My Big Announcement!

I have an exciting announcement to share, and did you know that singing could manifest miracles? Also, what message is the Lord showing us in the stars (think celebrity "stars")? Watch to find out.

The Battle For Your Soul!

I listened to these two episodes the other day back to back and wanted to share. They have a similar message in relation to sharing personal experiences that shed light on the adversary's plans to steal our soul.

The first episode is a recent interview with Mike Simpson from Theta Wellness, who I have mentioned many times in my videos. He helped with a physical health issue and has since helped so many of you. The second episode is a Provo man's story of overcoming incredible hurdles of darkness. Both episodes have a theme of "physical, spiritual, and emotional healing comes after forgiveness."

Enjoy!!

An Incredible Story That No One is Talking About!

In a recent video message I had referenced the incredible story of Drew Graham, an LDS man who testifies that he was healed of homosexuality. He is now happily married to a beautiful woman who is the love of his life and he is also a proud father. I had attended a presentation by his parents Stephen and Janice Graham at the Book of Mormon conference back in April, and at the time I wasn't sure why I felt prompted to attend their presentation among all the other speakers and topics competing for that same hour. However, since sharing their very unique story on my YouTube channel, I now know why I was prompted to attend. The many messages and emails that have since poured in, are an amazing witness that this story needs to be told.

My decision to share began with this response I offered on facebook to a woman in a private facebook group who was struggling with she and her husband's differing views and opinions in relation to teaching their children about homosexuality. She had a liberal approach and he was very conservative. She felt their differences were tearing apart their marriage. I offered the following response:

"I don’t have advice nor do I want to share an opinion. But I do feel prompted to share this experience:

I was awakened very early this morning and prompted to get on Facebook. I was so tired that I fought it for 15 minutes. Finally I got up and went onto Facebook. The very first post in my feed was this post. I felt I needed to share a recent experience I had but again I fought it. I then flipped open my scriptures and they landed on page 185 in D&C. The very first verse I read was D&C 95:1. What a powerful confirmation! I knew then that I needed to share. So, here goes:

I attended a conference last weekend in which I heard a presentation given by the parents of an LDS man who was gay for about 18 years and is now straight and has a wife and children. His story is very unique as you seldom hear this perspective and therefore his stance is very unpopular, but he’s okay with that. This man named Drew Graham, wrote a book and speaks on this topic. His stance and his parent’s stance on the issue are so different from what the Church teaches and from what society teaches that they feel ostracized by both. 

He was raised by parents who both have views like your husband and his mother is from San Francisco and was raised in a very liberal environment. 

He says he was born a very sensitive and feminine boy, who played with dolls and loved the arts and that part of him has never changed. His parents were loving and supportive but also taught him that lust was a sin (Matt 5:28), sexual impurity was a sin, and the gay lifestyle was against God’s will for His children. 

Because of his feminine nature and character, he was teased often by masculine boys who told him he was gay. After hearing this his whole life he believed it must be true and accepted it, even at an age when he was too young to be interested in sexuality. This led him to question his masculinity which led him to look at images of masculine men online to see what society deemed a “real man” should look like. This led to looking at male porn which he justified as okay since he was a man himself and had the same body parts. This led to a porn addiction that lasted for several years. 

While attending BYU he was preyed upon by gay temple endowed LDS men who had wives and children and hid their sexual infidelity. They preyed upon him in chat rooms and met him at locations to carry out their desires. Truthfully he was abused, but he allowed it. He said because he was young, curious, and exploring, he was extremely vulnerable and bombarded by gay men who were turned on by his vulnerability. He said that during the entire 18 years of struggle with this, he felt this world and lifestyle and everyone in it was fueled by sex addiction, abuse, lies, and darkness. Even after coming out of the closet and turning down his mission call he never felt pure love or light. He felt deep down that this was not what God wanted for him. He felt God wanted him to live a life that was clean, pure, true, and in which he could enter all of Gods highest covenants and receive those ordinances and blessings. God wanted him to have a healthy sexual relationship and not remain celibate his entire life. God wanted him to have posterity. God wanted him to experience the fullness of joy. He didn’t feel right about engaging in the gay lifestyle (what society teaches and pushes) and he also didn’t feel right about remaining abstinent the rest of his life (what the church teaches, if you’re gay just don’t ever act on it and you’ll be fine). He felt there should be another approach. He wanted to marry and have his own children. And he wanted all the blessings of the temple. He realized that he wanted to be delivered from a lifestyle that he felt was not what God wanted for Him. He felt that for him, being gay resulted from lies that were fed to him from society through the internet and social media coupled with a porn addiction that in return fed the lies. He felt that during these 18 years of being gay, he never was truly happy, he always felt impure and never experienced true love. 

He realized one day that the Savior could save him from a lifestyle and desire he longer wanted. He had never thought to call upon his Savior before to be delivered from this attraction, desire, addiction, and lifestyle because this teaching is offensive to many, its seldom taught. He had always heard and been taught to call on the Savior to be able to endure it (be gay but never act on it) but not be completely delivered from it. So he called upon Jesus Christ like he never had before, and over a period of time he was what he called “healed”. 

