www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Parish Life & Evangelization What to say to Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses when they come?

Woah, a subject I know something about. I was a Mormon before becoming catholic and there is no way I would ever go back!!!! I am the only catholic in my family now, so when I told my mother she wasnt happy but when she comes on vacation I invited her to my parish not to convert her just to let her know how happy and how much It makes sense to me much more then being a mormon. When the so called bishop from the Mormon church wrote me about coming to there service, I called him and told him nicely that I was becoming byzantine catholic and I was not intrested in anything that the lds church had to offer, and to my amazement I got a letter from Salt Lake saying I was no longer a member of the LDS church. My priest had a laugh over it. lol So as someone said "Been there done that aint going back."

Hanni49er,

Please do tell. What led you out of Mormonism?

What things should we be saying to the Mormons who knock on our door?

The last time the Mormons came to my house (!) each of the pair of them introduced himself as "Elder" Smith or whatever. I invited them in and we sat down in the living room. In a matter of minutes, one of them began to first-name me. I stood up and said "sorry, guys, but the house rules do not allow you to insist on your titles but simultaneously decline to use mine."

Bye-bye Mormons.

Fr. Serge

Blahoslovy!

Good for you, Father. As a priest you deserve the respect due to your vocation.

Your unworthy son,

Dr. Eric

Dear Father,

Good for you!

What in the world are the Mormons doing trying to prosletyze and preach to the good Christian people of Ireland, and to you, especially?!?

Respectfully,
Alice

Few things led me away from the Mormon church, first one being charity, in the Mormon church you must give 10 percent of your pay to the church ok I can deal with that but if you are not worthy enough to recieve food from them because you didnt pay the tithe that they want you too. grrr I belive in the bible they talk about charity and doing good works for others. Second why do they have to have secret ceremonies? When I was dating my late bf he asked me to come to Las Vegas with him, and I agree'd, when the so called bishop (that is a person in charge of a church building) found out he called my mother and not me. grrr That is my business and when I get to heaven I will be accounted for all my sins not my mom. The mormons will confuse you with there book of mormon and how Joesph Smith found the so called golden plates. Ok, so that was in the 1800s so can the missionaries take they church back all the way to Christ time like Catholic's can. Why dont they believe in crosses and why dont they celebrate Mary she gave birth to Jesus. My mother actually said something to make me mad after my boyfriend died last year, she said dont worry honey he will have 10 wives up there waiting on him. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! She wanted to do work for Andy in the temple and I said absoultely not!!!!! Andy was a catholic and he never ever was going to change that. How can Mormons decided for there deceased realatives to change there religions after there dead, another bad point to me. I can go on and on about Mormons. Do you know if your a young man of 18 to 21 you are expected to go on a mission and pay for it, I am not sure if the Mormons help out at all. And young women go when there 21. So if a mormon ever comes to your door ask them about there garments ask them why is there temple ceremonies secret?

Hanni

I disagree with Hanni on the above points. I believe it would be a mistake for one of us to ask a Mormon missionary about his or her "garments." ("Garments" are the special underwear that Mormons who have been to the temple wear.) First, it would be considered vulgar to ask any stranger about their underwear and second, while the idea of special underwear seems ludicrous to us, it would be improper and reflect badly on us to disrespect an important part of their religion.

Regarding their temple ceremonies, the stock answer is, "They're not secret, they're sacred" and so they don't discuss them.

Dear Alice,

Thank you! The assault by the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses on this country is a serious nuisance. I don't smoke, and I seldom drink coffee, but I'm tempted to keep a box of cigars and a pot of coffee on hand at the times of day when these people are apt to come pounding on the door. They have the manners of a snapping turtle and the crust of a stale pie.

Now, to underwear. I have no wish to learn what sort of underwear is stylish in Mormon circles. But here's some information on the High Priest's attire in the Holy of Holies in the Temple at Jerusalem long ago:

The High Priest alone could enter the Holy of Holies, and even he was allowed in only once a year. For this purpose, he had special vestments reserved for this one occasion (the Levites kept the vestments in repair). He would set out for the Temple on Day of Atonement wearing his best clothes.

Meanwhile, the Levites would have prepared a set of new linen underclothes for the High Priest to wear in the Holy of Holies. The High Priest would prepare for this most sacred moment of the year by taking a complete bath (in private, of course), putting on the new linen underclothes and then the sacred vestments. He would then solemnly process through the Court of Israel and the Holy Place, and enter the Holy of Holies alone to offer prayer and sprinkle the Ark with the sacrificial blood (there was, of course, no longer an Ark in the HOly of Holies after the Babylonian conquest).

In order to preclude any entry of anyone else into the Holy of Holies, the High Priest also wore a linen cord tied about himself, with the other end of the cord out in the Holy Place, so that in case he collapsed or (God forbid) die in the Holy of Holies, he could be pulled out without someone else having to go inside. I'm not aware that it was ever necessary to use this cord, but it was always there just in case.

At the appointed time, the High Priest would leave the Holy of Holies - walking backwards - and the recessional would lead him back to his apartment in the Temple, where he would remove the sacred vestments and return them to the Levites, remove the new underclothes, take another complete bath, and resume his own best clothes.

