Dec

19

These are a few conversion stories of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). It is interesting to observe how the Lord touches different people in different ways because their lives and experiences are unique, and only the Lord really knows how to open their minds. However, the end point is still the same for all of them. They learn and embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness. Many of these people were already Christians, but they had questions or doubts that were not answered in their churches and they were looking for something more. When they finally enter in contact with the Mormon church through friends, family, missionaries, or even through anti-mormon literature, they recognize what they were looking for and find answers to their questions.

Karen Merkley (a convert form the US) – two parts

Francesco Lepore  (a convert from Italy)

Valerie Finnegan (a convert from Scotland)

Jean Capenda (a convert from Congo)

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Dec

18

We finally had a Christmas party, the first in three years since the More Good Foundation was created. It was a great opportunity to share happy moments with family and friends. More Good Foundation has in fact completed three years of existence, and we are moving forward fast. We have many great ideas that we will be able to implement in the near future to move forward the work of the Lord online. Follow a few pictures…

MGF 9081 8x10crop

giugioside1

moremany

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Dec

12

I have already published this story in another website, but since this is my blog I think I want to have this here.
In the past couple of weeks I have been talking to a special person in Italy who found my Italian blog and became interested in knowing more about the Church. While talking to this person by email I noticed how people do not get interested in the Mormon Church by chance, especially in a place like Italy. They are usually people who have the courage to ask themselves and others deep questions, and who do not accept things with blind faith, but look forward to find what they are looking for using a positive faith, the kind of faith I found by reading one of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them (Ether 12:27)

Faith without Works Doesn’t Work, July 1991

For someone like me, who was born and raised in Italy, it really looks like a miracle when someone, in that country, has the courage to ask questions about religion and search for answers without becoming cynical and give up religion althogether.

So, this is the part of my story that starts from the beginning, while in another post I have the story about the last period before I met the missionaries.

” I was not born and raised in Utah, among the Mormons, but I was raised a Catholic in Italy. When I was 10 years old, my father died because of lung cancer (he used to smoke) at age 47. His death changed everything in my life. I was then the only child of a widowed young mother (33 years old). In spite of all the efforts made by my mother to help me cope with the situation, very soon I realized that something had changed not only in my outward normal life, but also inside me. I wasn’t anymore like many other children who could go about being just children without many problems and especially without many questions about life or sudden sadness.

Because of the death of my father, I noticed that some people started to treat me differently and, over time, I had to face some hard questions about the purpose of our existence here on the earth. I didn’t realize how important what was happening inside me was until I was 13 or 14. However by the age of 14, I was beginning to be highly unsatisfied with the world around me and with the answers that my teachers, family, or religious ministers gave me to the important questions of life. I was beginning to realize that perhaps something was missing in the worldview and beliefs of most people around me, but I was not sure what.

It is important to stress that the presence of the Catholic Church were so strong in my environment that I can still remember a time, when I was about 9 or 10 years old, in which during a lesson at school about people with other beliefs, I asked myself: “How can people not to be Catholic? Do they know that they will all go to live forever in… (a very bad place)? Why they don’t change religion and become all Catholics?” Such was the power of tradition in my environment.

The death of my father, however, started to change my situation. The Lord sometimes works in mysterious ways to bring about His purposes. In fact, after the death of my father, my mother reduced her involvement with the Catholic Church. She was still a Catholic, but, perhaps because she didn’t find the help she was looking for in that organization to cope with her loss, she started looking elsewhere.

She started reading books about oriental religions and philosophies such as yoga, Zen, and Buddhism; in particular, she started reading about and practicing yoga. Her exploration opened up a new world to me. Suddenly, I was learning about other religions and philosophies and I was discovering that there were a lot of good things to be learned. I began to realize that perhaps the Catholic Church didn’t have the best answers to the questions of life. Moreover, and especially, I began to be familiarized with the concepts of spiritual progression and the idea of spiritual self-improvement. Not that these concepts are completely absent from the Catholic tradition, but in the daily life of a Catholic they are almost absent, since they are usually stressed only for those who abandon the “normal” life and became “full-time, forever single, priests or nuns.” My favorite Catholic “hero” was Saint Francis of Assis, but I didn’t like the idea that a religious man or woman should give up marriage to pursue a religious life at its best.

