I wish to declare my testimony to the world. To do so, I must touch upon my past as it has been a great force for good in the molding of my character. Although raised in a below middle-income home I was surrounded throughout my childhood by wealthy relatives whom I adored and loved with all my heart. The dinner table and family reunions were places of wonderful conversation where knowledge and humor flowed abundantly. God truly blessed me in my early environment. My immediate relatives were doctors, dentists, lawyers, teachers, writers and leaders of every kind both in community and church. To me they were glorious people. They were my life and saved me from much of the adverse effects caused by the divorce of my parents when I was three years old They saved me from the hell I endured living with a wicked stepfather from the age of eight until I was almost eighteen. The presence of this stepfather in my life, gave me the opportunity to develop a great deal of self-discipline and patience. The trials that he put into my life turned me towards my Father in Heaven more than any other single factor.
I was born into the LDS religion and lived it devotedly for fifty-three years.
My love for and belief in God was strong and powerful in my soul even at a very young age. Often I would lay upon my bed at the age of seven, eight and older and feel tremendous emotion and longing for my Heavenly Father
When twelve years old, I received my first witness of the spirit that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was true. That witness was clear and powerful and I have never forgotten the burning of my bosom that Sunday afternoon. I had just finished reading a small fiction book called, “Added Upon,” which touched upon pre-existent life and the Plan of Salvation. I laid the book aside as I lay upon my bed and felt the Spirit of God rest down upon me and consume me for a short period of time. Tears began to flow and I wept at the realization of the truth. It was not emotion that caused me to weep. It was the actual presence of the holy spirit that caused my tears.
My life centered around the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Married at the age of seventeen, I eventually brought forth ten very excellent children. At the age of 24 and after bearing three children, I had a most extraordinary experience. It was a supernatural experience which changed my soul. It is described in the Book of Mormon as a Baptism of Fire. It was a great event of spirit and power and was repeated three nights in a row.
During those three periods of time I experienced: the presence of Satan and his demons who were there to discourage me; the testimony to my soul of the Atonement of Jesus Christ; the cleansing of my own blood to pure Israel; a forgiveness of all my sins; a burning out of all desire to sin; and the teaching of many things to my soul by the holy spirit. I became a new creature and, upon my return to the LDS meetings….I felt a stranger to them. Their understanding was shallow and my nature had so been touched by the power of God that I was unable to converse with people about the things I had learned. In eight days I read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover and the Spirit taught my mind and heart the deep meanings of those scriptures as I had never understood them before. I became filled with a great love of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a deep appreciation of my Savior and His great sacrifice for mankind. These were emotions that I had never felt passionately before. Now I did…and it seemed to divide me off from friends, family and even my husband.
After my Baptism of Fire I realized that there was a difference between the “Church of Jesus Christ” and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Recognizing that difference was vital in my spiritual progression.
As the years went by I learned to mask my soul from those around me. Because I could not talk to people about what I had experienced and because I felt alone in my feelings I began to search in secret. I said the things that others wanted to hear and became the woman that people wanted me to be, but my soul searched for the truth. I knew that the LDS Church was not teaching me the truth about the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the Holy Spirit told me so and I could not deny it. Whether the Church was hiding or changing truths, or was simply ignorant of God’s truths, I knew not. I was simply waiting for God to reveal His truths to me. And He did.
Twenty-nine years after my Baptism of Fire, I was gathered by the power of the Spirit to Manti, Utah. It is a place anointed and dedicated for the work of the Last Days. The ancient Prophet Moroni and the Prophet Brigham Young were those prophets who dedicated Manti for the Gathering that is taking place here now.
The events that brought my husband and I and our children (both single and married) to Manti, Utah to experience the class called the “Models” that James Dee Harmston teaches, were orchestrated most powerfully by the spirit of God. It would take me many pages to tell of those events. God directed our lives and brought us here. I sat for 24 hours and listened to the Gospel of Jesus Christ as restored and delivered to us in the forepart of this dispensation by the Prophet Joseph Smith Jr. I listened to the facts of history and holy scripture that showed clearly the beginning of the apostasy of the Mormon Church one hundred years ago. My Father in Heaven gave me clear personal revelation that the Mormon Church took the same path as the ancient Catholic Church and reached complete apostasy in the same amount of time…..about 165 years.
