A brother once wrote me the question: “Where can I find people who are awakening?” I have wondered this myself in the past as I felt very alone in this quest. Of course, where we live and our family situation may have an impact on our ability to meet and associate with such people.
It’s a big world we live in. We walk around the city and see so many people and wonder, “Am I the only one thinking about this stuff?” I sit in Church and I see good people comfortable with their lives. They seem satisfied with their standing with God. I listen in Gospel Doctrine as the teacher and ward members talk about how wonderful things are in the Church: so many temples, missionaries, we have nothing to worry about. Lots of happy thoughts for those in the box. In my mind I think, “No, not all is well in Zion. Where does Zion exist? I don’t see Zion anywhere . . .yet. I want to know the Lord more than anything.”
I remember about two years ago mentioning to my wife that we knew nobody we could talk with about these things. We felt very alone. I began to ask God to bring others into my life I could associate with who were on the same path. At first nothing happened, but shortly thereafter I met a man in our city who had the same goals. Within a few months we had a circle of friends, about a dozen and their wives. Now, the number of friends has grown considerably; we share, we serve, we offer friendship and love, we worship, we inspire and edify each other. All this because I asked the Lord.
My advice to anyone who needs a friend in this quest: First, establish your relationship with the Lord. Second, pray for the Lord to help you to find friends who will lift you up – He will do it. (Even if you are still trying to do the first step.)
If you choose to go on the internet (Facebook groups and such) be prepared to see all kinds of people on different levels of their journey; some are angry, some are confused, and some have an agenda. But, there are some that are sincerely looking to find the Lord. If you have the gift of discernment, go there and look for kindred spirits.
There are different kinds of kindred spirits. Some enjoy the same hobbies as you, come from the same walk of life, or share the same struggles you have. The most beautiful kindred spirits I have ever met had nothing in common with me, other than a desire to know the Lord more than ANYTHING. As you mingle with such people the Spirit of the Lord is magnified and incredible miracles unfold as you serve each other.
Pure Revelations 
The kindred spirits that you encountered, were they traditional lds, fringe lds, or from elsewhere? Just curious. I can see it working either way.
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They are like me, seekers of the Lord and all that goes with that. To those who are unfamiliar with what I talk about on my blog, we would appear as fringe.
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I’m sorry if this is personal, but I had a question for you after reading several of your posts. Do you still attend the Church? I’m not saying that the Church is the equivalent of Zion, and I still believe there is room to work and improve. However, I do believe and have a testimony that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s Church restored through Joseph Smith and that it is still the Lord’s Church with his authority to administer the ordinances necessary for salvation.
I’ve read through a number of different blogs and forums where people have claimed to have received the Second Comforter and are currently conversing with the Lord. You’ve also got the Denver Snuffer crowd who’ve been fairly loud lately. Many of them attack the Church and claim that the leaders are astray and they alone in the “remnant” are right. They wear their resignation like a badge of courage. It makes me very uncomfortable and reminds me of the Zoramites in the Book of Mormon who “thanked God” that they were “elected” to be saved while everyone else was in darkness.
I really like the doctrine of receiving the Second Comforter and consider it a very noble goal to strive for in this life. It really fits in with the idea of being perfect as spoken of by the Savior in the Sermon on the Mount. I think that we don’t talk about it as much in the Church because it really can make people feel inferior and that they can never measure up in this life. I think that it can become detrimental if we don’t also teach that becoming perfect and coming to the Lord is a process that won’t necessarily be completed in this life. We are only commanded to come as fast as we are able.
I really like you blog and the topics you discuss. You don’t seem to have an agenda against the Church, but the internet has taught me to be incredibly wary of anyone claiming to have received the 2nd Comforter. I really don’t want to offend you or demean your experience. I just think that for many people the 2nd Comforter has become this thing they use to prove the Church is in the wrong while they alone are right. Thanks again for your posts.
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I am an active member of the Church and have no desire for that to change. In my book I describe in detail my journey and how it relates to these things. For those who wish to experience their Second Comforter, often it requires them to seek the Lord in very indirect unconventional ways, which sometimes may put them in uncomfortable positions with church authorities. As you read my posts or my book it is likely I will say something that will not fit your paradigm of the gospel or the Church. When that occurs, I would suggest taking a breath and just asking the Lord. The most brave words anyone can ask is “Lord, what would you have me to do?” Often this leads to a path that is glorious and unsettling at the same time.
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Thank you for the counsel and encouragement.
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I’m actually immensely relieved to hear that you still attend and participate in “the outward church below”–imperfect as members are in a veiled, fallen, telestial world, I’m frequently nudged to remember Paul’s reassurance to followers of Christ in his day:
“But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the ahead to the feet, I have no need of you.” (1 Corinthians 12:18-22 [12-27])
One key discernment your messages has helped me to understand is recognizing the differences between myself as an organ within the body, and the body as a whole. An organ is able to perform a specific function with excellence when it’s in good health (e.g., foreordained missions that rely on focused correlation with the Lord to recover); but the body also requires that organ’s participation among the other organs for them all to benefit from its strength or specialization (group participation in ward or stake bodies according to callings where we can practice or exercise Gospel principles to get a better feel for how to use inspired ideas).
I for one had completely unwittingly allowed myself to fall into the trap of idolizing the Church. Until you explained that relationship, I had not perceived that I was treating the Church as my mediators who interacted with my Mediator in Christ (Exodus 20:18-21). That misalignment led to discipleship where I acted like a scribe, well-versed in the written law, but infantile in personal revelation. Church attendance during this phase was certainly dissatisfying, and my image of God was intimidating.
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