Hidden True Crime - VISIONS OF GLORY: THOM HARRISON and HIS INFLUENCE ON CHAD DAYBELL, TIM BALLARD and JODI HILDEBRANDT

Episode Date: November 16, 2023

PART 1 of HIDDEN TRUE CRIME'S COLLABORATION WITH MORMON STORIES PODCAST with Host John Dehlin and Lauren Matthias. What do Chad Daybell, Tim Ballard, Jodi Hildebrandt all have in common? Is it Thom Ha...rrison, author of Visions of Glory? PART ONE explores a book that Hidden True Crime host Lauren Matthias believes motivated the extreme beliefs of not just Chad and Lori Vallow, but also Tim Ballard and recently imprisoned therapist Jodi Hildebrandt. Thom Harrison is a Utah therapist who published a book called "Visions of Glory" in 2012, focusing on three of his alleged near-death experiences (including personal visitations from Jesus Christ). Thom Harrison and his book have been highly influential across the Mormon "prepper" community, and particularly in the lives and stories of Chad Daybell, Lori Vallow, Tim Ballard, Jodi Hildebrandt, as well as other "preppers" such as Julie Rowe, Rod Meldrum, and alleged abuser-therapist Maurice Harker. Megan Conner, Lori Vallow Daybell's cousin, as well as Mindy Caldwell, cohost these two episodes exploring the book Visions of Glory, and the influence that Thom Harrison has had an extremist Mormon prepper community. Other pertinent Hidden True Crime Episodes: Daybell crash course Chad Daybell speech Braxton Southwick Interview Jodi Hildebrandt beliefs Tim Ballard LAUREN MATTHIAS has worked as an anchor and reporter for ABC, NBC, and FOX News in Idaho and Salt Lake City, Utah. She spent a decade reporting on a diverse range of topics from high profile crimes to Presidential visits.. In 2015 she received the Idaho State Broadcaster’s Association Best Reporter award. She left the reporting world to produce the Hidden True Crime Podcast along with her husband Dr. John Matthias, a forensic psychologist, and is a frequent contributor on News Nation. WEBSITE: https://hiddentruecrime.com/ TO SUPPORT: https://www.patreon.com/hiddentruecrime  https://paypal.me/hiddentruecrime Our Sponsors:* Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/HIDDENTRUECRIME* Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/HIDDENTRUECRIME* Check out Armoire and use my code HIDDENTRUECRIME for a great deal: https://www.armoire.style* Check out Effecty and use my code HIDDENTRUECRIME for a great deal: https://www.effecty.com* Check out Happy Mammoth and use my code HIDDENTRUECRIME for a great deal: https://happymammoth.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/hidden-a-true-crime-podcast1836/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:01:57 It's time to take an adventure. rugged capability and commanding style. Check out the Honda Ridgeline, pilot or CRV. For a limited time, well-qualified buyers can get a 3.9% APR on a 2025 pilot or a 2.9% APR on a 2025 ridgeline or CRV. See dealer for financing details. Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Mormon Stories podcast. I am one of your hosts for today, John DeLynn. It is October 17th, 2023. And I am be on excited to be here with you today with an illustrious epic star panel to be discussing the topic of visions of glory the book and the author of the book the secret author of the book Utah Mormon therapist Tom Harrison I'll be introducing the illustrious panel in
Starting point is 00:03:04 just a second but the way I want to begin I want to begin by setting the context for those who are joining us for the first time, who haven't been tracking Mormonism and Mormon news and current events over the past year or 20 years, as it may be, and for history's sake, because at some point someone's going to find, you know, these podcasts in 5, 10, 20 years and they're going to want to learn some history. And so for those of you who have been on the equivalent of Mormon Mars, you may or those who have been tracking you will have heard about Chad and Lori Daybell sometimes called the doomsday cold couple who were Mormons who ended up
Starting point is 00:03:51 allegedly killing Chad's wife. Lori you know through through through associates or in some other means a couple of her kids end up dead, at least one ex-husband, if not two, end up being killed. Her brother ends up dying. Of course, you've all heard by now of Chad, Debel, and Lori Valo. Maybe you've also heard of Tim Ballard, Operation Underground Railroad, Superhero Mormon Guy, who now is being accused of sexual harassment, fraud, and all sorts of awful things. Of course, we've been trying to cover that on Mormon stories and it's been covered elsewhere. Maybe you've heard about Jody Hildebrand and Ruby Frankie and the eight passengers.
Starting point is 00:04:46 Disasters that have been discussed as of late that include Ruby Frank, these two of Ruby Frankie's kids literally being abused and it appears to be tortured, dehydrated, malnourished at the hands of Mormon therapist Jody Hildebrandt. And maybe many of you have heard of Maurice Harker. The headline in the Saltic Tribune reads, former Utah therapist assaulted, patient to rid her of demons charges alleged. And so the thesis that we're putting forward today
Starting point is 00:05:23 in the two episodes that we plan on releasing relatively back to back. Here's the thesis. I'm going to attribute this thesis ultimately to Lauren Matthias, but I think we've all been also catching on to Lauren's leadership over the past few months and years. The question we're going to ask is, what if Chad Daybell, Lori Valo, Tim Baller, Jody Hilderbrand, Julie Roe, Marys Hawker, and many other people involved in Mormon prepper mayhem or Mormon prepper chaos, whatever you want to call it, what if they all had a single or at least one, spiritual mentor or inspiration in common? And what if they all shared some semblance of a spiritual text or scriptural text? That's the first question that we're going to be answering today.
Starting point is 00:06:20 What if at least one Mormon apostle approved of this man's visions and ultimately of his revelations that he shared? And then most shockingly, what if the Mormon Mormon Church knew about this mentor, at least, let's just say a decade before all this mayhem and chaos emerged. What if they knew about this mentor? What if they knew about his scripture? And what if instead of punishing him and shutting the book down, they all decided to promote him to be a bishop and to let the book continue to be published that led to the mayhem? In other words, what if the, what if the church, Mormon church hierarchy were warned ahead of time and chose to do nothing leading to all the disasters that we just
Starting point is 00:07:10 talked about, plus many more that we're all worried are going to be coming down the pike as Mormon neo-fundamentalist Preparism is sweeping Mormonism and in some sense the globe. So having today with us in studio is an amazing super star-star studded, illustrious panel. We have back on Mormon Stories podcast, Lauren Matthias. Is that how you go? Is that the name you go by these days? Yes, Lauren Matthias. She is the co-host of the Hidden True Crime YouTube channel that is now over 100,000 subscribers and growing. She appears on all sorts of national news media outlets, along with, you know, including ABC News and Dateline and all those amazing true crime programs
Starting point is 00:08:04 or what have you. She and her amazing husband, Dr. John Matthias, run Hidden True Crime. So Lauren, welcome back to Mormon Stories. Thanks, John. Happy to be here. Yeah. Thanks for making the trip. And thanks for your leadership on all this.
Starting point is 00:08:20 Absolutely. We also have with us in studio back, Megan Connor. Hey, Megan. Hi. You will recognize Megan because she was also on Mormon Stories podcast previously. She is known to Mormon stories' audiences as the cousin of Lori Vallow. But she also grew up with Lori, spent summers with Lori. But most importantly, she is a super sleuter, and she's been following the Chad Debo, Lori,
Starting point is 00:08:54 Tim Ballard's sort of stories very closely. She's an intellectual force, and she's indomitable, and she's back with us on Mormon Stories. Thanks for traveling here. Thank you so much for having me. I love being with you guys. Yeah, it's super fun. And then finally, dear to my heart, my dear friend, Margie and I's dear friend, Mindy Caldwell, I refer to her as a super sleuter, but she's just behind the scenes, managing a,
Starting point is 00:09:24 a busy household and learning more about the details and the connections to all these stories and bringing so much wisdom and insight and the like to the program. Mindy Caldwell, welcome back to Mormon Stories. Thank you John. I'm happy to be here. Yeah. All right. So we want to, we want to welcome and thank our live stream audience. We've got, you know, we will thank those of you who are already sending super chats our way. We of course are mostly grateful for the donors who make Mormon Stories and the Oba Stories Foundation possible, but we're also grateful for the live stream for those who are commenting on Facebook and YouTube. We welcome your support. We welcome your comments and your questions and we'll be incorporating them as we can
Starting point is 00:10:14 throughout the show. So I think it makes sense to begin with Lauren and Lauren's rewining a little bit to Lauren's story, because I think Lauren has caught on to this stuff months or years before many of us. And so Lauren, do you want to take us a little bit, do you want to give any intro, and then do you want to take us back in time a little bit? Absolutely. Absolutely. Thanks, John. Yeah, so the first case that my husband and I started with when we started our podcast, Hidden True Crime, was the Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell case, Megan's cousin. Thanks for being here, Megan. In this case, for the moment it came down the AP wire. I remember the first day it came down in December 2019, two missing children, a Deserate book author,
Starting point is 00:11:05 Chad Daybell, and a very beautiful blonde mother whose two children were missing. East Idaho, Rexburg. I looked at this story. I was a recently retired TV reporter where I had left to be a state-at-home mom. just staring at these two faces thinking, what is this? This is not good. This is not good. And that sort of, you know, here we are four years later, and I'm still delving into this story. There have been so many layers to this story. So as I'm, we start podcasting about this story. We're digging deep. And as I do this, I start interviewing people within Chad and Lori circles. And I'm, I don't know what that was. That was a, that was Alexa. Someone triggered Alexa. Alexa wants to be the Fitzman member of our panel. Hey, Alexa, thanks for joining us. My first thought is always, what did I do?
Starting point is 00:12:02 I'm like, is that my phone? Is that my laptop? Okay, good, Alexa. So, you know, I start, I start listening to all these people within chat and Lori's circles, and I'm hearing about the belief system. I'm hearing what they believe. It's about portals. It's about zombies.
Starting point is 00:12:22 possession, light and dark spirits, the children, unfortunately, are found in Chad Daybell's yard, Tiley and JJ. You know, they were considered zombies or possessed by evil spirits. They were deemed dark by Chad and Lori. And I'm hearing, I'm hearing people shouting at me, visions of glory, read this book, Visions of Glory. They love this book, Visions of Glory. Other people are defending the book. Well, this book is really good, but it talks about portals. It talks about this, I start reading the book. Of course, I go and get the book. I read the book. I'm sitting here thinking, oh my gosh, like this is their belief system. This is talking about portals. This is talking about evil spirits. This is talking entering bodies. Evil spirits entering
Starting point is 00:13:04 bodies when they're sitting. This is talking about being translated. That's, that's Chad and Lori. And so I delve into it, and it's written by a man named John Pontius, or as told by John Pontius. And it's about a man named Spencer. And I'm seeing that. Okay. Okay, Spencer. Then at the same time this is happening, we're going in and we're requesting FOIA documents from Arizona. And we're requesting everything they have in the Dable case while we await the trial. And Chandler, Arizona police, as well as Gilbert Police, they dump a bunch of documents, thousands of pages. And I'm scouring these documents and I see that they have burner phones, Chad, Lori, Alex Cox, other people in this. group of like-minded prepper friends believing in zombies. And I'm scouring and I'm seeing that in the burner phones that Spencer is listed as as an alias, as Spencer's wife is listed as an alias. I'm seeing that some people are saying that people were Spencer. I keep seeing Spencer and the talk on Facebook and in these groups are, is this
Starting point is 00:14:16 Spencer W. Kimball? What do they mean by Spencer? Who are they trying to say? And I'm and I'm thinking, this is Spencer. This is visions of glory Spencer. And and I'm thinking, no, this is, this is all visions of glory. They're, there, these burner phones with these aliases and these secret names, this is Spencer. And then I start hearing more from people as I'm, I'm investigating and I'm looking like, who's Spencer? Well, it's, it's a man named Tom Harrison. And Tom Harrison is a therapist in Salt Lake City, Tom T-H-O-M, Tom Harrison. And I learned that he is Spencer. These are his vision. So while the book was told by John Pontius, John Pontius is now deceased, he died of cancer shortly after the publication, that it is the visions of Spencer that we now know is this
Starting point is 00:15:09 therapist named Tom Harrison. So I reach out to Tom Harrison and I reach out because I'm wanting to know more. I'm just trying to learn. And I asked him actually something, and this is how funny, this was like, this is this 2021. And I reach out to Tom and I say, I introduce him, I say who I am, you know, I grew up near him and his family. I explain that we have similar friends and, you know, I'm just trying to understand, I'm letting him know what I've discovered. I'm wanting to know if he met Chad. And then I'm asking him, do you think Chad thought he was Spencer? Because that's where my mind was then. Did Chad think he was Spencer? Because of the burner phones. In the burner phones,
Starting point is 00:15:51 we have Spencer's wife and I'm thinking, well, if that's Lori, then to Spencer, you know, is Chad Spencer? Because they believe in past lives. That's an important part of this too. Everyone's believing they were different people in past lives. And so I posed this question to Tom Harrison. Do you think that Chad thought he was Spencer? And his response to me was, can you send me your address? I want to send you something. And I said, please, please, here you go. Here's my address. And in the mail, later came this. He sent me something, just as he promised. 2021. Here's the envelope that came in. Address is covered. And inside from Tom Harrison is a 2014 letter and it's to whom it may concern to my priested leaders as now constituted.
Starting point is 00:16:51 And it's, again, March 23rd, 2014, Thomas, Jean Harrison, and it's titled Regarding Visions of Glory. Now I won't read the full letter here. It's long. We'll read it later in the program. But this summarizes it. Let me share how it starts and let me share how it ends. to whom it may concern my priested leaders.
Starting point is 00:17:12 After meeting with my stake president on this 23rd day of March 2014, I write this letter to disclose my feelings and present opinions of the book Visions of Glory, which was published by Cedar Fort Publishing Company in December of 2012. I disclose that I am Spencer, the person with whom the majority of this account is written about. I have been asked to discuss the origins and my present feelings associated with the book. And then he goes on for four pages. And I read it. And then we have it is my intent to not so four page three pages in he states in quotes. It is my intent to not speak
Starting point is 00:17:57 of this account any further other than this letter. I do not have the rights to this work. They belong to the to the Pontius family. So I have no power to stop the printing. But under no circumstances did I ever mean to conspire, deceive, or acquire gain from these sacred things. Our hope was to lift, blessed, and bring people to Christ. If I am ever asked about this work, I will give those who inquire a copy of this letter. I will not give firesides or presentations regarding this book. I hold my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as my most prized possession. I apologize for any injury or misunderstanding this has caused the church.
Starting point is 00:18:37 my family, or any individual associated with this book. I am sorry for any offense that this has caused any member. Sincerely, Thomas G. Harrison. So it was clear to me, and here's the book, by the way, you know, we're talking about this book. Here's the book. It was, it was, as told by John Pontius. It was clear to me being a member of the church that this was clearly a letter to save his membership. I mean, I don't know any other way. to see this letter written in 2014. He's apologizing. He's stating what he will no longer do. He will no longer give firesides. He apologizes. And but what what was most interesting is looking back, I think that was the moment where I realized this is bigger than I thought.
Starting point is 00:19:26 This is a lot bigger than I even initially thought. You know, here I am thinking, oh, did Chad think he was Spencer? This is, you know, one of the, it's like every other kind of obscure near-death experience book. I'd never read a near-death experience book before Chad and Lori, and I was investigating them, but I've read quite a few now. So, and while the book was eerily similar to Chad and Laurie's beliefs, and it was concerning to me, the fact that I wrote him and said, hey, do you think Chad was Spencer? And he sent me this. That's actually the moment I thought, this is actually a lot more important and a lot bigger than I even thought. This is influencing a lot of people and this has caused great concern, this book. And so I think that that's the origin story
Starting point is 00:20:10 to where I then actually became very even more interested in the book. I started telling people, how did this book, how did this book play a part in Chad and Laurie's belief system? You look it up and thousands of copies sold. I started talking about the book on my channel and then I learned that a lot of people that watched our channel or listened to our podcast defended the book. LDS people. No, this book is good. No, it's not the book's fault. And other people saying, this is a terrible book. This book, whatever it is, people have strong feelings about this book. And I just, that was the moment. I thought, I need to get to the bottom of this. What's going on. Yeah. Yeah. And then maybe let's bring Mindy in here because a little bit later, the trial,
Starting point is 00:20:56 you know, the trial of Lori Vallow happens in Idaho. By then you and my dear friend Mindy Caldwell are buddies. And Mindy comes down to meet you at the trial. And y'all noticed something kind of interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Do you want to tell that story? No, I think you should tell it.
Starting point is 00:21:19 Take it away. Yeah. So we were, we had spent several days. And maybe, do you want to back up and just tell quickly how you're connected? Oh, sure. Sure, sure, of course. Visions of Glory. Yeah, here's my copy of visions of glory.
Starting point is 00:21:30 So really, visions of glory is sort of the origin of how I became involved in following the Debo case as soon as the children went missing, and I recognized that this whole group was kind of involved in this Mormon prepper, near-death experience type of arena. That's what got my attention. And so clear back in 2014, I was given this book by a dear family member who felt very strongly about it. And unbeknownst to my family member at the time, I had already started my faith transition out of the Mormon faith.
Starting point is 00:22:15 And so I accepted the gift, and I think I read a couple of pages at the time. And very quickly I was like, nope, it was not going to be something that I was going to read. I put it aside and I didn't think much about it until we started witnessing several of our family members started witnessing this book having a really strong influence on a few of our family members at an alarming rate. It was it was very concerning to watch our family member invest large amounts of money in prepping supplies and and get very, very, very, very, wrapped up in certain websites like a vow, another voice of warning, which talked about all these people getting on there and talking about their visions of the end times. There's a thing called the callout where people get like a special invitation to go and go up into the hills and live in tentities.
Starting point is 00:23:14 And I had no idea about any of these things until I had first-time experience. And it was scary. It scared me. And then I had no idea how popular these things were, like the Julie Rowe books and her visions that she claimed to have. It's all tied together. And so, yeah, this book is pretty much the catalyst for me going down this rabbit hole of trying to figure out how all of these things are tied together. And I do have first-hand experience for how families have changed. I think there are probably a lot of your viewers and listeners who may have similar stories of family members or themselves perhaps who have gone down this road and and it's been affected or they've been affected by it.
Starting point is 00:24:04 So thank you for sharing Mindy. So take us now to that fateful Idaho day where you and Lauren are hanging out at the Lori Vallott trial. I was so glad you came and joined me. I was at that trial for about six weeks and Mindy came down a few times. and join me. It was always nice. Yeah, it was nice. So I drove up to Boise a few times over the course of Lori's trial. And Lauren and I, during the trial, we found a little spot in the courtroom that we liked. And unfortunately, we were, fortunately, and unfortunately, we were quite close to the jurors,
Starting point is 00:24:40 the jury box. And so we had to be really, really quiet about when we would try to communicate or talk to each other. But they showed a video clip from Lori. getting arrested or excuse me not arrested for getting served papers in in hawaii they had found lori and chat in hawaii and they had um police of cell phone footage of of her being um approached in at pool side in hawaii and we had never seen this video yeah had nobody had seen this video it was just right it was to serve this they served her papers saying that she needed to produce her children her children before her arrest yeah right right and so This was the first time viewing for everybody who had followed this case.
Starting point is 00:25:25 So, you know, of course we were in rapt attention, kind of watching this. And we're looking at the video. And then all of a sudden, Lauren. Should we show it? Oh, should we show it? Let me just tell you really fast. So Lauren just elbows me. She's like, Mindy, Visions of Glory.
Starting point is 00:25:42 She's reading Visitors of Glory by the pool. And sure enough, Visions of Glory is right there on her Chase lounge in full display. I was live tweeting too. So I was live tweeting the entire trial at Hidden Drew Crime. And so I was, I was, you know, everyone else is talking about her swimsuit color or, you know, how Chad looked like you didn't know what the heck was going on. And I was like, it's visions of glory. We've talked about. This is visions of glory. Right. Yeah. It was this moment of like, see, this is this is what they're doing. Yeah. And just to really put a fine point on it, you know, Lori's two children are dead. Yes. Yes. Chad's wife is dead. Dead.
Starting point is 00:26:24 Lori's at least one to two ex-husbands are dead. Her brother's dead. There's this streak of carnage. They've gone to Hawaii to do who knows what. And the crucial text that they have on their, what's the word you called on the bathing, the swim chair? Shays. Shays Lounge is visions of glory.
Starting point is 00:26:50 It's right there in the bottom right for those who are watching. Should we, should we play the video clip? Yes, sure. Play the video clip. And I apologize. And I apologize to those listening. You know, some of this is just visual, not audible, but let's play the clip. This is all leaving, sir.
Starting point is 00:27:10 You have any questions regarding that? So it is 1439 hours on January 22. What is that ringtone? So chat's kind of leaning over. Yeah, kind of acting like, what's this? I know I love, and they're so just shocked. Like, wait, we have to produce the kids. That wasn't part of the plan.
Starting point is 00:27:54 And there's the book right under her right knee. Yeah, right. Being read, she set it down. Any questions? You have any questions for that? No, okay. All right, have a nice thing. So, I mean, they can't be thinking that they're just going to get away with all this.
Starting point is 00:28:14 They have to be thinking that somehow God's going to intervene, right? Because they've literally left a trail of death. And why would they have visions of glory literally under the knee open that they're studying it? We're going to be answering that question today in part one. And then the only other thing I think is worth talking about, let's just maybe, and we want to bring Megan, we want to bring you in here as well, but it didn't just stop with Lori and Chad. So recently when the when the Jody Hildebrand a passenger's story becomes global news, and then later when the Tim Ballard lawsuits start to fly, yes. What happens? What do we learn?
Starting point is 00:28:59 There's a connection to a connection without a next. Tom Harrison and Visions of Glory. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, without the next. A connection, a good old-fashioned connection without an in it like Jody Hildebrand's connections. That, yes, you could, so all of a sudden, Jody Hildebrandt comes down and she's connected to eternal core. And eternal core is something that was created by therapist, Tom Harrison, to bring God back into therapy. He starts eternal core. It's a podcast. It's a conference. And who's involved? Jody Hildebrandt. And I'm just going to go ahead and show that.
Starting point is 00:29:41 that image of the Eternal Core Conference. Who's in the middle of the entire graphic image, Megan? Who is that? Good old Tom Harrison. There's Tom Harrison and Mindy. Who's two headshots to the right of Tom Harrison, Mindy Caldwell? That is Jody Hildebrand. Jody Hildebrand.
Starting point is 00:30:02 And who was on the literal right hand of Tom Harrison from his perspective, Lauren? Tim Ballard. Tim Ballard, right? And is Maurice Harker, by the way? His photo is not on this. He did participate in that Eternal Corps conference, but his photo for some reason was not on that picture. Yes.
Starting point is 00:30:23 And Internal Corps was really only sort of a big present thing in 2019. Yeah. And that's when, yeah, he was with Maurice Harker, Tim Ballard. We'll get into Maurice later, I'm sure. And Jody Hildebrandt. And then, of course, we don't see Chad or Lori there, but we already have that history. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:30:42 I'm believing this book. And really quickly, we're going to jump into the Tim Ballard lawsuit and show a couple other intro slides before we begin. But Megan, I want to bring you in. Can you just tell us your first recollections of vision? Anything you want to say is an intro, but your first recollections of visions of glory and what kind of, how the wheels and dots started connecting for you and these stories and visions of glory. Yeah, well, so I was very, very fortunate to appear on Lauren's channel, actually before I came and did my Mormon stories
Starting point is 00:31:14 interview. And she and I kept in touch quite a bit because the more layers got unpealed from this onion, we just both kind of wanted to understand what was happening. So we kept in touch about new developments in the case. And I think she brought it up to me at one point about this video that you guys had seen at the trial and that visions of glory was there. And I just sort of had this distant bell ring in my head. And it took me a little while. before I remembered this. But I was presented with a copy of Visions of Glory back in 2014. And for me, this was pre-therapy. I was still very enmeshed in my family system. It was pre-religious deconstruction, so I was a very faithful member of the Church of Jesus
Starting point is 00:32:02 Christ of Latter-day Saints. And I had been teaching gospel doctrine in my ward. And after the lesson that we had that was about the second coming, one of the people in my ward came up to me and told me that there was a book she really wanted me to read. She said, I loved your lesson. I thought you did a great job, but I think you kind of maybe left some things out. And at the time, I was very much a rule follower in the way that I presented things as a gospel doctrine teacher. And I was, and this is what kept me in the church so long because I only read the approved correlated materials. And I only presented in the lessons what was in the manual. And I just knew I had some cooks in my ward.
Starting point is 00:32:54 And every time we got on the subject of end times that, you know, people would raise their hand and talk about things like knowing the actual location of Kolob and stuff like that. So I did not want to stray at all. There's a few in every one. Yes, exactly. I didn't want to stray too far from exactly what was in the manual. And so I guarantee you we didn't talk about anything, you know, Mormon rumors or any of that kind of stuff. So this person actually approached me and handed me a manila envelope and inside the manila envelope was the book, Visions of Glory. And I can only speculate that the reason it was in an envelope was probably because this
Starting point is 00:33:35 was post Tom Harrison having to write this letter to the leadership of the church saying it was just, it's all fiction, it was just for me, it's not to be taken literally and all that stuff. So I think she didn't want to be seen carrying the book in church or handing it off to the gospel doctrine teacher. And I actually read the book almost right away as soon as she gave it to me. And I, as a true believing member of the church, was very compelled by some of ideas in the book, mainly because it was sort of a confirmation of the things that were taught in regular mainstream church doctrine. And also around this time, there was a big interest in my family about NDE books. And I had already read... Near Death Experience. Yeah,
Starting point is 00:34:24 Near Death Experience books. And I had already read probably at least four other NDE books. And the general message of those books were always always pretty much the same, that heaven is real, that God and Jesus love you, and that, you know, there's hope for life after this one. But when I read visions of glory, it went way beyond anything else I had read in those other NDE books. And towards the end of the book got extremely detailed about what was, quote-unquote, going to happen at the end times during times of tribulation and the second coming of the Savior. And I was less interested in those details. The only thing I will say is that also included in the book are a couple of visions or dreams that were written
Starting point is 00:35:19 by other prominent church members, one by Wilford Woodruff, I believe, and some of the details were sort of corroborated throughout these different accounts of end times and things. But what was most compelling to me was this idea that Tom Harrison puts forward in the book and we'll get to some of these clips about our ancestors being with us and trying to help us. And having my grandma Noni who passed away when I was just a baby that I never knew, and my dad's dad also who passed away before I knew him, that was a really compelling idea to me to think that my ancestors were helping me
Starting point is 00:36:02 with the difficulties of my life. And so I sort of clung to that idea, and I'll talk a little bit more about how the different things affected me as we go through the book, but I was just very compelled by some of the ideas. And I passed the book onto my sister because I said, wow, this book really opened my eyes to a lot of things and she read it and talked to one of her really good friends about
Starting point is 00:36:26 it who is a professor at BYU and that person told her yeah I've read that book I've heard of it I think it's an apostate book and you probably shouldn't be paying attention to it and my sister said well why why is it apostate and this person said well the main thing is because he sort of puts himself above the first presidency in having all of this information and he's sort of intimates that his office after the millennium is like right next to Jesus Christ's office. And so, you know, my sister kind of got back to me and she was like, yeah, maybe we shouldn't really be reading this book and putting any sort of store in what's said in it because it seems like this guy is kind of off the deep end. And I was a little sad about that, but I had to admit
Starting point is 00:37:13 she was right. The more that I really thought about it and read, sort of read into it, I could totally see where she was coming from. And so I actually got rid of my copy and, you know, put it aside and didn't really pick it back up again until Lauren and I started talking about it. And I remembered the things I read in the book, thinking about it in the context of Laurie and Chad and what they had been talking about.
Starting point is 00:37:40 And man, I just was like, you're totally right. Almost everything that they talked about, almost everything that you've heard Lori say that was crazy came from that book. You know? And so I went ahead and downloaded the audiobook and started listening to it again and making notes about all the things that were so harmful and dangerous about this book. And that's kind of how this part of the episode was born. Yeah. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing. And you kind of, even before I think this news broke
Starting point is 00:38:13 with Tim and Jody, you were asking us if we would consider an episode on Visions of Glory, right? because you felt like this was a really important piece to the puzzle. Yes, and mainly because Lauren was relating to me how every time she mentioned the book on her channel, she would have all these viewers that would come forward and say, oh, yeah, Chad and Lori are crazy. But don't discredit the book. The book is really good. The book has all this great stuff in it. And I was thinking to myself, no, it's super harmful.
