Two Short Talks - Sheri Dew and Floyd Weston (4.5 of 5

God Wants a Powerful People - Sheri Dew

Sheri Dew teaches that God wants a powerful people through scripture, story and pure testimony. There is power in the word, spirit, and atonement. God's people is thoroughly immersed in the written and spoken word of prophets both ancient and modern. They have become fluent in the language of the spirit, and they understand the full power of the atonement to heal the broken heart. I quite enjoyed this talk by Sheri Dew. I particularly liked her straightforward and organized approach to these important gospel principles.

The Seventeen Evidences of the True Church - Floyd Weston

Shortly before World War II, five young men began a quest to find the church which most resembled the church depicted in the New Testament. The leader of the group decided to go through the New Testament page by page, noting the doctrines that were taught directly by God and Christ. What he came up with were what he called the 17 Evidences of the True Church of Christ. He observed that among other things that they true church must teach about a Trinity composed of three distinct beings, divine authority, baptism by immersion, and leadership by twelve apostles.

When this journey began the five each belonged to a different church. Each believed that they were going to covert the group to their faith. They decided that every Wednesday night and Sunday they would visit a new church. By the time that that they had to go off to war they had visited over thirty different churches. None of the churches taught more than half of the 17 evidences.

During the war, Floyd became acquainted with a small group of respectable young men. He noticed that they often talked about religion. One day he pulled the list of the 17 evidences from his bag and handed it to them. To his astonishment, they were able to confirm that their church taught all of them. Soon after he was baptized. When the war was over, the five young friends returned to the diner where their journey had begun. As they compared notes, they discovered that each of them had found the same church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had been baptized. You can find their complete list at http://www.redmondfamily.com/Cancy%20and%20Craig/Church/17%20Points%20of%20the%20True%20Church.

The highlight of the talk for me was when the leader of the group took his friend to speak with his Catholic priest. During the conversation, it became evident to the boy that his church was not true. The priest pleaded with him, "There are over 500 million of us. If we're wrong, at least you won't be alone. God will have to forgive you for that." The valiant young man looked his priest in eye and declared, "I'm not looking for strength in numbers. I'm looking for the true church of God."