Fire

Approach the Fire  (A paraphrased story of Truman G. Madsen)

Years ago a man by the name of Milo Baufman went into a Presbyterian Church and liked what he heard. He felt something, a good something, full of warmth…fellowship.  He was not the sort to do something half way but considered it a call.  He decided that he wanted to become a Presbyterian minister. 

He took four years of theological school and got a straight “A” in every course.  Just before he was to be ordained he met an LDS girl.  They became serious and married but right away there was a problem.

She told him that she could not stay married to a man who was a Presbyterian minister and he would have to choose her or his faith.  He stewed on that, thought for awhile & finally chose her but it also meant that he hated the Mormon Church.  Can you imagine what this would do to him?  He had just spent the last four years training for the ministry.

He returned to a vocation of manufacturing furniture and began acting as a Presbyterian layman.  Brother Madsen, at that time began teaching an Institute class which Milo began attending.  6:30 A.M., every Wednesday and Milo came every time.   What for?  To fight against the words of Truman.  Milo was not discourteous, but he took exception with almost all of what was spoken by Bro. Madsen.

Nearly three years later he invited Truman to lunch and they talked for nearly four hours.  Milo said he wanted to mention some things.

“First you have a program in the Mormon Church.  You just don’t preach on Sunday because it is something to do.  Everyone is involved in a dynamic program that makes a difference.  More different than any individual by himself could make; and I don’t find it in my own church and I don’t see it in any other church on the horizon that can match it.   But I can’t accept that Book of Mormon.”

Truman asked him why.   He said, “It just can’t be historical.  Here are prophets 600 hundred years before Christ, 2,000 years before Christ, talking about all about Christ.  Specifics, now we know that can’t be.  There isn’t one Old Testament prophesy that can be identified as exclusively to be referring to the Messiah.  Not one.  So how come the Book of Mormon just assumes?  Obviously the editors read it back and dated it.  Moreover, I will concede you this…”  Bro. Madsen then interrupts  & says, “This is what was maddening about the man, he would always grant me 49% & then say, “but.”

Milo continued, “I will admit that perhaps today there are people committed to Christ thru the Book of Mormon who wouldn’t have been without that Book.  I will admit further that there are certain statements in the Book that are of doctrine or of Christian practice which are superior in clarity to the New Testament.  I will even admit that maybe God sent the Book into the world to challenge proud people like me.  But,… I can’t accept it.”

Well, he went on to mention that it would be a real problem to ever say that those blankety, blank Mormons were really right after all.  But that he had now made one decision, & that was that he could not go back to Presbyterianism, but to be really honest, he couldn’t accept his wife’s faith either.  I sympathized with him and mentioned that we could go on to pray for him.

We have learned that the program of the Church appeals, so bring people to it.  Don’t depend on the full time missionaries alone to do it.  Approach the fire.  Then we call two embers, young missionaries and we send them far away; then we complain that they are not grown up yet.  We undercut the very people we sacrificed like everything to send out.  That doesn’t make any sense.  Here is the fire.  Their task is to bring people to it.  The missionaries are sometimes ashamed to and that’s our fault.

Bring people into the fire, and then they will catch.  Milo Baufman observed his wife going to Relief Society.  He had a son that was going to BYU.  He read his letters, he knew but he went on being a Presbyterian layman until the contrast just broke him down.  There were some people that said he became suicidal.  He was so depressed and so rent and torn.  His wife was hoping and praying after all these years & finally she called Truman & said will you come & administer to him?  Sister Baufman, “Does he have the faith?  We know you do but what about him?”  She said, “Well, he will let you.”  “Yeah, but that’s not quite enough,” was Truman’s reply.  “Please come and talk and try,” she said.  So we did. 

After two hours, when he kept saying, “That if at the outset you do and it doesn’t disappoint you then maybe I’ll let you do it.”  It wasn’t much to go on.  Bro. Madsen said that, “I’ve never had such aching arms after that blessing.  It was just so hard to do.  The only thing I could say that was of any worth is that his problem would soon be resolved.  The next night he phoned me a said, “The blessing was completely fulfilled.  I’ve gone and joined the church of the good shepherd.”

Within an hour I got a call from his wife and she was desperate.  She wanted a blessing for herself.  She remarked, “I had hoped that this would be the end and it wasn’t and I haven’t anymore strength.”  By that time I didn’t either.  I grabbed my counselor and I anointed and he gave the blessing & he said, in effect, “Sister Baufman don’t be worried, your husband will join the Church soon, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”

When we got outside, I said to my counselor, “Do you know what you just said?  Why did you say that?”  His response was, “I was inspired.”  Truman thought, I wasn’t but I kept my mouth shut.  Three weeks later Milo called me and said he wanted to be baptized and write a book entitled, Confessions of a Mormon Convert.

