Kathy Lundquist was raised in the RLDS Church, surrounded by many devoted family members, relatives and friends. After graduating from Graceland College she became very involved in church activities. She reached the point in her life where she began having an “unquenchable desire” to study the Bible more in-depth and found that the doctrines she had always been taught in the church were contradictory to what the Bible taught. She discovered that instead of key RLDS proof-texts pointing to a restoration of the gospel, the entire Bible was pointing to Jesus and His death on the cross in payment for our sins. She now rejoices daily for the free gift of salvation she has found in Jesus alone. This is her testimony.
Love All Things
I was born into and raised in the RLDS church, surrounded by RLDS immediate and extended family members, many holding priesthood offices. At age eight, I was baptized and confirmed into the church. Later on in my college years, I transferred to and graduated from Graceland College. During the following eleven years, I was active in church activities but not studious in the scriptures. I depended heavily on the testimonies of others and what I was taught rather than studying myself.
Throughout my college years and early into my marriage, I felt that I needed to get serious about studying the scriptures. I had good intentions, but they always fizzled out. As long as I was a “good person” I didn’t think much past that. My husband Mike would ask me to study with him, but since I didn’t know much, I became defensive and said no. I didn’t want to make myself look bad.
In 1986, Mike and I started attending Buckner RLDS Church and became members. We were involved in that branch for four years. During that time, the congregation went through some trying times in confronting the World Church on different issues. Ultimately, in 1987 the congregation was forced to leave the church building and held services for several years in a local school. Mike and I remained active in the congregation, determined to stand for what we believed was right.
In the spring of 1990, I started seeing unrest within Mike as he continued an intensive study of all three books of the church. He tried to talk to me about issues he was studying. His method of study was simple, he wrote down verses with references under different subject headings. He did this with all three books of the church: The Inspired Version of the Bible, The Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants. He went to several Melchizedek (ed. note: RLDS/CoC church uses Melchisedec) priesthood members to ask them about what he was finding. Many said they hadn’t studied it or they had no idea. I thought Mike was coming up with strange ideas and I chose to ignore them. After he requested inactive status in the priesthood and talked to the pastor about his concerns, I confronted him in late May of 1990 about what was bothering him.
We needed to resolve some things about attending a church home on a regular basis, rather than going here and there trying to avoid being used in the priesthood. That night he told me everything he could no longer believe and why. It devastated me. I could imagine what lay ahead of me. My world would fall apart. He had not wanted to tell me since I was seven months pregnant with our third child. He also knew the ramifications of facing my family with this news. Things had been building up for quite a while for him, but it had not been enough for him to give it all up, until he had studied the topic of the temple.
It was a very emotional time for me. Only after two weeks did I talk about it and it was on my terms. It was at this point, although I didn’t recognize it immediately, that the Lord began a healing process in my life. My anger over what Mike had told me started to subside, and I found that my attitude had changed to that of determination to win Mike back to “the truth.” I hadn’t told anyone for fear of embarrassment.
Soon after this, Mike left town for a three-week school in Colorado, and at the same time my parents left town for three weeks. This, too, I was to find would be a blessing in my life. Suddenly I felt I had no one to turn to. Miraculously, I turned to the Lord for guidance in my study. I began to have an unquenchable desire to study. I used the note references Mike had compiled. I was using the Inspired Version. I found I didn’t know much. I knew just a little more in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants. I also studied Church History. I spent several hours a day studying the Scriptures and more time praying than anytime in my life. This subject of church was so important to me, that my quest to prove Mike wrong became first in my life. As I studied, I couldn’s deny what I was finding on the subjects of temple, high priest, salvation, priesthood, the trinity, etc. The doctrine I had been taught in the church was contradictory to what the Bible said and I began to see many contradictions within the three books themselves.
After three months of studying the scriptures, I checked out books about Joseph Smith, deciding to be objective and look at both sides of the issue. I figured the truth was still in the RLDS church, and believed my study would ultimately bring me back to it. I spent many hours at the World Church Library looking at the early materials of the original church in 1830. In the materials were negative claims against Joseph Smith, which I didn’t believe at first. However, things started proving themselves out — history wise and through scripture. I was still trying to prove Mike wrong, so I abandoned these negative claims and went back to the Bible. Finally, out of frustration, I turned to the Lord and with a willing heart, asked Him to lead me to the truth wherever that would be — in or out of the RLDS church. All I wanted at this point was the TRUTH. I determined that God would have to show me the truth through the Bible, not by anything about Joseph Smith.
My testimony is that blinders were lifted off my eyes as I sought the truth in my study. For the first time in my life, I started to understand passages of scripture in a totally new light. I would read several verses before and after the main verse to understand the situation. Suddenly, I saw RLDS meanings for key “restoration” verses melt away and new wonderful meanings could be seen relating only to Christ. Many times I have been accused of following false spirits and taking verses “out of context” since I left the church. What I found was that Jesus says He is the TRUTH! No one should be afraid of checking the church out, if they sincerely want the truth. We are admonished to prove all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21), and that is what I did and I found the peace that only Jesus can give. Jesus is the only TRUTH, He is the hope of my salvation, and there is no other name under heaven given, except Jesus’ name, that gives me my salvation (Acts 4:12). The hardest thing of all was finding out that I could no longer hold onto testimonies alone, but that they must be tested against God’s true word: the Bible.
It was a difficult struggle for me, as restoration beliefs are so different than the teachings of the Bible. After my search brought me to the realization that the RLDS church was not the only true church, I made the heart-wrenching decision to leave the church totally and turn away from the distinctive beliefs all together, including the Book of Mormon. It was a very difficult and painful process with family and friends, many rejecting us immediately. The Lord has called us to follow Him, not family and friends, experiences, “heritage in the church,” testimonies, or feelings (Matthew 10:34-38). Jesus is all we need for salvation. Make Him Lord and Savior of your life today if He isn’t already. We are all sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). In Romans 3:10, we are told that there is none righteous, no not one; all of our righteousness is as filthy rags to God (Isaiah 64:6). You must trust Jesus alone to save you, not church membership, baptism or good works. His grace is sufficient for me! (2 Corinthians 12:9). The Bible tells us that we can KNOW that we are saved (1 John 5:13). It is not a prideful thing, but instead a very joyful and humbling knowledge of God’s love for us.
For many years, my eyes and ears focused on the RLDS church and the fullness of the gospel as taught in the church; I was religious, but not right with God. I tuned out and refused to believe anything else, especially rejecting the wonderful work done on the cross in my behalf. When I truly desired to seek the truth, no matter the cost, I found the truth pointing only to Jesus for He is the TRUTH. My ears heard and my eyes were opened for the first time in my life to the magnificent love of God for me through Jesus’ death on the cross. Jesus bore My sins on that cross and paid the price for MY eternal salvation. The gospel is simply this: That Christ died for our sins…and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day (1 Corinthians 15: 3-4).
I am so thankful that I found Jesus. The process was painful, but nothing is more wonderful than to completely turn your life over to Him. I rejoice daily for the salvation He has given me through the wonderful gift of grace. Most of all, I am eternally grateful to Him for bringing me out of the deception of the RLDS church and bringing me home to himself and that wonderful, personal relationship I have found with Him.