Biographical sketch of Glenn E. Vreeland

Glenn E. Vreeland was born July 14, 1957, in Sacramento, California, the second of six children. He grew up in a family where his father, Charles Vreeland, was a missionary under RLDS Church appointment. His mother, Leta Vreeland, had a full time job of raising five sons and one daughter while her husband was gone on missionary trips.
Glenn was baptized at the age of eight in October 1965 in the RLDS Church in Hagerman, Idaho. He is a sixth generation within the Restoration movement starting with the original Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints whose ancestor was baptized into the church in 1842, then joined the RLDS Church in 1861.
Glenn attended college at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa where he graduated in December 1979. Shortly after graduating he married Cathy J. Carrick who he met at Graceland College. They now have three wonderful adult children, and they all reside in Independence, Missouri.
Since graduating from college, Glenn has worked in the field of safety consulting, working for commercial insurance companies as a risk control specialist.
As a minister he has had several duties. He was ordained a Priest in November 1975, an Elder in December 1982, a High Priest in December 2005 and an Apostle in October 2006. He has served as a youth leader, youth camp counselor and youth camp pastor, counselor to branch Presiding Elder, Presiding Elder in a branch, and has been active in the missionary field.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ and that of the Remnant Church has always been a great blessing in his life. This is especially true after being given a very strong testimony as a young man that Jesus Christ is alive and working in the lives of those who know Him, and He calls out to those who are searching. In the summer of 2005 he was given strong testimony of the Holy Spirit working in the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ and affiliated with it in September of that year.

Glenn’s testimony of coming to the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints:
I have been a member of the church since I was eight years old in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ. Although my heritage in the church was strong, I went through a period of struggles in my youth and needed to know that Christ truly does live and works with people today through the Holy Spirit. My father, now deceased, told me at a young age that to be strong in the faith, I could not hitchhike on someone else’s testimony, but that I should go to God in study and prayer and God would reveal His truth to me in time. I received that personal testimony at a critical crossroad in my life and now, I not only have an assurance, but have knowledge that Christ is alive and directing His church, the same church he built in His earthly ministry. This has sustained me since that time, even when there are times when I have been disappointed. It has always given me hope that God has the victory already in hand, but that I need to work out my salvation in this life being obedient to His word in all things.

When the Reorganized Church as an organization started to change things in the early 1980s, I knew that I could not support such changes and actions. My wife and I eventually joined one of the branches (church congregations) of the Restoration Branch movement which was an unorganized group of branches at the time that had remained loyal to the beliefs of the original church. For a time it seemed like a good refuge away from the confusion that was going on. However, I saw after several years of being active in the Restoration Branch movement there was very little unity among the branches and members. Although there were very noble attempts by some organizations to unify the various groups, there was very little that seemed to be gained, largely due to the lack of accountability among the branches. Therefore, when you would walk into one branch, you may see something completely different from another. An overall attitude of distrust was present and had no place among God’s people.

Because of this apparent distrust I became deeply disappointed when attending meetings. I began to ask God in prayer if there was any vestige of the true church left on the earth after all the schisms that had taken place. I knew there were other church organizations out there and I had studied some of them, but I had heard so many rumors about the many churches that it was confusing to find the truth from people who might have agendas. I determined to go to God in faith to find the truth. I recall that this is similar to Joseph Smith Junior’s testimony, by going to God for the answer, for truth. I began to call upon him in prayer and fasting and asked God specifically what I should do. There came a point that I could no longer abide the attitude of distrust and disunity and wanted to just quit going to church altogether if I could see no love of Jesus and unity among the saints anywhere.
In the summer of 2005 one evening in my bedroom, I called out to God in silent prayer in my mind earnestly seeking to know where His church resided. I specifically asked if the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ was the true Church, reorganized again. I specifically asked if that church was the true church in its authority. I pointedly said, “Oh God, if the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ is the true church that I had formally known, please put someone in my path that would bring me a testimony of that church.” This was all said in silence in my mind trusting that God would answer in one way or another. About a week or so later I was visiting a client, a retail furniture warehouse, which was about 45 miles away. I was completing an infrared scan of electrical systems which was one of my job responsibilities. I met their electrician who was assisting with the scanning. I recognized the name of the electrician, but did not recognize the face. I found out that I knew his father (who had the same name) and that he had joined the Remnant Church. We talked for a short while after the business with the client. He had my name and phone number from the meeting.

About a week went by after this meeting at my client’s location and I received a phone message from a Seventy (missionary) in the Remnant Church, who I had known in the Restoration Branch movement and had not seen or talked with for years. I called him back and he said that he wanted to come by my home and share with me his testimony of the Remnant Church. I then remembered my prayer of a couple of weeks before and felt it could be an answer to my prayers. I know now that these events were not coincidental. Even with this, I needed confirmation from the Holy Spirit which tells of the truth, to lead me to the right church. Before my friend came to visit I told my wife what I intended to do and she was angry with me and left the house before the Seventy came. I listened to my Seventy friend and the one who I met at the furniture warehouse. I became interested when I heard his testimony, about the beliefs of the church and how it was reorganized. I was touched by the Holy Spirit as these brothers answered my questions.
After the visit at my home, I contacted one of the Twelve to visit with him regarding some of the Remnant Church beliefs, about authority, and the testimonies of the order in which the Remnant Church came into being. In the mean time, my wife had begun praying for me in earnest, believing I was headed down the wrong path. During this time the Lord began working with her and impressing on her that she needed to be seeking the truth as well.

She joined me a few times in visiting one of the Remnant congregations and found the body of people to carry the same spirit as in the true church in which we were both raised. There was one question left that we had to know. We needed to know if Fred N. Larsen was truly a prophet that God had placed here to prophetically lead His people to Zion. I decided to make an appointment with Brother Larsen and his wife to meet with us at their home.

While we were meeting together at the Larsen’s home Fred testified to us about his call to lead the church, and he told of the testimonies he had in his life leading him to this point. He shared the experience he had just before receiving definite word from God of his calling. As we listened, my wife and I both received an overwhelming confirmation from the Holy Spirit that God had truly sent us another prophet in these last days. We believe he was sent to give Godly direction to His church, and to lead us in this truly confusing world to the city of Zion. I was surprised that my wife, who was initially angry that I was listening to those of the Remnant Church, actually received a confirmation of the truth of the church before I did! We joined shortly after that and have not regretted our decision since. The love of Jesus resides within this church and unity is prevalent within its walls. God had answered my silent and specific prayer of that evening in the summer of 2005 with direct action and specific answers, and they left me with no doubt about the testimony of the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. God has always given me an answer when I seek Him in faith. I will always be grateful to God and His love he has shown throughout my life. I thank God that he put those in my path who had the love of Jesus within their hearts and cared enough to contact me and share with me their story of God’s goodness. I wish to praise God and glorify Him by being obedient to His Word and to tell the story of Jesus and His love to anyone who is seeking and will listen