Welcome to Passion for Christ, a ministry of Utah Partnerships for Christ. In Acts 26, 18, Jesus said, Paul's purpose was to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light. and from the power of Satan unto God. That they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. We hope you'll join us for today's testimony of lives changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now let's begin today's episode. The Passion for Christ, this is for us, your host. I'm with my friends from Grace Baptist Church in Santa Clarita, California. On this episode, we're going to learn from them what the Lord has been teaching them on this mission trip to Utah.
So we're going to start off with Megan. Megan, would you share with our listeners that are in Ohio and in North Carolina and Utah and on our app? You know, maybe they've never talked to a Mormon before, but This trip has been focused on sharing the gospel with Mormons. And so would you mind just sharing with our listeners as to, you know, what has the Lord taught you so far on this trip? What's been encouraging?
You know, what might you, if you want to give any advice on reaching Mormons for Christ, just the whole gamut, you know, whatever the Lord puts on your mind right now. Just talked right into that microphone there. Yeah, I'd say one thing that was super encouraging for me personally was seeing other Christians out like in Temple Square at the conference center and just seeing them having a heart to also. get to know the LDS and Ask questions and. Just love on that community and um I think it was encouragement that we weren't alone.
And, um I'd say something that I've really been learning is to just stay humble. And that I don't know everything. And so just staying humble, asking questions and, um Having a heart of love, instead of like getting angry or upset. Right, right, excellent. And if I'm not mistaken, your family background has some people in it that are still in the Church of Jesus Christ, Latter-day Saints, as they call it, or the Mormon Church.
And so we can be just continuing to pray for your family here in Utah. And who knows, maybe some of them are listening right now. And so we'll just pray that they will come to know Christ as their Savior. And so, yeah, so many people out there we want to share the truth with, share the truth, grace and truth.
So that's what we're doing this week. And so let's continue the discussion. And we're going to pass the mic right down here to Nathan. And Nathan, let me ask you this question. When you heard about this trip to Utah What was the first thing that was going through your mind, you know, when you had an option to go?
Was it something like that you had to just take some time to pray about? Or was it something that you're like, Yeah, I really want to go. What was motivating you to want to come go to Utah? I feel like. Just personally for me, I was kind of excited 'cause back home I wouldn't really have a chance to talk to Mormons.
Um, and so just being able to spread my faith to those who might not know it. Kind of just I don't know how to say this, but um Maybe was exciting to me. Right, right. And and so something that just happened in the last hour or so, do you want to tell us a little bit about that? You you went to a Mormon ward on Sunday this week, and I happened to meet a guy, and he was willing to meet up with our group.
And do you want to just tell us a little bit about it? How did it start off, and how did it end? And what was kind of what were some of the things in the middle that were that took place in your conversation? Yeah, me, Bryce, and Christian met up with two guys that we met in a college-age ward down the street. And um Conversation just started, uh, talking about, you know, little things like what colleges we're going to.
what we're interested in. Um And I feel like closer to the end. They were stumped with a lot of what, um the questions we were asking them. Because they didn't It seemed like they didn't have the answers that they wanted to say. Um If that makes sense.
Mm-hmm. Right, and so um you know, those are little pebbles in in the shoes, you know, of people that have maybe been brought up in something and they've just been sold That it's true, but then someone like yourself comes along and shares some things, and it just kind of irritates your foot as you're walking along. You can't stop thinking about it, you know? Yeah, and you do it in a kind way and a loving way, but um, that's that's great that you did that. We'll come back to you and Megan in here in a minute.
Now, let's go over to Christian Delgado, the youth pastor for this group. when you when you first got word that that this Utah thing was was a possibility, I think we were even talking our first time was back in like September. Yep. It was way back, you know? And so, um What was going through your mind, Christian, when You had this opportunity to go to Utah.
Were you kind of concerned about your group? Like, you don't want people to become, you know, members of the Mormon church. You know, we love the Mormons, but we don't want them to become a part of that whole system and everything. Did that cross your mind, or do you feel like, hey, I'm not really concerned about that? You know, my kids are going to, my kids are going to be.
Alright with that? Or were you excited? Or what was going through your mind? If you're talking to other youth pastors, they could be listening out there. No, yeah.
