No More Strangers and Foreigners

The Melding of Cultures Against the Backdrop of Deep Religious Faith

By: John A. Gonzalez

Narrated by: Joel Richards

Eager to escape the arm of the law, Franklin Spencer moves his family from Utah to Mexico to build an Anglo outpost in the Chihuahuan desert. It is the close of the 19th century when Mexico needs unflappable men like Franklin to civilize the arid borderlands. And the country is willing to ignore his peculiarities in trade for his hard work and industry.

Franklin is a wanted man living under an alias, and, more curiously, he has three wives. No More Strangers and Foreigners is a true story of polygamy lived in the open - not the sordid brand of the 21st-century polygamy with its child brides and forced marriages, but the saga of ordinary love and extraordinary lives. In a chain of polygamist colonies south of the Texas border, founded by fellow Mormons (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), the Spencers immerse themselves in the culture of their adopted land. Andres Gonzalez marries into the Spencer family and its faith and becomes the first native Mexican missionary from the church known for its worldwide reach. Threatened by a firing squad during the Mexican Revolution, Andres cheats death by demanding an audience with the Mexican president to preach the gospel. The revolution eventually transforms the polygamist colonies from a quiet refuge of religious tolerance to a violent no-man’s land upended by Pancho Villa. As the dust of war settles, many of the colonists will return to the United States, happy to leave their social experiment behind. But the Spencers, by now committed Mexicans, will remain to finish the job they started. Using the words of the people who lived it, Franklin’s great grandson John Gonzalez weaves a tale of racial prejudice, intermarriage, assimilation, and the spread of a uniquely American frontier religion.

©2018 John A. Gonzalez (P)2021 John A. Gonzalez

P0henomenal History

The weaving together of family history, secular history, and church history was magical. I loved the book and the characters in the book. A great read for anyone who enjoys history.

Great story, well written and performed!

This book tells the story of a faithful Ladder Day Saint family through multiple generations and details their experience practicing polygamy in Utah and the “Mormon colonies." The details of their run-ins with Pancho Villa and others are fascinating and give the story a bit of adrenaline. The writing is crisp and accessible. The stories are well-researched. If you have any interest in this period of church history- this is a wonderful read/listen!