Starting point is 00:38:44 And the perpetuation of these ideas that were expounded on by Chad and Lerner, that ended up in the deaths of so many people, surely it's not going to just end there. People who are still fans of the book, people who believed what Chad and Laurie said, but maybe now are saying, oh, I didn't really believe it, but they're still sort of perpetuating these ideas. They're still out there. And then when we started to hear these things in the news, Jody Hildebrand, Tim Ballard, and making these connections, I was like, we have to do this episode because we need people
Starting point is 00:39:18 to know this is not a good book. these ideas are harmful and it leads to a lot of extremism that just could end up being tragic and already has ended up being tragic. Yeah. And then when I, oh go ahead, Lauren. No, go ahead. And then when I picked up the book and started reading it just a few days ago, because I've been way too busy, and I read in like the first couple chapters and we're going to play
Starting point is 00:39:41 this that Tom Harrison had a bestie who was a Mormon apostle who he told, you know, about these visions and that the apostle blessed Tom Harrison's visions, then I thought that reminded me of the Mark Hoffman situation where Mark Hoffman, the forger, was literally interacting with the first Mormon church, First Presidency in the Corridan of the 12th, selling them his forged documents. If ever there was an opportunity for the First Presidency Corm of the 12th to use the gift of discernment that I had been taught that they possessed, it would have been with Mark Hawtham because he ends up killing at least two people by bombing them.
Starting point is 00:40:28 And immediately the idea and thoughts of Mark Hoffman came to me because I thought, wait a minute, if Neil A. Maxwell, there's the reveal, if Neil A. Maxwell knew about Tom Harrison, was buds with Tom Harrison and blessed this book, you know, these sets of visions that become visions of glory, and didn't tell him to stop, didn't tell him to shut it down. And then later, when we learned that the Mormon Church held a disciplinary council or threatened a disciplinary counsel with Tom Harrison, and instead of actually excommunicating him and demanding that him or John Pontius or his wife or whoever shut this book down and get rid of it, they promote Tom Harrison to bishop and allow him to continue wielding therapeutic influence in the Salt Lake Valley for another nine years.
Starting point is 00:41:22 Again, if ever there was an opportunity for the Mormon church, leadership to exhibit the gift of discernment that they claim to have, it would have been in 2013, 2014 at Tom Harrison's disciplinary council versus promoting him to bishop. And if you don't believe me, if seeing a photo of Jody Hildebrand speaking at a Tom Harrison therapy conference, or if, you know, if seeing visions of glory under Lori Vallow's knee isn't enough for you, now we'll show you a victim from Tim Ballard's alleged victims, an excerpt from their statement. Do you want to set this up in any way, Megan, before I read it? Or should I just read it? Yeah, you can just read it. It's from the lawsuit that was recently filed by victims of Tim Ballard.
Starting point is 00:42:16 Yeah, it came down to the third judicial court, Salt Lake County civil lawsuit. Okay, let's read it. It says, quote, this is a victim, an alleged victim of Tim Ballard, quote, he also had told me to read this book. It was called The Visions of Glory and that he had met with the man who wrote it. His name was Tom Harrison and that Tom had told him lots of visions that he had had Tim in them. He said that Tim would be a prophet of the LDS Church one day, that he would be the president of the United States. And so if Tom Harrison is meeting with Tim Ballard and
Starting point is 00:42:58 emboldening Tim Ballard to believe that someday he's going to be a prophet or president United States or helping usher in the millennium, you know, that's the type of histrionics that both led to Chad and Laurie feeling like they could escape to Hawaii with with the trail of murder and Tim Ballard to think that he could escape his fraud and sexual predation to become a U.S. senator from Utah or eventually president of the United States. And I want to add to that to, you know, I didn't make this clear at the beginning. This is important because we saw that banner with Tom Harrison in the center. It was 2019 was the Eternal Corps. And that's really important. First off, let's point out, 2019 is when JJ lost his life, Tiley lost her life and Tammy and Charles all lost their lives.
Starting point is 00:43:50 That was the daybell. 2019 was a daybell murder spree. And that banner, the Eternal Core, the majority of that podcast, everything is 2019 as well. Well, we've mentioned, we've seen Tim Ballard, we've seen Jody on that banner. There's no Chad Daybell, but I do need to say this comes from three very concrete sources that I have. That on the Daybell side, we have two very concrete sources letting me know that Chad, Daybell, and Julie Roe were meeting with Tom Harrison in his office. And then I have on the Harrison side, someone that knows Tom Harrison saying, Tom, Tom, was a lot of meeting with Chad Deibel and Julie Rowe in his office. And so though I want to point that out to while they don't show up on the banner, it's more than just seeing the book. I had been hearing of these of these meetings. So I want to put that out there because 2009 is a really important,
Starting point is 00:44:47 2019, excuse me, is a really important year. And I do know that it wasn't just that Chad and Chad liked his book. He was meeting according to three very concrete sources. He was meeting with Tom Harrison as well. Chad also. Super important. Thank you. Okay. This next slide we have really quickly. And what we're going to be doing is for part one, we're going to be playing excerpts from visions of glory to both give you all a sense for what this book is, but also to provide commentary on some of the important issues that end up coming out later in all of the these dark stories. Then we're going to stop. And then for part two, which is going to hopefully appear later this evening, we're going to be talking more in detail about the connections between
Starting point is 00:45:41 all of these dubious players and Visions of Glory and Tom Harrison. So those are going to be the two parts. This part one is going to be just doing a deep dive into visions of glory and giving you a sense for it. Now let me go ahead and show this next slide. Megan, do you want to set this up at all? This is Mindy's. Mindy, do you want to set this up? Yeah, this is also from an excerpt from the civil lawsuit that was filed recently against Tim Ballard. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to read that. I can read it.
Starting point is 00:46:14 So, yeah, this is a statement from that civil lawsuit. Okay, I'll read it. It says, additionally, Ballard would get ketamine treatments and have a scribe come in with him while he would talk to the dead prophet Nephi. and issue forth prophecies about Ballard's greatness and future as a United States Senator, President of the United States, and ultimately the prophet of Ballard's Church, to usher in the second coming of Jesus Christ. And then what is this image of, Mindy?
Starting point is 00:46:46 So this is when Tim Ballard was having his ketamine treatment, he would have a scribe come into his ketamine treatments, and he would verbalize, and then the scribe would write those things down. So it's my understanding that those are the notes. that the scripe wrote down during Tim's ketamine treatment. Okay. And so it says he feels, and I'm assuming this is talking about Tim, Tim feels during his ketamine treatment, he is stepping outside of himself. He, he is himself 100% while in ketamine state or K state. while in ketamine, ultimate truth serum can say all.
Starting point is 00:47:27 He needs to say God speaks to him. And then it says, asking God Nephi, Tom Harrison, and angels. And then it says, what do I need to do? Help to prepare himself. Quote, forgive me, father and mother, close quote. quote, with this freedom, I bring love and light. With this freedom, he effortless gives love and light. In this freedom, I effortlessly, I see and give the love and light to God's connection to the world.
Starting point is 00:48:08 Why do you send me here? I just want to help people. What have I done to these people? Father, mother, please protect me. Tom Harrison, who are you? What's that word? I think it's redacted. Sister.
Starting point is 00:48:22 Redacted sister. And then it says Catherine. All right, Mindy, what else do you want to highlight from what I just read? Anything else? I think that, I think it's just interesting that he brings up Tom Harrison again twice while he's in this meditative state during his ketamine treatment. And I think it highlights again what we've talked about, or maybe we haven't talked about it yet, where he channels Nephi.
Starting point is 00:48:48 that's been a big part of the Tim Ballard news recently is where he used a psychic to channel Nephi. And so that comes up in those notes as well. So I think we're just getting a little bit of a peek into Tim Ballard's mind. Oh, go ahead. No, please. Sorry. No, go ahead and finish. Well, can you go back to the slide one more time?
Starting point is 00:49:07 I think I want to point out how he's mentioned. Okay. Yeah, go ahead. What do I need to do? He is asking God. He is asking Nephi. He is asking angels. And he's asking Tom Harrison.
Starting point is 00:49:19 Like that's where he puts Tom Harrison. What do I need to do? And for someone with a Messiah complex, in my opinion that Tim Ballard has, and he's saying, who are my mentors? What do I need to do? Angels, God, Nephi, and Tom Harrison. I mean, I just want to point out the pedestal he has Tom Harrison on there. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:49:39 Yeah. And again, for me, I'm not even, I don't even have my targets on Tom Harrison with this episode. I've got it on the system. It's Neil A. Maxwell. It's the first presidency in 2013, 2014, that know about this guy, that know about the book and don't shut it all down. That's where my focus is. Because who knows what mayhem could have been prevented? Mindy. One thing I was thinking about when you were talking about, we were talking about Tom Harrison and the Neil A. Maxwell connection. And then you mentioned Mark Hoffman and his association with the
Starting point is 00:50:17 apostles, I think it's important to bring up the Tim Ballard and Elder and Russell Ballard connection as well. I think there's a pattern here where where there is like higher up approval or they're using, they're using the association with higher church leaders to gain, you know, credibility and status. And also just a general lack of discernment. Right. On the part of these men who teach us that they're special witnesses of Christ, talk to God and Jesus and have the gift of discernment. If anyone does, it's the first presidency of the quorum of the 12th. Am I exaggerating? I mean, I think that's what Orthodox members believe. Yes. Okay, really quickly, but we're going to dive into visions of glory, but Megan, you went ahead
Starting point is 00:51:05 and just pulled this quote from Dalai Jokes. Do you want to set this up really quick? Yeah, I just, I wanted to know, you know, what are the church's current views on near-death experiences and these kinds of books coming out because obviously they'd know about them. I think some near-death experience books have been published by Deserate book, although this one wasn't. And I do have to say, too, though, that, and this was one of the things that lent a lot of credibility to the book for me was that reading it in the introduction, him saying that he had an apostolic friend who he had told these visions to.
Starting point is 00:51:44 And then also the fact that he wanted to quote unquote remain anonymous by being Spencer. So when I found out later that he was kind of secretly telling people that he was Spencer and having fireside saying that he was Spencer, that kind of lost it a little bit for me. So I went to the LDS website just to see what, if anything, was being said about NDE books. And I found this quote by Dallin H. Oaks. And I'll go ahead and read it because I can see it better than the rest of you. This is Dallon H. Oaks. currently the second highest ranking Mormon in the world.
Starting point is 00:52:17 He's the first counselor in the Mormon Church First Presidency. He is the next prophet, president and prophet of the Mormon Church, if and when Russell Nelson dies. And let's read what he has to say. Quote, this is from Trust in the Lord Ensign and or Leahona, November 2019. Okay, let's see what he says. He says, quote, so what else beyond what we learn from, so what else beyond what we learn from our canon of Scripture?
Starting point is 00:52:54 Do we know about the spirit world? Many members of the church have had visions or other inspirations to inform them about how things operate or are organized in the spirit world. But these personal spiritual experiences are not to be understood or taught. thought as the official doctrine of the church. And of course, there is abundant speculation by members and others in published sources like books on near-death experiences. All right, Megan, what do you want us to understand from that? Spot on, John Dylan, spot on.
Starting point is 00:53:30 You like that? Wow. Wow. I just think, I think the timing of it is very interesting. It's November of 2019. It's an article that was written in the Leohona magazine, so it was not a conference talk. It was not obviously addressed directly, but the fact that he specifically says books, you might as well insert visions of glory right here because, you know, people were talking about it and they were talking about the connection to Chad and Lori. And so I just think it's, I think that's the sort of the church's M.O., right? About, you know, we're going to sort of address this thing in a
Starting point is 00:54:05 roundabout way, but we're not actually going to come out and say it. It's not exactly a condemnatory statement, right? True. It's not saying, cut this out, this stuff's dangerous, this stuff's bad. Am I wrong? No, you're right. You say it happens. Yeah, I think that's kind of what the church has done with a lot of different things. Like, I remember a very general statement about energy healing coming out around the same time, saying that people shouldn't be doing energy healing or engaging in that. But they didn't ever name anybody specifically or any modality specifically. And this is the same thing to me. They're not specifically condemning it. They're just saying, these are personal experiences. It's not doctrine of
Starting point is 00:54:47 the church. But I think the people who put store in visions of glory and think it's real are going to hear that and say, well, yeah, it was his personal experience. But it's pretty detailed. And it's got a lot of good information that aligns with the church doctrine. I just want to know that I think demons are attacking your voice right now. I think that's what it is. I think the demons are trying to silence you. I think that's true. Is that fair? Is that possible? Yeah, it feels like maybe there's a rip in my soul somewhere. Dark humor. No, I'm with you. I'm like, I think we should probably do a casting right now. Get that out of you. But we're not in the temple, so it won't be as effective. It won't count. All right. I'm going to just thank again all our live stream viewers for checking
Starting point is 00:55:34 us out. If you're new to either Mormon Stories podcast or Hidden True Crime, YouTube channel, Please take a minute to do a couple things, to subscribe to our channels, to like this episode, and to comment or share. Because if we get a couple thousand people liking this episode, YouTube's going to send it viral and spiraling. And this will be one of the most common videos returned when people search on visions of glory when they want to learn more about it. So we would really appreciate your support in doing that. And we welcome again all our viewers, both on Hidden True Crime YouTube channel and on Mormon Stories. Okay, so what we're going to do now is we're going to do a deep dive into visions of glory. And what Megan did is Megan meticulously copied audio excerpts from the book.
Starting point is 00:56:28 And so we're going to play them for you and then offer some commentary. Hopefully not too much excessive commentary will be here for eight hours. But Megan, do you want to set up this before we start? Because you really did the majority of the work for this episode. Yeah, I just, I went through the book listening to it specifically for things that related to Chad's theology. And I wanted to highlight those points that I thought that, you know, were things that were important for us to address, that were harmful. And, you know, honestly started out with way more clips than what we've got right here. We narrowed it down.
Starting point is 00:57:02 So it's going to be, it's going to be a lot. but it could have been a lot more. Basically, we read Visions of Glory so you don't have to. That's kind of what we're trying to do here. That's our tagline for today. Yes. I mean, we don't want people buying this book, right? No, definitely not, because it's harmful.
Starting point is 00:57:18 And in the wrong hands, when you combine it with religious scrupulosity, and you combine it with some zealotry, and you combine it with prepper and extremism, fringe groups, these teachings become harmful. And sort of the way I've been talking about it is, you know, I've had lots of of dreams. I have really vivid dreams. And some of them, I feel like, have been my conscious, subconscious, trying to just figure out my daily life, right, and replay all the conversations. I wish I would have said something different. But I've also had, you know, some dreams that could be prophetic or could be profound if I decided to take it that way. But when you change your
Starting point is 00:57:55 entire life to go after something that is basically a neurological process, that becomes problematic, I think, and harmful. Yeah. book's frightening. I won't say that. I think this book, I'm just talking about the book, it's frightening to me, knowing what I've been looking at for the past four years. I agree with you. I think it's the things that people could take from this book in the wrong hands. It worries me greatly. That's why I'm here. Yeah, the metaphor that came to me as I was finishing up this book was, imagine if there was an evil scientist genius out there that could
Starting point is 00:58:32 could convince people that they had the power to fly. And then those people became so convinced by the evil genius that they would go to the top of a skyscraper and jump off thinking that they could fly. You know, it would be deadly. And that seems like an exaggeration until you look at the fruits of Tom Harrison's book Visions of Glory. So let us begin. And one of the questions we were asking is there have been near-death experience books before and after visions of glory.
Starting point is 00:59:07 And we were all asking as we were preparing for this, why did this book become the book when there are so many other ones out there? Chad published stuff, Julie Rowe published stuff, a bunch of stuff since. My theory is that it had apostolic affirmation, that he begins the book literally by saying he had buddy who is an apostle, he shared his visions with the apostle and the apostle approved it. So that's our first clip. Yeah, and also I do want to say too, he admits that, you know, that Neil A. Maxwell told him, maybe these visions are just for yourself, maybe you shouldn't tell anyone else,
Starting point is 00:59:46 and then Neil A. Maxwell died, and then the book was published. Yeah, well, we'll play it, we'll comment on it. Okay. All right, so let's go ahead and play the first clip. My Apostolic Friend, we met in his office a week later, and he told me this story. All of these years I have felt painfully alone because of not being able to speak of the things I had seen in vision. They have become a big part of me, who I am, and what I am doing in my life, and I am constrained to silence. Until speaking to you, I didn't even realize how they could come to full accomplishment in my life,
Starting point is 01:00:21 especially knowing my personal circumstances, poor health, and weaknesses. I have always known they were true, but only until recently did I even suspect how they could come to pass. I have been persecuted and rejected the few times I opened up even a little. I have been very alone in this for a long time. It has been one of the hardest parts of this journey. One of my assignments for the church for many years has taken me to the church office building in Salt Lake City once a month. I meet with various general authorities and had come to know and love them personally. Over the years I had become good friends with one of the members of the quorum of the twelve.
Starting point is 01:00:58 We became personal friends, and we had, as he was inclined to say, broken bread together, and spent many wonderful times visiting on numerous occasions. One evening, while alone with him, I was prompted to tell him one of my visions. He listened with great interest, and then concluded by telling me it was from God, and that I should treasure it up in my heart, write it down, and not speak of it until the Lord told me to. He also counseled me not to try to interpret the meaning of it. He said, when the Lord wants you to understand it, he will send someone or give you the meaning. But until then, it is God's will that you keep these things to yourself,
Starting point is 01:01:36 and don't try to interpret them without further revelation. My apostle friend became a staying power and source of much comfort for me. He became a source of security in this veil of tears, and my source of peace that what I was seeing was of God, and not something of which I should be ashamed or fearful. Spencer looked down for a few moments before he continued. When he looked up, he was almost in tears. When my dear friend died,
Starting point is 01:02:02 I mourned his loss as deeply as if it were my own father or my child. I could not rise above the grief for a long period of time. I felt that not only had I lost a dear friend, an apostle of the Lord, but also the only person on earth, to whom I had been given permission by the Lord to share my experiences. I mourned his death for months. At times I had no desire to eat or sleep.
Starting point is 01:02:25 I found it hard to function properly. I was sinking into depression. Then one night I was awakened by someone standing beside my bed. It was about two o'clock in the morning, and I was just suddenly awake. I sat up and realized the heavenly messenger was standing beside my bed. This same messenger had conducted me through many visionary experiences, and yet I never knew his name, nor was I allowed to ask it. I moved as if to get out of bed, and instead of stepping back to allow me to do so, he just smiled at me.
Starting point is 01:02:56 He didn't move his lips, but spoke to me in a way that I had become familiar with while in vision, where the information just flows into my mind and heart in my visitor's voice. I am able to answer back the same way, but most often I forget and ask my questions out loud. He said, Spencer, and I knew why he had come this time, because my dear friend, the apostle, had asked him to. He radiated love and concern as he continued. You should not mourn your friends passing so deeply. He is troubled by your sorrow for him, and knows that you realize that he is very happy, finally
Starting point is 01:03:31 at peace and free of pain, and is going forward with his work. He loves you and therefore asks that you cease to mourn for him so. I felt willing to do anything the angel asked me to do, and I felt the sense of deep loss and grief quickly melt away. A quiet peace replaced the loss in my heart. But I had one more question for him. I said, I no longer have someone the Lord has given me permission to talk to about my experiences. I guess I was mourning that loss as well.
Starting point is 01:04:01 The angel smiled and replied, I understand, but only for a little while longer. The Lord will send John into your life. He will understand you and your visions. You can tell him all you have experienced. He will help you understand them as well. Just be patient until then. Spencer told me that the angel gathered the light back around him and vanished. Okay, a couple questions.
Starting point is 01:04:25 What can you guys share about Tom's work history that would have eventually led him to be meeting with general authorities at church headquarters? Anyone want to take that? Well, I want to say that Neil Maxwell was in his ward. Let's point that out. In Salt Lake City. In Salt Lake City, when one grows up in Salt Lake City, it's not too hard to know general authorities and apostles. I just want to throw that out there too. As someone who grew up in Salt Lake City, myself, it's sort of a way of life. You know, you're in, you're in the Vatican in a sense,
Starting point is 01:04:59 right? You're around people who work in the church office building and people who live in Salt Lake and you go to church with them or state conference with them and you see them. And I want to point out that Neil Maxwell was in his ward. So in other words, you know, forced to know each other. I also want to point out that, you know, Tom Harrison is really, really good at name dropping. He's got that art down. And I agree with you, John, that I think that's one reason. This book has so much. I'm on Facebook groups where they talk about this book, people that believe this book is scripture.
Starting point is 01:05:33 I'm on those groups. I'm grateful that I'm allowed in those groups or private groups. And the thing that they drive home all the time is, well, the apostles blessed this book, the apostles blessed Spencer's visions and believe Spencer's vision. So I want to throw that out. So back to your question. that you ask, you know, he was a therapist. He was a professor, University of Utah, Tom Harrison, we're referring to.
Starting point is 01:05:57 He was, he was then also helping with, I believe, therapy for the church. He was helping with, and he was a professor at the University of Utah. I think I mentioned that. He was a bishop at a singles ward. He had a lot of callings and then again, I just think Salt Lake City in general, geographical location plays a part of that. I'll add I went to his LinkedIn and what he bills himself as is especially in the 70s and 80s, an expert in child sexual abuse.
Starting point is 01:06:32 So my theory is that he was a leading consultant to the Mormon Church on how to deal with child sex abuse, which becomes really disturbing once you understand that the Mormon Church appears to have a history of, of suppressing and covering up tens of thousands of instances of child sexual abuse, both with Boy Scouts and with girls and with teens, etc. You know, I'm wondering to what extent Tom was talking to general authorities about how to deal with that as a mental health professional. I think that there was probably a lot of that. You're right. I actually agree with you 100% on that. I think that was a big play. And he's a social worker. That's his background. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. Yeah. Okay. Anything else, Mindy, you or Megan want to add about that part?
Starting point is 01:07:25 Okay. Well, just that going forward, I think it's important for us to keep in mind and for the listeners to keep in mind as we listen to these clips, who Tom Harrison is. So if you realize that connection where he's working with the church about sexual abuse, and he's also a therapist. So all of these things that we're about to hear in visions of glory, he incorporates in his therapy practice as well. That's a very important point. And yeah, and so it's not just fans of the book, fans of Chad and Laurie, fans of Julie Roe, whoever that are reading this, but Tom Harrison is also actively using this in his practice,
Starting point is 01:08:03 in his Eternal Core podcast with Tim Ballard, Jody Hildebrand, and all these other people that are connected as well. Yeah. And for me, if he's been able to successfully, and by the way, Tim Ballard named dropped, M. Russell Ballard, Jody Hildebrandt would often start her retreats and therapy sessions, as I understand it, name-dropping her relationship with top Mormon church leaders. If the Mormon church has festered an unhealthy adoration of high-level church leadership, combined with Tom Harrison's successfully associating top Mormon church leaders as approving his visions and thus his book,
Starting point is 01:08:46 to me the burden is on the Mormon church top leadership to eliminate any doubt, just like they did with Tim Ballard and M. Russell Ballard, to me, the Mormon church needs to denounce visions of glory and Tom Harrison's visions and work because of how, his associations with apostles has helped grow the influence of the book. I agree with that. I just want to say... Most people don't realize how much their personal information is being bought and sold every day. Data brokers are making billions, pulling details about you from public records and the internet, and then packaging and selling it, usually without your consent.
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Starting point is 01:10:35 And you know, but with Tim Ballard, well, not just, I'm not just talking about the excommunication. What I'm referring to is I think the reason they came out so strongly in the vice article was because of his connection with Elder Ballard. Yeah. That connection, he had a friendship with Elder Ballard. He would use Elder Ballard's name. He would say, I am buddies with Elder Ballard to his victim. In the civil lawsuit, Elder Ballard was his thing. Well, I've been approved by Elder Ballard.
Starting point is 01:11:01 So if they came out so strongly because of that and said, well, you know, Tim Ballard, and they're no longer friends, then the same thing needs to happen with this Visions of Glorybook if he's doing the same thing, my apostolic friends. Very good. What's one financial lesson you learned the hard way? I'll go first. It's not too late to start saving. Today's episode is sponsored by Acorns.
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Starting point is 01:14:30 Happy Mammoth.com for 15% off today. All right, Megan, what's the next clip? Well, now we're going to just dive into the book. And so the whole book in its entirety is Spencer's visions, Tom Harrison's visions. He claims to have died three times. So the first part of the book is about his first near-death experience. He's in the hospital receiving a procedure. I think he's having a CT scan.
Starting point is 01:14:58 Does that sound right? and he's being injected with the contrast material that's going to help them with the CT scan. And he has apparently an allergic reaction to the contrast material. And just as the nurse is asking him, you know, if you have any negative reaction, let me know. And he says just then he felt his spirit leave his body. And this is the first part of that vision. All right. Let's roll it.
Starting point is 01:15:24 The nurse tried to find a pulse and couldn't. She swore and shouted back at the control room. I'm losing him. I'm losing him. A male technician rushed into the room. Immediately, people assembled to try to revive me. A doctor I had not seen before ran into the room, and for some reason I immediately knew that he was having an affair with the nurse who started the IV.
Starting point is 01:15:45 It came as a complete surprise to me that I knew this. I found my mind full of new information that was coming at me more from my heart than from my usual senses. I also knew that this nurse was recently divorced. I knew how much she valued and also feared this relationship. with a doctor who was now working beside her to save me. I knew how hard she struggled to be good at her profession and still to be a good mom to her two sons at home. I knew she had terrible financial problems.
Starting point is 01:16:14 I knew everything about her, actually every detail of her life and every decision, fear, hope, and action that had created her life. All right, everybody's laughing. That's just wild. Mindy, why are you laughing? Reactions. It's bonkers, right? Why? I kept waiting at something.
Starting point is 01:16:31 point for him to verify to say, you know, after this near-death experience, I actually learned factually that the nurse and doctor had had an affair, you know, et cetera. There's never any verification of any of these things. He's just claiming that he can look at this woman and know everything, every detail about her life. It's absurd. Well, if you're having a, if you're dying and transcending into other realms, maybe you have special powers to see. things that other people can't see. Apparently, the mere mortals can't see. Apparently, that's the experience
Starting point is 01:17:06 that he had, but it's absurd. I was loving it. I was like, no wonder people like this book. This is juicy. It's better than Gray's Anatomy. I know. I'm telling me more. That's what happened next, Tom, or Spencer. Yeah. Why are you laughing, Megan? Well, I just say, I mean, I think that's the whole point is that, you know, Julie Roe,
Starting point is 01:17:23 Chad Daybell, Tom Harrison, are claiming that having a near-death experience gives you some sort of special powers, that some some way to be able to tell things about people, to see things about people that other people can't see and don't know. And later on, Tom Harrison in one of his podcast talks about how he can look at the people in a room and tell which of the children have been sexually abused. So we see this sort of power that he's getting from the near-death experience translating into something truly
Starting point is 01:17:54 harmful. Because what if then one of those kids ends up in his practice and they haven't been sexually abused. But he says, oh, I can tell you have. That's where these implanted memories come from and things like that that are just so harmful. Good point. The trend I see with this, and I've attended these conferences that are they all speak. We'll talk about that later. But they, they, they, they, I call them, you call them neo-fundamentalists. I call them, um, preppers or, I call them near-death experience visionary preppers because they all, the, the people that are most important in these groups, the one that has the platform that everyone listened to are the people that have the near-death experience. And once you have the near-death experience and your
Starting point is 01:18:35 veil rips, according to Chad, or is opened and you can see ahead and behind and you can know what people are thinking and thus you become prophetic. So the near-death experience sort of equates that I'm a prophet. That's, you know, now I'm a prophetic person that you can listen to. So yeah, I know what's going on and I, you know, I, you don't even have to tell me. I know everything about you. As I was reading visions of glory, the thought came to my mind that claiming to have a near-death experience is a power grab. Totally. Absolutely. It's just like when Joseph Smith claimed to be able to translate hidden, locked up languages or to see treasure in the ground through a peepstone, we all, I guess there's a part of many of us that desires power and influence and status.
Starting point is 01:19:26 and it just seems like claiming a near-death experience is a shortcut to people's esteem if you can convince people that you've had it. Now, maybe people have genuine NDE's and they really believe it. So I'm not claiming that NDE's are always conscious frauds, but undoubtedly it's a power grab, in my view. Yes, and we know your wonderful interview, Lauren, with Heather Daybell. We know that Chad Daybell didn't start saying that he had had NDE's until after he published Julie Rose book. And he saw the success of Julie Roe. He saw that she was being invited to speak places. Her books were selling better than Chad's. And then Chad started claiming that these two
Starting point is 01:20:07 experiences that he'd had were actually near-death experiences. Correct. And that's when his veil was ripped and he could download heavenly visions into his brain. So I think that's why I call them, yeah, it's not just near-death experience people. It's not just preppers. That's why I call them near-death experience visionary preppers. It's a trio. You have the near-death experience and you have a vision of the second coming. And once you have the vision of the second coming, you also, your veil remains open and you can see everything about everyone. And then you start telling everyone they need to prep, I guess, and then you buy your tents. But it takes those three things. It's not just the near-death experience. It's not just the prepping. It's not just the visions.