I had a dear friend, Stefano, who was a member of a small Protestant group. I had always been fascinated by the fact that this and other Protestant groups rejected the principle of celibacy in their church. When people like me are immersed in a strong Catholic culture, even these little examples or ideas can make a big difference over time and give us the courage to pursue something different in spite of the strong pressure of the tradition.

When I was 15, I had another key experience. The setting was a trip to Rome. The purpose of the trip was to take the Catholic youth from all Europe to meet with the Pope. At that time I was involved with the Catholic youth of my parish, even if I was beginning to question some of our beliefs. During that trip, something special happened.

On the specific day, thousands of youth were ready to meet the Pope in the Saint Peter’s Basilica. We had been preparing for months for this special meeting. Youth from all over Europe had traveled to get there. Obviously, the Pope was not present when we arrived and so we all sat on the floor of the church and started singing. I really didn’t sing, but I listened for at least an hour to those Gregorian lyrics but I started feeling bad. I had great expectations about that special meeting with the Pope, but after a while I began to think: “What am I doing here?”; “Why I am here after all? Just because others told me that it would be special?” I struggled for a while, but then I decided to stand up and leave. I had a feeling of relief when I left that strange atmosphere in the Saint Peter’s Basilica. I had an uncle in Rome and I decided to visit him and spend some time with his family instead than meeting the Pope: not a big deal anyway, I thought.

On the way back to my city in northern Italy, while still on the train, I had the opportunity to tell what I had done to our main guide, a very outgoing and friendly priest. I told him about my feelings, my doubts, and the fact that I had left the meeting. I began to ask questions about Catholic beliefs. After listening and discussin with me for some time he finally said: “If you believe these things, then you are not a Catholic”. That was really a strong and challenging statement, a call back to orthodoxy. I was a little perplexed, but I replied: “Then, I am probably not a Catholic!”

I suppose that the Spirit of the Lord was present that day to support me and open my mind, because I felt relieved when I said what I was really thinking, and I was not afraid of the priest’s reaction. After that episode, my search for answers was directed mainly outside the Catholic Church, since even that apparently open-minded priest had failed to help me to understand. When confronted with hard questions, he couldn’t find anything better than suggesting that I rely on blind faith or consider myself a heretic!

Several years passed after that episode and I continued to meet with my Catholic friends, but I was now always more involved in reading books about other religions. Books were my main font of information about religion. One author that really had a strong influence on me for a period, for example, was Sri Aurobindo. I can’t remember the details of what I read at that time, but Sri Aurobindo, in his books, suggests that humankind can evolve spiritually beyond its current limitations and reach a future state of “supramental” existence. This would be like an “evolutionary” step for humankind that should lead to a divine life on Earth. (This make me thing of the Millennium now, even if according the Bible this “almost divine life” will not the product of “evolution”; but at that time it was an interesting concept that gave me some hope and meaning for the future).

Based on my current knowledge and testimony of the teaching of the Mormon Church, I can’t avoid thinking that by reading his writings I was moving a step forward in the direction of understanding key Mormon concepts, some of which are not clear or even accepted by many traditional Christians. I believe that the Spirit of the Lord teaches people according to their language and understanding, and moves forward the true seekers one step at a time until they are ready for the fullness of the Gospel.

My search for the truth continued to intensify until it reached its climax when I was 19 years old. One day, I was in Torino, where I was supposed to be moving forward with my studies in physics. I had chosen to study physics not because I wanted to become a new Einstein, but because of books such as The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra, books that discuss the parallels between modern physics and eastern mysticism. It is probably unnecessary to say that since my interest for physics was nothing more than another step in my search for the truth, I was very disappointed with my undergraduate program at the University of Torino. Therefore, as in many other occasions, on that particular day I was not studying physics but I was reading a book about the history of Indian philosophy.

At a certain point, that day, I decided to go for a walk to relax and think about life. While I was walking downtown someone stopped me and asked me if I wanted to do a psychological test. I didn’t mention it before, but I had also been interested in psychoanalysis and psychology, and I especially liked books such as Eric Fromm’s The Art of Loving or To Have or to Be? and so on. Therefore, I was somewhat curious about this test.

