Listed below are the testimonies of 24 people who have left the RLDS church. What you will find here are 24 fascinating stories of the power of God's Spirit, giving each of them the courage to leave error behind, to go on to be embraced by the love, forgiveness and peace of Jesus alone, in His Truth alone. You can read the full testimony of each of the people below by simply clicking on their name. After you read a few of these stories, you may begin asking yourself, "What am I waiting for?"

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Leslie (Baker) Trask was a sixth genreation RLDS. Her father was a High Priest, and a counselor to the Detroit International Stake President, and a Patriarch later in his life. At the age of 19 she married Paul Trask, who operates this website. Both her and Paul were active in RLDS leadership for sixteen years. Paul was a pastor on two occassions and a Counselor to the San Francisco Bay Stake Bishop. The Lord led Leslie and Paul out of the RLDS church in 1989, after a prolonged period of study and prayer.

Penny was born and raised in an RLDS home. After attending Graceland College she joined the Phoenix Central Branch in 1986. During this time she developed some concerns and questions about the RLDS church. Unbeknownst to her, she had two close Christian friends who had been praying for six years that she might come to know Christ in truth. All of a sudden one day, God answered these prayers! Penny now prays for her remaining RLDS family members, that they may come to know the truth of Christ as well.

Clyde Land was born and raised in an RLDS home in Saskatchewan. As an adult he held RLDS priesthood for over 25 years, including the offices of Priest and Elder. He was also an Assistant Chaplain at the Independence Regional Health Center (the former RLDS hospital). However, both Clyde and his wife were growing increasingly dissatisfied with the quality of local church services and were becoming alarmed with the strange evolution of the World Church. After much study and prayer Clyde left the RLDS church and was baptized into Jesus Christ alone. He now feels he has truly been set free by God's grace to live the life God had been planning for him all along.

Bruce Setchfield was a second generation RLDS for 31 years, and held the office of Deacon for 12 years. He and his wife moved to Independence, Missouri shortly after they were married, believing they were ‘gathering to Zion.’ However, as they studied to teach a Book of Mormon class they began discovering discrepancies between its teachings and the Doctrine & Covenants, the Bible and church doctrine. These unresolved discrepancies ultimately led them to leave the RLDS church. Bruce has continued his studies over the years, and in his testimony he shares a number of such problems he has discovered.

Carolyn (Beem) Smith grew up as a third generation RLDS. As a young adult she fell away from faith for a time, but returned to her spiritual roots upon the death of her mother. She soon felt herself aligned with the more “fundamental” part of the church. Her fundamentalism was extreme at times, and ultimately led her to divorce her “non-RLDS” husband of nineteen years. In her fundamentalist zeal, she would later enter into two other marriages doomed to failure. Her fourth husband challenged her RLDS beliefs, and put her on the path of deliverance. At a church of his choosing she encountered missionaries who specialize in teaching about pseudo-Christian cults, such as Mormonism. In a diligent effort to prove them wrong, she encountered the Lord through His Word. For the first time in her life, the Bible came alive to her through God’s Holy Spirit. There He unfolded His plan of salvation, and saved her. From that point on, she has experienced continual spiritual growth in the Lord through His Spirit and His Word. She had long struggled under the bondage of Joseph Smith, with a patchwork quilt of beliefs which did not agree or make sense. That was all swept away in a moment by a face to face encounter with the Lord through His Word, in Spirit and in Truth. In early 2004 Carolyn began studies at Calvary Bible College in Grandview, Missouri.

The testimony of Carolyn’s son, John Milholland, in included below (third one down).

Mike Scheffer grew up in a Christian home, but married an RLDS gal he met in college, whose family had a long heritage in the RLDS church. Soon after he joined the RLDS church himself, but was uncomfortable with it. After a number of years of spiritual tension, Mike and his wife agreed to do an in-depth study of RLDS scriptures and theology together. This study ultimately led both of them out of the RLDS church, and into the victory of Jesus alone. What a wonderful success story!

