MormonInfo.org

May 1, 2003

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support for last month. Last month was quite eventful for me. There is so much I could tell you about the various events that happened, but of course you don't have the time and neither do I. So I'll just give you several items.

The big news is that I was able to have a part in leading Lynn to receive Christ a couple days ago. I first met him last Sunday at church. A girl from there, named Stephanie, invited him to come. She weekly goes to the local park to distribute bagels to the homeless, and that is where she met him. I met him, and found out that he was raised a "Mormon", but wasn't going to the LDS Church anymore. There I got to explain to him the basic differences between Mormonism and Christianity. The next day I ran into him off the street and gave him my tract on the differences between Mormonism and Christianity. The day after that I ran into him right in between the Joseph Smith Memorial building and the LDS Church Administration building, and it was there he gave his life to Christ. Afterwards I took him through a number of verses that speak of our assurance in Christ, and then he allowed me to pray for him. He thanked me, and told me that he's planning on coming back to church this Sunday. Please pray for him, not simply for his spiritual needs, but his physical needs as well. He is looking for work and a place to stay.

I ran into one of my former students off the street. Ryan was with his buddy Ryan, and both were agnostics (I've been running into a lot of agnostics lately). Ryan used to be my student when I was briefly a teaching assistant for world religions at the University of Utah. They both took all my literature, were quite thankful to hear my case for Christian theism, and my former student said that he would definitely be researching the other sources I gave him. He is the third former student of mine that I've run into off the street, and each of them were quite willing to listen to what I had to say and read my literature.

On another occasion, this girl named Lizzy hugged me after I went through the gospel and prayed for God to draw her to Himself and meet her needs as she moved to Oregon. It was a nice gesture after all the other UN-nice gestures I get on a daily basis from angry LDS people.

On another occasion, I and a buddy from Biola University (Glenn Hendrickson) went to tract and preach in front of the Temple entrance on the controversial Main Street Plaza. As usual, an LDS Church security guard came out with a video cam to record what we were doing. But this time I went over to him, introduced myself to the camera, showed what we were passing out, and began preaching for a good several minutes on what I was preaching to the Temple patrons.

I was robbed on the 10th! I had my backpack ripped off in front of Temple Square right behind the public phones, and it had my video cam in it! It was full of a ton of tracts, an LDS Bible and other LDS scriptures (all marked with my notes)! I was keeping an eye on it while I was talking to an LDS couple with a Christian buddy of mine (Tim Den Hartog), and then it wasn't there. It happened very quickly. I filled out a police report just in case it turns up in a pawnshop. Big bummer, but my grandpa gave me his video cam that he doesn't use anymore and my brother and his wife gave me a new backpack. To date, the detective said he would check into whether the LDS Church has video coverage of the event, but said that they told him that they don't keep the tapes very long.

Finally, I have discovered a newly loved area of ministry... the corner of State and South Temple (right across from Brigham Young's house). This is a much busier intersection from where I usually hang out at the South Gate of Temple Square, and it is an excellent place to hold my sign ("MormonChallenge.com"/ "PerfectRighteousness.com") and distribute literature. On the very first day I started there and just a couple hours into it, a handful of cops came by. One of them told me that they had been receiving some complaints that I had been hitting people with my sign. I told him that it doesn't surprise me since Mormons have lied in the past to get me to leave. They just checked to see if I had any warrants out after me or if I've had any arrests. (In case you're wondering, I don't have either.) Later that afternoon, somebody threw dog treats at me out of a car and then somebody else spit at me out of a car. Neither actually hit me though.

Now is it really worth it? Of course it is. Many LDS are being challenged with the truth. And I know my buddy's web site (perfectrighteousness.com) has already been visited quite a bit this past week because of the advertisement. Many LDS won't take a tract due to fear of who may be watching them, but in the privacy of their own home, they will look up a web site. What a joy it is for me to follow Christ and pick up the cross. Because the joy isn't the abuse; the joy is what is set before me (Heb. 12:2). People will get out of the enslavement of the Mormon cult, and will find new life in Christ. I am confident of that. My confidence isn't in me. It's in the transforming power of the Word. God must give the increase. I am simply a seed sower who desires to reap a large crop. Some are content to sow a few plants in pots at home where they can be enjoyed and more frequently looked after. And that's totally fine. But I'm content with the work required to bring about a large crop. Farmers in the field don't plant one seed at a time; they throw a ton of seed all over the place. If they sow a little, they'll reap a little. But if they sow a lot, they'll reap a lot.

Rob
Rob@Mormon Info.org
Mormon Info

****PRAYER LIST****

1. That God would open eyes and hearts.
2. Protection for my stuff and me as I minister.
3. Financial provision.
4. More teams to come and minister here this summer.
5. That I would complete my comprehensive thesis this summer.

