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Slate editor Jacob Weisberg threw down the challenge after reviewing some of Joseph Smith’s more extravagant assertions. “He was an obvious con man,” Weisberg wrote. “Romney has every right to believe in con men, but I want to know if he does, and if so, I don’t want him running the country.”

I wanted to tell you briefly why I believe in Mormonism. When I was a boy of about 11-13 , I had a singular experience. I went to church, and the lesson was on how everyone must be baptized to go to heaven. It seemed true, but at the same time deeply disturbing. What about the billions of people in India and China that haven’t even heard the name Jesus Christ, let alone had the chance to be baptized. How could God be fair if this was true? With this on my mind, it was either the same day or the week after, my two older brothers expressed similar doubts. One said something like ‘if God is God of the whole earth, why did he only speak to people in Israel?’, and the other said ‘what bothers me is, in the Old Testament, God is a vengeful god, even ordering the extermination of entire cities, while in the New Testament, he is described as a God of Love. That sure doesn’t sound like he’s an ‘unchanging god.

Over the next several years, I became an agnostic as a result of these doubts. When I came in contact with Mormonism years later, I found it had plain and simple answers to these questions. If you are interested in what I believe those answers to be, I have links below which explain my beliefs.

I agree somewhat with Mr. Weisberg: either Joseph Smith was a con man of the first degree, perhaps the greatest on record, or he was who he purported to be. There can be no middle ground. Jesus said ‘beware of false prophets’, then went on to say ‘by their fruits, ye shall know them’. Most, if not all churches interpret this to mean that there would be no more prophets at all, but clearly, this is not what he said. The Book of Mormon is the fruit by which we can know the truth of Joseph Smith. It is convincing evidence that he was truly a prophet of God.

There are many, many criticisms of Mormonism, but it all comes down to whether the Book of Mormon is what it claims to be, or if it is a fake. It is the keystone of our religion – if it is a fake, so are all of our beliefs. The opposite is also true. I encourage people to be as skeptical as humanly possible when reading it. I tell them to ask themselves with every page, whether Joseph Smith, or anyone else could have made up the book, then ask God if it is true, and that somewhere between the first and last page, they will come to know with absolute surety that it is a true record. There are many theories as to the origin of the Book of Mormon. Had Joseph or anyone else written the book from ‘whole cloth’, it would have been infinitely more miraculous than the account of its divine origin, as given by Joseph Smith. As one man said ‘A wicked man couldn’t write such a book. A good man wouldn’t write it, unless he was commanded to do so.’

If you are interested, here are the answers to my questions:

What about the requirement that you be baptized to enter heaven? (Mormons believe in baptism for the dead, which is performed in our temples. Everyone will have the chance to hear and accept the gospel in the next life, and accept or reject these ordinances done in their behalf. See 1 Cor. 15:29 )

Why did God only speak to people in Israel ? (This is the message of the Book of Mormon , a record of his dealings with people in the Americas - see http://scriptures.lds.org/en/3_ne/15/14-17,21#14 )

How can God be the same yesterday, today, and forever, yet order the extermination of cities in the Old Testament, and be a God of Love in the New Testament. (see http://scriptures.lds.org/en/1_ne/17/32-45#32 , When nations ripen in iniquity, the Lord destroys them. ( 1 Nephi 17:37-38, 2 Nephi 1:7 , Alma 45:16 , Ether 2:8-12 ). Before destroying them, he sends prophets to warn them ( 2 Nephi 25:9 see also Amos 3:7). In the case of the Canaanites, parents were sacrificing their own children to false gods, and there was no hope for breaking this cycle. God is a gardener, of sorts, and he sends prophets to weed those gardens, but when the weeds totally overcome the garden, he uses Roundup. The same principle applies in our day, especially with reference to the Second Coming. )

If there is a God, would He be a fair and just God if he wouldn’t provide a way to prove that He existed? Likewise, if the Book of Mormon is scripture, wouldn’t God provide a way to know of a surety that this was truly scripture? (see http://scriptures.lds.org/en/moro/10/3-5#3)

The Book of Mormon makes the audacious claim that it would contain many plain and precious teachings that were once in the Bible, but were removed, either deliberately, or by error. There is an article on the internet that lists over a hundred of these plain and precious Book of Mormon teachings. (see http://www.fairwiki.org/index.php/Plain_and_Precious_Book_of_Mormon_doctrines )

I know this is the work of God. Joseph Smith was indeed a prophet of God. The Book of Mormon is convincing evidence that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that the Church has been restored to the earth.

