Joseph Absalom, Mormon Apostate

I was serving contentedly as ward membership clerk, family history librarian, assistant ward librarian, priesthood organist, and home teacher. Minding my own business. Not saying anything to anyone other than what was required by my callings and the customary social graces. I always wore a white shirt and a tie to meetings, but never a suitcoat.

I didn't cause the slightest discomfort to anyone, except for having long hair and a beard, which I grow specifically to poke fun at members of the church for their fancy clothes and regimented appearance. And even then, I didn't breathe a word to anyone about why I grew my hair that way. It was a personal private thing, growing out of a feeling that God looks on the heart and not on the outward appearance, and that the church was becoming as Nephi had prophesied: More concerned about the adornment of our fancy buildings and fine clothing than we are about the sick, the poor, and the widows.

About the early spring of 1996, I read the web site of the True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days, http://www.tlcmanti.org/ I found truths on their web site. The Spirit of God told me very clearly that I should listen to what they had to say. I therefore started a correspondence with one of the Apostles of the TLC church. He invited me out to Manti, Utah to attend a conference that they were hosting to tell more about their beliefs. The Holy Ghost testified very strongly to me that I should go and listen. So I booked an airline reservation, to go and listen to what they have to say.

At that point, my wife went to the Bishop and told him I was an apostate. He immediately called me into his office, and yanked my temple recommend, telling me that anyone who would listen to what another church had to say was not worthy of holding a temple recommend, or any callings of significant responsibility in the ward. He would not allow me to pray in meetings, which is an act that should have only been taken as part of a church court, which was never held.

(I must say here that I did purposefully inflame the Bishop, because I know that he struggles with knowing whether or not the church is true; so I struck at the heart of his fears by saying repeatedly that the Holy Spirit was encouraging me to listen to the message of the TLC people, and that I would follow the Holy Ghost, regardless of what he or any other person might say about it, and regardless of the cost to me personally.)

He sent me to talk with the Stake President, who was considerably more understanding, and listened to what I had to say. He didn't take away my stake callings, but didn't restore my recommend either. When I came back from Manti and told the Stake President that I believed what I had heard from the TLC about the LD$ church having gotten off track, then he yanked my stake callings.

In my initial interview with my Bishop, he told me that he thought there were only three Christlike men in the ward, and that I was one of them. My response to him was that the reason I was a Christlike man, is because I follow the recommendations of the Holy Spirit, and that it was recommending that I listen to what the folks in the TLC have to say.

Before going out to Manti, I fasted for three days. While fasting, I received a revelation in which the Lord said to me as he had to Nephi, that he trusted my judgement and that I could act freely according to my own will, because my thoughts were as God's thoughts, and my desires were as God's desires. I saw two paths laid clearly out before me, either one of which would be pleasing unto God. One path was a life of comfort and ease changing the LDS church from within. The other was a dangerous and unpleasant road, full of sorrow and heartache, but one that brought so much more growth and development to me, my family, and the world as a whole. I chose the second path, and have been blessed intensely with the fruits of that choice.

I had already received a fullness of what the LDS church had to offer, and longed for more. I am now beginning to taste of the fullness of the Heavenly realms. I was always receptive to the spirit. That has been magnified many fold. Revelation, visions, and sacred dreams flow within me in greater power and majesty than ever before. I see into the future. I look into someone's heart and see the secrets hidden there. The past is opened up to me. I behold the dangers and lies upon which we have based our society.

I have always known that the church is very strict in disciplining it's members. I have even spoken with a GA about my supposed apostasy. From that conversation it became clear to me that there is an organized and well thought out plan of persecution, enacted against those who claim to receive guidance from the Holy Spirit. I never would have believed though that the persecutions would start so soon, and be so severe.

I join Nomad in testifying that every aspect of Nephi's prophecies stating that the church would persecute and cast out its most righteous members is being fulfilled in our day.

I further state that any of the revelations we read about in the scriptures are available to anyone who will ask for them, and be willing to pay the price for them, which is persecution by those who should have been your friends and who should have been delighted that you were receiving revelation.

There is a great body of sacred writings, Holy People, and angels, which you will find to comfort and teach you if you are willing to pay the price, which is becoming a hiss and a byword to your friends and family within the LDS church.

Permission granted to copy and distribute this page for non-commercial purposes. Please retain this notice. These writings are not shared as "Revelations to any Church", because we believe that all may receive revelation direct from the Fathers regarding their own circumstances in life. Joseph Absalom

Joseph Absalom, Mormon Apostate

Autobiography