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YOUR WEEKLY E-NEWS
May 2024 Confessions of Faith

Searching for something

Linda Sherman says she has been searching for something her entire life. She didn’t find it in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Episcopal church, or Buddhism. But when she attended Trinity, Temple, Texas, she learned that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life—and she knew she had finally found what she was looking for.

Linda was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon church. Shortly after graduating high school, she started dating a man who was also Mormon. They got married and had three children. A few years into the marriage, however, Linda started questioning some of the Mormon practices and beliefs. That’s when things started to fall apart.

“I went along with it for a long time, but I didn’t like it and I never wanted to go to church,” she says. “The Mormon church is very controlling, and I felt very trapped. I tried to get out of it, so they ‘disfellowshipped’ me. Then I got a subpoena, commanding me to appear in the bishop’s court and stand trial. I would not do it, so they excommunicated me.”

Linda says the excommunication was bad, but the aftermath was worse. She got divorced, and her husband took their children; she didn’t see them for many years. “After that, I didn’t go to any church for a really, really long time,” Linda says.

Linda eventually moved to Maine and met a man who was Episcopalian. They got married, and she started going to church with him. But she says she never really felt connected to the church or to God’s Word. “I felt like I was on my own,” Linda remembers. “Even when I started serving in the church, nobody asked me my beliefs. Nobody really talked about religion.” During this time, she says she didn’t read or study the Bible. “To be honest, I really had no idea that the whole Bible was about Jesus,” she says. “I thought it was some history here, a few events there, and a little bit of Jesus tossed in.”

Linda started questioning some of the Episcopalian beliefs and ended up leaving the church. Many years passed, and Linda was still without a church home. That’s when a friend introduced her to Buddhism.

Explore more from the May issue:

Q&A: What comfort can be given to those who experience miscarriage?

Q&A 2023 Dave Scharf
This is one of the most challenging questions to answer for others—and even more for yourself if you have experienced the loss of a child. Pray with your friend and focus on what we know from Scripture. . . .

God is still building his church

WELS President Mark Schroeder and Obadiah Lutheran Synod of Uganda President Makisimu Musa
The apostle Paul had been called by God to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in many places and to many people. He watched as God caused the seed of the gospel that he planted to sprout and grow wherever he proclaimed it. He was not overstating it . . .

World news and commentary: May 2024

globe with world news and commentary May 2024
Christians are under attack, but this time the culprit is attacking in cyberspace. On Dec. 26, 2023, a cybercrime gang attacked the World Council of Churches (WCC) and demanded payment or else sensitive material would be shared worldwide. All WCC systems went . . .

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