I am worried that this awesome post will be lost when the church higher-ups learn of it, and I want it kept for posterity. I had an argument with a TBM some time ago where I made the assertion that many of the "values" taught in the church condone, or promote violent behavior. The response was "That's not true, that is not taught in the church." Yet it seems that it is always learned...

Anyway, here is the entire unaltered text from the Slitting Throat blog post, the original post(as of this writing) can be found here: http://servingincincinnati.blogspot.com/2013/10/am-i-slitting-throat-or-cutting-off-head.html


Am I Slitting the Throat, or Cutting Off the Head



This week was AWESOME. It was the first week Sister Fletcher and I have been together the ENTIRE week with no exchanges. We taught a ton of people and we had at least eight people from our ward come out with us to the lessons. It is really important for us to have people from our ward come out with us because statistics show that when there is a member present during a missionary discussion, the investigator is more likely to stay in the church if they get baptized. Fellowshipping is extremely important. I had no idea how important my role was as a member of the church to invite and befriend people; in fact, I would daresay it is THE most important role we have as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are so many people who stop attending church because they don't feel loved or welcome, and it is our job to make sure they DO feel loved and welcome because that's what Jesus wants and would do Himself if He were here.

Another reason this week was awesome is because on Sunday Sister Fletcher and I got to go to Hebron, Kentucky for the African Meeting! Every third Sunday they meet to discuss the gospel in their native language, which is Twi, and they eat food and socialize! We had shish kabobs and when I mentioned that I loved shish kabobs, they all started laughing at me! Apparently, in Ghana they are called "ching chingas." Either way, they were really good! We had lots of rice and noodles and salad and bread. It was a good meal, and then we talked about how we can better help those who were not in attendance get to future meetings. Fellowshipping; I'm telling you, it's important! Our (mine and Sister Fletcher's) purpose in attending these African meetings is to better understand the African culture and how we can better teach, because there are a lot of Ghanaians in our area. Our mission president wants to get it to the point where we can open up an African branch here!

On Friday we got to do some service for our bishop, Bishop Striebeck. He is remodeling his house right now and so the elders (Elder Whitmer and Elder Tavake) and Sister Fletcher and I went over on Friday morning, had breakfast, and then did some yard work which included digging out "dirt" (it was more like clay) so that they can put a retaining wall around their yard.

Also, we are teaching some very interesting people right now. Jayden is 18, and is a senior in high school right now. Earlier this week we were asking him when we could set another appointment to teach him and guess what he said? 8:00 on Saturday morning! What 18-year-old boy wants to get up and meet with missionaries at 8:00 on a Saturday morning? And the other amazing thing is that we were able to get two 17-year-old boys from our ward to come out and teach the lesson with us! Jayden is cool, but we have to work slowly with him because he doesn't really care to come to church, and he doesn't think he needs to follow Jesus. He thinks that trying to follow Jesus is impossible because Jesus was perfect and we can never be perfect. We are trying to help him understand that God doesn't expect us to be perfect, but He wants us to be trying our best to become more like Jesus in our lives because it will make us happy!

Probably my most favorite way to teach our investigators is when we read the scriptures with them. This week we got to read 1 Nephi Chapter 4 with Kami and it was a lot of fun! She is 13 and has some great questions! 1 Nephi Chapter 4 is about Nephi going back to Jerusalem to obtain the plates of brass. He is commanded by God to kill Laban because that is the only way he will be able to get the plates. He struggles with that idea (as would anyone!) because he doesn't want to kill him. I love his thought process during this time, because it shows how it was hard, even for Nephi, to follow what the Lord was commanding him to do.

10 And it came to pass that I was constrained by the Spirit that I should kill Laban; but I said in my heart: Never at any time have I shed the blood of man. And I shrunk and would that I might not slay him.

11 And the Spirit said unto me again: Behold the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands. Yea, and I also knew that he had sought to take away mine own life; yea, and he would not hearken unto the commandments of the Lord; and he also had taken away our property.