Brian Palmer

As a daughter of an alcoholic and abusive father, I’ve seen my share of horrors in this life. The greatest of all was my loss of my ability to cry. I stopped believing in sensitivity, and being conscious enough of my own feelings to weep. My defense mechanism cost me dearly, and I soon began to be swept away in a life that I could only perceive as a tragedy. I could not feel God’s embrace when I needed it most, and I tried to fill my void in any way I possibly could. It led me down a path of promiscuity and self abuse. I needed a change in my life, but I had no idea where to turn.

I testify of donuts; of Heavenly Father’s ability to know even our basest desires, and to use them to find us. I was invited to come to church with a Baptist friend of mine when I was a freshman in high school. At first I declined, until she countered with the free donuts they always had with their morning services. So began my spiritual quest for peace.

I testify of tears; a gift from our Father in Heaven, they signal to us when He is nearest. As I began to attend the Baptist services, I realized that their services were lacking something I needed. Something I craved. Unfortunately, my search wasn’t over, but I was out of places to go. I had only ever known Protestant and Catholic Christianity. Neither felt complete, and I mourned that realization for many weeks. I willingly shed the first tears I had cried in years, and I knew my God was with me. I knew He would guide me to what I was searching for, which was the first of many miracles I would experience. Hold on, the Spirit pleaded with me, and I went quietly.

I testify that Christ lives, and because he suffered for all of us, we have His Spirit to be with us. His Spirit led me down a path that I never would have found on my own. I met the first LDS members I had ever seen, and they were the most remarkable and peculiar people. They didn’t swear. They didn’t drink caffeine. They were kind, considerate, and generous. Love radiated from their actions and countenances that touched the marrow of my bones, the void in my soul. They had what I needed, whatever it was, and I knew I needed to find out more.

I testify that actions speak louder than words. I was bombarded with words as I attempted to find out more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Words from my pastor and Sunday school teacher, words from my Baptist friends, from my LDS friends. Words from all sides made it hard for me to even think. But what spoke louder than everything else was the openness, the kind-hearted spirit that the Saints extended to an outsider like me. I felt accepted I had gotten past a boundary with these people that I hadn’t gotten through with the Baptists in the months I had been with them. I didn’t understand why. I only knew that I was getting a message that I couldn’t accept. Mormonism was growing on me, and if there was anything I had learned, being a Mormon was not an easy thing to be.

I testify that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church of Christ, and that His Spirit presides over their meetings. I attended a Sunday service in an LDS church in March of 2006, and for once I was not a bystander. The Spirit finally touched me! I cried tears of joy that I recognized the second they touched my face. “I’m home! I belong HERE, and I’m never going to leave!” Before I heard talks from any of the speakers, before I learned anything about the Book of Mormon, about LDS doctrine, I knew without a doubt that the church would be my home all the days of my life.

I testify that baptism is a miracle, and that baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a covenant for all eternity. I testify that because of my baptism, I was clean for the first time in my life. It has taken me my first year as a faithful member to accept that the scars I accumulated and created before my baptism were truly washed from me. I no longer need to look back and be turned to a pillar of salt. And because of this realization, I do what I can to teach others that they too can be clean.

I testify of the Prophet Joseph Smith, that “we don’t have to meet him to know he’s a prophet.” I have come to know him so completely because of my own trials. The persecution, a feeling that there MUST be something more than what the world has to offer, the added opposition of being a teenager; I have known those struggles. The faith despite terror and sacrifice; I have known it. And because a 14 year old boy said a prayer over a hundred years ago, thousands of people walked across a continent, and my life 3 generations later will never be the same! I love the Prophet Joseph Smith, and I look forward to that day when I might meet him on the other side of that veil.

I testify of the Scriptures, the Bible and The Book of Mormon. I have had my life touched by both. The Bible has demonstrated to me that to write is truly a miracle because of the hope that can last for thousands of years and countless generations. The Book of Mormon has espoused the loving voice of my Heavenly Father ever since I started reading it, and I know that it’s true.

Finally, I testify of prayer. Prayer might just be the biggest miracle of all, the most important miracle that man has ever known. Imagine; an all powerful, all knowing, all seeing deity cares enough about me to listen to me personally. He loves me enough to hear my plea, so that He can bless me with peace. All because he WANTS the chance to love a sinner like me. He’s joy is with our joy, and He only wants to take us there; to the place of joy we cannot fathom.

I testify of miracles, Brothers and Sisters, because without them, none of us would believe.

At the end of 1984, I was almost 20 years old. By that time I had dropped from school, since I had realized that the physics taught at the University would not help me find what I was looking for. Most of my friends and relatives couldn’t understand exactly what was going on with me and some of them tried in different ways to help me but without any concrete result. The problem was that I knew what I didn’t want, but I was not sure about what I wanted.

