Posted on 04/21/2008 7:29:14 AM PDT by JRochelle
SAN ANGELO, Texas — Shortly after the raid began on the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch, a group of Mormon missionaries sat down to eat at a restaurant here. A man shouted out "compound!"
"There was this guy. He held up a knife and yelled at us," said Elder Tyler Duffy from Orem.
Some of the fallout from the raid on the YFZ Ranch is being felt by members and missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While the FLDS Church is not connected in any way to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, some Mormon faithful have said they feel they are being found guilty by association.
"There are some people here that believe anything bad about Mormons and that's what they're going to do," said Charles L. Webb, who serves as president of the Abilene, Texas, stake.
The LDS Church's presence in this part of Texas is small. The Abilene stake covers an area 25,000 square miles in size with about 3,000 members. There are only two LDS chapels in San Angelo, but a number of Baptist and other evangelical Christian churches. It's the polar opposite of Utah, where the LDS Church is the dominant faith.
In repeated statements, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have differentiated between the two faiths and expressed disappointment that some news media outlets have lumped the two together.
"Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often called Mormons, do not practice polygamy and they have not practiced polygamy for over a century," Elder Quentin L. Cook, an LDS apostle, said in a video clip the church recently posted on YouTube. The LDS Church has said there is no such thing as a "fundamentalist Mormon," although an estimated 37,000 people who practice it consider themselves as such. Fundamentalists argue that the LDS Church has strayed from its original doctrine by abandoning the practice of polygamy in 1890.
Here in the Bible belt, many LDS members have had to explain the differences in their faiths — the practice of polygamy being the chief example.
Clinton Hudson, a student at Sonora High School, is a member of a Christian student fellowship. During a lunchtime meeting, he said one student said they should pray for the children taken in the raid. Another student said they should "pray for the Mormons."
"I approached her and said, 'They're not Mormons. They're fundamentalists. They broke off from the church' and described our history and how they broke off. It really helped a lot," Hudson said Sunday. "It was a great opportunity to get them to understand there's a difference between them and us."
Not everyone is interested in hearing their explanations.
Duffy said he was speaking with a man interested in converting to the LDS Church. After the raid, the man gave them back a copy of the Book of Mormon, saying he did not want to hear from them again.
"He didn't even give us time to explain," Duffy said.
As they go door-to-door, the missionaries have had to alter their introductions a little to clarify the differences between the two faiths.
"We're not from the church in Eldorado, but we share this message," said Elder Nicolas Librandi, from Murray.
Some have lashed out at the missionaries, blaming polygamy and allegations of child-bride marriages on the LDS Church. But some say there is more interest in the mainstream church, and its message.
"The purposes of God won't be frustrated," said Elder Ryan Bartley, from Carmichael, Calif.
Webb said he has discouraged members from helping out in the name of the LDS Church to avoid confusion between the two faiths, but said they should offer their services as individuals. The local Baptist congregations have contracts to provide relief services in disaster situations.
San Angelo 2nd Ward Bishop Jeffrey Bushman was contacted by a chaplain helping the FLDS women when they were being housed at Fort Concho. The women had requested copies of the Book of Mormon.
He sent them some copies.
"They didn't have anything or bring anything with them, I guess, and they wanted some scriptures and they asked for the Book of Mormon," Bushman said. "I didn't mind. We don't ever mind giving out (copies of the) Book of Mormon to people."
hehehe, BTW welcome back
Wel, Goooooooolllllleeeeeee
We’uns got us a fair dinkum mouth piece person..
Ah rart gud un
:)
That was exactly the line that stuck out to me. They share the same Scriptures, no? And revere Joseph Smith, right? And "normal" Mormons used to adhere to poligamy, right?
Welcome back.
Now, those are funny. It appears I enjoy porcine humor.
Glad you enjoyed. (I have to "blame" Diamond for his "inspirational" qualities--that "bad" igniter boy)
(This just goes to show ya that disagreeing can be entertaining all at the same time...and that there's no hard or hardened feelings from our end...well, at least from me...with anyone I encounter and "counter.")
The "downside" is that this kind of stuff won't get anybody banned, thereby benefitting their families more directly for the next three days. :)
And I must apologize. It appears that I inadvertently mixed metaphors, since swine don’t dwell in nests.
Inman ping to @261
Your graphic isn’t showing on 289...that’s why I pinged to the other.
My family has been attending FReep-Anon for several years now. I heartily recommend it.
Cordially,
Guess it got removed already. Oh well.
It’s most certainly NOT removed. (#110) If I posted something like that, when you clicked on my name you’d get the purple screen of death.
Can you see the image? I can see it on Safari but not on Firefox. I kinda expect that ‘purple screen” to show up once the mods wake up from their naps. I don’t care because I’m sick and tired of OMM calling people Butt H—— and getting away with it.
No, I can’t see your image, but the post (#110) is still there. Seems to be a double standard at work here. I was banned for several months for far, far less.
Yeah, many of us can’t figure out why OMM is getting away with saying stuff that others could never get away with. I have no clue as to why there is this double standard. Maybe he gives a lot of money to FR, who knows?
Maybe OMM has a “challenge” that the rest of us don’t know about, but that management is well aware of.
We should be particulary kind to him. He is in desperate need of understanding.
One of them started fidgeting with some big red button and I'm pretty sure I heard the RM giggling around the corner.
I didn't know that.
Wow. What a stark contrast to what happened with these Eleven!:
John 17and these:
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
6 "I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
1 Corinthians 15:6
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
Cordially,
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