Truth Never Changes Volume 10, Number 5

TRUTH NEVER CHANGES Volume 10                          May 2006 Edition                            Number 5

YIn The Spirit and Tradition of Truth Magazine Y

The Events

From The Excommunication Trial

Of

Elder Jackson Ted Jessop

I would like to set forth some events of this week, which have made this week both difficult to go through and marvelous at the same time:

I announced to my family in our weekly meeting that the next Sunday I wanted them to fast and pray with me…most of us fasted—starting about 1:30 pm—2:00 pm Saturday on the 23^rd of September 1989.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: The Events of the Excommunication Trial of Elder Jackson Ted Jessop…………………....172 Quote………………………………………...177 Remembering Brother Leslie………………..179 Mohandas K. Gandhi……………………..…184 Questions to P. M. Opponents………………185 Quote………………………………………...186 Commentary On……………………………..187 Quotes……………………………………….190 Conference Highlights………………………190 Editorial……………………………………..192 The Royal Order of Joseph………………….197 Hale-Bopp & Other Signs in Heaven & Earth, (A millennial forecast)………………………201 Poem……………………………………..…..208

At about 4:30 pm, the Stake President—_______—called and asked if I could see him in the Casa Grande Chapel at 6:15 pm.  I complied.  During the interview, he stated that he spoke with someone from Salt Lake and a Disciplinary Council was to convene to try me for my Membership.  Pres. _______ then reviewed points of difference in opinion, which were established in our interview ten months earlier, whereupon I was asked if I had changed at all in any of these items of doctrine.  I responded that I had not—other than I was not actively trying to court anyone, having decided to place that in the hands of the Lord.

I made mention that it was strange to me, that as we were fasting and so in my mind Saturday evening was linked to Sunday the 24^th of Sept. 1889, exactly 99 years ago that Pres. Woodruff signed the manifesto, as well as 44 years when most of the Priesthood brethren signed a “mini-manifesto,” to get out of prison in 1945, that I was also being approached to renounce that doctrine or go to trial.

On Sunday, our family had a very spiritual meeting, which lasted about two hours.  My daughter ______ stated just before offering the closing prayer that she knew what I had said during the meeting came from God. 

…Sometime afterwards, Uncle Jim Jessop called to inform me that Aunt Kay Jeffs had passed away.  Uncle Jim told me that the funeral was to be held in Colorado City, AZ on Wed. at 1:00 pm.

Tuesday the 26^th of September 1989 I arrived in Colorado City and went to Uncle Vergel Jessop’s house.  There I was given dinner and invited to spend the night.  I went with Uncle Vergel’s family to the viewing.  I wept upon seeing my dad’s sister laying in her coffin.  It was the first time that I met Uncle Rulon Jeffs and his large family.

That night, I noticed a blessing in a frame, like a picture on the wall in Uncle Vergel’s office.  I asked if I could read it, he took it down and said I might take it to my room and read it at my leisure.  It was a blessing given to John W. Woolley, by the hand of Joseph Smith, Sr., the Patriarch.  This rendition was very artistic in form of writing.  The lines were small.  I first thought, “Where can I get a Xerox copy of this?  Then the obvious was, where in this city at this our?”  So I got my glasses and made a hand-written copy, taking some time, due to the small print.

Brother Smith promised, among other things, that he would be the “Lord’s Anointed,” which event didn’t take place until after the 1886 meeting in Bro. Woolley’s house in Centerville, Utah, where Pres. Taylor brought both John W. Woolley (and) his son, Lorin C. Woolley, into the Priesthood Council.  (John W. Woolley formerly functioned as a Temple President prior to 1886—a fact that Brother Ted later uncovered through study.  In the proper order of things, a man cannot preside in that capacity if that man is not first an Apostle of the Lord.  John Woolley held the keys of the Apostleship prior to 1886.)

There I was on  the 103^rd Anniversary of the night Pres. Taylor had the 1886 revelation…Uncle Vergel said he got that copy from Guy Musser.

Aunt Kay’s funeral took place the next day at 1:00 pm.  Vergel and I spoke at some length during the morning about how Pres. Rulon Jeffs was trying to follow the order Pres. Roy Johnson had established.  That before Uncle Roy had died, Bro. Hammons had been running things, doing things different, etc.  Vergel said that Roy rebuked them before his death.  After receiving this rebuke, that Bro. Hammons and two others of the Priesthood Council had split and formed another group.  So Rulon Jeffs had then become the senior member of the Johnson Council after Uncle Roy’s death.  Oddly enough, Uncle Jim brought me a copy of “Reminiscences of the Priesthood,” by Morris Q. Kunz. 

Bro. Kunz spoke with Joseph Musser on how John Y. Barlow had not followed the proper way of revelation to bring Roy Johnson and Marion Hammon into the Priesthood Council.  Later, Bros. Lou Kelsch and Chas. F. Zitting affirmed the same (who were members of the Priesthood Council).  Each one of these men told John Y. Barlow that he himself would have to bear the responsibility for these ordinations.

Now in 1989 a split into two groups with much litigation has been one result.  Vergel said another result would probably be the destruction of the United Effort.

Even though it appears to me that these groups are out of order, yet some families seem to be close to the Lord.  Their building—not quite completed—is beautiful; similar to the tabernacle on the inside, and has the appearance of a Stake Center on the outside.  There is a large organ and a large choir sang.  It was pleasant to hear Plural Marriage and the United Order thundered across the pulpit.  No written talks were given and people said “Amen” at the end of each talk.  They asked me to take my camera out of the building and they bragged up too much Uncle Rulon for my liking, yet, all in all, there was a good spirit that prevailed.

I got home in time to get ready for my trial.  My wife and son, ______ went there with me.  I had invited my nephew, ____—my sister ____’s son to come also.  When we arrived, the Stake Pres. asked me to come in alone into his office.  He had manuals and handbooks on his desk.  Again he expressed his desire or feeling of friendship he felt and admired my courage.  He was trying to find a loophole, as I was not actively trying to pursue another wife.  I told him that I believed that the principle should be lived now and I would use my influence to try to see if my children would go into the order.

He let out a sigh (suspiro) like to say, “Then I can’t stop what shall take place.”  He directed me to go back where my family was waiting.  Bishop _____ was there; I asked if he was going into the trial.  He acted dumb as if he didn’t know if he would be invited in.  I told him that I could invite him in and did so.  Full of deceit, up to the end—he knew that he was to make the charges against me.

There was some delay, as not all the High Council was there. The Stake President again took me into his office to explain that some High Counselors would not be able to be there.  Some Bishops were asked to take part, as well as Mike, who is a counselor in one of the Bishoprics—the Stake President asked if I would object if Mike took part.

I was sad, but responded that I wouldn’t oppose it if ____ was willing.  All then entered into the Council room.  We were then ushered into the council room and sat in a circle.  We were south of the Stake Presidency, facing west; opposite the Counselors.  Each one was introduced to us and numbers had been given.  Two of them had been asked to identify themselves as my ? protectors.  A charge was given to see that my rights were adhered to.  I knew neither could really defend me.  I felt like the Council was out of order, but said nothing to that effect.  Also, being a Seventy, I felt like High Priests could not hold a court in my behalf, but I also remained silent in this aspect.

We knelt in prayer, I got a cramp and had to raise it up—I hoped that none would feel like this was done in disrespect.  After which the Stake President made reference to my having a wonderful family, that he enjoyed our interviews and my being so candid in all our interviews.  Standing to my right, Pres. _______ placed his hand on my shoulder, while making these comments.  Later, he sat down and began to enumerate the differences in my beliefs and accepted Church beliefs:

1)      I believe in Plural Marriage today

2)      I did not accept giving the Priesthood to the seed of Cain

3)      That I would not recognize an excommunication or that I felt that I would still have the Priesthood and would be able to ordain my sons or sons-in-law (future) to the Priesthood.  (President _______ omitted my belief in the Adam-God Doctrine, of which he knew.)

Afterwards he asked if what he had read was correct.  I then stated that it was, after which he gave me the opportunity to speak:

I began stating that I felt bad for any embarrassment my actions had caused some in that council I considered friends.  To Mike and his parents, if there had been an easier way to do things, I would have done so.  Shortly after the establishment of the Church, the Lord revealed the Patriarchal Order of Marriage.  Joseph set up two quorums in the high Priesthood—both of which were higher than the Quorum of the Twelve.  One was the Council of Fifty, which was to govern the political Kingdom of God.  The other was the “Anointed Council” or Priesthood Council as well as called by a variety of other names.  I’ve satisfied myself that these quorums existed, and the Anointed quorum, when fully organized, consisted of Seventy Men—seventy-one if you count the Savior.  All the Council of the Twelve belonged to this quorum of the Priesthood Council.  It was the Anointed quorum who called back the twelve after Joseph’s death.

Plural Marriage was not a doctrine of the Church during Joseph’s lifetime.  Look at the Doctrine and Covenants of that era and you’ll see that it was against Church law, but it was under the direction of the Priesthood.  Plural Marriage became a doctrine of the Church in 1852 and then taken out of the Church in 1890, and so then reverted back under the direction of the Priesthood.  I believe that Pres. Woodruff sought to duplicate the Nauvoo era in that a document could be issued to satisfy Congress, then Utah could gain Statehood and then could provide within the State Constitution means to make Plural Marriage legal.  Thus went out the saying, “The Manifesto was to beat the devil at his own game.”  But Congress required Anti-Polygamy clauses in the Idaho, Arizona and Utah Constitutions prior to obtaining statehood.

Pres. John Taylor, after being approached to issue a statement to end Plural Marriage, had a revelation in 1886 that basically relieved the Church from responsibility.  Pres. Taylor foretold that the Church would reject the Principle and he then expanded the Priesthood Council.  Pres. Taylor gave them a charge to see that the Principle survive and that each year, children should be born into this sacred order.  Evidences show that John W. Woolley, his son, Lorin, Geo. Q. Cannon, as well as Joseph F. Smith were some of the Members of this Council.  As Michael Quinn stated, that no one did as much to see that the institution of the Church survived, as well as seeing that Plural Marriage survived, too, than did Joseph F. Smith.  Pres. Smith was making public statements to one effect, and private action to the contrary.

