Surgery & Census

So the event that had most impact on me this year was the DVT (blood clot in my left leg). They gave me some really sexy compression stockings that really made me feel like a woman and had me on meds.

When none of these worked and it became evident that the clot was travelling up my leg, they decided to try the "aggressive treatment", as they termed it. This involved an outpatient procedure of sticking a wire through my vein, breaking up the clot, and sucking it out. Then they would go through my groin (ouch!), install a filter in my vein that would prevent any clots from travelling to my heart or lungs.

I was really nervous about this procedure. Seven years previous, I had a procedure that had required me to be put out. When I came out of the procedure, I was trying to be funny with the nurses. Temple said that my version of "funny" was really vulgar. As a result, I have a deep phobia of - not surgery - but anesthesia.

The doctors assured me that I would be awake and able to function during the procedure.

"Will I be coherent?" I asked.

"Yes, but you won't care," they answered.

They rolled me into the room, administered the anesthesia, and it was kind of pleasant. I just kind of kicked back and made chit-chat with the surgeons. I even napped a while, snoring softly. When they wheeled me back into the recovery room, Martha was waiting for me. I made morew chit-chat with the nurse. I talked a little bit about Temple. Later, Martha told me, "I can't believe that you talked about Temple!"

I told her, "I never mentioned who Temple was, though."

Recovery was a slow process. My legs were still swollen and stiff. I had a enormous, purple bruise on my inner thigh where they had inserted the screen. But I started to get better.

Two weeks after my surgery, I got a phone call from Census Bureau, offering me a job. Since I had no other prospects (a hotel job in Tennesse had fallen through), I accepted. I had done three of the four major phases of the Census 2000, ao I kind of knew what to expect. Training proved that the job was basically the same as I remembered it.

Basically, I loved the job. Imagine cruising down dirt roads through Arizona's beautiful backcountry - Greer, Springerville, Eagar, Vernon, St. Johns and Concho. These are the areas I worked. It was totally enjoyable - except for a few things.

Being a Census Bureau employee during the Obama Administration was much different than ten years ago. People treated you like you were Obama himself knocking at your door. People did not want to cooperate, refused to answer questions, slammed doors in your face, told you how much they hated the government. One worker even received death threats.

And when these people refused to cooperate, the Bureau would send you out to them again.

At one point, a Census representative from D.C. came out to Arizona, and she was going to be riding with a worker. My supervisor put her with me.

"I want you to take her down the roughest roads possible," he said. "I want you to find the meanest people and possibly have a gun pulled on you. I want you to show her what it is we deal with out here."

.

So they put the Census Rep with me. She was a smart, pretty twentysomething right out of college. I bounced her around down 20 miles of dirt road to a homestead I had found. I was sure the people did not want to be found. It turned out the people were friendly.

.

The only problem with working Census not money. I got paid well. The mileage reimbursement was also good. But I beat the heck up outof my car. Those dirt roads were not kind on a sedan. My car went into the shop twice - once with a punctured transmission pan, and again with a damaged fuel pump. I think I'm still paying for car issues that originate with my stint with Census Bureau.

.

I worked for the Bureau until July. I quit when it was time to go on the fair circuit again, which is what I will write about tomorrow...

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Blog - Out of Hiatus

Hi, welcome back. I've decided to bring my blog out of hiatus.

The reason it was gone - I've had computer problems. My laptop finally bit the proverbial dust and went into that light from whence laptops return no more. I have always been very particular about how I blog. It must be on my own computer. It is like some OCD thing - like mystical writers who can only write with a certain pen, I can only blog with my own computer.

But I don't have a computer - which was really frustrating, because there is so much to write about right now, in my personal life, and in the world of polygamy. Over the next several days, I will try to play catch-up.

And I will not be using my own computer. I will use the public librarym other people's PCs... anything and everything used to do to get things done in the days before I had my own laptop. (I even wrote a novel on my lunch breaks, using my emploer's equipment.)

Good to be back, and talk atcha soon!

January Snow Days, Part II

Continuing with the story of our snowy weather last month…

So Tony’s and my expedition through the snow to get supplies in town was ill-fated. Three miles from home, and a mile and a half from the highway (plus another four miles into town), the truck got stuck in a snow bank.

Tony tried to dig his truck out, but beneath the snow was a scum of fresh mud from the rains that came before the snow. His tires spun fruitlessly, and we knew that there was no way out.

