Coming back to the Universal One true Church

 All humans have an inherent need to discover the purpose of their existence. It's what motivates us every morning. I wasn’t attending mass during my college (Uni) years. But I sought meaning in life in the material world with new age beliefs. It is this search that led me to learn about the "restored" Gospel of Jesus Christ through the missionaries of the Latter Day Saint (LDS) Church.  By the time I landed my first corporate job and immersed myself into work and hanging out on Friday’s late into the night drinking and smoking, I was only Catholic on paper. I allowed myself to be deceived into thinking that if I was a good person and believe in Jesus that is sufficient. So after being pursued for months and maybe even years by Mormon Missionaries, I was baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Prior to making my LDS baptism decision, I never sought to determine the authenticity of the teachings passed down through the tradition of the Catholic Church. Allow me to share a personal experience regarding my recommitment to living and seeking the truths revealed by the Saints and Martyrs over the 2000 years of the Universal (Catholic) Church.

Image of The Archangel that defeated Lucifer, Michael, now facing a different manifestation of the same evil with the rebellious Angel Moroni.

I was a Mormon for over a decade. During this period, I met my now-wife at a Mormon Singles New Year's Eve dance. A year later, we were married in the Latter Day Saint (LDS) Temple. For Mormons, this is a deeply serious commitment, as they take an additional vow to fully live out their consecrated life. We receive a temple garment (some jestingly refer to it as "magic underwear"), which is intended to be somewhat similar to a Catholic who prays the Rosary daily and wears their scapular. So, to me, it seemed quite ordinary to do so and continue on the path towards being ordained a High Priest in the LDS Church.  I paid my 10% tithe, quit porn, smoking, tea, coffee and alcohol as its a requirement to maintain that healthy lifestyle of upward progression to earn a temple recommend. So I felt great about that accomplishment! As I walked through the temple doors with my temple recommend, I thought Jesus would be in the LDS temple waiting to embrace me with his Holy Spirit coming down upon me and giving me a Pentecost like confirmation that the LDS church is the true church of Jesus Christ. Well, that spiritual confirmation never came. I was called to serve in Youth Program under my LDS Bishop and attended their Religious Education programs. At various points in my journey within the LDS Church I was also called to be a local ward missionary within my community. I had the privilege of reading the level of detail missionaries keep on their visits that I realized that the LDS church plays a long term game in conscripting our souls. It wasn’t till after 8 years of going through LDS Church History that I came to know how against the creeds the LDS teachings are. As I began tracing its origins in Joseph Smith's fascination with Freemasonry the Holy Spirit began revealing to me its fallacy. As you would find in freemasonry Joseph Smith Jr. was Inspired by the thoughts on Human progression into Godhood in the last years of his life. Joseph Smith brought back the very heresy all other Bishops condemned that led to the exile of Bishop Arius. However, this Arian heresy simply didn't go away. Joseph Smith and many pioneers were also Freemasons such as his succesor Brigham Young (The author of the Adam God Theory). The predominantly Latter Day Saint township of Nauvoo, IL would become a defacto state with its own military. This political unrest leads to the "Martydom" of Joseph Smith Jr. Emma Smith his wife remains back in Nauvoo. Descendants of their son would form a Reformed Latter Day Saint movement See: https://cofchrist.org/

I highly recommend checking them out if you are interested in learning about the variations within the restorationist movements of the 1800s-1900s. The Emma Smith faction would begin reforming the church towards the Apostles Creed while the Brighamite faction that left out west to Utah after the death of Joseph Smith would continue to demonize the creed so much that their own members have no interest in reading about them today. The missionaries of the Brighamite group are sent out without a proper education on how their founder, received his revelation to start the LDS church by reading the Bible compiled by the Catholic Church from fragments of manuscripts to a fully bound Book that made its way to the Smith family home. When Joseph found out that he can’t just add new scriptures without being called by an authorized priest from the direct line of Apostles, he broke away from mainstream Christianity. In 1838, he added into the introduction page of his altered first vision account a full description of that vision, where God the Father and Jesus told him to part ways with the Catholic Church for their “creeds are an abomination before God.” That sure didn’t sound like it came from Jesus Christ to me. I spent 4 years asking myself, "why am I still at this church taking this blackmail from my wife?" Her go to threat was "I will write an email of every sin I've documented on you with screenshots of your Men's locker room conversations and send it to my Mormon Bishop. So try me." I didn't want to disrupt my children's childhood as I remember my mom taking us from our Dad when we were kids and that was very hard to deal with as a boy in Catholic school. So I didn't want to rock the boat. Until one day my wife sent that email out to my Mormon Bishop. The Bishop's job like any Parish priest is to help the sinner overcome his Sins and may assign you scriptures to study as part of your penance. While contemplating the Joseph Smith Translated Scriptures, a question arose in my mind: "If Joseph Smith received a revelation to initiate this new church by reading the Bible, then the Church that compiled this Bible can't be as negative as Joseph Smith portrayed it to be. What are the chances that the Bible Joseph Smith read from was not the issue, but rather our own willingness to seek the truth for ourselves?" That day I felt the Holy Spirit envelope me assuring me that staying in that church was going to not only lead to my damnation but also affect the spiritual wellbeing of my two daughters. So I resigned. Leaving the LDS church is a process. You have to endure the shame of being shunned and in my case Church sponsored parental alienation. I didn’t get to see my daughters for three months. I only got to see them from the residence of one of their priesthood leaders and all my conversations with them were to happen under their priesthood supervision. Sound like a cult? Well it sure did convince me that my decision to return to the Catholic Church is worth all their shaming and disfellowshipping. I am so relieved to be back in my spiritual home. I missed the Eucharist and Adoration. I have not felt that connection in their LDS temple when I was living a pretty righteous life by their superficial standards. I went to my Parish and kneeled before the priest in confession and began my return to the Catholic Church.

I am now embarking on a journey through the History of the Catholic Church. Saint by Saint, I am tracing the Catholic Church's legacy back to the early 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D., to figures such as the Church Fathers, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, Athanasius, and Iranaus. They had a profound impact on my conversion to the Catholic Church's apostolic teachings, which were passed down from Peter and the apostles through Jesus and carried forward by the aforementioned Bishops ordained with Apostolic authority.

Contrary to the beliefs held by Mormons, I am now firmly convinced that the Church was never in apostasy, and God did not abandon it (Matthew 16:18). I prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide me out of Mormonism and towards the Catholic Church. Today, my wife continues to lead her life as a devout Mormon, while I am a practicing Catholic in separate physical and spiritual homes. I do not attempt to impose my religious views on her because each individual needs to learn how to discern what is True through their unique journey. Trust that God will bless your efforts as you strive to follow Him! If she doesn't join me on the faith journey to receive Christ in the Eucharist, then that is a cross I am willing to bear for the true Church of Jesus Christ!

This is my testimony of the Kingdom of God on Earth, embodied by the Catholic Church, where the living Christ speaks to us through the Eucharist (Matt 16:18)! Rest assured, I will keep you in all my prayers as you continue on your own spiritual journey.