In my years of public involvement in our nation’s political discourse, I have published hundreds of pages of material, including three books, over one hundred online articles, and about a decade’s worth of social media updates equaling hundreds of thousands of words of commentary on my public pages and groups. I’ve been very outspoken as I’ve shared my views on a wide range of topics. Recently, however, I realized that I have never taken the time to properly introduce myself as a person to my audience. Out of respect to those people who have faithfully supported me all these years, I take this opportunity to share a personal sketch of my life that I hope will not be too tedious and unexciting.

My full name is Zackary Adam Strong. I was born to wonderful parents on July 17, 1987 in Boise, Idaho. I was the first of five children to enter my parents’ humble home. I and my parents, three sisters, and brother moved a lot as my Dad, a phenomenal history teacher and first-rate coach, took new job opportunities as they arose in a myriad of states. In fact, in my thirty-two years of life on this planet, I have lived in thirty-five different houses located in seven U.S. states (including Alaska and Hawaii) and three countries (the United States, Russia, and Panama).

My Dad holding little 6 lb. 13 oz. me in a baseball mitt

Many people would no doubt hate moving as frequently as I have. To be sure, packing, unpacking, and hauling your belongings around is not a fun activity. And answering the questions “Where are you from?” or “Where is your home town?” has also been challenging. The longest I have ever lived consecutively in one location is five years. About twelve of my years I’ve given to the great state of Idaho. If anywhere can be considered my home, it is Idaho.

Despite the sometimes topsy-turvy nature of relocating, I’m grateful for the experience of seeing so many varying parts of our beautiful country and world. I cannot imagine living an entire life in one house, one town, or even one state. There is so much more of God’s beautiful earth to experience.

The most wonderful and inspired move my family made occurred when I turned 14. We moved from Twin Falls, Idaho to Port Lions, Alaska. For a number of months, my parents had considered jobs in Alaska. On one occasion, my Dad was offered a job in a village near the Bering Sea. We held a family council and took a vote. Unanimously, we voted no. Later, when a job became available in Port Lions, we held another family council and the vote unanimously favored moving. It just felt right.

Alaska is, hands down, my favorite place I’ve lived and part of my heart will always beat for the Last Frontier. I grew to love the peace and quiet of our little Native fishing village more than I can express. As I recently said in my article “Our Majestic World,” you cannot purchase peace and quiet. You cannot find this peace in the cities. Our modern world does not offer it. Only when you leave behind the concrete jungles and approach nature and rural settings can you truly find peace and quiet and the beauty of nature.

Living in Alaska changed my life. In hindsight, I do not know if I would have survived high school in a big school with its toxic environment, herd mentality, and moral laxity. Thankfully, the Lord had different plans for me and my family. I like to tell people that I was the valedictorian of my 2005 graduating class – my graduating class of five people. Our little school in Port Lions had 42 students K-12. I enjoyed the 19-person high school. And I loved having my Dad as my history teacher. Without prejudice, I can honestly say that he was the best teacher I ever had. What sets him apart from most other teachers is that he cares about students on a personal level and gets to know them as individuals. He takes a sincere interest in their life and loves helping people and giving service. Port Lions, Alaska was certainly the right place to get to know people on an intimate level.

My family is very close-knit. We’ve always loved each other, but our relationships were solidified and fortified in Alaska in ways that would have likely been impossible elsewhere. Because of the smallness of our little village (we had five miles of unpaved road, no stores, no theaters, no banks, no hospitals, and no way in or out except by boat or plane), we spent a lot of time together. When my brother was old enough to attend school, my Mom began working as a school aide. From that time on, we all saw each other in the morning, at school, and at home in the evening.

As close as we became during the week, Sunday was our biggest bonding day. We are all active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, we were the only members of the Church in our 200-person village. With permission from the leadership of our nearest congregation, we held Church meetings in our home for three hours every Sunday. We even had youth programs and devotionals. In my Church, small congregations are called branches. Yet, we were not even a branch; we were a twig! It was a unique learning experience that solidified our closeness as a family unit. I thank my Heavenly Father for the opportunity of living in Alaska!

