Dear Copper Hills 8^th Ward Members,

Greetings once again! This is my 16^th postcard. I’ve sent my postcards, three times each year. Because my mailing list is outdated, you might be receiving this, and yet, not be a member of the LDS church.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.

I’ve asked the church, 3 times each month, for a total of 88 requests, to please answer the simple question, does the church recognize the concept presented in 2 Nephi 32:5 as true, or not?

Here’s a copy of my 88^th request.

February 11, 2018

THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
OFFICE OF THE FIRST PRESIDENCY
47 EAST SOUTH TEMPLE STREET
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84150

88^th Request

Dear First Presidency,

2 Nephi 32:5 states, “For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.”

Please officially indicate the church’s position regarding this passage by circling either (a) or (b) below. Please be aware, that my local leaders will not provide this to me and neither will they ask you for it.

(a) The church recognizes this concept as being true, if a person will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, “it will show them all things” what they should do.

(b) The church does not recognize this concept as being true, if a person will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, “it will not show them all things” what they should do.

Date: _________________________________________________________

Printed Name: __________________________________________________

Signature: ______________________________________________________

Sincerely,

Aaron McMillan

P.S.

For a long time, I’ve been wondering, why won’t the church answer my simple question? Is it possible that the church doesn’t actually want people to be led by the Holy Ghost? Would the church rather have people led by directives, counsel, and commandments?

The fruit of being led by the Spirit is love. The fruit of being led by commandments is order. Perhaps, because Joseph Smith said, “my house is a house of order saith the Lord,” the church’s goal is order, rather than love.

When I inquired of the Lord regarding His house, He didn’t tell me it was a house of order, but instead, He said to me, “my house is a house of love saith the Lord,” which makes total sense, because the commandment to love is central to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Each week, during the sacrament, members are taught to be led by commandments, and promised that if they “keep the commandments which God has given them, they will always have His Spirit to be with them.” But, it doesn’t quite work this way.

You know, in brainwashing, something is repeated, over and over and over again, until it’s believed to be true. When it was believed that the earth was flat, the idea was so ingrained into people’s minds, that when the idea of a round earth was presented, very few, if any, believed it.

In the church, it’s repeated, over and over and over again, that one must obey commandments, in order to have the Spirit to be with them. So, those, thus indoctrinated, will have a hard time with any idea other than this.

So, here’s the deal. And, please have an open mind to consider my reasoning. The LDS sacramental covenant contains a false promise. The Holy Ghost doesn’t follow obedience. Rather, it’s just the opposite.

Paul taught, “we’re saved by the grace of God, through faith, and not of works, lest any should boast.”

Paul taught, that obedience to “the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.”

The “gift” of the Holy Ghost, which saves us, is not earned through works of obedience. In fact, anyone who thinks the Holy Ghost is deserved through obeying commandments, is actually in the darkness of boastful pride, and outside of the realm of the Holy Ghost.

Here’s how it works.

The Holy Ghost is a gift, received by those who’ve exercised faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ, and the fruit of the Spirit is love, which is first felt by the recipient, as they experience a spiritual witness of God’s mercy on their souls, which changes their heart, and enables them to convey this love to others.

Thus, those who exercise faith in the atonement, are empowered to live, according to the one command that replaced all others. Jesus declared, “a new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you, and by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples.”

It’s impossible for anyone to change their own heart, from being unloving to being loving. Even if we obeyed commandments for a thousand years, still, it wouldn’t change our hearts to become loving.

Only God has power to change our hearts to be loving, and this occurs, only by the “gift” of the Holy Ghost, which is the Spirit of love, which softens our hearts more and more each time we receive personal revelation.

Thus, all glory goes to God for our salvation, and like Paul taught, it’s completely by the grace of God, and not of works, that we’re saved, as God changes our hearts from being unloving to being loving.