So I definitely was. I wasn't nervous because I already had in mind the people that I wanted to bring. And so, and because I knew of their faith and I wanted to give them this experience knowing that, yeah, of course, I think every pastor would be a little concerned when we're conversating with other beliefs. But no, I was confident in the people that we wanted to bring. And really, my heart was to equip them, right?
The whole goal of this trip in my head was I want to equip our students to be able to communicate their faith well with conviction and with passion and with love, because that is one of the things that we're called to do as Christians, to go and make disciples and to teach them the things of Jesus. Jesus and that's exactly what We get to do on this trip. And as a pastor, it just makes me very happy to see the students do that. And I'm sure that along with that kind of thought, there, the idea of putting on the armor of God, you know, there's probably all kinds of different little pieces of armor, you know, you could think about. And the type of armor that your students have been putting on is to protect them from false teaching and stuff.
So you're kind of saying, okay, put this armor on to protect, you know, your mind and your heart and everything. And so, yeah, well, you've done a great job in getting everybody prepared and everything. And so I'm really grateful for what the Lord has been doing through you guys. And so, yeah, we've done some cool things. You know, we went to a Mormon church, talked to some people there.
We helped out at a VBS with a Christian church in Brigham City. Maybe what we could do next is we'll. We'll move it over to Trey. Bryce. Bryce, I always call you Trey.
Why do I do that? I don't know why.
So Bryce. I don't know. Man, Bryce.
Sorry. Bryce. Okay. Whatever you want to share. You get the idea of what the program's about.
What would you want to share about what the Lord's been teaching you on this trip or maybe some encouragement to people out there that are trying to reach Mormons? Maybe they're like, how old are you, Bryce? I'm 17. You're 17.
So you're talking to maybe a 17-year-old that just happened to be tuning into our podcast or something. And let's say this young man, he's 17 and he meets some. Gorgeous Mormon girl, and she's really nice. What would you say? Would you say, well, go ahead and ask her out, man.
It's no big difference. We're all Christians here, Mormons, Christians, you know, the Baptist folks and the Mormons, not a big deal. What would you say to that brother in Christ? I would say, no, don't do that. We'll be right back for the rest of today's testimony.
Please know we at Utah Partnerships for Christ have been planting seeds of the gospel in Utah for over 24 years. We welcome any questions you may have and invite you to visit our website to obtain a list of words and definitions that would help you understand how Mormons think and how to be able to better witness to your friends who belong to the Mormon church. That website is www.upfc.org. That's upfc.org. We'll be right back.
Welcome to Passion for Christ, a ministry of Utah Partnerships for Christ. In Acts 26, 18, Jesus said Paul's purpose was to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light. and from the power of Satan unto God. That they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. We hope you'll join us for today's testimony of lives changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now let's begin today's episode. Mormons and Christians very very different Christians believe and very different things that the Mormons do. Yeah. Would be a little Um interesting that he Doesn't quite realize that at the moment.
So, maybe your mind and stuff could be clouded and stuff because of other things. And so, we have to remember: yeah, that if they're a member of that church, you know, you could maybe introduce them to some of your friends who are girls and stuff at your church and stuff. Have them come to your church, but don't get into some type of a, oh, this could be the one and stuff like that, because you're going to have a nightmare. Yeah, definitely not with the Mormon girl. No, no.
And vice versa. Right, Megan doesn't have to worry about that, okay? But, you know, Megan, I'm just saying, right? It could happen. It could happen.
I mean, any single person, they're trying to figure it out, you know. And so we want to be wary of that.
So this trip will help if that temptation ever comes about. I think this trip helps to kind of inoculate your mind, your heart from that kind of situation.
So real quick, before we go over to Matthew, from your conversation this afternoon, do you want to share anything there that was encouraging to you? Did you ever see, you know, this. This young man that you're talking to and the other guy t like two guys, was there a moment when you thought maybe, you know, that That armor of theirs was kind of being kind of chinked a little bit, and it was like something was happening, and they were being convicted by the Holy Spirit at all, or maybe just planting seeds and watering them, though. And that's great, too. Yeah, no, yeah.
