The Five Errors of Mormonism

By Arlin Ewald Nusbaum

Details five core errors of Mormonism based on The Holy Book of Mormon, which are:

1. Gospel Restoration

2. Living Prophets

3. Temples

4. Priesthood

5. New Jerusalem

• Language: English
• Publisher: A Marvelous Work and A Wonder Publishing
• Release date: Oct 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9781601356321

Book preview

Preface

They began to BUILD UP CHURCHES & deny the True Church of Christ [based on BoM not D&C] (4 Nephi 1:26)

Mormons believe they are the fastest growing church on earth, but the truth is, the Seventh-day Adventist Church (which is 33 years younger) is surpassing them in growth and retention numbers. The following map shows ward and stake closures (red dots) in the United States.

Church Closure Map 2022 ©fullerconsideration.com

Church Closure Map 2022 ©fullerconsideration.com

Transparency Lacking

The Mormon Church lacks transparency. They refuse to disclose their finances, church attendance, and member retention numbers.

Church Statistics – 2022

References

LDS: https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics; https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/2022-statistical-report-april-2023-conference

SDA: https://www.adventiststatistics.org

Utah Statistics

Highest Rate of Porn Use in United States (2009—Utah No. 1 in Online Porn Subscriptions;[1]2016—Utah Governor Declares Pornography a Public Health Crisis[2])

Highest Rate of Antidepressant Use in United States (2002—Study Finds Utah Leads Nation in Antidepressant Use;[3]2010—Nearly 1 in 5 Utah Women Use Antidepressants[4])

Highest Rate of Mental Illness in United States (2014—Utah Has Highest Rate of Mental Illness in US[5])

High Rate of Suicide in United States (2012—Utah Has One of the Highest Suicide Rates in Nation;[6]2014—Utah Suicide Rate Soars: Since 2010, an average 501 -Utahns each year have died by suicide and another 3,968 were hospitalized or treated in emergency rooms from injuries due to suicide attempts, according to the Utah Department of Health[7])

Church Finances

Between 1915 and 1959, annual reports of the Church’s income and expenditures were announced in general conference. These reports showed that most funds were directed to ward and stake buildings, headquarters office buildings, Church schools, missions, and welfare. After 1959, auditors presented in general conference only the results of an annual general audit, assuring the public that leaders had followed financially responsible procedures and dealt honestly in their use of Church funds.[8]

Mormon Church Financial Whistleblower

Mormon who left Wall St. to work for charity blows whistle on what he says is his church's "clandestine hedge fund"

Mormon who left Wall St. to work for charity blows whistle on what he says is his church’s clandestine hedge fund

SEC investigators found the church went to great lengths to hide $32 billion in securities over nearly 20 years. It created 13 shell companies that were …assigned a local phone number that would go directly to voicemail in case regulators checked in. David Nielsen: Here they had these back-office accountants, who had never bought a bond or sold stock a day in their life, signing signatory pages for a portfolio that didn’t exist.[9]

In 1997, the LDS Church split off its investment division and created a separate legal entity called EP. Form 13F is a quarterly report filed, per SEC regulations, by institutional investment managers with control over $100M in assets to the SEC, listing all equity assets under management. The purpose of the form is to provide transparency over who owns stocks.

Timeline

1997: EP created as a non-profit to manage LDS Church investments

1998: Senior leadership of the LDS Church, defined as the First Presidency and Presiding Bishopric, approved a plan to file Form 13F through a separate entity in order to prevent disclosure of the securities portfolio.

2001: The first of thirteen shell companies was created, a trust fund with a separate limited liability companies (LLC) under the trust’s ownership. The LLC had an address in Glendale, Arizona but did not conduct business out of that site. Employees of EP were assigned as managers of the trust, but not granted investment discretion.

2003: Form 13F is first filed for the newly created shell company.

2005: Senior leaders of the LDS Church approve creating a second shell company, based out of Wilmington, Delaware. The church created the new entity after discovering that the person signing the forms was listed in a public directory as an LDS Church employee and that the shell company could be traced back to the church.

