Austin Purvis

Austin-Purvis

I was born in 1978 in Oelwein, a small town in Northeast Iowa. My family attended the small RLDS church there, and my grandfather baptized me when I was eight years old. Soon after my baptism, doctrinal changes outside my family’s control invaded the church in Oelwein. My parents decided that it would be best…

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Chad Buttery

Chad Buttery Having been born and raised in Oklahoma, I grew up in a small community called Blackgum, a place that consists mostly of family and friends.  As a young boy growing up in the country, my childhood was spent much playing in the woods or with a fishing rod in my hands on the…

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S. Roger Tracy

Murder and suicide left me an orphan at the young age of six. The years immediately following found me following a willful path of self-destruction. But, by the hand of God and her great love for me, my grandmother had me baptized into the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when I…

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Steven C. Tims

I was born in 1955 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. My father, Harold (Bud) Tims, and mother, Jean LaVon (Vonnie), were both converts to the church. Through the ministry of Elder John Gorker and the love of the Bartlesville saints, my parents embraced the restored gospel and became dedicated, life-long members in Christ’s church in the early…

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Matthew W. Goodrich

I was born in Chillicothe, Missouri, on May 28, 1958, to Lee Roy and Karen Kay Goodrich. When I was one year old, my parents moved to downtown Kansas City and lived on the second floor of the Western Auto building. When I was two years old, we moved to the Los Angeles, California, area…

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William B. Baker

I was born and raised in Independence, Missouri. At eight years of age, I was baptized in the RLDS church. At fourteen, my family separated from the church following the troubles of 1984. Having no spiritual guidance outside of my home, I was quickly drawn to the pleasures of life. In 1993, I joined the…

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Rodney Walsh

Born of goodly parents and raised in the Rockford, Illinois, area, I was the youngest of six. My parents and family had emigrated from Canada several years before I was born. I was raised Presbyterian but had not been baptized into that faith. Church attendance was occasional, and, when given the chance, I “overslept” until…

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