That test was the beginning of my last step in my search for the truth. After that, I had lost my fear of disconnecting from the Catholic tradition, and I was almost incomprehensible to my family and Catholic friends. I can say now that I was ready to meet the Mormon missionaries, and especially to understand and accept their message, less than a year later, because of all those experiences.

But who was behind that psychological test? The people of Dianetics and Scientology. Their focus on personal improvement and their blending of scientific, religious, and psychological knowledge attracted me for a short period, even if I never became really involved with them, because after the initial interested, I realized that they didn’t have the answers I was looking for. However, even this relatively negative experience had at least one important positive outcome. Scientology completely severed my last psychological (and some doctrinal) connections with the Catholic Church. I freed myself even more from the weight of tradition and I grew stronger in the belief that there was something out there, in some place, in some organization, or in some book, that could help me answer my questions about the purpose of life.

It may seem of little importance to some, but to have the courage to be unorthodox, to challenge at least in our own mind the tradition is an important step before we can be ready to receive a testimony and to accept the restored gospel. This was especially true for me, since I didn’t accept to be baptized in the Mormon Church for social reasons or out of a temporary interest, but only because I was touched by the Spirit, after contemplating the simple but powerful architecture and logic of Mormon doctrine. The concept of obtaining a testimony of the truth by the Spirit of God implies that to rely on tradition to believe is not enough, even when the tradition is true.

I can testify with all my conviction that the scripture that read “seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Luke 11:9) is true, because the Lord guided me by the hand through many different experiences until I found what I was really looking for, the true Church of Jesus Christ once again established on the earth.

The Dark Ages of my life were dispelled when I finally met the missionaries and I can only be thankful that I was born in a time when the true Church is present in the face of the earth. I can’t imagine the hardship imposed on those people who tried to find the Church when it wasn’t on the earth.

I need to recognize that I owe to the Catholic Church my first limited understanding of and belief in Jesus Christ, belief that never left me even when I was focusing on other religions. However, I owe to these other religions and philosophies a better understanding of many true principles and a more opened mind that helped me not to be afraid when I finally found the true Church of Jesus Christ.”

You can follow the link to find a version in video of Before becoming a Mormon.

There may be a few differences among the video and the written story and this because when I write I am more relaxed then when I am in front of a camera! But these little differences or omissions should not be used against me. In fact, I understand better now why there are a few slightly different accounts of the First Vision of Joseph Smith.

Our memory is not always perfect, our audience may not be the same, the circumstances in which we find ourselves may be different, or we simply want to stress different points at different times.

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Dec

11

When I first arrived to the US in 2000 I went to watch for the first time the movie, The Testaments: of One Fold and One Shepherd. The message of this film is that Jesus Christ is the Savior of all mankind. This movie alone show to all sincere investigators of the truth that Mormons actually believe in Jesus Christ. This movie is one of my favorite ever. It is spiritual and interesting, and it is very well done. This is the only movie that I watched more than once or twice. I think i have watched it 9-10 times. I have found it onyoutube, divided in a few parts. If you have not seen it yet, go ahead and enjoy it.

WHAT IS A TESTAMENT?

A Testament is a covenant or an agreement made between God and his people. The Term Testament may also refer to a statement of belief.
The Old and New Testaments in the Bible are records of God’s promises to His people in ancient Israel. The Book of Mormon is a record of God’s promises to His people in ancient America. These testaments also witnesses of Jesus Christ and the reality of His life, love, and sacrifice for each of us.

WHAT DOSE “ONE FOLD AND ONE SHEPHERD” MEAN?

From the Scriptures we learn that Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd and that those who follow Him are part of his fold (see John 10:14; Alma 5:38, 60).
While in Jerusalem, the Savior told His followers, “Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold: and one shepherd” (John 10:16).
Shortly after His Resurrection, Jesus Christ appeared to the people in ancient America. To these people He said, “Verily I say unto you, that ye are they of whom I said: “Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd” (3 Nephi 15:21).
These passages of scripture teach us that the Savior loves all His people, regardless of when or where they live. He wants all people everywhere to become part of his fold.

WHAT IS THE BOOK OF MORMON?