We made the decision to walk home, based on an arrangement that my younger brother Lehi would get Tony’s other 4x4 vehicle and meet us as we walked towards home. The fact that someone would meet us at least half way was comforting.

For the first ten minutes, the walk was easy. We walked in the truck’s tire tracks. But the wind shortly blew snow over ruts, and we were trudging through knee deep snow.

This was very strenuous activity for me. I had not done much physical activity since I was diagnosed with a blood clot in my leg last August. In fact, as my heart rate shot up and I got short of breath, I started wondering how all of this physical activity was going to affect my clot.

A few minutes after we started walking, the sun dipped below the horizon, and the cold settled in. I had to stop and pant every few steps, and soon Tony was ahead of me. As it grew dark, we got a phone call from my brother Lehi. He had got the other vehicle running, but he got stuck on a half a mile away from our house.

It sunk in – there was no one coming for us. I would have to walk all the way home in the dark, in the snow. Tony disappeared over the horizon, and I was alone. Exhaustion was starting to overwhelm me. It is one thing to walk three miles. It is quite another to walk that far in over two feet of snow.

I felt like stopping to rest, but the cold would start seeping into me every time I stopped. I knew that if I stopped, I would freeze to death, so I pushed on.

One of the most frustrating moments was when my oldest brother called to see how I was doing. I told him that I was tired, but pushing on. He wished me luck and then hung up. To me, it felt like someone telling me, “I hope you make it.”

My hands were numb. I couldn’t feel my feet, and there were a few minutes where I started to actually get worried. I started to pray out loud.

I followed the trail that Tony blazed. He left the road and began to cut across a large meadow that would take us more directly to our house. On the horizon, I could see the flicker of headlights where my brother Lehi was stuck. I started to walk towards that point of light. A fog rolled in, and soon I couldn’t see the headlights. I couldn’t see anything. I was walking blind through the snow. I kept heading in the same direction, and soon I could see the headlights again. But there was this weird phenomenon where it seemed that no matter how much I walked, the headlights seemed to be getting further and further away.

After what seemed forever, I arrived at the truck. Tony and Lehi were trying to dig it out. I got into the truck and sat down. My muscles were buzzing. My head felt numb, and the warm air from the heater hit my lungs. I started coughing and coughing until I gagged and nearly threw up.

Tony got the car going, and we started for home. We got stuck again, but only one hundred yards away from the house. So I walked home, where I was greeted by Martha, Temple and the worried kids.

They sat me down by the fire and wrapped a blanket around me. I didn’t want the food or hot chocolate that they had prepared. All I wanted was tepid water. I immediately went to bed and fell into a deep sleep. I woke up a couple of hours later, and both of my legs were cramping up very badly. I writhed in pain for a while until the cramps went away.

But the next day, when I woke up, I felt better than I had in months.

That Saturday, my brother-in-law David returned home in his four-wheel drive truck, bringing some of our food with him. He got stuck in almost the same spot that we did and had to walk home.

Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day. The sun glistened off of the white landscape. I made a decision. I had survived the other night. I was tired of being afraid of physical activity due to the blood clot. I don’t know what came over me, but I decided to hike back out to David’s truck and get the food. Temple decided to go with me. So did my children Sophie and Christian. This time we were better equipped. It way daytime, and we took Gatorade with us.

We set off in the tracks that I had made previously. Tony joined up with us, determined to get his truck. I let them get ahead of me. I set my own pace and enjoyed the walk. We made it to David’s truck, and then decided to push on to Tony’s truck. We managed to get unstuck, drove into town, got supplies, but on the return trip, we got stuck again. And had to make the trip back. But I felt good after this walk.

We were snowed in for close to a week, and the kids had to stay home. After the county sent snow plows, we were finally able to get the car out. But then we were forced to stay in Concho for close to another week, because the mud was so horrible that our poor sedan couldn’t make it home.

What a joy it was to finally make it home. And what a joy it was to experience such a snowfall. Still, I will be glad once the summer is here.

Hot For Teacher - Temple Gets a Job

I have been out of work since I came back from South Carolina at the beginning of December. I can blame the economy. I can also blame my health, since I still suffered from DVT during this time.

Even though it was one of the toughest times economically for us ever, my latino machismo prevented me from asking my wives to look for work. Temple decided on her own to look for work. After applying at several locations, she was asked by the principal of the elementary school to apply for a teacher’s aide position.