Starting point is 01:20:48 It's all of them. Maven's calling our attention to a comment. DGM writes, If anybody is familiar with Elder Maxwell's writings, it is clear he would never endorse anything like this. It's out of step. His name in any way associated with all this. Do any of you all have a reaction to DGM? Yeah, well, I want to relay to Tom Harrison's. I consider this letter he sent me as his statement to me. You know, I ask him questions.
Starting point is 01:21:37 He says, here's the statement I'm going to make. This is what I can send you. He does say this in this letter. So many of the experiences, shared with him, I had, and I had seen when I was very ill over a protracted period of time, in hindsight, I see far more clearly that it would have been better to follow the counsel of Elder Neil Maxwell, a member of our ward. Oh, it says that in the letter?
Starting point is 01:21:59 It says that in the letter. I see it would have been far more clearly if I would have been better to follow the council of Elder Neil Maxwell, a member of our ward when he said to me, Brother Tom, do not try to interpret these things or read into them, end quote. He counseled me that I should wait and see and experience these things. things and proper timing of the Lord. I actually do think that, in my opinion, Tom, is a bit of a name dropper and interpreted what Elder Maxwell was saying to him differently. In my, he is using Elder Maxwell. Elder Maxwell happens to be in his ward, so they become friends.
Starting point is 01:22:37 You don't really have a choice when someone's in your ward. And so they become friends. He shares these visions with him. And then Elder Maxwell says, you know, why, you know, I can just, why don't we wait and seek, hold these to yourself. And, then he passes away and he publishes this book. So I don't think we'll ever know. Maybe that's, maybe we can have different opinions. I don't know if we'll ever know.
Starting point is 01:22:59 But there are different accounts. There are different accounts of how this played out. My only, my only reaction to that would be, yeah, of course he's giving his, his version of what Maxwell said. What Maxwell apparently didn't say is,
Starting point is 01:23:12 cut that shit out, that stuff's dangerous. You know, never talk about it again. And, you know, and the brethren, the Mormon church leadership are really in a bind because the LDS church restoration was founded on the idea that God speaks to humans through the Holy Ghost. Happened with Joseph Smith. And we're all encouraged to gain our Mormon testimonies through inspiration. And then this idea of visions, it comes from the Book of Mormon.
Starting point is 01:23:46 It's there in the first couple chapters. What is Lehi? He's a prophet. He's visionary. Is Nephi the only one receiving prophecies? No, Lehi is as well. And so this idea of inspiration and visions is something the brethren can't shut down because Mormonism is built on it.
Starting point is 01:24:05 Right. So I can see it and say, you know, just keep that one to yourself, brother, Tom. I can visualize Elder Maxwell just a little bit exasperated, Kind of like Pat and Tom on the head. I'm like, oh, you have to wonder how many of the general authorities are approached with things like this, you know, maybe with associates that they have. That's something that I've thought about while reading this. How often? We all know, you know, some quirky people in the church, and I just wonder if they, how often that they get approached with things like this.
Starting point is 01:24:36 And this one, it sounds like Tom Harrison and Neil, like Maxwell had a closer relationship than most standard members have with church leadership. But or maybe just Tom Harrison imagine that it was close to a relationship than it actually was. So I wonder if that's kind of their standard response when they get approached with things like this is to be like. Pat him on the head. Pat him on the head. That's lovely. Keep it to yourself. Except we have the example of Tim Ballard and I'm Russell Ballard.
Starting point is 01:25:04 Right. Where I'm Russell Ballard doesn't just pat Tim Ballard on the head and say, you keep believing you're going to be president and senator. He ends up, you know, Desireate book contracts, 220 articles in the Desireate News about him, and Ballard, Em Russell Ballard, ends up mentioning Tim Ballard in talks that he gives. So, I mean, can Mormon Church Apostles be both gullible, Mark Hoffman, and can they be actually affirming and supportive of crazy? Well, the next closest contemporary example we have is I'm Russell Ballard with Tim Ballard. And we have heard that Tom Harrison also has a relationship with Russell and Ballard as well.
Starting point is 01:25:46 Yeah. So. And what would be great is if instead of continuing to perpetuate the lie that we had nothing to do with Tim Ballard, what would be great is if M. Russell Ballard would say, you know what, I made a mistake. I shouldn't have endorsed this program. I didn't know it was going this deep. I didn't know that he was doing all of these other things on the side. I made a mistake. You know, it happens sometimes. But I feel like it's so problematic for them to admit that they've made a mistake because they're supposed to be talking to God and having the power of discernment.
Starting point is 01:26:18 So it's really problematic. They can't even admit that they've done something wrong. I love it when people admit mistakes. I'm like, okay. I got you. Yeah. All right, what's the next clip, Megan? So this is just more about this initial vision dealing with him, you know, getting out of his body after the contrast.
Starting point is 01:26:37 All right. Let's roll the tape. She desperately did not want me to die. I looked at the other people in the room and was astonished that I could hear their thoughts and know the details about their lives just as vividly as the nurse. There is a heightened spiritual sensitivity that comes from being dead that I never anticipated or heard of before. I knew what everyone was thinking.
Starting point is 01:27:00 Actually, it was greater than just knowing what they were thinking. I also knew every detail of their lives. I knew if they were good people or bad, if they were honest or corrupt. I knew every act that had brought them to that state. It wasn't something I felt or could see. It was just knowledge that was in me. What was even more interesting to me was that I felt no judgment of them. I simply knew these things.
Starting point is 01:27:23 It was like knowing a rose is red. It isn't something to judge. It's just the way the flower is. So no judgment, but I know whether you're good or evil. And I feel like that's kind of where Chad got his ability to discern light and dark spirits. is because of his special NDE powers. And then, you know, no judgment, but you're a dark spirit. Light and dark is a big theme for every single one of these people we've mentioned.
Starting point is 01:27:52 Jody Hildebrandt, she knows good and evil. Your interview with Jesse, she says that. Occasion. Okay, go ahead and start again. Sometimes the stream gets interrupted. So when that happens, I'm going to pause people because audio gets lost. Keep going. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 01:28:15 So this light and dark is a theme. good versus evil, light versus dark, zombie versus pure soul, whatever you call it. This is a theme with every single person. And it is the most important thing. Tiley and JJ were killed because they were dark. They were zombies. And Jody Hildebrand decides that people, including children, are light or dark, good or bad. Tim Ballard, I have now from a very close source that I spent hours on the phone with
Starting point is 01:28:46 that Tom Harrison was telling Tim Ballard who was light and who was dark in OUR. That comes from a very reliable source. And now we have, we see Tom Harrison can tell who was light and who is dark. And so you have to wonder, is there a Wizard of Oz behind all this, you know, this, this notion, this thing. This is a very important point that every single one of these people has in common. And Maurice Harker, who, you know, right, we'll get to him too. Yeah, and I'll just say, lest we leave all the culpability at the feet of Tom Harrison, it is a standard Orthodox core Mormon doctrine that Mormon priested leaders have the gift of discernment
Starting point is 01:29:34 to be able to tell if somebody is in their office to get a temple recommend or if they're, you know, the ability to determine someone's worthiness, core Mormon church doctrine, and the ability to decide if they're wicked or not, or to even get premonitions based on the gift of the Holy Ghost, all core Mormon doctrine. So this sits on a foundation of modern day, 2023 core Orthodox Mormon doctrine and theology. Am I overstating it? No. No.
Starting point is 01:30:08 Is that what you were taught? Of course. Yeah. it's part of my patriarchal blessing is discernment. And we heard the term discernment a lot of, a lot in the church. And I think we put a lot of value in that. I think that's why we have anxiety when we go into a bishop's interview as a teenage girl, you know, wondering if the bishop's going to have discernment and like no things that I've done. You know, I think we put a lot of value in that, in that concept for sure. Yeah, I have someone very close to me who is a missionary.
Starting point is 01:30:37 I'll just say it, doing some things that he didn't feel like he should be doing on his mission. And he knew that he was going to be meeting an apostle. And he was very worried that when he shook the hands of the apostle and looked into the eyes of the apostle, that the apostle was going to know the sins that he was committing. And he actually lost his faith. The beginnings at the end of his faith was when he met the apostle, shook the apostle's hands, looked into the apostle's eyes, and the apostles like, you're amazing. and hugged him because he had the expectation that the apostle had the gift of discernment,
Starting point is 01:31:12 then that's when his faith started to erode. I think that's interesting because it is the expectation they've built in us. Yes. And light and dark, determining light and dark is harmful enough. But in the sad, horrible case of, you know, Tiley and JJ, JJ turned from light to dark. And Chad was the one who just determined the timetable upon which that happened. He was the one who got to say, and Lori was constantly asking him, you know, is it time yet, is a time yet? Is he dark yet? And I just, it's obviously horrible, a horrible teaching.
Starting point is 01:31:50 Did we learn to that speaking, and I'm listening to you guys, you guys are the, John, you're the, you're the expert in that. I listened to you, share these things about the church. But it did make me remember that, I believe we heard that Tom Harrison currently now decides whether missionaries have the mental health to go on missions, that he makes that final determination right now for the LDS church, I believe. Yeah. Yeah. And later in part two, we're going to show a clip of what informs his therapeutic practice. And it turns out partially it's the belief. that he can channel the dead relatives of the clients that he's interacting with. And that's a teaser for what is coming in terms of Tom's theology and his his theologically informed therapeutic practices. Okay, Megan, what's the next clip?
Starting point is 01:32:52 So we're going to go back in time now. Spencer leaves the hospital. Tom Harrison leaves the hospital and goes back to witness his own conception and birth. Now I left the conception part out because it's super gross, but he goes back and witnesses his own troubling birth. Apparently he was dead at birth and his mother had a super traumatic time there. And this is in vision. In vision. Okay. All right, let's roll the clip. Two of the nurses in the delivery room were not mortals, but were angels. They were either translated persons or resurrected because they had bodies. They acted like the other nurses,
Starting point is 01:33:29 showing emotion and taking orders. But they were only there to help this woman and her child who was dying at birth. Yeah, this idea of like there's spirits all around us, good spirits and evil spirits and they're interacting with us. What was interesting to you about that, Megan? Yeah, I mean, again, reading this book as a true believing member, you know, and knowing that it had an apostolic blessing to it. So thinking to myself, well, this must be real. And literally, altering my behavior because I thought, oh, no, there are spirits all around us. And they can tell what I'm thinking. And they can also know what I'm doing. And if I'm having, you know, bad thoughts or if I'm doing something that I'm not supposed to be doing, then the evil spirits are going to know.
Starting point is 01:34:18 And then I'll attract more evil spirits to me. And this sort of gets developed throughout the book. But, you know, the fact that people are changing their behavior based on this. And the other part, for me too is, you know, that I put in my notes here, translated or resurrected people have bodies and can interact with us. Is that a thing? You know, that's, that was just so weird to me. Yeah, and I'll just add my little two cents on sort of the grounding of Mormon doctrine and theology. The doctrine and covenants talks about, this is Joseph Smith, he produces a revelation, and I don't have the section in verse with me right now, but it basically says how to determine And if an angelic visitor is either a resurrected being or a good spirit or an evil spirit.
Starting point is 01:35:09 And this is what I was taught growing up. What you do is you offer to shake its hand. If you offer to shake its hand and you feel something, well, then it's a resurrected being that has a body because in Mormon theology, Jesus was the first person to be resurrected. And then over time, other important prophets have been resurrected between Jesus and today. And so that's how you know if you're confronting a resurrected being. If you go to shake the angelic hand and the angel says, no, no, no, you can't shake my hand? Well, that's a good spirit because they won't try and deceive you by trying to shake your hand when they know you won't be able to feel anything.
Starting point is 01:35:55 And then the final type of spirit is the evil spirit, where if you go to shake its hand, it goes to shake your hand, but then you don't feel anything. That's the sign of an evil spirit because it's going to try and deceive you. Now, I'm going to ask my viewers and listeners to go Google which section and verse, a little bit of crowdsourcing. That's mind-blowing. Have you heard that? No, as someone who grew up in the church, you know, believing that God and Jesus Christ loved me
Starting point is 01:36:22 and, you know, more of a you-do-you philosophy. No, it's amazing. That's new to you. Yeah. Go ahead. I was just going to say, I remember very well a Sunday school lesson where we had this very discussion. And then the Sunday school teacher who gave us the lesson got in trouble with some of the
Starting point is 01:36:39 parents because they said, we don't want you talking to our kids about this stuff. And he was like, well, it's literally in the scriptures. So, you know, I felt like it was important for us to share. But yeah, I did hear that whole shaking of the hands thing. I did not know about near-death experience books or any of this until Chad and Julie Rose, so I have become a scholar of all these things. So I found that I Google D&C 129, okay. Verse one, there are two kinds of beings in heaven, namely angels who are resurrected personages having bodies of flesh and bones. For instance, Jesus said, handle me and see for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye have, as ye see me have.
Starting point is 01:37:17 Secondly, the spirits of just men made perfect, they who are not resurrected but inherit the same glory. When a messenger comes saying he has a message from God, offer him your hand and request him to shake hands with you. You thought I was making this up, did you learn? I didn't think you were making up. I was just like, wow. I'm kidding. This is a modern Mormon scripture in 2023. If he be an angel, he will do so and you will feel his hand.
Starting point is 01:37:40 If he be the spirit of a just man made perfect, he will come in his glory. For that is the only way he can appear. Ask him to shake hands with you, but he will not move because it is contrary to the order of heaven for a just man to deceive, but he will still deliver the message. If it be the devil as an angel of light, when you ask him to shake hands, he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything. You may therefore detect him. These are three grand keys whereby you may know whether any administration is from God.
Starting point is 01:38:09 And just to be clear, this isn't Joseph Smith just talking about himself. this scripture is for us. In other words, we should anticipate meeting angelic visitors in our lives and here's how we'll know whether they're of God or of the devil or whether they have a body or they don't. The only other final thing that Lauren, I'm sure you remember, is the core Mormon teaching that in the councils of heaven, in the pre-existence, God had God and mother God or gods had billions of spirit children. Correct. And that a third of them followed Satan. And what? What happened to them, Lauren? What happened to this?
Starting point is 01:38:45 They never got a body, right? And so what happened to them? They became one of the Satan's little army. They were cast out of heaven to where? Is it out of darkness? No. They were cast out of heaven to earth, just like the Thetons and the volcanoes and Scientology. And they, along with Satan, would spend the rest of their existence while there's humans
Starting point is 01:39:08 on the earth trying to tempt mankind. Yeah. Right? That's core Mormon doctrine. So all this stuff about spirits among us, it's not kooky, you know, Tom Harrison, visions of glory, remote obscure weirdness. This is built on core Mormon doctrine as revealed by Joseph Smith. Am I being ham-fisted? No, no, I think you're being accurate. I'm actually processing it and I'm, and this is why, I think this goes back to why I say this book is frightening because here's the thing. There are going to be some people that read things like that, and they're going to, you know, think interesting. You know, this is in scripture, just like, you know, Jonah was in a whale, you know?
Starting point is 01:39:47 You can say that with anything, just like there's incest in the Bible. But the problem with this and why this book is so frightening is written for today, I'm referring to visions of glory, and that what it says is startling and when you have people that believe in such literal things, then this book is bad. It's scary. And the fruits of it, as you point out, show that. And you know what? I'll say that.
Starting point is 01:40:12 As an LDS woman, that is something I was taught by their fruits. You shall know them. So that's kind of something I actually carry my life. Like, who is somebody? You know, by their fruits, you shall know them. Okay, well, we got Jody and we've got Tim and we've got Chad and we've got Lorry. We've got Julie. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:40:31 Yeah. I'm going to correct you on one point, though, John. I love it. You said that it's not kooky, and it is freaking kooky. And that's what the whole problem is. It's, you know, it is mainstream Mormon doctrine, but it's kooky. And I think that Mormons, as Mormons, we have a tendency towards scrupulosity or sort of religious OCD, because we're presented with a huge checklist of things that we have to do.
Starting point is 01:40:53 And we're presented with all of these things. And if we do this, then we go do more. You know, Elder Bednar's talk of what lack I yet. If you think you're all done, go ask the safe. what else you have to work on. So we're actively seeking for ways in which we can gain more knowledge, gain more truth, and we're also predisposed to seek out things that confirm our own bias about the teachings of the church being true because there are so many people telling us that it's not true and it can't be true. So when we read a book like Visions of Glory,
Starting point is 01:41:27 and it confirms the things that we've already learned in church, it becomes even more compelling to us because it is confirmation bias. Love it. Okay, what's the next clip, Megan? Okay, so now we're finished with the birth. We're not going to go back there. Spencer goes back to the hospital where his wife is in the waiting room. Okay.
Starting point is 01:41:49 Let's roll the tape. I began to wonder if she would be able to sense me or hear me, perhaps, if I moved through her. I asked her in my mind if I could have her permission to move through her. Even though she was not aware of me, her spirit answered, yes. I instinctively knew I had to have permission to do this. I understood this, but I am not sure why or how. It wasn't until later that I began to understand that entering another person's body is very invasive,
Starting point is 01:42:23 and a righteous spirit always seeks permission if it is ever necessary. Evil spirits wait for opportunities when we are spiritually weak, or after we have rendered ourselves vulnerable by disobedience to God's laws, and then they enter into us in an act of spiritual violence. After her spirit responded that I could, I moved through her, and I immediately understood the difference between her physical body and her spiritual body.
Starting point is 01:42:49 Her physical self had no realization that I was interacting with her. Her spiritual self, however, was fully aware of me and what I was trying to do and say. The problem was that, like most mortals, she was only aware of her physical body, captive to it, so to speak.
Starting point is 01:43:06 and not in tune with her spirit at that time in her life. All right, I was showing some of your faces in reaction to that. Why were it, why was it were laughing and blushing? What's going on there? Tom Harrison teaching consent. A real odd way. Thank you for that, yes. Yeah, the righteous spirits are going to ask for consent.
Starting point is 01:43:25 The evil spirits are going to wait until you're spiritually weak. So basically, if you commit any sin at all, then you're opening yourself up to being possessed by evil spirits, because they can't. can move through you without asking. Is this also a bit of rape culture too, in the sense that if you, if, so wait, what you just said is, so say that again, if evil, if you are evil, you're, you're not going to give consent. So what the book said is that evil spirits will wait until you're spiritually weak.
Starting point is 01:43:58 And the way that you make yourself spiritually weak is through sin. So if you sin, you're opening yourself up to being possessed by evil spirits. So if you're spiritually weak, it's your fault if evil spirits enter you. Right. Your bad, so, I mean, right? Right. Because a good spirit is going to ask for permission and an evil spirit is not going to ask for permission.
Starting point is 01:44:18 They're just going to wait till you're weak and then take you over. So if I'm weak, if I'm doing the wrong things, then I lose my ability to consent to anything. Right. In other words. Right. And the other thing that I got from that is that we're captive to our physical bodies and we're not spiritually in tune. And so that's sort of another flex of, well, if you've, if you've
Starting point is 01:44:39 had a ripped bail like Chad or if you've had near-death experience like Tom Harrison, then you're not really captive to your physical body and you're more spiritually in tune. And I think this is a foreshadowing to some of the most disturbing parts of this book. Yep. When we'll get to it, I'm sure shortly, where we'll be talking about how he describes the evil spirits taking over when you have sinned or when you're unrighteous. And I think that's some of the most damaging stuff in this book. I agree. Victim blaming. Yeah. Anything bad happens to you, you were, you're sinning. Yeah. Yeah. And in the, in the, I don't know, in the research around
Starting point is 01:45:21 high demand religions and cults, it's called blame reversal. If the prophecy comes true, it's because the church is true. If the prophecy doesn't come true, it's because you were wicked. You know what I mean? You didn't have enough faith for the prophecy to come true. And then did I hear this right at the very end? If it wasn't all weird enough, it kept going and tell me if I heard this right. Then he said, and then once I was able to enter her, I knew every single thing about her. Yep. Okay.
Starting point is 01:45:49 I mean, that's dark. It is dark. Thank you. It's dark. Yeah. Shall we forge ahead? Yeah, I'm just, I'm going to take it a minute. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:46:02 It's a lot. honestly do, and I think I've shared this with you guys as we were preparing for this episode, I literally felt like my brain was melting. I felt like I was losing brain cells and getting dumber, you know, and it's, I did have to take a lot of breaks from listening to this stuff because it really just, it's harmful. I feel you, I've read Chad Dable's books. Yeah, you know. But when you, when you read about the victims, the alleged victims of Tim Ballard, surely the connections we're drawing. Yes. He could have very, very likely drawn. Thank you for bringing that up.
Starting point is 01:46:34 Right? Yes, that's a very important comparison you just made. Now take this and think of the women in that civil lawsuit and their stories about Tim Ballard. Yeah. Yeah. It's not, at that point, it's not funny. Like, none of this is funny. I mean, we, we, and we kind of, I do worry sometimes about, you know, the dark humor, you know, and we, we laugh to cope, because obviously this, this is very close to me.
Starting point is 01:47:01 close to me. This is my family, the people that, that, you know, I related to. And I have lots and lots of moments where it's not funny and it never should be funny. But in order to cope with it and deal with it, we have to, we have to laugh at how ridiculous it is. Yeah. Yeah. All right, what's the next clip? Okay, so we're still hanging out in the waiting room of the hospital. And Spencer is noticing that there are lots of spirits among us, and he has ways of describing all those spirits. All right. Let's roll the clip. There were other spirits there who had embraced their altered state and had entered
Starting point is 01:47:41 into God's employ to do his work according to his will. These angels had been sent back by God to assist their loved ones through this difficult time. These angels had a recognizable glow about them, which told me instantly that they were good and on an errand from God. These good angels were dressed differently. Some angels wore robes, while others wore old-fashioned clothing. typical of when they had lived. They were there to assist the mortals with things that were happening. Some were sent to assist and prepare mortals for their own death. They were speaking comforting words,
Starting point is 01:48:13 giving instructions and teaching. Even though the mortals seemed unaware of their helpers, if they were listening with their hearts, they were comforted, and they began to glow the same as the angels who were assisting them. Yeah, so this is another example of, you know, the dead helping us or whatever, and it It makes me think about Laurie's statement at her sentencing where she talked about her sister Stacy who had died, you know, coming to her in vision and things like that. So obviously this is kind of where she got some of that stuff. Do you have two clips on that same topic?
Starting point is 01:48:49 Yeah, it's similar. Yeah, go ahead with the next one. There were also evil spirits in the room. They were there to tempt mortals, disrupt the work of the angels, and to cause any harm they could. These spirits had no light about them at all. but seemed to emanate darkness. These evil spirits were not readable to me.
Starting point is 01:49:11 I knew some things about them, but not their identity or history. They gave me a bad feeling even to look at them. They seemed to be able to change their shape to morph into some other shape if they desired. I realized that a spirit, who has never been mortal, has no definite spiritual shape. I saw some of these evil spirits appear as a child, others as a man in a business suit, or a beautiful young woman. It became evident to me that the unborn spirits could choose their shape, just as Satan did in the Garden of Eden, by appearing in the shape of a snake. This was the first time I realized that spirits, who never receive a physical body, had the ability to appear any way they chose. They could take on the appearance of a living individual if it helped them to deceive or to fulfill their assignments.
Starting point is 01:49:57 They could appear in the image of a grandfather, a dead prophet, or someone's wife if it helped them in their deception. So as soon as I'm hearing light and dark in children, I'm disturbed. Lauren, do you want to? Yeah, no, that's, that's, this is again why I'm doing this episode. I am so disturbed again and again and again, how children continue being harmed. JJ entirely. And, and, you know, the children are F and EF, you know, Ruby Frankie's children that were in Jody Hilda Brent's care and all these people keep hearing about.
Starting point is 01:50:35 Children are being harmed and they're being dubbed light or dark that they can now look like a child. Like that is, that's sick. Like, even Christ is blessed are the children. Like, what is this? What is this obsession with light and dark evil versus good? Like this obsession is weird and it's wrong and it's dangerous. And for those who haven't been following the Chad Debel-Laury-Valle case, it was, Laurie Valo, probably getting annoyed with her children that they were in the way of the stuff that she and Chad wanted to go do,
Starting point is 01:51:15 that probably led her to decide that her children's misbehavior, I say in quotes, was an indication that they were dark spirits, that then may be taken over by dark spirits so that they weren't actually inhabiting their body anymore, which then probably was used as the justification to have them, their lives. ended. And I want to say this too, for anyone that's doubting, thank you for putting that out there. After studying this case for four years and Megan, it's your family, you lived it, Mindy, you've been following along just like me. They believed this. I want to make that clear because I know that people still say, no, they didn't. This is all of farce. Lori Valo believed this. I believe Chad believed it too. I started. I think he was BSing the whole time, but he started to believe
Starting point is 01:52:04 it because he had his near-death experiences. I don't know what you guys think, but I think that's really important. And you learn as you go to the trial, like they believe this. This was all around these belief systems. Their entire, the entire murders, this murderous spree was because people were dark spirits, including children. Yes, because they took the teachings in this book, literally. And Lauren and I both have heard from more than one source that Lori carried around visions of glory with her and would quote from it all the time to this little group of followers. And so it's not that she was trying to make up an excuse or, you know, it's that she literally believed this. And maybe it did align with, you know, her future plans of just wanting to have a life alone with Chad. But it was rooted in the literal
Starting point is 01:52:55 belief in this book. Yeah, yeah. And I'm sure I agree with you. Like she was probably annoyed with her kids and they just didn't work out for her little love affair with Chad, like clearly, but they used the religious beliefs to justify, you know, that they believed it. I don't know, what do you think? I think if there was any question whether or not she believed, I think it was confirmed when she gave her post, when she gave her sentencing statement. She hadn't spoken at all during the trial. It had been years really since we'd heard anything from Lori Vallow's mouth. And then we have a video clip of it. We can show it later, maybe in part two, but I mean, she just went off on these beliefs and that she had her own near-death experience and that she had been visited by
Starting point is 01:53:36 her children who were in spirit form. And I think it was just apparent that she was still very entrenched in this belief system. And I think that's what she's using probably to process the trauma of her children. Yeah, and I'm not excusing her in any way for that reason. For that reason alone, she needs to be locked away and never let out again because she is a risk. to community and she could do it again. So I'm not excusing her, but I just want to point that out, that that entire crime spree was rooted in these beliefs. Absolutely. Yeah. And I liked what Judge Boyes said during the sentencing that she went down a religious rabbit hole and she's still there. Yeah. Yeah. Really quickly, I love it that people are making comments.
Starting point is 01:54:19 Mile High Cowboy writes, Dr. DeLyn, the LDS Church is not on trial for this book. They didn't write it, publish it, and they are not associated with it in any way. Come on, bitter boy. I'm not upset that you write that Mile High Cowboy, but I do want to give you a thoughtful, respectful response. I've been watching Mormon intellectual thought and culture for at least 40 years, 30, 40 years. And at BYU, I watched Maxine Hanks, Levina Fielding Anderson, Avram Giliotti, you know, others, Paul Tuscano, all get excommunity. by the Mormon Church and or denounced for books that they published or for public statements that they made or for the influence that they had. Fast forward to the past 10 years.
Starting point is 01:55:08 I've watched Bill Reel, Sam Young, get excommunicated for simply advocating for children. I've watched Natasha Helfer get excommunicated for promoting healthy, ethically-based psychological, therapeutic practices. Others, Jeremy Runnels, myself, have been excommunicated for either encouraging the church to be open about its history, supporting same-sex marriage, etc. No, the Mormon Church did not publish or write visions of glory, but they absolutely could and should denounce it and excommunicate Tom Harrison versus what they actually did, which was promoted to Bishop when they discovered that he was the author of this book. I'm going to also share the comment made by J.C. Hanna, which is the church needs to denounce this book. I would say if Sam Young deserves excommunication, Natasha Helfer, Jeremy Runnels, all the other people, if they deserve excommunication, I'm not aware of Sam Young, his teachings leading to murder. I'm not aware of Natasha Helfer's teachings leading to murder. Mine or Jeremy Runnels or any of the September 6th, but we We do know that about Brother Harrison.
Starting point is 01:56:27 Agreed. Yeah. They need to denounce the book. They need to denounce it, and I hope that happens. Yeah. And consequences for Tom Harrison. I don't wish him ill, but if they're going to denounce Tim Ballard, why aren't they denouncing Tom Harrison?
Starting point is 01:56:44 Yeah, agreed. And I do have to say to the comments or two, I think the entire point, or one of the major points of this entire episode is to draw parallels between the teachings in this book and the teachings of the mainstream Mormon Church because there are parallels and they are supported by, you know, what's written in this book. So no, the church is not on trial, no, they didn't write or publish the book, no, they're not endorsing it, but a lot of the things that are in this book are just an expounding on existing doctrine.