Throughout time, God has repeatedly reached out in love to His children by revealing His gospel to prophets. The writings of prophets in ancient Israel are collected in the Bible. These prophets include Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses.
At the same time that some of these prophets were teaching in ancient Israel, there was another of people living in ancient America. God loved these people and called prophets among them. Their writings are collected in The Book of Mormon.
The highlight of the Book of Mormon is the record of Jesus Christ’s appearance to the people of ancient America. After His Resurrection in the old world in the Old World, He appeared to these people, taught His gospel, healed the sick, and showed them how to live by his example.
The Book of Mormon is an inspiring and powerful witness of Jesus Christ. Reading the Book of Mormon will bring you joy, hope, and the power to live more righteously. It will increase your faith in and love for Jesus Christ. It will bring you closer to your Heavenly Father.

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Dec

10

Members of the Mormon Church should remember the great talk by President Ezra Taft Benson about flooding the earth with the Book of Mormon. I was reading that talk again today and I remembered the great movie that the Church produced, The Book of Mormon, How rare a possession, where it is narrated the story of Parley P. Pratt, and especially of Vincenzo di Francesca, that amazing Italian who found an almost burned copy of the Book of Mormon in the US in the beginning of the 20th century and was influenced by it long before discovering the Church who published it.

While reading the talk I wondered if someone had already posted that video on youtube and yes… I found it. Here is the entire movie, it is a little old but it is still great and inspiring. It has been split in 5 parts and it is not HD, but it still touch me to watch the story of this Italian convert.

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Dec

5

It is so easy to miss or at least quickly forget many important but sometimes simple truths that we listen at General Conferences.

President Monson

President Monson

Yesterday someone commented to my previous blog post Missionary work:the Mormon way. In that post I was discussing the importance of the internet for missionary work and this friend (from another faith for sure) was saying that in fact the Internet helps many people to turn away from the Church. I did not like his comment and I deleted it, but later I thought that I could have left it.

First of all, I do not understand these people who spend time criticizing other religions. Why they do not promote the beauty of their religion, instead of attacking others?

However, perhaps they do it out of missionary zeal, so we can let them do it, if they feel good. At the end of the story, when people talk about the Mormon Church it is better than when they ignore it. I know several people who became members of the Mormon Church thanks to anti-Mormon literature (for example, Karen)

Today I was reading the first talk by President Thomas S. Monson at the last Conference and this simple truth stood up:

Brothers and sisters, our missionary force, serving throughout the world, continues to seek out those who are searching for the truths which are found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Church is steadily growing; it has since its organization over 178 years ago.

These are the people we are looking for. We invite every person to accept those principles, but we already know that some people will not listen while others only need to find the truth and they will recognize it.

President Monson also said:

There remain, however, areas of the world where our influence is limited and where we are not allowed to share the gospel freely. As did President Spencer W. Kimball over 32 years ago, I urge you to pray for the opening of those areas, that we might share with them the joy of the gospel. As we prayed then in response to President Kimball’s pleadings, we saw miracles unfold as country after country, formerly closed to the Church, was opened. Such will transpire again as we pray with faith.

A good thing about the Internet is that it is not limited by conventional barriers and it may reach places where the missionaries are not yet allowed. I understand that some countries limit access to many internet websites, but over time the information will reach everybody and those who are searching for the truths which are found in the gospel of Jesus Christ will be able to find them, in spite of, or even thanks to those who criticize the Church.

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Dec

4

Since I became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) I have been involved with missionary work. My involvement has always been a natural consequence of the happiness that came to my life because of the work of Mormon missionaries, who found me and taught me, many years ago in Italy.

I remember spending many hours with the missionaries in Italy, talking to people, including my friends and relatives, about what I had found and the happiness that it had brought to me. However, as it often happens, most of them were not interested in what we had to say.

When I moved to Brazil, I had many wonderful experiences working again with missionaries and serving in several positions in the Mormon Church, most of them related to missionary work. During my last three years in Brazil I had the privilege of serving as a counselor to two wonderful mission presidents, and my vision and experiences in that area really grew exponentially.

