Also, in your e-mail, you said that "the temple rituals were changed only after a book came out that exposed the practices." Based on what you know about me and my family and other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, do you actually believe that any temple ritual or ceremony which contained the hideous things that your sources claimed, is consistent with what you’ve seen from us? There is a scripture that you know well, which says, "By their fruits ye shall know them." Whatever source you’ve used to learn these things is evil in and of itself, and it seeks to undermine the goodness and virtue and the principles and teachings of this church. It is impossible for me to know why people go to the lengths they do to write such outlandish things.

If I were you, I would spend a lot more time studying information about this church from its source rather from its enemies. Otherwise, you’ll continue to get a false, distorted view. There is a great book that you can purchase through Deseret Book right online entitled "Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," which contains a wealth of information regarding the purpose of temples.

Also in your e-mail, there was a question regarding Christian symbols in the church itself. You used the example that there is no cross on our buildings, and that alarms you. You are reconsidering your possible conversion to the church and are wondering if all Mormons have been brainwashed and fooled into thinking that they are living Christ-like lives when they are really being groomed to serve the devil. You can’t really believe that last part is even remotely true based on what you have been taught about the plan of salvation and our great love for our Savior Jesus Christ and you? The great necessity with which we preach concerning living Christ-centered lives comes straight out of the scriptures, and not just from The Book of Mormon, but from countless teachings by the prophets and apostles of the Bible.

Again, I quote the scripture, "By their fruits ye shall know them." I have not been fooled, nor am I blind to the differences between Christ-centered living and occult-driven practices, nor are the more than 11 million members of the church. You said in your e-mail that you were concerned about me. Please don’t be. I know that God lives, that Jesus Christ is our personal Savior, and that He suffered and died for us. I know this! I also know that His atoning sacrifice, which was more excruciating than anyone could ever know, paid the dearest price for our sins, our weaknesses, our sicknesses, and our grief. Everything that troubles us is taken care of by the atonement, if we will just keep His commandments, take upon ourselves the burdens of others that they might be light, stand as witnesses of Him at all times and in all places, and endure to the end. If we do these things, then we will live with Him and our Heavenly Father through the eternities in the celestial kingdom. Satan and all of his followers will be cast into outer darkness, and suffer through the eternities for the great evil they have done for blinding the hearts of men and women throughout the world, throughout all the ages, and for leading them away from Christ. Your suppositions about the possibilities that we could ever worship or follow Satan is groundless, and is apparently based on hate-mongering, salacious, and utterly false information from those who would undermine the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Now, about your concern regarding no crosses on our chapels... while it is true that we are forever grateful for the atoning sacrifice of our Savior, the cross is the symbol of His death. It is the resurrected Christ that we worship. the perfect Christ who atoned for our sins, He who ascended to sit on the right hand of His Father after His work was done on this earth (Heb. 1:1-3). The living Christ leads and guides this church through prophets and apostles on the earth today. We worship Him, we reverence Him, and we love Him more than words can say. While I do not feel critical of those who appreciate having a cross adorning the steeples of their churches, or wear a cross on a chain around their neck to remind them of Christ, our approach is simply different. It in no way makes our worship of Him less than those who prefer the cross to remind them of His death. Simply, we prefer to worship Him in His resurrected state.

In your letter, you cited several excerpts, including the one from Matt. 16:23, where the Savior rebuked Peter, telling him to "get behind me Satan," because Peter was seeing only men’s way of thinking and not God’s way. Using that scripture, you then criticized the LDS belief of eternal progression, which teaches that we can become perfected beings, wherein we will someday (probably after eons of time from now) know what God knows. But you have twisted the teaching and made it seem common or easy. Such belief or attainment is neither common nor easy, but as the Savior Himself said, "straight is the gate and narrow the way, which leads to life eternal, and few there be that find it."

Qualifying to live with God is not an easy task, nor something that can be taken lightly. In Matt. 5:48, it says "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect." Not to oversimplify the principle, but why would our Savior invite us to strive for that perfection if He did not want us to obtain it, or think we might be able to if we would follow His teachings, keep His commandments, and live Christ-centered lives? It’s amazing to me that people fight against such doctrine. I love the doctrine that we have potential of attaining perfection someday. Even though I can see that it is going to be nearly impossible in this lifetime to obtain it, the striving for it blesses us in the attempt. You have mistakenly said that such things should be considered satanic, since they lead people to focus on themselves rather than the Eternal God. Nothing could be further from the truth. The focus is on the Eternal God. The only way that we can obtain such perfection is by giving up self and to concentrating on the needs of others. We need to focus on the eternal aspects of life, and be guided by the Spirit of the Holy Ghost and live our lives according to the teachings of Christ.

In your letter, you criticized the revelation from God that commanded the members of the church to practice (plural) celestial marriage, and cited the 132nd Section of the Doctrine and Covenants. Citing it, I therefore presume that you have a Doctrine and Covenants, and I would bring to your attention a scripture, which is found in the same Section, 132. As we know, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David and Solomon all had more than one wife. Man did not design this principle and doctrine of plural marriage, God did.

You and other critics of a law which has through the centuries been designed to "raise up" a particularly righteous posterity unto the Lord fail to realize the value of it in future generations. After having practiced it for more than 50 years, the Lord was satisfied that it was enough, and He commanded the people through the prophet Wilford Woodruff to discontinue the practice. The faith it took for those members of the church who chose to practice it, as well the faith of those who chose to stop it when the Lord commanded it was unbelievable. If you call the practice of plural marriage when the Lord commands it as satanic, you do "err, not knowing the scriptures." These things were not done by whim, but by commandment from God.

Your letter concluded by degrading our temple ceremony, the temple itself, and the temple grounds in Salt Lake City. You suggested that there are not only signs of the occult scattered about, but that the very words in the temple have somehow in your mind become Satanic in their nature. You are 180 degrees off base and I’m trying very hard to be congenial with you here but when you attack something as beautiful and sacred as temple ordinances, something that means so much to me, something that is so sacred in nature, I get enraged. It shocks me that someone would mock God like that. It is so obvious that you know absolutely nothing about those things, having never attended the temple yourself. It is clear to me that you are being "coached" by Mormon haters who will say anything to undermine the church. They themselves are children of sin, and they blaspheme the most sacred of God’s ordinances. If you choose to follow them, it certainly is your choice. But by their and your fruits we shall know them and you.

Donny

Sincerely,

Donny Osmond


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