Starting point is 01:57:17 Yeah. Sam Young ended up helping the youth of the church. I followed that story as a reporter. I went as a Salt Lake City reporter to cover Sam Young. He was as communicated, but then they implemented his policies. His policies. And he helped youth of the church. This book is hurting youth.
Starting point is 01:57:39 When children are being duct-taped and murdered, something is wrong. And this book is a common denominator in those things. it needs to be... Hold the book up again. Hold up again. So, yeah. Yeah. It is not... It is not... It needs to be denounced.
Starting point is 01:58:02 Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And I'll show... This is not my copy. This is John's copy that you got at a secondhand shop, right? Is this the fifth anniversary, the five-year anniversary? And as you can see, on the top, it says over 100,000 copies sold. And we did a quick search on Amazon and saw that this book is still just. generating several thousand dollars in sales every month. Yeah, yeah. So it's not like it's a relic and it's going away.
Starting point is 01:58:29 Yeah, and the more, and I'm not a hater of the Mormon Church, the LDS Church. The LDAS Church will, will ignore this book and Tom Harrison to its own peril. Mark my words. They already have. They already have. But it will get worse before it'll get better if they just continue to ignore this book. I think. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:58:52 Is it going to stop? No, I keep telling you, all of a sudden, magically. I keep telling you, I'm in these Facebook groups, these visions of Glory's Facebook groups, multiple ones. It is scary what I am reading. Yeah. People waiting for someone that passed away to then be resurrected. People asking who is light and who is dark and people saying that this book is scripture. How about all the acquisition of weapons and firearms as a response to the prepper?
Starting point is 01:59:19 That's huge. To the prepper movement and the prepper initiatives. They're all preparing militias, pretty much. Yeah. Yeah. What if Tim Ballard were to turn against the Mormon church and decide he wants to run for Senate anyway? Anyway, we're getting off track.
Starting point is 01:59:30 Megan, what's next? It almost seems inconsequential at this point, but we're still in the waiting room, and Spencer is going to notice that some of these angels have a family responsibility to help their family members. Yeah. As I was looking at them, I was given to understand that it's a family responsibility to serve as ministering angels. It is a family responsibility to heal, teach, minister to, protect, and preserve the family
Starting point is 02:00:01 connections and covenantal relationships in the spirit realm and in the mortal world. This is their first responsibility as departed spirits. Until that work is done, until the family relationships are preserved and sealed, other things must wait. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, what comes to mind is him number 96. If anybody remembers, dearest children, God is near you.
Starting point is 02:00:28 Verse two, dearest children, holy angels, watch your actions night and day, and they keep a faithful record of the good and bad you say. Wow. Beautiful. That's a good point. Yeah. And later we're going to play a clip where Tom talks about the deceased ancestors of his clients helping inform his advice to his own patients.
Starting point is 02:00:54 Yeah. Yeah. So the next clip is about Spencer decides that he's going to leave the waiting room and wander around the hospital and he wanders into the office of one of the doctors who is working on him. All right. Let's roll it. I knew that the object itself was not diminished or condemned, but it waited with patient
Starting point is 02:01:18 expectation for the day of redemption. Is this a hairbrush? I walked through a wall and into a nice office. It was more nicely furnished than the others. Okay. Sorry about that. So I think there were a few seconds that that we didn't intend at the very beginning. But yeah, he's talking, he's about to walk into the office, but he's talking about being able to hear the thoughts of objects that are around him. Oh, I love that you kept that in.
Starting point is 02:01:41 Yeah. Fascinating. Okay. So he's hearing a hairbrush, talk about? No, it's not hairbrush. That was made up. Okay. But let's let's let's continue to listen. It was the desk that he came with. It was an Ottoman. It was an Ottoman. Oh, God. Oh, that's awful. Okay. I knew that the object itself was not diminished or condemned, but it waited with patient expectation for the day of redemption. I walked through a wall and into a nice office. It was more nicely furnished than the others, with beautiful pictures on the walls and ornate wooden furniture.
Starting point is 02:02:18 I considered going out the door to see whose office this was, but as I walked through a desk, I was stunned by what I felt. It was longing for redemption. I realized that. recently a series of love letters had been written at this desk promoting an affair that would ultimately injure many people. I knew the content of every letter and the true motion and manipulation of the writer, as well as the reaction of the reader. I moved away not wanting to remain in the stream of Torah details. I went through the couch, and it likewise testified of the same affair,
Starting point is 02:02:50 and unrighteous events that had occurred here, some recently. I could not find any place in that beautiful office that was not saddened or offended or crying for redemption. I don't even know. I don't think you're going to find a doctrine and covenant scripture on that, John. Probably. I don't, that one is beyond. I think we're starting to see a pattern of just interspersing, like, deviant or unrighteous behavior.
Starting point is 02:03:25 Like, isn't this a second, second time he's referenced? somebody like having an affair or feeling like he knows that. And I feel, I don't know if it's projection or it's starting to feel like a fixation. And John's nodding. No, like he's constantly having these sexual thoughts that are disturbing to him. And he's projecting them into these visions. These ottomans and desks and yeah. Yeah, like he's tormented by his own inability to control his sexual thoughts.
Starting point is 02:03:56 And so he's writing him into the visions. And how often have you had a really stressful situation at work or a really stressful conversation with somebody that you're close with and you end up having a dream about that conversation? And so I think, you know, if Tom Harrison is super fixated on the end times, he's super fixated on dark and light spirits, that's going to be what comes to him in his dreams, near-death experience or whatever. I also just think, like, the desk was crying out for redemption.
Starting point is 02:04:24 So I guess not only do spirits need to be redeemed, but also every object on the face of the earth. So like the stapler on your desk. But it's also because the stapler witnessed some tour love affair between a doctorate and nurse. Like the guy's been watching, what is the Seattle medical show? And how gross is it that he's saying that he saw what happened on the couch recently? The couch is offended. The couch is offended about what happened on it. So when you're seeing projection there, I want to.
Starting point is 02:04:54 Like, you think that he's, do you agree with John that he's having these thoughts? Because I was, I'm not sure that I would, that you, that he fantasizes about adultery or, or, I mean, perhaps, it just seems like there is a bit of a fixation on, on, you know, inappropriate relationships or taboo situations. I'm not, yeah, that's how it appears to me. I think that, go ahead, me. Sorry to interrupt you. I think the fixation is with being able to tell when people have done something good or bad. And the good or bad thing always turns out to be something sexual. And we'll see some other things that come up later in the book. It's just it is a pattern.
Starting point is 02:05:39 I'll just highlight a comment from a viewer that reflects my own psychology training. Rebecca Loveless writes, it's the whole don't think of an elephant idea with the church and sex. Like, so I, so in my PhD, psychology PhD, I, I focused on scrupulosity, religious, obsessive, compulsive disorder as one of my main areas of specialty. I help develop a treatment for scrupulosity or religious OCD. And what you learn, OCD, the obsessions, the O, that stands for intrusive thoughts. So anyone with OCD has these intrusive thoughts that they can't control. And so whether it's about the safety of a loved one or cleanliness or in the case of scrupulosity, spiritual purity, you get these thoughts that come into your head and you know you're not supposed
Starting point is 02:06:32 to be having the thoughts. In fact, if you believe that to think a sexual thought is almost as bad as having an affair, which the Mormon scriptures teach, and if you believe that sexual indiscretion is next to murder in severity, which we know has been Mormon doctrine, it's in the book of Mormon itself, Then what happens is just like with the don't think of the pink elephant. If I were to tell everyone the audience right now, okay, for the next minute, don't think of a pink elephant. Close your eyes and don't think of a pink elephant. But for as many times as the idea of a pink elephant comes up in your mind, you got to think about it.
Starting point is 02:07:12 If I had you all spend the next minute actively not thinking of a pink elephant, I've done this in a therapeutic practice. for years, you're going to think about a pink elephant something like six to ten times in 60 seconds, if not continuously. And the psychological principle there is when you tell someone that they can't have a thought, they're going to have that thought 20 times more than if you didn't tell them. And if you tell them that their eternal salvation is based on not having a thought, or if you put a gun to their head and say, you better not have that thought or I'm going to shoot you, they will never stop having that thought. And that's why when Pornhub comes out with its highest usage of pornography per capita,
Starting point is 02:07:58 Utah shoots to the top of Pornhub's own reported statistics. It's because the Mormon churches has been so obsessed with sex and masturbation and pornography and bad thoughts that it's in the minds of these Mormon teens, Mormon children, Mormon young men, and Mormon adults. Mormon therapists. It's terrorizing them. And that's my view of what's going on here. Agreed.
Starting point is 02:08:28 I'm getting some texts right now. And we'll bring up more of this later, you know. But I've actually talked to several people now who Tom was a therapist for. And I do want to say some people had positive therapy sessions with Tom Harrison, with people I'm talking to. but there's, there's, but there's, but there's one woman in particular who wants to remain anonymous right now. And I've, I've vetted her, I know her, and she is, she's actually saying that Tom referred to her and others very close to her as having light or dark energy or being light and dark and that this person can verify that he fantasizes about inappropriate relationships and therapy. So just to kind of confirm, they're watching. the live feed right now and I talked to them previously.
Starting point is 02:09:17 Yeah. So. And what super scrupulous Orthodox Mormon man and maybe woman does it, right? Like I know that my my ruminations about things as a Mormon I shouldn't have been ruminating about took a nose dive when all of a sudden I stopped believing that so much was at stake if I had those thoughts, you know? Mm-hmm. Unfortunately, the Mormon Church's teachings about sex, sexuality, porn masturbation grows the problem that the church claims to be trying to snuff out.
Starting point is 02:09:52 And I think that explains, in my opinion, Tom Harrison, I think it explains Jody Hildebrand. And I think it explains the treatments and the damage that has come from Maurice Harker from all these therapists trying to cure Mormons of bad thoughts and bad actions. Agreed, agreed. And I mean, name a general conference in the last 10 years where there hasn't been a mention of pornography, you know, or... That's a great evil, right? That's a great evil and a addiction, even among our people, I think, is what one of the prophets said at one point. So they continue to mention it all the time, and it would be great if they said, you know, it's perfectly normal to have sexual thoughts. We're all going to have sexual thoughts. We're hardwired that way. As long as you're not acting on them in the inappropriate way.
Starting point is 02:10:41 that's okay. And that would probably alleviate 90% of the problem. I think it would. As someone who studied this in a PhD level, that's what the scientific literature says. So yeah. Okay, next clip is a fireside and I'm just curious if anyone can give us a context for this fireside before we play a clip from it. And specifically do we know when the fireside was? Yeah. And it's because In this fifth edition of the book, the reprinting, they actually printed the transcript of this fireside that takes place. And it's happening at Utah, let me, Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, September 1st, 2012. So this would have been prior to the actual publication of the book.
Starting point is 02:11:34 And there is a part in the fireside where they talk about people having seen the manuscript of the book. and so Tom Harrison is starting to talk to people about these visions. Most people don't realize how much their personal information is being bought and sold every day. Data brokers are making billions, pulling details about you from public records and the Internet, and then packaging and selling it, usually without your consent. That's how your information lands in the hands of scammers, spammers, even stalkers. It's why you get endless robocalls and why ads seem to follow you everywhere. That's where ORA comes in.
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Starting point is 02:12:44 slash remove. But also not tell them that he's Tom Harrison, that he's Spencer. And at this fireside, John Pontius, who's the author of the book, the as told to, refers to Tom as Spencer throughout the fireside. But he asks him, John Pontius asks Spencer questions about his writings and his visions. And so this is in Tom's own words, sort of echoing what he's already, what we've already listened to some of these clips. I'll just say it's a curious coincidence or just parallel point that Jeffrey R. Holland's son, Matt Holland, was president of UVU at the time of this fireside at UVU. I'm not in any way insinuating that he had anything to do with this, but it is interesting. It is interesting. And John Pontius, the author of the book, run, he used to run a blog called Unblanky,
Starting point is 02:13:36 my soul. And this conference is referred to as an unblog my soul reunion. So I don't know what that means. Maybe the readers of the blog got together, but there were 550 people approximately at this fireside. Okay. And so this was right before John Pontius died. Right, right. Of cancer. Okay. Okay. Let's roll the clip from the fireside. In one room, I found myself in an office. And there was a leather, um,
Starting point is 02:14:06 Ottoman. And when I walked through it, I knew exactly how many cows were in it. I knew exactly where they were. I knew where they lived. I knew what their life was like. When I walked through the trees that was the wood, I knew exactly how many trees made that object. And I could communicate with it and it could communicate with me. What do trees say? They tell you who they are and where they were and how they were treated and, you know, that they're really pleased that they're still being used for man. And I thought, well, that's an interesting concept.
Starting point is 02:14:56 Never thought that before. Rocks, we'll talk to you. Rocks will communicate with you. You know where they're from. You know their experience. everything but us constantly is praising God and Christ. Constantly. For they know who created it.
Starting point is 02:15:23 And we often forget. We do forget. Can I say the Mormon church made this guy a bishop when they learned that this book? Can I just reiterate that? Yes, of a singles ward. So he was counseling young adults before they were getting married as a bishop. book after they called him in and said this book, it was a problematic. They made him a Mormon bishop.
Starting point is 02:15:47 And to specify the timeline, this fireside happened before his disciplinary counsel. So this is what I think they found problematic, was that he was giving speeches and admitting that he was Spencer. Yeah, they found it so problematic, they made him a bishop. Right. Well, that's what's so interesting. And then they're like, okay, bring him in, tell him to stop talking about it. And if you stop talking about it, we'll let you be a bishop. I almost see it as like a, it's like a wheeling and dealing sort of a thing. of a thing like, look, it's like they're almost trying to just like make them happy.
Starting point is 02:16:16 You know what I mean? Like, look, can you just simmer down and we'll make you a bishop? We'll make you feel good. If we give you power in a different area, then you won't need to feel powerful in another area. By continuing to share your visions in firesides and things. Right. And this is not, this is not the first time I am aware of the church promoting someone out of out of a problematic situation. I'm aware of a man,
Starting point is 02:16:41 who was, as I understand it, a state president caught in an affair, but he was a man who was very wealthy. And what did the church do when the state president, wealthy state president was caught in an affair? Anyone want to guess? Made him a bishop? They made him a mission president and they set him on a mission. To be an example to the young men and women who are out promoting the church. And this would be someone whose name you all know, by the way, all of you, everyone listening. Okay. Hello, it is Ryan, and I was on a flight the other day playing one of my favorite social spin-slop.
Starting point is 02:17:11 games on chumbacasino.com. I looked over the person sitting next to me and you know what they were doing. They were also playing Chumba Casino. Everybody's loving, having fun with it. Chumba Casino's home to hundreds of casino style games that you can play for free anytime, anywhere. So sign up now at chumbac casino. To claim your free welcome bonus, that's Chumbac casino and live the Chumba Lime. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. So anyway, yeah, any thoughts on that fire side? I mean, I don't know if I'm just spiritually dumb, but I can't hear the fibers of this chair telling me anything. So you're a little dark. You're a little dark.
Starting point is 02:17:50 You haven't had a near-death experience. I suppose not. Yeah. That's the difference. Yeah. What are the cows thinking? How many are there? Yeah.
Starting point is 02:18:01 And what was their life like? And then he does kind of end with a shaming comment. So, you know, in other words, rocks are better than we are. Yep. Yeah. The chair is better than you. Shame on all of us because we're not praising God. Everything besides humans.
Starting point is 02:18:15 There's so much shame. Praise God constantly. Right. Yeah. Yeah. All right. We've got another clip from the fireside.
Starting point is 02:18:22 Do you want to set this up? I'd go right ahead. No, what is it? It'll speak for itself. Okay. Things. And right when I went in, the office spoke to me of what took place that.
Starting point is 02:18:38 The nurse that was tending me, I knew immediately. all about her life, that she had boys at home, that she had recently been divorced, that she was having a relationship with one of the doctors who ended up being on call that came in and shot my heart with the epinephrine. It was an amazing experience to know
Starting point is 02:18:58 everything about everyone in the room. But these articles in the room speak to you. They have the capacity to tell you what's going on, either good or evil. And if what we are about is evil in this life, once we pass, they dog you. They stick to you like buttons. They stick to you like a pack of dogs. And instead of your glory preceding you, you're not so glory perceived.
Starting point is 02:19:41 What the heck is that? Yeah, so he's talking again about the nurse that was having the affair that he knew everything about her. And then he starts talking about how if we are darker light, again, that, you know, if we do bad things in this life, those bad acts stick to us like a pack of dogs for the rest of eternity. Again, in Mindy's point, how much of this is projection? I don't know. Yeah. And I just feel like I'm thinking about scrupulosity. just how unhealthy these ideas are if you're already internalizing all of your mistakes
Starting point is 02:20:19 to just feel like you can never get rid of them. The dogs. Yeah. It's like a pack of dogs. It's just a very scary and horrifying thought. Yeah. I wonder if anybody else had this. I know that my parents talked a lot about, you know, when you sin and then you repent
Starting point is 02:20:36 of something, if you go back and do that same sin again, then the original, the original sin that you repented of comes back to you too. Oh, yeah. So like you just keep, and is that, that's a, is that a mainstream teaching or is that just a my family thing? I think it's somewhere in the scriptures, I think. I think we're also forgetting to mention that this guy was like on the short list of therapists that the church consulted. And not only is he advising the Mormon church on how to approach therapy with these beliefs about shame and awfulness and sin, he's training other therapists. Like there's a therapist, a believing Mormon therapist with a very large social media presence, who you would all know, who I saw that she was a mutual friend with Tom Harrison.
Starting point is 02:21:20 And she's like, oh, yeah, he trained me. You know, he taught me like he was training. He was training Jody Hildebrand and people like her. He was holding conferences and inviting other mental health professionals, right? Right. He is a mentor. He is a professor. He is a visionary.
Starting point is 02:21:36 This is a man, you know, he is, he speaks to Tim Ballard along with Nephi. I also want to point out, too, that not only is he teaching other therapists, he was in aftercare with OUR. And he is the therapist that the alleged, you know, Lillianna, the story of Lillianna, the OUR origin story, where they discuss, and it's sound of freedom movie. Lillianna is rescued, although she rescued herself. let's make that very clear. But Tom was her therapist after she escaped sex abuse, according to Tom. So he's doing the aftercare for sex trafficking victims once escaped with OUR, allegedly. And I'm just trying to figure out what's this guy doing as a therapist to sexual abuse victims for two, three, four decades?
Starting point is 02:22:30 Well, what, I just can't imagine what carnage he may have wrought. Yeah, if he's teaching his patience this kind of shame and this kind of, you know, that your sins stay with you. And there's, you know, also that super harmful teaching in the miracle of forgiveness that, you know, it even says if you're the victim of some kind of sexual abuse, at some point you need to examine your own contribution to that. and perhaps repent as well. I think, did that come from Richard G. Scott? I'm not sure where it came from, but it was definitely in the miracle of forgiveness. Okay, okay. Yeah.
Starting point is 02:23:12 Okay, what's the next clip? Well, we thought that we were done with the office, but now Spencer returns to his body and the nurse who helped revive him takes him back to the doctor's office, so we'll see what happens. This is a cry for justice? Yes. Okay. I walked through a wall and into a nice... nice office. It was more nicely furnished than the others to the beautiful pictures on the walls
Starting point is 02:23:36 and or... Yeah, we already heard that one. Okay. Okay. So it should be returning to my body. I don't see, I see we are never alone. I'm not seeing returning to our body. So we are never alone. A significant thing I learned. So we, so maybe we missed that clip. I'll just, I'll just explain that, you know, after Spencer returns to his body, the nurse who's helping to revive him takes him back into the office where he had had the vision about the cows and, you know, he heard the couch testify of the affair and all that kind of stuff. And he notices now that the objects are silent, so he can't hear them talking anymore. And so it's just, I mean, he's basically saying that while he was in the spirit, he had these gifts, but now he couldn't hear them anymore.
Starting point is 02:24:25 And I just think it's super confusing because, you know, he's continuing to say later in the book that he's, that these near-death experiences give him this discernment or whatever. But in the book itself, he also contradicts that and says, well, I couldn't hear the objects talking anymore. Okay. So anyway. What's the title of the next clip? Just so I make sure I have it. So this is the second. So the next title is the We're Never Alone one.
Starting point is 02:24:49 Okay. So now this is the second section of the book. We're done with that first near-death experience. Now he goes on a vacation with his wife and some friends to Tahiti. And he starts not feeling well. And this is kind of the interesting thing. He claims that this was a near-death experience at this time. But did he actually die?
Starting point is 02:25:11 We don't know because nobody called an ambulance. He didn't need any medical attention. He just came back to his body. So it's just kind of a super weird series of events. Okay. All right. We'll play the next clip. The significant thing I learned was that we are never alone.
Starting point is 02:25:28 Angels are always present, both good and evil. I also realized that by my behavior, mood, or thoughts, I was in control of who was in the room with me. I used to feel negative feelings or emotions and feel overpowered by them. I was startled to realize that I was dealing with dark spirits who overwhelmed me when I gave them permission by my emotions. I realized I was in control, and I worked hard. hard to remain positive and loving, to invite divine beings into my life who uplifted me and those
Starting point is 02:25:58 around me. It is a tenet of my faith now that for good or evil, we are never alone. Okay. So we kind of have talked about this already about spirits being around us, but I think the most harmful thing about this is that if you do something bad, you're literally inviting these dark spirits to be with you. Yeah, and again, Mindy, to your point of like OCD scrupulosity, You're already battling with your unworthiness. You've got these intrusive thoughts continually hounding you. And now you're going to amplify your terror by believing that evil spirits are constantly encircling you trying to augment these thoughts and make you do bad things.
Starting point is 02:26:42 Yeah. It's very frightening. Just makes it worse. It takes a bad situation and makes it worse. So much worse. Yeah. And this also specifically says that your mood is the thing that to determine. determines whether or not you're surrounded by good or bad spirits.
Starting point is 02:26:56 So if you suffer from depression, evil spirits. That reminds me of Jody Hildebrandt too. Jody Hilda. Depression is your fault, according to Jody Hildebrand. Sounds like if you have depression, you're evil, you know, get to it, fix it. You're in distortion. You're in distortion. And emotional states, we don't have control over. You don't control your emotions.
Starting point is 02:27:16 You just don't. You can try to change your behavior, but we don't generally have control over our emotions. Exactly. And as someone who likes to be alone, don't tell me I'm never not alone. I like my alone time. So that that's the self is a horrible thought, you know, for many people. Don't tell. I'm always surrounded.
Starting point is 02:27:38 How creepy. I interviewed, I interviewed the daughter of Chris. Christopher Perrette. Christopher Pratt yesterday. That's incredible. It's coming out in a couple days. She talked about, she talked about showering with a bathing suit because she believed that like angels were watching her shower and that Jesus was
Starting point is 02:28:00 watching her shower and evil spirits are watching her shower and she didn't want them to see her nakedness as a young adolescent girl. For those that watch Hidden True Crime because we know Christopher Perrette, I do want to say that this, when is this going to come out? Because this is going to be big. Probably Monday. Christopher Perrette is the owner of the Avail website, another voice of warning. which gave Chad DeBelle his platform.
Starting point is 02:28:26 And thank you for doing this interview. I look forward to what she has to say. Yeah. Well, they were amazing. Okay. The other thing that kind of strikes me as we're listening to these clips is that he keeps saying, I learned and I realized. And so as much as he says at the beginning of the book
Starting point is 02:28:43 that this was just for him and it was just a vision and maybe it wasn't real, he's presenting everything that he says as factual. And endorsed by God of Jesus. Jesus and Nelea Maxwell. Exactly. Right? Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 02:28:59 All right. What's the next clip? So he's in Tahiti. He's having a near-death experience, so of course he's going to have some discernment about the Tahitian people. He understands Tahitians. Here we go. ...known was the history of the spiritual and non-spiritual practices of the ancient Tahitians. I was shown that initially they were an enlightened and spiritual practices of the ancient Tahitians. I was shown that initially they were an enlightened and spiritual and spiritual practices.
Starting point is 02:29:22 were an enlightened and spirit-filled people, even innocent and undefiled. They knew about Jesus Christ, his role, and his mission, which had come to them from holy men and women who had established their cultural heritage. I saw that their understanding deteriorated over the years as their founders died, and those who believed became fewer in number. They sank to the most gross and graphic form of human torture, debauchery, sexual perversions, and spiritual darkness imaginable. Actually, none of it was imaginable to me. I just saw it and was sickened. In truth, I'm still haunted by the memory of it.
Starting point is 02:29:59 Among many other heinous things, they were sacrificing young virgins and killing infants and children in the most awful manner they could devise. I mean, this just goes back to the very basest prejudicial, stereotypical, you know, white male thinking of what islanders are like. It's colonial thinking. Yeah. Yes. And anybody with a basic cursory knowledge of world history knows that this is totally false.
Starting point is 02:30:29 I mean, talk about brutalizing. And brutalizing. This is just, this is a necessary. It's just brutal. Like, why? Yeah. I think HBO has a documentary called Exterminate All the Brutes, and it basically shows how white colonial Westerners committed genocide on large groups of people in Africa and in Central and South
Starting point is 02:30:50 America. Like this sort of white man looking down his nose at the savage natives. It's in the Book of Mormon. It's in the Mount Builder myth of Joseph Smith, and it's just gross. What right does this guy have to be characterizing this native culture in this way? No right. No right at all. Yeah.
Starting point is 02:31:15 Yeah. And this is again one of the times when I stop and just question all of the people who are saying that this book is a good book. Why? Where is it? Where's the goodness in that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Racism just would be a, just the beginning of how awful that passage was for me. Yeah. That just starts, starts it. All right. Well, I felt like we needed a little bit of comic relief. So I inserted this next clip because it literally made me laugh out loud when I heard it. Spencer starts talking about, you know, how we are as human beings. And he's talking about the pre-existence, right?
Starting point is 02:31:57 This idea that we existed as spirits before we came to this earth. And he talks about how much we knew and how exalted we were, what wonderful beings we were. And then all of a sudden we get to earth and we have absolutely no power whatsoever. We have to rely on other people to take care of us. And we only have one basic skill. I'm on the edge of my seat. We fell from being intelligent enough to understand vast truths. We participated in the creation of worlds before we were born, but at the moment of birth, our
Starting point is 02:32:31 greatest skill is the ability to suck. What the? What the? What the? I do not remember reading that. That came out of nowhere. The ability to suck? What the?
Starting point is 02:32:46 What the? What is he being? What do you mean suck? Like we suck? Like suckers? Like you suck, John. That's what he means. We have the ability to suck. That's all. Or does he mean like the thing. He literally, yeah, he literally means nursing is the only thing that we're able to do as a baby because we're so helpless. But I just thought it was put very succinctly. It was written very well. Thanks for, thanks for clarifying that. Tom. That was amazing.
Starting point is 02:33:14 Oh, goodness. Sounds like something Wayne's world would say. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So we can move away from the Tahiti near-death experience. Now we're going to-
Starting point is 02:33:25 We fell from being intelligent enough to understand. Okay. Next, okay. Yeah, so we're going to the next chapter of the book, which is not a near-death experience, but Spencer sees a vision of Jesus Christ in the church parking lot. And I think we... I actually think I forgot to put the clip for this in there, but it's just enough to know that he had. that he had a dream where Jesus Christ appeared to him in the church parking lot and gave him a hug
Starting point is 02:33:52 and told him how wonderful he was and spoke his name and then told him to hurry up and get to his meeting. And if you think about Denver Snuffer and the entire Denver Snuffer movement, and by the way, to the church's credit, they did excommunicate Denver Snuffer in 2013, which is kind of inexplicable that they didn't do the same thing to Tom Harrison when they had the chance. Denver Snuffer's entire library of books, his following the remnant movement. It's all based on this idea that is scriptural that if you're righteous enough, you can have the second comforter, you can have a personal visit from Jesus.
Starting point is 02:34:29 And so here, Tom is just dropping it. It's just like, it's just like filing your nails. It's like, oh, by the way, I was in a parking lot. And Jesus came and gave me a hug. Well, he was on his way to a church meeting. So he was standing in holy places and he was fulfilling his, he was magnifying his calling. So he obviously deserved a visit from the Savior. Yeah, good for him.
Starting point is 02:34:50 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The rest of you would only be so lucky. All right. So, yeah. All right. Work for it.
Starting point is 02:35:01 So going on, moving on. Chapter four, Spencer continues to be very ill. He contracts cancer in his jawbone and he decides to have an experimental surgery done in Mexico, which was paid for by a friend. And living in San Antonio, I can tell you people cross the border to go get medical procedures all the time. It is very risky, though, because it is not, you know, things aren't regulated there the way that they are, that they are here. And I've heard lots of horror stories about things going wrong. So apparently this is what happens to Spencer as well.