These men set up others such as Tony Ivins, John W. Taylor, Matthias Cowley and others to keep the order alive.  I was pleased when (my sister-in-law & her husband) came to our house and told my children that his father was approached by his grandfather to go into the order.    All of this took place decades after the Manifesto in Mexico.

“Brethren, this is the Church of Jesus Christ, there will be no other, but I see it as out of order.  I’ve seen the Priesthood in action, I’ll never deny it.  But I believe that the Priesthood has been greatly weakened, especially by giving the Priesthood to the Cainites.  In some areas, it has all but disappeared.  I cherish my Membership in this Church, I’m grateful for the callings I’ve had in the Church, as well as having been a Missionary in Mexico.  I wish to thank this council for the opportunity to stand up for the most Sacred Principle ever revealed to Mankind.  Unworthy that I feel, yet it is an honor to me to have the privilege and defend the principles of the Celestial Kingdom.  If it costs me my membership in the Church, then it is freely offered upon the Altar, that the Lord in some small way might be glorified.  Because brethren, you cannot return into the presence of Heavenly Father, unless you live the same law he did.  You cannot do it.  It is possible to live this law today.  The Lord will accept that offering.  The brethren of the Council of 1945, most of them signed a mini-manifesto to get out of prison—a compromise with the government.  Only four refused to sign—one of which is still alive today.  Even though he was one of the four men ordained to the fulness of the Priesthood by Lorin Woolley, it has not been revealed to him to organize the Council. 

…Brother Geo. Q. Cannon and Pres. Woodruff established a method of concubinage—a concubine within the gospel of Jesus Christ is a wife of a lower order.  A covenant can be made which needs to be sealed again, similar to what we have the temple.  All that transpires there is preparatory.  We are told that if we are faithful, the day will come when we will receive another sealing to those blessings.  Thus it is possible to live today those higher principles. 

I’ve read Owen Woodruff’s prophecy that Plural Marriage would continue year to year, until the Savior comes.  I have read the prophecies of Heber Kimball and Pres. Taylor to the same effect and I believe them.  I wish to seal my words in a way that you can know that I believe what I have told you to be the Truth.  So I seal these words in the most sacred name ever given to men, In the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

(Signed) Jackson Ted Jessop

(Italicized text added.  We merely wish to assert that Brother Ted wrote this letter long before he came to an understanding of correct Priesthood order.  John Taylor once said that it isn’t the place that solemnizes a covenant, but the Priesthood of God.)

  

“Brother Joseph W. Musser, in his day, taught that we have been called as a people to maintain and perpetuate the Gospel in its fullness and not to permit digression in the least to creep among us.”  Ormond Frank Lavery, Girls Class The Journals, Vol. 5, 1995

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We encourage family patriarchal organizations.  No one here considers himself the “One Mighty & Strong” to set any church or group in order.  We believe in the perpetuation of the Fulness of the Gospel as revealed by the Prophet Joseph Smith by the Lord Jesus Christ.  We believe in the preservation of all of the ordinances of the Holy Priesthood.

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Remembering Brother Leslie

Brother Joseph Leslie Broadbent was Lorin Woolley’s Second Elder, as well as his successor in Priesthood matters.  Brother Leslie only presided for approximately six months, until he went to the other side on 16 March 1935.  The following is a compilation of quotes and writings of Brother Leslie and his contemporaries.

“Brother Broadbent stated that if this were true—that that principle and practice was a law of the Priesthood at that time—it still remained a law, and that those present taking part in any way against the upholding of that principle would thereby commit and offence against the Priesthood and the law of the Priesthood, and in so doing were in danger of repudiating the Priesthood and the law of the Priesthood they claimed to hold.  He further stated that one of the primary objects of his coming to the trial was to warn them as a servant of the Living God that if they took any such action, they thereby repudiated their Priesthood.  He further testified that he knew the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be

true as well as any man could know it by the testimony of the Spirit.”  (The Case of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints vs. Joseph Leslie Broadbent, p. 8)

“Pres. Broadbent was particularly forceful in his instructions and admonitions… ‘There is no further time for delay.  It is for us to do or die,’ as pertaining to entering into the fulness of marriage.  (Joseph White Musser Journal, November 30, 1934)

“Leslie reviewed some of his own experiences since 1921…and incidents of his meeting with Joseph J. Daynes and President Heber J. Grant and the latter acknowledged the existence of the revelation of 1886, which is vigorously denied…”  (Joseph Lyman Jessop Journal, February 26, 1934)

“In (1934) John Barlow was performing marriages of young girls 13 and 14 years of age, without their parents’ knowledge or consent, to which Lorin Woolley had objected violently.  Leslie Broadbent said it couldn’t be done.”  (Beth Allred Jessop; Relief Society Lessons—The Split, 1978)

Letter to Granite Stake Presidency

BEFORE THE GRANITE STAKE PRESIDENCY

In the Matter of

J. L. Broadbent

DEMURRER AND DEMAND OF BASIC PRINCIPLES

Comes now J. L. Broadbent and enters his demurrer to the citation heretofore issued against him; and as ground for said demurer alleges that said citation and the accompanying complaint do not state facts sufficient to constitute cause for excommunication against said J. L. Broadbent.

Further replying to said citation and before entering upon the trial thereof the said J. L. Broadbent respectfully demands that he be informed of the Basic law and truth of the Church by having the following questions answered by the duly constituted authorities thereof:

1.      Is the practice of plural marriage essential to salvation and exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom of God?

2.      If not now was it ever so?

3.      If it is so, according to the Revelations of God, by what authority has it been abrogated?

4.      Can a law, fixed by a Revelation, be changed or modified by any edict of less authority than a Revelation?

5.      Are the children of plural marriages legitimate in the eyes of the Lord, as distinguished from the law of the land?

6.      Is the Church’s repudiation of plural marriage a mere acquiescence to civil law; if so, how may a faithful member abide by that great law?

7.      Where in the revelations of God do we find any distinction between Celestial and Plural Marriage?

8.      Is it wrong to publish the Revelations or the public statements given through the Prophet Joseph Smith or his successors?

9.      Is it by authority of the Church that the statement is made that plural marriage was an incident but never an essential part of Mormonism?

10.  Isn’t it a fact that since the Revelation of 1882 and in accordance therewith, but contrary to the laws of Congress and the Rulings of the Supreme Court of the United States in the Reynolds case of 1879, Bishops and Presidents of Stakes were required to enter into the practice of Plural Marriage or resign their positions in the Church?

11.  How is it possible for a law of God, entering into the plan of salvation to change?

12.  Isn’t it a fact that leading Elders of the Church have entered into the practice of Plural Marriage under the sanction of either members of the First Presidency of the Church or the Quorum of the Apostles since the Woodruff Manifesto of 1890?

13.  Isn’t it a fact that leading men and women who have entered into the practice of Plural Marriage since the Woodruff Manifesto of 1890 have been and still are sustained in leading positions in the Church, contrary to the rules and regulations thereof?  And if so, in what way can the acts of the undersigned as alleged in the Complaint constitute grounds for excommunication?

The said J. L. Broadbent further requests that at the hearing of the case he be given the privilege of having a stenographer of the Church standing in attendance for the purpose of making a definite record that may be used on Appeal if desired and later, if deemed wise, may be used to inform the body of the Church of the exact stand of the Authorities on the vital issues presented herewith.

(signed)  J. L. Broadbent

FOREWORD AND FINALE

OF

SUPPLEMENT TO THE NEW & EVERLASTING COVENANT OF MARRIAGE

FOREWORD

The necessity for a supplement to the Brochure—the New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage—must rest on the assumption of related topics having been presented and which were not treated, or—if treated, not adequately—in the original publication.

Continued efforts of some of the leading brethren to discredit and humiliate a class of Saints who are sincerely striving to live the laws of heaven, make necessary this work—a work of admonition, protest and warning.  Not only are we concerned about the individual who is being unjustly attacked, but the principle involved calls for a defensive fight—indeed it is primarily the principle that now invokes our support.

A recent letter addressed to an inquiring couple, by President Anthony W. Ivins, in which most sacred principles of truth with supporting revelations from the Lord, were questioned even to the point of repudiation, is the major necessity of this present defense.  Error is abroad in the land.  Its deceptive powers are seductive and many are being led astray.  So subtle and cunning are the ways of the adversary, that the very elect, if it were possible, would be deceived.  ‘O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.’  Possibly never before in the history of mankind has this prophecy of Isaiah found a more literal fulfillment.

In circulating this work, we are well aware of the charges of apostasy and kindred sins that will be hurled against us by some members of the Church—especially those who do not think for themselves; these will charge us with an effort to destroy the Church.  Such, however, as will apparent to all fair-minded Saints is farthest from our minds.  The real Church—the Church of the First Born—is as dear to the hearts of the author and his immediate associates, as it can possibly be to any other earthly being.  The author believes profoundly in every revelation that God has given, and with which he is acquainted, either in this or previous dispensations.

That Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God and stands at the head of this dispensation, is cardinal with him, which holds good with every rightful successor of the Prophet.  It is in the interest of these truths and the protection of the sacred foundation on which they rest, that we now contend.

The constant, ruthless attack of the leaders against men and women conscientiously living a divine law, in accordance with the commands of God—a law which the leaders themselves, in times past, have advocated as essential to salvation—we hold to be indefensible.

This work has also afforded us an opportunity of more fully outlining the functions of the Priesthood and its relationship to the Church and Kingdom and to mankind.  This one feature alone, we feel, justifies the effort.