First, a word about Temple – since her children have started school, she has been the epitome of a good mom. She helps the kids with their homework. She is very involved with the school. When the kids have issues, she is not afraid to go and talk to the teachers or principal. She is involved with the PTA. (I think there are only four, or so, members.) She will go to school board members to listen in and discuss issues that she feels strongly about.

And I think that she has made an impression on the principal and on the teachers. I believe that there is a stereotype about polygamous mothers – that they are weak, have no thoughts of their own, that they are controlled, suppressed, that they are afraid of government and schools, that they are incapable of handling problems on their own. Temple (and Martha for that matter) has shown that she is not afraid to get involved, and, more importantly, that she is not afraid to express her opinion.

So it came as no surprise that they offered her a job.

Next, a word about the school my kids attend – I have always said that we were blessed to have our kids go there. The whole region where we live is predominantly LDS – except Concho. It is an island of Gentiles in the sea of Mormondom. Our awkward transition from fundamentalist homeschoolers to public school would have been very difficult if we were dealing with a Mormon staff. At the school in Concho, everybody knows. We have kids from different mothers in the same class. Nobody says anything. We get compliments on our kids all the time. In other words, we have felt very welcome, in spite of our non-traditional lifestyle.

That’s not to say that there has not been some awkwardness. I have left Martha and Temple to deal with the school. Sometimes when I go to the school, I get strange looks from the teachers and the staff. I catch them staring at me from the corner of my eye. I know why they are staring at me. I almost feel like if my wives are the ones dealing with the school, they are considered to be more innocuous than me. Throw the husband into the mix, and they feel threatened. I am the dangerous one. I am the alpha male.

So as a result, I try to stay minimally involved when it comes to the school…

So the principal offered Temple a job as a teacher’s aide. This was the perfect job for her. In a situation where she was forced to get a job, there could be no better job than working closely with our children. She took the PARA Professional test, and – even though she was very nervous – she scored high.

She started a couple of weeks ago. Temple’s take-charge attitude and German efficiency has benefited her well. She takes no nonsense from the children and takes pride in what she does.

However, she noticed some peculiar behavior from some of the staff. We know enough to guess that this is because of the rumors of polygamy. But no one has mentioned anything to her, and by and large, everyone has treated her with dignity and respect.

Temple commented that there was one aide who seemed particularly bothered by Temple’s presence at the school. This aide worked in one of my son’s classes. Temple would catch this woman shooting daggers at her, and, on one occasion, Temple tried to strike up a conversation with this woman, and the woman not only refused to answer, but walked the other way. I told Temple to not let it bug her.

On Valentine’s Day, the 2nd Grade class had a party. Both Martha and Temple have children in the class, so both of them attended the party. As they were walking out the door, Martha asked her sisterwife, “Would you like me to take the kids home? Or would you?”

Temple answered, “I would like you to. I’m kind of burned out on the kids at the moment.”

Temple looked up to see that the aide had been party to this discussion. The lady wore such a look of revulsion and disgust. Usually, we don’t flaunt our lifestyle in front of other people. They didn’t say enough to cause a scene. It wasn’t something as obvious as, “Who is Moroni sleeping with tonight?” But it was enough that this lady showed – by nonverbal means – her feelings towards plural marriage, and to us.

Still, I don’t have a problem with that – as long as it remains nonverbal.

The other day, I went to pick up the kids from school, and the first thing that my daughter Sara did was announce that the teacher’s aide had confided in her that my son was misbehaving that day and had been punished for spitting on another student. Sara said that the aide also told her that if that behavior continued that my son would find himself kicked out of school.

Now, as a parent, I believe in discipline. I grew up in the days when teachers would rap me on the head with a ruler when I misbehaved, and I think that it is a shame that this kind of discipline no longer exists in schools. When my kids misbehave, I am glad that they are disciplined and punished for their behavior.

What I did take an issue with is that the aide went to my daughter with a behavioral issue involving my son – and didn’t come to us.

The first thing I did was to reprimand Sara for being such a busybody. I told her that it was none of her business to check on the wellbeing of her brother.

Then in private, I told Temple that she ought to talk to the teacher quietly and let her know that we did not approve of the aide sharing the details with another sibling.

The next day, I got a text from Temple. She told me that she was so upset that we was shaking.

As I suggested, she went to talk to the teacher. The teacher assured her that she would look into it. As Temple was going into the bathroom, the aide in question rounded on Temple and proceeded to chew her out severely. The aide was livid that Temple went over her head to the teacher, and she essentially called Sara a liar.