Starting point is 02:35:34 He returns home from the surgery and agrees to go give a lecture before he's fully healed. He ends up collapsing on the floor due to a heart infection. What's the name of this clip? It's called My Beautiful Angel. Okay, all right. So he has a heart infection that ostensibly came from this surgery in Mexico. And he says that during the recovery, he's in and out of consciousness, and he keeps having heavenly visitations two to three times per day and all through the night. Now, I don't know about you guys, but it kind of sounds to me like this is not a near-death experience, but that it's a post-surgery.
Starting point is 02:36:09 pain killer trip. Oh, okay. I don't know if that makes sense to anybody else. Let's listen. But this particular clip talks about one of his heavenly visitors. All right. She looked human to me.
Starting point is 02:36:27 Without speaking verbally, I heard her voice in my mind. Do I have your permission to do what I have been sent here to do? She did not explain what she intended to do, nor did I perceive what it was until she was almost done. I had previously learned that angels of God always ask permission, and by her asking, and by the burning and the bosom I was experiencing, I knew she was there to bless me in some way. I knew that she
Starting point is 02:36:53 loved me like a brother or son. Her affection felt like warm sunshine upon my face and chest. I felt nothing but joy and peace in her presence. And from the moment she had arrived at the side of my bed, I felt no more physical pain, so I was anxious for her to remain as long as possible. My whole being trusted her implicitly, and my heart answered before my mind could form words, Yes, please. When my mind actually caught up with me, I began to wonder, why would God send a woman to me this time? My question wasn't about her ability.
Starting point is 02:37:27 It was just that all of my previous angelic visitors and guides had been men. I told myself to shut up. Quit questioning and just enjoy this experience as long as it lasts. As soon as I thought this, she smiled. as if satisfied finally with my permission for her to proceed. I knew she heard every word I thought, because it is the way of all divinely commissioned beings. They know everything that can be known about us.
Starting point is 02:37:53 She rose up into the air and positioned herself horizontally over my body. She never touched me, even though her face was no more than a foot away from mine. She was close enough that I could see the small veins and pores of her skin. Her clothing and hair were not responsive to gravity, but were falling toward her feet. the same as when she was standing. She had a most pleasant look on her face. I found myself closing my eyes and luxuriating in the absence of pain and sickness. I became aware that she was taking something away from me, probably my physical symptoms of pain,
Starting point is 02:38:27 and by doing so, she was clearing my mind for the message she was commissioned to deliver. So he has a visitation from an angel who appears to him horizontally. in bed. And he also says that it's interesting how he just explains that he says that it was usually men and he decided to just shut up and enjoy it. Is that what I tried as long as it last? Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
Starting point is 02:38:57 That was an interesting. I mean, he could have told that many different ways. Yeah. Yeah. And it kind of reminded me of a scene in the movie Ghostbusters. I don't know if you guys remember that movie, but you know, Dan Aykroyd has a very different similar, heavenly visitor, spiritual visitor. Maybe.
Starting point is 02:39:15 Chad would pull a lot of his stuff from Marvel and movies and pop culture. Yeah. I have a note really quickly just about that experience. I wrote this down that it's on page 75 and he referencing this experience that we just talked about with the angel woman who hovered horizontally over him in bed. He says, I was excited when I told my wife about the experiences of the night before, but she did not receive it well. Neither the message or how it was delivered.
Starting point is 02:39:42 I thought that was funny. That's actually that just confirms exactly what we think it is. I do remember reading that and thinking, well, no, duh. You tell your wife that you had a spiritual visitor in your bed at night. She's probably not going to take it very well. And she didn't like it. Yeah, and why? Yeah.
Starting point is 02:39:59 It just. Well, at least he was honest and he shared it with her. Yeah. I think those are some things you probably shouldn't share. You wake up from a dream, you're like, that's going in the box. We don't need to tell them everything. Really quickly, I just want to a couple comments. Don Smith is telling everyone to please mash the like button.
Starting point is 02:40:23 Whether you're joining us from Hidden True Crime or on the Mormon Stories podcast, please do hit the like button. That will help this get shared by YouTube. Please subscribe to both our channels. Lee writes only 624 likes. Again, we do that mostly because we believe in the mission of what we're doing, and we believe that the more interaction this gets, the more the algorithms will promote it. Also, thanks so much for the donations that come in.
Starting point is 02:40:53 They make all this possible. Jeff Edmondson shared super chat. It says keep searching out the truth. Thanks for that super chat. And thanks to everyone. All right, let's go on to the next. Megan, what's next? Okay, so about a week after his lady goes fantasy, Spencer has an impression that he's going to have three more visitors. The first two are humans from his ward. And the third visitor came while he and his wife were watching TV in bed. Spencer hears a loud knock, which his wife does not hear. She goes to sleep, but he keeps hearing knocking. Eventually he leaves his body and goes with an angel guide while still being connected to his body by a rubber. band. And this is the first time that we're going to hear about portals.
Starting point is 02:41:39 Is this a ton of light? It is. And I'm just going to say, do any of you guys get Scrooge, you know, ghosts of Christmas? That's exactly what I thought. Yeah, we have Ghostbusters. Now we have, now we have the Christmas Carol. Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens. Yeah. Kind of be in the little spiritual guides to experience. Yeah. You have to write what you know. That's what I say. I'm saying. Portals. This is big. This is important.
Starting point is 02:42:05 All right, those two portals. We were in a tunnel of sorts, and I had the sensation of moving at great speed. I discerned that the tunnel was alive. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say it was part of my being. It was mine, and I had created it. My escort smiled again. That is right. It is a portal, and you created it.
Starting point is 02:42:28 Only you can use it. I thought about this, then asked. So, does each person make their own portal before they come to this earth? The tunnel felt like it was as much a part of me as my hand or foot. It was my understanding that this portal was how I came to earth to be born and how I would return to God when I was at last finished with mortality. I could feel the tunnel, the same as one feels their arms or fingers. He seemed pleased.
Starting point is 02:42:57 Yes, that is correct. Everyone creates their own portal, which you now perceive as a tunnel of light, but which is just the best way for you to understand what is happening to you. It is a divine power you learned long ago, which enabled you to come to earth and eventually to return to God. Everyone must create their own. So the classic tunnel of light that we hear about in lots of indie e-books is actually a portal that you created. Portals are really, really important because Chad Daybell and Lori both believed in portals. Chad would write about portals in his book. Portaling was a thing with this group.
Starting point is 02:43:41 They're created in the pre-existence. I've heard from close context now at OUR that Tim was also taught about portals and it was part again of you in the pre-existence. This is a really unique part of this book, Portals. Yeah, and it did play a huge part in the Chad and Laurie. drama as it unfolded, we heard more and more about how they were using portals and in all of their rituals and things like that. They both had portals in their closet. They could visit each other. Yeah. While they were married. Portals, the answer to everything. Portals. Yep. Today's episode of Mormon Stories is brought to you by portals.
Starting point is 02:44:26 Don't forget to wear your helmet. That's the cute little outtake of Lauren and John's hidden true crime. They're hidden true crime of podcasts. They had their cute little son. Don't forget to worry. Don't go into any portals. Wear your helmet. Where your helmet.
Starting point is 02:44:43 All right. Now we've got another fireside clip. Is that right? I believe so, yes. Do we want to set it up? It's more about it's just him expounding on portals. So it's around 2013. Is that what we're saying?
Starting point is 02:44:56 2012 is the fireside. We're still in the same fire side. Before the book's published? Prior to the book being published. John Pontius is interviewing. Spencer before the book is published. Yes. It was.
Starting point is 02:45:06 It was before. I thought it was after. Well, it said that the book was published in December of 2012, and this conference took place in the spring before that. And in the conference, if you listen to the whole thing, they do reference the manuscript of the book. Okay. And so the manuscript has been passed around, and some people have read it, but it hasn't been
Starting point is 02:45:28 officially published yet. So again, it's been sort of published in these secret circles. I think that's a big part of this book's popular. Right around, kind of shared around. Yeah. And it's also really on brand for the avow prepper community where a lot of them sort of try out their material. Yeah, they have Intel. They know secret stuff.
Starting point is 02:45:46 Right. Okay. Okay. All right. All right. Let's hear John Pontius and Tom Harrison as Spencer in a fireside at UVU. Now, when this heavenly being came to me. came to me and I was able to then move through the portal and I was in this portal with him
Starting point is 02:46:12 and I turned to him and I said this seems really familiar to me and he smiled and I said and I said it feels as familiar to me is my right hand you're talking about this classic tunnel of light a move through the portal. I'm going through the portal. And I said, this feels as familiar to me as my right hand. And he said, it should because before you came here, you built it. You manufactured it. And I said, is that true for all of us? And he said, yes. We've got a quote from CC. She says, I'm going to tell my husband, my portal is closed. Thanks, CeC. That's great.
Starting point is 02:47:06 Okay, comments, responses to... That is a, I have to say, that is a beloved moderator from Hidden True Crime saying that. We know C. She is a Hidden True Crime moderator over on Mormon. Thanks for the comic release. That's great. What are we, any thoughts on that? Just in this clip, what strikes me is his general conference lilt, you know, sort of like the pauses, and then the speaking and this very side.
Starting point is 02:47:33 in this very soft way about portals. It hurts me so bad. The tea, the strong tea, portals. Which sort of is, it's another thing that sort of puffs up his self-importance. The inflections, the slow, the pauses, it's this sort of grandiose way of. It's Mormon general authority speak. It is, and it's a way of holding your listeners hostage. Like just say it.
Starting point is 02:47:58 Or captive, because it's also, it's kind of like transinducing almost. Yeah, yeah, can be. And then when you're in this room with 550 other people who are spellbound by this man, there's a little bit of that group think that starts to take over where people are nodding and people are agreeing. And it's like you're looking around and it's like everybody believes this. Yeah. One thought that came to my mind. Yeah. One thought that came to my mind when he was talking about the portals is just your average church member. I mean, we all believe what we're a little bit special if we have the, or that we're special because we have the gift of the Holy Ghost. But, you know, maybe you're just kind of going along and going
Starting point is 02:48:37 with things and just not feeling like you're very special or have much to offer, but then to hear Tom Harrison say that we all made a portal before this earth, you know, I can just see that being kind of a draw, like, that's something special that maybe I can draw on and then maybe can give me some power. I don't know. I hadn't thought that before, but it came to me when he was talking. Yeah, you're right. It does sort of make you feel like not only do I have, do I have the one true church, the one true religion, but I also have the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is something not everybody on the earth has. And I also made my own portal to come here. And I'll also use that portal maybe when I gather the 144,000.
Starting point is 02:49:20 And can I just note that we all are kind of making fun of this guy as maybe a bit of a goober or as silly? Who among us here has had the influence that Tom Harrison has had? So we can make fun of him, but look at how many lives he has impacted through his voice, through his stories, through his work. Through his portal. But no, I'm with you. I'm with you. And again, portals were from the very beginning of the day bell case. It was an unbelievable moment.
Starting point is 02:49:57 People learned about portals and zombies through a vow. It was all on a vow. It's another voice of warning website. It came down in January of 2020. It was before the media had released it. And it was, and it came through a Reddit, a Reddit post someone said, I know what's going on. And they mentioned portals and evil spirits.
Starting point is 02:50:17 And everyone said, it was true. Everyone said, this is a joke. Don't listen to this. That is ridiculous. That is not true. I remember that. Yeah. Do you remember that?
Starting point is 02:50:24 I mean, for the very beginning, this Reddit email came down. It's called the infamous Reddit email. And it had portals and zombies. And this is what chat. and Lori believe and people are like no way like no way and then all of a sudden little by little it all came out that was all true Melanie Gibb was interviewed by East Idaho News and there's boom portals zombies this is it this is what he believed yeah and my only point is that he there should be a book how to win friends and influence Mormons you know like
Starting point is 02:50:53 like have the GA voice claim to have had near-death experiences tell these crazy stories claim to have relationships with Mormon apostles, general authorities, and boom, you're going to get power, fame, money, and followers. And it's not totally dissimilar to how Joseph Smith got his power and authority back in the day, honestly. Yeah. Yeah. All right, what's next? Well, we're going to hear more about portals, but first we're going to have a folding the universe moment. All right, let's fold the universe with Tom Harrison. I asked, does the earth have a tunnel of light? the scriptures inform us that the earth is an intelligent and living thing he answered yes god provided a similar means for the movement of the earth to where it is now i then experienced as if i were actually there how the earth fell from where it was created and moved to where it is positioned now i had the impression that it took thousands of years for it to arrive the image i saw appeared to me to be a folding of the universe
Starting point is 02:52:01 it looked like the universe was folded in on itself like a sheet of thick paper or fabric so that where the earth was created and where it was to go were on top of one another the earth was then moved from where it emerged and physically transitioned to its new position this moving of the earth occurred during the entire creative process by the time it arrived it was prepared for mortal man i also saw that when it is time for it to return to its original location the universe will again fold and the earth will be moved back to its place of creation. So this made me think of the moment in the trial when we heard about Lori folding Satan like a taco. Amen. That was exactly what I thought. I'm so glad you brought that up. Yeah, that's exactly what I thought. This is the folding in half like a taco. Yeah. What's the context for that statement? Go ahead. It was during the trial and you got a lot of intel, you learn all about the text
Starting point is 02:52:59 conversations. And at one point, is it Lori that says, I can fold Satan like in half just like a taco. Sort of like how Tom Harrison explaining it is folded just like a sheet, exactly like a sheet. She says she can fold Satan like a taco. I think it was specifically a text exchange between Zulema and Lori, where Zulema was saying she felt like Satan was influencing her in some way. And Lori said, don't worry, I folded him up like a taco. Okay. Thank you. Now there's a second clip that says folding the universe. Is that, yeah. Do we, or is that repetitive? No, go ahead. No, it's a different, it's a different, it's a different clip, yeah. Okay. All right. Let's do some more folding of the universe. All of the glorified
Starting point is 02:53:37 universes I perceived were one of three glories, celestial, terrestrial, or telestial. There were other types which were not types of glory. These were wonderful places without glory, where beings who had not qualified for a reward of glory during their lifetimes were ultimately sent. These were of every type, of every description, and were created in response to their desires. They wanted nothing more to do with God or his intervention in their lives, so he gave them what they wanted, whatever it was, and there they would stay throughout eternity, unable to challenge God's authority ever again. I just have to say right now my favorite comment of the day other than Cece's. Matthew writes, I wonder if Tom would enjoy Rick and Morty.
Starting point is 02:54:26 I don't expect y'all to get that joke. Have any of you seen Rick and Morty? I have watched Rick and Morty. Yeah, it's all about like interdimensional portal of space travel. Yeah. No, no, you're totally fine. So I mean, that clip was basically saying, though, if you don't follow God, you're going to be sort of banished to some other part of the multiverse and where you can't challenge
Starting point is 02:54:47 God's authority anymore. Yeah, a couple other comments. There's a lot of Marvel comments like, too much Chuck writes, they must have gone crazy when Dr. Strange did his portal thing in the movie. And then there's a comment about Star Trek. J.C. Hannah writes, have they let Star Trek know about these portals? And then Lee, Lee writes, Lee Grater, she writes, not kidding. Chad actually referenced Marvel Portals in his teachings.
Starting point is 02:55:15 He didn't even try to hide that he was stealing stuff left and right. Yeah, exactly, exactly. They were all fan fictioning each other. I just made a new verb. So I think there's one more folding. the universe clip. When we are done with this telrestrial experience, we will no longer need this tunnel between earth and God. We will then be able as spirits, and eventually as resurrected beings,
Starting point is 02:55:44 to move instantly across vast distances by the power of God that will be inherent within us. We need it the tunnel of light, because a flawed mortal does not have the ability to initiate travel as does a spirit. Similar to leaving a rope dangling over the cliff, so we can climb back up. We left the tunnel of light as our sure means of returning home after we have discarded this fleshy tabernacle. These comments are killing me. Somebody asks, I guess Satan in a taco comes with extra hot chili sauce. We've got Satan Taco comments now. Taco Tuesday. You know, I mean inspired, I'm going to start a taco truck now. It's going to be called Satan's Taco. Satan's tacos. Satan's folded tacos. That's right. This is too good. We need to
Starting point is 02:56:32 I love this. I know. You have to. You have to. Anything else to say about folding the universe? So I forgot what that last clip was about. It was something more about portals, but I lost it because you were laughing. Talk us.
Starting point is 02:56:46 Thanks, viewers. Your comments are distracting me. Now I'm going to have to go back and watch it again. And now I'm going to obsess about how I didn't comment about it. Just kidding. It'll be fine. It'll come to you. Yeah.
Starting point is 02:56:58 All right. What's the next clip? So, thank goodness. We're progressing along in this book a little bit. little bit. The next chapter is called Angels and Devils. In this chapter, Spencer and his guide visit several people in places on earth who are engaged in various sinful activities and shows how good and evil spirits interact with us as we go about our daily lives. And unfortunately, I have to give a little bit of a warning. This is probably the grossest part of the whole book. Oh no. It's super disturbing. It's absolutely the most disturbing. Yeah, yes. I don't know if we need
Starting point is 02:57:26 to issue any kind of a trigger warning. It's not really a trigger warning. It's not really a trigger warning, but it's like, it's a dark disturbing clip. So take care to whoever's in the room and pause if you need to and practice self-care. Yeah, if you've been disturbed by what we previously have been talking about, you may just want to mute yourself or mute your device for a minute until this clip is over. All right, let's roll it. My guide said to me, he is here to view pornography. I saw eight spirits enter the room.
Starting point is 02:58:02 Four of these were evil spirits who had once been mortal, the other four were unborn evil spirits. Satan's minions. The disembodied looked human and wore clothing typical of the period in which they had died. The evil spirits were less substantial, generally smaller, with misshapen features, making them look slightly inhuman. They were agitated, active, jumping around in a frenzy, shouting their commands to the young man in excited voices. The disembodied spirits said little at first. They had little ability to be heard by the young man. They were there trying to satisfy the sexual passion they had developed during their own lives.
Starting point is 02:58:44 There were both male and female spirits. Their sexual addiction had followed them into the spirit world. Their addiction was unending, painful, and impossible to satisfy. It haunted them. They were desperate to try and satisfy it endlessly. They were pleased that they were going to show. shortly experience it through this young man. They were intent, watching him, urging him on though he could not hear them. They were not looking at the porn on the computer screen. They were
Starting point is 02:59:13 watching him closely, putting their faces in his face and screaming at him, mocking and taunting him. They didn't care about the images. They cared about sharing the body sensation of sexual gratification. The unborn evil spirits were there to trap him, to entice him on, to remind him of the upcoming thrill. They cared nothing for experiencing his passion. They had never had a body, and were not capable of understanding the thrill. They were there to control him, to make him obey their words, to keep him involved and under their spell as long as possible. So super dark, and I think the worst part about it is thinking that there are disembodied evil spirits that are all around us, and if we make a choice to do something that is
Starting point is 03:00:04 considered sinful or evil, that they have the ability to control us and to basically make us do worse and worse things. Yeah. Evil spirits enter when you're sinning. Yeah. You're, yeah. Yeah. Allegedly sinning to, you know. Right. Exactly. And it's again, it's a stigmatization, a stigmatization of pornography viewing and this obsession with it that we have in this culture that really makes it such a shameful thing and sort of, I think, personally turns people into addicts and labels people addicts when they really aren't. Right. And I think we saw that with Jody Hildebrand. You know, everybody's an addict. If you viewed pornography one more than one time, you're an addict. Yeah, like Adam Steed talked about that. Yeah. And this is then Tom Harrison shares that he
Starting point is 03:00:56 helps people with pornography addictions. So this is a man writing this, he he helps people According to Tom Harrison with pornography addictions, and here he is telling you what he thinks of it. That if you look at it, you're evil and an evil spirit's going to enter and you're going to be taken over by an evil spirit in your body if you do this. And now I'm going to go help people who look because clearly I'm going to help them feel better somehow by letting them know that they're now possessed with an evil spirit. Do any of you find it interesting that the target with these guys is never a man sexually assaulting a woman? Oh, I noticed it. It's never a Mormon man sexually molesting a child. Oh, I know.
Starting point is 03:01:43 Like, why do those people get passes when we know that's the most heinous epidemic probably facing Mormonism? It's sexual assault and or child abuse. Somehow this depiction isn't spirits. With that pedophile, it's it's abstracted to porn. Thank you. And masturbation. Why is that? Well, I think that that's what they're worried about.
Starting point is 03:02:09 They're not worried too much about, but how they're harming others. You know what I mean? It's just more about them. It's, it's, yeah, I agree. Think of, think of what we heard. The first, one of the first clips you played was about consent and him thinking like, you know, is, we actually have to teach it, you know, who knew. And then saying, well, you know, if someone does, you know, if someone does rape you, he didn't use the word rape, that's my term. But this is how I took it.
Starting point is 03:02:38 If someone rapes you or if someone does do something to you or violate you, it's because you're weak. And it's your problem. And you're, you probably ought to be apologizing to. So not only are they not bringing it up, they sort of said, well, that's, that's, you know, the victim's issue. And this is what they're, yeah, obsessed with. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and can we also talk about how making pornography a problem is job security for all of these therapists.
Starting point is 03:03:03 Exactly. And for the church. It's the shame. The church needs you to need them. So you have to feel guilty and shameful so that you'll talk to your bishop, come take the sacrament, take care of the, use the atonement to get forgiveness from your sins. So they need a sin that's super ubiquitous. Yep. And so they're going to pick porn and masturbation because it's so prevalent, but they're going to conveniently never mention child sexual predators, right? You know, you made a really good point, John. Like, I think about it. What if instead of all this, think if we took all of the energy focused on porn and this idea of porn addiction and think
Starting point is 03:03:41 if that was all put towards child abuse or, yeah, you know, females being attacked or abused. Think about, I can't even fathom, we could never even get there, but what good that could produce. I just, but it's not it. Yeah, all the energy is focused on this. It's true. You made a really good point. When the Boy Scouts are crumbling, the Mormon Church offers voluntarily $250 million towards a Boy Scouts of America's settlement. Why did the Mormon Church kick the Boy Scouts of America out of the Mormon Church?
Starting point is 03:04:16 it's because there were tens of thousands of reported cases of child molestation and abuse by Mormon Boy Scouts. Well, Kurt McConkey is not going to abide a heavy emphasis on child abuse in the Mormon Church because it's just going to empower more victims coming out and more lawsuits. So better stick to something safe, Lauren, to the church than something that's actually a real problem, right? Yeah. Yeah. And what a horrible line of thought that we as, you know, that Curtin McConkey as the legal advisory for the church is going to advise them not to make it easier for victims to come forward. Yeah. Yeah. What a horrible ideology that is. Yeah. Yeah. But we digress. There's more. Should we do the next evil spirits clip? Yes. This is more addiction and temptation talk. Okay.
Starting point is 03:05:18 around him, waiting for him to become fully involved in the sexual ecstasy he hoped for by viewing these images. The evil ones were reminding him of certain websites, urging him to go on, whispering to him how thrilling it was going to be. They told him which images to view and how he should feel about them. They argued against his conscience, giving him many reasons to ignore the voice of his conscience and carry on. They placed their hands on him time after time, causing him to feel thrill after thrill. They urged him as he clicked at his computer to seek after the thrill, to remember it, to need it more than anything else.
Starting point is 03:05:57 They were most interested in keeping him focused upon his own body and his own thrills so effectively that he could not fill his relationship to Christ, the Holy Spirit, or remember his family. All he could think of was himself and the guaranteed gratification that was just a click away. So what I get from this is that all addictions are selfish, selfish behavior, and that, again, you're giving evil spirits permission to enter you when you're sinning. And that immediately makes me think of Charles and how, you know, how Charles Fallow, how
Starting point is 03:06:35 Laurie, you know, said that he was possessed of an evil, of an evil demon. Charles Valo was Lori Ballow's husband who was murdered. Right. Yes. And she was actively talking in the days before his murder, alleged murder, because that trial hasn't taken place yet, about him being possessed and having an evil spirit in him. And what went through my mind when I heard that was that, you know, according to Lori's pattern of doing something, you know, with her husbands, if she was tired of them or she wanted to move on or whatever, she would make up some kind of an accusation about how they had mistreated her, and then use that as justification to discard them. And it makes me think, you know, with this type of thinking that's
Starting point is 03:07:27 being put forward in visions of glory, it's very easy for someone to think, oh, I bet so-and-so is sinning. And if they've sinned, then no doubt they're possessed of an evil spirit. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Every person in Chatt & Lord, Laurie's life becomes an evil spirit before they are killed and knowing now that it's because they're sinning, it just justifies it even more. You know, well, it's their own fault that they were taken over by an evil spirit. If it couldn't get any worse, it just did. Yeah, exactly.
Starting point is 03:08:00 Now it's their fault. Yeah, and it's only the people who stood in the way of Lori getting what she wanted were the ones who turned dark were the ones who were possessed. the people on the list that were difficult obstacles. Lori's dad was on the list as dark. Chad's sister-in-law was on the list as dark. Anybody who had spoken up against them or done anything that angered them or got in their way of getting what they wanted. All right.
Starting point is 03:08:33 Should we go to the next clip? Yes. Still more evil spirits. Yep. All right. The more excited he grew, the more frenzy the evil spirits became. They became more aggressive, jumping at him, hitting him with their hands and cursing. It was a loathsome thing to see.
Starting point is 03:08:54 I realized even more powerfully from seeing this that all addictions are purely selfish. They guarantee the instant gratification of the flesh. Relationships are not guaranteed, and the gratification, the positive payback of the relationship, must be carefully maintained and worked at. This is the reason that people turn to addictions, because they are instant, require little work and the results are guaranteed it is also the reason evil uses them and promotes them so carefully because they pushed the user away from all meaningful relationships especially those with the divine i understood that he had been awakened from his sleep by one of these tempters who had been influencing his dreams urging him to awaken and need a sexual high as soon as he made the choice to get out of bed and actually partake the disembodied spirits had joined in they were drawn to him like a moth to a searchlight in a dark sky they came at once by accepting the temptation and deciding to do it he had given them permission to enter him and experience his sexual thrill with him
Starting point is 03:10:01 So again, we're shaming addiction as a choice that is made out of selfishness because it's instant gratification. And then we're also, again, promoting the idea that evil spirits can influence you in your sleep and force you to do things or at least coerce you or coax you to do evil things. And again, this Tom Harrison is a therapist and he works with sex trafficking victims. and people who are addicted to pornography. And then you throw in, this is Jody Hildebrandt as well. Maurice Harker. Maurice Harker. Sons of Heelman.
Starting point is 03:10:41 Sons of Heelman. We keep mentioning, Marys and we haven't mentioned, fight the new drug. And you know what, let's just throw in who Maurice Harker is because his story was buried. We keep mentioning him and keep saying we're going to bring it up. But Marie's Harker's story was completely buried because thanks to Jody and Ruby Frankie and all these others that were just boom, boom, boom, Tim Ballard. But he was just convicted for physically abusing a female patient who had evil spirits in her. She was taken over by demons.
Starting point is 03:11:11 And he's been charged and convicted. But he also exposed her to pornography to teach her about sex too. So there's a pornographic element to that story as well. Despite him. Wow. Right. And would lay on top of her to comfort her after he would try to exercise the demon out of her. So, you know, there's a, if we think that this is just a story, as your cousin once told me, Megan, I interviewed Megan's other cousin, Braxton, and he referred to visions of glory as literal, but then all good and fun.
Starting point is 03:11:44 Entertainment. And entertainment. And this is, this should never be taken literally, first off. And secondly, this is not entertainment. This is not good and fun. This is frightening. Again, I keep going back to the word because I just want to drive at home. Like, this is dangerous.
Starting point is 03:11:57 Disturbing. Yeah. there's this whole cottage industry of therapists focusing on, quote, sex addiction that have all been trained and or influenced by Tom Harrison and people like it, right? Yep, correct. And it's millions and millions and millions of dollars and hours. And by the way, these people were referred to people like Jody Hildebrand, Tom Harrison, Maurice Harker, by Mormon bishops.
Starting point is 03:12:25 The whole Lifestar Network was a part of this deal. Yes. But for decades, Mormon bishops have been referring their ward members and paying for therapists like Maurice Harker, Tom Harrison, and Jody Hildebrand. Tom and the Lifestar founder are also buddies. Yeah. Yeah. All right. More evil spirits and temptation? Yeah. Keep going. I saw many disembodied spirits competing to enter the room with him. The evil spirits remained at just four. When he made the decision to partake, all of his good intentions and desires were immediately
Starting point is 03:13:02 drowned out by the passion and the control of the evil spirits. The good spirits that had been near him as he slept were forced a distance away until he could not hear them. Eventually they left, driven away by his choices. When he reached a pinnacle of lust in his body, a black tear or rip appeared at the crown of his head. At that instant the disembodied spirits began to attack. They looked like football players tackling the guy with the ball.
