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We continue to point out that all of Mormonism claim to be followers of Jesus but they do not believe or obey
much of what He taught. The entire Bible records passages of God’s concern and care for widows and orphans. He
commanded His people to watch out and care for them. But polygamists are the cause of the poverty and
oppression of widows and orphans, they do not help them. This is Jesus’ warning:
Mark 12:38-40 And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like
greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour
widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
But in disobedience to His teaching, the polygamists steal widow’s houses, they force them out when a husband
dies. They call it “consecration”, all property, money, income, everything is given over to the authority and use of
the group. It happens in every Mormon polygamy group and leaves the widow with nothing. She is completely
dependent on whatever the greedy leaders of the group deem her worthy of receiving. Most times she is required
to continue working until she dies, there’s no inheritance, no retirement and no mercy or compassion on widows
and orphans in Mormonism’s polygamy.
If they were truly the “only kingdom of God” on the planet, they would behave much differently. We continue to
urge those in polygamy to turn to Jesus, the ONLY Savior. It is only Jesus who CAN deliver them from their
oppression and place them safely upon the solid Rock for eternal safety and life.
We thank you for your support and prayers that enable us
to bring Biblical truths to polygamists.
3rd Mormon church President, John Taylor:
“Now, in relation to the position that we occupy concerning plurality [of wives] … it differs from that of others. I have noticed the usage of several nations regarding marriage; but, as I have said, we are not indebted to any of them for our religion, nor for our ideas of marriage, they came from God. Where did this commandment come from in relation to polygamy? It also came from God. It was a revelation given unto Joseph Smith from God, and was made binding upon His servants.”
MORMON POLYGAMY HISTORY
~~It all began with Joseph Smith~~
“As I before stated, where a man has more than one wife his wives are careful to conceal their real feelings from him, for fear of creating a prejudice against themselves and in favour of the other wife for whether a woman loves her husband or not, she does not like it to be said that she has been cast off for another; and I know from experience that Mormon husbands are the very last to learn of their wives' feelings.
Women who tell the world they are happy and contented, if they would only express themselves freely would tell of their heart-aches, of their sleepless nights, and of their loneliness. Others could tell that, in spite of their husband's kindness to them, their hearts knew no joy or happiness. If a woman in this condition of mind were asked if she did not love her husband as formerly, very probably she would answer, "O dear! no; if I did, I could not live. The greatest trouble I had was to withdraw my affections from my husband and fix them on my children. If I had not done this, where would my children be? — with their mother in the grave." Oh! how true this is! I know it — I feel it !
Heaven help these poor women! If they could only know for themselves that this continued sacrifice was not necessary, their very hearts would sing for joy.
The young girls in Utah feel about Polygamy much as their mothers do. They like it so little that when one of the city girls marries a man who has already a wife or wives, it is generally supposed that she does so because he can keep her better than a younger man could.
Until very recently, the young men in Utah were not generally very attractive to any sensible girl. They seemed to be destitute of ambition, but perhaps, after all, they were not so much to blame for that. Poor boys! There was really but little else for them to do but to haul wood for their fathers' different families and hunt stray cattle.
It is now greatly different in Salt Lake City; as young men can get remunerative employment, and are very willing to engage in useful work; while a corresponding change is effected in their favor with the girls. There are very few sensible, educated girls in Salt Lake City, who would today prefer polygamy to monogamy: I doubt whether there is really one.”
EXPOSE OF POLYGAMY IN UTAH. A LADY'S LIFE AMONG THE MORMONS. A RECORD OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AS ONE OF THE WIVES OF A MORMON ELDER DURING A PERIOD OF MORE THAN TWENTY YEARS. Mrs. T. B. H. STENHOUSE, 1872. Pgs 148-149
“God IS LOVE. What love is this that tells men they can not only build their own universes and planets when they cannot; can use women as baby machines to build their own kingdoms; and leave women alone as single mothers to rear many children without paternal support? “A”
“The moment you go to the bible for authority you’ll expose lots of religions especially Mormonism … which change and add to the scriptures which is why the bible is despised and ignored - The Holy Spirit alone sanctifies the believer - not works or practices - faith alone is the only way. “DM”
“Out of all the families I could have been born in, I’m a descendant of Edward Partridge!!!! Why, the generational curses are endless .” “W”
NOTE: There are no generational curses when you turn to Jesus Christ ALONE for eternal life. He cleanses us of ALL sin, and gives us His personal righteousness. No generational curses can hurt you from that point on and forever.
