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Dear Praying Friends,
We can’t help but wonder why – if polygamists claims are true, and polygamy is divine, godly,
spiritual and the culture of heaven – why do so many who get out of it describe it as ‘escaping’?
Escape is my description of getting out of the Kingston polygamy group. I escaped the horrors of polygamy, the dictatorship and abuse by my parents, the toxic culture and the Kingston group authoritative leaders and their “holier than thou” attitudes. I escaped the tyranny of the United Order, and the misery, pain, neglect, loneliness and poverty of a plural marriage.
Many others who have managed to get away also describe their exit as an escape. TV shows and books are produced using the word “escape” to describe their dodging the bullet of a lifetime in polygamy.
2Timothy 2:26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
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 ~
Copied from “Joseph Smith’s Polygamy”
by Jerald and Sandra Tanner.
“A few years ago one of my wives...said, “I wish my husband’s wives would leave him, every soul of them except myself.” That is the way they all feel, more or less, at times, both old and young.”
(Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 9, page 195)
“As with other laws of the Church, some members abused the principle of plural marriage, far more disdained it, and only a small percentage tried to live it and live it properly and worthily as the Lord would have it lived.”
(John Stewart, Brigham Young and His Wives, page 37)
“Sisters, do you wish to make yourselves happy? Then what is your duty? It is for you to bear children, in the name of the Lord, . . . and bring forth in the name of Israel’s God, that you may have the honour of being the mothers of great and good men—of kings, princes, and potentates that shall yet live on the earth and govern and control the nations. Do you look forward to that? or are you tormenting yourselves by thinking that your husbands do not love you?”
(Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 9, page 37)
“I was married to Heber C. Kimball in 1845,...I was married in the Temple; Brigham Young performing the marriage ceremony....I never asked Mr. Kimball how many wives he had at the time I married him. I do not know how many he had besides myself after I married him. I never asked him whether he had more wives than me or not. There was not any love in the union between myself and Kimball, and it is my business entirely whether there was any courtship or not.” (Temple Lot Case, page 375)
POLYGAMISTS USE OF GASLIGHTING AND PROPAGANDA:
“It is a glorious privilege to go into a Temple of God to be united as man and wife in the bonds of holy wedlock for time and all eternity by the authority of the Holy Priesthood... It is an additional privilege for that same man and wife to re-enter the Temple of God to receive another wife in like manner if they are worthy … I understand the law of celestial marriage to mean that every man in this church, who has the ability to obey and practice it in righteousness and will not, shall be damned; I say I understand it to mean this and nothing less, and I testify in the name of Jesus that it does mean that.”
Joseph F. Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 20, pp. 30-31.
NOTE: Joseph F. Smith was sixth president of the Mormon church, he had six wives and 48 children. According to Joseph F. Smith’s statement above, the current monogamous LDS church is false and apostate.
FROM OUR MAILBOX
“You illustrated the truth that we must not use a "monkey see, monkey do" approach to the Bible (a Bible hero did it, therefore it must be good or right).” --T.H.
“So grateful you found freedom and strength in the true and living Christ. Think of the women who have been helped to find the same thru you and all the wonderful people in this ministry. God bless you.”
“You know, I never questioned the claim that an Angel of God came with a drawn sword to command Joseph Smith to live polygamy because I always thought no one would want to do it, especially deeply moral people. I had so much naïveté about the world, human sexuality, male sex drives- let alone about God- why would God do anything like send an angel for such a stupid purpose.” --M.B.
“Unfortunate that people are being misled this way. Would the only true church do such things? Deceptions from an organization that touts itself to be so loving, well its another great disappointment. I conclude that all good works are from God. All heartfelt honest people are doing their best. They are not to blame. But If they learn otherwise that their church which they've put their all into does such deceptions , well I would think that is on them as well.” --C.H.
THANKS TO ALL OUR VIEWERS WHO SHARE THEIR COMMENTS.
