Friday, December 18, 2009

LDS: Testify!

I'm afraid I've been negligent. I've had three meetings with the Mormons since I last posted about one. This is largely because of a paper I was writing in my academic life, but is also a result of my rampant procrastination.

Despite my generally vague memory, there are some things about the recent meetings that have really stuck in my mind; and I will try to relate those as well as I can, though I warn you that what I still remember is not deeply theological. If that is what you are after, I am sure it will come up in later posts.

Also, I must mention that B— has been with me at two of these meetings (and would have been all of them if I had asked), and has greatly helped the conversation along, especially by adding some inductive questions to my largely deductive approach.

And now on to the report.

First off, there has been a reorganization of the LDS mission areas. As a result, I am no longer meeting with Elder M. and Elder C., who have been transferred to Nova Scotia. Elder C., sadly, had to leave before I could say goodbye – I understand they are often transferred with little notice, as was the case here. Of the three meetings I have referred to, the first was with Elder M. and Elder V.

Elder V. was in Fredericton during the summer, before being replaced by Elder C., and so was an old friend. He had been transferred to Woodstock, but was passing through Fredericton on his way to his own new posting in Nova Scotia, and so he accompanied Elder M. to meet with us.

The second meeting with with the new elders, both from Utah, Elder Mo. and Elder R.

Elder Mo. is an extremely tall guy who seems to have thought about his beliefs quite a bit. He is 18 months into his mission, and seems to genuinely enjoy answering questions about his beliefs. Elder R. is a quiet guy near the end of his mission (they last 2 years), who pipes up occasionally with a solid or helpful comment. Though shy, he is bold to speak what he thinks is important, and I appreciate that.

The third meeting was with Elder Mo. and Elder J., who was visiting from St. Stephen. Elder J. was visiting a different mission area, as missionaries often do, so that they aren't just working with the same person constantly for months on end, and so they can have some experience in different environments and with different partners.

In our last meeting with them, Elders M. and V. told us the stories of how they became Mormons. I had already told them the story of how I became a Christian, so this seemed fair. I was intrigued by Elder V.'s testimony especially, since in some ways it paralleled my own. In particular, he wasn't interested in God for a long time, his older sister became a believer before he did, and he did a fair bit of investigating before his conversion.

Elder M. became a Mormon largely because of a prayer for a relative who had an eye condition that he had been told was incurable. The condition was repaired very rapidly, and Elder M. attributes this to prayer from some members of the LDS. It got him investigating the faith, until he also had a moment when he felt that he knew with certainty that it was true.

Testimonies are one of the key elements of the Mormon experience. Every missionary I've met so far has had at least one particular experience that has confirmed to them the truth of some important aspect of their beliefs. These experiences often, but not always, have included a feeling called by Mormons "the burning in the bosom", that is recognized as a manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
 Elder Mo. felt it when, after a long time of questioning whether his beliefs were authentic or not, he read Moroni 7:16. For him, since he grew up in Utah where (according to Wikipedia) between 58 and 72% of the population are Mormon, it was hard to distinguish between responses to social/psychological pressures and true belief. He even admitted to us that he suspects that a great many of the Mormons there only see their religion as a social thing – just like many Christians do. For him, the burning his his chest and accompanying conviction that he felt when reading that passage demonstrated to him unequivocally that the book of Mormon is true, and furthermore that he could know it was true by its "fruits" (cf. Matthew 7:15-20), the good things that came of following it.

I have so say, this "burning in the bosom" thing sounds all too familiar to me. I have for years described the first time I experienced what I identify as God's presence as "feeling like my chest was about to explode," among other things. In fact, the first time any Mormons told me about the "burning in the bosom" was a few years ago when I was meeting with Sister C. and Sister K. (also missionaries), and they asked me about my experience with religion. After I described that part of the story, I remember them looking at each other a little surprised, and then one of them saying something along the lines of, "well, we talk about that sort of thing all the time!" and going on to discuss the experience of Joseph Smith (who also felt it), etc. In the end they decided that I have experience the presence of the Holy Spirit but not its fullness.

To wrap up the testimonies, something a little different from Elder J. His testimony comes from a time when he was confronted by a non-Mormon friend, about whether or not he believed non-Mormons would go to Hell since they were not part of the church. Elder J. reports that he was very unsure how to answer, since he didn't know much of the details of LDS doctrine at that time, but thet he started talking about it and words came to him – reminds me of Mark 13:11. He was more fully convinced later, when he discovered that LDS doctrine was consistent with the answer he had been given.

Elder J. was testifying in response to a question about the afterlife. B—, as he has several times in the past, was complaining to the Mormons that by revealing powerful truths to him now they are – if their beliefs are correct – heaping more condemnation on his head for not accepting the beliefs now when he is most able. (The LDS believe that we will still be able to change our fate after we die, during a time when they believe we will live as spirits, before the final separation into the three heavens and the outer darkness. It's a bit like purgatory, but only a bit. I have been told by some Mormons that it will be more difficult to change our beliefs as spirits.) Elder J. has, as a result of his testimony experience, thought a lot about the afterlife, and what the fate will be of those who are not Mormons in this life, and impressed me in a way that I think emphasizes the dedication of the missionaries to LDS orthodoxy, as well as their honesty.

Elder J. started to talk about some of his ideas about the afterlife, and then hesitated for a moment. He said, "Okay, now this is me speaking," and took off his name tag. He then went on to tell us that, in his opinion, we will all be given ample opportunity in the spirit world to change our ways, since God really does want everyone to reach the highest heaven possible (called the Celestial Kingdom in LDS parlance). It was important to him on one hand to answer B—'s concern as well as he could, and on the other, not to represent his own personal ideas as LDS doctrine. I was similarly impressed before with Elder C., who would stumble very awkwardly over explanations because accuracy was more important to him than elegance, and who would refuse to teach as doctrine anything not scriptural, even beliefs common among LDS members.

That is almost all for this entry, although I do want to mention a bit of flattery given by the LDS missionaries at our last meeting. I hope I do this not just out of pride (no doubt it is one of my motivations, given who I am), but also because I think it is an important commentary on how dialogues between faiths can fruitfully take place.

As Elder Mo. and Elder J. were leaving, Elder Mo. told me that, even though we had only met twice, of all of his meetings in the 18 months of his mission he thinks that these have been the most useful. I said I was glad, and asked why, and he said that it's because nobody there really has a hidden agenda, but that everyone seems to be trying as honestly as possible to find out what is true. Given the nature of the contributions of the missionaries to our conversations, I think that although they certainly do have an agenda – one that they are thankfully very open about – they also are willing to investigate their beliefs with a sizeable dose of intellectual honesty. I think that is why these talks work so well.

Stay tuned for a brief theological discussion relating to my latest talks with the Mormons, and a report of my latest interactions with those other door-knockers, the JW's. Soon it I will be on Christmas break and will have time for a great outpouring of blog posts.