Posted on 05/23/2010 12:54:56 AM PDT by Colofornian
SEARCY -- Melissa Reeves has been looking for a church where she knew they were there to worship Jesus and would accept her without judging.
She found it at St. James Church in Searcy.
Unlike most elect and candidates going through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults process, Reeves chose the Catholic faith on her own, without the encouragement of a Catholic parishioner.
"It builds your faith to see their faith grow," said Janet Pace, St. James RCIA coordinator. "A lot of people come to the Church because of a spouse or friend that has inspired them."
Reeves is "just drawn to the truth."
"I found it extremely inspirational," Pace said. "She is a little sponge. She wants to know everything. She feels liberated (knowing the truth)."
Reeves said she has been unhappy for several years because she was not active in a church and she wanted to set a good example for her son, 7-year-old Gunner.
Reeves, 29, was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by her mother, a Latter-Day Saint, also known as Mormon. While her mother was not active in the church, she insisted Reeves and her older half-sister attend services weekly and study the Book of Mormon for at least an hour before going to school and another hour before bed. While she was "blessed" in the church as a baby, it wasn't until she was 8 years old that she was baptized at a Mormon church in Jacksonville.
She then started to question the Mormon teachings.
"Over and over they would say 'This church is true. This church is true.' I couldn't count how many times I would hear this. They were grateful for (LDS founder) Joseph Smith ... I always sat there as a kid wondering 'who am I worshipping? Am I worshipping "this church is true" or Joseph Smith?' There was no emphasis on Christ."
By the time she was 14 or 15 years old, she was "kicked out" of Sunday school.
"I didn't question God. I firmly have always believed in Christ. I questioned the truth of their doctrines," she said. "And that was a big no-no."
Reeves said she felt that if she didn't conform, she was not welcome in the Mormon church.
"No one wanted to lead me or guide me," she said. "I didn't want to participate."
When she was 17 years old she moved out on her own and chose not to attend church anymore. But three years later, she got married in the Baptist church and her husband converted to Mormonism.
After being married for about a year, she got divorced. During the divorce process, she met with the local church leader, known as a bishop.
"He told me I make poor choices in men," she said.
In 2001 she got pregnant out of wedlock, but the baby was stillborn. Even though she had a rocky relationship with the local Mormon church, she approached them about seeking a funeral for her child.
"The deacons and the bishop refused me a service in the sanctuary because I was unwed," she said. "I was unclean because I was not married."
She was then told she would not get to heaven.
"That was a crushing blow," she said. "At that point, I spiraled into a deep depression. They pretty much damned me to hell."
Then she was even more saddened when the church leaders brought her before a church court, with a judge and jury, and "dis-membered" her.
Reeves got pregnant again in 2003 and gave birth to Gunner.
"I remember the day I gave birth to my son, promising God that if you give him (to) me I will give him back to you," she said.
In 2004-2005 she was granted an excommunication, which would seal her records and prevent church members from contacting her.
"I got a letter in the mail from the bishop granting my excommunication and voiding my baptism, which shocked me. How could you void my baptism? I only thought the Lord could void your baptism ... I knew at that moment that I was in the wrong church all of my life. I hungered for something more."
In 2004 she got married again and was ready to take ownership of her faith.
"For the first time at the age of 24 I opened the Bible. I never read the Bible ... I was so frustrated and I said, 'Lord where do you want me to go?'"
In 2009 she got divorced. That same year she began an Internet search and came across information on the Catholic Church.
"I have never been in a Catholic church," she said. "In my research, I wondered what is wrong with Catholic. I could investigate. They have been around since shortly after Christ's crucifixion and resurrection."
She then remembered the promise she made to God after her son was born.
"I couldn't really teach my son. So I did a lot of research. The Catholic Church always intrigued me," she said.
Through her research, she knew the Catholic Church would appeal to her.
"I wanted something traditional. I needed tradition," Reeves said.
So on Jan. 1, 2010, Reeves made a commitment to attend Mass at St. James and find out how to become Catholic.
Reeves and her son have been attending Mass and he goes to Sunday school classes. He was baptized in February with Pace and her husband Harry as his godparents.
Reeves is looking forward to her own baptism during the Easter vigil April 3. While her LDS baptism was "voided," the Catholic Church would not have recognized her baptism in the Mormon church as valid anyway. The Vatican has declared Mormon baptisms invalid because they don't have the traditional understanding of the Trinity. The LDS church considers Jesus and the Holy Spirit as children of the Father and the Heavenly Mother.
"When I walk into a Catholic church, I feel the presence of God ... It's the most Christ-centered church I have been in. ... I have been waiting for this all of my life. I just felt like this is the right thing."
She said the pastor, Father John Agbakwuo, and parishioners have made her feel comfortable and she knows now that she is worthy.
