November 17, 2015

Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Copper Hills 8th Ward,

You’ve been receiving my postcards, three times each year.  This is my 9th postcard.  Because my mailing list is outdated, you may be receiving this, and yet, not be a member of the LDS church.  If this is the case, please pardon me, or feel free to read what I have to say.

By the way, this message is half the size of my last message, which was a bit lengthy.

After sending my postcards, I’ve had some angry feedback sent to me from my website, but why be angry with me?  The main theme of my postcards has been the LDS church doctrine, found in 2 Nephi 32:5, “if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.”

In my home, when President Bohne brought our area authority over for a visit, I asked if the church would honor the teachings of 2 Nephi 32:5, and our area authority said “no.”

But, why won’t the church honor these teachings?  Maybe, it’s because church “authorities” want to tell us what we should do, so they don’t want us to believe that the Holy Ghost will show us all things we should do.

In the church handbook of instruction, apostasy refers to members who:

1. Repeatedly act in clear, open, and deliberate public opposition to the Church or its leaders.

2. Persist in teaching as Church doctrine information that is not Church doctrine after they have been corrected by their bishop or a higher authority.

3. Continue to follow the teachings of apostate sects (such as those that advocate plural marriage) after being corrected by their bishop or a higher authority.

There’s no mention here about the Holy Ghost showing us all things we should do.  This is all about “authority” telling us all things we should do, or else.

Recently, I’ve been mailing a letter to the First Presidency, every ten days, request number 1, number 2, number 3, …, until now, my next request will be number 8.  I’ve asked them to please explain the church’s position regarding the divine validity of 2 Nephi 32:5.

So far, they’re ignoring me.  They’ve responded to me before, but not this time.

About thirteen years ago, after discussing scriptures back and forth for an entire year, my Jehovah’s Witness friend and I finally gave up on achieving unity of thought.

Both my Jehovah’s Witness friend, and myself, had been programmed by our church leaders to interpret scripture a certain way, and these thoughts, planted by our leaders, were not born of the Holy Ghost, but were drilled into us, with the threat of disciplinary measures if we thought anything different.

This got me thinking about how to achieve unity of thought.  Churches can seek to control their members by establishing disciplinary “authority,” but is this the Lord’s way?

D&C 50:10-25 declares, that members are to be inspired by the Holy Ghost for themselves in all things, that leaders are to converse with members, until both he that preacheth, and he that receiveth, understand one another, are edified by the “Spirit of truth,” and they rejoice together.

Recently on Ted Talks, I listened to a woman who was brainwashed by the Moonie Cult.  She believed what had been drilled into her so much, that she wouldn’t listen to her friends or family regarding dangers she was facing for belonging to that group.

After much effort from family and friends, she was finally convinced to seek for help from a professional de-programmer, who spent years with her, before the control this group had over her, was dissipated.

For the past thirteen years, I’ve worked on discerning between thoughts given to me by the Holy Ghost, and thoughts drilled into me by church leaders.  And, it’s been a lonely process, because it’s not encouraged by church leaders, who instead encourage us to never question “authority.”

Also, it’s been humbling, because I’ve had to let go of everything I had simply trusted, admitting to myself and others that I didn’t know everything, that I wasn’t so great, that I had much to learn.

But, then the Holy Ghost began to reveal to me, line upon line, and then my spiritual stature was built up by God, the laws of God being written on my heart, just as Jeremiah 31:31-34 speaks of.

But, because this is so unusual in the church, because it’s standard operating procedure to have church leaders drill doctrines into us, where they break us, so to speak, where trusting is considered righteousness, those who are on the path of enlightenment are considered apostate.

And, why is that?  According to Jeremiah 31:31-34, it’s through universal enlightenment that unity will be achieved.  Also, D&C 50:10-25 teaches this same thing, stating that any other way, is “not of God.”

Any system of control, which denies the corrective role of Spiritual enlightenment, where “authority” corrects people’s thinking, using disciplinary measures, drilling ideas into them, is inspired of Satan.

There are no shortcuts.  Unity in righteousness can only be achieved through allowing the Holy Ghost to show us all things we should do, and only then will everyone live in harmony of thought, where none will be controlled.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ isn’t a system of control, where a dictator spiritually sees for all, where all are required to “trust” in his sight, but it’s a system that provides spiritual sight to anyone and everyone.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about being born of the Spirit, which opens our eyes to spiritual things, and then as we walk the path of being shown all things we should do by the Holy Ghost, our spiritual sight grows more and more.