He served a mission later in life and was glad to have not used a mission to hide, distract from, or “take care” of the issue. He was glad he took care of it before choosing a mission. He actually became attracted to women and after his mission married a beautiful wife in the temple and now has children. He said he never knew he could be this happy and have a healthy sexual life that fills him with such joy and light! He never knew he could be so in love with someone as he really had never felt true love before. Being “healed” didn’t turn him more masculine, but he felt that society’s idea of what a “real man” should be is false. He never knew that he could be sensitive, love art, and still be attracted to and in love with a woman. He had been taught by society that because of who and how he was, he should be attracted to men. He felt pushed in that direction. In the end he learned it was not what he really wanted but he never knew that until he called upon the Savior. 

As you can see his stance and belief is in contrast with what society teaches and what the church teaches which is why no bookstores will carry his book, and no one will allow him to speak. He is very unpopular for his beliefs and story but he is so happy that he doesn’t care if sharing it will help someone else find the same happiness that he has. 

Looking back he says he wished his parents would have been even more vocal about expressing their views. He wished they would have interfered more. He feels that parents who massage the issue to be in line with society, do more damage. He believes it is a black and white issue as well as a spiritual warfare issue. 

I saw his YouTube video testimony at the conference but have not been able to find it myself on YouTube. YouTube has made it nearly impossible to find the video without a direct link. I was able to find it another way, here it is. His testimony begins at 10:24 into the video. I also included a link to an interview with his parents."

The first few comments that came in were very positive and filled with gratitude and thanks for sharing this man's story. Then shortly later, a couple of negative comments came through; LDS women who felt that by me sharing this man's story, I was doing more harm than good for people in the gay community. Their fear filled worries and words, were a plea for me to never share this information again. It was very upsetting to them. Here was my response;

"They were told by Sheri Dew at Deseret Book that the reason Deseret Book was cancelling their book deal was because it was decided that their book goes against the approach that the church teaches and encourages (The Church teaches that same-sex attraction is fine as long as you don't ever act on it. The Graham's encourage complete healing and wholeness through Jesus Christ, so that one can marry, have a family, make all the covenants in the temple, and experience joy! This is seen as politically incorrect as it suggests that being gay is something to be healed of.)

His story is unique but it might resonate with someone out there who is on the same page or feels very similar. I feel as we overcome challenges, God uses us as instruments to share hope. We shouldn't be afraid to share our experiences, miracles, and blessings, but trust those promptings as the Lord leads us to share. I know his story has helped so many and he has felt guided to share it only when asked. I just know I was prompted to share. ❤️"

Here are three videos that share unique perspectives and approaches that you won't hear very often. Since sharing this, many have come forward in anonymous emails letting me know that this approach worked for them and their loved ones as well.

The first video features Drew sharing his story at 10:20 into the video. The entire video is worth watching as it shares many other unique stories and perspectives on the same topic. The second video features his parents sharing their perspective at the same conference (at 16:28). The third video is an up-close and personal interview with his parents. I felt the importance of sharing their story here on my blog. I hope that their message resonates with someone out there, and is a blessing!


A Parent’s Story: Steve & Janice Graham from PFOX on Vimeo.

New Way to Minister?

As ministering is becoming a big part of the saints of the Church, I think it's important to look for new "outside of the box" ways to minister. I think we can get creative when serving those both in and outside of our ward communities.

Here is what a church in Houston did to serve those outside of their walls. I have often mentioned in videos and on facebook that I'm happy to take requests, and many times people have written me asking me to pray for them - which I have. This is prayer request on a whole new level for today's fast paced modern world.

It's a great service to be able to help pray for others, but it's even more power when we vocally pray with them. I believe it increases the faith of both the person praying and the person being prayed for. It creates strength, unity, and bonds as well. 

Could you imagine what this would look like in an LDS community? Missionaries standing on the side of the road with signs offering drive up prayer. Or young men and young women, instead of washing cars for fundraising, standing by the side of the road with posters offering drive up prayers at no cost. Forget fundraising, how about soul saving? This would be awesome! I mean even walking into a retirement center and asking the residents if anyone would like a word of prayer? Taking the time to talk with them and ask them what they need prayers for, and then taking the time to pray over them each, individually.  

When I saw this, I imagined a weary man or exhausted mother driving home from a long and stressful day, feeling hopeless and at the end of their rope. Not finding a reason to continue living and feeling so alone in their trials. Then seeing a sign on the side of the road that says, "Drive-Thru Prayers. Let us Pray for You". Just imagine what that one prayer and act of kindness could do for that one soul. Beautiful!

Prophecy Being Fulfilled - Who is Shawn LittleBear?

In recent videos I have shared quite a bit about Shawn Little Bear. He is an LDS missionary, High Priest, and Medicine Man of the Cheyenne tribe of Oklahoma. He has an incredible mission and a lot to share about prophecy that's been and currently being fulfilled, based on the records of his people, and in comparison to the records in the Book of Mormon.

Yes, as I've mentioned in my recent video - his tribe has the book of Lehi! As well as other records that will soon be translated into English and published online for the world to see. He has support from LDS church leadership and two of the twelve apostles are involved in this undertaking.

