August 17, 2018

Dear Copper Hills 8th Ward Members,

Greetings! This is my 17th postcard. I’ve sent my postcards, three times each year. Because my mailing list is outdated, you might be receiving this, and yet, not be a member of the LDS church. If this is the case, please pardon me, or feel free to read what I have to say.

Why are church leaders telling you what to do? Why isn’t the Holy Ghost showing you all things what you should do, as 2 Nephi 32:5 explains? What if I could prove, that you’re actually being led, by the church, to deny the Holy Ghost? Would you reject the church, or continue to deny the Holy Ghost?

I’ve asked 3 times each month, for a total of 106 requests, that the church would please answer a simple question, does the church recognize the concept presented in 2 Nephi 32:5 as true, or not? And still, there’s been no response.

How many of you have stood at the pulpit, and stated, “I know the Book of Mormon is true?” Wouldn’t this also mean, that you believe 2 Nephi 32:5 is true, that “if we enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show us all things what we should do?”

It’s my belief, that the content of this passage from the Book of Mormon is true, but why aren’t church leaders willing to acknowledge the truth of it? Perhaps, I can explain why. I’ve experienced the most profound realization on the subject since sending my previous postcard. And, my soul has felt most profoundly peaceful in contemplating this new understanding.

Are you familiar with the scripture, in John 8:31-32, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free?” Well, after this amazing epiphany came to me, I felt so very free, and this sense of freedom has remained with me.

My understanding was illuminated to know, exactly how to discern between the voice of the Holy Ghost and all other voices that might come into our minds. After-all, if we’re to be led in “all things” by the Holy Ghost, as explained in 2 Nephi 32:5, then we must be able to precisely recognize that voice.

The scriptures are filled with statements regarding how we can completely trust in the voice of the Holy Ghost, that it will lead us into all truth, that those who have taken the Holy Spirit as their guide, will be ready for the Lord’s coming, that by the power of the Holy Ghost, we may know the truth of all things.

But, the hard part, is knowing the voice of the Spirit from all other voices. In fact, the church thinks it’s so hard, that they’ll excommunicate you, if you think you can be led, exclusively by the Holy Ghost. As you know, I was excommunicated for wanting to be led exclusively by the Holy Ghost. Church leaders considered this way of thinking to be insubordinate and apostate.

Jesus taught, that those who follow him, will know the truth, and it will make them free, however, I’ve never heard the church sing, “follow the prophet, and you shall know the truth, and it will make you free.” Why is that?

Are you free? I’m free, because I know the secret. I’m free from being led astray by church leaders who teach false doctrine. I know better. And, I can assure you, that they do teach false doctrine, which prevents people from experiencing the Spirit of God.

What I’m about to reveal to you, is a secret that church leaders don’t want you to know about, because once you know how to discern all truth for yourselves, they will lose all power over you, to manipulate and control you.

The LDS church is an amazing organization. Its buildings are so clean and inviting. Its people obey such fine principles. Its people dress so well for worship services. The church takes care of its own with a world class welfare system. Its temples are magnificent.

The LDS are a “covenant” people. And, LDS leaders administer these covenants, judging whether or not members are worthy, or in other words, whether or not members are living up to the terms of the contract they’ve made with God.

However, what exactly are the terms of the contract or covenant? When I was baptized, priesthood laid hands upon my head, and I was told, only to “receive the Holy Ghost,” but when church leaders applied disciplinary measures over ten years ago, it wasn’t because I wasn’t receiving the Holy Ghost, rather, it was for not obeying church leaders, which I never agreed to do in the first place.

But, this has nothing to do with the secret I discovered, other than I wanted to lay the groundwork for my explanation. I’ve kept my covenant to “receive the Holy Ghost,” although many would argue that my excommunication caused the Holy Ghost to be removed from me, which is what the church says happens to those excommunicated from the church.

So, how exactly do we know, that we’re actually “receiving the Holy Ghost?”

First of all, don’t we need to understand, the mission of the Holy Ghost?

As you know, the Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead. It’s function is to change our hearts, that we might become one with God, in our thoughts, and in our actions, that our all, that everything about us, would be in harmony with God’s ways.

Okay, so what are God’s ways?

Well, God is love. And, Jesus showed us God’s way. He died for all of us that we might live. He only sought to blessed us. He didn’t seek to be blessed, himself. And, he commanded that we love each other as he loves us.

