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."
Oh; we 'understand' him. He just can't STAND us, and our CONSTANT barrage of historical FACTS.
He lashes out at us; but the foundation of his belief system is eroding before his eyes, and thinks he has nowhere to go, since it appears he has burnt a lot of bridges.
...they are as distinct as the Presbyterians and Methodists.
Judge us by our fruits!
--FundyMormonDude(Bring back my nookie mamas!)
Joseph Smith has saved me from constantly inhabiting THOSE threads!
I didn’t lie and by your accusation you are definitely lying as well as the usual personal attack.
I love the way Elsie is dropping these little personal attacks on me. He/She/It does not realize that I will not be goaded.
I ordered the book Wife # 19! Hasn’t arrived yet but thanks for the recommend.
I will use it in the future to point out how ‘wonderful’ polygamy is, here on FR.
:)
One of them started fidgeting with some big red button and I'm pretty sure I heard the RM giggling around the corner.
LOL, what a visual....thanks Enosh
[I ordered the book Wife # 19! Hasnt arrived yet but thanks for the recommend.]
Glad I could be of service.
[I will use it in the future to point out how wonderful polygamy is, here on FR.:)]
Just as important it shows some of the links to blood atonement and how the whole mind control system works. The fish rots from the head.
There have been rumors that an "ignore" function will be built into the software sometime. In the meantime......
[I didnt lie and by your accusation you are definitely lying as well as the usual personal attack.]
You falsely accused someone else of lying, that is itself a lie. I provided a link to a credible source to prove the point, so you have just lied by calling me a liar. As far as claiming I have made a personal attack, this is coming from the lips of a man allowed to call all who point out his errors - buttholes. I suggest calling others liars (without proof) and buttholes is about as personal as it gets.
But, most of us now recognize you aren’t fighting with much reference ammo (pretty hard to refute Joseph Smith is the intellectual father of child rape in the FLDS), so we expect your vitriole.
Well and truly stated!
Well, FC, the first lie on your current post is that you posted a link. I went back and looked. No link.
Secondly, nothing there documented 55 wives. Looks like that was your second lie.
Thirdly, Joseph Smith was not involved in child rape. That is your third lie. Three lies and you are out.
Now, as some mainstreamer said to me the other day on these very pages: You are an idiot.
You are an idiot.
I see through my magic peepstone held in my beanie cap that you are looking through a mirror.
[Well, FC, the first lie on your current post is that you posted a link. I went back and looked. No link.]
Oh my, I only gave the citation, may Joseph Smith condemn me to some planet with a million celestial wives as punishment. Actually, I falsely assumed you’d be able to Google “Brigham Young wives” and find my citation as the very first listing. Since you are so computer impaired, I provide the link now.
http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/brighamyoungswives.htm
[Secondly, nothing there documented 55 wives. Looks like that was your second lie.]
It is only a citation to a whole book on his wives, but we are arguing Angels on the head of a pin. What’s just as interesting as the exact number, is the number of neglected children and divorces.
[Thirdly, Joseph Smith was not involved in child rape. That is your third lie. Three lies and you are out.]
Helen Mar Kimball - Heber’s prostituted daughter. Oops, you lose.
[Now, as some mainstreamer said to me the other day on these very pages:]
and to quote some Apologist we all know and love - you are a b-h-. Oh wait, I can’t quote the foul mouth because then I’d get in trouble.
[You are an idiot.] above should have been bracketed, it was meant to quote OMM calling me an idiot, not do a gratuitous insult. I charge for My insults! :)
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