David A. McGaughey

In my association with the Saints here in Manti, I have found many similarities in the various paths which we have tread in our awakening to the apostate condition of the LDS church and in our exodus out of her. It is my humble prayer that perhaps the reader of this testimony may find something of value in the message which I have to declare.

I have had an interest in history, politics, and religion, as far back as I can remember. Being a skeptic, as well as a truth seeker by nature, I have had in my life to learn to find balance and harmony between the reasoning which God has given me, and the witness of the Holy Ghost to lead me unto all truth. Back in 1993, my studies drew me towards the writings of Ezra Taft Benson, Cleon Skousen, and Verlan Anderson. These were studies which opened my eyes to the reality of the evil secret combinations of these last days which seek to overthrow the freedom of all nations and establish a totalitarian global order based on the enslavement of mankind. I spent hours upon hours studying about this "New World Order" and watching the events of the world unfold as prophesied of by prophets ancient and modern. It got to the point that at the early age of 16, I came to realize that the world in which I lived was very different from what I had been led to believe by the major media, the politicians, and the public school system. This paradigm shift caused changes in my worldview which spawned many lifestyle changes. As I began a more serious study of the events of the last days, I began to strive for greater self-sufficiency in several aspects of my life. I also became active in the patriot movement and pooled much of the little time and resources I had into such efforts.

As I continued in my studies, I yearned to see some type of leadership exhibited by the LDS "Brethren." President Benson had been a "voice of warning" to the LDS people. When President Benson died, however, it seemed that the warnings died also. These were thoughts that passed through my mind from time to time. They were thoughts which I, however, tried to suppress. The last thing I wanted to do at that point in time was believe that the "Lord's church" could be wrong. I reasoned that the Lord was in charge of His church and that it was His program entirely and not mine.

I suppose it was inevitable that my desire to study and search for truth would lead me to the "mysteries of godliness." After my graduation from high school in 1995, I began attending the LDS Institute of Religion at the local college. That was where I first discovered the Journal of Discourses. I would spend hours in the institute library pouring over those sermons from the early brethren. The Journal of Discourses became a subject of fascination to me. They were like a pool of light and knowledge, even a well of living water. There was such a vast degree of gospel "meat" contained therein as well as practical counsel which was as timely today as it was back when it was first recorded. I realized for the first time that the gospel of Jesus Christ dealt with a lot more than families and missionary work. The gospel was about celestial laws and the establishment of Zion. It consisted of gathering, consecration, and spiritual gifts. These were things to which the LDS church paid a lot of lip service but never produced anything substantive. It became evident that much of the doctrine and counsel taught in those early church sermons was no longer taught in the LDS church, and in many instances, the current teachings were blatantly contrary to that which had been formerly taught.

As a seeker after truth, I found myself faced with a dilemma: either Mormonism was not true and everything I had been led to believe was a hoax, or the LDS church was in apostasy. Faced with these two possibilities, I went to my knees and asked my Father in Heaven for the first time if Joseph was really His prophet. I also asked if the Book of Mormon was true. I received the resounding witness of the truthfulness of both. I asked my Heavenly Father to provide the way whereby I might come to all truth pertaining to His church and His gospel. Little idea had I at the time of how He would deliver on my request.

Having been born and raised in the LDS church all of my life, I had nowhere else to go. I decided that I would continue in my plans to serve an LDS mission. I decided that if by the time I returned from a mission, I didn't have my LDS testimony solidified, I would look elsewhere. I became anxiously engaged in my new calling as a stake missionary in preparation for my full-time mission when I started seeing patterns which began to eat away at my conscience and greatly disturb me. I saw missionaries who were unprepared spiritually and intellectually for the work which they were doing. I saw many who were puffed up in pride. But in spite of many of such instances, the thing that left the most disturbing impression upon my memory was the massive drive for numbers that I began to notice. Missionaries would talk about their investigators in regards to numbers rather than individuals. They had mission-sanctioned quotas that they had to fill. They would even compete against other sets of missionaries to see who could get the most contacts or baptisms. Numbers took precedence over sound judgment, spiritual discernment, and love. Though not all of the missionaries I worked with behaved this way, I saw enough of a pattern developing that I had to do some serious soul-searching and ask myself if this was really how I wanted to spend two years of my life: chasing numbers and misleading investigators.

It was about this time that President Hinckley was meeting with world leaders and making his appearances on television. I remember President Hinckley boasting at General Conference of how large the church was and how many chapels were being built yearly and how never before had the church been as strong as it is now. It wasn't long after that when I read several interviews from different news sources where it became obvious that President Hinckley was trying to distance the church from some very fundamental doctrines, primarily, that God was once a man. As disturbing as it was to see LDS leaders flirting with agents of the New World Order and with those who openly despise the Kingdom of God, I still wanted to believe that the church was true although the Brethren might be misguided. The straw that nearly broke the camel's back was the appointment of Donald L. Stahley to the Quorum of the Seventy. I was aware of Stalely's was a long-time membership in the Council on Foreign Relations and his business ties with the communist government in Red China. Then the Ensign had the audacity to try conceal his association with the CFR by not capitalizing its name. This was deception that was irrefutable. Still I was resigned to the idea that if I gave a mission a try then I would know of a surety whether the LDS church was where I belonged or not.

