nature. We pit our will against God's... As Paul said, they "seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's." (Beware of Pride, April General Conference, 1989)
Again the girls asked, "Are you saying you don't agree with this statement?"

And again I said, "No, I actually do agree that pride is pitting your will against God's will. Pride is when you lift yourself up and push Jesus aside."

By this time the girls were looking a bit puzzled because we were agreeing on every point - we all agreed that pride was bad and that Jesus should receive all the glory. This is where things began to get interesting because I flipped the tract and asked, "Would it ever be okay for a person to make this claim... 'I have more to boast of
than ever any man had... I boast that no man ever did such a work as I.' "

One of the Sisters immediately responded by saying, "I have seen this before... are you trying to say that Joseph Smith said this?"

I said, "Right now I am only interested in your opinion about this statement. But, let's say that it was Joseph Smith who said this, would that be okay? Would it be okay for a prophet of God to say, 'I have more to boast of than ever any man had... I boast that no man ever did such a work as I' "?

She said, "I think that even prophets can make mistakes, so if he did it wouldn't bother me!"

I said, "Really? Because it was Joseph Smith who proclaimed this in a public sermon to the saints. Let me read the entire quote to you, Joseph Smith said, "I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together... Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him, but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet." (History of the Church, Volume 6, published by the LDS Church, pg. 408-409.) Is is okay for a prophet of God to boast that he has done a greater work than even Jesus?

Again the Sister said, "I already told you that I think prophets can make mistakes."

I now moved to the next point in the Boasting Tract and said, "Do you know that there is a worse sin in the Book of Mormon than pride? It is found in Jacob chapter 2:22-28 which says this, "I make an end of speaking unto you concerning this pride. And were it not that I must speak unto you concerning a grosser crime, my heart would rejoice exceedingly... For behold, thus saith the Lord: this people begin to wax in iniquity... for they seek to excuse themselves in committing whoredomes... David and Solomontruly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me... Wherefore, I the Lord God will not suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old. My brethren hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be onewife; and concubines he shall have none; For I the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me."

I then said, "Do you know that Joseph Smith was guilty of exactly what this passage is talking about? He married 10 teenage girls two of which were sisters which is contrary to the Law of God. He also married two sets of Mothers and daughters which is also contrary to the Law of God. And imagine this, he married 11 married women who had living husbands. What do you think the definition of 'whoredoms' is? I think these marriages were abominations to God."

One of the Girls said, "Why are you trying to tear down Joseph Smith, we believe he was a prophet of God?"

I said, "Because we all agreed at the beginning of our conversation that the words of Jesus are the most important words that were ever spoken and Jesus warned us to test prophets by the fruits of their lives. When I obey Jesus and put Joseph Smith's life to the test I see self exalting pride and immorality with multiple women. These are not the fruits of a true prophet of God. Believe me, I am not trying to tear down your faith in Jesus I believe in Jesus with all my heart - I want you to trust Jesus - not Joseph."

This is where the BIG BAD LDS SECURITY GUARD enters the story. He walked up and listened to a portion of our conversation - which was calm and all about Jesus. He then said, "You are not allowed to corner our missionaries like this!"

I said, "Sir, I have not 'cornered' these young ladies. We are simply talking. Do you think I forced them to stay here and talk with me? They can walk away from this conversation any time they wish."

The Guard then pointed to the gate and told the girls to go inside and they all walked inside Temple Square. As they were walking away he sternly said to me, "I am warning you to leave our missionaries alone you do not have the right to trap them like this!"

I just calmly said, "We are on the public sidewalk and I did not trap anyone. I have every legal right to talk with anyone on the public sidewalk who is willing. I was asking the girls questions and they were engaging me in conversation. We were simply talking about Jesus and his warnings concerning false prophets. Anyone who claims to be a member of Jesus Christ's church should follow Jesus and should heed his warnings don't you agree?"