During my public school years, I played seven different sports. My favorite was basketball. In Alaska, I also had the opportunity to play mixed-six volleyball; that is, coed volleyball. I was one of our team captains. We were very successful each year, even winning the state championship in my junior year. I also managed to make it to the state cross-country meet in my senior year. Though getting sick and nearly collapsing during the muddy race, I finished about midway in the pack (helpful hint: Don’t eat an entire bag of beef jerky right before running, even if it is your favorite food on the planet).

I relished the Alaskan outdoors. The mountains, forests, and ocean were truly beyond belief. I never took it for granted, even if the frequent rain and months of snow at times grew tiresome. I loved seeing the bald eagles swoop through the air, the Kodiak Brown Bears lumber through the woods (even if they once stole my basket of berries), the sea otters, jellyfish, and killer whales swim in the ocean, the Northern Lights shimmer in the night sky, or the tide rise and recede underneath the wooden causeway spanning a small bay near the town. Picturesque is too weak a term.

The Sitka Blacktail Deer so prevalent on Kodiak Island also taught me how to hunt. Contrary to what many city dwellers think, hunters have a deep respect for animal life. More so, I believe, than environmentalists who repeat nice slogans but don’t know the first thing about nature – or about where their food comes from. Days spent alone with my Dad hiking and hunting in the mountains of Alaska and Idaho supply me with many fond memories and learning experiences. And I’m also not a bad shot with a rifle. Communists beware. You’ll only take my guns after I give you my bullets one at a time.

After graduating high school in May of ‘05, I attended my first year of college at the University of Alaska – Anchorage. Nothing eventful happened there, but I did write a lot of songs and became much better on the guitar I had begun learning to play in high school. Since that time, I’ve written and demoed a host of songs. I hope one day to polish them off and release them, though my wife seems to think my voice would be considered a weapon of mass destruction to people’s ears.

As I said, nothing eventful happened in my first year of college. However, I did have one experience that foreshadowed one of the most incredible adventures of my life. Late one night, while contemplating which classes to register for during my second semester, I had an overwhelming spiritual impression to take the Russian language. Though I was familiar with Russian history – particularly the bloody history of communism – and was surrounded by Russian influences on Kodiak Island (the first location settled by Russian explorers in Alaska), it had never occurred to me to learn the language. Yet, in that moment of time, I was absolutely sure I needed to take Russian. So I did. Seven months later, I held a paper in my hand from my Church calling me to serve a two-year proselytizing mission to Moscow, Russia. Coincidence? No. Providence? Yes.

My 2006-2008 mission to Russia was a time of growth, challenge, trial, exploration, and learning. I cannot say that I was a very successful missionary (though a handful of people I helped locate or teach eventually joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), but I worked hard and I grew in numerous ways. Two years serving a mission for the Lord teaches you more than four years in any university. I not only learned to speak Russian proficiently, but I learned much about a very unique nation and culture and was also able to visit the Ukraine and Lithuania.

The knowledge I gained about Russia did not come from books and I did not spend my time living in international enclaves or visiting tourist centers. Rather, I spent every day on the streets and in people’s homes talking with average folks and learning about their families and beliefs. I also spent time in a jail and looking down the barrel of machine guns on more than one occasion because communist religious oppression is still alive in Putin’s Russia. Yet, all of these experiences, and others too personal to share here, confirmed my lifelong belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. I know without one shadow of doubt that God lives, that He hears and answers prayers (often in very immediate and palpable ways), and that He loves us.

After my mission, I briefly returned to Alaska before venturing down to Utah to work. While there, I applied to several universities and was accepted to Brigham Young University – Hawaii in 2010. Just before heading to Laie, Hawaii, I visited my parents in Alaska again. While there, I feverishly wrote a novel I had started writing the year previous. After three months of tireless effort and sleepless nights, I typed “The End,” did a terrible cartwheel upon exiting my room, and ate my Mom’s delicious homemade doughnut holes to celebrate. Sadly, nine years later, I have yet to publish this novel because I’m still tweaking and editing its contents. Tymorius, my main character, deserves to have his story told properly no matter how long it takes.

