Illegitimate Women's Council Explained (from outline 1.b.i.ii.iii.iv)

 This post will present evidence supporting paragraph (1.b.i.ii.iii.iv.) from the outline.

1. Attendance

      b.  Louis chose not to attend Council #2

1. Given the illegitimacy of the first council, there was little reason for Louis to believe a second one would be held in fairness when the same organizers were calling another council within weeks of the first. 

2. There was no opportunity given for Louis to resolve things privately.

3. In constituting the 2nd council, the organizers removed the only two women who voted to retain Louie’s priesthood certificate in the January 2024 council. 

4. It was also not his home fellowship

Invitation to Upcoming Women's Council #2

Without calling, texting, or spending time with Louis, Women’s Council #2 brought up additional ambiguous charges. They did not tell Louis what he did wrong, and there was no opportunity given for him to resolve things privately. They did not reinvite women from Council #1 who voted to retain his priesthood certificate. 

On April 25, 2024, our home fellowship challenged the claim that some other fellowship or group defines themself as Louie’s home fellowship. No group came forth claiming to be Louie’s home fellowship.

April 21, 2024 at 9:05 PM from Organizer #1 wrote: 

Louis, This email is to inform you that a Women’s Council will convene at 11 am on Sunday, April 28, 2024, to determine your ability to retain your priesthood certificate. 

You are invited to come speak on your behalf in person. The council will be held in Davis County, Utah. This is not a continuation of the previous Women’s Council which ended in January of 2024. 

This Council is being convened to consider new charges which are as follows: 

-Priestcraft 

-Deception 

-Abuse 

You may invite up to 3 witnesses to speak to your character. Anyone you bring to speak on your behalf will  be asked to address the Council first. After addressing the Council, they will be dismissed and expected to leave the premises. 

Strict Deadline: Please respect our time and the amount of preparation this entails by responding to this email no later than Thursday, April 25, 2024, midnight to confirm whether you will be in attendance and the number and names of your character witnesses who plan to attend.   

If you choose to appear, the address will be provided. If you do not RSVP by the deadline as stated above, the address will not be provided. 

You are responsible for providing your character witnesses the details, such as date, time, and address. Furthermore, your witnesses can only attend if you are present; they cannot come in your place.  

Be aware that only those people on your witness list or those who have been invited to participate in the council will be allowed entry.

Also, please note that the council will proceed as planned whether you attend or not. Lastly, the meeting will be recorded, and a complete transcript will be made of the proceedings. 

On Apr 22, 2024, at 4:11 PM, Louis responded to Organizer #1:

You are not a member of my home fellowship, neither are you someone who is acquainted with my daily walk, therefore I cannot recognize this “council” as legitimate.  

“...I have told you that to remove authority to use priesthood outside a man’s family requires a unanimous decision by twelve women. A council of twelve women must be convened, either in the man’s home fellowship among those who are acquainted with his daily walk, or in private at a general conference, also including among the twelve women from the conference those who are acquainted with his daily walk, so that no injustice results.” T&C 157:57

Per directions given by the Lord, I cannot participate. If you have any further concerns about my worthiness or behavior, please contact the women in my home fellowship. 

April 24, 2024 at 9:46 PM, to Louis from Organizer #1: 

Louis, Numerous people from your online home fellowship have called for this council, and will be participating as members or witnesses. That requirement of the Lord has been satisfied. 

Therefore, this council will take place whether you choose to attend or not. Additionally, as stated in the invitation, the proceedings will be recorded and a complete transcript will be made.

Thus, it behooves you to show up and register on the record your responses to the charges. Should you reconsider your decision, you have until midnight Thursday to inform us. If we receive no response by then, your opportunity to speak on your behalf will be permanently forfeited.

April 26, 2024, 8:02 a.m. from Online Fellowship Organizer to Jennifer & Women’s Council #1:

. . . Louis has come on and off since he first became aware of the Fellowship.  He has come once since October of last year(2023) [Jennifer and Louis briefly attended this online fellowship the same day as visitors] . . . Louis doesn't attend the tithing group in relation to our Fellowship . . .The online fellowship is an open forum . . . We have a list of contact people, but it doesn't mean it's their home . . .

Tuesday, April 30, 2024 5:21 PM from Jennifer Willis to Women’s Council #2:

You claim to know him? When’s the last time you even saw his face, let alone talked in depth with him in even the last two years . . . If any of you claim to be a member of Loui’s home fellowship, support your claim with evidence. Additionally, [with the exception of the UK women for approximately 6 weeks during the months Nov 2023 - Jan 2024, and the fiasco in the UK], have any of you so much as talked to Louis to ask him his part in this? Who among you claims to have a daily walk with Louis? Give us dates, circumstances, the essence of a conversation . . .

