oh my goodness. Bible Bashes do not work. I would say don't do it. Except also sometimes people just show up and try to like, beat your with their bibles and you just keep trying to leave and it just doesnt work man, it doesnt work.
So we taught this guy and the spirit was SOOOOO STRONG like literally, we all left that lesson smiling so big without motive, except like, there was a motive, it was THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD TELLING THAT MAN THE TRUTH (HALLELUJAH) (can i get an amen?)
so then we went back. and his wife and daughter from an unnammed church that hates mormons but like, copies everything we do? even their church buildings are the same as ours like calm down I know you're jealous because everyone talks more about us than you but like shhhh (im mostly kidding but also the founder is an exmormon so sometimes i think about this relationship like the ex that says theyre over it but never stops talking about you and you're just like "wow this is awkward, I never talk about you...")
anyway. that church. and this lady-his daughter- comes in with her bible and all her study aids and says "you guys have never read the bible. thats why you believe the things you do. if you had read, you would know that everything you said about the plan of salvation (pre-mortal life, life on earth, the spirit world, judgement, and the 3 kingdoms) and starting yelling at us about how we're dumb for believing that a spirit can live without a body and believing in "joseph's lies" and thinking that prophets can exist and lots of other stuff including: that we think its ok to listen to normal music-even if it doesnt have swear words and bad stuff thats a sin to her, but you can watch normal movies that are full of bad stuff?? idk. there were lots of things and we were not talking at all, she WOULDNT LET US LEAVE. the thought entered my mind that she was going to kidnap us in order to save us and I, you know, just wasnt feeling that.
so. After all of that I thought to myself "bare (bear?) testimony and leave, do not bible bash, do not argue" and like oh goodness the spirit was not in that room I felt AWFUL. So I said to her: "you want me to prove to you all of our doctrines in the bible. I'm not going to do that. I could do it. I know where they are. but there's only one thing that matters here-that God answers our prayers. I'd already been in the church for a while when I finally prayed and asked God if Joseph was a prophet, and you know, I didn't even really want the answer to be yes. I wanted something a little easier to follow and believe. I was angry at the church, and I dont even really know why, but I was. So I asked God to tell me if this church was true, and I told him that if it wasn't, I would leave. And he answered. He told me it was true." and right about here the spirit came back and I started to feel good again. "He reminded me that in Amos 3:7 he promised that he would always call prophets, and that he doesn't change. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. So he told me that he called a prophet again, and that prophet was Joseph, and every time I tell someone else about this God tells me again that it really is all true. and thats why I know that if you pray and ask god-"
and I was going to say "he'll tell you too" but the lady didnt let me finish was screamed in my face "you only believe in that other dumb book, you need to study THE BIBLE thats were the truth is there is no such thing as prophets" and I was like "well i mean...amos 3:7 is kind of...in the bible...but ok" and I tried to leave again because wow the spirt RAN AWAY
but what killed me was that my companion started writing down the scriptures she used to study later, because she liked them to teach our doctrine, and so the lady thought that my companion was starting to doubt "joseph's lies" and stopped talking to me-the damned blonde with no help of salvation-and started talking to her saying "you can be free, you can escape" and we were like "yeah we're leaving and not coming back" and she like, was surprised that we wouldnt come back? She told me she would pray for me. That was sweet.
But this only comfirmed more to me that my buddy Joseph Smith was called of God because 2 Timothy 1:7 says For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind; and in her house with her telling me all those things, the only moment that I felt a spirit of power and love and of a sound mind was when I tried to give my most sincere testimony. Every other moment was only a spirit of fear in that whole house.
So yeah. that was the highlight of our week? this church took our two best investigators. That was saturday and last night I literally dreamed that I was fighting with her saying all the things I wanted to say in that moment using all my scripture references and shouting about her sins but thank goodness that i said none of that, because that is not how Jesus works. Don't bible bash. Don't let other people try to bible bash. It just doesnt work.
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