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1

Mary Katherine Hastings, or Mary K., as she liked us to call her, was my Sunday School teacher when I was 14. She helped me and a number of others to really get excited about Jesus Christ. Almost every Friday evening throughout our high school years a group of us boys would meet for scripture study and discussion at the Hastings' home.

This is a testimony she shared with us. It has remained vivid in my memory all these years. Lately I have been impressed with the need to write it down so that it can be shared. I went to see her and she confirmed the following details:

"In the beginning we were not taught scriptures at home. We had no way of getting to regular church. We seldom had opportunity to go to a schoolhouse three miles away for a Sunday afternoon sermon.

"A Baptist minister came to preach at the school when I was 12. The other girls wanted me to skip the service and talk to the boys outside. I said, 'I don't need to know about boys; I have brothers.' I sat on the back seat in the school room. They sang the invitational hymn, 'Just As I Am'.

"Then I had an open vision. I saw white marble stairs. There was an exceedingly bright light at the top. I had the feeling of walking up those steps. I didn't know I was getting up, but was jolted out of the vision by the minister taking hold of my hand." (Mary Katherine had gone forward on the altar call.)

"Two weeks later I was baptized by immersion into the Baptist church. They gave me a Sunday School quarterly because they didn't have money for a Bible. I read that quarterly over and over at recess at my little country school.

"When I was 14 (1926) I left home to work and attend high school. I went regularly to the Baptist church. I had always determined never to be anything but a Baptist because of my experience. I prayed, 'Lord, if you tell me what to do, I'll do it.' In 1938 when I was 26 years old, a neighbor asked me to go with her to an RLDS¹ service. I had always heard it was 'stupid and idiotic', but I wanted to find out for myself.

"Z. Z. Renfroe was preaching. He was on the second week of a two-week series. He gave a brief synopsis of the six basic principles of the gospel as found in Hebrews 6:1,2:

'Therefore, not abandoning the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.'

"He then switched to 2nd John 9: 'Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God...'

That night Christ appeared at my bedside.

"An elderly lady gave me Call At Evening, Volume I of the RLDS Church History, and a Book of Mormon. I had never ever heard of the Book of Mormon, or any of that.

"That night as I went to bed, Christ appeared at my bedside and said, 'I am pleased with the faith you have in me. What are you doing to tell people of this gospel?'

"'Brother Renfroe told me I should read Church History, Volume One.'

"Jesus smiled and said, 'It would be well for you to read the [First] Book of Nephi.'

"I said, 'Do you mean the Book of Mormon?'

"He smiled again and repeated, 'It would be well for you to read it', and gave me the names of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon; smiled again and disappeared. I leaped out of bed and wrote 'NEFI' on a scrap of paper."

(Of course Mary K. had never heard of Nephi before; nor had she yet opened this new book to see the correct spelling. This was no idle dream. Next morning on her bedside table was this little scrap of paper with 'NEFI' on it.)

I asked Mary K, "Was Christ's appearance a dream or a vision?"

Her answer: "It was so real it wasn't like either one. It was like a person was right there. I was not aware of being asleep or anything. I opened the Book of Mormon immediately and recognized the names of the witnesses."

Mary K. told me that she has often wished she had kept that scrap of paper; but what could that do for an individual who is determined not to believe her testimony? Truth can overcome prejudice, but only after a change of heart.

Mary K. continues:
"I attended the rest of the services that week and was baptized the following Sunday with six other people."

The Baptist church prepared me to receive the fullness of the gospel.

Mary K. was told later that at that first meeting where she had heard Z. Z. Renfroe, there was an old-time missionary named Riley P. Standifer in attendance. Upon seeing Mary Katherine come into the meeting he had turned to his wife Sally, and said, "This young lady will be baptized. I saw her in open vision."

"Two weeks later I was administered to² for my eyes, as I had been born cross-eyed and was always extremely nearsighted. I went home, put a newspaper on the floor and was able to read the print while standing up! I never wore glasses until 1966. The Baptist church prepared me to receive the fullness of the gospel."

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2

Claudine was a Baptist Sunday School teacher. She taught an adult Bible class at her church. She knew her Bible well and had taught it for 15 years. My first year out of college (1966) I came to teach high school in her town. I had felt the Lord leading me there for some reason, even though the salary was less than I could have gotten elsewhere.

Often on weekends I would make the three-hour trip home to Independence, Missouri. One such weekend, Claudine and her 7-year-old daughter Ruth needed to go to the Kansas City area, and as I was planning to go anyway, I offered to take them.

On our way we talked about little things along the road. On Sunday they met me and I took them back home. After returning from what seemed to me an uneventful trip, you can imagine my astonishment as Claudine told me, "I want you to know that you saved my life this weekend!"

