Posted by:
Cheryl
(
)
Date: October 25, 2017 02:05PM
Yet, the other day, some posters were surprised when I mentioned it and several asked questions about it.
I've written an unpublished novel about my real life experiences growing up, but no one here has read it. I'll write a brief overview of the facts for those who missed all of the times I've done this in the past.
When I was four years old, my father brought home a man he'd met at work for all of us to meet. This fellow was charismatic and engaging with twinkly eyes and a warm kindly way about him. He was a born story teller and we were enthralled with his tales which involved his early years of growing up in an orphanage and seeing angels, spirits, demons, God and Jesus. As a little girl, I was convinced as were my older siblings and parents.
He visited our home and kept us enthralled almost every Saturday and continued to visit after we moved to another bigger home where he started to bring other devotees to hear the tales. He claimed that God had chosen him to lead the most beloved and elect of all his children and that they would never have to taste of death. He said that the mormon church had veered away from the truth when they gave up the fundamental teachings of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young and they no longer lived united order or plural marriage.
He had one wife when we met him and gradually married others over the years. Our family let some of them live in trailers on our farm. He'd visit them and have meetings in our living room on Saturday nights. We sang mormon hymns and listened to his stories and some of the attendees expounded on their testimonies that he was the one mighty and strong as foretold by early mormon seers.
Like us, everyone in this group attended regular LDS church services in their local ward house on Sunday. This is common. Many polygamists still participate in a regular ward. They just lie and people believe them.
Every summer we camped out as a big group in a canyon and sat around a roaring fire for three or four nights listening to these teachings. He often said that those sitting there were the most beloved of all of God's children. This appealed to my parents who lacked confidence in their daily lives and they loved feeling important for being the first to follow this "prophet" and being the ones to house some of his wives.
When I was a young teen, the "prophet" said God told him that drinking coffee and beer were good for the body. Then God told him that Joseph Smith and Brigham Young made mistakes about many of their teachings. Also, my father had been "dating" other women looking for his first plural wife as others in the group had already married their second and third wives. My mother became hostile to these new teachings and she was not accepting of my father's activities. She adored Joseph Smith and Brigham Young and she finally realized that plural marriage would not be something she wanted to face, especially as she was losing faith in the "prophet."
We were all nervous because someone was tapping our phone and watching our house. Once a car followed us from Sandy to Bountiful before my father could shake it. This was a time when we were rescuing a polygamous wife and children and bringing them to our house to avoid being apprehended. Law officers were conducting raids and some people we knew were prosecuted and jailed.
Others in the group agreed with my mother and lost faith in the prophet. They couldn't accept that a good person would drink coffee or beer. The whole thing fell apart. Those with plural wives joined other groups. My family moved to another state.
The prophet went to Texas I think.
I wrote much of this on RfM a few years ago. Within a hour or so of posting, one of the children of this prophet replied. He had been a lurker for years and this one post is the only one ever answered. He wanted to hear more about his father who had abandoned him and his mother about the time my family moved.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2017 02:23PM by Cheryl.