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Dear Praying Friends,
When polygamy group members discover Biblical truths and realize those truths cannot be compromised or merged with polygamy doctrine, its almost impossible to keep us quiet. But our loved ones often don’t want to hear what we have learned. They want us to listen to their stories, their testimonies, their affirmations and feelings that their religion is true, but they don’t want to hear ours. Why? We know that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the dark
enemy of our souls.
The Bible tells us in 1 John 2:21 that “no lie is of the truth.” Yet children in polygamy are often taught how to lie, who to lie to and what lies to tell, they claim they do it to protect their religion. But God doesn’t need protection, and He is perfectly able to protect those who love Him. Parents and leaders do not need to teach their people how to tell lies to protect God’s gospel.
We are grateful for all who have discovered that Jesus is Savior, that He saves without polygamy – and are willing to testify to the truth of Jesus Christ and His Amazing Grace.
We thank you for your support and prayers that enable us to continue to bring Biblical truths to polygamists.
MORMON POLYGAMY HISTORY
~ It all began with Joseph Smith ~
“I can never tell the horrors of the next few hours.... I went to my room and dressed for the reception, which took place at Cannon's other house, where he kept his three wives. When I went down, there was a crowd there, among the rest a plain looking girl in a calico dress, to whom I was introduced. It was Emily Spencer.... I told her to get up. Miles came forward and said, ‘Sit still Emily Spencer, my wife.' I felt as though I had been shot. I said, Your wife! Then what am I?' He said, ‘You are both my wives.' All at once my shame flashed over me. Here I was dishonored, the polygamous wife of a Mormon. I ran out of the house, bent only on escape, I did not think where. I could not do it, though for Miles and young Cannon, a son of the Delegate, ran after me and dragged me back.... [B]ut I stole away and returned to the other house, where I had been living the three weeks since my arrival from England. I noticed there was no key in the lock, but shot a little bolt and piled chairs against the door. I cried myself to sleep. The next thing I knew, I don't know what time it was, Miles stood in the room and was locking the door on the inside. I screamed... Miles said I need not take on, for Brother Cannon had anticipated that I would make trouble and had the house cleared of everyone else. I found out that it was so. He told me that I might as well submit; there was no law here to control the saints. There was no power on earth that would save me.”
- Caroline Owens, in Matilda Joslyn Gage, Women, Church and State, pp. 238-240
FROM OUR MAILBOX
“I am a believer in Mormon and Fundamentalist doctrine. I believe that Adam and God are the same person. That celestial/plural marriage is God’s commandment, that we must obey the law of consecration, perform work/rituals for the dead and perform all personal exaltation ordinances [within Mormon temples]. We have the fullness of the gospel while Christian are lacking a great deal. The creeds of mainstream Christianity are superstitions while Mormonism is a faith for thinkers. All
others involve believing in fairytales. “ -Anonymous.
“The LDS religion is fraudulent, it is based on one man’s sexual deviance.” -BG
“The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and everlasting. The salvation He offers is real. A church as led by man is fallible, there is no such thing as a true church, just truth.” -BJ
“It is true that people living polygamy can and do suffer, some have suffered as members of the LDS church too. But does that imply that the suffering is because of those things? Perhaps its because of human nature or struggling through a difficult dynamic like plural marriage?” -LE
THANKS TO ALL OUR VIEWERS WHO SHARE THEIR COMMENTS.
POLYGAMY IN THE NEWS:
KINGSTON POLYGAMY GROUP IN THE NEWS:
In August 2019, an anonymous tipster reported that a company located in Portage, Utah, was illegally dumping chemical waste in ponds, sewers, storm drains and on the ground and had been doing so intentionally for months.
Inspectors found “foul smelling, dark water” in a ditch running from the facility to the Malad River which feeds the Bear River. Greasy water pooled in many parts of the facility often from overflowing containers...The report also found the company was processing contaminated glycerin from California biodiesel operations.
We wonder why it took six years to make this foul information public?
https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2025/06/23/utah-plant-linked-kingston/
FLDS IN THE NEWS:
Two FLDS children are missing and their mother believes they have been kidnapped in response to another “terrifying end times” warning given by imprisoned leader Warren Jeffs. Jeffs has a history of issuing false prophesies yet his followers continue to believe and trust him.
Jeffs recently prophesied that the FLDS people would be taken away (translated) but before they could go they had to die first. The children’s mother fears what might be done to her kids in light of Jeffs’ revelations and direction to the church. “It’s just so erratic what they’re being told to do. You never know what they’re going to be told to do,” she said. She left the FLDS with her children a few years ago, but the FLDS believe all children do not belong to the parents, they belong to the priesthood.
We wonder why the prison authority allows Warren Jeffs to continue to terrorize and control
the FLDS from his prison cell.
MARY’S STORY, Part 2:
Mary Batchelor was a plural wife and an outspoken advocate for plural marriage for many years. But God had His own special plan for Mary, and it wasn’t polygamy. This is the second part of Mary’s journey from a believer in polygamy
to saving faith in Jesus Christ:
Up until I became Christian, I fully believed in polygamy, and had advocated publicly for the freedom to choose to live it as a practice of my religious beliefs and exercise of my conscience. During that period of public advocacy, I read Grant Palmer’s book, Insider’s View of Mormon Origins. Some of the most shocking revelations from that book for me was that there were multiple, differing First Vision accounts of Joseph Smith, and also that the papyri that was claimed to be the origin of Smith’s Book of Abraham actually were funerary texts and portions of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. This shook up my testimony, unsettled my faith and left me struggling to pray and wondering if there was even a God at all. It didn’t make sense since I’d had such powerful spiritual experiences where I felt I knew the Savior personally, so to question His existence was really upsetting and felt deeply wrong. But I couldn’t separate Him from Mormonism. It felt like, if Mormonism was false, then everything was false and I didn’t know how to detangle it.
In the end, I chose to persevere and continue to believe in Mormonism on faith. All my doubts of Mormonism went onto a shelf. I doubled down on my faith and pressed forward, determining to live my religion fully and in the most Christian way I could.
Thankfully, I did spend that time surrendering to God, and focusing more and more on what Jesus would want me to do. It came as a surprise when my husband let me know that a woman had reached out to him and asked if they could study the scriptures together. Of course I knew that meant more. Even though I was committed to live it, at my age, and my husband’s 12 years senior, I had started thinking that polygamy was behind us. Now it was at my door. And I threw myself head first into the courtship, determined to be the best, thoughtful, self sacrificing, sister wife I could be. Thank God He had other plans!
Jeremiah 29:12-13 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
Praises and Prayer Requests:
- Pray for the two kidnapped FLDS children that they will be found and returned safely to their mother.
- Pray for restraint on Warren Jeffs that he can no longer control the faithful FLDS from his prison cell.
- Pray God will open the eyes of all Mormon polygamist that they will follow Jesus rather than polygamy and polygamists.
NTERNET BROADCAST:
ALL of our programs (past and present) are available for viewing online directly from our website, (www.whatloveisthis.tv) or from our YouTube or Vimeo channels.
Donor Options:
General Donations to A Shield and Refuge:
For other donation options, or to contribute to specific needs, visit: www.shieldandrefuge.org/support
If you would like to support A Shield and Refuge through automatic bank withdrawal, you can download the necessary form at the above link, print it out, fill it in, and either fax or mail it to us per the instructions on the sheet.
Checks can be made out to:
A Shield and Refuge Ministry
and mailed to:
PO Box 651292
Salt Lake City, UT 84165
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us!
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