THEY SAID THAT?
“When did I ever teach anything wrong from this stand? When was I ever confounded? I want to triumph in Israel before I depart hence and am no more seen. I never told you I was perfect; but there is no error in the revelations which I have taught. Must I, then, be thrown away as a thing of naught?”
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Section Six 1843 44, p.368.
(At the Stand, May 12, 1844, Nauvoo, Ill.) HC 6:366
NOTE: Mormonism call themselves “Israel”. Joseph Smith complained that the Mormons were not obeying him or believing him to his satisfaction. What was Joseph Smith teaching that they threatened to throw him out? Obviously one that he could not name publicly. Might it have been…. Polygamy?
Brigham Young said:
“This is something pertaining to our marriage relation. The whole world will think what an awful thing it is. What an awful thing it would be if the Mormons should just say we believe in marrying brothers and sisters. Well, we shall be under the necessity of doing it, because we cannot find anybody else to marry. The whole world are at the same thing, and will be as long as man exists upon the earth.”
(The Teachings of President Brigham Young, Compiled and Edited by Fred C. Collier, Vol. 3, pages 362, 368)
RECENT VIDEO / PODCAST OF INTEREST:
Polygamy In The News – Updates On Newsworthy Polygamy Group Activities -
Show No. 18.18 -
www.whatloveisthis.tv
https://www.youtube.com/user/shieldandrefuge
MARY’S STORY, Part 3:
This is the third part of Mary Batchelor’s journey from a believer in polygamy to saving faith in Jesus Christ:
When I realized that Joseph Smith was wrong about God, I knew then that he was a false prophet! – if he was false, then ALL Mormonism was false. It felt like my entire world flipped upside down. Mormonism (and polygamy) was part of my identity, it was a lens through which I viewed myself and everyone else in my life. I had taken great pride in my Mormon heritage.
As I sat there with my head spinning, I wasn’t sure who or what to trust or where to begin. I believed in Jesus, but what was true and what wasn’t? I decided to focus on the Words of Jesus Christ first, and the Bible. I needed to read the Bible with fresh eyes and not through a Mormon filter. I started with Jesus’s words highlighted in red, and then I moved on to read a One Year Bible. I was terrified to read a modern English Bible version, but I also wanted something easier to understand than King James, so I went with a New King James One Year Bible. The next year, I committed to begin each morning with 20 mins of Old Testament, New Testament, a Psalm and a Proverb. This really helped me in a number of ways. It disciplined me into daily Bible reading and prayer time with God, helped me sift through what the Bible actually teaches (versus what Mormonism misrepresents), and it also got me through the most difficult and challenging passages of the Old Testament I had never been able to understand before.
One of the most difficult realizations for me was that my loved ones and I were NOT saved! I had always believed that so long as my family members were baptized, they would all be saved in a kingdom in heaven. I thought Jesus’s atonement applied to all universally, whether or not they accepted it in this mortal life, because sooner or later, a family member could accept Jesus and be baptized, even if it was after this life through their ordinance of baptism for the dead. I wrestled with this; it was very hard for me. But the Old Testament teaches us our condition is damnation, and the promise of the New Covenant prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31 was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who said: “I am the way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
It was eye opening for me to know that Jesus paid the debt for me and that His victory on the cross was ALL that I needed. I did NOT need to live polygamy, or go to the Mormon temple, or have my husband take me through the veil. JESUS had done it all, torn the veil, and forgave me through His gift of Grace.
I wasn’t worthy, but He loved me anyway, and this is a gift I want to share with as many as can receive it.
Praises and Prayer Requests:
- Pray for “E” - a young woman who left a polygamy group and embraced Jesus Christ as her Savior. She is facing backlash from polygamous family and friends and faces discouragement.
- Pray for “G” who is wrestling with Joseph Smith’s gospel which includes polygamy against Jesus’ Gospel and no polygamy.
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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