Andrew Erickson

I was baptized at eight. I was a Deacon at twelve, a Teacher at fourteen, and a Priest at sixteen. I attended Seminary all four years of high school. I was very active in the Church, despite my step-father's heavy-handed manner as far as the gospel is concerned (he was still "insisting" I attend Church even when I was eighteen. I felt it was my choice by then. While it was tempting to "rebel", my desire to pursue the path God wanted me to overshadowed my feelings of independence.)

I grew up in the Sanpete Valley, living in Moroni since the age of five. This valley has been my home for most of my life, and it has always felt like home. I attended the local schools intermittently: sometimes I was home-schooled, and sometimes I went to public school. I spent most of Junior High home-schooled, and all of my High School years at North Sanpete High School.
While in High School, I excelled in my academics, and took Speech/Drama classes for fun. I became interested in Technical Theater, and I spent a lot of time either performing in the theater or lighting it for others. I graduated in the spring of 1991, armed with a Presidential Scholarship to Snow College in nearby Ephraim.

I attended Snow College for a year, and put in my papers for a mission at the end of the Spring Quarter (I was 19 years and 5 months old.) During this time, my mother and step-father got a divorce, and my mother began having serious problems with and from the local LDS authorities. My step-father was a very abusive person, both physically and emotionally. The church leaders counselled my mother not to divorce him: they did not believe the truth of the matter, either from her or from me. They disciplined her for "failing to follow her bishop's counsel to always follow her bishop's counsel."

During my mission interviews (getting the papers put in), my Stake President and Bishop asked me several questions to test my worthiness to go on a mission: "If God told you to do something other than what I told you to do, would you disobey my counsel?" and that sort of thing. They were doing this because of their attitudes towards my mother. I basically avoided the questions, because I couldn't give them the answers I knew they wanted. They decided to let it go, and sent my papers in.
I went to the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania mission in August of 1992 (I entered the Missionary Training Center in June.) It was here that things "began," I suppose. My second companion, who joined me when I was just out one month, was a very intelligent person with a lot of insight into the Gospel. He taught me that Jesus was married, and beyond that, that Christ was a polygamist! He set it out very clearly, explaining why he held this opinion. I was shocked: I had never heard such a thing, yet the evidence he presented was compelling. (I did not "accept" it at that time, but study and revelation since then have convinced me that he was absolutely right.)

It was on my mission that I was introduced to the Adam-God doctrine, via the many "Anti-Mormon" tracts that pervaded the Pennsylvania area. I asked my mission president about it. He said, "That was just some stuff Brigham said around a camp-fire one time." (I now know that this answer was absolutely false and meant to be misleading. I do not think he really believes that.) I accepted his explanation without further question, and dismissed the doctrine as Anti-Mormon rhetoric meant to prejudice people against the LDS church.

A few months later I was transferred to Chambersburg, PA. My new companion and I had some success there. A month into that "area", my companion became violently ill. I followed soon after. My companion recovered, and I did not. I was sick for two weeks before going to the doctor.

After a couple more weeks of tests, the doctor said he was stumped and sent me to a Gastro-Intestinal specialist. His tests showed that I had probably had "Crohn's Disease", which is a stricture of the Ilium and was the source of my troubles. By this time I had lost 15-20 pounds, and was sleeping 16-17 hours a day due to the exhaustion any exertion caused. The doctor's recommendation was that I be sent home until I recovered (i.e., until the disease went into remission: it is "incurable.")
I told the mission president the results of the doctor's tests, and his recommendation. The Mission President called me into his office, and gave me a blessing in which he blessed me to "stop using this illness as an excuse to not work." He then promised me that I would recover within a week.

During this week I spent a great deal of time on my knees, asking God what His will was. I knew that God had wanted me to go on this mission. What did He want now? The answer came, unmistakably: Return home. I called the Mission President and told him what God had told me. He said that they were not going to send me home, that I would be better very soon (this was a week and a half after his promise of recovery.) I had been sick for over 5 weeks. (I have been told that it is unusual to keep someone out on a mission when they have been sick for so long with little prospect of speedy recovery.) I asked him to call the Gastro-Intestinal Specialist and talk to him personally. I suppose he did so. The next day I got a call from the president that the missionary department had decided to send me home.

