Passport to Heaven: The True Story of a Zealous Mormon Missionary Who Discovers the Jesus He Never Knew

Full disclosure, I pre-ordered Passport to Heaven after seeing Micah post about it on Facebook. I ended up gifting that copy to a friend, because Micah sent me a review copy after my co-hosts and I had him on our podcast. When we launched our program two years ago, Micah graciously allowed us to use Adam’s Road music as our outro bumper. They give away all of their music for free!I just finished reading Passport to Heaven by Micah Wilder and would recommend it to any Christian who wants to understand the life of a Mormon missionary. While every young man and woman wearing those little black name badges is a unique creation of God, they are each taught and trained in the tactics of Mormon missionaries and—for the duration of their missions—live within a regimented and carefully curated experience. As a result, they will think in similar ways. This book will help Christians to understand the needs of the missionaries who knock on their door or who stop them on a busy street corner to a chat about religion. It will give Christians a heart for reaching those zealous young people.But this book will also be helpful to Latter-day Saints. I’m a former Latter-day Saint myself, but I don’t read many books/memoirs by ex-Mormons—though I know there are many. That’s a result of my own experience leaving the LDS Church. I was warned not to read anti-Mormon material, so as I studied, I only wanted to read faithful, LDS Church-approved materials. I didn’t buy Fawn Brodie’s No Man Knows My History until after I left and I still haven’t read it.Micah does not write as an “anti-Mormon.” Rather, he writes of his own experience of the Latter-day Saint religion. It is an experience shared by many Mormons of striving for perfection and strict obedience. Micah tells the story of how God unfolded the doctrines of grace to him through his reading of the New Testament, something that will be enlivening to any Latter-day Saint.Micah’s story is enthralling and very well-written! I first heard his testimony a little while after leaving the LDS Church in 2011 via a YouTube video. Since then I’ve watched the Adam’s Road Ministry grow and impact many lives. As someone who also served an LDS Mission (in Hungary), Micah’s mission experiences recounted in Passport to Heaven deeply resonated with me. I too had experiences with religious leaders of other faiths in which I was far too presumptuous and confident for my age (like Micah’s Pastor Shaw in Chapter 6). I had a kind Baptist missionary couple witness to me, similar to how Pastor Benson witnessed to Micah (Chapters 9-11).God’s drawing of Micah to his Son all took place within the almost 2 years of his Mormon mission, and the details of what God did and who God used are recounted in this book. Mine took longer. I guess I was more stubborn. Or rather, God drew me through various means, and in His providential timing. Like Micah, I can look back in amazement at the work God has done in my life and the change he has wrought.If you’re a Christian and want to be better equipped to speak peace, love, light, and Christ into the lives of Mormon missionaries you encounter, then this book is for you. If you’re a Latter-day Saint, and you want to understand what would drive a young Mormon missionary to leave his mission and run after Christ—and you don’t want to read a book that is just about all of the reasons the author thinks the LDS Church is wrong—then this narrative is for you.After reading Passport to Heaven, you can read “the rest of the story” as told by Micah’s mother, Lynn Wilder in Unveiling Grace. If you would like to read another memoir by a former Latter-day Saint whom God drew to his Son, I can recommend Falling into Grace by Michael Flournoy. I’ve read both of those books as well, and very much enjoyed them.I’ll be seeing Micah and the rest of Adam’s Road at a church in Ohio later this week, and encourage you to search Adam’s Road and check out their tour page to find out when you can see them near you!

