Me thinks it's a scam...let's see

The following is an email conversation I began as I was inquiring about an apartment for rent in the Salt Lake area. Note Salt Lake City is where this Craigslist posting was listed...

On Jan 22, 2008 11:52 AM Chris Barragan wrote:
1. Chris Barrington
2. 730 Ocean St Santa Cruz, Ca 831.427.0532 (editors note: this is the address and phone for Wamu)
3. 31 years old
4. four
5. yes, a dog
6. yes
7. Insurance
8. Christian
9. Praise yes.
- Hide quoted text -

On Jan 22, 2008 11:40 AM, Beth Moore wrote:
Thanks for the reply.
Good hearing from you that you shall be promising us that our house
will be well taken care of,and i appreciate your expression.So , i want you
to stick to your words.Is that okay with you?And the below is the
final question that you must answer to qualify for this the rent of my
house?


RENT APPLICATION FORM:
Also,Pls let me get this answer.
1)Your Full Name
2)Your Full Address & Phone Number
3)How old are you?
45)How many people will be living in the house?
6)Do you have a pet?
7)Do you have a car?
8)Occupation?
9)What is your religion?
10)Are you born again?

Looking forward to hear from you with all this details so that i can
have it in my file incase of issuing the receipt for you and contacting
you.Await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how to get the
document and the key to you,please we are giving you all this base on trust
and again i will want you to stick to your words,you know that,we do not
see yet and only putting everything into Gods hand and I pray the lord be with you,so please do not let us down in this our property and God bless you more as you do this.
Below is the address of the house
325 Dune st
Norfolk Va

Regards.
Await your reply now




On Jan 21, 2008 11:35 PM, Chris Barragan wrote:
Please allow me to pay rent now $650 I am willing to pay each month. I have check for $1500 can you please take your $650 and forward remaining $850 to party I have payment for in Panama. I have brother who has Christian work relief mission there. If this is good time please reply.

Thank you.

On Jan 21, 2008 9:01 PM, Beth Moore wrote:
Hello,
Thanks for your response regarding your interest in having my apartment for rent.The apartment is much available for now.I want you to know that I am the owner of this building .But right now i am in africa on a Christain mission with my wife and we have the keys right here with us.I will like to inform you that it was due to my transfer that made us to leave the house and also want to give it out for rent and looking for a resposible person that can take very good care of it as we are not after the money for the rent but want it to be clean at the time and the person that will rent it to take it as if it were its own.So for now,We are here in West Africa,NIGERIA our new house and also with the keys of the house,we are trying to look for an agent that we can give this document before we left but could not see and we are as well as dont want our house to be used any how in our absent that is why we to ok it along with us here.We are only willing to give the apartment out to a lovely and caring family only, so if you know you cannot give the apartment the neatness it deserves please don't contact me.But if you promise to always take good care of apartment,get back to me on how you could take care of our house or perhaps experience you have in rentiong home.Hope you are okay with the price of $650 with hydro,heat laundry facilities,air-condition and so on.i look forward to hearing from you ASAP so that i can forward you an application to fill out and discuss on how to get the house for rent,also are you ready to rent it now or when?
Thanks,
Await your reply


On Jan 21, 2008 7:28 PM, Chris Barragan wrote:

I am interested in the advertisement on craigslist and would like to have more information.

Thank you,

Chris Barragan
831.239.9913

Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.

My Belief.

I felt that I had a duty to write something heartfelt with regards to my belief in the God, Jesus Christ and His Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. When I was a senior in high school I joined the LDS faith. My introduction to the church began between my freshman and sophomore year of high school. My friend Craig Tovey had recently move to Half Moon Bay from Paradise California and we became close. That summer I had a bad bicycle accident which left me in an arm cast for six months. Over that time he shared his beliefs about God. For me it was amazing to see a 14 year old kid speak about his intimate belief in the after life. Not only that but to see his conviction to and love for the gospel. I took his lessons and filed them in the back of my thinking. He moved back to Paradise and I began to associate with the other Mormon kids at Half Moon Bay High. The biggest reason for my association was that I wasn't a party person, I didn't drink and I didn't smoke weed. I liked that I could hang out with them and not feel the pressure of getting wasted. In time I learned about seminary, a morning religious study. I'll admit initially, they made it out to be much cooler than it ended up being, no teenager in his right mind wants to wake up at 5:45 am and make his was to a cold classroom at the church building. I did however go and later took the missionary discussion. On November 20, 1994 I was baptized at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve in Moss Beach, Ca.

