By Angelique Thomas
angelique@newsroom.byu.edu
Fifty-nine students from Biola University spent last Thursday, April 27, and Friday April 28, at BYU talking to students and professors about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint doctrines.
Biola students said this trip was a mini-mission during their spring break.
Each student paid $250 to 'come to Utah for a week to share the truth we have and be open to open possibilities of someone who could shake the world view that we hold,' said Tali Lewis, 19, a sophomore at Biola University from San Diego, Calif., majoring in English.
Biola is a university in La Mirada, Calif., where students invest 20 percent or more of their course work to biblical studies.
Some Biola students said they are attending Biola because they feel like the Lord led them there.
'We are gaining an education and working on our relationships with God to help us share with others the message of Christ,' Lewis said.
According to the Web site, www.biola.edu, the mission of Biola University is 'biblically-centered education, scholarship and service, equipping men and women in mind and character to impact the world for the Lord Jesus Christ.'
Biola students are very honest young people with high standards and morals, who want to learn about the Latter-day Saints, said Roger Keller, BYU professor of Church History and Doctrine.
Keller spent two hours answering questions from the students. He said he thought what surprised them the most was that Keller would say, 'I don't know' to some of the questions they asked.
'By the end of the discussion they agreed to disagree agreeably,'he said.
Angelle Price, 21, a senior from Sandy, majoring in Marriage Family and Human Development, said three students from Biola approached her and wanted to talk about LDS doctrine on a deep intellectual level.
Price said she was very impressed with how familiar they were with the Bible and the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.
'I felt like they were there to understand our doctrine but not to accept the doctrine in their lives,' she said.
Taylor Lewis, 22, a junior from Hanford, Calif., majoring in physical education, participated on a panel of BYU students to answer questions. He said the questions they asked him were about baptism, mercy and the idea of grace.
The students were very sincere in their questions with a strong desire to hear the LDS views, Taylor Lewis said.
Their demeanor and the way they live their lives resemble the LDS people, he said.
Some Biola students said they loved how open and approachable BYU students were to talk to and answer their questions.
Tali Lewis said she met President Merrill J. Bateman and was appointed as a special guest to attend the activities during BYU's Women's Conference.
She said her favorite thing about BYU was talking to students who, like her, had a religious base in Christ.
Corban Poorboy, 20, a sophomore at Biola University from Ventura, Calif., majoring in film, said a BYU student who recently returned from a mission in Bolivia was the most intelligent person she talked to about LDS doctrines during her trip to Utah.
Melanie Baggao, 19, a freshman at Biola University from Yorba Linda, Calif., majoring in Education, said she loved the similarities between BYU and Biola.
She said just like Biola students, BYU students have a dedication for what they believe in.
Some Biola students said that during their time in Utah, the inconsistencies between the answers LDS people would give to their questions scared them.
Tali Lewis said it appeared like many had a blind faith and ignorance in what they were putting their faith in.
'I knew more about the LDS doctrine then some of the LDS people I talked to. It seems like the LDS religion is based on feelings, but I believe this is wrong because according to Jeremiah 17:9, the heart can be deceitful,' she said.
Tali Lewis said many people tried to answer her doctrinal questions but not sufficiently enough for her to change her beliefs.
The students took a class at Biola on LDS theology taught by two students who are not members of the LDS Church. Some Biola students said the class compared and contrasted the LDS faith with other Christian religions.
The students said they were given a Book of Mormon, a triple combination, a syllabus of the basic doctrinal beliefs, and definitions of words and concepts about the LDS faith for the class.
Several Biola students said some of the LDS doctrines they disagree with are the view of the Godhead, the apostasy, the need for continuing revelation through prophets today, priesthood, the three levels of heaven, marriage in heaven and the church's concept of the repentance process.
Biola students spent the first day of their weeklong mission in St. George. Then they went to Colorado City, Ariz., where they met with the polygamist mayor and his son.
'I did not agree with the life style because of the confusing relationship between the amount of wives and children,' Poorboy said.
The students spent four days in Salt Lake City, where they toured Temple Square.
Some students said they were overwhelmed by how beautiful the grounds were.
They saw Testaments, which some of the students said portrayed a good glimpse of the Book of Mormon. The students talked with sister missionaries and visited the University of Utah campus.
The students also spent two days in Salt Lake City going door-to-door.
Poorboy said she was able to talk to a lot of LDS people about their faith using the door approach, 'I am a college student from a Christian university searching for truth and would like to talk to you about your faith.'
Baggao said that after her experiences with the door approaches she would never close her door to an LDS missionary again.
Lewis said she believes the Biola students take the LDS faith more seriously now and some students want to come back this summer to study more.