Starting point is 03:13:29 They were hoping to share just a moment of his physical feelings and excitement. They acted like hungry dogs, going after the same carcass. There was fierce competition among them to be in him longer. They fought to be next, screaming and cursing, throwing each other aside to enter. As soon as one or two spirits entered, no more could enter. The evil spirit screamed and dove at him repeatedly, until a weaker one inside was expelled and they took its place. It seemed to me that the ones who were expelled were exhausted,
Starting point is 03:14:00 jerking on the floor as if they were in a sexual thrall themselves, mimicking the actions of the young man at the computer. So we have the good spirits having to wait in the other room because of the choices of this man. So, you know, if you make a bad choice, the good spirits are all going to depart you. But again, this is kind of the, the clincher of the rip in the in the head and it makes me think about the text messages
Starting point is 03:14:30 that we saw exchange between Lori and her little coven when they were talking about the different kinds of spirits that were possessing Charles or someone else that needed a casting and how stronger spirits could overtake a weaker spirit or push a weaker spirit out and this is sort of where they got that idea of I think anyway where they got the idea of saying well I I cast out that spirit, but then a more powerful one took over. So they're still possessed. So the casting worked, but then another spirit came. And we heard a lot about this during the trial and the text messages.
Starting point is 03:15:06 And to me, this is like a direct rip off of this part of the book. Go ahead. No, go ahead first, John. Oh, just comments are coming in. People are commenting on his, again, persistent obsession with sexual thoughts and fixation, ruminations. Linda Mark's writes, he really revels in these images and scenes. Femmorty writes, if I didn't know any better, I would say this is a very badly written erotica. Lots of comments coming in about that.
Starting point is 03:15:38 Yeah. Heather Daybell is writing me right now. She gave me permission to share this. So Heather Daybell is Chad Daybell's sister-in-law. We interviewed her hidden true crime. She said, did you read Chad's book Chasing Paradise? This is true. It came out in 2013. 23 and it is all about evil spirits taking over a person. Desiret book actually would not carry that book. And I do remember Deserate News wrote an article about it. Do you remember reading? You said, 2023. Oh, sorry, I'm sorry, 2003. Thank you for correcting me. Yeah, 2003. So before Visions of Glory was all about evil spirits taking over a body and Deserate News. Chad was upset by this because this is sort of when his book stopped being in Desert book. an angel drop kick somebody or something in the book.
Starting point is 03:16:24 Right. But a little bit of a violent scene that he didn't see, find very serious. Yes, yes. But this is, again, I just, I think, pointing out that this is a trend in, again, this sort of circle of like mind of people believing in these evil spirits. And I also think Heather wrote this, and I agree, this was sort of Chad's disillusionment with the church at this moment because they were saying, hey, you know, this isn't good, steer away from this. We see the same thing with Tom.
Starting point is 03:16:58 Hey, you know, we're going to hold a counsel. Can you stop talking about this? We're not going to let your book in here, but that's all they do. But, you know, we're just seeing this again, again, this evil spirit thing. I want to say, too, by the way, we need to just stop talking as far as the LDS church goes, that people have evil spirits, period. Right. Because I was recently a Sunbeams feature. I just want to share this and we were teaching the Old Testament. It was the New Testament, Old Testament last year. And there was a story in there about a woman being taken over by evil spirits. It's a Bible story. It's a thing.
Starting point is 03:17:30 And just, you know, I switched it for these little children. I said, you know, no evil spirit can enter a body ever. We're all good spirits. And sometimes we have, sometimes people are struggling or they have mental illness and things happen. And that is how I reworded this for an LDS Sunday school class. And I would like to put it out there for those that are LDS and watching this. I think we need to just stop talking about evil spirits and people. Can we just stop that? It's not good. It is not healthy.
Starting point is 03:18:03 It is bad. and in JJ and Tiley's memory, you know, let's stop that because you never know how literal someone is and how they're going to interpret that. Thank you for that, Lauren. Yeah. Amen. All right. Now we've got the bar scene.
Starting point is 03:18:23 Is that right? Yeah. So now we, thank goodness we're leaving that room. But now we're going to the bar so that's another place where obviously evil is happening. Yeah. Evil in bars. I could hear their thoughts. They were longing for the thrill that they hoped was inside.
Starting point is 03:18:44 There were more disembodied and evil spirits there than humans. They were standing near the mortals, urging them to continue waiting, telling them of the thrill awaiting them. I next found myself inside. There were many people tightly packed on the dance floor, dancing closely, drinking, and smoking. I could hear their thoughts, which were a continual stream of obscenities, rationalizations, and sexual lust. Much of their thinking was more vile and violent than how they acted. They looked like normal young people on a dance floor. If they could have heard each other's thoughts, there would have been of no restraint at all,
Starting point is 03:19:22 but in an ensuing scene of bestial acts. So once again, this sounds to me like somebody who's never been to a bar before. And... Wait, is that what happens to bars? I don't know, John. You tell me. I don't know. I still have a tried beer.
Starting point is 03:19:40 I'm the wrong guy to ask about this. No, but it's, you know, again, this sort of, I think it's sort of like he's never been to a bar or nightclub before, but he imagines that everybody. Beastiality. Yes, exactly. Everybody who goes to a bar has got to have these horribly impure thoughts and think about beastiality and gross things. It's like, you know, obviously there's just this huge shame component to it. And I just think it's gross. I do believe that he mentions at the beginning of the book that his father was an alcoholic.
Starting point is 03:20:09 True. And so maybe he just had a lifetime's worth of fear and, you know, disdain and uncertainty about alcohol. And maybe that's what's coming up in this. Yeah, I agree. I think maybe his father even owned a bar or something. I'll look it up. Yeah, that's a great point, then you think you. I don't know how this fits in, but I can just throw it out because I'm thinking about it.
Starting point is 03:20:29 The fact that Tim Ballard frequented strip clubs we've learned in the civil suit, you know, for his work, right? because it was important to saving children. He would go to Utah, Salt Lake City, you know, strip clubs. And, you know, just Tom Harrison being his mentor, it does seem like he's very curious about this sort of life that he doesn't know. I just, I guess I have nothing to say to that, but I'm like, my mind is going. I'm like, I wonder how those conversations went with the two of them.
Starting point is 03:20:57 Yeah, right. You know, throw in some ketamine and, you know, I wonder, you know, what I guess I wonder, what I'm wondering is what Tom's, you know, advice to Tim was when it came to that. And you had said, Lauren, also somebody let you know that Tom Harrison had been meeting with Chad as well and Julie Roe. And Tom, Tom Harrison, multiple people, I have now three solid sources, three solid sources that Tom Harrison had been meeting with Chad Daybell and Julie Roe. as well. Yeah, so it makes me wonder, you know, what those conversations were like and, you know, what they were talking about. I think it's pretty apparent. They were probably talking about the concepts in this book, and he was probably giving them validation and empowerment to go out and teach these things and to live this way with this kind of thinking. All right. More bar scene. Yeah, I think we have two more bar clips. All right, more barclips.
Starting point is 03:22:09 They grew more aggressive in urging them to think darker thoughts and have stronger lusts. The disembodied spirits were waiting for specific feelings to arise in the humans. Some were looking for sexual fantasy, some for intoxication, some for drug-induced euphoria, some were seeking violence and domination. When the humans reached a certain state of intoxication, or when they abandoned themselves to the instructions of the evil ones, an opening occurred near the crown of their heads, When it opened, it looked to me like a black tear in their spirit, similar to the young man at the computer. The closest spirit rushed at them and entered like fog being sucked into a vacuum.
Starting point is 03:22:50 The other disembodied spirits rushed forward, pushing and fighting to be next. When an evil spirit entered into a human, they only remained for a few seconds, or a few minutes at most, depending on the ability of the spirit. When they were finally expelled, they seemed to squirt out of the body at random points. They seemed exhausted but satisfied when they came out. They came out violently, mimicking the actions of the human. When they realized they were expelled, they screamed and immediately jumped back into the spirit battle to be next.
Starting point is 03:23:21 Can we not use the words squirting, please? This is so disturbing that they're mimicking the acts. It's just gone too far. It's totally has. I also just want to point out that he related to a us earlier in the book that disembodied spirits were the spirits of Satan that never came to earth and never got a body. So somehow he's projecting physical human experiences onto disembodied spirits who have never lived on the earth before, you know, saying that they're looking
Starting point is 03:23:53 for a sexual experience or something. I mean, it's just ridiculous. Miguel, the Alpaca, writes, excuse me, I just squirted in an evil spirit. I just can't. I mean, we're laughing because it's absurd, but I can't help it think of like a vulnerable. Okay, put it together. Okay, go ahead. I'm thinking of a vulnerable, you know, adolescent who is having sexual feelings and his, as maybe starting to be interested in looking at pornography or whatever, as happens in
Starting point is 03:24:45 adolescence for males and females. And granted, this is not official church doctrine, but this book is popular and has probably been read by many parents who maybe are teaching this to their child. This is very, very damaging mental imagery of what is happening to you if you make some of these mistakes, if you allow these thoughts to enter, if you look at pornography. Most people don't realize how much their personal information is being bought and sold every day. Data brokers are making billions, pulling details about you from public records and the Internet. and then packaging and selling it, usually without your consent. That's how your information lands in the hands of scammers, spammers, even stalkers. It's why you get endless robocalls and why ads seem to follow you everywhere.
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Starting point is 03:25:55 or just a VPN. ORA gives you all of it, together, at the same price competitors charge for just one service. Start your free trial today atora.com slash remove. Protect yourself now atora.com slash remove. If you participate, if you go to a bar, if you, you know, I just have, it's such graphic and horrific mental imagery. And I think some people could shake it off and think it's funny, but for other personalities,
Starting point is 03:26:21 this could be really, really harmful and probably has been very harmful. Yeah, and I'm honestly thinking about, you know, when I did read this book pre-therapy for me, you know, I'm in a healed state now where I can listen to these things and think that they're ridiculous. But I did have some scrupulosity as a true believing member, and I did have these feelings of wanting to do everything that I could to keep evil spirits from being around me. You know, and I, and it's sort of where I adopted this policy of like, I can't really consume any media of any kind that is going to make me have bad thoughts.
Starting point is 03:27:01 So I'm going to, I'm going to only listen to conference talks. I'm going to only listen to the scriptures being read. I'm going to only listen to the Joseph Smith papers and things like that. are, you know, those are the only things that I'm going to allow to enter my mind so that I don't expose myself to the possibility of being influenced by evil spirits and then go farther down the wrong path. You know, so I agree with you, Mindy, that people who don't yet have a fully developed sense of self and who don't yet understand their own power to affect change and to do things in their own life, this can be incredibly damaging, you know, and especially for somebody
Starting point is 03:27:47 who's been the victim of any kind of abuse or coercive control for them to further believe that they don't have any power over their own lives and that they're constantly being inundated with evil spirits and thoughts. It's incredibly harmful. And that's why we're talking about it. Yeah. And again, Tom Harrison is advising Mormon Church top leadership on mental health issues. He is one of the church's top advocates for child sexual abuse, and he's like training other therapists, Mormon therapists along the Lassett's front. At this moment in time, at this moment in time, according to a very valid source, he is the deciding factor in whether a missionary's mental health is okay enough to go on a mission.
Starting point is 03:28:34 He's the final say today, at this moment. Yeah, yep. Which is a horrible, scary thought, you know. He's deciding Mormons if your children get to serve a mission or not, if they have mental illness. If they're healthy enough. This sick person is deciding whether or not your child is sick or healthy. Or worthy or unworthy. Right.
Starting point is 03:28:58 And as a daughter who served a mission, who at times struggled with, you know, with the difficulty of the mission and things like that, and who got told by her mission president and other people that if you were called to a state-side mission, it's more than likely because they were worried about your mental health. You know, it's just a super disturbing idea. Yeah. Yeah. Stateside.
Starting point is 03:29:21 Last bar clip? Yep. All right. As if you haven't had enough. From the evil spirit's perspective, having a mortal yield to their temptations gave them power over the mortal. If they suggested an act, and the mortal did exactly that, they set their hooks a little deeper. They were not after the thrill.
Starting point is 03:29:41 They were after dominion of the soul, and eventually lifelong control. They knew that if they could tempt with enough cleverness and deception that the humans responded, they would gain a little more control. This was their method, but their real goal was to gain enough control that they could keep the Holy Spirit from having any influence in the person's life at all. They weren't just trying to control behavior. They were trying to ensnare these people in the chains of half. hell. I saw that people who had already been entrapped by them could hardly hear their own thoughts.
Starting point is 03:30:15 The voice of the evil ones had become even more powerful than their own mind. They would do anything their evil controllers said, even while thinking it was their own idea, or their own wishes they were fulfilling. Once these evil spirits had total control, then they desired that the mortal should quickly depart mortality, so that their possession became permanent. They They thereafter urged them to risky behavior, acts of violence, and even suicide to hasten the day of their mortal death. The disembodied spirits were not trying to harm the humans so much as to share in their physical thrills and addictions.
Starting point is 03:30:50 I saw spirits who were addicted to smoking tried to snatch the cigarette out of the hands of mortals over and over, as if they could not understand why they could not actually grab it. So again, just driving home the point we just talked about where the goal of these evil spirits is to permanently inhabit the body of a mortal. And once they inhabit that body, they want that mortal to quickly depart this life so that their possession becomes permanent. I mean, as someone who took the time to do a six-year PhD, you know, Dr. John can reflect this as well.
Starting point is 03:31:31 There are scientific explanations for human behavior that have been arrived at via consensus, through decades of empirical research. Right. That's what should be informing, you know, licensed therapists in the therapeutic practice. We don't need theologies about demonic possessions to understand human sexuality or human addiction. And it's just, it's beyond, it would be hilarious satire if it weren't tragic reality that what Natasha Helfer was trying to do was to encourage. the, you know, empirically based, evidence-based, consensus-based, ethics-based, therapeutic
Starting point is 03:32:16 approaches within Mormonism as one of the founders of the Mormon Mental Health Association to try and encourage healthy therapeutic practices within Mormonism. What does she get? She gets excommunicated. What does Tom Harrison get? With these kooky spirit-based, demon-based explanations for human addiction and sexuality, behavior. He gets promoted as a bishop, and he gets put on the board and panel that decides whether missionaries with mental illness should be serving missions, and he's training other therapists across the Wasatch Front. Like, it would be hilarious satire if it weren't tragic. And he continues to have a platform for spreading these ideas and for training other therapists. And he's given validity by his affiliation with the church.
Starting point is 03:33:06 Yeah, yeah. All right, now we got a clip from the fireside. Is this just more? This is Spencer, well, Tom Harrison, talking about some of the things we've just been talking about. To hear it in his own voice, I think, is kind of important. Drives at home. Yeah.
Starting point is 03:33:22 Okay, all right. Now, at one point you saw, that's John Pontius. Who was contemplating and actually did an, engage in pornography and you saw the spiritual war that was happening around him. Can you, I know it's difficult, but can you share that with us? I'd rather not, but I will if you want. I think that it's one of the most powerful parts of this book.
Starting point is 03:33:53 It's already just people reading the manuscript that's already changed their lives. The sequence is I was able to leave my body and I wanted to go see some things. I wanted to go some experience some things. I went, first I went to a bar in downtown Salt Lake. As is in the spirit, I hope. In the spirit. You weren't actually in a bar. I was in the spirit.
Starting point is 03:34:28 God forbid. And I was with my guide. My father was an alcoholic. My father owned and operated a bar and was a bartender. My father died of alcoholism. Something drew me to, I wanted to go, experience in my spirit body a bar. I stood there and I watched as people sat at the counter and as they drank more, they became more and more intoxicated. Well, there were a group of
Starting point is 03:34:59 individuals that were also in the spirit. Now, these were dark spirits. And they waited and they queued up, if you will. You can tell where I served my mission in England, they queued up behind these individuals that were imbibing. And right when they became so intoxicated, they would jump into them to just experience a moment of being in that body and experiencing that intoxication through someone else. That was a horrible thing to witness
Starting point is 03:35:36 and that they would follow them home and that they would just haunt them but also that these individuals would feel after a very fairly short period of time, a kinship with these dark spirits. And when they felt alone or when they distanced themselves or had an argument, a purposeful argument with their spouse or their children, then they would invite these dark entities to come along with. them and they almost became a unit together. Well, I'm a mental health professional,
Starting point is 03:36:22 that's what I do professionally. And one of the areas that I work with is men and women and young people who are addicted to pornography. I went into the room of an elder's quorum president. This is in the spirit though. In the spirit. My guide was with me. His wife was upstairs, reading the scriptures in her bed. He excused himself, went downstairs, and turned on the internet,
Starting point is 03:37:00 and had a choice. Think of the temple recommend we all have. Who's the first signature on it? It's us, right? First, we are testifying, I am worthy to be in that sacred and holy house.
Starting point is 03:37:17 And because we choose to go, we then choose, to interact with all those spirits that are there. Once an individual also purposely chooses to turn on that internet and then makes the choice, I am going to look at a pornographic image, those individuals, those evil processes swarmed into the room and they were just waiting for those images. images to come up and I was standing behind the desk I could see the back of the
Starting point is 03:38:00 computer I could see him there and I won't go into detail but the more he became involved in his sexually addictive activities the more they would lunge in and move in and experience that salaciousness of that activity and that was one of the most profoundly depressing, but also information-giving experiences I had about that battle that John talked about. I think it was he this afternoon that the war in heaven is not over, brothers and sisters. It is still ongoing, and they want our spirits because they have chosen evil, and they want to overcome us. And they do it in the most overwhelming.
Starting point is 03:39:04 And you said it was violent. Violent of manner. They want us to lose our agency through our choices. I learned, one thing I learned more than anything is the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost always give us. us choice and they always honor it. Always. Even if we choose wrong, they will honor it and they're always waiting patiently for us to choose right. Always.
Starting point is 03:39:41 I remember working on that section of the book and I mean it's disturbing. We actually softened some parts of it because of the the spiritual violence of it, and they were cursing and throw themselves at this guy, and there was a spiritual opening that happened, and he said at the crown of his head, and they would dive into him, and they would compete. He could only several could be in at one time or something. So one would dive in, the one that was in before it would be expelled. It was very, very graphic, but, you know, I have to say, Spencer,
Starting point is 03:40:21 that I've had reports back from people who have read that, who, when they realized what was happening to them, that their anger at being violated by evil spirits was greater than their addiction to the pornography. And they set it aside. Isn't that amazing? I mean, it's helping to heal people. So as graphic and awful, as that account is,
Starting point is 03:40:46 I'm sorry to force you to, you know, push you into saying it, but I wanted that to come on. It's part of the book. So John Pontius is commenting that it's been helpful to people to be angry about being possessed by evil spirits and it angered them so much that they were able to give up their pornography addiction. And I just want to remind everybody, you know, at this point in the book, we're still in this place where Tom Harrison has had surgery. It didn't go well. He got a serious infection. He's convalescing and on painkillings. and, you know, he never at any point during this did his heart stop or anything like that. He's just in bed next to his wife and, you know, seeing these extensive, quote-unquote visions, you know,
Starting point is 03:41:40 and I honestly just, when I got to this point and also as we go on, the level of detail that's included in this, I can't really continue to reconcile that this is a dream or a vision. but that it is just Tom Harrison's ideal theology that he wants out there in the world and he's sort of using the guise of a near-death experience or a vision in order to put it out there and give it some validity. Yeah. This, that whole thing makes me so angry. I feel anger.
Starting point is 03:42:15 Yeah. You know, but I feel a lot of anger after, like I said, covering this for four years in the Dable case and just thinking of children and then you add, Joe, you know, you know, Hilda Brand and you know I just this is so dangerous just evil spirits do not enter people period you know they do not it's it's so upsetting what's hard is they do in the Bible they do it in the Bible which is what I said but we need to stop cast spirits out of Jesus doesn't yes yeah I was thinking of Jesse Hill de Bram I was thinking of Jesse yeah what you want to say it good oh no you go ahead
Starting point is 03:42:55 No, please. I was just thinking of what she endured at the hands of Jody, very similar abuses and being told that she's evil and that, you know, that she is unclean and unworthy and having to prove her worthiness and constantly being ridiculed and abused for her supposed evil thoughts or actions. I don't recall if, did Jody tell her that she was possessed? by spirits i don't i don't know if i recall that from her interview if not it was implied that she just was under the influence of satan no that she was she was evil under the under the influence of
Starting point is 03:43:35 or they excuse me oh i'm sorry i'm sorry jesse they yeah that they were under the influence thank you for reminding me that we're all working on that we're all trying of course but yes they and what we're who we're referring to is is jody hildebrandt is is jesse's aunt and And she, they do say, and we played it on hidden true crime that, that yes, Jesse was evil. Satan was working through Jesse because they had kissed a girl and they had done things that were so bad, they were evil. That is what this is. And Jesse was a child too.
Starting point is 03:44:17 It is children that are continually being harmed here. But also that Jody had this millennialistic complex of power. and the millennium and the second coming and that she was chosen, right? Yes. Jessie tells us on your channel, Mormon stories, that Jody believed she was called to usher in the second coming of Christ and that she believed everything and that she was being channeled by Jesus Christ himself to bring her view to the world and to teach people truth,
Starting point is 03:44:51 which is the opposite of distortion. And it still blows my mind because distortion means shame. And then I'm like, how is shame, not everything you guys teach? But yes, that she believed that she was doing Christ's work and that she was ushering in the second coming and she was fighting Satan on a daily basis. This comes from Jesse on your Mormon's Jory's interview. This is all, you know, you can say that this is a child abuse case and this is a murder case and this is a therapist gone bad case. this is all part of the same belief system. This is all stemming from a similar belief in evil spirits,
Starting point is 03:45:33 dark versus light, and believing they have intel in the second coming of Jesus Christ. Yep. Underlying themes for sure. It sort of makes me wonder if Tom Harrison and his meetings with all of these people, if he wasn't the one that told them they were part of the gathering
Starting point is 03:45:51 and told them that they were part of the second coming. Because, you know, we're going to see a little later in the book where he does the same thing. He participates in the gathering and all that stuff. And I wonder if he wasn't telling that to people. People higher up in OUR claimed that they had intel on when the second coming was going to be. And we know that their mentor, Tim's mentor was Tom Harrison and Nephi together. Power couple. Yeah.
Starting point is 03:46:19 All right. The next clip says at the horse race. Yep. It's a gambling. It's a gambling thing. Yeah. For the sake of time, do you think it's going to add more than the porn discussion? You know, you're right. For the sake of time, I mean, it's basically the same type of shame-based teaching about gambling. And the note that I wrote here is that what we learn here is that good spirits can intervene and protect us. But again, you know, he keeps coming back to this theme
Starting point is 03:46:50 over and over of the evil spirits having a lot of influence. They get you if you gamble. They get you if you go to a bar. And what's the entertainment clip about? And it's, I was just going to say, we can skip that one as well because it basically says the same thing about all types of entertainment as it does about viewing pornography or going to a bar or going to a horse race that if you're watching or reading anything that is not spiritually uplifting, then necessarily you're opening yourself.
Starting point is 03:47:20 yourself up to all of these things. And that basically, I mean, basically the point on that is that we're all of us are ignorant, and we don't know enough to avoid these things on our own. And so the spirits are the ones who have to tell us, you know, stay away from that stuff. So to go on, we're going to get to the end game here. So at this point in the book, the guide, again, he still is under this, I think, drug-induced hallucination and it starts to get very, very detailed about what happens during the end times, the days of calamity slash Armageddon or whatever, the destruction that's going to happen prior to
Starting point is 03:48:02 the second coming of the Savior. So that his guide takes him all over America and they can see that there's been a financial collapse and blackouts. There's a war against America. Troops have invaded. There's scarcity in water and food. There's a massive earthquake in Salt Lake City and a big flood. Two months later, there were more massive earthquakes and tidal waves across the whole earth. There was another earthquake along the Mississippi that divided the country into two halves. California was ruined, and there was a new landmass in the Gulf of Mexico, which caused a tsunami and a flood. There is also a biological attack, and people were murdering others to have resources for themselves. Then there was an invasion of tens of thousands of other foreign
Starting point is 03:48:47 troops. Spencer then returns in vision to his life but doesn't mention until later that his wife had died on the first day of the devastation. So we have this recurring theme of spouses dying because Spencer has another mission to go fulfill. This is important. This is a very important belief system in every in every case we've talked about that a spouse dies because the other spouse has a mission, another mission that they need to go forward with and that discussion of spouses dying. Tim Ballard talks repeatedly of his wife Catherine dying or people trying to kill Catherine or if Catherine dies, he has another mission and he will marry one of these women in the civil lawsuit. So his couples, his couples, his couple of ruse partners.
Starting point is 03:49:41 And then you have, I have Chad Daybaud, who would repeatedly say, even before he met Lori, even before he met your cousin, Megan, that he would tell people Tammy was going to die because he had another mission to accomplish. And so when she did die, Julie Roe gets out, you know, gets up and says on YouTube, oh, well, I already knew that was going to come. He's been talking about Tammy dying for a long time, guys, for a couple of years. We all knew that was coming, you know, this is very eerie. And then you, it's just on and on. And so now you have Tom Harrison also going through this exact same thing. Oh, and then my wife died in the clans. but I had another mission.
Starting point is 03:50:19 So I just move forward and that's that. Yeah, we go ahead. Yep. And in the book, he basically just mentions it in passing. It's not even long enough for a clip. He just says, you know, I was very sad. She died and then I moved on to go do the rest of my mission. Yeah.
Starting point is 03:50:35 And there's a part where like the earthquakes happen in Salt Lake Valley and fault lines and floods. Yep. And he says something, and maybe we'll play this clip, but he says something like, I went to visit my home, I saw that it was devastated. I didn't even go to the main floor or the upper, you know, something like that to see what was going on. I just like- Check on my family. Like, oh, you're not going to go in and try and save your wife and kids, see if they're still alive. He's just like moved on.
Starting point is 03:51:01 I've got a mission to do, like you said, Lauren. Yeah. And that's the same with Tim Ballard. You know, Tim Ballard. Oh, my wife's a widow. I'm never home. Like, go home. You're giving covenant tours, okay?
Starting point is 03:51:10 With Bruce Porter, you're not saving children. Go home. You know, with this idea like that, you know, their mission is a bigger. You know, Tim Ballard's mission is the new and everlasting covenant. You know, Tom's mission is now he's going to go be translated and lead the tribulations. Chad's mission, he's a gatherer and he's going to start the church of the first one. It's all the same. But yeah, like just why not focus on your family at home? Yeah, I feel like for his wife, I think about his wife, you know, being a mother to their nine
Starting point is 03:51:40 children while he's literally in a strip club getting drunk and missing speaking engagements because he's too intoxicated to go allegedly. Or taking his son with him. Yes, there was that as well. Super disturbing. Yeah. So it's clear to Spencer that he's experiencing the signs of the second coming, but there's not much communication from the general authorities of the church.
Starting point is 03:52:02 Eventually, invitations are passed out for sessions of a general conference. The tickets are color-coded, and Spencer receives a ticket for the final session. At the session, there's only one person sitting in the first presidency. seats. He sees Joseph Smith, Jr., sitting on the stand in a white linen suit and tie. So here we have zombie general conference happening. He sees some other previously dead prophets who look younger than they did in the pictures he had seen. So there's a mix of regular people and resurrected beings on the stand at the same time. Translated beings. Again, is a big part of Lori and Chad's belief system. Lori believed that she was translated. Even, you know, I won't get into the details, but she
Starting point is 03:52:45 she believed she didn't need to eat as much anymore, that she wasn't going to get sick. She actually stopped her health insurance at one point because she didn't believe she needed it. They're translated. Yeah, she was telling her brother, Adam, that she was a translated being and trying to convince him that she was, you know, a special. And we'll get to a couple of clips later that talk about how that fits in with the rest of the book. So he sees all these dead prophets mixed together, these resurrected and translated beings. And then the new apostles are named to fill vacancies that happened because many of the general authorities died in these calamities. The new first presidency is announced.
Starting point is 03:53:27 And then Spencer mentions that the first speaker is his friend who is one of the 12 during his lifetime. So presumably Niela Maxwell speaks at the zombie conference. Next, we hear from Joseph Smith Jr. And he announces that he has his own assignment for gathering Zion. and he will work under the new first presidency. Joseph Smith, Jr. tells of a meeting that happened prior to this conference in Adamande Amin, where each dispensation had reported on their time as profit. Then we have a special guest appearance.
Starting point is 03:54:05 All right. Should we play it? Should we play the clip? Yes. So this is Spencer's relating to us that Joseph Smith Jr. is speaking during the the zombie conference. And this is at the end of Joseph Smith's talk. All right. Joseph paused for a long moment until there was absolute silence. He seemed to be struggling with his emotions and kept glancing to his right. Finally, he swept his hand towards the person sitting to the right of the new first presidency and cleared his throat. I had no idea who this person was. He was dressed in a plain black business suit and white shirt and red tie, which he could have purchased at J.C. Penny the day before the flood.
