The words of Warren Jeffs
 
Vancouver Sun
 
From a Home Economics Class in December, 1997 lesson titled: Teaching children before they are born.

"A mother has the responsibility for the housework and for children. You should start long before the baby is born. A mother will take proper pains to teach the children the first principles of the gospel."

"If the mother does not teach her child properly in those first few years the sins of the children will be on the head of the mother, not the father."

"It is the mother's duty to teach the children that everything in the home belongs to father, and that all that you are doing in the home is to build up father. (Mothers) say, "This is what father wants," and she is always turning the children to those over her."

"But even though everything belongs to father, we must teach the children to respect each other's possessions."

"Brigham Young names one weakness in women....When they get married they are always wanting to party, or go visiting, attend socials, do everything except the training of their children, and that is why so many children have struggles and fail, because the mother attends to everything but this duty of working with the children. And ladies, this is your mission. It is the greatest mission given to women to bring forth children and raise them in light and truth."


From another home economics class in November 1997:

"The fullness of the gospel is celestial and plural marriage lived in the spirit of the Holy United Order."

"A man must enter into the new and everlasting covenant of marriage. If a man does not do this, he cannot enter the kingdom. A faithful priest must have faithful wives in order to raise a family. Women must have a faithful husband. We cannot go to the kingdom on our own. This holy ordinance binds women to a man in such a manner that they are to be one. He is their Lord and as he is like God, he is God over them and they are to love and build him up and as a result will bring children unto the Lord."

"A man must have more than one wife, the women must be married to one husband."

"We are at the end of the 6000 years. Zion will come in the seventh. At the end of the millennium the earth will die and turn into a sun and only celestial people will be resurrected. How will this be accomplished? It will be accomplished through this law of celestial and plural marriage lived in the spirit of the United Order."

"Our heavenly father trusts a man according to how he gets married.....eternal life is only for those who enter into the law of celestial and plural marriage."

"Do not hold on to your friendships with other girls, because then you will fall short of your eternal blessings. If you hold on to friendship with your girlfriends you will not love your sister wives. Your sister wives must be your best friends because they are part of your husband. Your preparation for this is in your father's home. A girl learns to love all her mothers. And you must love every mother and call them 'Mother.' Don't date secretly with boys, you're just tricking yourself, ladies. You want a husband who is close to the prophet. A girl who wants eternal life will want this kind of man. You must be a family in heaven, you can't get there alone, so don't play around with your eternal salvation, turn to the prophet who can read the hearts of the men. The prophet will lead you to a man who will exalt you, and when temptation comes into your mind you must pray to the Prophet."

"You are the most favoured girls on earth. Keep yourselves clean."


From April 1998

"Home Economics and family planning class on April 3, 1998

Jeffs opens by saying, "You should be grateful, young ladies, grateful the Lord has sent you to build up Zion by bringing forth children."

"Ladies, suppose you marry a man with another wife or wives. The family is already used to their doing things a certain way and then you come in. You have to come in as a little child and be humble and submissive, and learn the ways of that husband and that family. If a sister-wife speaks up and says, "Husband, she doesn't know this or that", or says to the wife herself, "This is how WE do it," and maybe they won't be so pleasant....that's because their own feelings aren't right in themselves, and then there might rise in you certain emotions. You thought people would treat you kind and suddenly here's a hard word, or an insinuation. You're just learning to get close to that man you don't know very well, and that is why you must have the fight of faith. You have to have the fight of faith! The surety that you have is that you know your marriage is appointed of God through the Prophet. That gives the anchor to your soul. It is God's will. He will help you and you will conquer your feelings."

"It is true there is a curse upon the woman that is not upon the man, namely, that her whole affection shall be towards her husband, and what is next? That he shall rule over you! But how is it now? Your desire is to your husband, but you strive to rule over him, whereas the man should rule over you."

"Knowing you're pleasing your husband, your head, brings you a heaven."

"It is true the holy spirit flows to women through the priesthood, but if a man was to prove unfaithful [to the prophet] a woman does not have to go to hell with him. She can connect herself with the Prophet. When a woman whose husband has proved unfaithful is sealed to another man, she takes her children with her. The children automatically become the children of that new father. That is how strong and powerful the sealing is. It is stronger than the blood connection. In the patriarchal line those sons will belong to that good father. The daughters to have an exaltation will go on and be sealed to a good man. And that is what you should be praying for, ladies. You need a testimony of your own concerning the prophets.

"Your testimony will be tested by how you get married. If you exert your faith and obedience so the Lord can speak through the Prophet on your behalf, that will give you an anchor to your soul, that whatever you go through in that new family you know you are doing the will of God in overcoming the dross within."

"A man can only have and hold a woman as his wife if he has the priesthood. If a man loses the priesthood his family is automatically released. Automatically, the wives are released. They automatically should go to the Prophet for their directions, and in time, according to the Lord's will, be placed beside another good priest of men."

"There's a fine line in this, ladies.The reality of our family is that all our children belong to the prophet. You ladies do also, as far as the Lord placing you where you belong. You have been offered the celestial law and you've also been offered training in how you must be after you're married."
 
canada.com
Originally published Friday, September 7, 2007
 
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