****MAILBAG****

[The following two e-mails concern the BYU cable news network's interview of me at General Conference:] Hi Rob, Thanks for the news clip. It was great. ...You sounded very professional, as you always do. Keep up the good work!

Yes - you are on it - quite a bit and it's nice to see that you were portrayed as a sensible guy that obviously loves the LDS people and is not this stark raving mad lunatic. Never know what kind of spin the media will do with people but they did a nice job.

Rob, Thank you for placing me on your e-mail list. I am currently e-mailing a long time friend who has been a member of the LDS faith for about 22 years and is in the process of questioning their doctrine. I may need your insight as to how to answer these questions in the future. As for now he has asked me why I left the church seven years ago (I was a member for 16 years). I will be writing him of my experiences soon. God Bless,

[The following is an e-mail I received from someone whose brother evidently received my tract from someone on the Biola University Spring Break team:] Dear Rob, First of all I would like to congratulate you on having the nerve to preach your beliefs here in Utah, where there is a strong presence of the Mormon church. However there are a few things, well, I won't beat around the bush, a lot of things I don't agree with about your methods that honestly disgust me. Going around talking to people about religion is not something that is looked down upon by any means; I did the exact same thing you are doing. You came earlier today and talked to my brother at our door. It's a good thing I was asleep at the time. You asked him about what we believe, and after explaining quite succinctly and noting the obvious note of disappointment on your face that he actually had a knowledge of what he believes I guess your last resort was to bash Mormons, since your doctrine no longer had grounds. He asked for literature on your church, and I say that loosely, because I don't even know if you are from a church, but nonetheless some information and all you gave him was anti-Mormon literature.

So are you just the Church of Rob Sivulka of the anti-Mormon movement, or do you profess to even have any sort of authority on what God wants for us. If I were someone trying to preach to people in a Buddhist country, once I had established they were not of my faith, I think the last thing I would do is try to dissuade them from believing in theirs. Is that the best you can do? Do you not have any sound arguments why you can claim you're right? I read you're so-called comparison, which was nothing more than stating facts about the Mormon church. All of these comparisons between your understanding of Christianity and the real Christianity are absolutely true and scripturally based, besides the ones you have skewed into coinciding with your retarded claims. I'm sorry but if you look at them you will find this also. Your understanding of our religion is so grossly wrong it makes me want to vomit. I can't believe there are people out there still that are that ignorant, although I met plenty of people like you serving as a missionary.

Instead of trying to compare the Mormons with your Christianity, why not try comparing your "church" with Christ's as in the Bible. I think you could have a really successful pamphlet. "300 differences between what I am telling you and the truth." Or "10,000 differences between my church and Christ's". Look into it. And as long as we are comparing each other, why is it that you always claim that Mormons are not Christians? Is it really that hard to figure out? The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter Day Saints! I thought we spelled it out pretty well, and if you have any sense, I won't need to continue on that. Instead of trying to convert people to anti-Mormonism, why not try some actual missionary work. Anybody can go and tell people why they are wrong and say "you're going to hell for being a Mormon", but does that sounds Christ-like to you? Not the one I believe in. You may have convinced yourself through bandwagoning with the other anti-Mormons, but do you see us banding up and going after you? I don't think so. Do we go and hand out anti-anything pamphlets? NO! Instead of trying to tell people they are wrong and not going to be with Christ and God because of that, why don't you try to be more like them? If you ever want to know what we believe, ask one of us, don't go to a seminar with only anti-Mormons as keynote speakers, you'll never get the straight facts. You can know what we know and believe so strongly not through jawing or brow beating but through study, pondering, prayer, and a realization through God that what you believe is true, not just because so many people have told you. That's why I fear you won't have much success here. Thanks for your time.

It sounds like the Holy Spirit isn't working on this one's life (yet?), but I'll pray for him and you as you wield the sword of Truth in love. Some unbelievers need more blows to the hardened armor around the heart than others to have the message sink in. I pray that God would reveal the crack in his armor to you, that God's Word would not return void. God bless you in your work.

BTW: Niel MacConnell taught the first class on witnessing to the LDS last Sunday. We had about 30 people show up, and a lot of good info was delivered. Part of the DNA video with Thomas Murphy was shown. Wow, that was some trenchant footage that will cure me of ever feeling like I need to read the whole Book of Mormon for credibility in witnessing. Brett Scott teaches next week on the nature of God and Man. He's going to show the video of your message at the Ephraim church. The last week I am going to share on how to witness to the Mormons. I really value your input. ...Thanks Rob!

Hi Rob, Thanks for the March newsletter. The last paragraph in reference to "Dear Protester" really touched my heart. From their perspective they think they are right - how misled and sad. Thanks for your persistent preaching of the truth to the spiritually blind. I'm expecting to see some money coming my way that I can send you soon.