My Faith - The Steam in my Pipes - The Joy in my Heart
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With me, I was weaned on Faith from the earliest of my days. It wasn't the kind of "Go to Church" kind of faith, though I have no problem with those who have been forced to go to church as a child, and therefore, their ability to choose has been stymied to a great deal. I, on the other hand, gained my faith, from the lessons I received from my grandparents and also my own parents.
Although my father, when I was young, was not a church goer, he seemed to get the Christian Truth into my head from an early time, for I can't truly remember not believing in Christ or His Promises.
Yet, the Church my family adhered to did not have the answers I was seeking, I felt I had a wonderful and strong foundation upon which to build upon once I was able to make choices on my own, regarding Faith and Understanding of the Gospel of God.
My father, when I was around the age of 14 or so, returned to Church and membership, and from that period until his death at the age of 51 in 1968, remained steadfast in the Lutheran Church.
It was because of him, that I probably gained my desire to search truth; my dad wasn't satisfied himself in what was his religious tradition; yet because of his second marriage to a charter member of the local congregation, he decided to stay put.
I, on the other hand, being adult and free to make my own choices, decided to go looking for a Church that I could believed in.
Often in life, people eventually come to the crossroads of their lives, and find themselves members of something they never really believed in, but did so, out of the traditions of the family. Christ once taught, "Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition" Matthew 15:6. So I decided not to join any formulated Church until such a time that Truth rang true to my ears.
When I was in High School, I met a group of kids who stood out among the rest because they seemed to have "something" that the others lacked. This intrigued me. I therefore started to take up with them. They were wholesome kids; I never heard one curse word come out of their mouths, nor see them do anything questionable. I soon learned what was unique about these kids, that made them stand out above the others. They were LDS - Latter-day Saints, or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This intrigued me even more. Soon I found myself dating one of the girls. She wanted to share what she had with me, but at the time, I still was heavily influenced by my dad. She handed me a copy of the Book of Mormon to read, but I never opened the cover. Like the normal youth, I was attracted to the wholesomeness of these kids, but not necessarily attracted to the faith they lived by, or the faith that made them stand out unique in this world.
This short-sightedness caused me some years of not finding what I was looking for. In a few months time, I was to graduate from High School and I never saw nor heard from my "Unique" friends again.
I continued in the "World" for quite a few years, until the time I returned to California, and just before the Sylmar earthquake which I alluded to in My Biography. I was out of work in late 1970, and went in to talk to my old boss at the City of Glendale, about having missed the Exam for the Meter Reader position I had applied for. He was saddened to learn of my failure to take the exam, and knew there was nothing he could do for me, but he told me I could come over to his house on the weekend and paint it to make a few bucks.
I didn't mention that my friend was the City Controller for the City of Glendale, but more importantly, he was a member of the High Counsel of the Glendale California Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Another Mormon!
I told him "Great! I'll be over on Sunday to paint your house." He told me, "Oh, no Ken, you cannot work on the Sabbath." I understood what he was saying, though in my own church, the Sabbath isn't as religiously interpreted, nor practiced. When this man told me the urgency of NOT working on Sunday, it became one of the Nails in the Box that sealed up my Testimony in the authenticity of the LDS Church. This gave me even more fuel to look into this "unique" Church and Faith.
But I told him, "That may be true, George, but I'm only pulling an Ox out of a Pit!" - he looked at me in amazement and then sighed his "Alright then... pull your Ox out of the pit..." and let me work on Sunday.
The "Ox and the Pit" story can be found in Luke 14:1-6.
So Brother Carlisle had the chance to teach me about the Gospel and the LDS Church. He also gave me another copy of the Book of Mormon. This time, I began to read it diligently. It was like a Light came on in my head!
I read it 2 other times before I could put it down, so much was it true to me.
I kept the Books he gave me in the glove compartment of my '52 Chevy Truck, and read it on my lunch breaks, while working for my brother at his shop.
Then came a rainy night late after I had come back from a night out partying. I had not long been sleeping when I heard a siren in front of the house and looking out the window, through the downpour, I noticed my truck was on fire. The rain had shorted out the electrical system in that old truck, and it was "toast" - along with my books.
Then the Sylmar Earthquake struck in early March of '71. We headed to Wisconsin (see Bio) and after awhile, my brother returned to California, and I stayed, living in a lonely hotel room for awhile until I could find a nice apartment - that was in West Bend, WI.
I began to be lonely; I remembered what Brother Carlisle taught me about the LDS Church, and on Sundays, I heard Church Bells, and wanted to go back to a Church. But this time, I didn't want to go back to the Lutheran church. I decided to write Brother Carlisle and tell him the story about the Books and the Fire. He sent me two more books; soon two young men knocked at my door and gave me two more books, and soon I had enough Books of Mormon to give to my sister and my friends. What a wonderful event in my young life. I was only 25 then.
I failed to mention that I was sent two more Books from Elder LeGrande Richards, who was the Presiding Bishop of the LDS Church at the time (and a future member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church in Salt Lake City).
