A recent fire begun accidentally by National Guardsman at Camp Williams in Utah ranged out of control and burned some homes in Herriman as well as scorched some lands. Reputedly the Herriman Rose Canyon Stake leaders wrote an emailed letter on Sunday, September 26 cautioning members not to file fraudulent claims and suggested they had discovered such reports coming from Church members. This is reported by The Salt Lake Tribune and echoed in KSL the Church's television station.
A letter from three Herriman Rose Canyon Stake leaders dated Sunday and addressed to members says, “a few members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are sullying their own good name and the name of the church by such dishonest actions.”
“We are saddened by several reports coming to us of some of our members taking advantage of the willingness of the Utah National Guard to reimburse cleanup or damage expenses ... ,” the e-mailed letter begins. “It is reported that some members are filing fraudulent claims by exaggerating the amount of damage, cleaning expenses or expenses incurred while living away from home.
But the letter also tells members: “Remember the next time you sit with a member of your bishopric or stake presidency in an interview for renewal of your temple recommend, you will want to be able to sincerely answer the question, ‘Are you honest in your dealings with your fellow men?’”
The article suggests that some people are rationalizing their dishonesty:
“Others have expressed the opinion that, ‘I deserve as much as I can get, because they caused all this!’
No one needs me to argue against such obviously dishonest actions. I'll merely borrow a quote from Heber J. Grant:
God pity the men whose consciences have become so elastic.



Continue reading at the original source →