As fate would have it, the Lord had other plans. I went up into the foothills by my home to pray and meditate upon the scriptures one day when a voice commanded me to go to Utah. I say commanded because this was not a "still small voice" like I had been taught in the LDS church to expect. This was an audible voice which spoke to me as clearly as one man speaks to another. My instruction to "Go to Utah" was more than just mere counsel or advice, it was an outright command. This manifestation left no doubt in my mind of what I was to do. However, I had imagined that the Lord had work for me in Utah that would help me finance my mission. I opened the Book of Mormon and started reading about the land of Manti. I then remembered a trip that I had made with my seminary class a few years prior. On that trip we passed through Manti and I remembered how in the brief stop that we made there, I felt a surreal peace there. I had a special affinity for that place although I didn't know why at the time. I came away from that day with a strong impression that Manti is where I needed to go.

When I went home, I got on the internet and began looking for places to lodge in Manti. That was when I stumbled across the TLC website. I had come across the website a while back but had not paid too much attention to it before. This time, I studied it carefully, I read all of the biographies and the pamphlets. I then went to my knees to ask my Father in Heaven if the things I was reading were true. I received no real witness at the time, but I knew that I had to go Manti and see if these things were true. I had to know if the claims which these people were making were of God, particularly, the prophetic call of James D. Harmston. After much prayer and thought over what the ramifications of doing so might be, I decided to contact the TLC and ask when the next models would be held. Little idea had I of how the Lord would orchestrate the events that would bring me to Manti. I had no idea how I was going to make it to the models on the 14th and 15th of August. I didn't have a car and I didn't even have a driver's license. At first it seemed that every time I set up some sort of plan, it would be thwarted. Either I would fail my drive test or my parents would sell their third vehicle. One day, I fell to my knees and asked the Lord to reaffirm the witness I had received that I was supposed to go to Manti, and if I was, to provide the way for me to get there. No sooner had I finished my prayer than I heard a knock at my door. I rose from my knees to answer the door and found that it was my friends Jeff and Mike. It had been months since I had spoken with Jeff. He had come to tell me that he was planning on going to Utah to look for employment and housing. I told him about my motivation to go to Manti and he expressed his desire to attend the models along with me. It seems that after that, everything began falling into place. I passed my next drive test. A few days later, I was able to buy an affordable pick-up truck. It was truly amazing to see how those who were put in the way to dissuade Jeff and I would be neutralized by an unseen power.

I suppose that every time one comes to a gathering such as this there is always the fear that psychologically unstable and that fringe elements might be attracted to it. When I came to the models, this was the first thing I was looking for. I studied Jim carefully. Was this man really a prophet of God? Had he really experienced all that he claimed? These were the questions that were continually racing through my mind. I knew that somehow I needed to find the balance between reason and the witnesses of the Spirit. I could not allow myself to get caught up with either one exclusively. What I found at the models was a comprehensive plan of salvation that had width and depth. It was a beautiful plan that explained the law of eternal progression in a way that I had never considered but yet sounded so familiar. It was as though the veil had been pierced and previously held knowledge was being restored to my memory. All the while, the Spirit was manifesting itself in such power as I had never before experienced. I had never had the witness of the Holy Ghost come over me with such strength as it did when I was there at the models. I could hardly sleep the first night. Never before had I ever felt anything like what I was feeling. It was a happiness unlike any other accompanied by a nervousness about what the implications of what I was experiencing would be. Nevertheless, there was no place on Earth I would have rather been at the time. The next day, I listened intently, though still not sure about what I would do with the knowledge I was receiving. As I was struggling with whether or not I wanted to be a part of this work, the Lord caused that a vision should come upon me. I saw Zion. I saw what my life's work would be in vivid detail. I saw myself engaged in the work of the Lord.

All of my fear were allayed and it became clear to me at that very moment what my course would be. After my baptism, I returned home to California to make my preparations to gather with the Saints. Though I never made any effort to fight against the church, I soon found that many of those who I had grown up with and who I loved and admired decided to turn their backs on me. They were more quick to spread rumors that they were to approach me personally and ask if any of what they had heard concerning me was true. Some would pretend not to see me when our paths crossed. This was perhaps the most eye-opening time of my life. This was a point in time when the Lord taught me many things. I learned, first of all, who my real friends were. Secondly, I learned to rely on the Lord for companionship instead of on those to whom I had been accustomed. I also caught a glimpse of the kind of sacrifice that is required of all those who would call themselves the true saints of God. Even such sacrifice as is described in the Sixth Lecture on Faith.

Eventually, the word got around to my stake president. A church disciplinary council was held for me soon afterwards. I was excommunicated from the LDS church that night for "conduct unbecoming a member of the church." Among some of the "counsel" I was given was that I would have been better off to commit a criminal act or a moral transgression rather than become an "apostate." I thought it ironic that I had never felt closer to my Father in Heaven than I did after my excommunication. This is a feeling that has remained with me. Never was there a doubt in my mind, nor has there been since, of where the Lord wants me or what I had to do that night.

I testify, in the name of the Living God, that Jesus is the Christ, that He lives, and that James D. Harmston is His servant on the Earth today. I bear witness that this work here in Manti is the Lord's work of the last days. This I know because the Holy Ghost has born witness to me of its veracity. The LDS church has fallen into apostasy the same as God's people have done throughout history. The Lord is calling forth His elect one final time to close the curtain in His final act pertaining to the temporal history of the Earth. It is this people who will establish Zion on the Earth to prepare her for the Lord's return and save a dying world. Of this I testify in the name of Son Ahman, even Jesus Christ, Amen.