This Church truly has the Restored functions of Christ's early Church, meaning the Twelve Apostles along with Prophets, Seers and Revelators, as were always found in all dispensations of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the past. To find out for yourself what I am claiming here, you can read what the Apostle Paul had to say about the true constituted Church of Christ and what it should possess. To find his inspired words, open your Bible and turn to the book of Ephesians, the 4th chapter and read from verse 11 to verse 15.
If you really wish wisdom to understand Paul's intentions here, and you pray about these passages (read how you get this Wisdom in James 1:5-6); you will understand that there can only be a unity of the Faith when the Church of Christ is led by the Lord in the same way that the early Church established by Christ was led.
If you realize the fact that though there are over 400 separate and distinct Christian Churches, each one with their separate understanding about the Saving Doctrines of Christ with each one claiming Authority as the true Church of Christ, and yet disagreeing with each other, certainly attests to a "disunity" instead of a "Unity" of the Faith, and validates the statements of the Apostle Paul, for the Unity of the Faith can only happen when the Church has Apostles and Prophets directing the affairs of God's Church on earth.
Without an Open Window to Heaven where direct Guidance from Heaven is shedding Light on the affairs of the Church, chaos is indeed not only a possibility, but an eventuality. The Dark Ages (called in this Church, "The Great Apostasy") is nearly a 2000 year evidence that the heavens were closed and the true Priesthood of God had disappeared from the earth. This was a fact, up to the year 1820, when Light was again breaking forth from the Heavens, to offer Guidance and Direction of the Church of God on the earth.
The absence of this important unity, proves that, until there is such a unity, we will need what Paul claimed by Authority from Jesus Christ, as attested by Scripture in Ephesians, verse 4:11; that is, Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers, all of which are individual Offices of the higher Priesthood, the Melchizedek Priesthood. And when one finally undertands this necessity, it becomes incumbent upon him to continue searching for that one Church which is in possession of all these important Offices of the Holy Priesthood. A sermon our Lord gave to his many followers emphasized how much effort one ought to expend to find the Kingdom: "...the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it." - Matthew 13:45-46
My own search led me to find the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and to discover that this Church alone was the only Church on earth that had all those Offices of the Priesthood which Paul said were needed in the Church so that a Unity of the Faith could exist in the True Church and Kingdom on the earth. In fine, I had finally found my own Pearl of Great Price! It is my desire to help you also find yours, as well.
The above Testimony does not imply that your Church, if it's a Bible teaching, Christ-Crucified Christian Church, is not a good Church or that it hasn't truth; what I am saying here, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has so much more of the Gospel, and has the Lord's Stamp of Approval, to offer His Children on earth the means whereby they may not only be Saved, but also be Exalted in the Celestial Kingdom of God.
If you are a Seeker of Truth, you should study us out and find out for yourself if our claims are true, and not rely on someone else's scholarship or testimony. After all, your Salvation is at stake here; meaning, You must come unto Christ and work out your Salvation with fear and trembling and not rely on someone else to do it for you. You must trust in the Grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and seek after all of His Truths, so you might implement them into your own life.
Back to my story: So now, I had three copies of the Book of Mormon and three copies of "A Marvelous Work and a Wonder" by Elder LeGrand Richards.
I had lots to read; but even better, I found a local unit of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located right there in West Bend where I was living, and decided to go on Sunday. Soon I was taking the Discussions and soon thereafter, was Baptized. From that day till now (40+ years!), I have never denied the Truth that I learned when I read those books. I suggest you do likewise. If you are looking for truth, you can find all of it in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for it is led by living Prophets, and is the Restored Church of Jesus Christ on earth today. Read Acts 3:19 - 23. You will never be sorry. If you read that scripture, pay close attention to Peter's use of the phrase, "All Things" - if the many Churches who Claim to be Christ's Church had "all things" it takes to be Saved, why would Peter prophetically state that there would be a "Restitution of All things" in verse 21? It's pretty apparent that Peter was stating for our time right here and now, that such a Restitution would take place in the Latter-days. A good point! Paul emphasized the fact that this restitution would not come in his day, when he wrote the following to the Thessalonian Saints, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition..." - 2 Thessalonians 2:3. The "Falling Away" was an indication of that 2000 year time of darkness, we call the Great Apostasy. You can read about this Here and also Here.
Something for you all to think about. Follow the Links below for additional information on the claims I have made here.
So it is my testimony that the Church of Christ has been restored on the earth, and was that special "Wonderful Difference" that those kids in High School had in such abundance, and what I wanted to possess as well. All these things that happened in my young life were only part of the making of my Faith and Testimony of the truthfulness of the Restored Church and Gospel of Jesus Christ. This Faith is what drives me; it is what will propel me into the Eternity's ahead, and it can do that for YOU also!
One last word, if Jesus Christ is the same YESTERDAY, TODAY and FOREVER, then how come Prophets and Apostles were important for the Church in Ancient Israel and during Christ's ministry, and up to when they were all killed. For nearly 2000 years after the last Apostle was killed in approximately 70 A.D., there no longer were Apostles, Prophets, etc., ? But we claim that this important part of Christ's Church was Restored back to the earth again in 1820, when a young boy went into a grove of trees on his father's farm, and came out a man, enlighted forever, and that young boy (aged 14), would change the world forever thereafter. You can read about this young man'sTestimony Here.
Jake Jaccard
10-15-04
Revised 11-17-11
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