I'm often surprised (but shouldn't be) at how God uses the conjunction of events to encourage me. As many of you have noticed, I haven't posted much in the last month or so. That's because I was finishing up the final, 500-page manuscript of The Mormon Mirage. And, praise God, it is being edited by Zondervan and the initial word is that it is “wonderful.”
The very day I submitted the manuscript, this letter came via this Web site. I am so grateful to Patrick, and to God for His encouraging timing. Here's the letter (printed with J. Patrick Smith's permission:
Message:
This message is to Latayne;
Dear sister in Christ,
It was 18 years ago. I was a pretty fresh convert to Mormonism. Twenty years old, in the Navy and recently ordained to the Melchezidek Priesthood… and also reassigned to Fort Benjamin Harrison Indiana to attend the military's intensive Journalism training school.
While there, we were taught to apply critical thinking skills. One Saturday afternoon I was walking in a civilian mall in Indianapolis with a Jewish friend and we passed by a “Family Bookstore” which had a book prominently displayed in the window: “The Mormon Mirage by Letayne C. Scott.”
My Jewish friend commented that it was truly horrible that my Religion… and his… often faced such horrible “persecution.”
At that moment, I decided that I would purchase that book and, using my newly developed critical thinking skills journalism school access to networked information services (I had no idea back then that it was the “internet”) I would take that book on and prove, point by point, that the C of JC of LDS was in fact the true Church of God on Earth.
Two weeks later, I threw the book out in an angry rage. But I also threw out my Mormon faith.
I didn't immediately turn to God… I was angry. Angry at the LDS Church and angry with God. But it wasn't long before my heart turned to Him to find rest.
Thank you so much for your book. It was the catalyst which changed the course of my life. Bless you. I am looking forward to reading your book a second time with it's republication.