12 And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me again: Slay him, for the Lord hath delivered him into thy hands;

13 Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes. It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief.

14 And now, when I, Nephi, had heard these words, I remembered the words of the Lord which he spake unto me in the wilderness, saying that: Inasmuch as thy seed shall keep my commandments, they shall prosper in the land of promise.

15 Yea, and I also thought that they could not keep the commandments of the Lord according to the law of Moses, save they should have the law.

16 And I also knew that the law was engraven upon the plates of brass.

17 And again, I knew that the Lord had delivered Laban into my hands for this cause—that I might obtain the records according to his commandments.

18 Therefore I did obey the voice of the Spirit, and took Laban by the hair of the head, and I smote off his head with his own sword.

After slaying Laban, Nephi puts on Laban's garments and convinces one of the servants that he is Laban. The servant takes Nephi to get the plates of brass.

Kami asked a question, and it amazed me because I had just learned this lesson myself a couple of weeks ago. She said, "Why did Nephi have to cut off Laban's head? Why didn't he just slit his throat or something?"

I then answered her by explaining that God asks us to follow His commandments wholeheartedly, not only "just kind of." When we are asked to keep the Sabbath day holy, for example, does that mean that as long as we go to church, we are excused to do anything else that we want to do? No! We should be devoting the entire day to the Lord and spending our time doing those things that are right in His sight; i.e. spending more time with our families, doing service for those in need, resting and studying the scriptures, etc. I asked her what might have happened if Nephi had just slit Laban's throat? She said, "Well, he might not have died!"

"Exactly!" I said, "And that is why he cut off his head. Nephi knew that if he was going to follow a commandment of God, he wasn't going to give himself a way back, he was going to follow completely through with it. Cutting off Laban's head would ensure his death. And keeping the Sabbath day holy is going to bless our lives, but not if we treat it like any other day of the week. We must follow all of God's commandments with our whole heart."

Now, Sister Fletcher and I have a saying when we are trying to do the things the Lord asks us to do: "Am I slitting the throat, or cutting off the head?"

I know that as we strive to keep God's commandments to the fullest, we are going to be greatly blessed. I have seen that as I have practiced strict obedience out here on my mission.

"Obedience is the Price. Faith is the Power. Love is the Motive. The Spirit is the Key. Christ is the Reason. Joy is the Reward."

I hope all of you have an amazing week, and I invite those of you who are members of the church to go out with the missionaries at least once this month and experience the blessings it will bring into your life.

Much Love,


Sister Chapa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/31/2013 03:10PM by gentleben.

Thanks for posting that. I loved reading the whole thing. I don't know how something could be so funny and feel like fingernails on the chalkboard at the same time.

"Would you like the throat slit or are you going for the whole head chopped off?" It sounds more like she's gutting a fish for someone at the butcher shop.

I actually find this girl to be quite disturbed.

Please forgive me for posting this. But her post reminds me of the gruesome beheadings seen on the internet. It's really the same fundamentalist mindset.

Anyone willing to slit a throat or dismember a body for the benefit of a "loving" deity is misguided. I find it appalling.

I'm guessing she's not disturbed at all--just a missionary who really believes what she's selling...

the normalcy of it all is 10 bazillion times weirder to me than thinking she might be an anomaly..

Yes. I like your point of view.

I agree, I am however, surprised that there are not more TBMs jumping to her aid in the comments. I guess it hasn't been made widely known to the membership.

the new drunk the KoolAid?

Trying to imaging using it....

Don't bother trying to get through to her she is cutting off heads.

So helping the Bishop landscape his yard is "service"?

"On Friday we got to do some service for our bishop, Bishop Striebeck. He is remodeling his house right now and so the elders (Elder Whitmer and Elder Tavake) and Sister Fletcher and I went over on Friday morning, had breakfast, and then did some yard work which included digging out "dirt" (it was more like clay) so that they can put a retaining wall around their yard."

That's the one that got me too. Doing free labor for the personal benefit (house value) of the bishop is not religious service. It is servitude, though.

