Tim O'KeefeTim O'Keefe
I grew up doing the usual LDS things; going to Primary, advancing in the Aaronic Priesthood, later going on to BYU, and then getting married in the Seattle Temple and having kids. I had a pretty standard life in the LDS church, serving as Sunday School teacher, YMMIA Secretary, Ward Clerk, etc.
During the first few years after I was married, I thought everything was going OK as I pretty much sailed through life. I figured as long as I went to church consistently, paid my tithing, did my monthly temple trip and voted Republican everything would be all right. I can't say I was incredibly knowledgeable in the gospel, but I tried to have a good grasp of the principles. I pretty much studied the standard works and mainstream publications. Occasionally, I would hear about something weird that Brigham Young had said that just didn't make sense. I figured he'd either been misquoted or had not been speaking as a prophet that day.
In the mid-1980's there was a guy in my ward that got in trouble for teaching in his home that Adam was our God. I had never heard of such a doctrine. When he later left the LDS Church to join some polygamist group in Utah, I thought it was pretty strange. Even though I knew plural marriage was a true principle and that it would be reestablished during the Millennium , I was sure that the 1890 Manifesto had turned it off for the meantime, so I didn't worry about it.
My life started to change in the late 1980's, as I started to learn of things that challenged my cherished belief system. It began in June of 1988, during the presidential campaign. I was at work listening to the radio. At that time in of my life, I usually listened to the local FM rock stations, but that day I happened to be listening to a talk radio interview. The man being interviewed stated some outlandish things about what was really happening in politics, and claimed that the presidential election, still four months in the future, was already a done deal, and that George Bush would be elected.
I hadn't really been all that politically-oriented at that time, but the more I listened to the radio that day, the more my pre-conceived notions were challenged. I decided to look further into the things I had heard on the radio. After about six months of studying, I realized that there existed a Gadianton-type conspiracy right under our noses, and hardly anyone recognized it. As I studied this conspiracy, I wondered why the LDS Church had not warned me about what was going on.
I began to talk to a few LDS friends about politics and realized that most had no clue about this stuff, but there were a couple of people that pulled me aside and told me to read some of Ezra Taft Benson's early political writings, such as An Enemy Hath Done This. This lead me to The Great and Abominable Church of the Devil, by H. Verlan Anderson and Prophets, Principles and National Survival, by Jerald Newquist. I also found out about Joseph Smith prophesying that the U.S. Constitution would eventually hang by a thread, and that if it would be saved, the Elders of Israel would do it.
As I continued studying Constitutional issues, I wondered why these things were never talked about in church. How could we Elders of Israel save our inspired Constitution if would we never even discussed it? I then began a six-year crusade to wake people, especially the LDS, to their awful situation. This did not go well. It seemed that the only time you could get away with talking about Constitutional principles at church was at the Fourth of July sacrament meeting.
During this six-year period, I became involved in the Constitutional movement, hanging out with LDS and non-LDS people that were similarly dedicated to putting the nation back on its original foundation. Through some of these people I was exposed to more early LDS teachings, along with The Book of Isaiah and The Last Days, by Avraham Gileadi. I began to realize that the LDS Church was not emphasizing, and in some cases, was totally repudiating the early principles taught in the church. As much as I tried to explain away this condition, the more I saw it was happening.
Meanwhile, the LDS Church had changed the temple ceremony. As soon as I attended my first post-change endowment session, I knew in my heart the changes were wrong. It made no sense to me to change things that previously had been so strictly abided. When I tried to understand why the changes were made, all I could get were conflicting stories from Salt Lake City.
By 1995 or so, I had come to the conclusion that the LDS Church needed a reformation of sorts and someone to stand up for the principles that my ancestors had believed in and lived. I figured that the Lord would inspire someone high in the church to shake the church to its core and return to the original teachings. I knew that meant a lot of the members would freak out and leave, but I also knew it would ultimately be for the best. So, I decided to keep doing what little I could in the meantime to wake people up.
