By Eric Johnson

Thousands of Mormon missionaries around the world are doing their best to make conversions to their church. However, there are some things they just won’t tell potential converts. Here is a list of 10 things every potential convert ought to know before submitting to baptism.

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1. While the missionaries may claim that “they’re Christian too,” the fact of the matter is that Mormonism denies or distorts every fundamental teaching of the historical Christian church.
2. Joseph Smith married other men’s wives and teenage girls, and the scholars all say sex was involved. This has even been admitted by the LDS Church. Also see here and here.
3. When the missionaries baptize a person, that name becomes a part of the LDS Church records. If you ever leave the Mormon Church, you will remain there indefinitely unless you take the effort to get your name removed. 
4. You won’t be able to utilize the temple and perform the necessary works for you and your family unless you pay your tithe. If you don’t, you can always do back pay in what is called “tithing settlement.” Thus, giving money is a requirement for exaltation. 
5. If you come from a Christian background, it may be difficult to understand the differences in the meanings of generic terms. Even if you ask the missionaries “what do you mean by that?” the meaning still might not be clear. This dictionary might provide some insight into the differences of the meanings. 
6. The cross and the work done upon it by Jesus is just not emphasized by the Mormon leadership. 
7.  Joseph Smith is the only witness to the First Vision, and yet historical records prove that it didn’t happen the way the LDS Church says it happened.  Also see this response to the Gospel Topic essay. 
8. The percentage of church growth is half of what it was 25 years ago and many are coming out in droves thanks to the Internet and more readily available resources. See here for the questions asked by a group of Swedish Latter-day Saints and their reaction to church history leaders.
9. While many Mormons may claim their leaders are not paid, the fact is that thousands of Mormons (including the leadership) are full-time employees of the church, including seminary and institute teachers, mission presidents, full-time workers in various places around the world, and general authorities, just to name a few. See here. And according to LDS scripture, bishops really should be paid! 
10. There is no supporting evidence that the Book of Mormon was produced on gold plates or that there really were Book of Mormon peoples.

See other “10 reasons Why” articles by clicking here