The UEP is Tithing to the FLDS

"The Lord has so arranged it that the people must be tried. He says, "My people shall be a tried people." There is not a person that tries to apply to his life the fullness of the Everlasting Gospel that doesn't have to be tried. If they are not tried one way, they will be tried another. It is the trials that come along our way that makes us grow. The great trial the Prophet Joseph was put through -- I don't know of any other man in Zion's Camp [who] was tried more than Joseph himself, because he was the leader of the people. The actions of the people tried him. It was through the trials he passed through that he gained the favor of the Lord.

"We have experiences every day that show to us that people are being tried in their feelings. I have a man in mind that has visited me from time to time over a period of several years, and every few days he calls me on the telephone and tells me what a wonderful man I am, what a wonderful spirit I have, and how he is built up by just hearing my voice over the telephone. He came to my home the other day and spent one hour and a half or more conversing on the principles of salvation. In all this time he has never paid any tithing at all, that I know of, and he acknowledges it to me. But he said, "Brother Johnson, what can I do? How shall I start to bring myself in line with the Priesthood that you have?" He says, "I know that you hold the keys of the Everlasting Priesthood; now how can I start to get in line?" I said, "Brother, the first thing that you should do would be to commence to support that Priesthood, support it with your tithes and your offerings." He said, "I guess that is right. I guess that is my stumbling block, is to place my tithing where it belongs." He left me with the determination by his looks, anyway, that he would immediately begin to support this work. But I haven't heard anything from him for several days.

"We have had these experiences before. Some men support this work because they feel like when they support it they are laying away money that they can draw back sometime with interest. I had one man tell me that came to my office and said, "Brother Johnson, how much tithing have I paid the last two years? I have been supporting this work for two years. I would like to know just how much I have paid in." I said, "It would be impossible for me to give you a correct account of what you paid in because you paid some to me and some to President Hammon, and a great deal of your tithing has gone to Brother Musser. So I don't have all the record at hand. If you give me a little time, I might be able to give you the account." "Well," he says, "the reason I want to know, I am in a little bind right now and I thought maybe I could figure up the interest on that, and I could borrow it back and get me out of this bind." I said, "Brother, in the first place, this is not a financial institution, a place where you put your money on interest." I said, "When you give your tithing to the Priesthood, you give it to the Lord. You don't give it to the Priesthood, you give it to the Lord, and the Priesthood uses it wherever needed. There is no such thing as interest in this work on your money; or there is no provision made for you to draw back your money. When you place it here, it is a voluntary donation. Therefore, there will be no compensation made upon any such terms." He said, "Brother Johnson, you have hit me with a sledgehammer between the eyes. I thought I was placing my money in a safe place where I could draw it back any time I wanted to." From that time to this he has never paid anymore tithing. I didn't have the money to give it back, so I didn't make any restitution.

"Another man came and gave me a check and said, "Brother Johnson, I know that this is the Priesthood of God. I know that we should support it. Here is a check for half my tithing." He said, "The other half I gave to the Church, so that if the time comes that I find you people are not right, I will have something to fall back on in the Church." I don't know how much tithing this man had paid. I know I hadn't received any. But that is about the amount of faith some of our people have. In some instances we have a great call upon the Priesthood for the return of money. If there are any in our midst who feel like their money is being placed at the hands of the Priesthood with the expectation that they can draw it out any time they wish or desire, they better change their faith quickly, because this money is being used for the building up and establishing the Kingdom of God, for no other purpose.

"The things that have been told us this afternoon are true and faithful, and if we will apply them to our lives, the Lord will bless and reward us and pay us for our faith and our support. The Lord is very mindful of our situation. Plans have been made in the minds of some people to take away from us our rights upon this land upon which we live. But the Lord has protected us thus far, and I hope He will continue to bless us and overrule for the good of our people. In the first place, we came to this place under the direction of the leaders of this work, under the leadership of President Barlow and President Musser and the rest of the Council at that time. When they met in council to decide upon a place for the gathering of the saints who were in dire need of homes, a place to live where they could live their religion under the protection of the Spirit of God, places in Idaho were considered, in Oregon, in California, and other places. But they decided upon this place here. They came here and blessed the land. A great blessing was pronounced upon it. When they were questioned as to when they would obtain these blessings, they were told, "When the people become united."

"No one here knows the fertility of this soil or how extensive it is, and they won't know until the Spirit of God rests upon this place in abundance. I know that this land is a choice land. It is the most choice at the present time upon this whole continent in the sight of God. He is trying to prepare a people to redeem it from the curse that is upon it. This whole continent is cursed because of the disobedience of the people. But the Lord has said that it would become a choice land unto a people who would keep His commandments, who would apply to their lives the Celestial Law. So great is the desire of our Father in heaven that a people be prepared, that He has caused that the Prophets throughout the history of time have prophesied of a Millennial reign of a thousand years upon this continent, this land."
(Our Prophet Leroy S Johnson 11-15-1964)