Why I Became a “Mormon”

Why 1 Became a "Mormon" ie&timony of a South Australian Convert BY A. SCRYMGOUR. It seems to me only reasonable to expect that anyone uniting himself to an organization of any kind should be able to give a reason for selecting that particular one in preference to others, of a somewhat similar nature, and I propose explaining, in as concise a maner as possible, why I, after being in close touch with religious people up to the age of fifty-five without joining any church should, at that time of life, decide that my place was in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. First as to my early life. My parents were good, Godly people who, I sincerely believe, lived up to the light they possessed. Father was a deacon in the Congregational church, and mother was a recognized leader in all the women's work of the church. There were five of us brothers, I being the youngest. We were carefully brought up, and our minds were stored with scripture knowledge; but, of course, from the point of view of — the church to which our parents belonged though I must say they were more liberal minded than most, and in many respects better than their creed. My four brothers as they came of an age to decide for themselves all joined the same church, and I attended the services and Bible class regularly, until I was eighteen years of age, and then, as I went to sea for some years, the church and I parted company. No doubt the question will be asked, "What prevented you from becoming a church member, as your bothers had done?" I can hardly give a satisfactory answer, except that it seemed to me in a vague sort of way that the God of the churches was not the God of the Bible and that the scope of the ;

plan of salvation was too narrow and limited, considering the price at which it had been carried out. At that time I could not have put my difficulty into words, but with the light which the Holy Spirit has given me in the evening of life, I can now see that God was in some way preventing me from uniting myself with the church, there being something better in store for me. At

514 IMPROVEMENT ERA the age of twenty-four I married, and, strange to say, my wife had experienced the same difficulty as myself in attempting to harmonize the creed of her church (the Church of England) with the scriptures; and at last we discontinued the use of both church and .Bible in despair. So there we were, at the age of twenty- five, stranded on the rocks of doubt, having plenty of Biblical knowledge, but no religion, and no one, as far as we could see, able to help us. We were just in the same predicament as the Ethiopian Eunuch when Philip asked him, "Understandest thou what thou readest?" His reply was, ''How can 1, except some man should guide me?" About six years after my marriage, I went to South Africa where my wife joined me later. After some ups and downs, we found ourselves in Bloemfontein, in what was called then the Orange Free State. Here we fell in with the Salvation Army, and joined it, thinking we had found a religion at last with some life and energy in it. But after some time we found that though the army was doing a good work among the poor and reaching those whom the churches seemed unable to deal with, their creed, as far as they had any, was unscriptural, and the ordinances instituted in the primitive church were entirely ignored. Eventually, after seven years of soldiership, we drifted away from the army, through our ideas clashing with theirs, and found ourselves in practically the same position we were in seven years before, belonging to nothing, and not knowing where to turn for instruction. One day, on returning from business, my wife showed me some tracts which had been slipped under the door. They were The only True Gospel, and one or two others. I may here mention that although I had never come in contact with any Latter-day Saints I knew who they were, as my father had among his books a History of the Mormons, but who the author was I do not remember. The same evening that we received the tracts, my wife and I whose names were stamped on the leaflets called on the elders (Simpkins and Griffiths), and were kindly received by them, and were so much interested in what they told us that we spent about three hours in their company, and when we left had received a very favorable impression of "Mormons" and "Morrnonism." The elders were made free in our house, and during the next

WHY BECAME A "MORMON" I 515 seven years, during which many elders came and went, we studied the gospel. During all this time if there had been anything wrong with the men or their mission, I should most certainly have found it out. But I was satisfied that I had found a genuine artiand decided that the teachings of these much abused cle at last, people were true, that I would be one of them, and that their God should be my God. My wife and I were baptized in the Nahoon river by Elder Alger, and a few months after I was ordained a teacher. Nearly two years ago we returned to Adelaide. Since my arrival here I have been advanced to the office of priest, my son and daughter have joined the Church of their own free will, and the former has been ordained a deacon. When I look back over the past years and see the way the Lord has led me, I can but say with the Psalmist, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." Now what did I see in the teachings of this particular Church which attracted me, while those of other churches repelled me? In th-~ first place, their conception of God was one that my reason and faith could accept. A God without body, parts, or passions I could not conceive of, but a God with a bodily presence, in whose image we were made, and who was our Father in reality, and not in a mystical sense, was something that took hold of me. He was a being that I could worship, one who could understand me, and not a mysterious, indefinite vapor, diffused throughout the universe. Then again the all-embracing scope of the restored gospel swept the floor clean of all those narrow limitations of its saving efficacy, which in my opinion are so dishonoring to God and Christ. Next I found that the necessity of the ordinances, as established by Christ and his apostles, was insisted on. This 1 considered quite reasonable, as, if they were not essential, the Savior would not have taught them. His time was too precious to waste in things that were a matter of indifference. Again, the common sense teaching agreed with the exact word of scripture regarding the need of proper authority, and the retaining of those officers which were found in the primitive church. And throughout all the beliefs of the Saints there is felt the underlying truth, that God means what he says, and it is not for us with our finite minds to alter and twist his words to suit our purposes.

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I rejoice that I can testify to the truth of the restored gosand to my heart-felt conviction that the man pel of Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, who was the instrument in God's hands in opening the last dispensation, is indeed a prophet of the Lord, in just as full and complete a sense as Isaiah or Jeremiah. Should this sketch of my experience in my search after the truth catch the eye of any of the elders who were in the South African mission, up to the end of 1909, I would be pleased to hear from them, at the address given below. Gladstone Road, Mile End, Adelaide.'Sotjth" Australia.