ClobberBlog | Mormonism, Evangelical Christianity

A few weeks after I met Aaron in LDS chat and after we’d had a number of exchanges and arguments, I reached a point of bleak depression in my study of the LDS church. My interactions with LDS apologists and the Pratts had completely worn me out. I was angry and I was exhausted and I snapped. I logged on to talk to him and told him I was completely done with Mormonism. I did not want to study the church anymore, I did not want any questions answered, I did not want to argue. I just wanted to get back to being an evangelical and leave Mormonism well alone.

He seemed really disappointed at that. I spent the weekend determined to keep my promise, going about my business and not logging into any discussion boards or talking with any LDS apologists in chat. A few days later, he asked me if I was still “done” with the LDS church. I said pretty much. He decided to let me know that ever since I had told him that, he had been fasting for me. He fasted for me for three days straight, I guess to plead with God for me to not give up on Mormonism.

I was touched. For starters, he had no idea who I was. I mean, he thought this was me:

But since this was in fact the Internet and we had not spoken on the phone yet, for all he knew, this could have been me:

So, I was impressed that he would do so much to reach out to a total stranger. I guess I decided to stick around.¹

Aaron was a true friend, and I knew it. As far as religious dialogue goes, he became my best friend at the time, and he would still listen to my problems that had nothing to do with Mormonism. I knew that conversion was his endgame, but unlike the Pratts, he at least tried to answer my objections and did not attempt to trump me with frequent testimony-bearing. After a frustrating argument over early Nauvoo polyandry, I asked him if he really thought he could convert me by answering all my objections. He replied, “No, but I can be used.”²

On January 12, 2000, I recorded in my journal that I had promised Aaron I would read the Book of Mormon again. So I did. This time I read it as sincerely as I could. I highlighted and marked it up all over the place. I didn’t look for errors in it or things that might contradict the Bible, I just tried to listen to what it had to say, and I noted that it was almost entirely in harmony with the Bible. I also read through it much faster this time, finishing it in less than two months.

Did I pray about it? Certainly. Sorry to say, God did not tell me it was true. He didn’t come down out of the sky and tell me it was false, either. I don’t see why He ever would, given that there is so much truth in it. I do wonder if some Mormons aren’t confusing their testimony of the church with the Spirit’s testimony to the amount of truthfulness in the Book of Mormon.

I actually like the Book of Mormon, and even if I’m arguing with LDS people, I tend to avoid attacks on that book. Suffer it to say that I regard it as faith-promoting, poetic, 19th century fiction. I think it can teach people a lot even if I think almost all of the people in it never existed. However, the logic that a testimony of the Book of Mormon = a testimony of the Brighamite LDS church is something I have never understood.

Aaron went on a mission in April 2000 and returned two years later, when I was starting my junior year at BYU. We kept in touch throughout his mission and remained friends when he returned, even hiking Timpanogos again with my roommates. That time I was more in shape and did not need to be dragged down the mountain. He came to my wedding when I married Paul, and when Paul and I got separated, it was Aaron I called up crying to help me come move my stuff out of our apartment. He did it without trying to use the situation to convert me as some others may have done. He was a true friend. I don’t think I would be the person I am today without his influence on me. He said he wanted to be used. He was.