2011: Five additional shell companies were approved by senior leaders after LDS Church leaders became concerned that the growing size of the investment portfolio would bring unwanted attention. Addresses of the five shell companies were in Delaware, but no business was conducted in that state.

2014: An internal LDS Church audit highlighted the risk that the SEC might disagree with the approach but did not recommend changes.

2015: An unnamed third party connected some of the shell companies with EP and brought the issue to senior leaders of the LDS Church. The senior leaders approved a plan to gradually and carefully adapt Ensign Peak’s corporate structure to strengthen the portfolio’s confidentiality. This included the creation of six more shell companies, whose managers had common names and a limited presence on social media, and were therefore less likely to be publicly connected to Ensign Peak or the Church. Selected managers were given limited information on the purpose of the shell companies.

2017: A second LDS Church audit again highlighted the risk of the investment approach.

2018: The Mormon Leaks website discovers that the 13 shell companies all have web domains hosted by LDS Church servers. Business managers are also connected by Mormon Leaks as LDS Church employees. Two of the business managers resign, out of concern with what had been asked of them. They are replaced with different managers.

2019: The SEC first contacts the LDS Church over its reporting structure.

2020: EP files a consolidated disclosure for the first time.

2023: On February 21, the SEC announces publicly the charges against the LDS Church and EP, along with the settlement. The church agrees to pay $1 million and EP agrees to a $4 million penalty.[10]

Financing the Enemy

"The church has amassed more than $100 billion in a tax-free fund that invests in multinational companies, as a former member describes it as a ‘business dabbling in religion’. The global Mormon church has overstated the amount it gives in charity by more than $US1 billion ($1.56 billion), apparently to make itself appear more generous than it actually is."

"The church runs a $US100 billion, tax-free investment fund, Ensign Peak Advisors, which has quietly built up major stakes in blue-chip firms and now has multibillion-dollar investments in Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Google owner Alphabet. It also invests in major weapons manufacturers including Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman."

"The extent of Mormons’ charity overstatement is shown in 15 years of previously unreleased financial reports, which have been uncovered as part of a joint six-month investigation and collaboration by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and 60 Minutes."[11]

For a full list of the Church’s $37,857,975,000 stock holdings, see: https://www.scribd.com/document/450143097/Ensign-Peak-Advisors-Stock-Holdings.

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http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705288350/Utah-No-1-in-online-porn-subscriptions-report-says.html. ↵

https://le.utah.gov/~2016/bills/static/SCR009.html. ↵

http://articles.latimes.com/2002/feb/20/news/mn-28924. ↵

http://archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=/sltrib/home/50291053-76/utah-women-depression-antidepressants.html.csp. ↵

http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/utah-has-highest-rate-of-mental-illness-in-us/article_053ef820-584d-5930-953e-c75548be7c5c.html. ↵

http://archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=/sltrib/news/53530394-78/suicide-utah-percent-health.html.csp. ↵

http://www.standard.net/Health/2014/05/22/Utah-suicide-rate-soars. ↵

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/topics/church-finances?lang=eng. ↵

(Sharyn Alfonsi, "Mormon who left Wall St. to work for charity blows whistle on what he says is his church's 'clandestine hedge fund'," 60 Minutes, May 14, 2023. ↵

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Securities_and_Exchange_Commission_charges_against_the_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints_and_Ensign_Peak_Advisors. ↵

Ben Schneiders, Tom Steinfort and Natalie Clancy, Mormon church invests billions of dollars while grossly overstating its charitable giving, Sydney Morning Herald, October 29, 2022. ↵

1

Introduction

The goal of this title is to shine the light on those things that are preventing Mormons from experiencing abundant joy in their lives, and that begins by knowing, believing, trusting, and loving Our Heavenly Father directly, and not through any church.

Readers will learn what the original calling was that Joseph Smith received, and how the Book of Mormon was replaced by teachings and doctrines it does not support. The abundant joy everyone wants and can have is found in the Bible and Book of Mormon. Those are the two promised witnesses everyone can trust, believe, and follow.

As more and more members learn about Joseph and his polygamous marriages to over 30 wives (some were already married to faithful men, and some were teenagers under his care) they rightly become appalled and many are leaving the Mormon Church but tossing out the Book of Mormon at the same time which