At one point, the aide said, “I don’t want to get involved with your FAMILY ISSUES!”

Family issues??? What “family issues” could she be referring to? Oh, I guess that we are a plural family. Although she was careful not to say it, she told us that her problem with us is that we are a polygamous family.

Later on, I found out that this woman is LDS – which came as a surprise to me, because she has a latino last name. Generally, most latinos in our area are not Mormon. But I shouldn’t be surprised, because I am a latino AND LDS.

Temple later expressed regret for handling things the way she did, for getting the aide upset. I told her that she did the right thing.

You see, this aide thought that she wasn’t doing anything wrong, because rules of civility, niceness, good manners, etc., don’t apply to polygamists. You can treat them anyway that you want, and it’s okay, because they are despicable. Furthermore, plural wives are weak, submissive, cannot think for themselves, etc. I am sure that it came as quite a surprise to learn that Temple has teeth and is not afraid to bite.

She asked me if she should do anything else, like go to the principal. I told her no. Let it slide. Let them know that they can’t f*** with us and get away with it.

I posted a little bit about it on FaceBook, and my brother asked me, “Were you surprised?”

I responded that – yes! – I am surprised. Every time it happens. I cannot wrap my mind about why this woman would CARE that we are polygamists. It does not hurt her. It does not affect her. Why should she care that there are polygamist children in her school? Or that a plural wife works as an aide at the same school? I cannot comprehend why someone would go out of their way to be mean or nasty or even give us a second thought.

But the reality – there are some that do…

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January Snow Days

Okay, once again, I have been away. Computer problems. Have you ever seen a laptop cord literally fry? Not a pleasant sight. Nor a pleasant smell.

I thought that I would talk a little bit about the weather, which has been unusual. As I type, I am looking out the window on a sunny February day, and the temperature is anticipated to get to a balmy 57 degrees. But January was not so nice…

When we first moved to the ranch, we moved from Mesa, Arizona – which is hot desert summer that experiences snow once a decade. By contrast, our ranch was located at a high elevation, high up on the Colorado Plateau. Our first two winters were harsh, and on several occasions we saw the snow bad enough that they shut down all the mountain passes between Phoenix and our ranch.

I remember that it was a challenge to get to work a couple of times. I bought an old Ford pickup since we live down five miles of dirt road, most of it not maintained. There were times when the snow was deep enough that I thought I would get stuck.

Still, everyone was talking that we were at the start of a twenty-year drought. The truth of this soon became evident. Little Ortega Lake provided me with some spectacular vistas as I drove home, with bald eagles perched in the trees at its shore. It soon dried up. In addition, the snows stopped. Typically, a winter snow brought only a few inches, and it was gone within a day or two. There were some winters where we almost got now snow at all.

The old-timers told stories of bad winters. In 1967, there was a snow storm so bad in Concho that some road engineers got trapped in their truck. Snow buried them, and they ran the heater until they ran out of gas. The only way they were located was that a snow plow saw their tail lights beneath a mound of snow. They were taken to someone’s home in Concho where they recuperated from hypothermia, because the nearest hospital back then was in McNary, almost 60 miles away.

The only evidence we saw of this was a storm in March, 2006. We got three feet of snow. The drifts were up to eight feet high. My younger brother jumped off of the roof of my mother’s house into the drifts, and the huge piles of snow cushioned his fall. The morning after the snow, we had to dig our animals out of the snow. We had to forage for firewood, and we ran out of food within three days. Someone had to hike some food to us.

We realized that we were not prepared for such a storm and spoke of winterizing a little better for the next year. But after a hot summer, it is kind of easy to forget that.

In December, we got about a foot of snow. The only thing that was different about this snow was that, instead of melting in about a day or two, it stuck on the ground for about a month. It was a cold month, only made better by our plumbing freezing up.

JANUARY 19

On January 19, we had snow starting to fall. The radio reports were saying that we would be hit with storm after storm over the next several days. They were saying that we could expect up to three feet of snow. After the dry winters we have experienced, it was easy to react to this with skepticism.

Nonetheless, we decided to prepare. Since we live off the grid, we keep a freezer plugged in at the house of some relatives. Generally, as needed, Martha, Temple or I will stop by the freezer to get food. That evening, we got some food. (It was not enough.) We got some gas for our generator, and then we went home to hunker down. The radio was stating that there was a Winter Storm Advisory for the White Mountains starting at 7PM.