The Levites would of course care for the sacred vestments, examining them minutely for the slightest rent or other imperfection which might require repair.

But the underclothes would be deliberately dis-assembled and made into linen wicks, to light the temple lamps throughout the year! Thus absolutely nothing which had gone into the Holy of Holies would ever leave the Temple precincts except the actual person of the High Priest.

Fr. Serge

Dear Friends,

I'm finding all this so fascinating.

My issue is that I try to convert them or sow the seeds of doubt.

After they leave, I think to myself, "What a bad Christian I am that I can't witness to them and don't seem to make a dent in their 'invincible ignorance.'"

Now, what would you say to me?

Alex

Alex, we do not convert anyone. It is the Holy Spirit who converts. And even the Holy Spirit cannot convert someone who has eyes but will not see and ears but will not hear.

Just witness; tell them what you believe. That's all that's expected of you. And worry less about converting Mormons than about your neighbors who are unchurched, those who have never read the Bible, those who would be open to hearing the Gospel, those who are hungering for the Word!

Dear Sophia,

You are truly "Sophia - Wisdom!"

I bow to your erudition.

Alex

Dear Sophia,



God Bless,

Zenovia

I agree! Her words were true words of wisdom!

Alice

You have to understand my comments, I am very upset at the people I dealt with in the Mormon religion. I would never ask a missionary about there garments, and I said garments not underwear but they need to understand that something being sacred and something being secret is two differnet totally things. And if there ceremonies benefits themselves and there deceased loved ones why then do you have to be a strick tithe payer to take part in these ceremonies. Do you understand what I am saying? But when is the last time you saw a priest say hey give us 10% or no mass for you, YOU WOULD NEVER HEAR THAT! But after becoming a catholic, mormons make no sense to me or there ceremonies. I would never ask a missionairy to explain there garments for I know all about them. Why does it take a year to convert to being a catholic and sometimes less then 3mths to convert to being a mormon? I know what kind of life I lived through the church (not my family life) and I know what they taught me and how I missed out all these years of something I been searching for. TRUTH!

Hanni49er (what an intriguing handle, dude),
as an ex Mormon myself, one who returned to historic orthodox Christianity, I can identify. one poster asked what got you out of Mormonism, may I be so presuming to share what got me out?
it wasn't someone showing me Bible verses to prove Mormonism wrong, after all, it was the same technique that got a fifteen year old kid like me into Mormonism in the first place, every cult, every sect, has its spin on Scripture.well, there used to be a coffee house for college students at First Pres in Chattanooga, to which I went. one night, the chaperone and I had a conversation, he asked if I knew Christ as LORD and saviour. I answered that I came to faith in Him at the age of nine (despite my Catholic Baptism as a little one), at a Presbyterian church in Queens, where we lived for four years. okay, but the issue was this: how would I reconcile my belief in salvation in the finished work of Christ with the Mormon works soteriology.that was in February in my sophomore year. it wasn't until that October that the seed planted burst into full bloom. I made the decision right there and then to leave Mormonism, and return to Catholicism, despite the fact that when I was thirteen, I so wanted to be a practicing Catholic and was told ( at the door of the nearby parish)that they would need to see my stepfather first. I told them that he was working six days a week and he really had no time, the lay person I spoke to then told me that the Church had no time for me. you know something, kid? I returned to Holy Mother Church on MY terms, but I did return, and may the Blessed and Immaculate Theotokos pray for my perseverance.
in perspective, I owe a lot to the Mormons. thay gave me a life, damned if any Catholic parish did.I was active in Scouts, I served as YMMIA secretary-- a Ward officer at the age of sixteen(!), I got up to Priest, performed a convert baptism (first time a youth had done that in my Ward, I was seventeen). I had a life, dude.BUT MORMONISM IS WRONG!
when I was in seminary (an EC in a Baptist seminary on a private scholarship paid by a Presbyterian parson, only in America), when it was learned that I was a former LDS, I was hot stuff.I was invited to speak on Mormonism to an adult Sunday School class as a follow up to Moody's "The God Makers" showing in that class. well, I was honest. I avoided the sensationalism, I questioned some of the content of the video, I told the class how Mormonism and Christianity differed, and I told them of my life as an LDS, just as I have told you. they were disappointed. I was not invited back.
dude, I get p***ed sometimes, but don't let some of the posters get to you. they are reflective of the provincial thought of many Catholics and Orthodox in the North, I lived in New York, I love New York, but the provincialism, especially in the Northeast, annoys me. these types have always lived in an ecclesiastical ghetto, and cannot relate their faith to any one different than themselves,they know nothing of thier non Catholic or non Orthodox neighbor and what and why they believe. they show a sad ignorance of cults, which is why so many Catholics and Orthodox get suckered into these cults. here in Dixie, the lines are porous: you can have Catholics, Baptists, Church of Christ, and every thing else in one family. you may not agree, you may not know the theological intricacies, but you are aware, and you learn to get along, and may be astute enough to find what you have in common, or should I say Who in common, Jesus Christ.
persevere, kid.
Much Love,
Jonn