OMG - I just laughed my head off at all of the comments from "anonymous" and others who put a little pinch of rationality onto her blog.

She takes the cake for religious bimbos! She looks sweet, I truly hope she gets a clue someday.

A TBM finally posted to tell her to remove it immediately, this is an amazing train wreck to watch!

It seems they can only post on PDay, I'm interested to see what happens on Monday.

LOL The comments are priceless. Plus, have you seen her picture? Seriously? She wonders why the teenage boys want have her "teach" them. LOL Oh GOD! This has got to be a spoof.

I am reading her old posts. I think she is just very naive. If her Mission President ever reads her Slitting Throats Blog, she will be called in. Some of the comments are great. I am copied them because I think they will get erased.

AnonymousOctober 30, 2013 at 10:45 PM

One of the penalties (removed in 1990) in the temple endowment for revealing temple secrets is slitting the throat. If Heavenly Father was truly committed, the penalty would have been decapitation.
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b0ydOctober 31, 2013 at 1:25 AM

Best. Reply. Ever
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AnonymousOctober 31, 2013 at 7:35 AM

I am totally going to use that analogy with people who are drifting away from the church. Just cut off the head and resign already!
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AnonymousOctober 31, 2013 at 8:28 AM

The most difficult part about "going all the way for the Lord" and beheading people, is that the process of beheading is rarely quick and clean like they show in the movies. All that muscle tissue, blood everywhere, the gasping and gurgling of the victim... and that pesky spine. Good thing Nephi was a strong burly guy, cause there is just nothing like watching a lifeless body involuntarily jerk and twitch as someone tries to slowly hack their way through the spinal cord. Oh well, guess its also a good thing Nephi took Laban's Tide-to-Go Pen so he could work the blood stains out of Laban's clothing so nobody would see through the disguise!
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AnonymousOctober 31, 2013 at 9:16 AM

To be honest, if this sister missionary wanted to decapitate me or even simply slit my throat, I'd totally let her. Wait, what was this blog about again?
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AnonymousOctober 31, 2013 at 9:48 AM

Re-read your post and consider whether this whole Laban thing really sounds like a Christ-like thing to ponder.
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Sarah ClarkOctober 31, 2013 at 11:07 AM

I get what you're trying to say here. I really do. But man. There has to be a better analogy. There has to be.
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UnknownOctober 31, 2013 at 11:17 AM

Speechless. This analogy is going to be off-putting to anyone who wasn't raised reading the Book of Mormon. Do investigators ever read your blog? Do you ever use this analogy in front of non-members? No offense, but it makes you sound like a psycho in a religion of decapitation-justifying psychos, and I can't imagine that's intentional. You are seeing why this is problematic, right?
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AnonymousOctober 31, 2013 at 11:29 AM

This is a Halloween prank, right?
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Mormon HereticOctober 31, 2013 at 12:29 PM

Bill Russell once said

"the story of Nephi beheading Laban, and stealing Laban’s treasures. That story contains two of the most horrible passages in the standard works, indeed, two of the most dreadful lines ever written: “Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes.’ ‘It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief.’

The first sentence is a great justification for holy war. The second sentence would serve quite well as a justification for the inquisition. Neither passage can be condemned strongly enough. Incredibly we quote these sentences with approval, in my church anyway, and I suspect in yours. By doing so, we place terrible ideas in the minds of our members. We abdicate our responsibility to provide moral leadership in our churches if we fail to condemn ideas like that. I don’t care where they are found. Don’t ask me to flush my brain down the toilet, or ignore my moral values just because I’m reading the scriptures."