I've never written the account of the night of the 19th of November, please note that although I've spoken about it often, I do hold it as an important and defining moment in my life and as it will now be posted for anyone to run across I hope you, the reader will take a minute and give it a heart felt listen.

On the night of November 19th, I went to South San Francisco to have a baptismal interview with the Elders of the Church. I had never met an Elder before and assumed they were old men. To my surprise they were a little older than I was. An Elder was in fact a missionary who had committed to two years of service for the church between the ages of 19 and 25. I don't recall his name but I do remember him being from the Midwest. He asked me a series of questions "Do you believe in God the Eternal Father?" "Yes I do." "Do you believe in His Son, Jesus Christ?" "I do." "Do you believe that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God?" "Yes." "Do you believe that the Book of Mormon is the word of God?" "Yes." "Do you believe that a prophet leads and guides us today?" "I do." "Are you ready to be baptized?" "I am."

And I was. Leaving the building I remember that my friend Christian's mom had driven me to the interview. As I was getting into the van she said "the moon looks very golden tonight." I remember looking at it and getting an sense that anytime I saw a golden moon I would recall that evening.

After they had dropped me off at my house I decided to not quite go inside. My family was not looking into the religion as I was and I still needed time to go over the questions that I had answered. As I stood outside a moment early in my chruch discussions had come to me. There are a series of six church discussions which cover the basic beliefs of the church. The sister missionary who had taught me asked me in the first discussion to pray to know is Joseph Smith was a prophet and if the Book of Mormon was true. I didn't want to. I had logically come to the conclusion that this was the right thing to do. It sounded right and I made sense of everything the sister missionaries had taught me. I could believe in the prophet Joseph Smith, having current prophets also made sense to me. I could believe that God would command others to have a record of Christ so why couldn't the Book of Mormon be true? But what was getting to me at that moment was the thought "You know for yourself that it is true but you haven't asked God if it is."

I made up my mind to ask God if this was the right thing to do. Knowing that the ocean was less than three blocks away, I crossed Highway 1 and walked down to Venice Beach (not the Southern California but Half Moon Bay's named beach) Walking there I remember noticing a street light that was out. When I came to it it lit up, which was welcoming because it was getting dark. I got to the cliff and knelt down to pray. I remember saying to God "Well I'm getting baptized tomorrow and I know that what I've learned is true. I haven't asked you however and I want your decision on the matter."

I took a minute and got up. When I was walking back, there was that street light. As I passed it and made my way over the highway it went out. I though for a minute, "maybe that's the sign, he ways watching my way and giving me light." I thought little more about it a felt confident that I was making the right decision. As I walked up my driveway I suddenly felt a confirmation of the spirit that has been promised to those who seek after it. I felt in that moment a feeling that was undeniable, a feeling that to this day brings me to serious reflection and great appreciation for a loving Father in Heaven. I found myself on my knees, consumed in the spirit and love of God. I knew that my efforts were not in vain but that revelation has been and is given to those who desire a closeness to Deity. I cried for a moment, in gratitude. I then got up from my knees and went into my house and waited for the next day.

On November 20th, 1994 I was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was a great day and one that I use as a point of strength and courage when faced with adversity. My hope is that this post is inspiring to those who have a desire to be closer to God. I love God and I am grateful that I am a child of God.

The things you learn about when you copy and paste (And why Mitt Romney is not a whack job)

Thanks to the likes of Brooke Eaton, I can cut and paste and create a delightful post about my religion, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Mormons. Enjoy, be sure to drink your Ovaltine.

