One sunny day, Debbie was outside helping with the wash. The wringer was broken, so her blouse was soaked from wringing wet clothes by hand. Unexpectedly, Anna Mae appeared from around the corner of the house, out of breath from her three-block walk. Debbie cringed when she saw her, knowing she would once again be the victim of Anna Mae’s bullying and coercive tactics.
Anna Mae’s bright smile softened Debbie’s nervousness. She continued rinsing her laundry as Anna Mae spoke. “You’ve got to come with me right now,” she informed Debbie.
“I can’t. I’m too busy.”
“No, it’s urgent. Ervil sent me to get you.”
Though perturbed and feeling imposed upon, Debbie obediently accompanied Anna Mae back to her house. She had no idea she was being led like a lamb to the slaughter. During their walk, Anna Mae praised her, affirming her unusual beauty and confidence, trying to impress upon her supple mind how God was going to use her for a mighty purpose. Debbie’s heart sank further with each step she took.
“I’m willing to do what God wants as long as he doesn’t want me to marry Ervil.”
“Ervil’s not that bad,” Anna Mae said defensively. She opened her screen door, allowing Debbie to enter first. Debbie’s heart skipped a beat. She knew she was trapped when Ervil and Dan rose from the sofa.
Debbie, too frozen with fear, didn’t have the courage to reject Ervil’s embrace.
“You pretty little thing! God loves obedience. And he’s the one who has called you here today!” Debbie looked around frantically for a way to escape what she knew was coming.
Ervil saw her eyes darting around the room and took her face in his hands.
“I’ve asked Brother Dan to carry out God’s plans today,” he said. “You see, Debbie, God made known to me quite some time ago that you are to join my family. You have been singled out and chosen above anyone else to be one of my three united wives. I need three special wives to advance the kingdom. Only Anna Mae, Kristina, and now you will qualify.”
Tears of anger, shock, and disappointment streamed down Debbie’s pretty face. “I don’t want to marry you,” she yelled out in despair. “I don’t love you. Why don’t you get the point?”
“Ah, but you don’t need to love me. We’re not out to fulfill our own wishes and desires. Don’t you want to please the Lord?” he asked, concerned. “I’m surprised myself, Debbie, that God asked both of us to obey him in this matter. I sent for you because God told me this morning that he wanted me to marry you right now.”
Shaken, Debbie managed to say, “Please don’t make me do it!”
Anna Mae put her arms around the girl’s trembling body, but her words held no comfort as she spoke. “Debbie, just marry Ervil. You don’t need to worry. God is not expecting you to have sex with him until you feel like it.”
Horrified and utterly confused, and without her parents to protect her, Debbie realized she had no other recourse than to comply. Embarrassed to be seen in her wet blouse, however, she grasped for a last straw. “Look at me! I look terrible! I can’t get married looking like this.”
But Dan ignored her comments. He began the ceremony anyway, hoping she would calm down. “Do you, Sister Anna Mae, take Debbie by the right hand and give her to your husband to be his lawful and wedded wife for time and all eternity?”
Anna Mae exuded excitement and joy. She not only gave her consent willingly, she was overjoyed that she’d been used by God to snare Debbie into Ervil’s fold. She assuaged her guilt by thinking about her future glory.
Debbie didn’t grasp a word of the ceremony. She blocked out Dan’s voice, feeling nervous and praying to God that she wouldn’t faint. Her sweaty, small hand seemed lost in Ervil’s huge grasp. Dan’s words crushed her, and she knew she was trapped forever.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife with the right to come forth on the morning of the first resurrection.” With those words, Dan finished speaking.
Ervil bent down and forced a kiss on Debbie’s unresponsive lips as she turned her head away from him. Her abhorrence intensified at the stench of his breath. She wanted to die. The grave held more appeal than eternal life with Ervil. If he was her heavenly prize, she hoped there would be no resurrection.