As time went on, however, it became obvious that the leadership was simply trying to say things to please the world. Whenever I mentioned this to my more radical LDS friends, they just replied that the church had to take it easy about certain subjects, so as not to upset the vast, worldwide missionary effort. To me, though, it never made sense to water down doctrine just to get more members. In the scriptures, prophets boldly declared the truth and defended the faith at all costs, and never equivocated. I longed to be among such prophets again. Anyway, one day in early 1997, while searching for the dates of the Manti Pageant, my wife came upon the TLC website. Life again took a distinct turn. After studying the website and realizing that the True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days taught all of the original precepts from the fore part of the dispensation, we decided that we should go to Manti to attend the two-day seminar known as "The Models".
We came here in June of 1997, where we met Jim Harmston, along with many other TLC members. It was rather strange at first, not having been exposed to many polygamists in my life. And some of the things taught in the Models were certainly different from LDS Gospel Doctrine classes. I came here to be fed a little meat, but Harmston stuffed a half of a side of beef down my throat. At first I considered some of the teachings to be crazy, but afterwards I got down on my knees and asked Father if it was true, and got the strongest witness from the Holy Ghost in my life. Later, as I studied and thought more about it, the more irked I became that I hadn't figured a lot of it out before, and the more I felt deceived by the LDS Church.
The LDS people have spent at least 100 years rejecting the original teachings that separated them from standard Christianity, such as Adam-God doctrine, consecration and Celestial Plural Marriage. In their desire to eliminate persecution, most of the leaders from 1890 until now have simply ignored or repudiated much of the early doctrine, besides changing nearly every ordinance in one way or another. These days, for instance, Gordon Hinckley seems almost embarrassed by the "As man is, God once was; as God is, man can become" doctrine, brushing it off as a mere "couplet". This teaching has always been central to Mormon thought, first publicly introduced in Joseph Smith's King Follett discourse.
The truth is the truth, folks. The stuff that Joseph Smith taught and was martyred for is true. The stuff that Brigham Young taught for 30 years after coming west is true. Don't let the current LDS revisionism fool you! The 1830 restoration was the reestablishment of the House of Israel, and an attempt at creating a Zion society, as had the prophet Enoch. Unfortunately, the LDS people did not stick to it. They didn't sever their ties to Babylon and didn't continue with those teachings that would make them the Lord's peculiar people. They have refused to gather together and live revealed truth. They have rejected God, plain and simple. Read Approaching Zion, by Hugh Nibley, and see if the LDS have stood up to the standards the Lord expects.
They have not, and that's why the Lord, in His infinite wisdom, had to orchestrate this re-restoration of the gospel, and call out a remnant to repent and return to ALL of the original principles. And that's why I gathered here, to help do His work. The LDS Church blew its chance to establish Zion, and God has passed it by. The Fullness of the Gospel is only taught here in Manti by the Lord's servant and prophet, James D. Harmston. He holds the keys, not Gordon Hinckley. He is the man placed on the earth at this time to lead the final gathering of the Elect. If you are God's Elect, let the words of this website burn into your hearts, for, strange as it may seem, Manti is the place, and now is the time. The events foretold of for the last 6,000 years are about to come to pass, even the cleansing of the wicked and the establishment of Zion, where Christ will rule and reign during the Millennium.
You may think we're just a bunch of wacky apostates. You may think we're just some ex-LDS chewing on sour grapes. That certainly is your prerogative. But, before you write us off as just another pack of sex-crazed "polygs," examine the rest of this website, and then just ask yourself one simple question, "Which church is closer to the original teachings of Joseph, Brigham, Heber, et al - the LDS or the TLC?” Then get on your knees and ask your Father, with real intent, if this work is true. And after you get the witness of the Holy Ghost that the TLC is the Strange Act of the Lord in these last days before the Millennium, go read the Sixth Lecture on Faith. Prepare yourself! Your cherished little comfort zone is about to get a whole lot less comfortable. And that's as it should be.
Awake and Arise! The Bridegroom Approaches!
I leave this testimony with you in the name of Adam, our Father and God, His Only Begotten, our Savior Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost/Witness-Testator. Amen.
Tim O'Keefe