I arrived home in the early part of November. I remained in a "unreleased status" for some time. The local doctor's recommendation was to get a colonoscopy, and then be placed on Cortico-Steroids to ease the symptoms (they wouldn't cure it at all, only relieve the pain.) I asked God, and the answer was strong: No, do not submit to the colonoscopy OR the steroids. He also told me that I would not recover until released from my mission.

Though he denies it now, at the time my former LDS stake president was of the opinion that I had not been serving faithfully, or else why would I have gotten sick? He was also adamant that I follow the "doctor's orders." I continued to pray, and continued to receive the same answer.

I remained in this "unreleased" state for over a month and a half. It was difficult in ways, because I was still expected to follow all of the mission rules in my home setting. This meant I had to leave the room if my family sat down to watch TV, etc. I continued to see the stake president regularly, and was as active as possible with the missionaries in the area.

In the end, they did not afford me a medical release, based on my refusal to "follow the doctor's orders" and the "counsel of the Stake President." They viewed this as a voluntary termination of my mission, an "uncharacterized release." I was not asked to "report" in my ward or any other. They kept the little plaque with my picture on it that had been in the church lobby while I was gone (I wonder what they did with that?). I was not given a church calling. This was a few days before Christmas. I later received a bill for $400 from the church, for the flight home. My institute teacher advised me not to pay it, because the policy states if the Missionary Dept. sends you home, it is their responsibility to pay it. The institute teacher called someone at the missionary department and got it cleared up for me.

I have not been to a doctor concerning my illness since that time. Over the next few months, I recovered slowly, through the use of herbs and priesthood blessings. The symptoms still showed up sporadically over the next couple of years, but it has been over a year since I have had any indication that I am still being affected by the illness. The sad part of it is, the stake president in the stake I left from (not the one I returned to after the mission) has told many people that I "faked" being sick in order to be sent home, which is absolutely untrue. (I must be pretty good at "faking" if I can cause my Ilium to narrow the way it did.)
I attended college again Spring Quarter of 1993, where I met my first wife, Melodie. We were engaged in July, and married in the Manti Temple in August of 1993. Instead of returning to college, I secured a full-time job with the Utah Army National Guard. I mainly did paperwork for one of the Military Intelligence Battalions. We moved to Salt Lake, and rented a nice apartment (to go along with the nice car).

Many things were happening in this valley regarding the church and how it was handling people who were awakening to the true state of things. I visited my family once in a while, and my mother gave me things to read when I asked her to explain why she was doing what she was doing. (Gileadi's translation of Isaiah, "Thus Saith the Lord", "Adam-God," etc.) My wife became very upset, and would hide the things I was reading in attempt to prevent my "apostasy." Reading these things, as well as the scriptures, made me aware that things were not as they seemed in the LDS church.

I arranged to attend a lecture of sorts by Jim Harmston, a friend of my family's. He laid out the gospel in clarity and power, explaining the gospel as it was delivered to the dispensation, what had happened to it, and what WILL happen. The Holy Ghost touched me many times during the two-day "lecture." (This two-day lecture is referred to as "The Models", because of the method of visual representation that he uses to explain gospel concepts.) Melodie was quite upset with me for going to see Jim. Through this experience, and my feelings and experience attending the temple, I became aware that the endowment had been changed, and was no longer recognizable to God. I stopped going to the temple altogether, because I could no longer abide the dark feelings I felt there, that something was very amiss. Melodie struggled with my decline in activity. I was still not sure where the truth lay. While I knew that many things that Jim had taught were true, I still questioned some of them, and wondered where God's authority was.

Things continued in this manner for quite a while: I became less and less active in my church meetings, and Melodie became more and more worried about me. I spent a great deal of time studying the gospel, trying to determine whether the things taught in Jim Harmston's models were true or not. I spent over a year researching a variety of subjects. I found no error in anything that he had taught.

In November of 1994, I visited my family for Thanksgiving. By this time the TLC had been formerly organized, and my mother had been married to one of the members of the Quorum of Twelve of the True and Living Church. As usual, I presented my concerns to them about what was going on. Where did they get the authority? What's the basis for such and such a doctrine? Etc. My new step-father said to me (after I asked him about 35 questions regarding the TLC), "I testify to you that what's going on down here in Manti is a true work. Christ IS setting his hand AGAIN a second time to recover his people." The Holy Ghost testified to me with surety that the words that had been spoken were true.