* * *
WITHIN THE YEAR, Ervil set his sights on yet another potential wife. Tall, willowy Rosemary seemed distanced from her husband, Ralph Barlow, from the day they arrived in Zion. When she told me they no longer shared a marital bed, I realized why she acted so aloof whenever he was around. She was the one woman I knew who was relieved when her husband was out of her sight. She also told me that from the very beginning of her marriage she had known Ralph was not a leader. She despised his quiet, docile demeanor, judging him to be weak. The two never really communicated on any sort of deep level, yet their marriage had produced five children. As I observed the Barlow kids, I saw evidence of emotional neglect, apparently due to Rosemary’s inability to decide that divorcing Ralph would be justified. Her answer soon came in a women’s meeting.
When Ervil explained to the group of women about men not measuring up, being less than useful in the Kingdom of God, Rosemary felt Ervil was speaking directly to her. She felt compelled to ask for a divorce. Her sights were set on the kingdom, and she needed a qualified, godly man to help prepare her for Christ’s imminent return. She was drawn, not only to Ervil’s profound counsel, but to Ervil himself. Soon she became extremely interested in Ervil’s teachings. She asked him to come to her house, where she’d feed him a good meal. There he could give her “personalized” instruction, helping her to better understand the “civil law.” Soon, I noticed Ervil sneaking over to Rosemary’s at all hours, day and night. When I confronted her about it, quoting the Bible verse that tells us “to shun the very appearance of evil,” she secretly confessed that she had been sealed to Ervil for all eternity.
When Ralph returned from Utah to visit his wife and children, he was completely devastated when Rosemary informed him that she had married Ervil. My heart went out to Ralph because Rosemary was all he had. He shed tears of agony to me the night before his final departure. Fearing Ervil’s death threats, and afraid his body would be used for compost, he never returned.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Brother Thomas Hardman from southern Utah—unmarried, in his sixties—arrived at the colony after his miraculous conversion. Years earlier, he felt he had received a promise from God that he would one day be acquainted with the One Mighty and Strong. When Joel identified himself, Hardman’s prayers were answered. He filled up his dilapidated motor home with gas and headed to Mexico to be among the chosen few.
Once he was set up in the colony, he invited the townspeople and their children over for hotcakes. He’d cook up a storm, feeding all who straggled in. Members sat outside on several folding chairs or on the tailgates of their trucks while they ate. The kids in town loved him. He’d watch for them to come by and then invite them inside for candies.
Soon after gaining trust from the saints, he began to prey upon several children. He promised two eight-year-old girls—one of Earl Jensen’s young daughters and one of mine—sweets if they’d wash his dishes. Within a few weeks, Hardman invited the innocent girls to lie down to take a nap, offering them more candy. Sandwiched between the two small girls, he put his hands in their panties, fondling them simultaneously. His bathrobe conveniently open, revealing his nakedness, frightened them. The girls broke away, running for home as fast as they could go.
As usual, Earl was not in town. His job in the States kept him away, typically two weeks at a time. When he returned home, his daughter reported the incident. Earl went ballistic. He would not tolerate a man molesting his daughter. Infuriated, and with his .45 in hand, he jumped into his car and raced off to Brother Hardman’s motor home. The moment he pulled up, he bounded out of his idling vehicle and kicked open the metal door. “Mr. Bathrobe” sprang to his feet, but before he made it to the door, Earl forced his way in. With his .45 cocked and aimed right between
the offender’s eyes, Earl didn’t wait for any explanations. “I’ll give you until five o’clock tonight to leave town,” he threatened angrily.
Fearful and guilty, pulling tight his bathrobe to cover himself, the man stuttered, “Okay! Okay! I’ll-I’ll leave. I-I promise.”
Earl settled that problem in a hurry. He could barely endure patriarchs and prophets, let alone a pedophile!
Though Earl believed that Joel was a prophet, he nevertheless wondered about him. He had willingly accepted Joel as his spiritual leader, hoping that soon he and his family would be taken into the clouds to meet Christ at his Second Coming. He believed Joel’s revelation “that my people might be prepared to be caught unto the clouds while fire and brimstone are rained upon the face of the whole earth to the utter destruction of the wicked and ungodly.”