See the post Bill Russell: Nephi is Dangerous.
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AnonymousOctober 31, 2013 at 12:55 PM

Sorry Kylee but I actually thought your analogy was a little weak. Aren't we supposed to go the extra mile? I'm not trying to boast but when the good Lord asks me to do something I slit the throat, cut off the head, bathe in the blood and sodomize the corpse. If you really think about it I'm sure you'll agree that's what the Savior would want us to do. I think that if you pray hard enough you will receive a burning in the bosom and gain a testimony of these things. Remember to always ask yourself, what would Jesus Do? I say these things ITNOJCAmen.
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The Man of SteeleOctober 31, 2013 at 1:22 PM

Hahahahahahaha!!!
Sister, had you known about the temple penalties I doubt you would have chosen this title.
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AnonymousOctober 31, 2013 at 1:28 PM

Kylee, does that story of Nephi even sound reasonable? It is fiction. Think about it. Imagine the trial of Nephi for the brutal, vicious and barbarous murder of Laban.

"So Nephi, why did you cut of Laban's head?"

"I heard voices."

"You heard voices?"

"Yes, I heard voices in my head that told me to slay him. So I smote off his head. Then I wore his cloths and stole his stuff."

"How did you steal his stuff?"

"Well, I put on his bloody cloths after I smote off his head and fooled his butler and maid by speaking like him."

"And they bought it? Just by wearing his clothes"

"Oh yes. And I am very good impersonator. Want to hear my Isaiah? I have a great King David."

"No thanks. But you don't look anything like him."

"Well that is my story and I am sticking to it. I heard voices, I cut off his headed and then I pretended to be him."

"You have to be joking, Nephi."

"Is it too late to claim insanity?"

It is all fiction, Kylee. It is not even good fiction nor believable fiction.
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AnonymousOctober 31, 2013 at 4:00 PM

Whoa whoa whoa! Did I just read this right?!?! Are you saying that you went to the bishop's house, along with 2 elders, and helped him put in a retaining wall for a home remodeling? Were there investigators there to teach, or was the bishop just taking advantage of tithing paid for labor?

Also, gross on the head cutting off business...
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AnonymousOctober 31, 2013 at 4:47 PM

So is Ron Lafferty insane or merely wholehearted?
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Replies

AnonymousOctober 31, 2013 at 5:20 PM

He just slit the throat, he obviously didn't have the full love of slayer Jesus on his side.

Charles Manson once asked his followers "Would you die for me?" When they said yes, He replied "Then would you kill for me?"

Obedience is one of the greatest killers of all time. It tries to push responsibility on to another "higher" source, and this often works! It all starts with small things then migrates to larger things. People don't question the small steps in between.

The Taliban could have written this blog.

Cult chanting ... this young lady is very scary.

I suspect that the church leadership is going to rethink the idea of letting so many teenage missionaries openly express their own religious ideas to the world over the Internet!

This method is so very un-correlated -- and way too candid for church outsiders to stomach. INSIDERS are cringing!

It provides TOO GOOD of a picture of the members and their church.

Somebody "borrowed" the first sentence of my comment from this board and used it word-for-word as a comment on her blog. I guess I should be flattered.

I advised her to not wear her white burka to a decapitation. It's a bitch getting blood out of white polyester.

Really any light colored burka will have issues with blood stains, you should chose black, or dark red.

I love that "Jayden" from her post responded.

No_he_didn't.
His buddy did tho
;-)

Did you notice that her message about cutting off heads was directed to a 13-year-old girl? Yikes.

This type of blog shows how the Surge in missionaries isn't going to correspond to any increase in membership. Teaching 13-year-old girls and 17-year-old boys isn't going to lead to lasting members.

the funniest thing about this blog is the 13 yo girl being the most logical thinking of the bunch

True, but even at 8 I could do better. My thought was, why did he have to kill him at all? He was passed out drunk.

Here are the remaining comments:

Jennifer BeuNovember 1, 2013 at 12:15 PM
You really should take this down, like yesterday. It is so awful. And I say this as a Gospel-believing faithful Saint. This is just terrible.

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AnonymousNovember 1, 2013 at 4:41 PM
Wasn't slitting the throat Brigham Young's idea? Part of the whole Blood Atonement teachings.