So, with all that in mind, please read the message that I recently sent a friend of mine, who currently serves as a mission president in Africa. My secret, is contained within this message that I sent him.

Hello Steve,

It’s been a long time since we conversed. I keep seeing your Facebook posts. I kept feeling prompted to share a few more thoughts with you about missionary work and the church. I can’t exactly remember where we left off in our conversation earlier. I hope this new conversation will be beneficial to you.

I’ve understood a few more things since I last wrote you. It’s making more sense to me, why the LDS church doesn’t want to answer my simple question, is 2 Nephi 32:5 true or not. It’s my assertion, if you’ll recall, as stated in this passage, that we’re to be shown all things we should do by the Spirit.

At baptism, we’re not told to obey church leaders, we’re only told to “receive the Holy Ghost.” But, isn’t this a bit deceptive? Aren’t we telling new converts one thing, but actually expecting something else? I was excommunicated for seeking to “receive the Holy Ghost.” The church actually expects, obedience.

If my memory serves me correctly, I remember hearing President Nelson recently, speaking about an African group, where he explained that tithing was being taught to them, so that they may obey that principle and be blessed, as a means to help bring them out of poverty.

Obedience as a means to obtain blessings, was emphasized in a big way by Joseph Smith, when he declared, that all blessings from God come from obedience to the laws they’re predicated upon.

Also, there’s another famous statement about obedience, where Joseph Smith taught, that the Lord is actually bound to bless us when we do what he says, but when we don’t do what he says, we have no promise.

These statements sound so wonderful. And, it must please you greatly, that you’re helping the people in Africa to obtain God’s blessings. But, isn’t there a huge problem with this mentality? It’s been my experience, that whenever I’ve sought for blessings, I’ve also, at the same time, ceased from being guided by the Holy Ghost.

You see, when I seek to be blessed, I become selfishly minded, and I lose the Holy Ghost, for I’ve found that the Holy Ghost only inspires me to selflessly bless others. Also, I’m thinking, that when we stand before God, it won’t be about how much we’ve been blessed, but about how much we bless others.

Recently, it’s dawned on me, how in every conversation with church leaders, it’s only been about my obedience in order to be blessed. Never, have they spoken to me about seeking to bless the lives of others.

And, so, it makes sense, that because the minds of church leaders are focused, so much, on encouraging members to seek and obtain blessings for themselves, they don’t recognize the truth of 2 Nephi 32:5, which is about members being led, in all things, by the Spirit, to love and bless the lives of others.

Love, is the fruit of the Spirit. Love, is about blessing others. Love, is not about seeking to be blessed. Love is selfless. Seeking to be blessed is selfish. Hence, those seeking to be blessed, aren’t led by the selfless voice of the Holy Ghost.

The church really doesn’t focus on teaching its members to love and bless others. Every interview, is about worthiness to obtain blessings. Members aren’t ever asked if their hearts are filled with love toward one another.

And, really, worthiness isn’t required for a person to bless the life of someone else. A person doesn’t need to be worthy, to experience the Holy Ghost, to experience that selfless voice that moves us to serve and bless the lives of others.

Repentance, in order to experience the Holy Ghost, is simply a turning from selfishness to selflessness.  Repentance, is not about turning to obedience, in order to obtain more blessings for ourselves. If our motivation is to get more for ourselves through obedience, then we’re actually moving further away from the Spirit of God.

A perfect example of a “blessed” obedient man, who was so far from the mark, was the rich man who approached Jesus, who asked what he must do, in order to inherit eternal life. Jesus instructed him, “sell all your physical blessings,” and give the proceeds to the poor. But, he wouldn’t.

It appears, that even back in the time of Christ, church membership struggled with the idea of loving and blessing others. This rich man had obeyed from his youth up. He was blessed. He sought for blessings. He wanted and sought for the blessing of eternal life.

But, because of this blessing seeking mentality, he couldn’t see spiritually, to understand love, to know why he should give all that he had to the poor, who he probably didn’t think were “worthy” of those blessings, because I doubt they were obedient like he was.

It’s interesting to me, that it was only a few months before polygamy was introduced, that Joseph Smith said, “all blessings come from obedience to the laws upon which they’re predicated.” Then, the law of polygamy was introduced by him, with the promised blessing of being a “God” if people would obey.

Think about it. Is there any greater blessing, that could be offered, to obtain obedience, than to promise someone they’ll become a God, if they’ll obey? Any church wanting to compete with the LDS church, in using the hope of blessings as a motivation for obedience, would need to offer something even better, wouldn’t they?