Eleanor Land was a third generation RLDS member from Saskatchewan, Cananda. She had to spend a number of years in the "center place," Independence, Missouri, before she realized she had been misled by RLDS teachings. Since then, she and her husband Clyde have returned to Canada to share their newfound faith in Jesus alone with family and friends.

John Milholland was a fourth generation RLDS member from Independence, Missouri. He had been a member for 30 years, and had held RLDS priesthood for just a year when he began to understand the serious errors of Joseph Smith. He responded with integrity to these problems by leaving his priesthood and RLDS church membership behind, and chose a relationship with Jesus Christ based on truth. He now attends Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty, Missouri.

Dallena Hess was a fourth generation RLDS member from southwest Arkansas and Oklamhoma. She also graduated from Graceland College. Over time Dallena became dissatisfied with her RLDS church life. After struggling with the liberal direction of the RLDS church she read Carol Hansen's book RLDS Church: Is it Christian? Shortly thereafter, she made the decision to leave the RLDS church. Since then she has become a Christian and now attends a Bible teaching Baptist church, where she is involved with ministry to the Deaf and the Hearing Impaired.

Ron Luff was a fifth generation RLDS and the son of Dick and Barb Luff whose testimonies are also included below (5th ones down). He held the priesthood office of Teacher, and was active in RLDS congregations in Jacksonville, Florida and Branson, Missouri. In the late 1980's Ron and his family became part of a radical RLDS fundamentalist group led by Jeffrey Lundgren, who functioned as their self-proclaimed and self-appointed prophet. This group took form in Kirtland, Ohio, where some bizarre things began to be taught and practiced. In an effort to "purify" the group from "sin," Lundgren executed an entire family of five—mother, father and three young children. Though the crime has urged a great deal of supposition as to why they were killed, the real reason is known only to Lundgren himself. Among others, Ron was convicted as an accessory to these crimes and was sentenced to five life sentences. He is serving his term in the Ross Correctional Institution, in Chillocothe, Ohio. Since his incarceration, Ron has been described as a model prisoner. Understandably, these events have also led him to intensely evaluate his faith. In the process he has been able to accurately identify the serious problems with RLDS scriptures and theology which helped create the tangled situation with the Lundgren group in Kirtland, Ohio. He has therefore given up the aberrant scriptures and theology of the RLDS church, to accept the forgiveness and acceptance of Jesus alone as his Lord and Savior. Since then he has completed an Associate Degree in Ministry through the Southern Baptist Convention, including the study of Biblical Greek so he could better understand the New Testament. Ron has also studied the Koran in order to better witness to Muslims in his correctional facility.

You can write to Ron at:
Ronald B. Luff 237-062
P.O. Box 7010 RCI
Chillocothe, OH 45601

Marja (Parker) Waldon was a 5th generation RLDS. She attended congregations in Des Moines, Iowa Cleveland, Ohio and the Stone Church congregation in Independence, Missouri. Marja's grandfather was among the first students at Graceland College and baptized Roy Cheville. Marja also attended Graceland College, as well as the School of Nursing at the RLDS Sanitarium in Independence (now the Independence Regional Health Center), where she graduated first in her clinical care program. She went on to teach Operating Room and Emergency Room Nursing at the Sanitarium. In addition to her nursing and teaching, Marja was active in her RLDS congregations, participating in Zion's League, leading Older Youth, teaching Sunday School and singing in the choir. Marja and her husband now attend the Church of the Nazarene in Camdenton, Missouri. She has the most interesting ministry of illustrating gospel truths via chalk drawings! Many have come to know Christ as Savior through her ministry. Marja also serves as the coordinator of e-Prayer , which is a global prayer network of 520,000 people in 75 countries praying for missionaries, those in ministry, needs of our world and individuals. Marja has a most compelling testimony. I have been blessed by reading it. I trust you will be as well.

Shauna Brentana was an RLDS member for 22 years, and held the priesthood office of Teacher for 2 years. She was raised in the Beacon Heights & East Alton congregations of the Blue Valley Stake. Shauna and her husband Tom had most recently been members of the Lee's Summit, Missouri RLDS congregation where they had led the Senior High youth group for about 5 years. Shauna had also served on the congregational Worship Commission and taught regularly at their Vacation Bible School.