"I have people tell me, 'I am a sinner too.' No one is above me. I always felt people were above me in the Mormon church. I don't feel that here. I look forward to Easter. ... I worried so much about where I am going to go when I die. Now, learning the doctrine of the Catholic Church, I don't worry about that. I finally feel peace."
Many Mormons recite D&C 1:30 in the testimonies they bear, believing the Mormon church to be the "only true church on the face of the earth." The church becomes a substitute for Christ; evidenced by First Presidency rep Marion G. Romney, who stated in the 1960s that the Mormon church was "the way, the truth, and the life"-- a description that the Bible reserves for Jesus Christ -- not any church. And the fact that Lds sing hymns to Joseph Smith, like the one, Praise to the Man, shows how Smith is often substituted for Jesus.
Other Lds prophets have said there's no getting into heaven minus Smith's consent. Lds apostle Bruce McConkie's, whose infamous book, Mormon Doctrine, has made the news this week by the annoucement it won't be reprinted...said in that book that there's no salvation without Joseph Smith.
From the article: "I have people tell me, 'I am a sinner too.' No one is above me. I always felt people were above me in the Mormon church. I don't feel that here. I look forward to Easter. ...I worried so much about where I am going to go when I die. Now, learning the doctrine of the Catholic Church, I don't worry about that. I finally feel peace."
Jesus said, in his Prayer to Heavenly Father, that eternal life was knowing Him and knowing the Father. (John 17:3). Knowing Him is a relationship. A NOW relationship. Eternal life is described by Jesus as something possessed NOW (see John 3:36; 5:24) -- not something that happens ONLY upon death.
When you get engaged to someone, you related to them NOW. The marriage may occur LATER, but the relational engagement is NOW. Thus, so it is with relating to the Christ.
From the article: While her LDS baptism was "voided," the Catholic Church would not have recognized her baptism in the Mormon church as valid anyway. The Vatican has declared Mormon baptisms invalid because they don't have the traditional understanding of the Trinity. The LDS church considers Jesus and the Holy Spirit as children of the Father and the Heavenly Mother.
It’s interesting that she was attracted to the person of Christ and worked “backward” from that point to the Trinity, etc.
Now I know some might be tempted to point to her immoral track record, and conclude, "Of course, she was disenfranchised from the Mormon church...why should they sanction ongoing immorality?" But we need to remember that the type of person Jesus went out of her way to address was the woman at the well, who was working on partner #7 at the time. That, along with a prostitute or two who was converted to Him.
The gospel is for sinners. Jesus says He didn't come to save the righteous & those who claim that didn't need Him to heal them; rather He came for us sinners. Glory be to our Spiritual Physician. By His stripes [that drew blood], Isaiah said in chapter 53, we are healed.
HA ha!
The MORMONs lost one of their own BICs to the Catholics, instead of the reverse!
Isn’t GOD wonderful!
HE also didn't come for those who want to help Him out by being as 'good' as they can be or 'doing' as much FOR Him as possible.
Perhaps you and/or any LDS folks reading your thread may be interested in this one
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2519352/posts?page=1
with a lot of quotes on our era from an LDS website.
INDEED.
like me, too.
Very interesting and thought provoking article. I hope the Catholic church helps her find some peace and stability for herself and her son.
The only reason she attended the Mormon church was because her mother insisted. Yet her mother was not involved in church. She doesn’t mention a father anywhere. She simply did not have a strong loving father to guide her and now she does.
They can void your baptism?
That’s a new one to me!
And there we have it a summary of lds teachings. Bless this woman and her family.
They can void your baptism?
- - - - - -
Yes they can. When I left, one of the letters I got stated that ALL blessings including baptism and my ‘patriarchal blessing’ had been revoked.
And me.
The LDS church was great at changing my behavior, but it couldn’t change my heart, only Christ could.
It took me awhile to realize that no matter how ‘worthy’ I was by LDS standards, I was still a sinner and I couldn’t save (or even contribute) myself. I could never be ‘worthy’ in God’s eyes even if I was temple worthy in the LDS church.
Once God got that through my thick skull, it wasn’t long until I left and found a saving relationship with Jesus.
Praise God for that.
PRAISE GOD INDEED!
THX.
In 2001 she got pregnant out of wedlock, but the baby was stillborn. Even though she had a rocky relationship with the local Mormon church, she approached them about seeking a funeral for her child.
“The deacons and the bishop refused me a service in the sanctuary because I was unwed,” she said. “I was unclean because I was not married.”
She was then told she would not get to heaven.
“That was a crushing blow,” she said. “At that point, I spiraled into a deep depression. They pretty much damned me to hell.”
Then she was even more saddened when the church leaders brought her before a church court, with a judge and jury, and “dis-membered” her.
***
Wow wonder what Ward she was in, in my Ward the mother and daughters who are converts for about a few years both daughters have had children out of wedlock and both babies were given a blessings and the one daughter have given talks.
Strange she never mention if she was ever told about the Chruch LDS Family Services
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