If the manner of our treatment be objected to as too severe, our answer is that disease must be treated at the source—the cause of the ailment must be the seat of attack.  Little good may be accomplished by ignoring the cause and administering sedatives for temporary relief only, as, in our opinion, has been the case for many years.  Harsh as the treatment may appear to some, it is the Lord’s method and the results will justify the means.  Neither are we blind to the crudeness of our effort—that it lacks polish and literary technique may be admitted.  However, we are giving the best that we have and this is all God requires.  In our weakness we find comfort in the words of Isaiah: “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he (the Lord) speak to this people.  Such lips and tongues, we feel, are now speaking through this writing—that we are championing the Lord’s cause, is satisfying to us.  With his backing we cannot fail.

The author expresses his grateful thanks to Elder J. L. Broadbent, his collaborator, whose assistance and wise counsel in putting forth this humble treatise has been indispensable.  He also remembers in gratitude the valued assistance of others in the building of this work, which work is commended to the honest consideration of all people.

—Joseph W. Musser—

FINALE

In closing, we feel it a solemn duty to call the attention of the leaders to this fact: Some whom they are falsely accusing, maligning, vilifying, and seeking to destroy, are among the anointed of the Lord—they hold the fulness of the Priesthood of God, and have been specially designated by the Lord and set apart under the hands of his servants to the work—especially to foster and keep alive the sacred principle of the Patriarchal order of marriage.  These men have placed their all on the altar—even to life itself.  This is the class of men you are hounding and persecuting.

Men holding the keys of the Priesthood and Apostleship after the order of the Son of God, are his representatives, or ambassadors to mankind.  To receive them, to obey their instructions, to feed, clothe or aid them, is counted the same, in the final judgement as if all had been done to the Son of God in person.  On the other hand to reject them or their testimony or message, or the word of God through them, in any matter, is counted the same as if done to Jesus Christ in His own person.  Indeed, such ambassadors will be the final judges of the (Churches) persons, rulers, cities or nations to whom they are sent.  (Key to Theology, pp. 70-71)

And further:

Cursed are all those that shall lift up the heel against mine anointed, saith the Lord, and cry they have sinned when they have not sinned before me, saith the Lord, but have done that which was meet I mine eyes, and which I commanded them;

But those that shall cry transgression do it because they are the servants of sin and are the children of disobedience themselves;

And those who swear falsely against my servants, that they might bring them to bondage, and death—(A thing which Presidents Grant and Ivins have been shown in this writing to do);

Wo unto them; because they have offended my little ones they SHALL BE SEVERED FROM THE ORDINANCES OF MINE HOUSE;

THEIR BASKET SHALL NOT BE FULL, THEIR HOUSES AND THEIR BARNS SHALL PERISH, AND THEY THEMSELVES SHALL BE DESPISED BY THOSE THAT FLATTERED THEM;

THEY SHALL NOT HAVE RIGHT TO THE PRIESTHOOD, NOR THEIR POSTERITY AFTER THEM FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION;

IT HAD BEEN BETTER FOR THEM THAT A MILLSTONE HAD BEEN HANGED ABOUT THEIR NECKS, AND THEY DROWNED IN THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA.

WO UNTO ALL THOSE THAT DISCOMFORT MY PEOPLE, AND DIRVE, AND MURDER, AND TESTIFY AGAINST THEM, SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS; A GENERATION OF VIPERS SHALL NOT ESCAPE THE DAMNATION OF HELL.  (D&C, Sec. 121)

The Lord has spoken; the verdict is rendered.  Now, you leaders of Ephraim, continue your ruthless houndings at the peril of your salvation.  God will not be mocked.

As servants of the Lord, and in the authority of the Holy Priesthood, and in the name of Jesus Christ, we bear solemn testimony that unless you and this people speedily repent you will forfeit your anticipated blessings and be visited by the wrath of Almighty God, whose judgements are already sweeping the earth with destruction.

J. L. Broadbent

J. W. Musser

CHRONOLOGY OF THE LIFE OF JOSEPH LESLIE BROADBENT

June 03            1891    Joseph Leslie Broadbent was born

June 07            1899    Baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

April 26            1905    Leslie’s mother, Amanda Twede Broadbent passed away

June 08            1910    Received Endowment in Salt Lake Temple

            1910 – 1912    Served a Mission to England

After                1912    Attended Stevens-Henager College

June 17            1915    Married Rula Louise Kelsch in the Logan Temple

Between 1915-1925    Rula and Leslie adopted a little girl and named her Esther

May                 1924    Worked for Baldwin Radio/Lived in Chicago

October 27      1925    Married Fawnetta Jessop at Centerville, Utah, by Lorin Woolley

1927        Published Celestial Marriage

December 1     1928    Fawn and Leslie have their first child, a son named David

March 6           1929    Ordained a High Priest Apostle by Lorin Woolley

May 15            1929    Set apart as Lorin Woolley’s Second Elder & successor

July 18             1929    Excommunicated from the corporate Church

August 24         1930    Birth of Fawn and Leslie’s second child, a son named Lorin

September 22   1931    Joseph Musser added Leslie to the board of one of his oil projects

January 13        1932    Leslie and his family moved into home on 17^th South (SLC, UT)

April 8, 2005 1932       Lorin Woolley visited the Yucatan Indians, while spending the

                                    night at Leslie’s home.

October 8        1932    Lorin dedicated the Broadbent home as a place to which the

                                    Savior could come

Between 1927-1933    Married Irene Lockett

1933        Married Anna Kmetzsch

May 4              1933    Birth of Fawn and Leslie’s third child, a daughter named Marian

Winter              1933    Lorin suffered a stroke and Leslie acted as “head”

June                 1934    Birth of Leslie and Anna’s daughter, Marie

September 19   1934    Leslie succeeded Lorin Woolley as senior Apostle

March 16         1935    Leslie passed away at home in Salt Lake City, UT from pneumonia

August 27         1935    Fawn and Leslie’s last child born—a son named Joseph

May 29            1936    Leslie visits Joseph Musser from the spirit world.

(Leslie: The Life and Teachings of Joseph Leslie Broadbent, J. Harding, page 89)

MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI

A great spirit has been called home, a spirit that henceforth will be numbered among the martyrs for truth’s sake.

Mohandas Gandhi was a leader of both Hindus and Moslems of India.  His following approximated 300,000,000 people.  He was shot to death January 30, 1948 by a Hindu—one of his own people—Nathur Ram Vinayak Godse, a 36 year old Maratha Hindu, whose tribe was probably opposed to Gandhi because of his friendship for the Moslems.

Mohandas Gandhi had spent many years reconciling the Hindus of India with the Moslems.  The Moslems are the Mohammedans, while the Hindus were of Hinduism, which originated largely with Buddha.

Gandhi was a disciple of non-violence.  His faith was deep-rooted.  For it, he suffered imprisonment and underwent several fasts.  The entire philosophy of his life was based upon this principle.  One might conclude that he had been a student of the 98^th Section of the D&C and adopted the same in his life.  He was a Christian and said, “From Christ I learned passive resistance and non-violence.”  “Prayer has saved my life,” he is reported as saying.  “Without it I should have been a lunatic long ago.  Prayer came out of sheer necessity.  The more faith in God is increased, the more irresistible became the yearning for prayer.  Life would be dull and vacant without it. 

***With every breath I pray God to give me strength to quench the flames (of communal strife in India) or remove me from the earth.  I, who had staked my life to join India’s independence do not wish to be a living witness to its destruction.”

Mohandas Gandhi mastered the English language and graduated from law in London.  It is said he left for a profession that paid him a minimum of $300,00 per year—he himself, born of a high caste—left that also and voluntarily degraded himself to a low caste and became one of the “untouchables” of India.  He associated with the low caste, suffered their humiliation with them and to all intents and purposes became one of them.  He became the leader of the Nationalists party and worked incessantly to get India freed from Great Britain.

Mohandas Gandhi’s strong weapons to bring about his purposes were fasts.  Since 1918 he entered 11 major fasts, some of them to the death if his proposals be not achieved.  His more recent fast “unto a glorious death”, resulted in a reconciliation between his Hindu brethren and the Moslems, or at least a working agreement with them, the latter humiliated to the breaking point in their enforced removal to Pakistan, one of the two recently established states in India.

The title “Mahatma”, meaning “Great Teacher” or “Great Soul”, was awarded Gandhi doubtless in appreciation of his talents and his indefatigable work. 

*** “The Light has gone out of our lives”, said Sahni, a special correspondent, “there is a darkness everywhere, Gandhi’s light, however, will still be seen for a thousand years.”

TRUTH regards Mohandas K. Gandhi an inspired leader of his people, a true servant of God.  As Moses was a God to the Israelites, so Gandhi, in a broad sense, was the same sort of leader of the people if India.  He has gone to his reward.  He was shot down while in the attitude of prayer, being on his way to deliver his prayer message to his people.  He was a consistent apostle of non-violence, and lived his religion admirably.  In his death he assumes the role of one of the martyrs whom John saw under the altar “that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they had: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”  (REV. 6:9-10).

The Latter-day Saints have a special interest in and a peculiar relationship to the mortal mission of Mohandas K. Gandhi, and regard him as an “Honorable man of the earth,” who is entitled to great and glorious blessings in the Kingdom of God.  (TRUTH 13:273-274)

 

QUESTIONS

TO PLURAL MARRIAGE OPPONENTS

(Orson Pratt, The Seer, pp.187-188)

…We close this article (Rules of Family Conduct) on Celestial Marriage by propounding the following questions for the consideration of such our readers as may be opposed to the plurality system.

If plurality is offensive in the sight of God, why was Abraham, who practiced it, called the friend of God, and the father of the faithful?

Why did the Lord promise that in him, as well as his seed, all the families of the earth should be blessed?

Why require all the families of the earth, under the Christian dispensation, to be adopted into the family of a Polygamist in order to be saved?

Why choose a Polygamist to be the father of all saved families?

Why require all Christian families in order to be saved, to walk in the steps and do the works of Abraham?

Why did God proclaim Himself to be “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” and say that this shall “MY NAME AND MY MEMORIAL TO ALL GENERATIONS”?  (See Exodus 3:15).

