Last December, Josh Vincent retired early from working as a youth minister for the Grace Through Faith Community Church. This was actually quite rare. Every other youth minister at this church decided to become a college-age pastor, followed by an assistant pastor, and then plant their own church. Vincent pulled some special strings to leave on good terms with everyone, moving to a new house with his wife to enjoy life together, starting fresh with a more hands-on profession in woodworking.

Unfortunately, about 10 months later, his wife was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. It was a type that grew very rapidly, giving her only a matter of weeks to live.

Her funeral was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and Josh didn't want to even get out of bed. He didn't want to acknowledge the fact that his wife was gone. Slowly, he made his coffee as he switched into his black attire for the funeral. He had a little over an hour before it started when the doorbell rang.

Two men with white shirts and black ties stood at the door when he opened it, and one of them said, “Hi, I'm Elder David and this is Elder Richard, we're missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ, and we're trying to share with people a brief message about our Savior.”

“I'm sorry, this is really not a good time,” said Vincent, “I need to be somewhere soon.”

“Please just give us five minutes,” said Elder Richard.

Josh Vincent didn't have the energy or motivation to argue with them. After all, it's not like he had anything else to do during the hour before the funeral. If he went to the church early, he'd just be miserable thinking about how much he missed his wife. He let them inside and listened to them.

For a while, it was a nice escape from his current sad reality, hearing about the fantastical stories transcribed by Joseph Smith. However, at some point, Vincent's mind started to wander and he zoned out as the missionaries talked to him. The next thing he knew, he looked at the clock and it was 30 minutes after the funeral would've started.

“I'm going to be late,” said the former youth pastor as he stood up.

“Oh, we ought to let you go then,” said Elder David as they headed toward the door, “You can text me if you want to continue our conversation. Tomorrow at the church, I'm going to show a video about the life of Joseph Smith to a few interested people at noon, and you'd be more than welcome to join us.”

After the two missionaries departed, Josh was horrified to notice that all four tires on his Subaru were flat. He had to call a taxi, which took another 20 minutes to arrive, and by the time he got to the funeral, it was already over. Everyone had left, and they had already taken the coffin to be buried. He screamed into the sky as the sun finished setting.

He thought about the missionaries who had delayed him as he walked the four miles back to his house. If they hadn't knocked on his door, then he would have been able to receive some closure or solace from the funeral. He knew in his mind that it wasn't exclusively the missionaries' fault, nor was it their intention for him to miss the funeral. But at this point, he didn't care. When he got home, he went to his basement and grabbed a pickax hanging on the wall. He swung the pickax to the floor and began to slowly break away at the concrete.

Meanwhile at the Latter-Day Saint Church of Jesus Christ, Elder David and Elder Richard were telling the mission president about their results for the day. “We did get to have a good conversation with this one guy named Josh Vincent,” Elder David said.

The mission president slammed his glass of apple juice onto his desk, causing it to shatter. “Did you say Josh Vincent?” he asked.

“Yeah, after we knocked on his door, he let us in, and we ended up having a really good conversation for over an hour,” said Elder David, “I invited him to watch the movie with the others tomorrow.”

The mission president stood up behind his desk, raising his voice as he said, “You never heard of Josh Vincent?!” He towered over Elder David and then lowered his voice to continue, “But of course. You just moved here a month ago. From Utah, right?”

Elder David nervously nodded.

“Josh Vincent is less of a person and more of an UNSTOPPABLE FORCE. In all my years coordinating missionaries across the country, never have I heard of a man as well researched, with as much free time on his hands, and with the willingness to do whatever it takes to convince someone of his church's version of the gospel,” said the president.

“He honestly didn't seem that convincing to me. He didn't really ask me any hard questions,” said Elder David, “When we talked to him, he did mention that he was a youth pastor, but he had left the position about a year ago. How much damage can a youth pastor do?”

“He was not just a youth pastor,” said the president, “He served many roles at his church, one of which was the Lead Evangelist. In the four years that he worked for Grace Through Faith Community Church, he single-handedly grew the size of their church from 250 to over 4,000. I heard a story that one day, he had lost his voice and was eating in a cafe when ten Jehovah's Witnesses walked in. He was equipped with nothing except for a plastic fork – no Bible, no Gospel Tracts, and not even his voice. In less than 20 minutes, all ten Jehovah's Witnesses left their religion and became members of his church. He convinced them using ONLY A FORK!

“About a year ago, he suddenly decides to leave his position at his church, and every senior missionary in our city breathes a huge sigh of relief. But then, his wife dies of cancer, and on the day of her funeral, you knock on his door and invite him back into our world. I'm guessing your conversation is what caused him to miss his wife's funeral? Were you talking to him around 3 PM today?” asked the president.

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Elder David was silent.

Elder Richard chimed in, “He did mention he was late for something.”

“I can only assume,” continued the president with a brief pause, “that the reason he didn't fight back against your attempt to evangelize him was because you caught him off-guard, in the middle of his grieving. However, based on everything I know of him, he will meticulously review every argument used against our Church and will come here tomorrow with a vengeance. You know we discourage anyone from bringing anti-Mormon literature into our community, yet you've brought a storm of it in the form of this man. I assure you that he won't just convert you – he'll convert EVERYONE in this building.”

“Not unless I convert him first!” said Elder David as he stood up.

“Did you not listen to a word I just said?” asked the president.

Elder David replied, “Think about it, the death of his wife must have gotten him to question his faith, make him wonder if his version of the gospel is really the truth.”