Never having had a conversation with God himself and learning that Joel had, Earl held him in high esteem. His only gripe had been Joel’s lack of control over the new church. Joel seemed to let Ervil have full rein, and Earl resented it. He began to question the leadership, especially when Joel did not reprimand or punish Ervil for some of his blunders. He wondered if Joel was a prophet or a puppet. Earl wanted clarification.
Joel soon convinced Earl that God would assure their success. So, during the church conference on April 3, 1966, Joel formally organized the church. Joel held the office of first grand head prophet, Ervil that of patriarch, and Alma that of the presiding bishop. Joel, Earl Jensen, and John Butchereit were the first presidency. Then, twelve men became the Quorum of Twelve apostles, and twelve others the High Council. Enthusiasm surged through the church and Joel’s leadership was fully acclaimed.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Joel’s Church of the Firstborn tried to practice the Mormon version of the United Order. The idea behind it was to create equality of income, eliminate poverty, help make the group more self-sufficient, and prepare the community for the millennium. Eventually people who joined the church would consecrate all their property to the United Order. The order would then deed back a “stewardship,” which gave control of that part of the property to the member who had given it. Then, at the end of the year, any excess the member or family produced from that property was voluntarily returned to the order. On a more practical level, living the United Order meant that for a while we shared all things in common.
Upon learning about our economic system, several Mexicans converted. The sting of their constant poverty encouraged them to believe in the new social system. Wages in Mexico were only eight pesos (one American dollar) a day. The small number of American converts could hardly comprehend subsisting on such meager wages, but we were glad to welcome all new converts. Four of these men were long-lost brothers of Mauro Gutierrez, whom he had convinced to follow him in this new religious adventure.
Joel had designated Alma as bishop over the economics of the church, in fact, theoretically over the whole world. Bishop Alma wrote vouchers each week, giving every family an equal amount of money. Alma had arranged for the vouchers to be redeemed in Casas Grandes at a large mercantile. The owner of the Madrigal de la Luz felt very fortunate to oblige. He anticipated making a windfall. When Alma explained that the church would pay the bill monthly, he agreed, undoubtedly thinking his dealings with Americans would be to his advantage. However, there were no businesses in the colony; therefore most of the Mexican converts worked the land of the LeBarons. It had been anticipated that the church tithes would supply enough to pay the bills, but it didn’t take long for the store owner in Casas Grandes to see that he had been duped.
While the Mexican converts enjoyed the economic benefits of living in the colony, they became incensed when they discovered they were not allowed to marry any Caucasian women, but their own daughters were being coerced into marrying the gringos.
To address the contention and unrest, Ervil held separate meetings for the Spanish-speaking members in which he read from the Book of Mormon principles he felt they could not refute. For example, he showed them 1 Nephi 12:23: “And it came to pass that I beheld, after they had dwindled in unbelief they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.”
Brother Paisano, a new convert from Puebla near Mexico City, threw such a fit when Ervil read that verse that it riled up the whole Spanish-speaking group. Ervil did not want a riot on his hands. He listened to the opposing voices. Many expressed their anger; they said they resented that Ervil was treating them unfairly, as though they were second-class citizens. They felt threatened in their own land.
Another man also made a fuss. “You LeBaron brothers—you have all married our native women, but what about us? It’s not right! You said we’d all be treated equally in Zion. No one is to have that which is above another.”
(Indeed Verlan later married two Mexican women, Brother Paisano’s daughter Beverly and Fernando Castro’s daughter Esther, who became his fourth and fifth wives.)
Ervil continued his sermonizing, and eventually the men were forced to accept the fact that their women would be used by God to further his plan to produce “white and delightsome” children for the Kingdom of God.
Eventually Ervil quieted the commotion by asking Brother Paisano to remain for a private conversation with him after the meeting was adjourned.