We’ve chatted and I tried to find out what was the secret.  He prayed fervently.  He felt the love of those around him.  Love always wins.  He was impressed that they fasted for him and he was moved by it.

95% of the Church membership do not mention the Gospel because they are afraid of offending people and as a result, they say nothing.  The other 5% do it but have the same fear.  If only 25% of the Church would do it, the missionaries would be kept busy.

In learning all this I’ve done some radical things.  On one occasion I got on a plane and sat next to a man laughing and said, “What do you know about the Mormon Church and when are you going to join?”  Then he stopped laughing.  I was feeling my strength and then added, “Now you need to careful with your answer because if you positively respond, I’ll likely talk to you about the Mormon Church all the way to Bangor, Maine.”  He thought a moment and responded, “Oh, what the heck, go ahead.”  I discovered you can say just about everything if you smile.  I did that several times and got two converts and a lot of friends, but most of you are afraid of that.

You can try it on cab drivers.  I got off a plane in Montreal and now I say that cab drivers are one of my hobbies.  You can ask them almost anything and they will answer.  I said to him, “Do you love your wife?”  He responded,” Yes.”  I could see his eyes in the rear view mirror and he meant it.  “Why do you love her?”  “Because of what we have been thru together.”  The writer, James Thurber says that is the definition of love, ‘what you have been thru together.’  I asked, “What have you been thru together?”  He said he had been a Hungarian refugee and told me that story.  I knew that he had been thru much. 

Then I asked a very presumptuous question.  “Have you been faithful to your wife?”  Again I could see his eyes when he said, “Yes,” and I knew he meant it.  By this time we had arrived at my Hotel.  I got out my business card, gave it to him and said, “You will forget me but one day you will remember that you had met a man who was ready to tell you how you can be with your wife, forever.  Good night.”  He contacted the Church.  We went to Church with him the following Sunday.  His baptism was in August.

Now you think I’m bragging about me but I could tell you of some mistakes I’ve made as well.  My wife and I were once in a Hotel when we saw a religious group that were walking thru in their outer religious clothing.  Most of our missionaries would feel like dissolving into the stone walls when they saw them.  That did not stop my wife.  They said to her, “Of course we do not want to know more, we are preparing for a religious life.  She kept asking.  “How would you like to visit us at our mission home at this address?”  “Oh, we couldn’t do that, we only get out on holidays.”  That did not stop her either.  “How about Thanksgiving?”  “I don’t know, maybe.”  “Nice talking to you.”  And they left.

I was just sitting down to a Turkey sandwich on Thanksgiving evening and the door bell rang and they came in.  We had a magnificent evening.

They were friendly and insightful.  They liked the feeling of the home, they liked us.  I knew some things about St. Thomas that they didn’t know; they knew some things that I didn’t.  We actually asked them to close the evening by prayer and they prayed like we do.  From then they came back several times and even on non holidays.  They brought a different person each time they came until we knew twenty of them.  At last count, four have left the seminary and one of them is at BYU.  He is the one that my wife and I taught all the discussions to.

See, we’re scared, we’re scared.  That’s what the Lord said, when he said don’t hide you light under a bushel.  Give them the chance to say no; don’t assume they’ll say no.  You can go to your neighbor, who you believe is a hopeless cause and say, “Haven’t you always wondered where we go every Sunday?

I’m trying an experiment.  I want you and your family to go with us to Church next Sunday and get your most candid reaction as to what attracts you and things you find most troubling.  After you have visited our Church, we can introduce you to fresh young people who will give you discussions on what we can do for you.   After that, let’s get together and just talk.”  Do that and you’ll be bringing them to the fire.

Also do this.  Ask a stranger, “Are you a Mormon.”  They answer, No, why do you ask?”  “Because you look like a Mormon.”  “What does a Mormon look like?”  “There’s a something that’s healthy minded & there’s a clean cut look about you.  Are you sure you’re not a Mormon?”  Wouldn’t you like to hear about the greatest thing that’s ever happened on the earth?”  It’s worked in several areas.  It worked on a waitress in Las Vegas, of all places.  She admitted that she believed in Christ.  My wife asked her what Church she belonged to.  She stated that she had only recently moved with her mother to Vegas and didn’t belong to any Church.  My wife, Ann, said, “Wouldn’t you like to come with us to our Church tomorrow?  She looked us over as if to discover if this was some sort of a hoax and then decided to come along.  Later, we baptized her mother and herself.

Bring people to the fire.  Use a little boldness and get over the fear of offending. God loves you and he loves your neighbor.