To move to Utah a few years ago was an interesting change. Now I live in an area where most of the people are members of the Church, or they heard about it several times. I realized that opportunities of doing missionary work are still available, but they come in a different form, and I need to confess that I felt almost  “inactive” in missionary work for a few years, even because my time was consumed by school, work, and family to a level that I was not used to in the past. All of this was complicated by the fact that I had to learn a new language and how to live in a new environment.

Three years ago I joined the More Good Foundation, and I enjoy being involved again with missionary work, even if it is a new kind of missionary work, a “virtual” one.

When More Good Foundation started, we were seen with a little suspicion even from many members of the Church who had not yet made the connection between the Internet and missionary work. In fact, we can say that when we started, the information available on the Internet about the Mormon Church was clearly dominated by its critics, because members (with a few exceptions) had not been involved in it.

It was a great day for the missionary work in the Church when, a little less than a year ago, Elder Ballard gave his first speech about online missionary work at the graduation ceremony at BYU-Hawaii.

And it was even better when Elder Ballard repeated a similar message at BYU Idaho.

One of the suggestions of Elder Ballard in his talks was about creating and regularly writing in a personal blog, like this one. Since I speak a few languages, I created gmormon.com (in English), GiuseppeMartinengo.org (in Italian), Gmormon.org (in Portuguese) and gmormon.net (in Spanish).

It takes time to write for these blogs, and it is harder in some languages (e.g. Spanish). At times I have the impression that they are not as useful as I would like them to be. However, this week something happened on my Italian blog that really convinced me that it is worthwhile to keep going.

I wrote a post about the critics of the Mormon Church and someone posted a comment. The comment led to my response, and then another comment, until I decided to write an email to this person. After a few more exchanges I realized that she was interested and ready to listen to the missionaries. I am not sure what will happen, but it is difficult to describe the joy I felt for having been the instrument to connect a precious daughter of heavenly father to the missionaries. Some of the email she wrote were really inspiring, and confirmed to me that there are special people that the Lord prepare to listen and accept the gospel. They recognize the truth when they hear it, and they are separated from the truth only because they do not know where to find it. It is our responsibility to help them find it.

The great thing about the Internet is that it helps to find people who are really interested, or better, people who are really interested can find information about the Church even if they are shy, or leave hundreds of miles from the closest church or missionary. Sincere seekers of the truth can learn on the Internet about the gospel and talk to the missionaries only when they feel ready.

I have no doubts that the Internet is going to help hundred of thousand or even millions of people to find the truth and help the missionaries to spend more time teaching, instead than finding people to teach.

In short, to have our personal blog and to learn how to make it a little more effective is a worthwhile effort. We need to use our skills to foster the work of the Lord. We need to lenghten our stride, the time has come.

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Dec

2

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has passed away at the age of 91. Elder Wirthlin was the oldest living apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church).

He was born on June 11, 1917, in Salt Lake City, Utah, and as a youth he enjoyed singing and athletics. He was the quarterback of his high school football team and a halfback at the University of Utah. Elder Wirthlin graduated from the University of Utah in business administration. He served a mission to Germany and Switzerland. When he returned in 1939, he took over the family business, because his father had been called to be the Presiding Bishop of the Church. Before his call as a General Authority, Elder Wirthlin was a prominent business leader in Salt Lake City. He was also president of a trade association in Utah. He was married with Elisa Rogers, and they had eight children and forty-six grandchildren.

Elder Wirthlin served as a bishop and a member of a stake high council before being called as the first counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency. In 1975 he was called as an Assistant to the Twelve Apostles. From 1975 to 1984 his Church assignments included oversight of the southeast United States, the Caribbean Islands, and Brazil.

On October 9, 1986, Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin was ordained an Apostle of the Church.

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Dec

1

Every 6 months, millions of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) gather in chapels, in their homes, and over the Internet to listen to the words of living apostles and prophets in general worldwide conferences. Many people have doubts about what Mormon leaders really teach.

This video can help to understand what are some of the basic teachings of the prophets of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

It includes parts of talks by President Thomas Monson (finding joy in life), Elder L. Tom Perry (simplifying our lives), Elder Dallin H. Oaks (the sacrament meeting), President Dieter F. Uchtdorf (hope), Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (angels), Elder David A. Bednar (prayer), Elder Russell M. Nelson (celestial marriage) and several others.

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