My name is Franzen Ray Mwalo. I was born and raised in Nairobi Kenya.
I found this Work after reading the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon. I grew up knowing that there is a God in heaven watching over humanity. I wasn’t into religion that much until my parents got introduced to the LDS Church. After my parents’ divorce, we stopped going to Church. I was later reintroduced when I was around 15 years of age. I had no interest in being a member of any church, but my belief in God didn’t change that much. Through the LDS Church, I got to go serve a mission. My mission allowed me to learn so much about the Church that I never knew before. For the most part, things didn’t really add up, especially how my mission president was running the mission.
My experience at the temple was one of the most confusing yet exciting things that happened to me on my mission. I remember being excited, hoping to come out with a full understanding of some of the most asked questions: “How was the world created? What is death?” etc. Instead, I came out with even more questions. Everyone around me seemed to feel the “spirit” except for me. All I could feel and remember was the play, with zero understanding of what it meant. It occurred to me that my companions might have understood something, so I asked around to see if anyone understood what they had watched, hoping someone would explain it to me, but no one gave me a straight answer. As LDS members, we weren’t supposed to discuss things of the temple outside the temple. My questions about the Church and its beliefs grew more and more, but no one seemed to have any answers. Or, if they did have an answer, I struggled to make sense of it. As a missionary at that time, my companions thought I was so wrong to have these questions. I was a lost cause in their eyes.
Throughout my mission, questions kept occurring in my mind. I didn’t know who to turn to, and I remember praying about it, sometimes in frustration. Asking my mission president and my fellow missionaries the questions was useless. No one seemed to have any answers. Some of them thought I was crazy and wrong to question the Church and its leaders. All their answers always revolved around “some things aren’t supposed to be known in this life but the next one.” My frustration only grew. Sometimes I’d feel sad about it. I was alone. I felt like I had no other choice but to go with the flow. The thought of the LDS Church being the only true church didn’t fully resonate with me. A part of me was open to the idea that maybe the LDS Church isn’t what its members believe it to be; but at the same time, I’d wonder where the truth was, and if there was one, where could I find it? Honestly speaking, the thought of the church not being true at that time would sometimes scare me because its doctrines and beliefs had shaped parts of my teenage life, especially the spiritual side. That ended up changing when I came across The Sealed Portion.
One day, we were supposed to have a meeting with our mission president to discuss how we could improve the mission. I was one of the mission leaders (zone leader). I remember having a discussion with my mission companions about how much COVID had affected the world. As we had this small chat, one of them happened to mention The Sealed Portion (TSP). The missionaries would condemn the book and say how “apostate” it was. They mentioned that the prophet advised church members not to read it. My curiosity about this book grew a lot from that chat. I had heard about it before, but this time it was different. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I had to know why the prophet warned LDS members not to read it. I wanted to read it on my own and make my own judgment about it.
I began the search for the book and found an audio copy on YouTube. Prior to reading it, I had my questions in mind. To mention a few, I was curious about the Celestial Kingdom because it seemed to me that the Church believed it would be inherited by worthy LDS members ONLY. I always wondered about the rest of humanity. What about them? They just can’t all go to “hell.” This was answered in the book. Not only did it make sense, but the explanation presented a much fairer judgment for all. I also learned about the fullness of Christ’s gospel and the simple code of humanity — loving one another as we do ourselves, and most importantly, taking care of the least among us. I almost teared up. I couldn’t believe I had missed the simplicity of Christ’s message my whole life. It was so simple and direct. I felt closer to Jesus than I ever did before. Reading TSP made me feel understood, and that I wasn’t crazy for having my doubts about the Church.
TSP advised the reader to seek out Chris. I did it without hesitation. I wanted to know what he knew. The fear of the Church not being true was no longer a fear. The simplicity of Christ’s message, according to TSP, erased that fear completely. I was finally getting my answers after asking around for so long. I remember telling a companion of mine about it, but he looked at me as if I had lost my mind for reading it. I didn’t care; I was happy.
After researching on YouTube and the internet, I found one of the “Coffee with Chris” podcasts and “Zeitgeist of Real Truth Shows.” I watched the one where he explained gravity. His explanations were so simple and clear; they made sense. He explained how we are all gods and that there’s no such thing as “JESUS CHRIST.” This shocked me. I was scared. I remember switching off the podcast and lying down, thinking about what I just heard. Processing what I heard was not easy. It was on my mind a lot. What I could not get around was the fact that it made sense to my mind. It really did. It was so simple. After sleeping on it, I woke up and felt more drawn to investigate Chris and MWAW. I remember bumping into videos of his critics and enemies saying how much of a fraud he is and how he made up TSP. I also remember coming across a written interview where Jeffrey R. Holland says how Chris is out of touch with reality. As an LDS missionary back then, I was scared but still very curious to know more from Chris. The podcasts made sense, and a part of me was excited to learn more, so I gave it a shot fully. With consistent learning from the shows Chris uploaded on YouTube, I started to understand how much power religion had on my mind. My LDS mission lost all meaning and value to me. I didn’t see the need to continue anymore and returned home.
Coming across MWAW has been the biggest plot twist of my life. My life has shifted in ways I didn’t even think were possible. How I deal with myself and other people has really changed. I was confused and sad before this work. That is no longer the case. The Real Truth® is beautiful. It is the best thing that’s happened to me.
Email: franray270@gmail.com
Franzen ray mwalo
My Story: Seeking Truth, Finding Freedom For as long as I can remember, I’ve been searching for answers—questions […]
Les DeYoung I was born and raised in a good Mormon family on the poor side of Skyline […]
My name is Charis Crandell (McRae) and this is my story. My purpose in writing this isn’t to […]
My Story Updated for May 4, 2019 and again still going strong in 2021! As one who has […]