LDS Church, the Only True Church?

Although I realize that a portion of the missionary lessons are devoted to convincing the investigator that an apostacy occurred, I was surprised to find past missionary guidance on this matter. Missionaries were not only instructed to teach the investigator that an apostacy occurred, but also that the investigator's own church was false. In an LDS publication on teaching investigators, the missionary was supposed to convince the contact "There was a complete apostacy and my [the investigator's] church is false." (A Uniform System for Teaching Investigators, published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, p. 9)

Joseph Smith and the LDS Church expressed a similar viewpoint in the Elder's Journal which said, "Is it any wonder then, that we say of the priests of modern days, that they are of their father the devil ... we shall see all the priests who adhere to the sectarian religions of the day, with all their followers, without one exception, receive thier portion of the devil and his angels." (Elder's Journal, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 59-60).

Mormon Apostle Orson Pratt echoed the same claim in the Seer when asked a number of questions:
"Q. Who founded the Roman Catholic Church?
"A. The Devil, through the medium of Apostates,
who subverted the whole order of God...
"Q. Did the great Protestant Reformers restore the Church of Christ to the earth?
"A. No ...
"Q. But did not any of the Protestant Reformers have authority to Baptize and Confirm?
"A. Not any of them...
"Q. But did not the first Protestant Reformers receive their ordination and authority from the Catholics?
"A. Yes: and in this manner they received all the authority that their mother church was in possession of; and the mother having derived her authority from the Devil could only impart that which his Satanic majestym was pleased to bestow upon her ..." (The Seer, page 205)

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Sincerely,

James

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