We went home, got the fire going and watched a movie. The sound of the rain pelting our house woke me up that night – rain, not snow. It rained all night.

JANUARY 20


When I got up at 5AM, I noticed that the rain had given way to snow. I turned the radio on and listened for the school closure updates. After a few country songs, the radio announced that the school had closed due to the weather. The kids were jumping up and down for joy. A snow day!

As the morning wore on, the snow kept coming. There several inches on the ground, but that did not stop the garbage truck from plowing down the road for his weekly visit.

I spent the day preparing for taxes, and then watched movies with the kids. No one was venturing outside.

By the evening, the sky had cleared up, and there was no more snow. We watched the sun set in a clear sky. But the radio reports were stating that there was more snow on the way.

JANUARY 21

On Thursday, even though the skies were clear all night, by the time I got up, it was snowing again. The radio announced another snow day. Again, the floorboards were shaking from the kids jumping for joy.

The kids were begging to go outside and play. So out they went, making snow angels and building snowmen. Indoors, the hot cocoa was brewing all day.

I went down to my mother’s house with my kids to get some wood, since we were running low. The snow was already up to my calves, and I discovered that there was slick mud underneath it. The snow had settled on top of the rainwater, making a very mushy situation.

JANUARY 22

Friday morning, the snow was still falling, and the wind kicked in, making drifts that were up to three feet high.

The kids had a blast and started digging tunnels under the drifts and crawling into them.

Our food supplies were running low, and so my brother Tony called me and asked if I wanted to venture out to Concho to get some supplies. At about 4PM, he came and picked me up. The sky was clear. His truck was in 4x4. Even though the road was hidden by the drifts, we started to blaze a trail towards town. He was doing really good. We slipped and slid. The snow bogged us down, but every time we got stuck, he would throw the truck into reverse, and that would do the trick. We would continue down the road.

About three miles down the road, the drifts got incredibly deep, and Tony’s truck came to a stop. Throwing it into reverse did not work. I was not dressed for the cold, wearing only a light jacket and no gloves. So I sat in the truck while Tony took a shovel and tried to dig us out. All to no avail. He even dug some sagebrush out of the snow and put it under the tires to try and give us traction. It did not work.

We sat there for a while. I watched the sun get lower on the horizon. I also watched another storm brewing up from the south. I started thinking of the stories of men getting hypothermia in their trucks – right in the same region I live.

Tony finally admitted we were stuck, and we discussed what to do. We considered walking to the highway about a mile and a half away. But then we would have to try to hitchhike somewhere safe.

Tony called my younger brother and asked him if he could bring Tony’s other 4x4 and meet us. We decided to start walking. We left the truck, and the icy wind cut right through my jacket.

I was really worried. It was three miles to my house – through the snow. I wondered vaguely how this would affect the blood clot in my leg.

I’ll finish the story of our trek home in the next installment…

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Strange Rituals: Forbidden Sex transcript

Last night, I found the transcript for "Strange Rituals: Forbidden Sex." I still have not seen the show, so it was interesting for me to read the transcript. Our segment was sandwiched right in between a segment on incest and tantric sex. It's nice to know that we are in good company. lol

As usual, I was baffled by the journalism. They would copy and paste segments of different parts of our interviews and patch them together in a way that makes us seem incoherrent.

So without further ado, here is the transcript (with my commentarin bold):


>>>NARRATOR: New York, 1820.
A time of intense religious revivalism.
A 14-year old boy by the name of Joseph Smith Jr. was struggling to find a congregation that shared his beliefs.
One day Joseph had a vision in which he came face to face with God, who told him that none of the churches were right for him.

>> JANKOVIAC: In the early 19th century there was a tremendous religious upheaval in America.
The traditional churches were being challenged.

WHO IS JANKOVIAC? RELATED TO WEIRD AL?

>> NARRATOR: Later Joseph records another vision of an angel, Morona, who helps him find sacred scriptures buried in the family farm.
The translation of the texts later becomes the Book of Mormon.
By the time Joseph is 24, he has his own church, a growing congregation ready to believe him and his visions.

>> JANKOVIAC: Somewhere during that time Joseph Smith had a revelation.
He said that in order to be saved, everyone had to take more than one wife.

THIS IS NOT EXACTLTY TRUE. PLURAL MARRIAGE WAS NEVER AN ISSUE OF SALVATION FOR THE SAINTS, BUT OF EXALTATION. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE.