If polygamy is not be sanctioned among the generations of Christendom, why did He represent Himself to be the God of Polygamists, and say that all generations should adopt that memorial of Him?

Why choose these Polygamists to be examples for Christians, and say, that many should come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down with them in the kingdom of God?

Will Abraham’s wives and concubines, and Jacob’s four wives be in the kingdom of God with their husbands?

If so, will it not greatly corrupt the morals of Christians to sit down in the same kingdom with them?

Will not Christians be greatly ashamed to be found sitting in the company of Polygamists?

Will not Christians entirely ruin their characters by being adopted into the family of so noted a Polygamist as Abraham, and be obliged to acknowledge him as father, and be called his children?

“The Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, “In thee shall all nations be blessed.” (GAL. 3:8)  What kind of Gospel was preached unto Abraham?

Was it not the same Gospel that was preached after Christ, by which the heathen were to be justified, and by which all the families of the earth might be blessed by becoming the children of Abraham through adoption?

Did it not require that the same Gospel to save the Polygamist father in the kingdom of God, as that which saves his adopted children that sit down with him in the same kingdom?

Does the Gospel, since Christ exalt Christians to a more glorious kingdom than the one where Abraham dwells?

If not, is it any better than the Gospel preached to Abraham?

Did not Abraham see the day of Christ and rejoice in it, and look forward to his atoning sacrifice, the same as Christians afterwards looked back to the same atonement?

If the Gospel was preached to Abraham required the same faith—the same repentance—the same sanctification through the Holy Ghost—if it procured for him the same blessings—the same gifts of prophecy and revelations—the same gifts of seeing visions and conversing with angels—the same miraculous powers and heavenly promises—if it made him worthy of the title of friend of God, and exalted him to be the father of the faithful, even the father of all saved nations—if, moreover, it saved him in the kingdom of God—in the same kingdom where his Christian children are to sit down with him—then was it not the Gospel of Christianity—the very same Gospel that was preached after Christ?

And if the same Gospel, then who dare deny, that Polygamy was not practiced by the very best of men, under a Christian and Gospel dispensation?

Who dare say that Abraham’s righteousness was not as great as the righteousness of his children?  {To be continued…}

“So long as there are a few people in the Church who are living the fullness of the Gospel or the Patriarchal Order of Marriage, God will acknowledge His Church.”  Joseph W. Musser, 1931

—COMMENTARY—

ON

Milk, Meat

&

 A Well-Balanced Diet

“I am going on in my progress for eternal life.  It is not only necessary that you should be baptized for your dead, but you will have to go through all the ordinances for them, the same as you have gone through to save yourselves.  There will be 144, 000 saviors on Mount Zion, and with them an innumerable host that no man can number.  Oh!  I beseech you to go forward, go forward and make your calling and election sure; and if any man preach any other Gospel than that which I have preached, he shall be cursed; and some of you who now hear me shall see it, and know that I testify the truth concerning them.”  (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Section Six, 1843-44, pp. 366; Italics added for emphasis.)

I heard some brethren once take up time behind the pulpit admonishing the Saints to be careful to not preach the “weightier” doctrines, because they may “scare off” individuals investigating the Fulness of the Gospel.  I couldn’t help but to disagree with the sentiments expressed by those brethren on that day, and I’ll tell you why.

The Lord is using His servants to spread the word unto the nations and they have been given a charge. 

“And ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect; for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts; Wherefore the decree hath gone forth from the Father that they shall be gathered in unto one place upon the face of this land, to prepare their hearts and be prepared in all things against the day when tribulation and desolation are sent forth upon the wicked.”  (D&C 29:6,7)

Who will send forth the declaration of the Lord to the world, but His servants?  I know there are Saints out there in the world that are pleading with the Lord—pleading to find those men in authority—to find those men living the Fulness of the Gospel, and exercising those keys of the Priesthood.  Having been formerly raised in the corporate Church, I know.  The Lord is calling us and will continue to do so. 

“…even as many will hearken unto my voice and humble themselves before me, and call upon me in mighty prayer.”  (D&C 29:2)

Who are the Lord’s elect?  The elect are those who hearken unto His voice and those who humble themselves before Him and call upon Him in mighty prayer.  Elder Bill Baird once said that we already know the truth—having once resided with our Heavenly Father.  It is just that we need help remembering it from time to time, and that is why we often have “ah-ha” experiences when grappling with gospel dilemmas.

Isaiah taught that we learn precept upon precept and line upon line, here a little and there a little (ISA 28:10)—that is how we grow in our spiritual understanding.

“Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth.”  (D&C 50:40) 

The Scriptures also teach that the more understanding and knowledge we gain in our lifetime, the more it will further us in the next realm of existence.

“Whatever principle of intelligence we attain to in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.” (D&C 130:18) 

All one needs to do is open ones heart and mind and permit the Spirit of the Lord to distill those eternal truths within.  The Lord will not teach us that which we are not ready to hear—nor should His servants.  It is imperative for teachers of the Gospel to not jeopardize the eternal welfare of another by “casting pearls.”  We need to teach by the admonition and prompting of the Holy Ghost.

For the Lord does indeed say,

 “… they cannot bear the meat now, but milk they must receive; wherefore, they must not know these things, lest they perish.”  (D&C 19:22). 

If a person rejects an eternal principle, then that individual is under condemnation if he or she does not live it—for that person is no longer ignorant in that certain principle.  But I don’t really think that one investigating the Fulness of the Gospel is going to be frightened off by hearing everlasting precepts.  Brigham preached the Adam-God doctrine to the inhabitants of the world, saint and sinner, Jew and Gentile, and that was weighty doctrine.

However, getting back to the same Section, the Lord says,

“And speak freely to all; yea, preach, exhort, declare the truth, even with a loud voice…” (D&C 19:37).

When teaching the Gospel of our Lord, we must have the Spirit with us and gather those whom He has ready to receive the Fulness. And who are they?  Those who are weaned. 

            “Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine?  Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.”  (ISA 28:9)

Conversely, I have witnessed Saints declare they are converted to the Fulness, and yet when many doctrines are taught—ones that you can sink your teeth into—these Saints appear to resist and fight the truth.  It truly makes me wonder if these Saints are converted by the Spirit of God to Mormonism and the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith—or are they converted to polygamy, because the Bible states the ancients lived it? 

On several occasions, I have witnessed a brother present sectarian ideas to a unilateral Mormon fundamentalist people—teachings that I’d equate to non-fat or skim milk—without any nutritional value—and a few erroneous ideas were endured.  All the while, patiently trying to suggest the Mormon alternative, which is very spiritually nutritious, but again: resistance.  I have desperately tried to understand what motivated this dear brother.  Having come from a field where I was required to read people, body language, motives, interpret actions at various angles, et cetera, I was truly left confounded. 

If this individual is being deliberately ostentatious, I know that pretension will not work here (D&C 121); nor will the aspirations to the honors of men—I don’t care how many years’ experience as a preacher a man may boast he has.  We do not sustain sectarian fallacies, especially when our mission is to uphold the Truth.  Our purpose when we stand before the congregation is to edify one another.  Our purpose when we teach the Gospel, is to do so by the Spirit and with humility to the Lord—not like the haughty pastor we see portrayed within Holy Places. 

Sometimes, we are required to submit as pupil—for we are all on varying degrees of learning. Joseph Smith taught that self-aggrandizement was a correct principle, providing one is willing to aggrandize all.  To learn, we must shed our biases, our prejudices, our preconceived notions and ideas—in short—we need to wipe the slate clean.  Only then will we be malleable to the Lord. 

We are all in a constant state of progression—we are all striving for the same goal.  We are all learning.  Brother Brigham once said that there wasn’t ever a time when the Gods would cease to progress, and that he expected to continue gathering knowledge and understanding throughout the eternities.  However, humbly submitting: most Mormons fundamentalists have arrived to a pretty simple mutual understanding of the Fulness, and like Brother Brigham, we also expect to continue acquiring wisdom in the eternities.  Although we may not agree completely with one another, we all share a common goal: preserving the Fulness. 

Brother Rulon Allred said that the Fulness of the Gospel is so simple that a child can comprehend it—and like children having grown from babes, I believe we have been weaned from the milk of the Gospel and have graduated to spiritual concepts with substance.  Brother Brigham was never deterred in preaching “weightier doctrines” over the pulpit—the evidence is saturated in his sermons.  And although I do prefer a big, juicy steak, I don’t mind drinking a tall glass of ice-cold, whole milk once in awhile.

QUOTES

“A man can acquire wives through faith and sanctification, and through these, the wives will find the husband.  Now if Satan can provide the world with whoredom, don’t you think it is possible for the Lord to provide a man with righteous wives?”  Marvin Allred paraphrasing Brigham Young.

“As long as you have been given the Priesthood, you may exercise your Priesthood and magnify it in righteousness.”  Joseph Thompson

Conference Highlights

This Conference yielded gifts of the Spirit and in attendance were approximately 150 Saints.  Notably a family from Kentucky and another from the Los Angeles area, and a couple from central Utah traveled to Arizona to gather and worship the Lord and to remember His birth, sacrifice and resurrection. 

On Friday, April 7^th, 17 baptisms and confirmations occurred.  There was a dance during the evening. 

Saturday, April 8^th, there was an early morning Priesthood meeting, followed by two sessions, and an auction of gift baskets and handmade quilts raised over $700 for the building fund.  A social and talent show was held in the evening, which included a humorous skit written by a local sister that parodied everyday life out here.

Sunday, April 9^th, another session was held, that included a Primary presentation, as well as an informative question & answer fireside in the evening.  We offer our sincere gratitude to the Relief Society sisters, who spent time in meal preparation and serving.  Thank you.   The spring 2006 conference was an enjoyable weekend, filled with the Spirit of God; all departed with a renewed determination to build up the Kingdom and preserve the ordinances—the meat of the Gospel was taught.  With hope and a little faith, the staff of TNC will see about making the Conference Minutes available to you in the future. 