But, in this, aren’t church members being trained to think like the rich man, who wanted eternal life, who obeyed all the commandments in order to obtain that blessing? Yet, isn’t this what caused his spiritual blindness?

Is it possible, that with such a hope, and desire, the LDS church is actually creating a people who are so selfishly motivated, wanting such a blessing for themselves, that they actually “deny the Holy Ghost,” where they’re never motivated by that completely selfless voice, because always, their actions are motivated, in the back of their minds, by a desire to obtain a blessing for themselves?

Finally, I just want to say, I’m so glad, that I’m being delivered, by the Holy Ghost, from the darkness of blessing seeking. I’m so much happier. I feel so much love in my heart for others. The Holy Ghost is such a wonderful undeserved gift from God, which has saved me from the bondage of selfishness.

Aaron McMillan

So, that’s the letter I sent my friend. And, in case you didn’t catch it, “my secret,” is that the voice of the Holy Ghost only inspires us to bless the lives of others. So, any other voice inside us, any voice of wanting blessings for ourselves, is not the Holy Ghost.

Also, contrary to what Joseph Smith taught, that “all blessings” come from obedience to the law upon which they’re predicated, the Holy Ghost isn’t earned through obedience, but rather, it’s truly a gift, that fills our hearts with love, enabling us to bless the lives of each other.

Jesus commanded us to love everyone, including our enemies. He didn’t ask us to obey a bunch of laws, in order to be blessed with love. The blessing of a heart filled with love, is a gift, and we’re to bless others with our love, it being a gift to them as well.

Love, isn’t a blessing that’s associated with obedience. There’s no amount of obedience, that will fill our hearts with love. Love, is the fruit of the Spirit. It’s a gift from God. And, when we love others, they’re blessed, not because of their obedience, but because of our love.

In fact, the idea, that all blessings come from obedience to the law they’re predicated upon, is the very concept, that if embraced, fully, will lead people to completely deny the Holy Ghost, because when we think that the blessing of a loving heart is earned through obedience, when we deny that it’s a gift, we will never experience it.

In Ephesians 2:8-9, the apostle Paul explained it this way, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

So, if you want to believe, that all blessings come from obedience, where your motivation is completely selfish, where there’s always a “what’s in it for me” mentality, where all glory goes to you for obtaining your blessings, where you can boast of your works, then by all means, continue on that path, and deny the Holy Ghost.

Or, if you want to experience the Holy Ghost, where you’re blessed with a heart filled with love, where that love feels so wonderful, that you don’t even think about wanting blessings for yourself, where it gives you the desire, only to bless the lives of others, where all glory goes to God, then maybe you should reject the idea, that all blessings come from obedience.

If you want to be free, the only way, the only straight and narrow path leading to life, is to cease from all selfish seeking to be blessed, and seek, only to bless the lives of others, for when we think that we need to be blessed, we’re in bondage to those blessings.

In other words, to be free, we simply need to remove all BS, or blessing seeking, from our lives, and this is what Jesus was talking about, when he said that those who would continue in his word, would know the truth, and it would set them free.

Now, there’s a peace associated with freedom, but there’s also a peace associated with bondage, which many mistake for true peace. For example, the rich often enjoy peace from everything they have, but that peace is dependent on maintaining their possessions, which means they’re in bondage to those possessions.

On the other hand, loving people, who seek to bless the lives of others, who don’t seek to be blessed, experience peace without needing anything else, which means they’re free, as Jesus promised they would be.

In reality, the LDS church offers a clever substitute for the freedom the Holy Ghost can provide, with its commandments, its orderliness, and its outward beauty, because its members, inwardly, in the back of their minds, are all selfishly seeking that they, themselves, may be blessed, which is their peace, which isn’t freedom, but is actually bondage, because the happiness of members is wrapped up in seeking to obtain and maintain blessings for themselves.

In other words, just like the rich, who are in bondage to their possessions, who derive their happiness from obtaining and maintaining possessions, church members are in bondage to blessings, as they derive their happiness from obtaining and maintaining blessings.

Think about it. Are you happy, because you’ve been blessed, and because you hope for future blessings, or, are you happy, because your heart is filled with love, where your happiness is based on a desire to bless the lives of others?

In an interview with President Davies one time, after I told him that I was so very happy, he said to me, “How can you be happy, you have nothing, everything was taken from you in your excommunication, you don’t have church membership, you don’t have priesthood, you don’t have eternal marriage, so how can you be happy?”