“Even if that is the case,” said the president, “You have greatly inconvenienced him. Knowing Mr. Vincent, he's not going to let you win, even if he believed there was a chance that the Book of Mormon could be true. His muscle memory in convincing people to join his church is not something easily lost. You might be aware that his church teaches, 'Once saved, always saved,' but you very well know, we have no such saying. It's very possible for you to lose your salvation, and if you once knew the fullness of the truth from the our Church and later reject it, then your fate will be the worst possible, in the OUTER DARKNESS for your eternal punishment.” The mission president poured another glass of juice from his glass pitcher and handed it to Elder David, who took a sip as he sat down.

Meanwhile Josh Vincent finished using his pick-axe to break away the layer of concrete at the bottom of his basement, revealing a large briefcase. He opened it, revealing hundreds of gospel tracts and several hard cover books on various topics related to evangelism. He picked out one that specifically was focused on sharing the gospel to "Mormons." Josh spent all night studying the book, and when it was morning, he grabbed several tracts and put them into a small bag attached to his belt. At dawn, he left his house to head toward the Church of Jesus Christ.

“He's coming,” said one parishioner into his radio, as he was looking out from one of the church's spires.

“Send out the first line of defense,” said the mission president into his radio.

Five missionaries marched in front of the church entrance, each armed with a Book of Mormon. They stood in a defensive position and began to flip to a page that they thought would be an appropriate response against Vincent.

With a flip of the wrist, Vincent flicked five gospel tracts out of his hand toward them, so each one landed on top of a missionary's Book of Mormon. These weren't generic Gospel Tracts, but they were specifically written to point out flaws within their religion. Vincent proceeded to pull out a copy of the New Testament, which he immediately flipped to a page covered with his highlighted verses about how people are saved by grace through faith, not their works, and he explained to them his version of the gospel in the course of ten minutes.

“So we really don't have to do all this stuff to be saved?” they asked, “All we need to do is believe, and that's it?”

“Correct,” said Vincent, “You are free to go.”

The five now ex-Mormon missionaries ran off to Grace Through Faith Community Church.

Vincent stepped inside through the church doors. There were a dozen Mormons waiting for him. Some of them weren't missionaries – there were a few parents with their kids and some young adults.

“Don't take a step further,” one of the missionaries said, “If you're going to continue to bring your anti-Mormon ideas into this building, we're going to have to ask you to leave.”

Josh Vincent simply stood as one of his hands flipped through his remaining stack of gospel tracts attached to his belt.

A few older Mormons pulled out a TV on wheels, which began to play a live-action movie based on the life of Joseph Smith.

Vincent flicked his wrist, and a gospel tract flew out of his hand toward the cable connecting the TV to the electricity. It knocked it out of its plug, creating several sparks, which short-circuited the lights, causing the whole lobby area to go dark.

“Everyone, plug your ears,” said one of the missionaries.

Vincent spoke to them for about ten minutes. Immediately after, they all left the building to head over to the protestant church.

He finally entered the room where Elder David and Elder Richard resided. They sat behind a computer, rapidly trying to search online for ways to defend the Mormon faith from aggressive evangelical Christians. Vincent unplugged their computer.

“I don't want to go to the Outer Darkness!” said Elder David.

“Then guess what,” said Josh Vincent, “I have good news for you.” He opened his Bible.

Shortly after, everyone in the building was converted to mainstream Christianity. As Josh Vincent walked away, the former Elder David helped some of the other ex-Mormons pour gasoline all over the base of the Latter-Day Saint Church of Jesus Christ, and they lit it on fire.

As Vincent was about to leave the parking lot, three police cars arrived at the scene. One of the officers saw Josh Vincent walking

away from the burning church, rolled down his window and asked, “Hey Josh, are you working again?”

“No, just sorting some stuff out,” said Vincent.

It was just before sunset when he left. He headed over to Grace Through Faith Community Church, out of habit. When he got to the church, he noticed through one of the windows, there was a large Bible study that included the majority of the ex-Mormons he had just converted. As he walked around the mostly empty campus, he remembered how this used to be his life. He would go to another religious institution, completely turn it upside down, and then come back to his home base.

Life was so simple in those days, and today showed that he still had it in him. But after doing it for four years, he saw the futility of it. People would essentially rearrange their mental furniture to comply with the Christian beliefs, thinking that would get them to heaven, but rarely did this lead to any significant transformation in the individual.

Sure, there were exceptions, but that was one out of a hundred. Most Christians he converted never grew. And he saw many leave the faith not long afterward, even the ones who made significant changes in their life. This was why he had buried all his gospel tracts under the concrete in his basement, planning to never use them again, since it felt utterly pointless. But he couldn't deny the satisfaction he felt from getting someone else to change their beliefs.

As he walked by the entrance to the youth group he used to lead, he noticed the door was slightly ajar. He pushed it open further and walked inside. Something felt odd as he looked around. Then, he noticed it: Fresh blood stains on the interior handle of the door, and a few drops of blood on the floor. It looked as if someone was rushing to get out of the building.

He followed the path of the drops of blood to try to find their origin. They led him to the main lounge of the youth group, where there was a large cushioned sofa in front of a flat screen TV, and on the sofa was the body of a girl who looked to have been stabbed to death, with a pool of blood beneath her.

Vincent took a few steps closer, and he recognized the girl. It was Aliyah whom he remembered from his time leading the youth group. He recalled how judgmental she was about other teenagers, despite how many times he tried to teach her this wasn't the way of Christ. But while she had a pretty despicable personality, she certainly didn't deserve to be stabbed to death.

He pulled out his cellphone and called the police.