Dick Luff
Warrensburg, Missouri
My Exit from the Deep Dark Jungle
I was born and raised in the RLDS church, fourth generation. At the age of 53, I left the church.
When I became old enough and mature enough to analyze church doctrine, the first thing I rejected was the Doctrine & Covenants (D&C), because of the many fallacies. One of the things that got me started in my quest for truth was the revision which was made in this book which changed it from being the Book of Commandments to the present day D&C. Many times I proclaimed that if all of these alleged revelations were of God, then Joseph Smith had no right to change any of them; by changing them, it made him a liar and deceiver. However, if these were Joseph’s own concoctions—and not God’s—then he had every right to do as he would with them. But because he claimed that they were from God, then it still made him a liar and deceiver.
I also eventually came to the knowledge that Joseph Smith’s Inspired Version of the Bible was a fabrication of his own, with no truth in any of the changes he had made. In spite of all these doubts, I was ordained to the office of Priest in 1972. In 1976 I was ordained to the office of Elder. During this period of time I fervently believed that the RLDS was the only true church of God. I taught the Book of Mormon for a number of years, even though I believed that Joseph Smith was a fallen prophet. This led to much confusion to my spiritual being because I realized that Joseph Smith, even before he translated the Book of Mormon, was a treasure seeker, using evil powers to do it.
I couldn’t understand how God could use an evil man, who had supposedly become righteous, but had then turned evil again. The RLDS leadership claimed that God had to use what He had on hand and yet Jesus said in Matthew 3:9, “God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.” So I wondered why He couldn’t raise up a righteous prophet to represent Himself.
I noticed that at World Conferences, when the Prophet/President brought forth a document, the people would pray for the Lord to confirm it to them. “Lord show me that this is true.” When they pray this kind of a prayer, there are many spirits out there that will give them the answers they want to hear. When I began hearing testimonies of these answers from “what” or “whoever,” then I realized that my prayer had to be different from theirs. I began praying “Lord, show me the Truth: Is this truly the only church on the earth that you are pleased with? Lord, is the Book of Mormon truly of You, is it divine?” I did not receive an immediate “thunderbolt” answer, but I began to receive enlightenment through testimonies, showing me many of the false doctrines within the church.
Eventually,I became reacquainted with a man I had known years before, who was also an Elder and a very faithful, spiritual man. I discovered that he was very disgruntled with the church. We became very close. He was a very accomplished researcher, which I was not. I believe the Lord used him to show me many, many fallacies and false doctrines within the church. He led me to the very edge of the Deep Dark Jungle which I had been wandering in.
I owe a great deal to my own parents who taught me all of my life in the true ways of Jesus Christ, who was the true Son of God, born of a virgin, died for my sins and was resurrected, just as he prophesied. I believe that the fervent teachings of my parents, which put Jesus Christ first—not Joseph Smith—was why I was later able to see the flaws in RLDS doctrine.
After I had reached this stage of disbelief, I still strongly believed that the Book of Mormon was true. I had already been silenced in the church because of my outspokenness about the doctrines. I used to say that if all the other churches were such an abomination to God, then why were we singing their “abominable” hymns?
Then we heard about another man who had left the church, and we invited him over to explain why he had done so. We asked him to explain this from our own books, not from something someone had written about the church. The first things he showed us were right out of the Book of Mormon.One example is II Nephi 4: 21-24, about building the temple with gold and silver. At that point, my eyes were opened and I was able to find the plagiarizations and lies, enough to show me that the Book of Mormon was false.
I had been praying that prayer for truth for fifteen years. More and more, the Lord was showing me what was wrong, but I was too thick-headed to understand it. I also believe that I was too filled with fear to leave the church. Once I made the decision to leave, I came out of the deep dark jungle and found myself in the Glorious Light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Since then I have been a Deacon in two Christian churches, and I am now very active in my current Congregation. I am also presently involved in Prison Ministry, visiting the local jail two days a week. I enjoy this ministry more than any I have ever been involved in.
In Christian Bonds,Dick Luff
You can send Dick an email by clicking dbluff@iland.net.