Well, I was happy then, and I’ve remained happy, because my happiness isn’t based on obtaining and maintaining church blessings for myself. Rather, my happiness comes from receiving the Holy Ghost, from my heart being filled with love, from seeking to bless the lives of others, as I’m inspired to, by prompting from the Holy Ghost.

So, I’m not in bondage to church blessings.

I’m free.

Didn’t Jesus teach, that only a few would find the straight and narrow path of freedom, which leads to eternal life? And, if only a few will end up finding the path, then doesn’t it stand to reason, that most people are on the wrong path?

Isn’t it true, that most people are on a path of selfishly seeking to be blessed, where they’re in bondage to the idea of acquiring blessings, because their happiness is wrapped up in obtaining and maintaining blessings? So, how can this be the right path?

What do you think of the phrase, “outside the box?” Aren’t “outside the box” ideas, often ridiculed and scoffed at? Do you think “outside the box?” I do, because I’m thinking a path that few will find, is one that’s “outside the box.”

Take marriage, for instance. How many of you think in terms of “getting” married? Don’t most people want to “get” married? Few, if any, want to “give” marriage to their spouse, which is outside the box, but isn’t this a more Christ like way to think about it?

If people think they’re “getting” married, if they think in terms of what they “get” from marriage, then isn’t it easy to think their marriage is over, when they aren’t getting what they want out of it? Would there be as much divorce, if people thought of marriage as something, that they “gave” to a spouse?

Also, when our happiness is wrapped up in what we get from our spouse, from our being blessed by them, then don’t they become our “ball and chain,” so to speak, where we’re in bondage to them, because our happiness is based on what they do or don’t do?

Is there any other way, than to remove all selfish BS, or “blessing seeking,” from our lives, in order to experience freedom, where we’re in bondage to nothing, where no-one or nothing can take our happiness away from us?

If we’d simply “receive the Holy Ghost,” as we were, all, instructed to do at our baptisms, then wouldn’t we be free, because then, wouldn’t we only desire to bless the lives of others, wouldn’t we lose the desire to seek blessings for ourselves, wouldn’t the feeling of love within us, of the Holy Ghost, completely satisfy us, and remove all hunger or thirst for anything else?

Contrary to what the LDS church teaches, the gospel of “Jesus Christ," isn’t about obedience to law, in order to obtain blessings. Rather, it’s about being energized by the Holy Ghost, which enables us to love, which enables us to bless the lives of each other.

It’s not a gospel of selfishness.

It’s a gospel of selflessness.

Basically, the law was done away with, in Christ. It was replaced with a new commandment, to love one another as Jesus loves us. And, by this, not by obedience, but by our love, would all men know that we are his disciples. It’s explained in Romans 13:10, that “love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

And, according to John 8:31-32, disciples of Christ, who are known by their love, who continue in his word, know the truth, and the truth makes them free, by delivering them from all selfish bondage.

Hence, it’s my belief, that the Holy Ghost, which provides freedom, which is the voice of love, which only leads us to bless the lives of others, is meant to show us all things what we should do, as explained in 2 Nephi 32:5, and it’s my belief, that the church won’t confirm this passage as true, because they’re so focused on denying the Holy Ghost, by selfishly seeking blessings for themselves, which is bondage.

President Davies, and other church leaders, including the First Presidency, have wanted me to base my happiness on obtaining and maintaining church blessings, and they’ve wanted this so badly, that they excommunicated me, with the hope, that if these blessings were taken from me, I would want them back.

But, I don’t want my happiness to be based on wanting church blessings for myself.

I’d rather, base my happiness on wanting to bless the lives of others.

I’d rather, possess a heart filled with love.

I’d rather, be led by the Holy Ghost.

I’d rather, be free.

So, based on what I’ve explained, what do you think?

Will church leaders to tell you what to do? Or, will the Holy Ghost show you all things what you should do, as 2 Nephi 32:5 explains? Will you grow in selfishness, through seeking for blessings, where you’ll deny the Holy Ghost, or will you grow in selflessness, receiving the Holy Ghost, being filled with love, where you’ll bless the lives of others?

Haven’t I proven, that you’re actually being led, by the church, to deny the Holy Ghost?

So, will you reject the church, or continue to deny the Holy Ghost?

For more information, please click here to read my latest letter to the First Presidency.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Aaron McMillan

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