The Mormons were very welcoming to me, and for a person who is hungering after righteousness, a user-friendly marketing program can make the difference between making the sale or not.
Sandra's parents asked my parents if I could receive the marketing spiel, called the "lessons," at their home. My father was so focused on education, that he saw it as an opportunity for me to learn. My mother saw it as me pursuing one of my innocent interests, so she agreed.
Little did we know the effect that this decision would have on our family for generations to come.
My mother and I have thought about that moment, and agreed that if there had been a Google, she would have simply Googled Mormon, read the first ten articles, and said "NO!" I would never have asked to hear the lessons--I would have already known more about the Church than the missionaries, at least from a scholarly perspective.
But there was no significant historical information about the Mormons in the public library in that small East Texas town, even if we had driven thirty miles to do the research. Sandra and her parents seemed nice enough, so we just went ahead with the lessons.
The lessons of 1977 were cleverly constructed, such that naive and undereducated Utah boys could read them like a checklist, ask the questions like lawyers, and yes/no their investigator into a rational acceptance of church doctrine.
At one point I asked, "How do you know what the doctrine is supposed to be?" They replied, "The prophet tells us." I continued, "How does the prophet know?" They said, "God tells him."
Certainty.
They had me.
I have joined several cults since then, and am aware of the limitations of letting someone else say what God wants you to do. But like Anne Hutchinson, I am still searching for individual connection to God, the revelation, the true certainty that comes--for one individual--from within.
Joining the true church was very "me" and it still is. Only now, I know the true church is a one-up deal. I have my own true church, and you have yours.
That's the only way to assure quality control.