I returned from my visit, and told my wife what had happened. I told her that I had witness from the Holy Ghost, but I didn't know what God wanted me to do about it. I didn't even know if he wanted me to join the TLC. She asked for a separation. Within two weeks, we were separated. At that point, we had been married for a year and four months. This was in December 1994.

By January 1995 I knew what God wanted me to do. I was baptized into the True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days, and received my endowment that month. In April a job in my field (full-time Military) opened up in the area, so I moved back into the valley. Over the next ten months my wife and I saw each other often, and did our best to work out our differences. It simply wasn't possible, and we were finally divorced in October of 1995.

Since that time, my knowledge of the Gospel has increased, and I have had many sacred and spiritual experiences. God has revealed to me with certainty that this is indeed His work, and that His priesthood and authority are indeed HERE. I have seen the Savior in vision, as well as enjoyed His presence and felt His confirming witness as I have acted on His behalf and as His Apostle.

In June 1996, I left for a mission to Missouri. It was on this mission that I received the call and ordination as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. I was ordained under the hands of James D. Harmston, whom I testify holds the authority to ordain me to that sacred office!

Last December (1996) I married Meredith. My wife support me in my callings in her various ways, and I am grateful to God for sending unto me this wonderful, devoted woman. My family is a constant source of joy, and it warms my heart to see this woman engaged in the work of building up the Kingdom of God so persistently.

I currently serve as the Assistant Church Historian when time allows, as well as serving in the Quorum of Twelve Apostles. I spend part of my time cooking at an expensive (especially by local standards!) restaurant, and I also spend (too many!) hours on the Internet answering questions about the Gospel and the True and Living Church.

I have been asked, "What makes the TLC a better offer than the LDS (or any other) church?" First and foremost, it is TRUE, and God has made this known to me. Second, it is historically correct (i.e., it follows the same pattern that has been laid down historically whenever the true religion is on earth.) Third, it is scripturally correct. As one of my fellow Apostles (Kent Braddy) likes to say sometimes, with a smile, "If we are wrong, we have made the most historically, scripturally, and doctrinally correct error in history." (He smiles because he knows that we AREN'T wrong.)

I have also been asked, "What do you envision in your future-- in this life, not in the hereafter-- if you live to the fullest the Gospel as defined by the TLC?"

To answer that, I offer the following scripture:

26 Now Melchizedek was a man of faith, who wrought righteousness; and when a child he feared God, and stopped the mouths of lions, and quenched the violence of fire.
27 And thus, having been approved of God, he was ordained an high priest after the order of the covenant which God made with Enoch,
28 It being after the order of the Son of God; which order came, not by man, nor the will of man; neither by father nor mother; neither by beginning of days nor end of years; but of God;
29 And it was delivered unto men by the calling of his own voice, according to his own will, unto as many as believed on his name.
30 For God having sworn unto Enoch and unto his seed with an oath by himself; that every one being ordained after this order and calling should have power, by faith, to break mountains, to divide the seas, to dry up waters, to turn them out of their course;
31 To put at defiance the armies of nations, to divide the earth, to break every band, to stand in the presence of God; to do all things according to his will, according to his command, subdue principalities and powers; and this by the will of the Son of God which was before the foundation of the world.
32 And men having this faith, coming up unto this order of God, were translated and taken up into heaven.
33 And now, Melchizedek was a priest of this order; therefore he obtained peace in Salem, and was called the Prince of peace.
34 And his people wrought righteousness, and obtained heaven, and sought for the city of Enoch which God had before taken, separating it from the earth, having reserved it unto the latter days, or the end of the world;
35 And hath said, and sworn with an oath, that the heavens and the earth should come together; and the sons of God should be tried so as by fire. (JST Genesis 14:26-35)

That is what I look forward to. I have received the promise of obtaining heaven, of being translated and taken up to the Heavenly city, if I remain true and faithful to my covenants and to my God, for I have received the proper ordinances, from the proper authority, and God keeps His promises! I testify that the True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days is God's instrument in gathering the elect, and that it is only here that the ordinances of salvation and exaltation can be given by those who have authority. God lives, Christ lives, and they support and sustain this work as it rolls forth. I invite all who read this to humbly study and pray about the things you read on this web site and from God's servants- - for they are the words of Life. Of this I testify, in the Name of Jesus Christ, whose apostle I am, Amen.

Email: eorl@tlcmanti.org

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