I bought this book for my neighbors who are Mormon

This story is an amazing testimony to Jesus. The author pulls no punches, nor withholds anything in his life-altering 180-degree turn out of the Pharisee-like, law-keeping, ordinance-demanding, and rites-of-passage tenants of the LDS church. Micah Wilder shares his gut-wrenching inner turmoil over what he had learned to believe his whole life, to the freeing belief in the Jesus of the Bible (a different Jesus the author never knew was portrayed by the LDS Organization).Micah gives the reader an inside glimpse of the bullying, coercion, and duress his leaders purposefully engaged in as Micah's beliefs changed. He shares being called an anti-christ, and how one leader admonished him for speaking "too much" about Jesus. Um...what???The author pulls the reader into his heartbreak, into his final pouring out of his soul, searching for peace and assurance, and shares his explosive and humbling moment when he finally understands and accepts the true Jesus and the ultimate price He paid for sinners.Even if one is not a Latter-day Saint, nor has ever been, one can easily relate to the writer's struggles in: 1) wondering about his purpose in life, 2) desiring to please others, 3) carrying the burden of not wanting to disappoint, 4) and learning to love people to way Jesus loves us; enough to endure His crucifixion and rise again so we can have eternal life in Him.God has put his Hand on this man's life, and is using him for His glory. This knowledge and assurance sustained the writer in this journey. It is an excellent page-turner and witness for Jesus - the Ultimate and Only and Sufficient "Passport to Heaven."Micah Wilder was willing to give up everything he THOUGHT he was, everything he THOUGHT was important, for the One thing he finally realized is enough. This One thing being Jesus. What a struggle for someone so young at the time.The way he weaves Biblical scripture into everyday facets of what he was experiencing, demonstrates how the Bible is living, breathing, applicable, and vital to everyday life.Jesus truly is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I chuckled, cried, and rejoiced as he shared his experiences in coming to the Lord. As a life-long Baptist, I cannot comprehend the deceit and blindness the author devoted his younger life to, or the snares he endured by friends, family, and some of the LDS leaders to try and bring him back to the fold of the LDS. But, I CAN relate to his fully surrendering to the personal and profound understanding of Jesus' love and tortuous display of His love, when the power of the crucifixion hit the writer. This speaks to the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit in convicting us of our wickedness, brokenness, and need for the Savior; and how Jesus is NOT about religion, but is about LOVE.I highly recommend this book for members of any faith, or even for an Athiest or Agnostic. Even if you walk with Jesus daily, you will be reminded (and shamed) that it all comes down to love; loving each other as Jesus loves us, even loved us enough to pay the final debt we could not pay 2,000 years ago.What an amazing testimony and praise to Life itself - Jesus.

Passport to Heaven is deceptively simple to read. Micah Wilder's sensitivity, simplicity and transparency have shined a light on the gospel of Jesus Christ brighter than anything I’ve read before in my many years as a Christian.

Absolutely engaging. From moment to moment, I couldn’t put this book down. Well written, and I learned more about the Mormon faith than I ever could’ve imagined. Absolutely worth a read.

This book broke me.What a flurry of emotions. I want to weep, I want to laugh, I want to whoop in joy, I want to bury my head in grief for thousands more who are still lost. Not only does Micah showcase the transforming power of the true Gospel as revealed in the Bible, but he also expresses such a depth of love and gentleness that is characteristic of Jesus himself and highlights its importance above all else.To the Latter-Day Saint coming to this wondering how this man lost his testimony and just how apostate he really is, your passion and fervour for what you believe is inspiring. What Micah will offer you is the perspective of someone who was in your position, on fire and so convinced that his knowledge and news could transform the world for the better, but who through genuine seeking of truth and an open heart had his whole worldview changed and became truly fulfilled because of it. Read it seeking to know the God whom you love. You will be astonished.Even though I am not a Latter-Day Saint myself, I am a Christian who has had struggles grasping the concept of grace. But the way that Micah lays it all out, coming from someone who uses it to combat the effects of his past and so much false teaching he absorbed as a young man, I have been able to grasp it in its true form and my faith has been strengthened because of it. For that reason I recommend it to professing Christians equally as I recommend it to Latter-Day Saints.I don't care how you experience it. The audiobook, the Kindle edition, or a physical copy of the book if you can get your hands on one. Whether you're a Christian, a Latter-Day Saint or a complete atheist, just find some way to hear the story. It will change your life.

I really enjoyed this story and how Micah got saved out of Mormonism. From reading the book I now listen to his band's music and follow them on Instagram.

This is a superb book that I cannot recommend highly enough. Micah's moving story from a religious zealot to a loving Christ follower needs to be read. The way he weaves his story, looking back and then sharing what happened, is masterful. Micah clearly shows that there is hope for all those who have been told the lie that God accepts them only on the basis of their own righteousness. As he discovered - Jesus is Enough!Excellent read.