Doris Hanson Director, A Shield and Refuge Ministry

Happy New Year! Many times I discuss past abusive experiences with escapees from polygamy. Without exception they all have suffered some kind of abuse. Sometimes the abuse that leaves the worst scars - are scars that are not visible. Emotional and spiritual abuse is rampant and it is my experience and belief that they cannot be completely healed without the touch of Jesus, “by whose wounds we are healed—Isaiah 53:5.”

My advice to them comes from God’s Word which tells us, “forgetting what is behind and straining toward the goal which is ahead in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3:13.

This is another New Year—last year we all made many mistakes, perhaps have regrets, maybe grieve over missed opportunities. But grieving over the past is wasted time. God told the Israelites: “This is a New Year for you”, then He instructed them to apply the ‘blood of the Lamb’ and the next day He led them to freedom.

Truly this is the only answer to our own regrets. Its also the best answer for those who have left abusive situations and facea new life without the threat and guilt of Mormon polygamy doctrine. Please pray for the many who need Jesus’ healing, that they will desire Him and receive His loving grace and forgiveness.

Thank you for supporting this ministry!

FROM OUR INBOX:

I really appreciate all of your relentless efforts for those who suffer under the hand of polygamy. [Your ministry] is a blessing for the families you've helped along the way. My former husband used Joseph Smith's words to tell me that I must accept plural marriage or go to hell. He divorced me five children later and married an 18 year-old—he was 52 years old. It's the same old story but still a tragedy especially for the children and all involved. My name is still on the LDS records but I believe in the God of the Bible rather than the God{s} of Mormonism.   MC
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I recently transitioned out of Mormonism (at a great cost - losing my husband, best friends, family-in-law, etc). I left because the doctrine does NOT align with the Bible. My friend who left Mormonism years ago introduced me to your channel on YouTube and it has been a huge, huge blessing in my life. I love how detailed your show is as far as giving scripture and covering necessary tough topics. It's so important to know and understand what the Bible actually teaches, and you are a huge help to me and others in doing that! I will pray for you and the show to continue helping people like myself realize how wrong Mormonism is - both in its foundation and in the terrible fruits it brings today in the form of polygamy.

The world needs more dedicated organizations like PWLIT bring truth and light to people in need of it! I hope God blesses your ministry wonderfully!  Thank you for all you do!  CH

There are several very good books that have been written about contemporary Mormon polygamy.  For those who have a deeper interest in this topic and the difficulties escapees face in leaving and adjusting to society outside of the group, we recommend you read their stories. 

The book we recommend this month was written by Mary Mackert, in fact is probably the first book published that was written by an escapee from the FLDS polygamy group.
“The most unique story written about modern day polygamy chronicles the teenage years and sixteen-year marriage of the author. Born into a family steeped in a rich history and the traditions of fundamental Mormonism, the author shares her private thoughts and feelings as a seventeen-year old bride facing an arranged marriage to a man older than her father. Love and passion did not motivate this union, but rather religious doctrine required her obedience and submission to this marriage. Witness the marriage struggles of sixteen-years that spawned her courage to flee from this religious bondage.” Back Cover, The Sixth of Seven Wives, Escape from Modern Day Polygamy.

Mary Mackert tells part of her story in our DVD, “Lifting The Veil of Polygamy”, her book gives many more details. When it came time for her to get married, she tells of a terrible thunderstorm taking place as she rode to her “wedding” ceremony and how she prayed God would let a lightning bolt strike her dead rather than be forced into this marriage. On page 16 of her book she writes:

“Marriages were no longer an arrangement between young men and women that cared deeply for each other, but were arranged by the prophet and parents of the partners.  Love or passions did not justify marriage, marriage became a product of religious duty…”

Mary was one of the 27 children her father had produced with three wives. She discusses her plural marriage as she competed for love and resources from her husband who already had five other wives. Mary discusses times of jealousies, of poverty, rejection, loneliness and of joy when she gives birth to her children. She discusses her abduction designed to stop her from leaving, their threat of blood atonement which is the old Mormon way of killing an apostate. She tells how she eventually became free of her husband and from polygamy and then the struggle to keep her children. 