So, we were meeting these two guys, Nathan was mentioning earlier, that we met earlier this weekend, Mormon Ward. We just met up at this Jimmy John's. Yeah, Jimmy John's down the street. And so, yeah, we just started talking with them, and it was like. Super good to really hear a lot of their point of view regarding things of like because we w they Something we were really focusing on was their like plan of salvation and specifically with these two points to have about how Um they get The gift of the Holy Spirit.
Yeah, the gift of the Holy Spirit. after they do these Actions Which is like a result of their faith they are saying. But we were really hang on hung well. hung up on that with them. and trying to figure out how Because Christian specifically he was like pointing out a lot of different scripture verses in the Bible that are Completely contrary to what They were saying right there, and how you don't need actions to get the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
I think it was in Ephesians, yeah, in Ephesians. Where he was saying, how as soon as you accept Jesus into your life, you get all these spiritual gifts from him in order to strengthen your faith and. ultimately spread the gospel. And it was just really. In like Um yeah, it was encouraging to see them s really Get Like, it was starting to get like the gears moving in their mind, I think, and definitely having like.
a rock in their shoe, as you were saying earlier. Right. And with how they were interacting with that. And let me ask you this question. Do you feel a little more confident in the Lord now that if you come across Mormon missionaries back home, that you might be able to feel confident in the Lord to talk to him.
Yes, I would definitely say I've grown in a lot more confidence than I was beforehand. And we're always learning, right? We're always picking up on different things. Like we went to go see Bill McKeever at the Utah Christian Research Center, and he brought up something to me, and I was like, whoa, I didn't know that, you know, and so I made a note about it and I I sent it to a a Mormon guy that I know and so yeah that's good that that's what you want to be you want to try to just be kind of growing and and keep on asking the Lord for new ways to reach people out there as he puts them in your path and so well thank you very much Trey just kidding Bryce I mean yeah just kidding around all right uh let's go to Matthew and then we'll go to uh our uh let's see we'll go to Kelly And we'll go to Brody.
So. Tell us about BYU. Would you, Matthew, what was that like for you? What was the. the impact there that you saw all these college students and all the the high school kids that were there on this especially for youth program thing, I think.
What's what was going through your mind over there? Yeah, one thing I thought about during the tour, how very similar like What they said their value was to my own school masters. Like, how they always talked about how, like, oh, we want to emphasize excellence and glorifying God and being able to use what we are natural talents to for the glory of God. But there was always something just a little off about how they phrased it. It was more just like, hey, we're doing the work of the Lord, we are doing it.
It was very self-centered and not like how I learned how, hey, all the glory to God, we need to focus on other people and uh and praising God, um glorifying God to them instead of for our own Our own talents, our own benefits. Got it. Got it. Okay. Excellent.
Thank you very much for that, Matthew. And let's move the microphone over to Kelly. And just Kelly, tell us a little bit about where you live in Santa Clarita. You've got some Mormons living near you. It just seems to be the pattern for you and your husband's life, and you have a real burden for the Mormons.
What has God taught you? You've met with Pastor Nathaniel down at Alpine Bible, and you just got through talking with a guy named Alan who's trying to raise funds for a boot camp for his fundraising with Rossio Christie. What was it like talking to Alan, you guys? I I'd like to you to comment on that. Was it encouraging to see how the Lord is w you know working in his life?
Or what w 'cause you might be moving to Utah in the near future. What's going through your mind right now at this point in the trip? Yeah, this entire trip I've actually been just incredibly encouraged. Just with the people that we've met back home and the people that we've run into, that we met last year, that we've ran into this year again, just by the grace of the Lord, and just made deeper connections there. I think that.
The Lord has just really shown us that being faithful and what he has put you put in front of you is just all you can do. And all of that just comes from the Lord. There's nothing we can do to make that happen. Meeting a missionary in Temple Square that happened to be there last year, and I just happened to meet her in the middle of the information booth. It was such a blessing.
And both of us were incredibly surprised. And that can't happen without God. Absolutely. And then the parade, too, right? You're going to run into somebody maybe tomorrow that you met last year at the Pioneer Day parade.