{The Editorial Response from the Open Letter published in the previous issue (Vol. 10, No.4) will appear in the June 2006 Edition.  We apologize for any inconvenience, but hope you will enjoy the following Editorial that was contributed by a dear brother.}

E    D    I    T    O    R    I    A    L

Central Issues Raised by the Church in Grappling with the Adam-God Doctrine

I have been reading the article from Dialogue, A Journal of Mormon Thought by David John Buerger. The purpose of the article that I write here is to consider some preliminary issues before analyzing this article and to examining its implications.

But rather than arguing for or against the Doctrine (or "theory" as some would call it), I would just like to point out the obvious dichotomies and oxymorons that this Doctrine has created in Church History, no matter how you view this controversial issue.

First, Brother Buerger establishes that Brigham Young, in fact, did teach this doctrine, albeit it was not generally well received by Church Membership nor by a portion of General Authorities contemporary to Brother Brigham's time. This is directly contradictory of what Joseph Fielding Smith had to say in his book, Doctrines of Salvation, where he expresses the view that Brigham Young was misquoted and never taught any such doctrine. It would seem that Brother Smith was either misinformed about the matter, or he was telling something he would be unable to defend in a Court of Law. Assuming that it was the latter option, I can only assume that he felt that the Ends justified the Means, meaning that to lie about what Brigham Young actually said justified the Ends of keeping the Church members, "safe from apostasy" as he defined the term.

Second, if Brigham Young did actually teach false doctrine, then it destroys the idea that "the prophet can never lead the Saints astray", as it is readily apparent, that in explaining the nature of God, Brigham Young badly missed the mark. The Scriptures teach that "this is life eternal, to know thee, the Only True God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent." Thus, Brigham Young, by teaching very plainly the Adam-God Doctrine, was by, operation of logic, teaching the Saints something that would NOT lead them to life eternal. Following this logic further, this would make Brigham Young a false prophet and the whole Restoration movement a failure, and Mormonism a dead letter, during his administration. I believe enemies to the Church and anti-Mormons, bent on destroying the story of Mormonism and the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel, apply such logic.

Thirdly, even if you say, "well, what Brigham Young taught, has been corrected 'by the Lord' through 'other servants'", you must still conclude that what was taught over the Pulpit by him, regarding the Adam-God Doctrine was incorrect and false doctrine. Even if it was "corrected" later, it begs the question:

"If the Second Prophet of this Dispensation could be 'wrong' about some doctrine or policy, could the Current Living Prophet also be subject to error as well? And if he does err, what is our responsibility in light of the error we perceive he has committed?"

It is interesting to note that Orson Pratt took strong exception to the President of the Church, and publicly disagreed with him. Yet, he retained his calling as an Apostle and of course, his membership in the Church. This is not what happens in the Modern Church today. Orson Pratt disagreed with Brigham Young, and President Young allowed Brother Pratt the freedom to have his own opinions and to even express those opinions publicly, without sanction or punishment. If Orson Pratt had been the Prophet and Brigham Young the Apostle, I believe that the same pattern would have held sway. However, in today's Church, if I hold to Orson Pratt's views on Adam-God, which were, in turn, adopted by Joseph F. Smith and then Joseph Fielding Smith, down until today, I will be considered in "good standing" in the Church. Holding to the Prophet Brigham Young's views on the matter, and those who followed his line of reasoning down until the present time, and I am excommunicated. There has been a changing standard on how to deal with this issue in favor of greater repression and control, which causes discussion of the issue to be silenced or muted, and to remain shrouded in Darkness. The lies which say that Brigham Young NEVER taught such a Doctrine, and that it was a creation of Church enemies, even adds more confusion to the issue. Many, upon discovering what the Prophet Brigham Young really did say, and finding that current Church Leaders have attempted to cover up the controversy, grow suspicious, and eventually reject Mormonism, believing our enemies' claims that Mormonism has been a fraud from the beginning.

It is time we come face to face with the issue and answer the questions without prevarication and slipshod cover up work, which usually backfires in the long run, in favor of our enemies. If the Doctrine is true, then Brigham Young was a True Prophet. If it is false, he is a false prophet, and the Church's Doctrine, "that the Prophet can NEVER lead you astray" goes out the window. Then, we must seriously consider the possibility that the claims of our enemies regarding Mormonism's foundation are correct and what we have is another fraudulent religion. This religion then becomes a religion NOT with the Fullness of Truth, but with many wonderful truths and programs, the result of many decades of distillations of the speculations and thoughts and ideas of Men who were groping to find answers to the major theological questions of their day, but fell short of the full measure of the Truth that would have answered their questions. We have a religion, then made of "the philosophies of men" mingled with scripture, the Adam-God Doctrine being one of those "philosophies of men" which contradicts the scripture and which has finally been discarded in favor of the Scriptures.

As a side note, however, I find it interesting that as a Church member, you can just about believe anything you want. You can believe in communism, socialism, or in nazi-ism. You can believe in birth control and even have an abortion, provided you qualify under the Church's policy and have such an abortion "cleared" by your Bishop. You can believe that abortion is an effective way for population control. You can believe in homosexuality as an acceptable alternate lifestyle, provided you are not "sexually active" yourself. You can believe in divorce as a way to rid yourself of a "difficult marriage". You can believe that your children should watch "R" rated movies, or receive "sex education" in the schools. You can allow your children to read pornographic materials on the Web or in "dirty" magazines. All these things, you can do. You can even smoke, drink, and drink coffee and tea, and not pay your tithing and not actively attend your meetings. All these things, which will bring "death" to your soul, are allowed in the Church today as a matter of allowing people to make mistakes and still be Church Members.. Yet, if you profess a belief in the Adam-God Doctrine as taught by that Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, Brigham Young, this is grounds for excommunication or for blocking your re-entry back into the Church. It seems so ridiculous, that if I agree with Orson Pratt, Joseph Fielding Smith, and Bruce R. McConkie, I can remain "a member in good standing". If I agree with Brigham Young, Franklin D. Richards, and Eliza R. Snow, then I must be ostracized through the process of excommunication. To me, the dichotomy and the judgements rendered by Church Leaders against those who believe in Brigham Young's doctrine, on this issue border on the absurd.

As you review the "Church disciplinary action" taken gainst Church members for just believing in this doctrine, you can't help but come to the conclusion that "orthodoxy is being enforced" with the threat of ostracism from the society of the LDS Church. Church disciplinary councils frequently forget that the one on trial for his belief in this doctrine, did not "make up the Doctrine"... i.e., it is not a "creation" of some charlatan rogue, bent on destroying the Church by spreading pernicious false doctrine...nor is it the "creation" of "cultists" as some Church Leaders would have you believe. Such forced orthodoxy was an anathema to the Prophet Joseph Smith, and is contrary to the very spirit of Mormonism, which used to invite the free investigation and exploration of such issues. Yet, this forced orthodoxy brings the full brunt of its power against those who profess a belief in this Doctrine, by total ostracism, which makes the "guilty party" wondering what he is guilty of, as he sits silently Sunday after Sunday, and is encouraged "to repent", so "he can regain his membership in the Church."

Bruce R. McConkie, in a 1980 talk he gave at the BYU, pretty much summed up the Church's current position:

"Heresy six: There are those who believe or say they believe that Adam is our father and our god, that he is the father of our spirits and our bodies, and that he is the one we worship.

The devil keeps this heresy alive as a means of obtaining converts to cultism. It is contrary to the whole plan of salvation set forth in the scriptures, and anyone who has read the Book of Moses, and anyone who has received the temple endowment, has no excuse whatever for being led astray by it. Those who are so ensnared reject the living prophet and close their ears to the apostles of their day. "We will follow those who went before," they say. And having so determined, they soon are ready to enter polygamous relationships that destroy their souls.

We worship the Father, in the name of the Son, by the power of the Holy Ghost; and Adam is their foremost servant, by whom the peopling of our planet was commenced. "

What Bruce R. McConkie is saying here, is that Brigham Young was a cultist and taught that which is contrary to the whole plan of salvation. He says that Brigham Young and those who believed what Brigham Young taught have "been lead astray by this doctrine, in spite of reading the Book of Moses and having received the Temple Endowment." He calls Brigham Young's polygamous relationships "soul destroying." Perhaps, we should not follow "those who went before", but I sincerely believe that we should at least reconcile what they taught with "the living prophet and the apostles of our day," else our religion becomes a "moving target" and the Celestial Kingdom is quite a confused place. I feel quite sure that if Brigham Young were to return to this generation as a regular Church Member, he would quickly and summarily have a Disciplinary Court which would unchurch him, for what he publicly professed during his life. Perhaps, if he were to return, he would have discovered his "false teachings" while dead, and would now be of a mind to conform his beliefs to current Church Doctrine. Knowing that he is alive, albeit, in the Spirit World, as a living spirit, I wonder what he would tell us if he could. If he taught us false doctrine, then he ought to be located in that same place where all the other "false" teachers of the Gospel reside, in the Spirit Prison awaiting the Truth to be taught to them. And assuming that Brigham Young has now accepted the Truth that is now proclaimed by the Modern Church, he is probably in Paradise, attempting to undo the damage he has done. But that is not what Bruce R. McConkie says of Brother Brigham. He seems to believe that in spite of believing and teaching this "heresy" publicly, he has still gone on to the Fullness of His Glory in the Celestial Kingdom, for the great things that he did in advancing the cause of the Kingdom. Yet, if I believe the same doctrine I am dammed as an "apostate" and a "cultist" and am cut off from the blessings of the Gospel, because of this belief. Forgive me, if I seem confused.

But I return to the Central Question: "If Brigham Young taught False Doctrine, then is he not a False Prophet?" Has not Bruce R. McConkie by his very words undercut and destroyed one of the key men who is a foundation stone of this "revolution" which the world calls Mormonism?

And if Brigham Young erred and you can explain it away, then can you not at least say that his public discourses as well as the Temple Endowment which taught Adam-God, establish a precedent which flies in the face of the "prophet-cannot-lead-you-astray" doctrine?

