To Trust In Man (Part 9)

Author's note: The following post is part of a series dealing with my experiences in the Jeffrey Lundgren cult and what I learned from those experiences. My hope is that my story will teach others the importance of listening to the voice of God within for their answers. Peace. cse

New Faces

After graduating from college with a BA in psychology, I applied to be a tour guide at the historic Kirtland Temple in beautiful northeastern Ohio once again for the summer of 1987 and was accepted. I was happy to be back in Kirtland with the ability to hear more of Jeff Lundgren's teachings, this time with my husband Brian in tow. It was my hope that Brian would begin to understand my interest in Jeff's vision with more exposure to his teachings.
 
In many ways the visitors center was the same as when I had last worked there. The same retired couple was still there running the Temple. Jeff and his wife Alice were also still on the full time staff. As for the three summer guides I had worked with the summer of l985, two of them were now permanent residents in Kirtland although they no longer served as tour guides. My other male coworker from the previous summer did not return. It was hinted at by Jeff and Alice there were reasons for that. Apparently, money had turned up missing from the visitors center the last summer I had worked there. Summer guides were no longer responsible for helping with gift shop purchases.
 
That summer saw several additions in staff. There were two more males and one other female who had been hired as historic interpreters for the summer besides myself. The girl was a friend who had lived on my floor in the dorm before I was married. The males I had to get to know, but again we all seemed to get along fairly well. Another wonderful addition was that of a retired couple from Oklahoma who had joined the visitors center as year round staff. They were sweet and extremely eager to share the church's history with the people who came to Kirtland. I became quite fond of them as I found out we had some family and friend connections through our church.
 
Most importantly, I was back where I could share in regular scripture studies and learn some of the wonderful things Jeff had learned in my time away. So much had already happened. So much was happening now. I was ready to help "establish the cause of Zion"--a cause that was to draw me ever closer to the edge of reason.

Story continues at: http://cocoontobutterfly.blogspot.com/2011/03/to-trust-in-man-part-10.html 
 
*(For more information on this incident, one of the best books written is Prophet of Death. the Mormon Blood-Atonement Killings by Pete Earley. It's very detailed and uncomfortably graphic, but he did his research well. Earley gets to the heart of why Jeff and his followers acted as they did, without bias. Also, A&E did a segment of their show American Justice on this topic: American Justice: The Cult Murders.)