The Valley’s FLDS Community: "We are seeking to be peaceful and law abiding and pleasant people"
 
By Shanna Lewis
Wet Mountain Tribune - Westcliffe, Colorado
 
Just like most folks who move to the Wet Mountain Valley, commercial contractor Lee Steed likes the small town atmosphere and enjoys the beauty of the surrounding mountains. But unlike most people, the news that the Steed family and others were living here generated controversy because they’re members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints.

The Wet Mountain Tribune asked Steed and a local FLDS woman to talk about life here in the Valley and other issues related to the FLDS community in this area. The woman asked not to be identified, so the pseudonym Elizabeth Smith will be used for this story.

Steed bought and renovated a large house in the Bull Domingo area almost three years ago. He says it is now occupied by his family, along with some elderly widows and their caregivers.

"They are here to hopefully not be persecuted and that’s why we’re here. I was privileged to help them find a place that would give them some peace," said Steed.

When asked about their experience so far in the Valley Smith said, "we’ve had some very kind and friendly neighbors who have been nothing but cheerful and respectful."

Steed said, "I’ve never had a negative experience until the crusaders showed up, but there are some wonderful people in the Valley."

Speaking about the group that formed in reaction to the presence of the FLDS members here Steed said, "I appreciate their concern and their wanting to help, but they need to help someone who wants to be helped. I feel bad that maybe we’ve been painted with a broad brush. The people that have had the most problem with the FLDS are the people who know the least about them. I do not know any of the individuals involved. They’ve never met any of us, so whatever information they’ve gathered they’ve gathered on their own - from whatever sources they’ve chosen," said Steed.

The local FLDS members have their own concerns.

"That we will have the freedom to worship God according to our own conscience and that the local authorities will uphold freedoms for everyone," said Steed, "how do I call the sheriff when I need help if he’s stated that he wants me to move out? I don’t know that that’s how he feels but that’s what the article said in the paper. We need the same protection granted to all other people in the community and I believe that he is doing that."

Smith believes that if people can get past the rumors and hear the truth then things will change. "We really do believe that the Lord can touch their hearts to see that we really are just good people, honest people who just want to live quietly and by our convictions and that we are worthy of the protection of the locals, even perhaps their admiration by living clean and pure," she said.

Regarding future plans in this area, Steed said that they are remodeling another home in the south part of the Valley with the intention of settling three more widows and a caregiver family there. Other than that, he has no plans for the vacant land that he owns other than cutting hay on it.

"No one new has moved into the area in quite some time so the fears of us taking over the place are quite unfounded," said Steed.

Also he said that they don’t really have any contact with FLDS members who reside in neighboring communities.

He did note that he has either resolved or is resolving the zoning violations cited on the Bull Domingo property earlier this year.

Steed also said that there aren’t any FLDS members on welfare in Custer County and that they do their best to take care of their own.

"We are seeking to be peaceful and law abiding and pleasant people. The Mormon creed is to mind your own business. We like to live by our convictions and let others do the same," said Smith.

The Tribune asked Steed and Smith to talk about their experiences as members of the FLDS community.

Smith said she grew up on Bible stories in a large and loving plural household.

"I wouldn’t trade it for the world," she said, "It just feels like there’s more people to love you, more people pulling for you."

Steed agreed, saying that he thinks that having many siblings and more than one mother provided a fuller family experience and that everyone supported and loved each other.

They also both feel that appointed or arranged marriages can be just as successful if not more so than relationships where individuals find their own partners.

Steed said he knows very little about the issue of underage girls being married to older men within the FLDS community but he believes that if it happens it is a rare occurrence.

"There’s good and bad wherever you go," he said, "it’s like judging a whole people off of what a few do."

Force is not used when it comes to marriage or other aspects of life in the FLDS community, according to Smith.

"There is no place for force in our religion; it is absolutely against everything we believe," said Smith, "many of the things that are shouted about our people as the worst things are exactly opposite of the truth of what’s allowed. You would not be allowed to stay a member of the faith if you participated in things that we are accused of."

They said that no one is forced out of the FLDS community but that they choose to behave in ways that they no longer fit in and become disaffected with the community.

"Don’t believe everything you hear because there’s both fact and fiction out there," said Smith, "if you could find out the truth, you’d have more of an admiration for the religion and the god we serve than a fear or a distaste and a dislike."

Both Steed and Smith said that they think that former FLDS church leader Warren S. Jeffs has been wrongly accused.

"To me he is the most Christlike man on earth. I choose to feel that because I have watched his life and he has lived to the best of his abilities to love and serve others. I don’t think that everything in this world is exactly the way it’s portrayed and certainly we have a legal system that is not perfect. I will leave it at that," said Steed.

"I love our prophet Warren Jeffs with all my heart, I do. He is accused wrongly and suffers for all mankind," said Smith.

Although both Steed and Smith have met Jeffs they said they had no knowledge of Jeffs ever being in the Wet Mountain Valley.

— Shanna Lewis

FLDS church has been in national news spotlight in recent months

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints has been in the national news a number of times recently.

Perhaps best known as one of the largest polygamist groups in the country, the FLDS church is not recognized by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints, commonly called the Mormon or LDS church.

Worldwide the LDS church claims well over 13 million members, while total FLDS members are thought to number between 10,000 and 40,000.

Earlier this year in April, federal authorities raided a large FLDS community in Eldorado, Texas, and took some 440 children into custody because of allegations of the forced marriage of underage girls.

Since then over half the child custody cases have been dropped and the courts have said that the children in these cases can live safely with their parents.

Warren Jeffs, the spiritual leader of the FLDS, is currently serving a prison sentence after being convicted in late 2007 of being an accomplice to rape in connection with ordering the marriage of a 14-year-old girl to her 19-year-old cousin.

Historically the largest FLDS communities have been located in the adjacent towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz.

Besides the very small FLDS population in Custer County, the area is also home to a fairly large Mennonite community, a growing Amish community and other religious denominations.
 
WetMountainTribune.com
Originally published September 18, 2008
 
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