He then said, "The missionary sisters contacted me for help. Whatever you were telling them obviously made them feel uncomfortable so I am telling you to leave them alone."

I said, "Sir, sometimes the truth is uncomfortable! I am a devout follower of Jesus and have based my life on His words. Jesus commanded his followers to proclaim His message to the world. I just want those girls to trust Jesus and follow His teachings even if it is uncomfortable. I also want you to trust Jesus alone and base your live on His words. Are you doing that?"

The Guard then said, "I am not going to argue with you" and he turned and walked away.

Please pray for these missionary sisters. Yes, our conversation was "uncomfortable" but they needed to hear the truth about the false prophet they are following. Also pray for the "Big Bad Guard" he is human too and he has a very difficult job. Imagine being hired by the Church of Jesus Christ to stop Christians from talking about Jesus.

PLEASE KEEP PRAYING! We are looking forward to a very busy week - the Christian missionaries on the pageant streets this week number, we are guessing about 250. The biggest group of missionaries we have ever had on the streets.  

The 2012 Manti Pageant Experience

Training for the Manti Pageant 2012

CHRISTIANS GET READY... THE DIKE HAS A CRACK? NO! THE DIKE HAS LOTS OF CRACKS AND IS ABOUT TO BURST! Dear FPW's, TWO BISHOPS ATTENDED THE SATURDAY TRAINING SESSION! THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE!!! In our Saturday morning training session we had not one but two LDS Bishops in attendance. And even more unbelievable than that they are both Christians. Bishop Lee and Bishop Earl both left the LDS Church and are today bold witnesses for the cause of Christ. Bishop Lee Baker spoke to the Manti Teams on Saturday morning and next Saturday Bishop Earl Erskine will speak to the teams. Their message is clear - CHRISTIANS GET READY BECAUSE THE DIKE IS ABOUT TO BURST!  I only have a few minutes so will not go into detail but suffice it to say that it is VERY encouraging to have former LDS Bishops boldly standing against the false doctrines of the LDS Church. When Bishops start leaving the congregations will soon follow. Only God know when and how but we had better be ready when the dike breaks.

SATURDAY PAGEANT WAS HUGE WITH MANY OPPORTUNITIES

This year's Saturday pageant was the largest crowd that I can remember for many years. It almost looked like a Friday night crowd which meant many opportunities for witnessing. Several of us were able to talk all night with LDS friends that we have made over the years. I talked with a young man who has come to the pageant just to find me and talk for the past four years. Zach is drawn to me (I believe by the Lord) and loves to talk. It is funny because the whole time we are talking he tells me, "You are NOT getting to me!" or "Nothing you say can shake me!" But, it is obvious that everything I show him shakes him. This year my focus with him was the "Boasting Statement" by Joseph Smith where he brags that he has done more than any other man including Jesus. Oh yea, this got to my dear LDS friend. Please pray for Zach he is fighting but God is obviously working on him.

Another very interesting encounter was one that Keith Walker, one of our veteran missionaries, has year after year. In Keith's case, his LDS friend has been coming to talk with him for (I think 7 years). And this guy seems to be totally drawn to the truth. This year he even stayed for several days and attended our training session with Bishop Lee on Saturday and our church on Sunday morning. Please pray for God to crack the hold that Mormonism has on him.

Blessings,
Chip

Missionaries to Colorado City!

Brody & Elizabeth Olson

We Finally Arrived!

We pulled into Colorado City this past Monday, May 28th. We were anxious to see the house, the community, the people and our new landlord. We drove 2,671 miles from Virginia Beach to Colorado City, AZ and had a combined total of 0 problems. The Lord was so good to provide such smooth travel for our fully-loaded trailer and newly purchased '03 Ford pick-up. We have been so blessed to have friends in Virginia, Wyoming, Utah and Arizona that made this trip so successful and encouraging so thank all of you so much!

Please be in prayer for Brody & Elizabeth Olson!