We met with some LeBaron brothers and were welcomed with open arms. We were shown their beautiful houses, wives (yes they still live polygamy), and their kids. They treated us to a delicious breakfast at the house and I was able to see their mother Lucy LeBaron, who was one of the first people I had met when we moved to LeBaron. Today she wasn’t doing so well so we had come in the nick of time for me to see her one last time. It was great to see her and her family, and once again we were welcomed with open arms. I have fond memories of Lucy.

I met a younger sister that I had only met once prior and she also welcomed me with open arms as if she knew me forever. Something about sharing the same father gave us an instant connection.

She gave us a tour of how the town has changed. Isn’t my sister beautiful? Also look at the view of her new farm. What a fantastic sight.

First, we visited the church, Joels church, The Church of the Firstborn the Fullness of Times.

  I helped build the old section of this building. This corner is part of it. I spent many hours stomping mud and straw to build the outer walls. 

This is Joel LeBaron– the founder of The Church of the First Born the Fullness of Times

Alma Dayer LeBaron was the father of the famous Joel and Ervil LeBaron was the founder of Colonia LeBaron they have this memorial in the corner of the church.

Inside the LeBaron church

Next, we stopped at Charlotte LeBaron’s house to visit. She was so excited to see us. She instantly pegged my boys as relatives. My oldest looking much like my Daddy and my younger son looks exactly like my ex-husband.

 Charlotte LeBaron is the author of Mauds Story, The Lebaron story, The martyrdom of Joel F. LeBaron and many others. You can check out one of her many books to learn more about the LeBarons on Amazon.

We were able to spend some more time with Charlotte when she took us to lunch at a delicious little LeBaron Restaurant, one of the two restaurants in the town. We ran into others that I knew. It’s not often that new faces are in this little town so when we walked in a group of ladies were eating and they instantly recognized my boys as Tippetts and a Babbitt (my daddy and my ex-husband)

It was so neat spending time with Charlotte. She is still just as happy and positive as ever.

 We got a tour of LeBaron and later that night received free dinner as the hotel owner recognized the Babbitt boys and thought they had returned to fulfill a prophecy.

How does one describe the feeling of coming to a place that originally had so much fear and unknown? To a town, I helped pioneer. It was a rough life yet mingled with good memories and good people, and yet when I had left this town at the end it was with fear for my life. Sweet moments with fear. How does one describe this?

This visit was nothing but sweet! Day one ended with a peaceful feeling of reuniting with people I struggled with and have endured many life challenges together.

Read more about our trip