Yeah, she's coming back from Hawaii, her trip in Hawaii. I'm really excited to see her. And Again, just being faithful to whatever the Lord has in front of you and having creating those relationships, um, it's just been incredibly sweet to get to know these people. Um And also, getting to talk to people who live here, people who have come to Christ, it's just been really encouraging hearing them tell us that speaking to missionaries, even if it is just a one-off conversation or just a 10-minute conversation about the gospel, it can truly have an impact. Just putting that little pebble in their shoe, it can get them thinking about what God has done for us, how He died on the cross for us, and how There's nothing we can do.
It's just We all we have to do is surrender to him, um, and he makes our path straight. Um, and gospel conversations like that can really have an impact on someone, even if you don't see it in the future.
So, that's just been really encouraging. We've heard that from Alan, we've heard that from um, I believe her name was Heather, that we met with earlier this week. Um And it's just been a huge blessing. Um And encouragement. That's right.
That's right. Michael Mitchell and his wife Heather are down at the Salt Lake Christian Chinese Church, where they're serving down there.
So that's awesome. Thank you so much for that, Kelly. And now, Brody. Uh Would you want to share just anything that's on your heart? Maybe, maybe in terms of.
Listeners out there on the East Coast, or maybe here in Utah, that are Christians and they're just trying to maintain and they're the minority here in Utah. What would you share with a Christian here in Utah? Kind of flip things a little bit to encourage them as they're living in this place that you've seen with all these temples. We're kind of landlocked. We don't have the ocean.
We can't go to Carpentaria or however you say that, beautiful beach, Ventura. You know, I mean, we got some beauty here. We got a little river. We got Weber River. That ranks pretty good, you know.
But. Oh, you know, we've got In-N-Out Burger. You know, that's great. You know, but it can be kind of challenging living in Utah when you're the minority and your churches are kind of limited and small and everything. And what would you say?
Yeah, I guess uh first of all it's pronounced carpenteria. Carpenteria.
Okay, got it. Yeah, I think the first thing I would say is uh I mean, invest in your sanctification, be firm in your faith. Uh God is good and you know, when He saves you, He holds you. Um Yeah, and just really invest into that relationship that you have with Christ. And then, on top of that, I would say be bold in the gospel because the gospel is the good news, and you can be bold in both your actions and your words.
So, not having fear to engage in those conversations, even though it may seem awkward, but I mean. if that's the worst that could come out of it, is you just feel a little awkward, but That other person has heard the gospel, then praise the Lord. Uh so yeah, being firm In your faith, being bold for the gospel, and then I guess, thirdly, understanding that the Lord has already planned our footsteps ahead of us. Uh not only in our you know lives in practical ways, but also in who we minister and who we can you know do good works to and Um who we can represent Christ to. Excellent.
Thank you so much. We're going to have Megan wind this thing up today. with anything that's on her mind that she wants to share.
So Megan, what do you want to tell Our listeners, anything at all about maybe, you know, you shared your testimony, it was really wonderful at Main Street Church. We have just like about one minute left. Do you want to take one minute and just share? A little bit about your testimony. Sure.
So I grew up in a Christian family. My parents, my mom was from the LDS church. And At nine years old, I realised. I want this faith to be my own. And after I was saved, Um I realised I had.
idolized. friendships, and that that took a place in my heart. Maybe even above Christ. And he really convicted me of that. And I think that's one thing he does in the hearts of believers: convict us.
And helps us turn away from our sin and turn to him. And so he convicted me and he took away all my friends. And that was definitely a trial, but God uses trials to refine us like he refines gold.
So he definitely, definitely refined me in that time and taught me to rely upon him and that he's faithful even amidst the difficult parts in life. Thank you so much for that. And with that, I have to say thank you to this mission team from Grace Baptist Church. We have to sign off for now, but I want to give a quick shout out if you're interested in going on a Trip to Greece, the footsteps of Paul. Please get in contact with me.
Just go to our website, upfc.org. Give me a call. Send me an email. That'll have to do it for now. If you need some help reaching Mormons for Christ, contact us as well.
Thanks for joining us. We'll see you again next week. Before we sign off for today, please know that all of us here at Utah Partnerships for Christ appreciate your prayers and support. We are also available to do Zoom call workshops or personal coaching on reaching Mormons for Christ. Contact us today at upfc.org.
That's upfc.org. Thanks so much for joining us on another edition of Passion for Christ.
