Christ had done over 1,500 years previously, and very true to the ideologies of the RLDS. Such positive statements enthralled his followers and they wanted to find out more.
So, in mid August, 1984, the Lundgren family and a handful of followers arrived at the Chapin Forest Country Park, a few miles from the Kirtland Temple.
The Kirtland Temple was built by Joseph Smith Junior, the 1830 founder of the Latter Day Saints in Western New York. The temple started to be built in 1833 after Smith apparently received a revelation from God telling him that a place of worship was to be constructed in Kirtland and it has become a source of history and divinity ever since.
It was in Chapin Forest that Lundgren declared his revelations to his flock, funnily enough they were much like Joseph Smith Junior’s revelations, and described how they would have to use the original RLDS temple for a while. Both Alice and Jeffrey managed to get jobs as temple guides, due to their extensive knowledge of the faith. The job gave them a small salary and also free lodgings and meals. This was a perfect set up for the vision that was starting to grow within Lundgren’s head as he knew he would be able to use his position to subconsciously pass his views onto the temple visitors, and maybe even sway some more recruits.
T HE M AKING OF A L EADER
Slowly, the greed that was growing inside Lundgren started to take over, and he began pilfering from the donations that the church received and from the earnings of the visitor centre, that both he and Alice had easy access to. Nobody suspected that such a religiously moral man would do such a thing, that he got away with daylight robbery. In fact, people were starting to see Lundgren as the opposite to a petty criminal and more like a saint.
Jeffrey restarted his home seminars and bible groups in Kirtland and his group of followers grew quickly. He mesmerised people with his endless knowledge of the Scriptures and his promises of kindness yet to come. In 1984 one of Jeffrey’s old navy friends, Kevin Currie, was visiting Kirtland Temple and was surprised to find Lundgren there working as a guide. Currie was bewitched by Lundgren’s wisdom and aura that he immediately relocated to Kirtland and moved in with Lundgren’s ever increasing flock, Currie even surrendered his monthly earnings to the Lundgrens cause. More and more people would re-think their lives after going on one of Jeffrey’s temple tours, many saw him as a prophet and believed that to get close to God they would have to be close to Lundgren.
Dennis and Tonya Patrick had known Alice and Jeffrey from their days at University and had moved to Kirtland, from Independence with their daughter Molly. Like all the others before them they were so taken aback by Lundgren’s teachings that they thought that there was no alternative, even though they did not like the way in which he treated his children – the abuse was continuing – they looked past it, and selfishly thought of themselves.
Throughout the year Lundgren’s teachings became more and more extreme and rigid, violence started coming into play, but like many extreme religious groups, balanced thinking gets replaced with abiding by the prophet’s rules. Lundgren was by this point seen as the next step from Joseph Smith Junior, and in Mormon terms, you couldn’t get much higher on Earth therefore his instructions even surpassed the importance of the Scriptures.
By the end of 1986 Lundgren started claiming to his flock that he had received prophecies from God regarding the end of the world. The prophecy, Lundgren claimed, stated that Jesus would return to Earth and destroy everything except those righteous few who were within the Kirtland Temple. He gave his followers two dates on which this would happen, but each time the date came and went with no avail. So Jeffrey quickly changed his prediction. He stated that his group should take hold of the Kirtland Temple on May 3,
So, in mid August, 1984, the Lundgren family and a handful of followers arrived at the Chapin Forest Country Park, a few miles from the Kirtland Temple.
The Kirtland Temple was built by Joseph Smith Junior, the 1830 founder of the Latter Day Saints in Western New York. The temple started to be built in 1833 after Smith apparently received a revelation from God telling him that a place of worship was to be constructed in Kirtland and it has become a source of history and divinity ever since.
It was in Chapin Forest that Lundgren declared his revelations to his flock, funnily enough they were much like Joseph Smith Junior’s revelations, and described how they would have to use the original RLDS temple for a while. Both Alice and Jeffrey managed to get jobs as temple guides, due to their extensive knowledge of the faith. The job gave them a small salary and also free lodgings and meals. This was a perfect set up for the vision that was starting to grow within Lundgren’s head as he knew he would be able to use his position to subconsciously pass his views onto the temple visitors, and maybe even sway some more recruits.
T HE M AKING OF A L EADER
Slowly, the greed that was growing inside Lundgren started to take over, and he began pilfering from the donations that the church received and from the earnings of the visitor centre, that both he and Alice had easy access to. Nobody suspected that such a religiously moral man would do such a thing, that he got away with daylight robbery. In fact, people were starting to see Lundgren as the opposite to a petty criminal and more like a saint.
Jeffrey restarted his home seminars and bible groups in Kirtland and his group of followers grew quickly. He mesmerised people with his endless knowledge of the Scriptures and his promises of kindness yet to come. In 1984 one of Jeffrey’s old navy friends, Kevin Currie, was visiting Kirtland Temple and was surprised to find Lundgren there working as a guide. Currie was bewitched by Lundgren’s wisdom and aura that he immediately relocated to Kirtland and moved in with Lundgren’s ever increasing flock, Currie even surrendered his monthly earnings to the Lundgrens cause. More and more people would re-think their lives after going on one of Jeffrey’s temple tours, many saw him as a prophet and believed that to get close to God they would have to be close to Lundgren.
Dennis and Tonya Patrick had known Alice and Jeffrey from their days at University and had moved to Kirtland, from Independence with their daughter Molly. Like all the others before them they were so taken aback by Lundgren’s teachings that they thought that there was no alternative, even though they did not like the way in which he treated his children – the abuse was continuing – they looked past it, and selfishly thought of themselves.
Throughout the year Lundgren’s teachings became more and more extreme and rigid, violence started coming into play, but like many extreme religious groups, balanced thinking gets replaced with abiding by the prophet’s rules. Lundgren was by this point seen as the next step from Joseph Smith Junior, and in Mormon terms, you couldn’t get much higher on Earth therefore his instructions even surpassed the importance of the Scriptures.
By the end of 1986 Lundgren started claiming to his flock that he had received prophecies from God regarding the end of the world. The prophecy, Lundgren claimed, stated that Jesus would return to Earth and destroy everything except those righteous few who were within the Kirtland Temple. He gave his followers two dates on which this would happen, but each time the date came and went with no avail. So Jeffrey quickly changed his prediction. He stated that his group should take hold of the Kirtland Temple on May 3,
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