As the “Models” came to an end, I felt a powerful feeling and awareness of familiarity with the doctrines and principles that had been taught–namely the laws of: Plural Marriage, Consecration, Multiple Mortal Probations, Law of Adoption, True Order of Prayer, Priesthood Garment, Patriarchal Priesthood Order, Gathering, Gifts of the Spirit, and Rebaptism. All had been abandoned by the LDS Church because of their desire to be popular with the world. Yet, all these laws were essential to establish Zion. How can a people establish that which they have been commanded to do when they have given away all the tools necessary for the job?
The power of the Lord came upon me, and I knew what I must do. My husband and children knew what they must do also. I had loved the LDS Church all my life. I had taught my children to do the same. I lived in a small Mormon community that I loved dearly. But even more, I loved my family. I loved my relatives with such a powerful and overwhelming love that it was the laying down of my family that I knew would cause the most pain to my soul. I began to understand completely the words of Joseph Smith Jr. in his Sixth Lecture on Faith.
5. For a man to lay down his all, his character and reputation, his honor and applause, his good name among men, his houses, his lands, his brother and sisters, his wife and children, and even his own life also, counting all things but filth and dross for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, requires more than mere belief, or supposition that he is doing the will of God, but actual knowledge; realizing, that when these sufferings are ended he will enter into eternal rest; and be a partaker of the glory of God………….
7. Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things, never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation; (Joseph Smith, Lectures on Faith 6:5, 7)
(I encourage you to get this Six Lecture on Faith and read it all).
This religion that I have gathered to has passed the test. It has required the sacrifice of all things and I bear testimony to the world that it does have power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation. I declare my testimony that God has gathered a remnant of His children to a place that has been anointed and dedicated by ancient prophets for the restoration of Israel and the establishment of Zion because the LDS Church has turned down the job! God has brought forth those of his children that he could depend upon to turn from the world and do that job. He has brought forth His family who made covenants before they came to mortality that they would find the truth and declare it.
Martin Luther once said,
“No greater mischief can happen to a Christian people, than to have God’s word taken from them, or falsified, so that they no longer have it pure and clear. God grant we and our descendants be not witnesses of such a calamity.”
Joseph Smith Jr. gave a warning to the people found in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 18:
….for the Lord will have a place whence His word will go forth, in these last days, in purity; for if Zion will not purify herself, so as to be approved of in all things, in His sight, He will seek another people; for His work will go on until Israel is gathered, and they who will not hear His voice, must expect to feel His wrath. Let me say unto you, seek to purify yourselves, and also the inhabitants of Zion, lest the Lord’s anger be kindled to fierceness. (TPJS, p. 18)
It is my testimony that God’s children who have gathered to Manti by the direction of the Lord are “another people” that Joseph spoke of. We are here by His hand and His spirit and power has sustained us. I bear testimony that God’s spirit and direction has been in my life daily for five years now. God sustains those who stand for His truths and do His work. I have felt His presence. I have heard His voice. I have witnessed His miracles in my life. I have received His comfort, peace and love to my soul. I cannot turn from that which I have received, or I would be damned.
The clues are everywhere throughout the scriptures and the teachings of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and John Taylor that what we are doing here in Manti is exactly what God said would happen. And it is happening by His hand! The LDS Church has laid down the mantle and turned aside from the responsibility of the redemption of Israel. We have accepted that responsibility.
I have received spiritual confirmation that James Dee Harmston is a true Prophet of God brought forth and given the keys to call Israel to repentance, to give warning, to teach the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to establish, once again, God’s Church upon the earth. Fear of authority, family and friends will keep the majority of Israel from seeking out these truths. They will cling to the false precepts that “God will never let His prophets lead his people astray”; that they must “change with the times”; and that “prosperity must surely be righteousness”.
My family, friends and some of my children are mourning my “folly”. My sacrifices have come as sure as clockwork: a family unity that I worked for 35 years to build; my good name and reputation in a community that held me in esteem for that same 35 years; my credibility and position in the LDS Church; the respect of hundreds of family members; my place in the great Edwin Marion Whiting Family Organization; my home, social position, beloved holiday traditions of our family, most of my personal possessions, and the respect of some of my own children.
Yet…..why do I feel such a deep and abiding peace and joy to my soul? Only God can give the kind of peace that I feel. Nor have I ever felt such a joy as I have felt in coming to this place. These feelings of peace and joy have nothing to do with the people around me or the trials that face me here. These are gifts from God. The fact that He has given peace to my soul is a witness that He approves of my actions and He is with me. If He is with me, then these are His truths. It is His truths that will save this dying world…..a world that does not even understand what I am saying right now.
For this reason, I am here in Manti, to do God’s work and to bear testimony to a dying world that is soon to be saved, and I do it in the name of Jesus Christ, my Redeemer, Amen.