Shirley Bulen spent 40 years in the RLDS church. Her family heritage in the RLDS church was very strong. She was the 5th generation on both sides of her family. Her maternal great-great-grandfather was Joseph Luff, a well-known and respected apostle of the early RLDS church. On the paternal side, her great-great grandfather was Thomas Brocaw, a devoted missionary in his time.

David Crane was born and raised in an RLDS home. He was a member of the RLDS church for 27 years, and a priesthood member for 19 years. He was one of four brothers who all held RLDS priesthood. David attended the RLDS church's Graceland College where he served as Priesthood Coordinator of Aaron House. Through God's own mercy, David was set completely free from the RLDS church in 1995. He is now vitally active in his Christian faith at East Side Baptist Church, in Independence, Missouri. I invite you to read David's moving story.

Dick Luff and Barb Luff had been long-term members of the RLDS church; Dick for 45 years and Barbara for 33 years. Dick had been a fourth generation member, and had held RLDS priesthood for 14 years. In this capacity he had served on the Executive Board of the Boy Scouts, taught numerous youth and adult classes and had been a Group Elder and Hospital Minister. Barbara was an active member as well, as a Boy Scout Den Mother and Executive Board member, Vacation Bible School teacher and principle, women's ministries. She also worked for the church's publishing house, Herald House, for 4 years, and for the Presiding Bishopric in the church's headquarters, The Auditorium, for 20 years.

Dick is also a descendant of Joseph Luff, who was a very popular RLDS Apostle and church Physician in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Joseph Luff conceived the idea for the RLDS "Sanitarium" (hospital), which is the currently the Independence Regional Health Center.

Carol Hansen was a member of the RLDS church for 48 years. After graduating from Graceland College in 1948, she became very involved in church activities at the Walnut Park and Beacon Heights congregations. In the early 1970’s she began looking objectively at Joseph Smith’s teachings and came to the conclusion they were diametrically opposed to Biblical Christianity. Consequently, she left the church and, together with other former RLDS members, established Life Line to RLDS Ministries to provide accurate historical and doctrinal information for RLDS whose love of the truth surpasses their love for “the church.”

Christopher Evans was born into and raised by a very loving and caring RLDS family who where very sincere but sincerely wrong in what they taught him as being “divine truth”. He once believed so strongly in the cause and establishment of Zion, the New Jerusalem, in Independence, Missouri. After much research into the “Real Truth”, he discovered that this was only a dream and fantasy of an imaginary utopia that will never exist in reality but in the minds of those lost in this strong delusion.

Bob Perkins and Elena Perkins were members of the RLDS church for 27 years. Bob was a 4th generation RLDS member; Elena was a 3rd generation. They had attended the New Jerusalem and Glendale Restoration Branches in Independence, Missouri. Bob owns and operates Nature's Pantry health food store in Independence, Missouri.

Jenny Farr was a 3rd generation RLDS member. She was raised in the RLDS church, was baptized at eight years of age, and attended the Stewartsville, Missouri congregation. Jenny attended Graceland College her freshman year, and has a B.A. in Art. She is currently a stay-at-home mom with three children. Jenny was "called" to the priesthood office of Priest in 1994, but chose not to be ordained.

Teri Beatty was raised Catholic, but married a 4th generation RLDS man in 1969. She later joined the RLDS church herself and remained a member for twenty-seven years. Her and her family were active in the West Palm Beach, Florida RLDS congregation, and in various congregations in and around Independence, Missouri. The Lord led Teri out of the RLDS church a few years ago. She now belongs to Eastside Baptist Church, in Independence, Missouri, where she was miraculously healed her of long-term manic-depression at a prayer service. She has also worked at a local craft store for nine years.

Todd & Carla Talcott were 6th generation RLDS members. They attended more fundamental congregations in the Independence and central Missouri areas. Todd held the priesthood office of Deacon.