>> NARRATOR: Polygamy, or marriage to multiple spouses simultaneously, has cropped up in several cultures throughout history.
It is still common in Africa and parts of Asia.
Even in the Hebrew bible, Abraham is married to three wives.
But to introduce polygamy as a new divine dictum in mid-19th century America was asking for trouble.

>> JANKOVIAC: Other Christian groups reacted with hostility.
It was proof, for many people, that this really was not God's religion, but the Devil's religion.

>> NARRATOR: In 1844, a posse stormed a jail where Joseph Smith was being held.
He was shot dead as he tried to escape through a window.
He left 33 widows behind, and a large congregation of polygamous families.

>> JANKOVIAC: After the Civil War, the American federal government was so appalled by this practice they thought they had to save Mormon women.

>> NARRATOR: The next prophet, Brigham Young, led the Mormons to a safe, isolated area in Utah, and to safeguard the church from persecution, denounced polygamy.

ALSO NOT TRUE… BRIGHAM YOUNG NEVER DID DENOUNCE POLYGAMY. NEITHER DID HIS SUCCESSOR JOHN TAYLOR. POLYGAMY WAS NOT DONE AWAY WITH UNTIL THE TENURE OF WILFORD WOODRUFF IN 1890. EVEN THEN, IT WAS NOT REALLY DONE AWAY WITH IN THE CHURCH UNTIL 1904.

>> JANKOVIAC: Eventually, by the early 1920s, the next generation of descendants had completely rejected polygamy.
That being said, there were some who went back to these scriptures, and they decided they had an obligation to reintroduce the more perfect form of Mormonism-- fundamental Mormonism.

IN TRUTH, THEY NEVER REALLY DECIDED TO REINTRODUCE IT. THERE WAS NEVER A BREACH IN THE PRACTICE

>> NARRATOR: Today, the remaining fundamentalist Mormons are pushed to the fringes of civilization.
Like here, near Concho, Arizona, 200 miles east of Phoenix.

>> MORONI: Time to get the kids going.
Come on, wake up.
It's time to get ready.
Sophie, it's time to get up.
Wake up.
It's time to go to school.
Come on.
Morning.

>> NARRATOR: Moroni and Martha Jessop have been married for 16 years.
They have seven children.

>> MARTHA: I was 18 when I met Moroni, but he was just my friend.
(laughs) I had no idea that I would fall in love with him.

>> MORONI: Well, Martha and I decided that we would live a plural marriage but, you know, I went through a whole year where I couldn't even bring up the subject to Martha.

>> MARTHA: Polygamy was practiced by the early Mormon prophets.
If you want to go back in history to the Bibletimes, you can see it in the Bible.

>> NARRATOR: Five years into his marriage with Martha, Moroni married Temple.

ACTUALLY 7 YEARS PREVIOUS…

>> MORONI: Good morning, sweetie.
How did you sleep?
We met, two months later we were engaged, two months later we were married.
It was just a whirlwind.
It was just a perfect fit, you know, for our family.
And I said, "Aha! I get it now.
I know how to live this lifestyle."

ACTUALLY THIS WHOLE EXCHANGE IS NOT CONGRUOUS TO ME. THEY ARE MIXING THINGS I SAID WITH DIFFERENT STORIES. IT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE TO ME.



>> TEMPLE: I have a room and she has a room, and he just goes between the two rooms.
He doesn't have a room.

>> MARTHA: We do pretty much stick to every other night.
If one of us is mad at him, a lot of times he'll end up on the couch.

>> TEMPLE: It's not that complex.
There are special circumstances.
If one of us feels like we need him more, then he'll change nights.

>> NARRATOR: The transition into a polygamous marriage was not easy for Martha.

>> MARTHA: Well, I think there is always jealousy because we're human.
I did have insecurities just like any woman.

>> MORONI: I realized, you know, she's going to have a hard time, and be jealous seeing me with this other woman.
And I realized that this was kind of a little life lesson for me, you know, on jealousy.

>> MARTHA: 'Cause I'd had Moroni to myself for a while, I was not sure if he was going to love me or view me the same way as he did before.

>> TEMPLE: I was in love, starry-eyed.
Everything was great.
So I... I mean, that was my adjustment.
And I knew that's what the Heavenly Father wanted for me, so...

>> MARTHA: We have to learn that he still loves us, no matter what.
If he's a good man, he's going to bring his wives into this with love for that wife, but he's not going to love any of us differently.

>> MORONI: Come on, go sit at the table.