I've included a video presentation below where Shawn shares some incredible information he did not share in the presentation I attended. You are going to want to listen to this video, especially the part about the old wood. I also pasted my video below where I share my notes from Shawn's recent presentation I attended at a Book of Mormon conference. In the bottom video, fast forward to 1:04:17 in the video and that's where I begin sharing my notes (the good stuff).

 
Shawn Little Bear Fireside from Color My Media on Vimeo.

Baptist Minister Preaches from the Book of Mormon? Here's A Movement You Need to Know About!

Recently, I had mentioned on my YouTube channel an amazing movement that everyone needs to know about. Founded by Missouri Baptist Minister Lynn Ridenhour, who preaches support of and belief in the Book of Mormon; this ministry is called Building Bridges Ministry.

Yes, Lynn preaches from the Book of Mormon every Sunday over the pulpit of his church, and in addition to that he holds conferences and meetings in which he invites members of several denominations (LDS, RLDS, Community of Christ, Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist, etc.) to come together and share what's on their hearts as they worship together and praise the Lord. In my mind, this paints a picture of how Zion will be during the Millennium - people of diverse Christian faiths and beliefs all living together in peace and harmony, serving the Lord. The sooner we can usher in this brotherhood/sisterhood uniting in Christ, I believe the sooner we prepare the earth for our Savior's return.


I first met Lynn at a Book of Mormon Conference last month here in Layton, Utah. Having never heard of him before and not sure what his presentation was about, I felt prompted to attend and was so glad that I did! What an incredible man on an incredible mission!

Lynn is passionate about building bridges between what he terms "Book of Mormon Believers" and "Bible Believers". Yes, those who believe in the Book of Mormon also believe in and read the Bible (just so there's no confusion), but this term refers to us Bible Believers who also believe in the Book of Mormon! Over the years, Lynn's ministry has resonated with so many Latter-day Saints including our beloved prophet Gordon B. Hinckley who while President of the Church, once invited Lynn to dinner to personally meet him and thank him for his genuine message to the members of the LDS church. Upon meeting Lynn, President Hinckley said, "We've never had a Baptist preacher come to our town and ask for our forgiveness."

The reason I am thrilled beyond words about Lynn's message and ministry is because a few years ago I was searching for something like this. One day while on the phone with my sister, I expressed to her that I believed a day would soon come when these two groups would come together and be powerful for the Lord. I truly believed that there was much we could learn from our Christian brothers and sisters and also that there was much we could share with them. I truly believed that we could have these conversations without offense or contention. That we would realize we actually have more in common than we do differences.

Many of the things that the Spirit has been teaching me over the past few years are common place among Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians - as well as common place among the early Saints of the Church. For a while, I felt that I couldn't share many of these things that I was learning with my fellow LDS friends because they wouldn't understand or would not be ready to hear, but truly felt that I wouldn't have to because someday in the near future, our two groups would come together and teach each other!

Some of these priceless gems I have learned over the years are:

• How to improve my prayer closet
• How to improve my prayers
• How to strengthen my faith in healing and miracles
• Spiritual warefare
• The power of praise
• And the truth about Halloween

Truly, I feel that the Lord often uses my blog and YouTube channel as a platform to give a voice to His other children whom He is using as instruments in His hands. I am happy to share their messages and help hasten the Lord's work. He is doing a work among all of His children, not just through the members of the LDS church. Whoever is willing, He will use for His wise purposes - purposes that we are often slow to understand and comprehend. 

This post needs to be shared with everyone. It's so important for us to help build these bridges between our different Christian communities. There are so many creative ways we can do this! For example, my sister has shared with me that her ward Relief Society has arranged an interfaith worship night once a month. One night each month, many sisters from various Christian denominations come together and celebrate the Lord. A different church hosts each month. They've been doing this for a few months now and it has been amazing! My sister shared with me her favorite night when a Christian worship band took requests. My sister and I are fans of Christian contemporary music mainly KLOVE radio and The Message on Sirius XM. As my sister threw out song requests, her fellow LDS sisters were confused as they were not familiar with this music nor these artists or songs. They were amazed that my sister knew all the words and stood with her fellow Christian sisters with arms raised to the ceiling while singing along. She said they looked a little unfamiliar and awkward but she fit right in! These are the fruits of stepping outside of our Mormon bubbles - a message I have shared over the last several years and will continue to share.

As we come together and have these experiences and conversations we can eliminate the awkwardness of our different religious cultures, traditions, and terminology. As explained so eloquently in Lynn's third video below, we have more in common than we realize. We believe in many of the same things, we just call it something different. As we tear down the walls of prejudice, misjudgment, misunderstanding, and old quarrels from the past, and we lose the mentality of us vs. them or whose right and whose wrong, and instead focus on our common denominator which is our love for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and our desire to serve Him and be like Him, we will experience compassion and miracles on a level we have never experienced before! I believe this with all my heart, in Jesus' name amen. 

Here are three videos that sum up everything about this blogpost as well as offer a little more introduction about Lynn and his background. The second video is powerful!