“Hard to believe I believed this stuff. “J”
- We praise God for several speaking invitations we’ve received this Spring and Summer. It’s a privilege to serve our God and to share our ministry and the story of Mormon polygamy.
- PLEASE PRAY God would intervene and make it easier for women with children to safely extricate herself from polygamy.
- PLEASE PRAY for a woman in a polygamy group whose husband died and now they are putting pressure on her to move out of her house so they can take ownership of it. She is not a believer, but she is being coerced and wrongfully treated. She has children who are believers, pray she will hear and also believe.
- PRAY FOR “R” and “K” - that God will speak to their hearts, that they will read the Bible and discover His saving truth of grace and forgiveness.
NOTE: Local Christians have stepped in to help the Mexican plural wife mentioned in the story below. They have
committed to bring food to her every few days.
Last month we talked about the invitation we received from a church in Montana to share our ministry with them. We presented the history of Mormon polygamy, beginning of course with Joseph Smith, his alleged revelation from God that polygamy was required to earn eternal life. We shared Joseph Smith’s statement that God threatened his wife Emma with destruction if she refused to allow him his concubines, but she must remain faithful to her husband alone.
It never ceases to amaze us to observe and witness the shock of those who hear the information we present for the first time. Yes! Polygamy is alive and well in the United States of America. Yes! Polygamy is illegal in every state of the nation. No! Our civil servants do absolutely nothing to prevent it or to enforce our laws against polygamy.
While in Montana we met with folks who have left the local polygamy community and have miraculously trusted Jesus Christ ALONE as their Savior, its always a miracle of God when a sinner becomes a ‘biblical saint.’
We shared stories, and events, and experiences of coming out of polygamy. It is a tragedy what women especially are forced to suffer when they choose to love the truth and reject polygamous life and doctrine. One woman said, she was a “nothing”, she had “no standing”, it was as if she didn’t exist. There was no law to protect her or her children because she had been a plural wife—an illegal wife, something the law does not recognize. I pray always that God would somehow make it easier for these ladies to get out, be protected, and receive justice, not only from the group that oppressed and enslaved them and caused the poverty they suffer, but justice from the communities that allow polygamy to thrive, that turn a blind eye to their crimes against humanity, treading their human rights underfoot.
One plural wife who has become a Christian, even while she remains a plural wife, is trying to extricate herself from the situation with grace and peace and keep her sanity as well as her husband. We asked her what caused her to begin to question polygamy and turn to Jesus? She said that one of the programs of Polygamy: What Love Is This, discussed the story of Zina Huntington, where Joseph Smith and then Brigham Young took her as a plural wife even while she was married to her legal husband, Jacob. She said while listening to their story, she knew this kind of thing could never be right in anyone’s eyes especially God’s.
I recently talked with another lady in another polygamous community who has been desperately hurt by the polygamy group and their oppression, deceitful behaviors, and the doctrine that places females under patriarchal control. She had watched our program when we were broadcasting live from TV20 many years ago. She was shocked and was afraid to listen but wanted to know more. She thought we were telling lies, but began to notice that we backed up all our quotes from personal journals or diaries, actual historical references. She knew what we were saying was true, yet she still did not dare to speak out. The fear the polygamy group leaders and teachers implant into the minds of the members is satanic, abusive, and long-lasting.
She and I had a recent conversation where I showed her from the Bible that JESUS ALONE is the Savior, and other passages from the Bible explaining that we’re saved by His love and grace, not by works, and certainly not by polygamy. It’s a blessing beyond description to share the joy of a lovely lady who has been oppressed her whole life, suffering depression for years, as she begins to see the beauty and truth in the Bible, and begin to understand she can trust it and be set free in Jesus!
Then we were informed of a situation where a polygamist man brought a plural wife into the country from Mexico illegally. But he has a favorite first wife. He abuses the plural wife and keeps her in awful poverty. Extra funds or food goes to his first wife. She can do nothing about her situation because of his continued threat of discovery that she’s illegally in this country, so her kids could be taken away, and she’d be returned to Mexico alone.
Please pray for these ladies, and hundreds of others we do not know, pray they too will discover the depth, length, breadth and height of God’s love and grace. Pray God will give us more and more opportunity to share these truths with them, so that they can and will choose Him over polygamy for salvation. Great pain is experienced by every woman who dares to leave.
Just call Doris: 801-649-3103, or Email: doris@shieldandrefuge.org |