When Adam, in the Lone and Dreary World, made the statement, in describing the False Doctrine that the false minister attempted to teach him: "To me, it is a mass of confusion...", he described well the controversy over the Adam-God Doctrine that has persisted since the day that Brigham Young first introduced the Doctrine. Mainstream Mormons who attempt to grapple with the Doctrine as well as the paradoxes in history that it created, no matter how you view the Doctrine, find themselves going North and South at the same time. They find that they are saying one thing, which totally disagrees with something else they believe, at the same time. It is an oxymoron of the first order, and yet, we are expected, as Church Members to look at the color red and say we see white, or else be unchurched for seeing the obvious and making a direct statement to that effect.

As a Protestant Christian, it was just this sort of oxymoronic reasoning by the Ministers who I questioned, which made me seek for something better, which eventually lead me to embrace Mormonism. As I rejected such contorted explanations by the Protestant Ministers then, so I reject the contorted explanations of Modern Church Leaders now, and say, "I can see the Sandwich in front of my eyes, but where is the 'beef'?" And the beef is this: THE TRUTH. Not this speculation by one Bishop and another by an Apostle speaking before a large congregation at BYU and yet another explanation by yet another Church official, and finally lies and half-truths which seem to indicate that Brigham Young never taught the Doctrine in the first place. What I seek is the Truth, and to date, the Church has been unwilling or unable to provide the Truth, of what this whole Adam-God Doctrine is really all about. I am left to figure it out for myself, with this threat hanging over my head: "Come to the 'correct' conclusion, no matter how you get there, with lots of missing pieces, or we will not extend to you, the benefits and blessings of Full Fellowship in our Church." I feel, rather, to side with the Prophet Joseph Smith, who said a man is not a bad man, because he errs in doctrine, nor should a man be tried for his membership, based on what he believes. The Savior I know and love would never condemn a man for what he believes, but would rather patiently teach him or wait forebearingly for him to finally understand the untruths which he has incorporated into his belief system. And for that reason, I am not at all worried if a man should believe the Adam-God Doctrine, and it turns out that it is false.

But here is the Final Key, to discovering the Truth for yourself. You study it out in your mind. You see if the Doctrine fits into the whole "scheme" or Truth of Mormonism. We are taught in the Temple, that "all Truth can be circumscribed into One Great Whole". Thus, we are given a Key of How to discern if a Doctrine or Concept that is presented to us, is Truth. If our thinking is clouded because we place our loyalties to the Church ahead of the possibility that we might discover a Truth which will put our loyalty into question, OR if we FEAR the consequences of learning something that might violate our traditions or our sensibilities, then we cannot get any other answer from our studies than that which we have deigned to receive when we first embarked on the study. I fear that with most supposed Scholars of the Gospel, who place their Church loyalties above all else, this is their situation. And as one views the Current Theology as accepted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Adam-God Doctrine does not fit.

However, if a man will free himself from any pre-conceived loyalties or ideas and will wipe away his fear of the consequences of what he might discover, then his mind is open to find out for himself The Key of Knowledge that unwinds the whole mess, and creates order in his understanding, where chaos ruled supreme before, as outlined above. For the True Gospel can circumscribed into one great whole. All of the pieces do fit snugly together and there is no division, if one has the Key to unlock the mystery. Unfortunately, this Key does not fit into the current Church Orthodoxy. It only fits into the Fullness of Truth that was revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith. And it was to that End, that Brigham Young dedicated his life.

THE ROYAL ORDER OF JOSEPH

(Contributed by our dear brother in Voronezh – city, Russia)

              If we desire to understand the Priesthood and the Orders of the Priesthood, we must explore the Holy Scriptures; we must search the answers in our authentic Mormon faith. Today we shall study the Royal Order of Joseph.

              The God – have – revealed the system of the organization of the Priesthood Government. This Priesthood Government is the representation of the God on the Earth. “The eternal priesthood of God – the government of God – the laws of eternity, is a pure and perfect system of government.” (Brigham Young, Brigham Young Papers, 12 February 1854, Church Historian Office). President Brigham Young, who was known as the Lion of God, actually did let know that if we want to obey the Lord and to be the loyal Him, we must follow His government, His eternal Priesthood.

              The Prophets, the Apostles did consider that principle is the everlasting principle of the organization of the Priesthood Government. “That patriarchal order which was established by heaven in the early periods of this earth’s existence … is the pattern of family relationships in the heavens.” (John Taylor, Deseret Weekly News, 29 December 1888). The Priesthood Government is the first and the most main foundation for the citizenship in the Kingdom of God.

              “For Joseph truly testified, saying: A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, which shall be a choice seer unto the fruit of my loins.

              Yea, Joseph truly said, thus saith the Lord unto me: A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins. And unto him will I give commandment, that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren, which shall be of great worth unto them, even to the bringing of them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers.” (BoM, II Nephi 3 : 6 – 7).

              Our beloved Prophet Joseph Smith did represent Joseph, the son of Jacob (Israel). Joseph Smith, also known as Joseph the Seer, did hold the keys of the ancient Joseph, who was in Egypt. These keys are the keys of the Royal Order of Joseph.

              In the revelation # 2 to President John Taylor (June 27, 1882), the verse 18, the God said: “And to be a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator to my Church and Kingdom; and to be a King and Ruler over Israel”. It was about Prophet Joseph Smith.

              So, if Joseph Smith did represent Joseph, who was in Egypt, and did hold his keys, who was Joseph, the son of Jacob (Israel)? As Joseph Smith he was a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator to the Church and Kingdom; and a King and Ruler over Israel. As Joseph Smith he was the Sovereign of the Royal Order of Joseph.

              In the Holy Scriptures were the several titles for the Covenant Nations. These titles are: the Adamites, the Jaredites, the Hebrews, the Isra’ELites, the Judeans, the Nephites; and the Mormons. We, the Mormons, the Saints of the very Latter Days, the holders and the keepers of the Royal Order of Joseph. As the citizens of the Kingdom of God we do follow and do live in the Royal Order of Joseph.

              Moroni, the son of Prophet Mormon, wrote:

              “I declare these things unto the fulfilling of the prophecies. And behold, they shall proceed out of the mouth of the everlasting God; and this word shall hiss forth from generation to generation.

              And God shall shew unto you, that that which I have written, is true.” (BoM,  Moroni 10 : 28 – 29).

              The Royal Order of Joseph is the theocratic organization of the Covenant Nation of the Mormons. This Order does represent the royal power of the Father Adam. “Adam having authority to sway his sceptre over the whole province of the earth, it was only necessary that he should be restricted under certain rules or a law, for the well – being of the whole of the lower creation” (A HISTORY OF THE PRIESTHOOD from the beginning of the world to the present time, written in defence of the doctrine and position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter – Day Saints. Philadelphia, 1843, Page 8).

“We believe in our God, the great Prince of His Race,

The Archangel Michael, the Ancient of Days,

Our Own Father Adam, earth's Lord, as is plain,

Who'll counsel and fight for his children again.”

(“Our God, the Great Prince of His Race”

Hymn

Franklin D. Richards, Editor

Sacred Hymns for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, eleventh 1856 English Edition, Franklin D Richards, Editor).

         The purpose of the Royal Order of Joseph is the direct patriarchal line to the Father Adam through the Law of Adoption. The Law of Adoption is the everlasting law.

         Modern Mormon Fundamentalism in general likes to claim to be the religion of Prophet Joseph Smith. During the past century every Mormon Fundamentalist church, branch, group and faction did form its own creed, doctrine and teachings. Some of them are absolutely wild.

         The falsehood, the hate and the violence are the week – days, the being of the modern Mormon Fundamentalism. The leaders do not find the spirit of the revelation; they do find an effective business. That is the very sad time.

         One day the former U.S.A. President Ronald Reagan said about the Soviet Union: “That is the Empire of Evil”. Now the Empire of Evil is the world – wide: in the U.S.A., in the European Union and in the South Africa.

         Remember about the ancient Israelites and Judeans. They were in Egypt, in Babylon, in Persia and in many other lands. Every time the Hebrews did get the political and economical superiority.

         The Mormon Fundamentalists do follow their leaders, and their leaders do follow the oligarchic business of their own clans.

         The Royal Order of Joseph is the guarantee of the future political and economical dominance of the covenant Mormon nation.

         I want to say about the three foundational parts:

1)      About the effective management;

2)      About the youth policy;

3)      About the public representation.

         So, the effective management is not a ruling or an administration. That is the fraternal – type system of the relationships on the foundation of the corporative goals and interests. That is the global system, which includes religious, political and economical components.

         The youth policy is the preparation of our youth for the successful public activity.

         The public representation is the interactions with the political and business subjects outside of the Community.

         The summation of the three foundational parts, which I mentioned, is the community governing.

         The community governing outside of the Community does have the representation. These ones are: the business companies and the non – profit educational – type organization. The separated position does have the independent juridical service. The law-corporation is the realization of the community governing over the business and non – profit constructions. The juridical structure does control the public affairs also.

         All our positive efforts must be in the Spirit of God, in the spirit of direct living revelations. The fullness of the revelations is the privilege of the Temple worship.

         A lot of people like to label our Community as the “Joe Thompson’s group” and do consider us as the typical split from the Apostolic United Brethren (AUB). We are totally disagreeing with that opinion.

         We do respect Owen A. Allred, Gerald Peterson, Seniour, Alexander Joseph and their claims and positions in their Priesthood groups; but we are not the branch or the split from the AUB. We are not the Joe Thompson group.

         Joseph Thompson was called by the Almighty God (through Joseph Musser) to establish the process of the restoration of the Royal Order of Joseph and the Temple worship in its fullness, as it was revealed through Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. Joseph Thomson had the presiding position in our Community when he was alive on this Earth; he also does hold now all his keys on the Heavens.