Starting point is 03:54:49 His clothing was just as rumpled and smudged as any of us present. I assumed he was one of the former dispensation heads. I knew he was a resurrected being, and I also knew from his rumpled appearance that he had been assisting in the work of rescuing and rebuilding. The Son of God! Joseph said, in a voice choked with emotion, It is my great privilege to introduce to you, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The man he indicated stood and began to brighten in glory. His countenance beamed, as did every part of his person.
Starting point is 03:55:26 His clothing grew white as his glory overpowered every color near him. He had sat there the entire meeting, which was now well into the third hour, and I had not recognized him. I had seen his face and been embraced by him several times, but I did not recognize him until Joseph spoke his name. It is my great pleasure, ladies and gentlemen, to introduce to you. Guest appearance. A man who needs no introduction. So this is just the point at which I have to say, if you are a faithful believing member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you cannot believe this book. This is just absurd.
Starting point is 03:56:06 This is not what we are taught about the second coming of Jesus Christ. He does not show up at General Conference in a J.C. Penny suit and sit there and nobody recognizes him. You know, I can buy the part about him being a part of like helping after the destruction, but no. not before he comes in glory as, you know, we're told that he's going to appear. So I just, that's just my plug. If there's any members out there watching who are believing members of the church, please reconsider your endorsement of this book because it clearly is not doctrinally sound. Thank you. Thank you.
Starting point is 03:56:46 And can I throw out how strange it is to have Jesus Christ in, and yeah, a J.C. Penny suit. I love the little edition of J.C. Pennies, but let's just talk about a suit. I feel like, you know, I joke that, you know, we create a surfer Jesus in a lot of paintings. You know, there's the Jewish Jesus Christ and then there's the surfer Jesus that shows up, you know, with blue eyes and blonde hair in paintings. And I'm not a fan of surfer Jesus. But, and according to Chad and Lori, that Jesus had blue eyes. But I also feel like that's also a creation of like making Jesus more of this white Mormon dude. Now, see, he's one of us. Jesus shows up in a JCPenny suit. That's how he's always been, and that's who he is. He's our guy.
Starting point is 03:57:31 Don't forget the red tie. Don't forget to wear a tie. The red tie is the... So, you know, my Jesus isn't showing up in a suit. I don't know about you guys. I'm just imagining Jesus. Hey, honey, I'm putting my tie on. Kid me, is my tie straight? Is Jesus going to put on a corporate suit? No, never. Never. Never. Jesus is the opposite of corporate. That's exactly. Like, it's just, it's just, oh, Which is why it also bothers me that it's the corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Like, you know, in my mind, a church that bears the name of a man who preached about humility and serving others would not be a corporation with billions and billions of dollars at their disposal
Starting point is 03:58:13 with which they could choose to end suffering poverty, world hunger, but they don't choose to do that. So what's this next clip of the fireside? This is this is a Tom talking about the fireside and just sort of he's sort of expounding on it. I don't know that we necessarily have to listen to it. But the clip after that is portals and the gathering of the 144. Let's listen to portals. Yeah. Yeah. This is portals. Yeah. Okay. All right. This is portals among us.
Starting point is 03:58:48 We were busy expanding Zion by gathering in the elect all around the globe. through the portals. By this time, every translated person had his or her own portal, but there was a learning curve to using it. For an inexperienced person, they could only travel so far, and would have to walk or obtain other transportation to go beyond that. Some newly translated people would go out on their missions, and then become overwhelmed by what they saw, and with fear or sorrow in their hearts they could not return via the portals, and thus pollute Zion. They had to begin their journeys back to Zion afoot, awaiting the time when they could regroup their faith and overcome their fear so that their portals could bring them back home.
Starting point is 03:59:29 Portals. Yep. Yep. So again, it's instrumental in the gathering. We can see where probably Lori, you know, attached onto some of these ideas about portals and being translated because she believed she was instrumental in gathering the 144,000. And this is kind of a weird thing because I bet if we went around the room and talked about what our understanding of the 144,000 is, we probably would all give different answers. I agree with that.
Starting point is 04:00:00 Because there's not really a consensus on this. Obviously, it's talked about in the Bible. The Jehovah's Witnesses have adopted that as there will be 144,000 people in heaven. There's actually a clip later, and that's about, you know, the fact that Joseph Smith taught that the gathering of the hundred or the gathering. had already started and that the people who were doing the gathering were the 144,000. I guess the idea is 12,000 people from each of the 12 tribes and and those were the people who were going to gather everyone to Zion. So. And this clip you have of the fireside? What's that about?
Starting point is 04:00:43 This is Tom talking about portals. Okay. Should we roll it? Yeah, probably should listen that one. Now in the temple, you you had a job in the the temple. I did. And in the office where you labored, there was, you called it a portal. And you described it as being like a window, although it wasn't class, and it was arched on the top, about five feet wide and 15 feet tall. And that tell us about portals, what they're for and how you use them.
Starting point is 04:01:12 This is fascinating to me. We were given assignments because remember, our job was to bring to pass the immortality in the eternal life of man. and to gather the elect from all throughout the area. So our responsibility was to learn as much as we could about these individuals. And once you received an assignment, it would be like me saying, if I was said, I'm going to go to Phil's house, and you need to know everything you need to know about Phil.
Starting point is 04:01:43 All I'd have to do is think about Phil, and I would know everything through the portal. So it would give me all the information. It would let me know time frame. And once you are moved out of this body, once you move out of this telestral into the terrestrial, once you've experienced translation, then what happens is you can either move in a glorified state or in a non-glorified state. And you can move into wherever the Lord sends you. And you go through the portal and you are where you're supposed to be. This is an instantaneous one step in that same step you're in Africa.
Starting point is 04:02:24 You are there. Marvel Comics meets Mormonism. Meet Stargate. So, yeah. And he had, I loved that job in the temple he had. I'll just throw that. Yes, and I'll mention as well that coincidentally his job in the temple with this portal, occasionally Jesus Christ would come through the portal and give him.
Starting point is 04:02:51 him another assignment. So he was important enough that, you know, that Jesus would come and visit him in his office and tell him what he needed to do next. And that's one of the reasons that my sister's friend said absolutely not. This is an apostate book. This guy thinks he's right up there with Jesus Christ. You know, Jesus Christ comes to him in a portal, not the other way around. Yeah, and I'm not seeing a lot of humility in this book either. A lot of talk of of humility. He'll obviously say, I humbly did this and I humbly asked that, but let's just look at the big picture. There's not an actual lot of humility here. Yeah, it's a lot of spiritual flexing. Yeah, Jesus Christ is portling to him, vice versa. Yeah. And again, it's like he'll pay
Starting point is 04:03:34 lip service in the introduction of the book and in his letter that he sent to you, Lauren, that these things are just for him. They're not meant for anybody else. But the way he presents it is as factual information and he's disseminating it in a way that says to everybody in the audience, this is important for you to know. I learned this. This is going to be helpful for your life. And can I just note that like in modern Mormonism, drinking a cup of tea or a latte or not paying 10% of your income to the church is enough to keep you out of the temple and yet writing this apocalyptic book that has reached so much havoc, again, gets you promoted as bishop, who gets to decide who goes to the temple and doesn't.
Starting point is 04:04:27 Like I think our priorities of how we determine worthiness, I don't think we should be determining worthiness at all. But if we're going to, it just seems like our priorities are askew. I agree. Maybe. Yeah. So there was a lot of talk amongst the Chad Daybell-Julie Roe crowd about spiritual gifts. And I think our next clip is about Tom talking about spiritual gifts.
Starting point is 04:04:51 And we decided to use this clip instead of the book one because we got tired of the AI voice. I don't think it's AI because you can hear him breathing unless AI breathes. But how- But he's done a heck of a job sounding like AI. That is a great voice then. Yeah, and being so emotionless and putting the wrong emphasis on the wrong words. Anyway. I could be right.
Starting point is 04:05:14 All right. Well, here's the clip. To my spiritual eyes, translated people just looked different. I could discern them far off. So when I had the chance to talk with another newly translated person, we occasionally took the time to discuss what all this meant, and what experiences and new priesthood gifts we had experienced. We compared our experiences from the great conference
Starting point is 04:05:39 and tried to piece together a larger picture. The more I learned, the more I realized that even with this great view of my own life ahead, I knew but a tiny part of the whole. It was a good grounding and humbling realization for me. We also knew that even though the gift of translation had been fully given to us, that we were still in the process of becoming, of learning our duties and our abilities, and when it was appropriate to use them.
Starting point is 04:06:06 When I met an old translated being, there was a power and righteous serenity about them that I did not possess. Seeing and experiencing their highly developed state motivated me to yield to whatever process I needed to endure to become fully evolved in my new status. I knew I was changing. I also knew it was going to take years for the process to be fully implemented. There was a direct and constant influence of the Holy Ghost in the camps that could not be denied. It was a new phenomenon among the saints that had begun the day of the great conference. Everyone was adjusting to this new level of spiritual power.
Starting point is 04:06:43 There was a lot of conversation about whether this, was the millennial state, or if it was part of the process to the greater change of translation. About this time, trans-oceanic travel became possible again via ships at sea. The different cities of Zion around the world had been established and fortified. Many groups from Canada were assigned to travel to these smaller cities and to gather the elect along the way. Companies also left from Salt Lake City and other Zion cities to go forth and gather. This work was all directed by the apostles from Salt Lake City.
Starting point is 04:07:17 The church had a working telecommunication network before the tribulations began, but we were learning to use a more perfect system. It began to function because the power of God was being made manifest in greater degree among us. Just as the two apostles had arrived in Cardston by divine means, man-made communication systems slowly became option. Yeah, so that was a later clip. So we set up, I set up the wrong one.
Starting point is 04:07:42 No, it's okay. Yeah, it's interesting. It was good. For me, that clip was important. I'm the one that put that in there. It goes to this idea of his teaching that you can develop these spiritual gifts to where you transcend the laws of science, the laws of nature, and you can start teleporting. You can start reading people's minds.
Starting point is 04:08:04 You can start communicating without language. Tell me that doesn't sound like Chad and Laurie. It absolutely is. And it's a complete, it's just a fantasy world. You know, it's living in dungeons and dragons, as many people have pointed out. Yeah, it's, it's defies all science. It defies everything I've learned about, you know, Mormon teachings too. I don't know.
Starting point is 04:08:28 It just, it's bizarre. Yeah, it's just another, another testament to the fact that this is not mainstream theology. It's made up. Yeah. Yeah. And he talks about this, isn't it like the science of spirituality or spiritual? Oh, there's a chapter called spiritual technology. Yes.
Starting point is 04:08:46 Where just like Scientology, he's trying to use the appearance of science and the appearance of technology, but is applied to this Wu supernatural weirdness. Yeah, for sure. So there's another clip that's on Searsones. Did you want to play that one? Yeah, because this ties it back all the way to Joseph Smith again, which I think is important. So many of you'll know, Joseph Smith, the beginning of his reputation as someone with special powers was not as the man who produced the Book of Mormon and the Golden Plates. It was as the young boy who got a searstone and could help people find buried treasure with the powerful searstone that then he later used to translate the Book of Mormon, the golden plates.
Starting point is 04:09:35 Well, we got to have some sear stones in here. So let's listen. They also produced the stones that glowed, literally thousands of them. These were placed in every room in the temple and offices. They rested in beautiful sconces, upon candlesticks, or in fixtures in the ceiling. They responded to the desires of those in the room, becoming brighter or dim according to our desires. These stones could be asked to shine with enough heat to cook or to heat and cool a building, all without blinding you or even heating the surface upon.
Starting point is 04:10:08 on which they rested. In time, every building at home in Zion used many of these stones, so that we did not need electricity or fire at all. Earlier in this book, I spoke of my premortal room that was like a giant Urum and Thumum. I also mentioned that it was mine and was linked to me and a part of me. When a translated person obtained one of these stones, it too began to function as a Urum and Thumum. It exhibited the same power as a portal, to show us everything and to take us there. In fact, the power of these things was not in the object itself, but in Christ and in our faith.
Starting point is 04:10:48 Still, these objects increased our faith and served to empower us. Even knowing the truth of these things, everyone, including myself, initially found themselves better able to work powerfully with these spiritual tools. We learned that these stones could function to contact anyone who also had a stone, so we didn't need any form of electronic devices or communication systems.
Starting point is 04:11:11 While speaking to them via the stones, we had the same profound insight into whom we were addressing. We could hand them things or go there in an instant when it was in harmony with God's plan. The greater our righteousness, and the more one our alignment was with heaven, the more latitude we had in using the... Yeah, so we don't have to belabor the point,
Starting point is 04:11:33 but this idea of the Euram-Thumumum of Seer Stones, 100% foundational Mormon. The idea we sustain the first presidency of the courtroom of 12 as what? Prophets, Sears, and Revelators. The word seer comes from directly from the use of seer stones. And, you know, so this is founded in Mormon doctrine, history, and theology. And also just like the talking trees, this, you know, communicating through stones reminds me of told and the Lord of the Rings where they had, you know, the ball that they could see on the other side. They didn't need to talk to the person. They could just see what was going on.
Starting point is 04:12:12 And then Chad Daybell also had a necklace. The pendulum. Yeah, Chad Daybell. I found a necklace while cleaning a chapel. It was an owl necklace that he decided was a pendulum. He also decided that whoever left it, he didn't need to return it to the lost and found because it was clearly placed there for him on the podium by God. So he took that necklace and then used that to tell people who they were in past lives and whether they were light or whether they were dark. So yeah, also using tools, you know, these sort of magical tools. Objects.
Starting point is 04:12:48 And somewhere in Rexburg, there's a poor 12 or 13 year old little girl who lost their owl necklace. I know, I've like put it out so many times. I'm like, well, the real owner of the owl necklace, please stand up. I want to interview. No such luck yet. I've tried. I've tried.
Starting point is 04:13:04 I've put it out there. That's probably because it's, you know, some kid who's... I know, some 14-year-old is missing her cute owl necklace. I'm sorry, sweetheart. Yeah. So the next clip's about translated versus millennial. Yeah, this one's a little kind of, it's kind of important, so we should play this one. All right.
Starting point is 04:13:23 Translated people did not have children, and they were not earthbound. Their labors were for a specific purpose, the building of Zion and establishment of the kingdom of God. Sometimes their work included other places, even other planets, and other people. When their ministry was accomplished and their time was over, they prayed to God and ended their translated ministry. They were instantly resurrected and joined with all other such beings in the service of God. Was this the one? No, this isn't the one, but this, you know, this one obviously says that translated beings
Starting point is 04:14:00 don't have children. Do not have children. That is profound. It starts with translated beings don't have children. So if you're wondering why he wasn't searching in his house, if you wonder why Tom Harrison wasn't searching in his house for his kids, well, he was translated and Chad Deval don't have kids. Lori doesn't have kids. She's translated. Translated beings don't have kids, which is also just bizarre. I thought that we were all about kids in the LDS faith, but not if you're translated. Not if you're translated. You've got too much important work to do. And this also reminds me, too, of Lori's statement at her sentencing when she talked about Kylie and JJ being busy and Tammy being busy in the afterlife.
Starting point is 04:14:43 And this, for all the people who are like, what the heck are they busy doing? This is it. This is the busy work that they're doing is gathering people and teaching the gospel. Full circle, go back to that video of her and Chad in their swimsuits, sitting there childless in Hawaii and she is reading this book. They have, the children have been murdered. They are buried in Chad Daybell's yard and they are sunbathing in Hawaii reading this book. Translated beings do not have children. This is their Bible. I hate to say it, but it is. This is. I agree with you. I think you hit the nail one head. Yeah, we're almost there.
Starting point is 04:15:22 The next one is, the next one ties in to some of these other things. So we should listen to the next About the 144,000 as written about in the Book of Revelations. Is that what you have next? No, I have it. Which one do you have one? One of the ones that we added. Which one? Can you, if can you pull it up on that screen, then I can see it.
Starting point is 04:15:45 Sorry, I'm such a visual person. It's, it's labeled in there. I don't have that in the slides. It's labeled in there as the couple's ruse. Oh, oh, I see what you're saying. saying I see who's just saying so okay so we have sear stones let's see sorry everyone that should be it right there ruse okay yeah it's 144,000 it's right okay I apologize no it's good it's good let's play it especially when our
Starting point is 04:16:17 mission was to families or struggling women and children sometimes the brethren were called upon just to perform ordinances when the mission had reached that stage sometimes we posed as fellow wanderers as husband and wife or other roles yeah and this is something that But I was just listening on one and a half speed and notice, I want to play it again. It's sort of Tom Harrison predicting or prophesying the couple's ruse, right? Right. And I just want people to listen again. He's saying that they what, pretend as they're gallivanting around the world in apocalyptic pre-millennial America.
Starting point is 04:16:55 Gathering people. Gathering people is 144,000. Something. Sometimes they have to pretend to be husband and wife. To be husband and wife. I'm gonna play it again. Especially when our mission was to families or struggling women and children. Sometimes the brethren were called upon just to perform ordinances when the mission had reached that stage.
Starting point is 04:17:11 Sometimes we posed as fellow wanderers as husband and wife or other roles. I mean perform ordinances or pose as husband and wife. I mean one of the two. It was so bizarre. So translated beings don't have kids and we just like, and then we borrow each other's husband and wives and pretend to, like what is this?
Starting point is 04:17:26 What is this state? Well, because obviously if you're gathering people, people to Zion, they're not going to believe that you're really gatherers unless you have a wife with you, you know, who can say that you're really a gatherer. I'm just trying to project, you know, Tim Ballard's thinking onto this situation. Yeah. You know, nobody's going to believe we're actually gathering unless we're. Yeah, this is the couple's ruse, though. This is the couple's ruse. Now we all pretend we're married and act as each other's husbands and wives, and we don't have kids. Yeah, it's wild.
Starting point is 04:18:01 Yeah. Okay. So the next clip is Tom. And what is the label on that one? Evil people bringing judgment upon themselves. Okay. Yeah. We need to listen to this one to set up the last one that's super important.
Starting point is 04:18:13 All right. Let's roll it. To turn back the enemies that were trying to destroy the people that God had sent you to save. Tell us a little about that. No mechanism against Zion works. and any time you send something to destroy Zion, it just comes back against you. And that's a tragedy because when you're in that process,
Starting point is 04:18:40 you start to be able to see them as the Lord sees them. And the last thing you want for them is to be killed in their wickedness. You don't want them to be destroyed. You want them to be saved. but they're bent in creating your destruction so they bring all the destruction they desire on you upon themselves and that's a tragedy because once you've seen what is in store
Starting point is 04:19:14 once you've seen that process you want no one to be lost you want no soul to be unsaned unsanctified. And that's a tragedy. But they bring that death upon themselves. I thought it was funny when he talks about Jesus coming, like literally the second coming, one of the things he mentions is that people try and shoot at Jesus. And then he says, that's the last mortal act that they ever performed. You know what I mean? It's this dark kind of like, don't mess with the Lord's anointed. What were you saying to you? I mean, that you bring this destruction on yourself. You know, if you fight against Sion, then you, you deserve,
Starting point is 04:19:58 you get what you deserve. And it's a tragedy, but you get what you deserve. That was wild. I almost, when he was like, you don't want to destroy them. I'm like, do you not? Because you're almost making me sound like you want to destroy them. Yeah. We don't want these terrible people destroyed. We want to save them. I'm like, really? I think you're kind of, I think you're trying to convince yourself. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The next clip, as far as I'm concerned, is the smoking gun in the book. It really expounds on what, you know, Tom was just talking about, so we need to listen to it. And I'm going to give a shout out to Alicia Lee on TikTok. She was the first one that I saw this clip, but you guys probably all figured
Starting point is 04:20:41 it out before that. But she was the only called it to my attention. I had this clip on my list, and then I saw Alicia's TikTok, and I actually reached out to her, and she and I had a great phone conversation. Great. And she, yeah, and she told me about a prepper community that was, you know, near where she lived and that they were preaching these these same kind of things. And it was super, super scary. And what should people listen for in this clip? It'll be obvious. Okay. All right. Oh, you know what, though? I actually, I was going to just read this part from the book because I hate that, I hate that the AI voice doesn't, he doesn't emphasize it in a way that, like, makes it important. And you're right, the AI, I always does
Starting point is 04:21:20 breathe. I hear that now. Yeah, he's real, but he doesn't really, he doesn't. Unless the I'm living into AI. I don't know. Maybe some guys sitting at home going, they think my voice sounds like AI. I mean, it's a nice voice, but there's just no emotion or expression in it at all. So anyway, they're talking about dealing with the warfare that's happening while they're trying to gather the 144,000 and everybody else to Zion, there are still these troops that have invaded America. There are still people who are literally fighting against Zion with weapons and things like that. And so this talks about dealing with warfare is the part, is the section in the book.
Starting point is 04:21:57 And it says, there was a law we followed. It was not a rule, but a law. Which can anybody tell me the difference between a rule and a law? Me either. No. Okay. Just making sure it wasn't me. When an individual or group threatened us, we knew their hearts.
Starting point is 04:22:15 If there was any hope, even the slightest hope, that they could be saved, even in the most telestial sense, we didn't. not harm them. When we were confronted by people who were fully ripe in iniquity and who would never repent, then we were free to deliver them for mortality. Their death would then be a blessing to them because they could no longer add additional iniquity to their divine ledger. Rest in peace, JJ and Diley. And by the way, that's, that is Bruce. That is Brigham Young's blood atonement theory. That sometimes there are sins that are committed, that the only way you can receive forgiveness is to have your own blood shed.
Starting point is 04:23:04 So this is rooted in Brigham Young's own teachings found in the journal of discourses. Yeah, and there's a terrible story about a man who committed adultery. And I guess at some point in the night, the brethren came for him. Most people don't realize how much their personal information is being bought and sold every day. Data brokers are making billions, pulling details about you from public records and the internet, and then packaging and selling it, usually without your consent. That's how your information lands in the hands of scammers, spammers, even stalkers. It's why you get endless robocalls and why ads seem to follow you everywhere. That's where ORA comes in.
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Starting point is 04:24:19 and had dug a hole for him and he knelt down in front of the grave and accepted that he needed to be killed because he committed adultery. Yeah. Let's play the clip. Just because I think. Let's play it. I know I want to hear it. Yeah. Yeah. Let's play the clip.
Starting point is 04:24:31 There was a law we followed. It was not a rule, but a law. When an individual or group threatened us, we knew their hearts. If there was any hope, even the slightest hope that they could be saved, even in the most telestial sense, we did not harm them. When we were confronted by people who were fully ripe in iniquity and who would never repent, then we were free to deliver them from mortality. Their death would then be a blessing to them. Their death would be a blessing to them,
Starting point is 04:25:01 because they could no longer add additional iniquity to their divine ledger. In the beginning of our work of gathering, we most often hid behind God's power. Toward the end, we were most often granted permission to display God's power. Instead of hiding from them, we started them on their immortal journey. When we did this, it was not a bloodbath and rarely a consumption by fire. They just fell to the ground and slipped into the eternities. When this happened, we felt happy for them to be freed from the torment of their own delusions. With God, they would eventually see clearly once again, and could choose to cease heaping condemnation upon their souls.
Starting point is 04:25:42 I mean, it's so darkly euphemistic. It is so dark. It is so dark. And I want to say, too, before JJ and Tiley and Talley and Tammy and Charles too, but JJ and Tiley specifically, before they were killed. Lori asked Chad to do her family history. And he sent her an email saying, here's your family. Who is light and who is dark? And he explained the graph he was using.
Starting point is 04:26:06 He even used a decimal system because that's how Chad Daybell wanted to be so profound with his light and rate. you know, system that he used decimal point system. But he, he said that if you were past a four dark, you really couldn't turn light again. He wrote this in the email. And then he labeled Tiley Ryan, 16-year-old Tiley Ryan, a four point, what was it, four dark. In other words, there was no chance of deliverance for Tiley at that moment. He wrote, Chad Rowe her death at that moment. You know, and that is what Tom Harrison's book is saying right there, that if there is no chance of deliverance, we act as God and we kill you. And in Laurie Vallow's, in Lurie Vallow's sentencing, she stated that they were happy, that she delivered her children, that she missed
Starting point is 04:27:00 them dearly, but they, they were on to the next place she delivered them. Mm-hmm. I mean, this, this is, this book, we need to talk about this book and I'm so, glad we're here talking about this book and how many people it is inspiring. In the worst way. In the worst way. And it talks about people who are fully ripe in iniquity and who gets to determine who's fully ripe iniquity, but the people who have special powers and know everything about everybody. And that takes us all the way back to the beginning of the book, the very first clip where he says, I knew everything about her. And so therefore, the implication is I can tell if she is repentant or not.
Starting point is 04:27:47 I can tell if she's fully ripe in iniquity or if I should let her live, basically. And I think it's so incredibly, horrifically despicable to insinuate that when you decide to relieve these people of their mortal lives, that they just fall down. Well, that's not what happened to JJ, and that's not what happened to Tiley. And that's not what happened to Tiley. To Tilly. To Tami. None of them just fell down.
Starting point is 04:28:23 They were brutally and horrifically killed. And it is a direct result of this book. And there are two other people that think they have these sort of powers too. You know, Chad Daybell believes you can see beyond the veil. Tim Ballard believes he's a visionary and can see beyond the veil. Tom Harrison believes he's a visionary and he can see behind the veil. Julie Roe. Julie Roe believes she's a visionary and can see beyond the veil.
Starting point is 04:28:50 This is a book that they teach at the conferences I attend, dreams and visions, how to have them, how to be a visionary and see beyond the veil. There is a trend that is happening and this book is a beloved, This book has a cult following in these groups of like-minded people. And if any of you think we're exaggerating here, let me just read a couple of comments that have come in, just in defense of the book. Just to give a sense, basically Tina writes, this is really pathetic. You don't know what this guy experienced. I love the book.
Starting point is 04:29:35 the book was written with pure humility. I'm really disgusted with your channel. And Tina, we're actually very grateful you wrote in because you're helping prove our point that this book is much loved. So thank you for having the courage to come on Mormon stories and help us see. And defend it.
Starting point is 04:29:54 Yeah. And defend it. Yeah. Thank you. Many people have defended it on our channel. Jody Hildebrandt believes she can see beyond the veil. I mean, like, who else? Yeah, just on and on.
Starting point is 04:30:04 Right. Right? Yeah. Who else is going to be next? And so there's a pattern and it's going to keep going. Who's who's next to let us know they can see beyond the veil? Yeah. All right. What videos are left to me? Well, I mean, there's a there's a few things that are left that basically just corroborate some of the things that Laurie and Chad believed that Lori, you know, there's a there's a clip in there of Tom Harrison talking about how instrumental women are in the gathering of 144,000. and I'm sure Lori loved to hear that. And he... He makes a comment about women if you only knew how instrumental you were in the gathering.
Starting point is 04:30:46 And it's like, well, the reason we don't know is because we're constantly told that we're less than and we're constantly left out of leadership in the church. And there's no way for a woman to affect change in the church because we're not given a voice in any of the councils. And so for Lori to hear, you know, read in this book that women are, there were more women in the 144,000 than there were men. There were more women gatherers. And then the rest of the, you know, the rest of it, the last clip that we have on there. And I don't know if you want to play this one for time's sake or not, but it's, it's Tom sort of wrapping all of this up. Do you want to mention the second anointing clip with Mormonism live? Yeah, I mean, that's the one I talked about where they, they point out that Joseph's, Smith was teaching that the gathering had already started in Joseph Smith's time. And so, yeah, if you want to play that one, that would be a good one.
Starting point is 04:31:39 And then we have that one last one from Tom. All right. This is Mormonism Live, Radio Free Mormon, and Bill Real. To form that number had already commenced. Then, teachings of the prophet Joseph Smith, page 366, 2nd May 18. 1444, discourse by Joseph Smith. I'm going on in my progress for eternal life. It is not only necessary that you should be baptized for your dead, but you will have to go through all the ordinances for them, the same as you have gone through to save yourselves. There will be 144,000 saviors on Mount Zion, and with them an innumerable host that no man can number. Oh, I beseech you to go four and make your calling an election made sure. In other words, those who receive the second anointing
Starting point is 04:32:41 are those who fall into the 144,000, and the rest of us non-elite inner circle of the faithful get to be those who follow. And so many people have asked me that question. Did Tim Ballard receive his second anointing by Emerson Ballard? And for those who don't know, the second anointing is, check out the Tom Phillips episode on Mormon Stories podcast or the Hans-Matson-Swedest Rescue episodes on Mormon Stories. It's a super secret special elite Mormon ordinance performed in the Mormon temples to this day where your feet are washed by an apostle and your wife or husband are there. You're there as a couple.