To Be Continued . . . 

*If you have an objection to what I have written. Please submit your evidence along with your first and last name.*

[emphasis added throughout]

Illegitimate Women's Council Explained (from outline 1.a.iv.v.)

 This post will present evidence supporting paragraph (1.a.iv.v.) from the outline.

1. Attendance

1. Louis requested to come to Women’s Council #1 but was not allowed. 

iv. The rules set by the council were fickle and unpredictable.

v.  The women knew Louis was out of the country and gave

     him less than 48 hours notice to meet their requirements.

Louis did not know what was witnessed against him, he was only able to discern generalities based on the questions he was asked to respond to. NEITHER Louis nor his wife were INVITED TO ATTEND the women’s council where two of their marital arguments were evaluated and judged.

Witnesses were to refrain from hearsay and keep their comments to incidents they personally witnessed. However, the major complaints of Council #1 could not have been observed by witnesses, as they both took place in a private bedroom.

• *First Event in Israel: 

• Louie’s wife reported a dispute in the couple’s private bedroom. 

• Another couple witnessed crabby words spoken between Louis and his wife throughout the trip. 

• *Second Event in UK: 

• An apparent dispute took place in the couple's private bedroom.

• Some of those traveling with Louis and his wife received a Whatsapp message and observed tension between the couple. 

*If other events were of concern, Louis was not made aware.

Friday, January 12, 2024, 9:37 am, to Louis from Organizer #1: First Notice of Upcoming Women’s Council.

Dear Louis,

With heavy hearts and after prayer and fasting we have determined that there is a need for a Women’s Council to consider your eligibility to retain your Priesthood Certificate . . . To determine your continued eligibility, the council will discuss your public actions As witnessed by at least two or more people, first in Israel in January 2023 and then in the UK in November 2023. The counsel from the Lord, as recorded in Teaching and Commandments 157:57 and 175:32, will be our guide for the Proceedings.

The council will be discussing several grave concerns that have been brought to

our attention connected with your behavior towards your wife, in both Israel, and the UK.

. . . Please respect the following guidelines when/if you respond with your answers to the questions that we, as a Council, have asked in this letter. 

1. Refrain from hearsay and he said/she said statements. 

2. Respond as briefly and succinctly as possible. 

3. We are willing to take your answers under review so long as you stick to facts and do not slander either your wife or the women of the Council.

4. We are not asking for the complete retelling of the incidents (since several of us on the council were there), but for any important additions and perspectives, you feel need to be added.

5. Please keep your comments to incidents that you have personally witnessed (feelings and beliefs are allowed)

Final Thoughts 

As mentioned above, we are using the Lord’s counsel recorded in T&C 157:57 as our guide. As you may or may not know, it does not have a provision for the accused to speak at or during a Women’s Council. The Lord left that up to the Women to decide whether to allow that or not. Because we decided against inviting you to speak during the upcoming meeting/proceedings, this letter is our attempt to hear your side/version of the events that were witnessed by multiple people in this movement . . .

Lastly, please note that [wife] was not invited to be on the Council, nor is she a witness. In fact, she was not asked to participate at all and did not submit a written or verbal statement. All the reports of the events described in this report come from multiple witnesses who were there and saw/heard things firsthand —none of which are [wife]. This was done to avoid multiple “he said/she said” scenarios where no other witnesses were present.

We ask that you reply by email on or before Saturday night, Jan 13th, at midnight US time, which is 7 am UK time on Sunday the 14th . We are aware that this is not much time to reply, and we appreciate any effort you make . . . [Less than 48 hours notice]

Organizers Expand Original Complaints & Change Deadlines

1st Change

There is another question and a new deadline.

Wednesday, January 17, 2024 at 9:16 am GMT+3 to Louis from Organizer #2

Louis, We met on Sunday as a Women's Council. We did not come to a decision. We called a recess and will meet again next Sunday, January 22 [Sunday is Jan 21, 2024]. This gives you an additional few days to respond. We hope you respond because the women of this council want to hear your account of things before making a decision. We did not receive your last email until 11:49 am our time last Sunday. This was after the recess had been called. 

During the council, the women voted on the best way to consider your testimony. The consensus was to extend a third invitation to you to please submit your response in writing. All of the other testimonies we have considered thus far have been in written form. Thus, allowing you to respond in writing is both fair and appropriate . . . [wife] is being offered the same opportunity to submit a written document before we reconvene next Sunday, which will be read to the council if she chooses to submit one.

As we explicitly asked in our letter to you dated Thursday, Jan 11, please conform to the guidelines listed there when writing your response, being mindful to answer the specific questions that are found in that letter, along with any feelings about those events that you would like to share. In addition to those questions listed in the letter of January 12, please answer one more . . . 

