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The Catholics believe that the church which Jesus organized during his mortal ministry has continued through the ages even to today and they are that same church. I respect the Catholic Church for standing up for their beliefs and the Pope publicly announcing recently that it was the only true church. I personally cannot see why anyone would devote their life to a religion that they were not convinced was the true one.
We believe that the church which Jesus organized was "...built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;" ( Ephesians 2:20) The reason that these apostle/prophets were so critical to the Lord's church after he had ascended to heaven, was that they were the recipients of revelation (divine communication) from the Lord so he could direct his church (see Galatians 1:11-12 and Amos 3:7).
When the apostles and prophets were all killed, revelation ceased, the Bible ends and the church, left to the interpretations and designs of men went through drastic changes. We believe this was prophesied by Paul concerning a "falling away" that would precede the Lord's Second Coming. He wrote :
1 NOW we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, (2 Thessalonians 2:1 - 3)
In other words, we believe that Christ"s church was lost from the earth and was to be restored in the latter days as promised by Peter:
19 ΒΆ Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:19-21)
The result of this restoration is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Saints in the Bible referred to members of the Church and that is its meaning in the name of the restored Church.) We believe it was restored under the direction of the Lord himself as he chose a prophet and then apostles and prophets on the earth through whom once again he can reveal his will and direct his church. So you can see why we believe his is the only true church on the earth and that is because we believe it is Christ's Church, the same as he organized anciently.
Those who say "Mormons" are weird or are a cult just do not know what the church is about. It frankly has all of the offices, doctrines, priesthood orders and ordinances or sacraments that was found in the ancient church as taught in the New Testament.
The Book of Mormon is an ancient scriptural record written by prophets of God, the first of whom migrated about 600 BC from Jerusalem to Ancient America. The Book of Mormon is "Another Testament of Jesus Christ" because the Lord revealed the same divine true gospel to them as he did to those who wrote the Bible. He appeared to them after his resurrection and he told them they were the "other sheep" he mentioned to the Jews in Jerusalem when he said, "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." ( John 10:16)
His appearance in Ancient America explains the worshipful reaction of Montezuma when the Spanish Conqueror, Cortes, came to Mexico, believing that Cortes was the "Great White God" that had once appeared in this land and had promised to return.
If you are interested in having a Book of Mormon, and to learn more about it, just let me know and I can have the missionaries contact you and they will deliver you a free copy and answer your questions. If you are worried about inviting the missionaries, let me know how to send you a copy of the Book of Mormon and ask me any other questions you would like. You may also want to listen to the presentations at www.donny.com by clicking on Multimedia. I am anxious to help you learn more any way you would like.
Thanks for your question,
Sincerely,
Donny Osmond
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