Talking to a Mormon

After picking up my Marketing textbook from the SFU Harbour Centre campus today, I headed home on the SkyTrain. It was at my station where I ran into a well-dressed Mormon wearing slacks, a white button-up dress shirt, a blue tie, and sporting a simple black plastic name tag who wanted to share the purpose of life. Instead of blowing him off, I was totally intrigued to find out what he believes is the meaning of life. I asked him questions about the origins of Mormonism and how he came to believe. He told me that growing up he went to an evangelical church, but had questions about why there were so many different churches and theologies. He ran into a Mormon one day who explained to him why the Mormons believe theirs to be the true church. He explored the Mormon faith and found it to be true.

I asked him about Joseph Smith and he told me that they believe him to be the apostle that came to explain the true church which is how they have the Book of Mormon. He said that they believe Jesus Christ as their saviour; however, Joseph Smith came after where he received a vision from God who gave him the answers to the theological issues that have created the many different denominations we see today. The Mormons mission is to explain to people that in addition to believing Jesus as their saviour, they have the answers to what God's church looks like and that they are the true church.

I explained to him where I was coming from about how the rituals in church are man-made and that God from the Bible didn't explain how it is suppose to be setup. The true church is the people or the body. I said there are differences in theology and each one of us has a different interpretation of the Word, but the basis of Christianity is a personal relationship with God. He told me he believed that, but asked me what if there is something more than just knowing Jesus Christ as our saviour. I told him we don't have all the answers since we are human which is why we have a thing called faith, but one thing I do know is that Jesus is the first and the last who loved and died for us and having a relationship with Him is the most important thing in a believer's life. He agreed.

I asked him questions I've always wanted to know like their stance on polygamy and levels of heaven. He explained that they don't believe in polygamy, but originally they did because of the Old Testament. He also told me that there are three levels of heaven, but didn't go into further detail.

Throughout our conversation, I really just listened instead of argued. It was refreshing. The fact is we have our own beliefs, and I know I wasn't going to convince him with my view nor was he going to convince me, but I think it was very good to talk about the spiritual dimension of our lives. I love learning about different people's views on faith and religion so it wasn't a waste of my time having a conversation with him. He's really just a normal guy, but with different beliefs than me.

I found out he's a Korean-American who's family moved to California when he was one. He did a year at Bringham Young University and moved to Vancouver to do a two year missions trip. I asked him what he wants to do after, and he told me he plans to go to the California Institute of Technology to study Computer Science or Engineering. He eventually wants to go to MIT. Ha ha ha...I wonder if he was influenced by his parents with that decision much like my dad who wanted me to become a doctor or a lawyer. I ended up a Geographer, sorry Dad.

He asked if we could meet again, but I know it'll just open a door to having them come visit me on a daily basis, so I said no. But he did leave me a card with his contact information. We shook hands and then I headed home filled with some new knowledge about Mormonism.

Peace.