Lastly, because we are offering you (for a third time) the opportunity to answer these charges in your own words, we have set the deadline for us to receive your written/audio response as Thursday, January 18th at 12 Noon. [Less than 24 hours notice]

2nd Change

The council addressed two specific events that happened in Israel and the UK, but the new questions were not about what happened in Israel and the UK. There is also a new deadline.

Thursday, January 18, 2024 at 1:51 am GMT+3 to Louis from Organizer #1:

Lou, We have two additional questions we are inviting you to answer . . . Also, we have extended the deadline to receive any response from you to this Friday at 6 pm, US time . . . [Less than 48 hours notice]

Louis and his wife were not present at Council #1, but witnesses were invited to attend the majority of the time.

May 14, 2024 at 2:16 PM Angela O’Rullian [council member] in comment section:

Some of the procedures changed during the duration of the council without involving consensus of the members . . . Also, the majority of the procedural decisions during and after the council were made by the organizers and not by unanimous or consensus decisions of the whole group.

Furthermore, there was very little discovery process and much of the witness written testimonies contained many personal opinions and persuasive language. The witnesses were then asked to be in attendance, staying the majority of the time and offering their own persuasive arguments toward what the outcome should be . . . 

Note: Louis was traveling in Türkiye at the time. Many days he didn’t know where he was going to sleep and struggled to find his next night’s lodging, sometimes in dangerous territories, but all where he did not speak the language. He had an inconsistent internet connection, no computer, and communication was limited.

Wednesday, January 17, 10:56 PM Louis forwarded Jennifer the January 17, 2024 email from Organizer #2 along with this note: 

Haven’t even read this yet. 

Almost didn’t have a place to sleep last night as my internet went completely out. 

To Be Continued . . . 

*If you have an objection to what I have written. Please submit your evidence along with your first and last name.*

[emphasis added throughout]

Illegitimate Women's Council Explained (from outline 1.a.vi)

This post will present evidence supporting paragraph (1.a.vi) from the outline documenting Louie’s apologies. His efforts were minimized and ignored by the organizers of Women’s Council #1 who received the apologies as I will demonstrate below.

1. Attendance

1. Louis requested to come to Women’s Council #1 but was not allowed. 

vi. Louie’s apologies were minimized and ignored.

A marital dispute between Louis and his wife in the UK November 15-16, 2023 was apparently the catalyst for Women’s Council #1. 

The organizers of Women’s Council #1 did not acknowledge the apologies Louis sent in November 2023. It appears the organizers of Council #1 were asking Louis to explain his angry reaction to Organizer #1 after she scolded him for sending a message to a small group of friends. Below is an excerpt from the email Louis received informing him of the January 14, 2024 Women’s Council being held against him.

January 13, 2024 at 10:32:04 AM GMT+3 to Louis from Organizer #1:

 . . . why didn’t you retract your statements on the group thread and apologize for dragging everybody into it and upsetting them . . . you angrily confronted [husband of Organizer #1 and another man] in the gas station parking lot and made a big scene in front of everyone there. Why were you so enraged . . . 

Apology #1

Private text messages between Louis and his wife

Saturday, November 18, 2023, 10:19 a.m. text from wife to Louis:

I forgive you.

11:47 p.m. text from Louis to wife: 

I forgive you too. Be happy.

Apology #2

Text message to Organizer #1 and her husband

Friday, November 24, 2023, 10:41 pm from Louis to Organizer #1 and her husband:

Watching the end of my relationship with [wife] is, and was, very difficult for me; and it's still causing me considerable anguish. I sincerely apologize for my loss of control; she mattered to me, and I wanted it to work. 

When she informed me on our first night in Leeds that "God told [wife] I was divorced from you 3 years ago" it obviously put me into a tailspin. I'm still very emotional.

I apologize that left me yelling at you in the gas station parking lot. I honestly I had only slept for barely an hour, and was watching my marriage evaporate. But that's just context and explanation. There's no excuse. I was wrong and I apologize.

Sunday, November 26, 2023, 11:12 p.m. from husband of Organizer #1:

Hey Lou. Just saw this today on Whatsapp:

“I’ve already apologized to [Organizer #1 and her husband]”

We never got this.

Louis replied: 

I sent it to both of you. (Louis sent a screenshot of the Nov 24th apology he had previously sent to them.)

Apology #3

Whatsapp message to larger UK group

November 26, 2023, 10:49 a.m. from Louis to Whatsapp group thread which included the organizers of Council #1:

I’ve already apologized to [Organizer #1 and her husband]. If I owe anyone else on this thread an apology, please contact me on my US number and I’ll make it right.”

Louis asked and gave ample opportunity to reconcile this incident with those who were offended.

To Be Continued . . . 

*If you have an objection to what I have written. Please submit your evidence along with your first and last name.*