         If any people will ask us: “Do you believe Joseph Thompson to have his own calling and function in the institution of the God’s Kingdom?”  - We shall answer: “Yes, we do. Joseph Thompson was (a servant) of the Priesthood body of the keepers of the Temple worship in its fullness. Joseph Thompson was elected to begin the restoration of the Royal Order of Joseph”. That (was) his own role.

         We shall continue our work and our activity. We shall build the Holy Temple of the Most High God; we shall build the Kingdom of Zion.

         Last year in the 23 of December we did solemnly celebrate the 200 years anniversary from the Prophet Joseph Smith’s birthday. In the 6 of April this year we shall celebrate the Christmas of our Lord Jesus Christ.

         As the kind Shepherd gather his flocks in the spring, our Lord and Benefactor Jesus Christ will re – gather us for the building of the Kingdom of His Father and our God.

         About this my prayers to our beloved Heavenly Father. In the sacred name of His Son and our Saviour Jesus Christ, amen.

         Merry Christmas !

{The intention was to have included this article printed within the April Edition of TNC, however, due to the absence of technological advances— (ie: A modem)—it was received post-publication.  Although we apologize for the inconvenience, the birth and sacrifice of our Savior should be remembered every day.  We, as a Priesthood people, would not be where we are today without men like Joseph Musser and Joseph Thompson.  These men held a fulness of Priesthood and understood their missions and the responsibility they held to mankind upon this earth.   The work in which they endeavored is merely another branch of the Lord’s Vineyard, of which the vines are blossoming and will soon be laden with the fruit of their labors.

—Associate Editor—}

Hale-Bopp & other signs in heaven & earth

(a millennial forecast)

(From Truth Never Changes, Vol. 2, No. 5, Winter ‘96-‘97)

there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

than drempt of in your philosophies

- - “Hamlet” - - Shakespeare

            One of the signs of the times to be given when the kingdom of God should be built up, was the heaving of the sea beyond its bounds.  Has anybody heard of any such things in these days?  Everybody that reads the newspapers knows that events of this kind have been common during the past few years; but this generation pay no regard to them than they would to the shaking of a straw in the wind, so far as being a sign of the coming of the Son of Man, or of the accomplishment of the work of the Lord in the last days.   - - Daniel H. Wells (J of D 18: 207)

Celestial Signs

            In the cool, northern skies of March, 1996, a previously undocumented comet decorated space with it’s milky tail splashing across the circumference of space.  It could be seen from Lukachukai, Arizona to Knokke-Heist, Belgium.  From Ellensburg, Washington to Helsinki, Finland.  From Michigan to Michoacan.  In all of these places and more, I’m sure, people gazed in awe at the heavens and breathed, “Surely this is a sign in the heavens.”

            I know I did.

            On September 26, 1996 (an important date as it was the 110th anniversary of the 1886 Revelation received by John Taylor and the eve before the 8 hour meeting, also the anniversary of the eve before the excommunication trial of my father for the defense of the principle of plural marriage, and also my wedding anniversary), I lay recovering from the flu and gazed out the window and saw the moon devoured until little more than an inverted crescent remained, giving off a blood-red glow as the news reported this lunar eclipse would.  People saw it from Hilldale, Utah to Pinesdale, Montana.  From Amana Colonies, Iowa to Colonia Juarez, Mexico.  From Walla Walla to Winemucca.  In all of these places and more, I’m sure, people gazed in awe at the heavens and breathed, “Surely this is a sign in heaven.”

            I know I did.

More Millennial Madness

            In previous issues, I have documented the encroaching hysteria I call “millennial madness” which has been accentuated to a higher feverish pitch as we slid silently from 1996 to 1997 - one year closer to 2000.  In the early 1980’s, the slinky, androgynous rock singer who now calls himself The Artist Formerly Known As Prince sang:

            Tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1999.

Indeed.  Who in the MTV materialism of the 1980’s ever realized that the transition from millennium to millennium would be a spiritual one - for religious and non-religious peoples alike - instead of the optimum environment in which to “get down” and “party” as envisioned in this foolish, insipid pop tune?

            As we’ve discussed earlier, the New Age movement is on the rise, and I’ve seen plenty of more evidences of this since I’ve finished my two-part treatise.  I could write other articles specifically on this subject alone, I’m sure; but I’ve refused to let this magazine to become an anti-New Age forum, but, rather a tool to assist in spreading the Kingdom of God and calling the world to repentance.  It suffices to say that a mass of people who have had agnostic tendencies or who are dissatisfied with mainstream Christianity find the musculature of the politically correct tenets of the New Age their cup of herbal tea, if you know what I mean.

            Fundamentalism, as pointed out, is on the rise, much to the teeth-clacking dismay of the fence-hugging population - political and religious.

            Government control, as we’ve talked about, is becoming tighter.  In her recent book It Takes a Village, Hillary Rhodam Clinton says that children do not belong to the parents, but to society; we cannot leave the raising of children alone to parents, but the government must take an active role in the welfare of children.

            As we’ve discussed, the militia movement is growing.  We’ve not seen any improvement there.  In fact, it has deepened with factions declaring Texas a Republic outside of the Union last month.  (Of course you don’t hear a peep out of the media on such issues.)

The Children of Art Bell

            Before the year 2000, there are many astrological phenomenon scheduled to appear in the sky - a partial alignment of planets, a solar storm that will wipe out the electricity in a large section of the Northern Hemisphere and certainly put on a spectacular display of Aurora Borealis.

            Perhaps the most intriguing, as familiar to the listeners of Art Bell’s radio show, is the new comet named Hale-Bopp scheduled to be visible in the night sky in March and April of this year.  Professors and amateur stargazers alike have observed this curious phenomenon.  Trailing behind the comet is an enormous sphere - sometimes blue, sometimes gold - larger than the earth and emitting radio signals.  Numerous sources have confirmed the existence of this enigma, but once again the government/media are curiously silent.  Why?

The Guessing Game

              Speculations are running amok.  Some say that it is a spaceship, and we will soon be re-enacting the movie Independence Day.  The Hopi say that it is Pahana returning as their Blue Kachina myths speak of the world ending at the appearance of a new blue star.  Some cite the ancient Sumero-Babylonian manuscripts that speak of a detached sister planet Nabiru.  Some say that the Ten Tribes are here.

            As intrigued as the author is, he will not give himself over to speculation until he knows more.  Then he may have another article to write.  This is brought up to illustrate that the signs of the times are upon us.  Did not the author say last year that the coming years before 2000 would be - if nothing else - interesting?

The Signs

            Are these events the signs of the times?  Yes.  I think they are, but the scriptures provide a pattern and not all signs come from the Lord.  Could it indeed be the Ten Tribes returning?  Yes, it could be.  The Prophet Joseph Smith prophesies they would return.  Lorin and John Woolley made many similar prophecies.  We are fortunate to have the testimonies of some elderly individuals who were aquatinted with these two seers.  Only a select few are alive today.  If you can seek them out and glean knowledge from them, please do so.  (There are testimonies available in print of memories of the Woolleys as a book by Rhea Allred Kunz as well as an interview with Moroni Jessop, a former employee at the Woolley ranch.)  Ianthus W. Barlow in a recorded talk in 1963 remembered that Lorin Wooley prophesied that our planet was en route to the location of the Ten Tribes and that those portions of the earth that were taken from the earth will be restored to this planet we live on.

Friend or Foe?

            As Hale-Bopp approaches the earth, we must remember that we do not yet know what approaches.  We may be on the brink of a deception.  Does not the Lord speak of strong delusions being sent in the last days?  Could it be possible that this mysterious object en route to Earth is from the Lord?  Or the adversary?  I let the reader ponder this question in his/her heart.  Indeed, that was my intention in presenting the treatise.  In the Last Days, the Saints of God must anticipate great signs of the devil.  Does not the Book of Revelations speak of horrid creatures rising to try mankind?

Scary Monsters

            Which brings up another point: Do we truly believe when prophets teach us something?  Do we take it up to the Lord or rely on our swelling rationale to guide us?

            The Beasts in Revelations are a case in point.  We tend to philosophize these monsters to abstractions - to figurative beings expressing some spiritual principle.  Surely in heaven and earth there could be no such beings.

            Well, the Prophet Joseph said that these creatures were not figurative, but literal.

            He then read Rev. 13: 1-8.  John says, “And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast.”  Some spiritualizers say the beast that received the wound was Nebuchadnezzar, some Constantine, some Mohammed, and others the Roman Catholic Church; but we will look at what John saw in relation to this beast.  Now for the wasps nest.  The translators have used the term “dragon” for devil.  Now it was a beast that John saw in heaven, and he was then speaking of “things which must shortly come to pass;” and consequently the beast that John saw could not be Nebuchadnezzar.  The beast John saw was an actual beast, and an actual intelligent being gives him his power, and his seat, and great authority...I give this as a key to the elders of Israel.  The independent beast is a beast that dwells in heaven, abstract [apart] from the human family.  (TPJS 293-94)

Dawn of the Iconoclast

            Oh, how can this be?  I’ve never seen such beings on National Geographic.  Yes, that’s right.  Grapple with it in your brain.  I’m the iconoclast here to break down the limits that man has put on himself, God and the universe.

In the vast expanse of the starfield could such beings exist?  If the Lord God of Israel and all the Cosmos so willed it.  I will not tie God’s hands.

            I will let the Prophet Joseph give foundation to my musings.

            I suppose John saw beings there of a thousand forms, that had been saved from ten thousand times ten thousand earths like this, - strange beasts of which we have no conception: all might be seen in heaven.  The grand secret was to show John what there was in heaven.  (TPJS pp. 291)

            Do we have an inkling of eternity?  Can we guess the breadth and measure of the Father’s creations?  Can we conceive it?  Our little fragile eggshell of notion and syllogism is about to come crashing in on us.  In the name of the Lord, it shall be so.