Here’s another way to look at it. A wolf in sheep’s clothing, is one who appears righteous outwardly, but inwardly isn’t. This is a person who appears loving, but who doesn’t possess a loving heart. This is someone who obeys commandments, who’s led by the letter of the law, but not by the Spirit.

Those led by the Spirit, who’ve exercised faith in the atonement, are not obedient to the letter of the law, but instead they feel love, born of the Spirit, where they don’t feel to kill, steal, or covet, etc. because of that love.

Also, it’s important to note, that from outward appearances, both a wolf in sheep’s clothing, who obeys, and a disciple of Christ, who loves, appear identical, but inwardly, they’re as different as night and day, or as Paul explained, as different as death and life.

The Spirit empowers and enables people to walk in a path that accords with the commandments, where they’re not actually obeying commandments, but are simply walking in the Spirit of love, which guides them in all things.

Basically, the church has it backwards. The sacramental covenant, repeated each week, that obedience will yield enjoyment of the Spirit, is incorrect. The idea that obedience will lead a person to enjoy the companionship of the Holy Ghost, is like a carrot dangled before them, which they’ll never reach, because it doesn’t work, because obedience to law will never produce the fruit of love, it only leads toward prideful self-righteousness, and withdrawal from the Holy Ghost.

Ten years ago, I was excommunicated for believing 2 Nephi 32:5, that the Holy Ghost would show me all things what I should do. Basicaly, I was expelled for believing that the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, would show me all things what I should do.

It all started when I came across a church position that wasn’t loving. I questioned this position. I found that church leaders weren’t interested in helping me know this position by the Spirit. Rather, they ordered me to trust it without question, threating to remove my eternal salvation if I didn’t.

Truly, these leaders were seeking to establish a house of order, but there was no love.

So, I was excommunicated for being a disciple of Christ, who sought to love. I was expelled for doing what priesthood authority had actually told me to do at my baptism, where hands were laid on my head, and it was said to me, “receive the Holy Ghost.” I was seeking to receive the Spirit of love regarding a church position, but this was deemed, out of “order.”

And, what do you think it felt like, to be expelled for being a disciple of Christ?

Well, it’s quite heart wrenching, when someone must choose, between being controlled by priesthood authority, or being loving. And, it’s especially heart wrenching, when those seeking to control, also claim to have power and authority to rescind one’s eternal salvation in the Celestial Kingdom.

Basically, it’s like having a loaded gun pointed at you, where the gun holder says, “I will kill you, if you don’t obey me without question.” But, with church authority, it was emotionally worse than this, because they said to me, “obey, or we’ll rescind your eternal life.”

However, even though more pressure was applied, in order to obtain my obedience, than I had ever felt before, still, in the back of my mind, I knew the church leaders who were condemning my desire to be led by the Spirit of love in all things, were wrong, because I knew God is love, and from scripture we know that life eternal is to know God, which is to know love.

And, even though it’s taught, that excommunication removes the Holy Ghost from individuals, this is not what happened to me. Instead, I discovered that the Holy Ghost doesn’t leave those expelled from the church.

However, I believe that most excommunicated members experience a loss of peace when expelled from the church, but I don’t believe it’s due to a loss of the Holy Ghost. Rather, their discomfort comes from losing the peace associated with being “judged worthy,” which is entirely different from feeling love in one’s heart, for those who feel genuine love, can be judged unworthy by even the greatest authority, and it doesn’t bother them at all, like was the case with Jesus.

After my excommunication, I felt just as loving as I did before. To my delight, I discovered that the Holy Ghost is truly a “gift,” and like with all other gifts, it can’t be taken back. If it were the wage of the Holy Ghost, earned or deserved through obedience, then it could be taken back, but it’s not.

Because I still feel so much love in my heart for others, I know the Holy Ghost has remained with me. By this, I also know myself to be a disciple of Christ. I know that the fruit of the Spirit is love. And, I know that love is only felt by those who allow the Holy Ghost to show them what they should do.