This 49-year-old lady had lost her husband a year before. She had never had to deal with the financial responsibilities of their farm. She didn't even have a driver's license. Now it was all dumped in her lap.

As if all the new and frightening responsibilities were not enough, one of her sons was trying to pressure her into signing the farm over to him. In return he would take care of her needs for the rest of her life. She told me, "He may be my son, but I know him. He just wants the farm for himself. The minute I turn loose of it I will never see another penny of it." This son managed to turn her entire family, church, and community against her.

At this point there were only three people left in the world that she could look to for any kind of support: her banker, her doctor, and her 7-year-old daughter. The stress was exacting a terrible toll. She would get sick and the most powerful antibiotics could not make her well. She got no more than 2 hours of sleep a night, even with sleeping pills.

On this weekend Claudine had planned to see her other son for one last time, and then go home and take her own life. She told me, "But I saw something different in you. You had a light glowing in your countenance and just seemed so happy. You talked about the pretty flowers and things along the way. I just had to stop and think what is there about you that makes you different and this kind of thing."

It made the Bible I had known so many years just explode to life. I saw many things in the Bible that I had never seen before.

I began to share my faith with her: the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration of Christ's church, priesthood, and spiritual gifts. After an animated discussion late into that night, I needed to go home.

She wanted a copy of the Book of Mormon immediately. "I've got to read that." So I went out to the car and got her one. Even though it was 3 A.M., she said, "I can't sleep at night anyway, so I might just as well start reading it right now."

Claudine read round the clock and finished the Book of Mormon in two days. She got so excited! She told me, "It made the Bible I had known so many years just explode to life. I saw many things in the Bible that I had never seen before."

We shared many hours of discussions over the next few months. She went to services with me a few times and thoroughly enjoyed them. One day she made mention of being baptized into this church, "if you think your people would have someone like me."

During this time she continued teaching her Sunday School class. I don't think anyone knew what was going on in her life, except maybe her doctor and her banker. They told her, "Something is going on. You're getting better. We are starting to see some fire back in your eyes again." Claudine was actually experiencing the new birth that Jesus talked about, even though she had loved Jesus all her life. But she found Jesus at a level she had never known before.

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3

One day Claudine came to me with a mischievous grin on her face.

She said, "I did something that you'll think I was kind of a stinker." And I asked, "Oh, no, what's this?"

I have always believed that. Where did you get that?

She answered, "I was teaching my Bible class Sunday and stuck in some stuff out of the Book of Mormon."

I said, "Oh, my! What did they say?"

"Well," she said, "I didn't tell 'em where it came from; I couldn't do that. And this lady in the back of the class said, 'I have always believed that. Where did you get that?'"

Claudine continued, "I couldn't tell 'em. So I just smiled!"

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These testimonies by three Baptist women bear witness to the truth of the Book of Mormon.

The first was converted to the Lord in a Baptist church at a young age, and she continued to seek for the Lord's truth. She was eventually led to a deeper relationship with the same Lord as she found the Book of Mormon and its confirming witness of Jesus Christ. She continued throughout her life teaching people about Jesus Christ and trying to help others find a closer relationship with Him.

The second was never baptized in a Restoration church. Yet she bore testimony that the Book of Mormon is not only in harmony with the Bible, but enlightened her mind with a more complete understanding of the Bible she had always loved. Her life was changed through finding a renewed relationship with her Lord Jesus Christ.

The third woman testified to the Book of Mormon without even knowing it. Removed from all prejudice, she recognized in its words the same Christian truths she was familiar with in the Bible.

We invite you to investigate the Book of Mormon and its teachings about Jesus Christ, which He gave to the inhabitants of the Americas many centuries ago. We believe that if you seek with a sincere heart, the Lord will reveal the truth of the Book of Mormon to you through the Holy Spirit, and lead you to a deeper understanding of Him.

For more information on Jesus Christ or the Book of Mormon, please contact:

Phillip Tandy
421 S. Russell
Odessa, MO 64076 USA

"In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established" 1Corinthians 13:1

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Footnotes:

1. Reorganized Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints, a relatively small Christian denomination of over 200,000 members, headquartered in Independence, Missouri, which believes in the Bible and Book of Mormon as scripture. The Book of Mormon testifies of Jesus Christ. (return to paragraph)

2. Being "administered to" is the way our members refer to receiving the laying on of hands, anointing with oil and prayer by the elders of the church. James 5:14-15 says: "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." (return to paragraph)

Three Baptist Women Testify of the Book of Mormon
Copyright © 1997, Tandyland, Odessa MO

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This page last updated on July 10, 1998