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	Fundamentalist Church Sends Revelations to Custer Commissioners By Mary Garrigan Rapid City Journal December 29, 2011 http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/fundamentalist-church-sends-revelations-to-custer-commissioners/article_4d7b33c6-31e2-11e1-a24c-0019bb2963f4.html Custer County commissioners each got a letter from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently that contained revelations from its jailed spiritual leader Warren S. Jeffs. The three-page letter, signed by church patriarch Vaughan Taylor and bishop John Barlow, included revelations through Jeffs that were dated Nov. 23 and spoke of a need to "prepare righteously for coming great war." It included 12 items, including a revelation apparently warning against the consequences of allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the U.S. military. It was mailed to the Custer County Courthouse from an FLDS property in Eldorado, Texas. Custer officials read the letter, which was addressed to "leaders of power, and to all of governing power in nation of the United States of America," at their Dec. 14 meeting but did not respond to it. One of the revelations in the letter was an admonition to free the imprisoned Jeffs. "...release my people in bondage, my servant Warren Jeffs, to have my preserving gift continue with you." Jeffs is serving a life sentence in Texas for the sexual abuse of underage girls. "It didn't have much meaning," said Commissioner Jim Lintz, who took the letter with "a grain of salt." The Custer County Commission has been careful to steer clear of any religious overtones when dealing with the FLDS community that is located on 140 acres of land near Pringle, Lintz said. "I didn't feel it pertained to us. We've been very careful ... not to have their religious beliefs enter into any of our decisions. As long as we stay on that road, I think we're safe." The United Order of South Dakota is a reclusive FLDS community estimated at 200 people that is affiliated with Jeffs. It owns 140 acres of land in Custer County and is in the process of building new agricultural buildings. Custer County planning director David Green said he assumed Custer County was on a list of government entities around the country to receive the letter. The mailings also included a price list for ordering additional copies of the revelations from the FLDS web site. News reports of increased activity at the main FLDS community on the border of Colorado and Utah this week suggest that Jeffs is preparing his flock for major changes. Contact Mary Garrigan at 394-8424 or mary.garrigan@rapidcityjournal.com
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