From the epilogue of the book we quote:

“The arranged marriages in Colorado City are treacherous to the emotional psyche. Young girls “marry” old men, have sex and produce children to earn a heavenly home and they call it "religious freedom." These girls prostitute themselves, but the promise of heaven is a payment these men cannot deliver. They are stripped of their virginity in the loveless sex act and are starved for affection. To meet her emotional needs a woman submits to the religious agenda that demands producing quantities of children without regard for the child's quality of life. In the name of religion, they are continually raped and debased while the propaganda extracts a willing surrender. If they knew to cry out, it would be in vain for they live in a world that is deaf to their cry and blinded to the pain.”   Page 360

Mary’s story is gripping and painful, yet ends in joy and rejoicing after she discovers Biblical Christianity and the True Jesus who loves and forgives, and gives the gift of eternal life by grace through faith, not by works.

You can order the book from the following website: 

https://www.mscbc.org/bookstore.htm

POLYGAMY IN THE NEWS

In this section of our October 2018 Newsletter, we wrote about the latest scam being investigated by the United States Government: the ongoing criminal activity by the Kingston family. Two brothers, members of the Kingston polygamy group are charged with biofuel tax scam and laundering of millions of dollars. The two Kingston brothers, Jacob and Isaiah, are in jail awaiting trial on these charges, and as they wait, new indictments against them continue to pile up.

They were first indicted on 15 counts in August in a scheme involving Washakie Renewable Energy. A grand jury has recently added new charges and changed old ones. Jacob Kingston is now charged with 25 counts of filing false returns with the IRS and money laundering. Isaiah Kingston, had faced only one count of money laundering, but now he is charged with six counts of money laundering and transferring or depositing proceeds of the biofuels fraud.

These men will remain in jail until trial because of the high risk of their flight to Turkey if they are released. Private jets are available to them as well as millions of dollars stashed abroad. They have pleaded not guilty to all charges, the trial is set to begin February 11, 2019. Previous court documents have alleged that Jacob Kingston sought to gain political influence in Turkey, and the Kingston brothers were tipped off to a 2016 federal raid of their offices in South Salt Lake.

https://www.sltrib.com/news/polygamy/2018/11/27/brothers-polygamous/

NOTE: This from a religious polygamy group that promises eternal life to those who will follow strict observations of holiness through plural marriage. All members are required to work for their “kingdom” and turn over to the group ALL assets, including cash and property. There seems to be no end to the financial fraud schemes of Utah’s polygamy groups.

MORMON POLYGAMY HISTORY

“After establishing a secret 1844 organization, the Council of Fifty, to promote in part his U.S. presidential candidacy, the prophet [Joseph Smith]  was clandestinely crowned a "King, Priest, and Ruler Over Israel on Earth'" (Quinn 1980, 163-97). His kingdom, like Old Testament kingdoms, was patriarchal in nature. Salvation for women depended on their being sealed to a "Lord" - a worthy man.

“Orson Pratt, eventually recognized as the “Apostle of Polygamy" for his spirited defenses of the principle, published the first theological discussion on the necessity of a woman's being sealed to a worthy man in order to receive heavenly exaltation: “You will clearly perceive from the revelation which God has given that you can never obtain a fulness of glory without being married to a righteous man for time and for all eternity." To fail to do so meant ‘losing the privilege of enjoying the society of a husband in eternity'. You forfeit your right to an endless increase of immortal lives. And even the children which you may be favored with in this life will not be entrusted to your charge in eternity; but you will be left in that world without a husband, without a family, without a kingdom." Mormon marriage theology relegated those with marital failures to the role of “servants and angels" (Pratt 1854, 140).

“Steeped in such philosophy, married Mormon women ... were persuaded that their non-Mormon or Mormon laymen husbands could not take them to the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom. A Mormon male of hierarchical rank, his feet firmly planted in the priesthood, seemed a more sure ticket to heaven.”  -Mormon Polygamy, A History, Richard S. Van Wagoner, pgs 47,48

Launching off this idea of marriage to a righteous man, Joseph Smith proposed plural marriage to many married women.  He was rejected by some, but accepted by several others. These women assumed that in eternity they would live a married and polygamous life with Joseph Smith as their eternal husband.  But in Matthew 22:30, Jesus Himself explained there is no marriage in heaven.

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PRAYER REQUESTS:

Please pray for a polygamous husband and father who began reading the Bible and subsequently became aware that there are huge problems with his Book of Mormon. He literally escaped from the polygamy group with one of his wives and children, his other wives were not interested in his discovery of Biblical truth. It is not known yet where he plans for a permanent residency, or if he has turned his life over to Jesus. Please pray for his safety, for his family and for his salvation. Pray for his children he was forced to leave behind and that he will be able to see them again.

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