            Even the Saints reacted with skepticism to the words of the Prophet Joseph.  Who can fathom such things in the Age of Reason, the Era of Progress and the Epoch of Science?  These sensuous times where we rely only on our physical organs to define the universe around us?  In modern times do we really believe that the signs of the times will come to pass?  And if we do, do we think that they will come to pass in our day?  Or must we relegate theme to some undetermined future day in generations to come?

The Kingdom or Nothingness

            As much as I relish the writings of Brother Hugh Nibley, one of his writings is called A Distant View of Zion.  (A good piece of work, if you can ever read it.)  But his title seems to put the establishment of Zion in the far future.  I tell you, my brothers, my sisters, the only thing that is preventing Zion from being built is us.  Zion will be built when we decide to sluff the vomitous glitter of Babylon and take the labor upon our own shoulders and DO IT!  We cannot wait for the Lord to do it, because he’s awaiting us to do our part.  Zion Below must join with Zion Above.  In other words, for the Kingdom of Heaven to descend and meld with this creation, a portion of the Kingdom of Heaven must be here already upon the earth.  Or?  As the Angel Moroni says, the earth will be WASTED!!!  (D&C 2)

            Wasted?? What does that mean??? Well, when a car is wasted you can’t drive it any longer.  Wasted means that this entire creation will come to NOT!  That this world will have to be rejected and pass away into nothingness.

This is the way the world ends

Not with a bang

But with a whimper

- T.S. Eliot

            Zion will only come to pass when we stop disputing with another, stop splintering and elevating each other in our priesthood callings and use what precious little of the Holy Priesthood is left among us and start performing those ordinances and living those laws that build Zion.  This isn’t just the work of the General Authorities.  This isn’t just the work of the Lamanite Prophet.  This isn’t just the work of  the One Mighty and Strong.  This isn’t just the work of the so-called “One Anointed and Appointed”.  This isn’t just the work of the Council.  It belongs to the ELECT of Israel.  Who are the ELECT?  You can be, if you live up to what you’ve been CALLED to do.  In other words, we must magnify (USE) the Priesthood we’ve been given or else what is Priesthood for?  A pretty mantle piece to hang over our fireplace?  A certificate to hang in your office?  The priesthood is a catalyst for work - for action.  We are not balloons that are filled with a calling and then exhale when we fulfill a task and then go to get refilled by our file leaders with some new duty.  We are children of our Father in Heaven.  Potential Co-heirs with Jesus Christ.  Our Father has placed us here to learn perfection, even as He is perfected.  Then at the passing of this world and the advent of the next He will return to live with His children.  But to prepare His children He has promised that signs will mark the encroachment of the Arrival.

           

The Widening Gyre

            I tell you that the day of the coming of the Lord may be unknown, but the signs of the times are upon us!  Open your eyes!  Wake up and look at the world we live in.  Contrast it to society 50 years ago, 20 years ago, or even 5.   The moral climate is festering with promiscuity.  War is rampant.  Spiritual and social unrest is settling like caustic dew upon the inhabitants of the earth, and the signs are appearing in the heavens.  If ever there was a time to put your life in order, now is the time.  If ever there was a time to start reading the scriptures to be aware of the pattern, today would be good.  If ever there was a time to repent, it’s not too late!

            Yesterday doesn’t exist.  Today is nearly over, and tomorrow is upon us.

The time is far spent...

            The hour is upon us and slipping closer.  Pray to know the mind and will of God and get the Spirit and keep it.

            No man can receive the Holy Ghost without receiving revelations.  The Holy Ghost is a revelator.  (TPJS PP. 328)

And They Listened Not...

            Do you really believe?

            Do the prophecies uttered by the prophets have any meaning to us?  Or will we fixate ourselves upon the pleasure domes of gratification that we heap upon ourselves?

            We are lucky to have the writings of John the Revelator among us, because, upon leaving the Isle of Patmos, many had already forgotten him and didn’t believe his prophecies.  Joseph Smith was accustomed to being called a liar.  Why, even John and Lorin Woolley were called liars.

            In setting the five men apart and ordaining them to the Priesthood Presidency of Seven, John W. Woolley was first given that high calling, coming next to Wilford Woodruff in order of ordination; so that the keys to Priesthood passed in natural order from Wilford Woodruff to John W. Woolley.  Brother Woolley, for years, had charge of the ordinance work in temple under the presidency of Joseph F. Smith.  Knowing Brother Woolley as we did and having had dealings with him of such nature to reveal his true self, we cannot imagine a human being who is honest, having a word to say against his veracity or devotion to the principles of righteousness; and the same may be said with equal emphasis of Lorin C. Woolley.  And yet, speaking of John W. Woolley in the “note” referred to, Joseph Fielding called him “an obscure person, who was, to the knowledge of all who are willing to know, ONE OF THE GREATEST FALSIFIERS (LIARS) THAT EVER WALKED ON EARTH!”

            “If your case is weak, vilify!”  Throw mud, tear down character, destroy confidence, slander and foam at the mouth.

            In his patriarchal blessing given by Joseph Smith, Sen., the father of the Prophet, Brother Woolley was given this promise:  “The gifts of the Gospel will rest upon thy mind and the law of the Lord will be written upon thy heart. *** Thou will be called the Lord’s anointed, and thy life and health will be held sacred for the blessing.”

            Joseph Fielding Smith, have a care;  you are treading on dangerous ground;  you have vilified one of God’s anointed!!  (Truth 9: 74-75)

Those Controversial Woolleys

            Unastonishing it is that the Church calls the Woolleys liars, but it is baffling that many Mormon Fundamentalists - most of whom claim a priesthood lineage through them - give almost no credence to the teachings of John or Lorin, because the teachings seem extreme.  What a paradox - that the Woolleys should be so controversial amongst those who proclaim that they held the Keys of the Kingdom and the Priesthood.  They claim that both acted in the office of the Lord’s Anointed, each in his turn, but they find Lorin’s teachings of the origin of Cain a little hard to swallow.  They believe that Lorin had the authority to call a new council, but they ridicule and mock the testimonies of Sister Broadbent and others who were in the house the night when Lorin was whisked away to the region around the Yucatan to administer to a Lamanite prophet and his people nestled deep in the hidden jungles.  You see, it seems too much like a science fiction story to these skeptics.  It doesn’t conform what we - in our infinite sense of reality - think is possible.  But this isn’t new to Mormonism.

            If I may be so bold to say - the Woolleys are to Fundamentalism what Brigham Young is to mainstream Mormonism.  Both were integral parts of molding the grounds upon which each organization stand.  Both were revered as fathers and pioneers.  All Latter-day Saints proclaim Brigham Young to be a prophet.  Why, the Lord’s University bears the name of this American Moses, but apologists will shovel mounds of excuses over the Adam-God Doctrine which Brigham Young thundered over the pulpit with such resonance that there is no doubt as to what he meant.  These apologists will stammer such shaky sophistry, saying that Brigham was misquoted.  Likewise Fundamentalists will claim the Woolleys yet are fundamentally unaware of what the they taught.

            Either these men were prophets or liars!  Which is it?  Choose this day!  Must we continue to be embarrassed by our religion?  Have we puffed ourselves up in our knowledge that we can no longer learn?  Are we open-minded enough to conceive of greater TRUTH???  Are we wise enough to know how much we don’t know?

           

The New Earth

            Do we believe that the signs of the times will come to pass?

            But experience has taught us that, while there may be a few who, when they have seen the predictions fulfilled, have acknowledged that our course is right, in the majority of cases throughout the earth where the Gospel has been preached, the fulfillment of the predictions of the prophets has not had the effect to convince the people of the truth of the ministry God has given us.  (J of D 21: 266)

            I do not know what Hale-Bopp is; I cannot say.  But who can deny that the Signs are upon us.  Luckily, we have the words of men given to us when the Spirit of Prophecy was upon them.  If we have a testimony of Christ we can all have this same gift distill upon us.

            With these turbulent times upon us, I had a conversation with a Catholic woman in my acquaintance.  She expressed her fear, “Is this the end of the world?  I don’t want it to be the end of the world!  I want my children to grow up.”

            No, this isn’t the end, but a new beginning.  I know that sounds like unoriginal rhetoric, but it’s the truth.  It will be a transition from one sphere of existence to another.  The end of this world and the start of another.

            And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

            And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

            And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.  (Rev. 21: 1-3)

The Lord hath gathered all things in one.

The Lord hath brought down Zion from above.

The Lord hath brought up Zion from beneath.

The earth hath travailed and brought forth her strength.

(D&C 84: 100)

            I was told (by the Woolleys) this earth was only one-fifth the size now that it used to be.  I was told I would never deny the things I was told were true.  Some portions of this earth are of a terrestrial order and they have gone together.  The term ‘The seventh heaven’ has a meaning...

            Did Lorin tell you where the Ten Tribes were?

            He told me they were on a detached portion of this planet.  I was told this earth, originally was made up of seven parts; and, that the organizers of this planet took the best portions of seven planets, the people of whom never lived the law of eternal increase, and were disorganized.  The best portions of those seven planets were brought together, and our earth was organized from them...and the portions dismembered from it are again to be annexed to it in the future (Which were broken off in the past, will come together)... (An Interview With Moroni Jessop by Arnold Boss, Feb. 26, 1942)

            Let us look forward to the signs of the times in anticipation and prayer.  Prayer that we might survive these wondrous, tumultuous times.  Prayer that we might withstand the cleansing fire.

Peace &Love in Zion

________________________________________________________________________

Ante-mortality—our preexistence, where we

Dwelt in harmony & unity, purpose

All—with He who would Redeem us, & His father, a

Michael, the first angel, who quelled the

 Insurrection; the Heavens mourned when the

Son of the Morning was cast to earth and the

Garden, where our First Parents partook

Of the fruit, so we, too, could also be as our

Deity, clothed one day, in immortality & eternal lives.

Y

HOLINESS TO THE LORD

Truth Never Changes

Volume 10, Number 5

May, 2006

PO Box 433

St Johns, AZ 85936-0433

Angelwolf51@yahoo.com

Sanhedrin70@yahoo.com

“Truth never changes—nor falters”