Facts
Some facts might include:
First, “Mormon” is a nickname for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Members are often referred to as “Mormons,” “Latter-day Saints,” or “LDS.” The term “Saint” means “member.”
Second, the Church was restored in 1830 in upstate New York with Joseph Smith as its first prophet and president. Today it is headquartered in Salt Lake City, with President Gordon B. Hinckley as the present prophet.
Third, there are now over 13 million members in 176 countries and territories. About 6 million of these are in the United States, making us the fourth largest Christian denomination in America. As one of the fastest growing Christian faiths in the world, we complete a new chapel every working day. Members pay a tithe, which is 10 percent of their income, making this and other programs possible.
Fourth, local congregations are led by volunteer, unpaid members. Both men and women serve in assigned leadership positions.
And fifth, Mormons are well represented in politics and government. (In the United States, for example, there are 16 members in Congress, from both political parties.) Members also serve in high and trusted positions throughout the world in business, medicine, law, education, media, sports, and entertainment.

Faith
Next, people need to know something of our faith as committed Christians with strong traditional values. Along with the Articles of Faith we need to emphasize that:
We believe in the eternity of the soul, that God is the Father of our spirits, and that we can return to Him after death.
We believe that Jesus Christ is our personal Savior, and we try to model our lives after Him and His teachings. We commemorate Christ’s atoning sacrifice in our Sunday worship services, similar to taking communion in other churches. We accept as fellow Christians all who believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God and the Savior of all mankind. Many Christians do not understand that we have much common ground with them. Joseph Smith taught that Jesus Christ is the core of our belief, and everything else is an appendage to it (see Elders’ Journal, July 1838, 44). The name of the Church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
We believe the original church that Jesus established was lost and has been restored again in our day. The priesthood, the authority given to man to act in the name of God, with apostles and a prophet to lead us, has been restored as have all necessary ordinances of salvation.
We believe in and we use the Holy Bible, both the Old and New Testaments.
And we believe in the Book of Mormon and other books of scripture which support and authenticate the Bible and testify of the ministry and divinity of Christ and of God’s ongoing revelation to man. Indeed, the Book of Mormon is “Another Testament of Jesus Christ.”

Family
The next thing it is good for people to know is how family-centered our theology and our lifestyles are. Once again, simple statements are helpful to someone who is uninformed but curious about the importance we place on families.
Mormons place particularly strong emphasis on family as the basic unit of the Church and of society. We have a deep commitment to marriage (defined as a union between one man and one woman). Polygamy, a limited practice in the early pioneer days of the Church, was discontinued in 1890, some 117 years ago.
Families and individuals, whether members of our faith or not, can attend Sunday services in our chapels. Here we worship together, instructing one another from the scriptures.
Latter-day Saint families are encouraged to hold family home evenings weekly, usually on Monday nights. This provides a regular and predictable time for parents to teach values to their children and to have fun together. We invite those not of our faith to adopt this practice with their own families.
The Church has auxiliary programs for women, youth, and children as a support to the family. These programs provide such things as religious instruction, opportunities for Christian service, sports, drama, music, and Scouting.
And there is also much focus on extended family, genealogy, and personal family history, providing young and old with a stronger sense of roots, identity, and belonging. The highest and most sacred ordinances of our faith relate to our families, both living and dead, and some of these ordinances take place in our temples.

Fruits
Now, even as someone begins to understand a few facts about us and comes to know us more accurately by our faith and the importance of family, it was the Savior who said “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20; emphasis added). A church, or any way of life, should be judged by the fruits or the results that it generates. Here are a few examples based on United States statistics. But these would be similar throughout the world among practicing Mormons (by which we mean those who attend church and the temple regularly):
One of the fruits is a longer life. Studies show that practicing Mormons are healthier and therefore live longer than the national average. In 1833 the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith the Word of Wisdom, which is the way to live in order to enjoy a long and healthy life.
Second, those who are married in and attend the temple regularly have a divorce rate far below the national and world average.
Third, we achieve an educational level that is higher than the national average.
Fourth, over 70,000 members volunteer at their own expense to serve for 18 to 24 months in humanitarian efforts, Church service assignments, and full-time missionary service throughout the world.
And fifth, we place strong emphasis on self-reliance and a solid work ethic. We encourage active involvement in our communities and in providing service to others. The Church continues to donate substantial money, goods, and services to humanitarian causes around the globe, including untold hours of labor donated by members to assist in disaster cleanup and relief.

I know this was sort of the lazy way out, but he really articulates everything in a more concise and thorough way than my own was turning out to be. Feel free to ask or comment or whatever. (This last paragraph was Brooke's words, turns out she copies and pastes too. So much for original thought. Then again look for my all new blog, coming soon!!)