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JohnnyNovember 1, 2013 at 4:50 PM
You have just crossed a line in your mind that most would never cross. You know that cutting off peoples heads and slitting their throats is immoral behavior and that it is not something humane or ethical. But you go ahead and try to normalize this disgusting behavior and you use the scriptures to do so. I hope that you learn that any scripture, doctrine, dogma, or teaching that is immoral and inhumane should not be approached with your attitude of "total obedience" because it makes you nothing less than a murderous and saddistic person who would rather kill another human than control yourself and get the psychological help that you need when you hear voices in your mind telling you to cut off someones head.

I truly feel sorrow for you and sympathy because you are so stupid as to think it is ok to kill someone by cutting their throat or cutting off their head because god tells you to do it. That makes you a phychopath and a murderer. Get some help and get the hell out of this cult.

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JaydenNovember 1, 2013 at 4:58 PM
Can I just clarify something please. I am one of the people mentioned in this blog. Its not just that having my personal details put on the internet for lord knows who to read is a gross violation of really, what I was assured was a ministerial relationship, no, its that you got your facts wrong. I distinctly remember we agreed 8:00PM, not 8am. And what's this nonsense about a book and Joseph Smith I'm reading in this thread? You specifically said "my sister and I (she's not really my sister nut you get it) want to come around on Saturday and hook up with and give you a special lesson" This was right after you asked if I had any other friends my age. Sorry ladies, I just misunderstood. I mean, who thinks 18 year old boys expect anything other than that when 2 x 19 year old girls offer special lessons to boys who have been "naughty" as you put it when you asked if I was a sinner who needed saving

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JaydenNovember 1, 2013 at 4:59 PM
So, are we still on, and is it 8pm or 8am?

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JaydenNovember 1, 2013 at 5:01 PM
Oow. One last thing. Now I've got a friend, and he wants to come. What book does he need to bring?

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AnonymousNovember 1, 2013 at 6:29 PM
Next time you build a retaining wall for free, don't forget to wear you white burka complete with green apron.
Don't wear that to the next beheading though. It's a bitch getting blood stains out of white polyester.

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drifting-embersNovember 1, 2013 at 7:47 PM
When God tells you, go all the way!

Wonder if Joseph Smith took that to heart being sealed to 14-yr-old Helen Mar Kimball.

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UnknownNovember 1, 2013 at 7:53 PM
This is sick and wrong. Nephi brutally murdered someone by hacking off their head, then stole the clothing off the corpse leaving a headless, naked body behind then lied to the dead guys servant in order to steal the dead mans property. This is what Mormons believe? Plus Mormons used to pantomime slitting your throats in the temple prior to 1990? Sick and wrong on so many levels. No wonder 99.9% of the world is not Mormon. Sick cult.

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AnonymousNovember 1, 2013 at 8:07 PM
Www.mormonthink.com

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She has taken it down now, but it is still in cyberspace here:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://servingincincinnati.blogspot.com/2013/10/am-i-slitting-throat-or-cutting-off-head.html

It never happened! I am reading all these anti-Mormon lies levied at a courageous young missionary, who is just trying to serve Cincinnati, and I am just shocked and appalled! I tried to visit the link in the OP, and the page is not there (probably never was!)
Obviously Satan made up all this crap to discredit the church!
I mean seriously, what kind of sicko would actually say that a sweet sister advocated cutting off heads!?!?
Also, who has enough time to sit around and make up all these lies!
To all you in the exmormon community! You can leave the church, but why can't you leave the church alone!

Is what will be said about this episode..

I think these Missionary blogs are going to be the equivalent of Fast and Testimony Meeting...Getting your crazy on...I think you will see them drastically watered down in the near future.

The past tense of shrink is shrank. Nephi is stupid.

Also, she's disturbed as a result of being a member of a disturbing organization.

Amen on the slave retaining-wall building labor requirement y the bishop. That's outrageous.

Now that I read it, it's quite sad.

Even one TBM commenter voiced her displeasure.

For the record, I really believe the commenter "Jayden" is an imposter. But a very funny imposter.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/06/2013 07:56PM by kirchoff.