Starting point is 04:33:24 And you're basically promised that you'll be exalted as a God, unless. you commit only one sin can keep you from that and it's murder. And people don't know about this. And it's usually the wealthy, connected family members of Mormon elite that get the ordinance. Yeah, again, another marker of high demand religions is super secret ceremonies that the entire population doesn't know about. And, you know, I'm sure it would have been a compelling idea to Chad and Lori to have, you know, receive a second anointing or to be qualified for one. And I don't know that Tim Ballard necessarily received one. I don't know if you can be excommunicated for visiting bars after having the second anointing.
Starting point is 04:34:05 So that would be speculation on everybody's part. But I just found it super interesting that on Mormonism live, they basically laid out that if you're not among the 144,000, you're basically not among the elite. And so the idea of elitism that stemmed from the teachings of barriced. in his house, you know, that would have been Lori Vallow's, your uncle or Lori Vallow's dad. What's you're referring to. Yeah, would have been super compelling to Lori. Really quickly, there's someone who must have joined us late.
Starting point is 04:34:40 They asked, this is Becky Buck. I'm still on the fence if Jody was influenced by visions of glory. Has there been a clip of Jody quoting it? Lauren, do you want to remind us the connection between Jody Hildebrand and Tom Harrison? Yeah, absolutely. There's not a clip that I have seen of her quoting it, but she was very connected to Tom Harrison and the Eternal Core podcast and conference. Jody was very involved in that. So the Eternal Core conference was started by Tom Harrison. It was bringing God back into therapy. And in 2019, he interviewed Jody Hilda Brandt for his podcast, where she talks about distortion and truth. And it's all very similar to what. Tom Harrison stays and he validates her in this and says how wonderful it is. In fact, at one point during the podcast, her lights go out, and they both joke that it's because she's speaking truth
Starting point is 04:35:36 and that Satan is out there trying to get Jody to stop speaking to. This is a very interesting part in the podcast that is on the Eternal Core podcast. Tom replies, The darkness always wants to show its supremacy when her light goes out, and she's speculating that it's Satan trying to stop her from speaking truth. That's binder, Mindy. Thank you, Mindy is looking at her binder. She's, she, we call her binder, Minnie. You started that, John.
Starting point is 04:36:02 Like, you call her binder, Mindy. It's productionist because she's so much more. She's so much more. But she's so organized. It's something I can't do so I admire it. Oh my goodness. Super Sleeper Mindy. Now that is a stretch.
Starting point is 04:36:15 Now, to answer the question of your, of your, of the person who left the comment, we will be talking more about Jody and her connection to not as much the book Visions of Glory, but her connection to Tom Harrison and Eternal Core Conference in part two. Correct. And I'll just show the photo one more time. There's the Eternal Core Conference, sort of like banner image. That's Tom Harrison right in the middle. And then two faces over is Jody Hildebrandt.
Starting point is 04:36:46 And then right to the immediate left of Tom Harrison or on the right hand of Tom Harrison is none other than Tim Bellar. And I want to share this too. If my moderators could share something that we did on Jody Hildebrand, an episode we did, we actually walked through Jody Hildebrand's belief system, relating it.
Starting point is 04:37:09 And we used the Eternal Core Conference where Jody Hildebrandt actually lays out her entire belief system. Again, that's Tom Harrison's conference, where he invited her to speak. And my husband, who's a psychologist, a licensed psychologist, Dr. John Matthias, actually put together a map of her belief systems. And so after hearing about this book, please go visit for yourself and see if it rings true. You know, and again, as Mindy mentioned, we'll be talking a lot about that in the next episode.
Starting point is 04:37:42 That we're going to, that we hope to start in an hour or two after we have lunch and dinner. I do feel... Oh, really quick. Do you want to play the final clip? Is it important? Yeah, let's play the final clip and then I want to circle back to... We'll end with that letter for sure. Thank you. Yeah, it's something important to me to share what Tom wants to share.
Starting point is 04:38:00 Absolutely. Okay, so this is a final clip. Sort of the apocalyptic climax. What is it? No, it's Tom Harrison again speaking at the fireside, but sort of wrapping up where this theology goes. All right. Let's play it. And if we stay with the earth...
Starting point is 04:38:18 we will be glorified. And that is what is about to take place on this planet. For it is almost finished with its telrestrial process. And we will be moving shortly into that which is terrestrial. And when we move into that terrestrial structure, then we become glorified with it and that of the earth cannot touch us anymore remember when you go to the temple those ordinances
Starting point is 04:38:59 are not celestial they are terrestrial and celestial and every time you go in first it bays our feet like Ezekiel saw then it goes up to our ankles then it goes up to our waist and then it goes up to our chest and pretty soon it goes all the way over our head and it transforms us for in it has the capacity to bring the church and all of its people all the church of the firstborn all the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that which was given the father to its appropriate to rest and celestial state and then the millennium will take place.
Starting point is 04:39:51 So really quickly, one of the commenters made kind of an obscure comment. Patricia Burns wrote Marshall Applewhite. For those of you don't know who that is. Tell us, Mindy. Oh, no, you probably know more. He's any Devil's Gate? Heaven's Gate. He was the Hells Gate and what she's referring to.
Starting point is 04:40:09 Is his voice? Yeah. It's so much like the... It's trans-like. Yes. people in a trance. Yes. That was a great comment. Thank you, Patricia Birds. All of y'all were nodding at that. Would you each share why you were nodding? For me, it's his mention of the Church of the Firstborn because it makes me think of Chad, and that's what he called his church or his,
Starting point is 04:40:30 you know, that's where he was headed. And it makes me think of, Lauren, again, your interview with Heather Daybell, who commented that one of the theories she has is that Chad did a lot of research into the church and sort of came to this conclusion that the leaders of the church had been led astray and that it was going to be up to him to establish this new church of the firstborn to go back to fundamentalist teachings. And she thought maybe it was possible that Chad had approached Tammy with the idea of polygamy and that Tammy rejected it. And that that's what sort of led to her demise, unfortunately. Yeah. Yes, that's when she became the zombie named Viola. And in fact, it will be, she was, she was killed in October, 2019, we're two days away from her.
Starting point is 04:41:26 It's like the 18th or 19th. Yeah, that's the 19th. The 19th. Yeah. So in a couple days. Two days. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, the Church of the Firstborn. Chad and Lori had seven missions to accomplish together. And one of them was to establish the Church of the Firstborn on Earth. And when they would, like shortly before Megan's cousin and Laurie's brother, Alex, passed away, Chad Dable gave him a like a patriarchal blessing. And I think he cited his authority as from the church of the firstborn. So I think that they had already gone into that mindset of being translated and being leaders of that church. And that was one of the things that really terrified me because I thought, you know, it doesn't really matter. that Chad and Lori are in prison because that idea of the Church of the Firstborn is still out there. There are still people who are using this book as another Bible. There are still people who believe
Starting point is 04:42:24 what he taught. And again, I'm sure plenty of them will say, yeah, but we don't believe in murdering people. Well, don't you? Because if you believe what's in the book, then you believe at some point you're going to come across people who are past feeling and need to be delivered from this existence before the Savior can come again. So, you know, examine your own biases and just look at it closer. Yeah. Look at the fruits. Okay, so we began this episode letting people know that the book Visions of Glory was published in 2012, that John Pontius, the scribe, died shortly thereafter, which is frankly weird, but that sometime between 2013 and 2014,
Starting point is 04:43:13 Tom Harrison was summoned into some sort of disciplinary counsel and had to answer to the brethren of the church as to how this book was going to be dealt with. He drafted a letter, and then he sent Lauren Matthias a copy of this letter when she reached out to him to ask if he might be Spencer. So let's bring it back to Lauren and Lauren you want to kind of share, share your reflections on this letter now. Yes, yes. I feel it's only fair to read the entire thing for Tom because I feel like
Starting point is 04:43:49 it's Tom's statement. So as a journalist, I want to read the entire thing because the fact that he sent this to me in response to my question says, here is my statement. This is all I'm going to say about it. So it's almost like, you know, reaching out, what would you like to say? Here there's a letter he has sent. And so, yeah, I have some interesting reflections on it. I'll read the whole thing. And it's again, so March 23rd, 2014, regarding visions of glory. That's what it's titled.
Starting point is 04:44:19 So therefore, we can know the disciplinary council was about this book. So yeah, let's preface it too. I've learned that so he was making money off of the book, along with John Pontius. The book was published by Cedar Fort Publishing. the publishing company that Chad Daybell worked for until Chad started his own publishing company. And so published by Cedar Four, he was making money off of it along with John Pontius, and he was speaking out. We learned that this 2012 fireside was well before this letter.
Starting point is 04:44:52 So he was sharing publicly that he was Spencer, and then this letter changed some things. Here we are. To whom I made concern and my priesthood leaders. After meeting with my stake president on this 23rd day of March 2014, I write this letter to disclose my feelings and present opinions of the book, Visions of Glory, which was published by Cedar Fort Publishing Company on December of 2012. I disclose that I am Spencer, the person whom the majority of this account is written about. I have been asked to discuss the origins and my present feelings associated with this book. I first met John Pontius via person who I met when she was in her youth. She and John Pontius's daughter had moved into the same ward in Colorado. She thought that he and I had shared many
Starting point is 04:45:44 similar experiences from our mutual years of illness and my three near-death experiences, and that it would be, in quotes, good for us to meet. After our first meeting, I was pleased to speak with John, an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who had the capacity to talk openly about these things we had in common, which much of these things I had kept to myself for a number of years. It was refreshing to be able to speak openly of these things with him. Shortly after our first meeting, John suggested that these experiences should be written down, even if it were just for my posterity. This concept was initially contrary to everything I had been taught and had read about regarding the sharing of sacred experiences with others.
Starting point is 04:46:32 We continued to talk and I began to see the possible purpose in having this record for my family. John was a published author of many books dealing with LDS church topics. John assisted me by sharing his insights into the things I spoke with him about. Many of these experiences I shared with him I had had and seen when I was very ill over a protracted period of time. In hindsight, I see far more clearly that it would have been better to follow the council of Elder Neil Maxwell, a member of our ward, when he said to me, in quotes, Brother Tom, do not try to interpret these things or read into them, end quote. He counseled me that I should wait to see and experience these things in the proper timing of the Lord. It was not until I attended a leadership
Starting point is 04:47:22 meeting at my stake center when I heard our present prophet Thomas S. Monson tell us all priesthood leadership that we needed to share more openly our testimonies and special sacred experiences with our friends, families, and fellow saints on social media, and in writing to strengthen one another, and by that which we have experienced. After hearing this council, only then did I start to think that maybe John Pontius was right, and that I should express these experiences to strengthen those who might read of these things that it might remind them that God cares for each of us, and is mindful of us. It was at this time that I also read Elder Melvin Ballard's experience with a personal visitation of Christ and also read of Elder Hate's story of seeing Christ in
Starting point is 04:48:12 Gassimony. I prayed extensively about this, and after these experiences, believing maybe the Brethren had relaxed their views regarding disclosure, I agreed to disclose a portion of these things to John and go forward from there in association with what would become of these communications. I knew that John had terminal cancer, and he would leave my life as quickly as he had come into it. In hindsight, believing John would pass away before this book, in hindsight, I believe that John would pass away before this book would ever see the light of day. After 50 hours of meeting with John Pontius, he asked if he could share some chapters of what we had written with his publisher Cedar Fort. He did so, and they were reluctant to publish them, stating there would not be an audience. for such a story. They told John that if they did publish the book, they would start with about
Starting point is 04:49:05 550 copies of the manuscript. However, they did not think there would be a market for this book. I believe them, and after consulting with John about his thinking, knowing that this was their business, not mine, and they must be familiar with what sells and what does not sell, I believe at best maybe a few copies would sell, and John would have his last wish before departing this life from the complications associated with his terminal intestinal cancer. John had a blog spot, unblock my soul, where I believed a few of his faithful members would read such a book as this. It would be a flash in the pan and then done. John continued to work on the book and sent me manuscripts to edit and comment on. We were doing this all electronically, and I believed he was
Starting point is 04:49:53 receiving all of my comments and changes as I sent them. I surprisingly learned after his death in December of 2012 when I was finally giving a copy of the published book that many of my corrections and the entire last editing of visions of glory had not either been received by the publisher or that John, in his profound state of illness in those last few weeks of his suffering, did not include. Realizing after reading the published book for the first time that this was a joint effort, and I would estimate that a third of the book was John's interpretation of what I had seen or experienced, or even that more of the content of the book was the facility that an author needed to use in place of these experiences into a context and a storyline scenario.
Starting point is 04:50:38 John also added that the book things which he had seen and experienced, John Pontius also added to the book, Things which I had seen and experienced, which were different from that, which I had experienced. I have no need or do not want to give the impression that I am throwing John Pontius under the bus. However, I can only be responsible to that which I actually related to him and experienced for myself. The remainder is John's work, capacity for writing and his placing my experiences into an
Starting point is 04:51:08 appropriate context and storyline. From the start, I do not or have not seen myself or visions of glory the book as attempting to speak for the church or saying that this is in any way doctrinal or a true account of what we as a people have in store for us. It was and is an experience given to me alone. It is not meant to be generalized in what will happen to the church or people as a whole. I believe much of it is a metaphor or analogy and should be seen as such. It is and has been just what I saw my own experience. Not always depicted as I saw or experienced it, but more as a writer. would take a story and try to flesh it out for the reading public.
Starting point is 04:51:50 At this time in my life, I wish I would have kept it all to myself, that visions of glory the book was just those experiences one man had and that no one else had ever read this account. It has caused me great grief, despair, family discord, public ill treatment, derision, and criticism. I have learned that when we undertake to cast sacred things before the masses, that they turn and rend you and that rending is very severe. There are doctrinal, incorrect aspects,
Starting point is 04:52:17 of the book, some being my perception and some being errors in the transmission of the work, some out of my or John's misinterpretation of what was being said or what was shown to me. It is difficult for two minds to have complete accuracy in trying to explain what was seen into words that convey the true meaning of what was shown. It is my intent to not speak of this account any further other than this letter. I do not have the rights to this work. They belong to the Pontius family. So I have no power to stop. the printing of this book. Under no circumstance did John or I ever mean to conspire, deceive, or acquire gain from these sacred things. Our hope was to lift, blessed, and bring
Starting point is 04:52:58 people to Christ. If asked about this work, I will give those who inquire a copy of this letter. I will not give firesides or presentations regarding this book. I hold my membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as my most prized possession. I apologize for any injury or misunderstanding this has caused the church, my family, or any individual associated with this book. I am sorry for any offense this has caused any member. Sincerely, Thomas H. Thomas G. Harrison. Okay, firing round, what types of bullet points is he trying to communicate with this letter?
Starting point is 04:53:35 Let's throw him out there. He's not to blame, throwing John Pontius under the bus. Okay. Things were misunderstood. He was misunderstood. Mistakes were made. Mistakes were made, but not by me. He has no power or control over the publishing of the book.
Starting point is 04:53:48 Yeah. He will no longer, he doesn't say he will no longer, but he says he will not receive financial benefits from the book. He can't control the book. I mean, somebody else has the book, and I can't control whether they continue printing it. It's beyond me. He claims that there are differences in what was published versus how he told it to John Pontius,
Starting point is 04:54:11 but by my account, every single video clip that we heard of him actually talking to to Spencer was pretty like exactly spot on to like what was included in the book. And John Pontius states we didn't play this part, but John Pontia states in that fireside, I listen to, I have over 50 hours of recorded conversation with you. And he seems very happy with his transcript. Right. And I want to point out two things. One, that's one of the reasons why I felt it was so important for us to include Tom's words themselves at the fireside corroborating what is in the book.
Starting point is 04:54:44 Not only that, but there are multiple times, as we saw through clips that repeated some of the same ideas over and over, there are multiple times those ideas appear throughout the book. The other thing that I think is really interesting that I actually didn't pick up on because I didn't read his whole letter until you just read it right now, Lauren, is that the publisher said they didn't think that there was going to be an audience for this book. So they published 550 copies of the manuscript. The number of people who attended the fireside from which we took the clips was 550. My theory is that they held that fireside in an effort to gain notoriety for the book so that it could be published. That was a promotional event, absolutely. And the other point that I want to make is that at any time, upon seeing those manuscripts,
Starting point is 04:55:37 those 550 manuscripts that got published before the book did, Tom Harrison could have come forward at that time. That's true. To correct any inaccuracies. And I know personally, if I had written a book and the publisher or the editor or something like that had changed something that materially altered what I intended it to be, and I had a manuscript of it, I sure as heck would go and correct it before it got published. Absolutely.
Starting point is 04:56:05 I'd go talk to John Pontius. And then if he had died, I would go talk to his dear widow. Yep. He becomes a victim in this letter. He's the victim. You know, he says, he's so sorry for the harm this book would have caused, but really he's a victim. He's been criticized. He's had public ill-treatment.
Starting point is 04:56:22 He has learned, you know, that if he- Cases and Pearls before Swine, right? So a lot of pitying himself, which is always a red flag to me. I just, you know. Yeah, but what do we make of him saying, oh, think of a lot of this as metaphor. Think of it as myth or symbolic. That was the most interesting part of the letter to. me. I've repeated that metaphor line over and over on different podcasts. I've shared never
Starting point is 04:56:46 reading the whole letter until this moment because because people take this so literally. And so I say, well, you know, as far as Tom Harrison's concerned, he told me it was a metaphor. And that actually got the attention to some people who called me because they said, he doesn't believe it's a metaphor. People call me and said, that is not true. And you can read the book or listen to the fireside we just listen to. Do you guys think he thinks it's a metaphor? Has he ever stated that once in the book that this is a metaphor? No way. Does he share in his fireside, it's a metaphor? Did he tell Tim Ballard that, you know, his visions are just metaphors? That Ballard's metaphorically going to be the prophet and the
Starting point is 04:57:27 president of the United States. Yeah. Look, I can value the whole metaphor thing. I see a lot of the biblical stories as metaphors, you know, I think that there are, you know, do I think that Jonas was swallowed by, Jonah was swallowed by a whale, no, but I think it's a metaphor to teach a larger lesson. So I can get behind this metaphor idea. I think that's why that line was so interesting to me. But I don't see any proof of that, that that's what he thinks this is. And he seems to really love, as far as the groups I'm in on Facebook, they don't think it's a metaphor. I threw that out there, by the way, on those groups.
Starting point is 04:58:05 I say, well, Tom Harrison told me it was a metaphor. And they're like, no, no, no. The apostles approved this book. It's not. No. No. He also wants to give the impression that he's going to stop talking about it, that he's, but is that what happened between 2014 and the present? Well, I think that's why this.
Starting point is 04:58:23 He didn't get firesides. He didn't get firesides. And I think that's why this book has such a cult following. I want to say this. I think that backfired. He doesn't give public firesides now. That's true. He has stopped that.
Starting point is 04:58:34 He does not do that. But now it's secret. And now it's the secret. has created, I think, a bit of the cult following in this book, that if you know who Tom Harrison is, it's special. If you know who Spencer really is it special, I've seen these groups, these people talking. So who's Spencer? Well, we know who it is, but we're not going to say it because it's sacred and it's special. It actually, I think, has risen, has grown his prominence. That is, his, you know, special. And then some people say, oh, but he's so humble, he doesn't even want
Starting point is 04:59:04 recognition. No. He stopped giving public firesides. because he knew he'd lose his membership in the church. Right. I just want to point that out too. And then, you know, in 2019, they're doing a eternal core, which he helped found, which is another platform for him to talk about his beliefs and maybe insert some of his visionary ideas or ideologies. And now we've got 2023 and we're hearing about Tim Ballard and he's obviously sharing some of his visions, specifically not even about visions of glory, but about Tim Ballard to Tim Ballard more recently.
Starting point is 04:59:36 So it doesn't seem like he's trying to put his visionary talents, like hide them, you know, under. It seems like he's still very willing to share his visionary skills. He's just meeting behind the scenes with Chad Daybell and Julie Rowe and Tim Ballard. Now he's just becoming some visionary guru, you know. Now he's becoming the sensei type where you just meet with him in private. Now it's super secret and it's private and it's special. I would say it's even worse because he's having these private meetings with people who then go out and influence hundreds and thousands of other people. You know, he's making himself into the Oracle that if you come to Tom Harrison, he's going to tell you what your mission is, and then you go out and you teach it and you fulfill it.
Starting point is 05:00:23 And that's kind of the way that I see it, his relationship with Tim Ballard and his relationship with Chad, because Chad was the one who, you know, sort of had this Church of the Firstborn and everything like that. like that, but he was meeting with Tom Harrison who probably told him, you're going to be instrumental in gathering. And he obviously told Tim Ballard he was going to have, you know, in a really important role. So his ideas have gone from being a nice fireside to, you know, these, I'm the person that the important people come to. Correct. To get, you know, the, the ideology that they need to go forward and finish their mission. Yeah. The super, the super special, prominent, prepping, visionary near-death experience, fundamentalists go to Tom Harrison. And that's the secret. That's like a thing, you know, but it's a, but it now is not public. Right. And he'll say things on his podcast like, well, I died three times, so I know what this is like. And he still continues to talk about it. He's just not doing it in a way that's going to anger the church. He doesn't state he's Spencer. He doesn't talk about it. He doesn't talk about it. He's Spencer. He doesn't talk about it. about visions of glory now. Right? But he alludes to it. Yes. And who knows what he's saying
Starting point is 05:01:34 behind closed doors? Exactly. Exactly. So he's not saying it publicly. Well, believe it or not, after five hours and 12 minutes, we have more. So there's a couple comments that I think are interesting just to close. Brilliant Trash wrote, if it's a metaphor, what was it metaphor for? I think that's interesting. Yeah. Great question. It's a great question. What is it a metaphor? Yeah, and that's what I was going to say, the parable of the talents is a metaphor. The parable of the, you know, what are some of the other ones, you know, the, the sower, the parable of the sower is a metaphor. It's very clearly a story that was fiction, but we can apply it in this way to our lives. Daniel and the lies, Dan, faith, courage.
Starting point is 05:02:17 So visions of glory would be shame and and fear, apocalyptic, maybe just a metaphor for, you know, preparation for the second coming of Jesus. Jesus Christ, because if you believe the book of Revelation, there's going to be tribulation. And so maybe that's the metaphor. Just don't know exactly what it's going to be, but we can be prepared. I don't know. That is a great question. What is it a metaphor for? Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 05:02:45 And then here's some intrigue. This is completely unsubstantiated and just, I'm just sharing it for silliness. Reader, reader writes, I heard Tom Harrison was excommunicated. I think at this point, it's just a joke. It's a joke about Tim Ballard. Yeah. We got you, right. We're going to start that.
Starting point is 05:03:05 Go check vice news. We'll see. Yeah. So, you know, let's each have a closing statement. We got to run. But for me, it's Mormon Church. You knew about Tom Harrison. You had him set for disciplinary counsel.
Starting point is 05:03:19 And instead, you made him bishop. You need to clean up this mess. You excommunicated Sam Young. You condemned Sam Young. You condemned Sam Young. for trying to save children. You excommunicated and condemned Natasha Helfer for trying to
Starting point is 05:03:34 promote healthy, empirically supported evidence-based therapy treatments. You excommunicated Denver Snuffer. You warned the world that Tim Ballard was a dangerous guy and that he had no relation to the church. You excommunicated me, Jeremy Reynolds, so many other people.
Starting point is 05:03:51 You know what to do. Right? You know what to do. You know what to do about this book. You have the power in your hands to condemn this book, to let all those Mormons out there know this book is dangerous, and to stop Tom Harrison. But most importantly, we said it before. If you think that Tim Ballard, Jody Hildebrand and, you know, Chad Deabel and Lori Vallow, and who are the others?
Starting point is 05:04:20 Maurice Harker. There's a tie to Rod Meldrum. If you think Mormon Church that the mayhem and the chaos, and the mental illness and even the death is over by ignoring this book. You ignore the prophecies of these three women. You ignore them at your own peril and at the safety of the members of the church you lead. That's my closing statement. Anyone else? Thank you.
Starting point is 05:04:53 Mike drop. I agree. Please denounce this book. I am a member of the church. Church of Jesus Christ, Latter-D Saints, please announce this book. To members of the church, please let's stop talking about evil spirits and treating people. Again, I shared how I changed a lesson in Sunday school. That's, you know, I do that for J.J. Tiley, everyone, you know, Charles, Tammy, but, you know, as I teach primary, that's, I'm thinking of J.J. and Tiley.
Starting point is 05:05:24 I agree. I think that it's become a point where, you know, this group is growing. I've gone to these conferences. They are not sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ, Lattery Saints. This book is not sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ, Lattery Saints. I understand that. I see that, and that is clear. And I think, though, that we think, okay, well, that's all we need to do is just stop talking about it. And everybody know it's not. not us. You know, and even when Chad and Lori committed their crimes, it was, well, we don't want to comment because this is nothing to do with us. But we're realizing again and again and again, all these people are connected. They're all coming from the same sort of group of people with these similar beliefs, and it is a dangerous group of people. And I know that I think in many times the church might be afraid of going after this group because they're the people that do missionary work. And they're the people that hand out book of Mormons, and they're the people that are, you know, wearing the church on their sleeves. And so I get it. You know, these are the people
Starting point is 05:06:33 that are loyal to the Church of Jesus Christ, Latter-Dy Saints, these ones that are attending these extremist conferences. But I just want to say that it's not just a put-your-head in the sand and say it's not sponsored by us, so we're good. These people are dangerous. And they are, they are believing members of the Church of Jesus Christ, the Letters Saints, Chad and Lori were believing members of the church. Tim Ballard was a believing member of the church. I'm grateful that the church spoke out. I give them props for speaking out against Tim Ballard.
Starting point is 05:07:04 I think that was wonderful. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, though. This book does need to be denounced. Please let the members know this book is bad and to not read it. It's not enough to say it's not sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ, Lattery Saints, and that you don't sell it in Desireate Book. It's not enough. Please do something about this.
Starting point is 05:07:28 Please. More will continue coming. Mindy? Yeah. Thank you to all of the viewers and listeners who have stuck with us this long. We knew that this would be a long episode, but we felt like it was very important. This book caused a lot of harm to my family, and it really really, damaged relationships and it affected my family in a negative way and I just don't
Starting point is 05:07:57 want that to happen to other families I don't want to see people going into to debt over things and items that they are not going to need or not the extent that they think they do I am sad to see people living in such fear and trepidation about about things because of the ideas in this book so I echo everything that the others have said. I would love to see the church officially by name denounce this book, and hopefully that would set a precedent and discourage others from publishing anything similar. Well said. Megan? Thanks. You know, the whole reason that I started to speak publicly when Lori's trial was going on is because I felt very strongly that the truth was not
Starting point is 05:08:45 being told about her and about the family that made her and about the teachings that made her. And so this effort has been part of that ongoing singular mission that I have in my life to tell the truth. And I said this last time I was on Mormon stories, that the truth is harmful to people who have not confronted their own shame. And so if our treatment of this book makes you angry, you should ask yourself why. All of us have made mistakes. All of us have believed in things that are not true or that are not good or that are not right. All of us have harmed other people in some way. And the only way for us to stop doing that is for us to admit that we've made a mistake and that we need to do better.
Starting point is 05:09:58 And so my main goal in doing this was to help people who like this book and who have promoted this book and who have changed their lives or their behavior because of this book to help them see the harm that is inherent in it. And sometimes it's easy to latch on to an idea that's compelling to you and to ignore the things that might be harmful to someone else. And so what I really hope to accomplish with this episode is just that people will examine their own beliefs and their own biases and just make sure that it's not something that's harming people. And, you know, I think we just do a disservice to Charles and Tammy and JJ and Tiley and the victims of Jody Hildebrand and the victims of Tim Ballard. If we don't acknowledge the source of their harmful ideology, and if we can as a group of people who care about victims, do anything to save. someone else from future harm that we should do it that we should always speak the truth
Starting point is 05:11:21 even when it's hurtful even when it causes upheaval even when it makes us feel ashamed of the things that we said are done beautiful thank you all three of you for this episode amazing work please check out a hidden true crime YouTube channel Megan you're amazing thanks for making this happen Mindy, thanks for joining us today. You're welcome. And we hope in the next hour or two to have a final live stream talking about more directly the connections.
Starting point is 05:11:57 Please subscribe again, Hidden True Crime Podcast, Mormon Stories. Be kind to each other, be good to each other. Please share this episode far and wide with as many people as you can and then do whatever you can within your spheres of influence to try and make a difference. All right. Thanks, Lauren. Thanks, John. Thanks, Dr. John.
Starting point is 05:12:15 Yes. Thanks, Megan. Thank you, John. Thanks, Mindy. Welcome. All right. See you all again. Come right back in about an hour or hour and a half for another episode.
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