(all talking) >> NARRATOR: The Jessops live in a three-bedroom trailer.
They have no running water or electricity.
The nearest town is 15 miles away.

>> TEMPLE: This is Sophie's bed.
Christian's bed.
The bottom bunk is Ethan's.

>> MARTHA: Yeah, it's difficult.
The four older kids share a room, and then we've got kids that are in bedrooms with us.

>> TEMPLE: Well, ultimately, we're responsible for our own kids.

>> MARTHA: But, I mean, there is always helping out with each other.
Sometimes, Temple will come in and dress my baby, or... or sometimes, you know, just...
just different things.

>> TEMPLE: Whatever needs to be done to get out the door.

>> MARTHA: I think that it's fine.
We want our kids to be close.
'Cause I've known families where every mother has their own house, and the kids grow up saying, "That's not my brother," and, "That's not my sister." We don't want that.

>> NARRATOR: In the middle of the desert, the Jessops are kept together with a combination of faith and tradition.

>> MARTHA: If you don't come into this lifestyle saying, "I'm giving my 100% no matter what," it's going to be doomed for failure.

>> NARRATOR: As the family grows, so do its isolation and challenges.
But the Jessops' solution for the future seems to defy logic.

DEFIES LOGIC?? HOW?? I DON’T GET IT!


>> MORONI: My name is Moroni Lopez-Jessop.
Moroni: That I'm mormon.
I'm named after an angel in the Book of Mormon.
Second, Lopez, that I'm Latino.
And Jessop, that I come from a polygamous family.
My father was a very important figure in my life.
And him entering polygamy is hard to describe.
He wound up getting excommunicated from the Mormon church.
After that, the rest of the family was excommunicated.
After that, we basically just associated with other people who believed in polygamy like we did.

AGAIN, SO MUCH WAS CUT OUT OF THIS INTERVIEW THAT IT MAKES NO SENSE TO ME. IT MAKES ME SOUND INCOHERENT.

>> NARRATOR: Nowadays, mainstream Mormons denounce polygamists.
There aren't many groups left for the Jessops to associate with.

>> MARTHA: The biggest disadvantage is how other people look at you.
You feel their animosity toward you.

>> MORONI: There's a culture of paranoia that has cracked into polygamist culture.
It's only in recent years, you know, recent decades that polygamists have been put in prison simply for being polygamous.

>> NARRATOR: Last time the Arizona state troopers went to arrest Mormon fundamentalists for polygamy was in the 1950s.
When the public saw how the children were separated from their parents, the protests forced the law officials to reunite the families.

>> MORONI: Ethan, would you say the blessing, please?

>> ETHAN: Sure.
Dear Kind Heavenly Father, please bless the food, help it to strengthen our body, bless us, keep us safe.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

("Amen" all around) >> NARRATOR: Shunned by other communities, the Jessops find solace in their own faith and family, something Joseph Smith would have been very familiar with.

>> MARTHA: I believe that we can be as God.
Honestly, I believe that God was once like us, and that we can attain what He has.

>> MORONI: Heaven is not just family, but heaven is the presence of both male and female, interconnected inseparably, and so...

>> NARRATOR: The Jessops pay a price for their lifestyle.
Even their neighbors are suspicious of their every move.
Their isolation may be the reason for their decision to increase the size of their family yet again by adding a third wife.

>> MARTHA: We want someone who's going to come in and say, "We love this family for who they are, and we will accept them for who they are, and we want to be part of this family." >>

MORONI: Come on out on the porch.
That's all right.

>> TEMPLE: I think, more than anything, I want her to be willing to give 100% of herself, just as we have, and we will continue to do.

>> MORONI: All right, everybody looking right here.
Stand up straight.
Look at him.

>> TEMPLE: Look over there.
Be still.

>> MARTHA: 'Cause I love Moroni that much, and I believe that a man needs to have more than one wife.
He will become more whole with more wives, and so will I.

>> MORONI: Very nice.

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More Feedback in 2010

A few days ago, I didn't think there would be any more feedback from the TLC show. After the re-run on New Year's Eve, I was wrong.

Check out what this lady Cristina said on a message board:

"Comments: I'm watching Forbidden Love: Polygamy as a "re-run" tonight, and I feel so sorry for the "wives" who, at least in comparison to the reporter who is visiting their home, look so plain,tired,worn-out,and as though they have no individualism what-so-ever... This is just a case of a man who is intimidated when tossed into a population of other men...therefore, he creates a sort of "sub-culture" where HE is the one and only male for miles...making him MUCH more appealing! The wives are women who know nothing else but to be followers....ugh...just a shame that these women are missing out on so much LIFE...and the men are being made to feel as though they are much more significant than they REALLY are!"

