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"I'll
be what you want me to be, dear Lord" Suzanne Jensen has always been obedient and cheerful, happy to let her husband,
James, and the leaders of the Mormon Church rule over her. When it became necessary, though, for her to go back
to school in order to get a teaching certificate so she could help out with the finances needed to raise their four sons and
to support James' dream of living out in the sticks, she found herself in an environment where people couldn't tolerate
the idea of obedience and she began the slow process of learning to question, learning to doubt and learning to trust her
own instincts concerning the men who were leading the church.
She finished her schooling and got a teaching job in rural, central Utah and just as the family was settling into
their new life, Ezra Taft Benson, the prophet of God, held a churchwide fireside for the Mothers in Zion. "Mothers Go
Home!" he said. "Be at the crossroads! Get out of the workplace!" He got a revelation from Heavenly Father and it
seemed to be directed right at Suzanne. Right here is where things became black and white for her. Either this man is
a prophet speaking the mind and the will of God the Father and if that is true, I will certainly obey without
question. I will not begin a teaching career. I will stay home, if that is what is required of me. What other
choice is there? If he is a prophet of god I'd be a fool to ignore this message.
On the
other hand, he might not be a prophet, which would mean that he has no right telling me how to run my life and if he isn't
a prophet of God, then whole the Church must be a crock of shit and Suzanne didn't want to have a
thing to do with it.
After
almost two years of prayer and fasting and serious scripture study, Sister Jensen decided to withdraw from the hope that
blessings will come from obedience. She and James and all the boys dove bravely into the uncharted waters of life
as a non-Mormon. The church, the entire community, friends, both sides of the family all turned their backs on
the Jensens so they moved to Layton, Utah and Suzanne had her name changed to Alexis Woolfe. She's been excommunicated
and her name has been stricken from the records of the church.
This
is her story. No longer obedient, but outspoken and unafraid, now, to speak her truth, she rocks the boat of
complacency, manifesting her passionate rage in simple, bold and straightforward language. This book is raw and real. Bow
Your Head and Say Yes the courageous story of one woman's journey back to herself.
If you would like a copy of Bow Your Head and Say Yes please
send a check or money order for $14.00 made payaable to
Alexis Woolfe
PO Box
Portland, OR 97232
$10.00 for the book and $4.00 for shipping and handling.
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