My New Books

It was our third trip to Hawaii and we were so glad to get back on the North Shore of Oahu. We called several people who had rooms for rent and we finally found one real close to the hub of the surfing world. We were trying to get as close to Sunset beach as possible. The best we could afford was a room in Hauula which was a few miles away from where we wanted to be. The lady we rented the room from needed this particular dwelling renovated, redone, in other words: ripped apart then put all back together. We agreed to do the work for exchange of some rent reduction. The lady picked Christian and I up from the bus stop near Wikiki and drove us up to the best side of the island. The North Shore.
Our rented room was none like I'd ever seen before. It was dark, not because of the lighting, but because of the color. It was black; like a black and white checkered flag. Like a car racing flag. Plus the ceiling was completely black. It made the ten foot ceiling look about five feet tall. The space of the room was so full of storage boxes and furniture the view out both windows were completely blocked.
We got busy clearing out the room before settling in. After we got the majority of the stuff cleared out and stored under the house, we found that there was a king size bed under it all. Lucky for us. We also had a window facing north toward the ocean that we could see the waves and hear them day and night. The waves are quite the lullaby.
We knew we had our hands full when we agreed to give this room a makeover for exchange of half of the rent. What we didn't know when this project was started, was the fact that Convert and I were dropped right in a neighborhood that was all Mormon. It took awhile for me to come to the realization that the lady we were renting from was also Mormon. Now I'm nervous. I just got out of Mormonism a few years ago and the only Mormons I was around was my family, but that didn't amount to much. Now I'm around Mormon strangers. We were in fact in the center of Mormondom on Oahu. We would go west and there was the Mormon fortress. The temple, BYU Hawaii, their churches, and the Polynesian Center. Plus all those missionaries lurking around like the roaches that Hawaii has.
Looking into the Mormon situation there, it came apparent that the Mormons practically owned all of the North Shore.
With our new found enlightenment on the facts about how entrenched the Mormons are in the culture of the Polynesian people, I found myself not knowing what to do. We did know that we didn't want to 'hang out' in the house we were renting. We decided to get the room finished as soon as possible.
Christian and I found peace and quiet at a small park across form the neighborhood at the oceans edge. It had picnic tables, restrooms and a water fountain. Nearby was a 7-11 convenience store with the small necessities.
One evening, after finishing our 'Bento' meals from the 7-11, we hung around in the park watching the waves in the darkened evening. We were taking in the salty breeze and the rush of the waves when two young men (boys to me) approached us. The 'elders' made their introductions and began their well memorized sales pitch for the Mormon church. These missionaries were just children doing what they were told. I could feel my pulse rate increase and my cheeks flush with the uncertainty of how to handle the situation. After a few minutes, Mormonisms official representatives left with me letting Christian "holding the bag."
It wasn't until that moment did I realize that I had no backbone, no defense, no understanding, no knowledge as to know what to do when confronted with Mormonism. I had only lived that religion my whole life and agreed with it all the time. Now that I had been away from the cult I had no education as to knowing how to handle the situation I had found myself in.
I needed to do something about that. But I didn't have any clue as to where to start. I had no idea if there was any kind of information to help me with this. What were the differences between Mormonism and Christianity? What made the Mormon faith so radically different from those who claim to be followers of the true Christ? Why did Mormonism have such a hold of my mind? I knew that I needed to start somewhere. But where?
Christian and I were so glad when the room was finished and our month stay at the lady's house was over. We were able to rent our old room from our last visit. It was in Kahuku, and on the other side of the Mormon fortress. We happened to be in Haleiwa town and decided to visit the Christian book store. There we found a very nice woman who happened to have a couple of books for me to read. She said that if I find the two books informative, I could keep them. Needless to say, I kept them and read them from cover to cover. I found a whole other side of Mormonism that I did not know. Well, I know now.
These are the titles of the two book I was given:
"Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Mormons, Ron Rhodes and Marian Bodine, Harvest House Publishers"
"One Nation Under Gods, A History of the Mormon Church, Richard Abanes, Four Walls and Eight Windows"