Hi. about me, Brian.

[creator]

About me...

I've lived in Utah my whole life, except for a mission in Haiti. I am the creator of LatterdayConservative.com and LDSFreedomForum.com. I do website design for a living.

An Introduction to how I became "awake" and politically involved...

Sometime during the middle of 2003, my mother-in-law showed me a documentary, Alex Jones' 911 The Road to Tyranny. At the time I thought maybe half of what he was saying might be true, so I started doing research... It wasn't this that woke me up, but this was one of the events that led to me waking up. It sure did open my mind.

Early in 2004 I began to take notice of the Presidential race between George W. Bush and John Kerry. This was going to be the first time I had ever voted. At the time I was leaning towards Bush because I knew I didn't like the ideas of the Democrats, but I still wasn't even sure if I supported the actions of the Republicans either.

As I was reading online a friend pointed me to a campaign website of a guy he knew that was running for office in Utah. It said that he was running as a 3rd party candidate with the Constitution Party. I had no idea what the Constitution Party was and at that time had little understanding of the US Constitution.

This Constitution Party candidate's site then led me to constitutionparty.com for more information about the party and their platform. As I read through the site I found various messages about freedom and a statement that said the Constitution Party (CP) is “what the GOP used to be.”

Here's where my big “aha moment” came; the moment of realizing that I was living a lie, that I didn't really know what freedom was, and I didn't understand the proper role of government. It was also a very spiritual moment for me. I read a story on the CP website titled “Not Yours to Give.”

“Not Yours to Give” is the story of Congressman Davy Crocket and a constituent of his, Horatio Bunce. Mr. Bunce brought to Crocket's attention that he (and the other representatives) had usurped power and violated the Constitution by giving of the public money in charity (socialistic welfare). Crocket asked for this mans forgiveness and strived to adhere to the Constitution from that point on. Something clicked in my mind as I read this, and began to start to understand the proper role of government.

This example was only the beginning. It was a powerful moment for me. I realized that there was so much I didn't understand about God’s intended role for government in our lives. I was beginning to realize the truth in Moroni's words in Ether Chapter 8 of the Book of Mormon:

“Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you…For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies…Wherefore, I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all righteousness and be saved.”

I was awakening to our awful situation…

I began to see the things that Moroni had warned us about. That our freedoms are being destroyed, that the Constitution is hanging by a thread, that Secret Combinations are among us.

I now had a desire to read and to learn more. My dad gave me a copy of a book by Ezra Taft Benson, “The Constitution – A Heavenly Banner“. I then discovered “The Proper Role of Government” also by Ezra Taft Benson. From there I learned that all the LDS church leaders had at least a little to say about freedom, America and the Constitution, and some had a lot to say.

Filling the Void…

I began to form my political philosophy based on the teachings of people such as Ezra Taft Benson, Cleon Skousen, H. Verlan Andersen, Frederic Bastiat, and others. At that time I was developing my web design skills and decided to create a website based on this newfound knowledge. There were some websites with a little bit of this information but I found nothing comprehensive. As I began to create what is now LatterdayConservative.com, I was searching for anything valuable that I could find online, in books and other sources, bringing them all together into one place. I wanted to share this knowledge with others because of the freedom I began to feel from knowing it.

Freedom via Truth

How is it that freedom can make a person free? For me, this newfound knowledge of freedom caused me to look at the world differently. I was now living in a completely different paradigm, realizing that truth is not exactly as I thought it was. This opened up my mind to a wealth of new possibilities.

W. Cleon Skousen

My in-laws have known about many of the things I had begun learning, for many years. They told me about W. Cleon Skousen, a relative of theirs. Brother Skousen is a modern-day founding father, and has written many books on the principles of freedom, the Founding Fathers and the Constitution. One day (May, 2005), I was discussing the Iraq war, Bush and other issues with my father-in-law. We started to wonder what Brother Skousen thought about these issues, because of his great expertise, and decided to give him a call. He invited us to come over to his house that Sunday for an opportunity to sit with him and discuss various freedom topics, as well as religion. He allowed me to record the conversation. Brother Skousen invited us to come back to his home each Thursday evening to participate in a constitution class he was teaching in his basement. It was such an honor to have that learning experience at the feet of such a great patriot and leader.

From May 2005 up until October 2005 I was dedicated to being at Brother Skousen's home every Thursday evening. I learned a lot and was able to ask a lot of questions. I also took notes at the meetings and have posted those online for others to read (on LDSFreedomForum.com). We were studying in Brother Skousen's books The Five Thousand Year Leap and The Making of America, so many of my notes were of the things that Brother Skousen said which were not in the books. I didn't want this experience to end but unfortunately Brother Skousen was already very old (92) and one day in October he fell from a step stool and injured himself. This caused him to become very week and he passed away in January 2006. He is missed, but his legacy lives on.

After Brother Skousen passed away I decided to take on organizing a new study group and invited those who formerly attended the meeting at Skousen's home. The meetings included weekly study groups and a monthly speakers bureau. As a result of organizing these monthly lectures my knowledge increased and I got to meet and associate with others who, like Brother Skousen, are very knowledgeable. These were people such as Steve Jones, Jack Monnett, Scott Bradley, Hans V. Andersen Jr., Ken Bowers, and others.

I took a break from organizing events for a while (until just recently) but continued with my website LatterdayConservative.com and also have created other websites throughout these months and years.

In every aspect of life there are truths waiting to be found. Some things are true whether we believe them or not; it's up to us to find them, and live them.

[kathyn]

Wow, what a privilege to have spent so much time with Cleon Skousen! Thank you for sharing that with us.

[Robin Hood]

Brian, what is your opinion of Joel Skousen?

[creator]

I like Joel Skousen. My experiences communicating with him over the years have been positive. I think he has some good insights but, as with anyone, I don't necessarily agree 100% on everything.

[InfoWarrior82]

Thanks for turning my account back on.

[Macruspaul]

Hey i am Macrus , new here from US

[petertaylorpedro]

I like Joel Skousen. My experiences communicating with him over the years have been positive. I think he has some good insights but, as with anyone, I don't necessarily agree 100% on everything.

Good to see you at the Skousen event tonight. I Was bummed it was too full, so my wife and I bounced. I first saw Joel on Infowars, and have always loved his insights and analysis. I look forward to a recording of the event. Epic times we live in. Thx Brian!

[creator]

Good to see you and a few others from LDSFF. The recording is available now. See this thread >>>

[Baysimove]

Hey Brian! Welcome. Great intro. Nice to have you. Happy holidays!