Stolen Innocence - Lisa Pulitzer [103]
Our hearts were even heavier when the sad truth became evident, Uncle Rulon was to be buried in the ground and Uncle Warren would be delivering the graveside dedication. Not only was his casket closed, but it also was going to be covered beneath six feet of earth. I stood paralyzed in fear, worrying that by burying the prophet, he would never be able to get out. And looking around at the distraught mourners I was certain that I was not alone in my concern. Nevertheless, we were made to believe that he would soon be among us again and we were to wait. As the casket was lowered and the final benediction delivered, the entire community stood in expectation until Uncle Fred finally instructed us to go home.
The Monday following the prophet’s funeral, Warren assembled the congregation, declaring in his sermon, “I say to the people, hands off the prophet’s family.” This made it clear to us all his father’s wives would not be married off. And he would continue to supervise them. In the days after the former prophet Leroy S. Johnson’s death, men in the community put pressure on Uncle Rulon to marry off his young wives. I had heard that those women had effectively been put on the “auction block” for some of the prominent FLDS men. Standing in front of the whole congregation, Warren assured us that this would not happen to Uncle Rulon’s wives. The statement confused many of us because we believed the prophet would be coming back. If the prophet was indeed returning, there was no need to reassign his wives.
As the days stretched into weeks, the hushed speculation about the prophet’s renewal and return began to fade, and to our eventual realization, we remained on earth without our prophet.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
FALSE PROPHET
Your only real family are [sic] the members of the priesthood who are faithful to our prophet.
—WARREN JEFFS
The weeks after the prophet’s passing were an uneasy time for the FLDS. The prophet was never supposed to die, and now that he had, Warren did his best to maintain control. Confused and desperate to know what was next, everybody attended all three of our weekly church meetings. In the past, only the Sunday service was mandatory, with Saturday’s work project attended mostly by the men of the community and the Monday-morning meeting, a lighter service of song and prayer, attracting fewer people.
Even I attended the Saturday meeting on September 22, hoping to gain new information that might help to restore my sense of security. Warren was at the pulpit as he’d been for several years, but on this day, his message subtly started to change.
“I pray the Lord will honor our prophet’s prayer,” he began. “This is the word of God, and I yearn to give Father’s message.”
He started preaching that his father actually had been “lifted up and renewed,” but that it hadn’t happened in the physical sense as it had always been predicted. It had been a spiritual renewal. As the weeks went on, Warren continued to imply that the prophet was always around even though his body was nowhere to be seen.
“Can you feel the prophet’s love?” Warren asked us at another meeting. “Father is just in the next room,” he again assured us. “I can feel him close. He is speaking through me. Live as though he is still walking among us. He is among the people and working with us still.” To these words of comfort he added: “There are experiences ahead of us. Tests and judgments that only the pure in heart will be able to endure.”
At the time, I was far too indoctrinated to recognize that Uncle Warren was priming us for his formal succession. Although he had always vehemently taught the beliefs of our faith and the prophecies of our future, I think he must have known the truth: his father was a mortal man who would remain buried just like everyone else. Thus he had to reprogram the people to accept a new interpretation of the prophet’s death, an interpretation that would allow him to take full control of everything. Looking back on it now, I see that the crazy explanation of the prophet’s