Those who obey commandments, who are led, not by the Holy Ghost, but by words on paper, or by the words of mortals, who seek to be “judged worthy,” are orderly people, but they’re not filled with love, and not motivated by love.

It’s my perception that all LDS church leaders, especially general authorities, are not actually led by the Holy Ghost, for they don’t understand the atonement, and the principles upon which love operates, for they think, always, in terms of seeking to establish obedience to commandments, which leads members away from being led by the Holy Ghost, and away from being loving.

Those led by commandments, don’t understand the scriptures, don’t understand new covenant of Spirit, and don’t understand how the old covenant of commandments only saved one individual, because only one was able to keep the entire law, even Jesus Christ.

Then, Jesus, through the atonement, introduced the new covenant of Spirit, by which all could be saved, where through humility, and by the power of the Holy Ghost, our hearts could be changed from being unloving to being loving, which is to have the laws of God written on our hearts.

By their fruits, ye shall know them. And, I know you, by the fruit of wanting obedient order, which isn’t love. I know that you don’t love me enough to answer a simple question. Or, maybe you believe it’s loving to refrain from answering my question.

God doesn’t want the entire church and world to be obedient to a prophet, doing works that look loving, where the Holy Ghost isn’t their guide, because their works would be without love, where all would be wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Basically, the so called “priesthood line of communication” with God, is nothing more or less than a voice of order, as opposed to the voice of love, which is conveyed only through our “personal lines of communication.”

Finally, I want to point out that heaven can be obtained here and now. All those who wait for, and hope for, heavenly bliss, because they think it’s earned, by their obedience and orderly conduct, will never experience it, or reach it. Instead, they’ll remain in their current hell of being fearfully uncertain.

Heaven is obtained, and experienced, on earth, right now, by those who humbly cease from trying to save themselves, who exercise faith in the atonement, who turn to God to save them from their unloving hearts, who’s hearts are filled with love, who are truly born again.

Church members, should quit trying to obey commandments, in order to be good enough to deserve the presence of the Holy Ghost. They’ll never be good enough. The church should cease from being like the proud man, who boasted of his obedience, who thanked God that he wasn’t like the sinner next to him. The church should be like the sinner next to him, who pleaded for God’s mercy, who humbly knew that only God could change his heart from being unloving to being loving.

President Nelson was a heart surgeon. I’m sure he’s helped to heal many physical hearts, but does he understand that only God has power to transform an unloving to a loving heart? Does he understand that this can only occur through “personal lines of communication” with God?

When God changes one’s heart to be loving, they become completely self-disciplined. The church seeks to discipline members to be obedient, but they’ll never be able to discipline them to be self-disciplined. Thus, the church is like a devil, transforming itself into an orderly angel of light, which looks loving, but isn’t. The disciplined and self-disciplined appear identical, but only the latter possesses a loving heart.

It’s been said, that it’s not possible for an LDS prophet to lead the church astray. But, it’s also been said, in JST Mark 9:40-48, that it’s possible for a prophet to lead us astray, that we shouldn’t blindly trust our leaders, or we might end up in hell, with them. When I inquired about this, for myself, the Lord said to me, “it’s not possible for the Holy Ghost, which is the Spirit of love, to lead the church astray.”

So, are you living in heaven, right now, possessing a heart filled with love, where you’re self-disciplined, and born again, or have you been led astray, where you falsely and fearfully hope to earn heaven someday, through disciplined obedience and orderly conduct, which won’t ever happen?

Is your heart filled with love, or not?

Does the Holy Ghost show you all things you should do, or not?

Isn’t it about time, that you answer my simple question?

By the way, the article of faith, drilled into LDS young people, memorized by them, that all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel, is false. It’s by grace that we’re saved, through faith, and those actually saved, aren’t waiting for heaven, but live, now, in the heaven of their hearts filled with love, where they’re led by the Holy Ghost in all things, as explained in 2 Nephi 32:5.

Please, just answer my question.