It was a dark night in the upstairs of the Joseph Smith building. The mood was quite eerie as nine men sat gathered around a table.

"So... Richard is dead..." said one of the mysterious men. "Yes Quentin he is" spoke another one of the men. "Three dead in a matter of months..." Replied another.

"Brethren, this is a happy occasion" said the leader of the group as he stood from his chair. "Hands are merely changing, and in our favor" The man began pacing around the table. "Thomas and Robert are no longer fit to lead, the old coots' minds are twisted by their age, and three other seats have been fortunately vacated"

"Russel, the members are going wild over this. There are going to be some serious changes, and they know it, what do we do?" Said one of the men. "Calm yourself Dave, two hundred years has conditioned the members to be some of the most obedient sheep on the planet. We have them eating out of our hands, they believe anything we say"

"Look Dallin is right, we are going to be just fine David" Piped up another. Russel then said "Agreed, if only you all could follow Jeffrey's example, after all he is a prophet, seer, and revelator..." a small chorus of laughter ensued.

"With the deaths of our compatriots, the sun is setting on their reign, and it rises upon ours. An endless world lies before us to rule, now we should focus on building a world in our image" said Russel.

"And how do you propose we do that Russel?" said another man. "It's quite simple Todd, we need to really assert our control and dominance over our "flock" to let them know who they belong to" Said Russel.

"As you all know Gordon and Tom were known for the happy, loving, kind grandfather figure. I don't want that. I want fear to go out among our little servants. I want the fire and brimstone. I want them to flee to us in fear, and give away as much of their free will to us as they can."

"Is there money not enough for you?" Said an older gentleman with a German accent.

"Dieter, the delicious food, comfortable living spaces, expensive clothes, its all good, but power and control... It brings me such a euphoria, dominating other human beings, subjugating them, is a feeling like none other. Pure, unadulterated power" replied Russel.

"From now on, we are going to cut back a little on the missionary agenda, and work on building the power that our predecessor Brigham Young did. We will restore deseret, and we will be royalty. We will thin our plot from all of the untouchables, and tell the members to stay in the boat, like you did Ballard"

"Thank you" said M. Russel.

"Dallin, I want to work with you closely, your mind and mine think a like. We will lead this new organization. Jeffrey and David will stay on the whole fire and brimstone agenda. Quentin and Todd, keep up the "happy message" to satisfy the egos of our slaves. The rest of you, follow my lead, and we will all become more powerful than you can all imagine"

Russel turned to the window and looked out upon Salt Lake City. He then whispered to himself "My whole life I have been looking for God.... and here I am"

Thank you all for reading!

Very good!

Magnificent!

To be continued, I hope?

Maybe ;) we will see

And all I'm picturing is Mr. Burns from the Simpsons.

Hmmmmm...... Excellent! Mr. Smithers... RELEASE THE HOUNDS!!!

I always wonder if they really believe the crap they spout but I know it really is the way you illustrated it. Thank you. It makes sense of it for me.

Sounds like the beginnings of a great novel. Nothing the church hates more than exmos that can write and who push their buttons.

I want to overhear the part about numbers, financial & membership!
silly me!!!