Two days later, I was surprised when Ervil invited me to a private wedding. He explained how he’d conceded on this special occasion by allowing Brother Paisano to marry a white sixteen-year-old girl.
Furious, I protested. “How can you change your mind about the Lamanites’ not marrying our people?”
“Ahhh . . . you don’t understand. This is the lesser of two evils. Sometimes God changes his mind for the good of the people.”
At the wedding, Eileen clung to her father’s hand for support. She was embarrassed that she stood six inches taller than her soon-to-be-husband. Her mother and I sat nearby listening to Ervil rattle on and on in Spanish. Paisano’s first wife, Julia, was home sobbing, on the verge of a breakdown.
Ervil began his long sermon. Invariably he expounded the scriptures boisterously, claiming that every word he spoke came from God. Eileen blushed as he praised her, sometimes in English because her Spanish was so minimal. He enlightened her, explaining how she had been chosen to marry among the Lamanites. He smiled with satisfaction. “We’ll become, as 1 Nephi 21:23 says, nursing fathers and mothers to them.” He laughed and then crudely joked, “Soon you’ll fulfill that literally when you have a child.” Eileen turned beet red, and, ashamed for Ervil, I wanted to crawl under the rug.
Both Eileen’s father and mother looked so very sad. Her mother whispered to me, looking for reassurance I think, “She doesn’t understand much Spanish. I hope she’ll be okay.” Nodding toward the groom, she asked, “He’s at least in his mid-forties, isn’t he?”
“Yes, and his first wife has eight children,” I whispered back to her.
A few days later, from my yard I could see Brother Paisano yelling angrily at the top of his lungs. I walked over to him, wondering why he was causing all that commotion. As I approached I looked toward where he was gesturing wildly. Eileen was playing baseball on a vacant lot with a group of teenagers. Frightened by Brother Paisano’s anger, the kids stopped the game. Eileen had barely made it to second base.
“What’s the problem?” I asked.
He shook his finger in my face, raging, “You tell my wife to get home immediately. She has no right to be playing with her friends. She is a married woman now, and I want respect!”
I immediately came to her defense. Though my Spanish wasn’t perfect, I knew he would understand. “She’s young. You can’t impose those kinds of restrictions on an immature girl like that.”
He cut me off as Eileen approached us, frightened by his agitated demeanor. “What does he want?” she asked tearfully.
He grabbed her by her arm, forcing her back to the one-room adobe hut he’d borrowed for her to live in.
&nb
sp; Her shame at being led like a child plus her ignorance of what she’d actually gotten herself into broke my heart. I thought how fortunate Eileen was that she couldn’t understand a word of his ranting.
A few weeks later I asked my friend Linda if she knew how Eileen was doing. “Oh, her parents got her out of the situation. They rescued her and fled back to the States.”
I wanted to jump for joy. I couldn’t voice it, but I wished my parents would have rescued me.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Shortly after the missionaries arrived from France, they established a private school named after Alma Dayer LeBaron. Stephen Silver became the administrator. No building was available, so classes were held in the church, which was actually a large ranch-style home built by Bruce Wakeham. The Caucasians who attended the school soon learned to speak Spanish fluently, and the Mexican students were delighted to learn English.
As in any school, the students complained regularly about the strict teachers and rules. However, the administrators eased up at least a little bit and allowed the students to hold dances on the weekend.
Of course, even by 1960s standards, these dances were old-fashioned. The Twist, the Hand Jive, and the Stroll were nowhere to be seen. For that matter, neither were the Charleston, the Lindy Hop, or the Fox-trot. No, a person had to look back a century or two to find the steps permitted at our school’s dances: the Virginia Reel, the Scottish Polka, and the John Paul Jones. Previously, all waltzes had been banned as part of a hands-off policy that was issued to prevent promiscuity. Finally, one waltz was tolerated as the final dance of the night, but God help the man who danced too close to a woman. Chaperones strictly enforced the “twelve inches of light between couples” rule, and those who broke it were asked to sit down and forfeit the final dance.
Cult Insanity Page 12