Nobody around me seemed to have the answers I was looking for. However, I had the feeling that I was in the right path. I had faith that by following the best principles I had learned and trying to improve my life by getting rid of what was not in harmony with my ideals I would finally find the answers.

On a certain day close to the end of the year 1984, I was in my home, reading a book, when I felt the sudden urge to go for a walk in downtown Asti, my home city, in Italy.

While I was walking in Corso Dante (one the main streets of the city) I saw two young men, two missionaries, walking toward me. One of them later told me that he didn’t really want to talk with me, but I looked at them and they looked at me and we stopped and started to converse. I remember that they asked me what I believed about the Savior. I can’t remember what I answered them, but they left me with a pamphlet about the Mormons, and asked for my home address.

A few days later, the same missionaries rang at my doorbell. My mother answered, and since they asked for her husband, she said that he wasn’t there. The missionaries then left before I could talk with them. I wasn’t completely ready yet.

A few more days passed and I finally reached the right point. I can remember that I was laying down on my bed, tired of my apparently fruitless search. I offered a simple silent prayer, in which I basically said, “I have done all that I knew I should do… now I really need help since I don’t know what to do next…”

As soon as I expressed my thoughts to God, I started feeling an incredible peace and I felt as if heaven was close to me. In that exact moment, the doorbell rang. This time I was alone at home. I went to answer at the door and the missionaries were there. When they entered the living room, and shook my hand, I knew that they had the answers I was looking for.

Later, I realized that what I was looking for was not just a set of doctrines or a nice church, but the feeling of the Spirit. When they entered my home, I felt that they brought with them that nice Spirit, even if I didn’t know what it was at that time.

I understand now that the Lord gave me several experiences in which I felt His Spirit. Those experiences were so sweet that I was always looking for that feeling, even if I couldn’t name it.

The missionaries’ teachings fit perfectly together with my understanding. They were answering my questions about where we come from, why we are here, and where we will go after this life.

As I have written elsewhere, when the missionaries showed me the filmstrip of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s First Vision, it was difficult for me to contain my tears. I felt that the story of his search for truth was in some ways similar to my own. My search had lasted longer, while his had been probably more intense. Moreover, he had been chosen to have the glorious vision of the Father and the Son while I had to content myself with two missionaries. However, those two missionaries were like angels to me, bringing with them the answers to my deeply heartfelt questions.

However, in spite of all these feelings, I still didn’t have a solid testimony. It was the reading of the Book of Mormon that brought to me the confirmation of the truthfulness of all those teachings and experiences.

Early in our discussions, the missionaries mentioned the practice of fasting. They didn’t stress that point too much, but for some reason I began to read the Book of Mormon while fasting at the same time. My later experience in teaching families and individuals with other missionaries showed me that it is not easy to find someone who accepts the challenge to fast while reading the Book of Mormon. However, those experiences also convinced me that when people do it, and they are sincere in their search, it is almost impossible for them not to receive an answer. And, in fact, that happened with me.

In less than a week, I read the entire Book of Mormon. I would fast for 24 hours, then have a lunch, and then fast for another 24 hours. My mother really thought that I was behaving strangely. At some point in that process, I decided to kneel down and ask if those things I was learning were true. I did it, and, after my prayer, an incredible feeling of peace surrounded me, a feeling similar to the one I had just before the missionaries came to my home, but much stronger. Together with those feelings came the answers to my specific questions about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and of the Church. I received a confirmation by the Spirit of God that all that the missionaries were teaching was true. From that moment, to paraphrase the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith, “I had a testimony; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither wanted I do it”.

I knew that the Church and the Book of Mormon were true and I was eager to learn all that was possible about the Church. However, my mother was not at all happy with my new “discovery” and, although the missionaries tried to teach her the day they challenged us to be baptized, it became clear that she was not interested like I was. Her opposition created some problems that led me eventually to leave my home.

However, I had finally found what I had been looking for after many years and this was what really counted. More than 20 years have passed since that day and I have had many experiences that reinforced that initial testimony.

So, why do I believe in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Simply because I know that it is true. The Spirit of the Lord testified it to me over and over again after that first experience. I don’t believe what I do because the Church is a wonderful organization, I don’t believe because I have friends, I don’t believe because the doctrine is clear, understandable, and sound, I don’t believe because someone told me so, but I believe because, in fact, I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true.

After all we can say and do, each person will have to honestly search, ask, and receive an answer directly from God about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and of the Church. I searched, asked, and received my answer, and therefore I can honestly say that I know that these things are true.

This story was first published in my blog at Giuseppe Martinengo’s blog

Giuseppe Martinengo: before I met the missionaries of the Mormon Church