I shared this with Martha. She shrugged. "We spent all day cleaning for the shoot. And then we had the cameras in our faces from sun-up to sun-down. Of COURSE I looked plain and worn-out."

I also shared it with Temple. As expected, she flared up, "How would they know how we are? They cut out all of oour interviews! And I looked plain?? Did they see the shirt I wore the first day of the shoot? Was it plain? No, it was pretty stylish and colorful. But I don't think they WANTED to show a plural wife looking like that."

On the same message board, there was a message by a guy named Nighthawk that I've known for a while on several discussion groups. He said:

"I had to look this up on Google to find out exactly what everyone is talking about. I have already seen some pieces of it.I have personally corresponded with Moroni, the man who lives out in the desert with his wives. He chose that lifestyle after his family was subject to persecution in various ways. He is a very gentle man and well educated. His wives are also well educated.He and his wives were disappointed in the way Dawn Porter edited and presented her two or three days with them. His wives were especially upset that Ms. Porter failed to include any of their comments about how happy they were with their lives.The History Channel also did a segment on Moroni and his wives, at the same time. It sounds like that show was much more honest about their work.Moroni has written quite a lot about his family's experience participating in this show on his blog. He has also been involved in some other, similar, situations.So, while making your judgments (along with the condemnations I have already read here), you might want to see what the people involved actually had to say."

Both Martha and Temple likes his response. It was nice to be defended after much of the crap that I have seen out there.

Surprisingly, I found an article I had missed written by Dawn Porter on September 28, 2008 for NOW Magazine. Here is an excerpt:

"To me, however, this quest for perfection seemed pointless when the sacrifices you have to make along the way are so painful. I needed to meet a polygamous man. So I traveled hundreds of miles across the desert to meet Moroni Jessop, 46, who lives in a four-bedroom trailer with his wives Martha 42, and temple, 38, and their nine children. I was nervous meeting him face-to-face, but with his baggy jeans and scruffy hair, Moroni happily answered my questions.
Like the previous family, Moroni views polygamy as a way of bettering himself by having more people to love. He insists that it’s improved the way he treats women. Like Ruth, Moroni had a family history of polygamy. He says ‘When I first entered it, I didn’t have a good time. There were so many demands, and both my wives were angry. But, in time, we all just started laughing more and I realized then I was happy. It takes a lot of work and understanding to deal with the concerns of more than one woman.’

"Like the previous family, Moroni views polygamy as a way of bettering himself by having more people to love. He insists that it’s improved the way he treats women. Like Ruth, Moroni had a family history of polygamy. He says ‘When I first entered it, I didn’t have a good time. There were so many demands, and both my wives were angry. But, in time, we all just started laughing more and I realized then I was happy. It takes a lot of work and understanding to deal with the concerns of more than one woman.’

"So how does he spread himself among his wives? ‘It’s up to me to decide that’ he grins. ‘The women have their own rooms and I try to be fair. Half of my battle is ensuring they both feel loved.’ Now Moroni’s on the hunt for wife number three –he believes a man cannot get to heaven unless he has at least three wives."

Okay, the article is fair, and mostly reflects the content of the show. I have only two objections:

1. The belief that a man must have three wives to attain to the Celestial Kingdom is an old fundamentalist belief. But they did not hear this tidbit from me, because it is not my personal belief. I wouldn't say that in an interview, because I am not sure how I believe in that respect. They just threw that in there to support their fiction that I'm searching for another wife.

2. I'm 46? Martha is 42? Temple is 38?? Heloooo!! Do we look that old?? I'm not sure where they came up with the ages. But at the time of the shoot, I was BARELY 38. Martha was 35, and Temple was 28. Temple is 2 years YOUNGER than Dawn Porter! LOL! Sheesh!

Anyway, I have not found any feedback on the History Channel show yet, but you can bet I will post what I find.

In closing, I will will leave you with my favorite YouTube comment (There are over 145 of them):

"The guy sounds absolutely full of himself. AND he has a nasty pot belly. How on earth is he managing to keep all those women satisfied? Do they just feel they can do no better? I mean, if you've gotta share the guy, at least let him be Johnny Depp or Brad Pitt. Or filthy rich"

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