Jesus taught that few would find the path to life, and that’s because most people won’t seek to have their spiritual eyes opened, but rather, they’ll walk the path of what church leaders or society says is good, which leads them to believe that they’re saved by doing, what is considered by their church or society, as good works.

The problem with this, is that unless we see spiritually for ourselves, our hearts won’t be miraculously changed from desiring to sin, to a state of righteousness, where we’re redeemed of God.  See Mosiah 27:25.

This is why Paul explained in Ephesians 2:8-9, that we are not saved by doing, what is considered, good works, lest any man should boast, but that we are saved by faith.  When we believe that what we do saves us, this attitude is not born of humility, but is of pride.

It’s often believed that through doing works, we can earn, or deserve, the Holy Ghost.  But, through following this path of pride, we become possessed with the spirit of pride, and it causes us to be pridefully judgmental, rather than humbly grateful.

In Luke 18:9-14, the Lord spoke of this pride:

9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

In reality, there’s nothing we can do to earn the companionship of the Holy Ghost.  It’s a gift, only given to those who recognize that they’re fallen, and sinful in nature, who believe that only God can change their heart, who believe that Jesus Christ suffered the penalty of their sins, who cry out to God for merciful redemption through this atonement.

Then, after their heart is changed by God, they receive the companionship of the Holy Ghost.

In other words, so often it’s believed that we are good enough within ourselves to turn from sin, and from outward appearances, it looks like we have turned from sin, when we force ourselves to comply with Gospel law, but inwardly, we are still sinful, and it becomes especially hard to be redeemed from this inward sinfulness, if in pride, we think we are righteous, for doing what is considered, good works.

In essence, repentance isn’t to pridefully turn from our sins, but that in humility we turn to God, pleading with Him to change our sinful nature, and then it’s God who turns our hearts from sin.

In reality, we’re not saved because of our goodness, but because of God’s goodness.  We’re not saved by our works, but by faith, as Paul taught in Ephesians 2:8-9.  It’s not about what we do, but it’s about what God has done for us.  And, those saved by God, are able to be led by the Holy Ghost in all things.  See Romans 8:1-14.

Over eight years ago, inspired by the spirit of “authority,” church leaders excommunicated me, because they wanted me to believe myself righteous by adopting a certain church position which had been declared by church “authority” as the word of God.

Church leaders never bore testimony of how they knew, by the Holy Ghost, that this church position was of God, only that because it came from the First Presidency, they embraced it, and considered themselves righteous, for accepting it.

Because I was being led by the Holy Ghost in all things at the time, and because the Holy Ghost wasn’t enlightening my understanding regarding this church position, I wouldn’t embrace it, and so I was considered by church “authority” as unrighteous.

So, who of us did right in the sight of God?

In my recently sent letter, which I’m sending every ten days, request number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, I’ve asked the First Presidency to please circle the answer, from the answers below, which most accurately represents the church’s position regarding how we should interpret 2 Nephi 32:5, which states, “if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.”

(a) If a man or woman will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto them “some things” they should do, but not all, for most things they should do will be shown unto them by church leaders, who will excommunicate them if their counsel is not obeyed.

(b) If a man or woman will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto them “most things” they should do, but not all, for some things they should do will be shown unto them by church leaders, who will excommunicate them if their counsel is not obeyed.

(c) If a man or woman will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto them “all things” they should do.

(d) If a man or woman will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto them “no things” they should do, for all things they should do will be shown unto them by church leaders, who will excommunicate them if their counsel is not obeyed.

I’m sure it will be hard, if not impossible, for the “general authorities” of the church to acknowledge that (c) is the correct answer.  2 Nephi 32:5 is all about being empowered by God to be self-governed, and “authority” opposes this concept, because “authority” is about wanting us to be governed by them.

We read in Mark 10:42-45, “Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister:  And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.”

We read in Matthew 7 and 3 Nephi 14, “all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets.”

Those who exercise authority over others, who seek to program them, not only lead others astray from being shown all things they should do by the Holy Ghost, but also, the exercise of authority is never an act of doing unto others as the “authority” would have reciprocated back to them.

In essence, within the confines of the Golden Rule, there is no room for “General Authorities,” which would explain why the Lord instructed His apostles to not exercise authority over church members.

President Ronald Reagan couldn’t have said it better, when by inspiration from God, he declared, “Government is not the solution to the problem.  Government is the problem.”

Does this make spiritual sense to you?

If not, then seek to be born of the Spirit, through believing in the sacrifice of Christ for your sins, through confessing your sinful nature to God, letting him know that you can’t change your own heart, that you need His atonement, and He will give you enlightenment and redemption from your sinful nature.

Then, this will all make sense. 

Sincerely,

Aaron McMillan

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