Manti, Utah Mormon Outreach

For the past few years I have been asked to take part in the Utah Outreach to Mormons in Manti, Utah during the Manti Mormon Miracle Pageant.  Finally through God’s will and answered prayer  I along with a team of 51 people from 7 different fellowships, First Family Church of Ankeny, IA being the majority,  was able to go between June 17 -24.  I was so blessed to be a part of this endeavor and would gladly go again…even possibly for both weeks.  

There was so much packed into the week that I spent that it seemed like I was gone for a month.  The travel was just as long as going back home to visit my parents in NJ.  Thankfully we had power outlets on the bus so we can charge cell phones, laptops and other things to help pass the time.

We continuously had training in addition to the 8 weeks we had previous to the trip.  From the moment we got on the bus we watched training videos and documentaries on Mormonism on the big screens, and listening to audio on our cell phones.  Each day we also had training at Ephraim Church of the Bible in Ephraim, UT which was 6 miles from Manti Temple.   HERE is one such lesson.  There we were able to buy tracts, DVD’s, and Mormon material to share Christ and hopefully open the eyes of the blind of the Mormon indigenous.  It was awesome how much training and materials the church provided.  And I cannot forget the great worship and prayer we had while we were there.  You can listen and watch some of it HERE. 

Many prayers were answered during the time we were there.  One of which was getting the tents set up in Christian Ghetto (our park camping spot) with good weather and quickly.  We had not a cloud in the sky and got all 11 tents up in less than an hour.  Logistics throughout the trip went very smoothly from the travel going out to the travel coming back. The only problems that we had were several people getting sick, which is a normal occurrence due to the high altitudes of Utah. 

During our trip we took a tour of Salt Lake City and traveled around a bit to see the history of Mormonism straight from the source.  It gave me a whole new outlook on Mormonism than ever before.  I thought it was deceptive before, but this trip confirmed it. 

We took a walk through the Church Museum where they showed mostly the exodus out of Missouri to Salt Lake City.  The one thing that really got me thinking was Joseph Smith’s bible and some of the original transcripts of the Book of Mormon which they called “ancient writings”.  Last time I checked, Civil War era was not considered “ancient”.  But it was interesting that his bible was all scratched out and edited to fit his doctrine.     

Next we took a walk over to Temple Square and saw a film in the Joseph Smith building called, Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration.  It was probably the most deceptive thing of the whole trip in which right in the beginning it tells you that it's all true, when it wasn't.  It depicted Joseph Smith as a God fearing, family man who loves the Lord.  This couldn’t have been further from the truth.  Joseph Smith dabbled in the occult with his peep-stones, he had 33 other wives (some of which were under aged or married, which he had the nerve to say God ordained it.  They never showed the translation process of the Book of Mormon, nor do you see the gold plates at all.  So much was left out but they managed to add that he healed the sick and raised the dead (which never happened).  We also went to the Temple Square Visitors Center which I called the “Grand Propaganda Building”. This housed TV’s so you can watch LDS commercials, and get a look at the SLC Temple dollhouse which shows what it looks like inside without being there, and equipped with missionaries to answer any questions (which I had a few myself).  We were able to witness with a few LDS missionaries practicing to go out on mission and it was interesting to see their reaction to some of our questions.  It was great practice to go on the streets of Manti. 

Witnessing on the streets of Manti was challenging, but also in a way was normal for me.  It’s always a challenge to engage someone in conversation so you have to be pretty creative when it comes to starting a conversation.  Tracts are a good way of doing that.  I can’t go into detail with every conversation, but the ones that stick out in my mind were the really good ones. 

My first encounter was in the food court with a teenage girl and her two younger brothers.  I used a display called, “Heavenly Father’s Plan of Salvation” where I got it from Deseret Books in Temple Square, SLC and gave it to them and asked them if that was truly what their church teaches.  They said it did.  But then I asked them, “What was missing”?  That’s when they really opened up and after 5 minutes and giving up, I said, “Jesus.  You belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and according to this document from your church, Jesus…is NOT a part of Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation.”  So I asked another question, “So according to this document, who saves who?” which one of the boys said it clearly, “we save ourselves.”  That’s when their phones went off the hook and their parents were calling to tell us to leave the conversation.  The devil hates it when we share our faith.  

 

It was cool to watch the eyes of the blind wake up and realize what they are doing, living, and experience is wrong.  There was one kid, Wyatt, who was really confused at what Rob Sivulka was open-air preaching.  And when confronting Wyatt in a way using the 10 Commandments to awaken his conscience, it was amazing to see how he couldn’t understand what I was talking about then in the following 15 minutes totally understanding and joyful of what I was showing him through God’s Word.  It was pretty mindblowing especially when he went away with a New Testament hopping and jumping so full of joy and turning around seeing that you had a group of Christians who witnessed the whole thing saying that a miracle just happened.  It was totally cool. 

There were a lot of “firsts times” while we were there.  It was the first time:

·         during the pageant that every Christian had at least one witnessing encounter.

·         there were not enough actors to perform just one part in the pageant and they had to double or even triple up on parts.  There has been a significant decline in members every year.  This has been because of the efforts of us Christians taking time and going to Manti to share our faith, and also the internet in which questions are being asked...and answered. 

·         the tours at Temple Square were shut down.  This was due to too many Christians taking tours and asking questions. 

In short it was an amazing trip.  If you have a heart for the Mormon people, and those trapped in Mormonism and you desire to see those saved with the true gospel, I highly recommend going to this event.