In 2010, I began studying at BYU-Hawaii. Almost immediately, I met and started dating a beautiful young lady. In 2011, we were married. I thoroughly enjoyed most of our time together. Tragically, the relationship ended in 2014 and we were divorced the following year, leaving my life in something of a shambles. Out of respect, I will not say anything more about her or our time together. Yet, throughout those years I grew a lot and had some interesting experiences.

During that time, for instance, I moved back to Utah and became formally involved with the Independent American Party – a political third party founded in the 1990s. I had joined the IAP via their website around the year 2002, but did not begin actively talking with other members until about 2009 or 2010. Sometime later, I was made a member of the IAP’s National Executive Committee and was appointed the party’s Issues Committee Coordinator. I spearheaded the writing of our “Freedom Declaration” and began routinely publishing articles through the IAP’s website. From approximately 2012-2015, I published 54 articles for the IAP on a host of topics. A few of them are still available, though most were lost when the party changed web hosts a couple years back.

Visit independentamericanparty.org for more about the IAP

In 2014, the Independent American Party asked me to run for the U.S. House of Representatives out of Utah’s 3^rd district. I accepted the offer. Unfortunately, at the height of the campaign, my marriage dissolved and I became depressed, quit my job, and moved to Idaho. Perhaps it did not affect the election outcome too drastically considering that the state of Utah, in violation of state law, barred all third party and independent candidates from participating in the debates that year. I have the official letter to prove it.

However, I did have the honor of speaking at a “meet the candidates” event in Heber City. Though it will sound highly immodest, I stole the show. I enjoy public speaking and consider myself a worthy teacher. That night, my comments received the loudest applause and the biggest crowd reactions. I spoke of the police state we live in, quoted from my pocket Constitution, appealed to the wisdom of the Founding Fathers, advocated for religion and morality in public policy, and diverged from the other candidates on nearly every issue. During the event, a Republican candidate sitting next to me began deferring to my answers. At one point, he leaned over and whispered, “I’m voting for you!” That November, I came in third in the election, with 3,192 people supporting me – and all this without a fair opportunity to attend the debates and with no funds to run a normal advertisement campaign.

Back in Idaho, I again lived with my parents and my brother who was then in high school. I had graduated and moved away to college when my brother was about six-years-old, so being back home – despite the awful circumstances – was a fantastic opportunity to become acquainted and become true brothers-in-arms. I also started working at my Dad’s school in various capacities. Over the past five years, I have worked as a substitute teacher, assistant coach, dishwasher and cafeteria worker, janitor, test proctor, chaperone, classroom aide, and bus aide. I even helped create a couple haunted houses for the school’s Halloween Harvest Carnival.

Though I have made it my work to speak out against occultism, Satanism, Wicca, paganism, and all forms of spiritual darkness, I confess that I love Halloween! I even run a Facebook page called “Samhain and Yule – Facts and Fun.” Sometimes people who follow my work are shocked when they learn about this hobby of mine. A few have even unfriended, blocked, or cussed me out on Facebook. After all, isn’t Halloween a pagan holiday? In the future, I intend to publish a book that I’m slowly compiling on the true origins and development of Samhain, or Halloween. Until then, we will just have to agree that if you can celebrate the pagan holidays of Christmas (Yule) and Easter, I can celebrate the pagan holiday Halloween.

The Halloween mask I created and sewed together in 2016

Holidays are big in my family. Some of my best memories revolve around Christmas, Halloween, Independence Day, Easter, and Thanksgiving. I enjoy nothing more than carefree fun spent with my family – and holidays hand us that opportunity on a silver platter. Whether it is waking up at 5 A.M. to spy our presents under the Christmas tree, carving Jack-O-Lanterns, shooting off fireworks, hunting for clues to a hidden prize left by the Easter Bunny, or gorging on turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffed mushrooms, holiday traditions are part and parcel of my life.

Storytelling and reading are also essential features of my life. Like my hero, Thomas Jefferson, “I cannot live without books.” I was weened as a child on my Dad’s intricate stories. On car trips, at nights, or whenever, my Dad invented characters and fun tales for me and my siblings to enjoy. I also read books on numerous topics ranging from the Titanic to World War II to the War for Independence to dinosaurs. I strongly loved checking out books about astronomy or dinosaurs on the bookmobile that serviced our neighborhood in Green River, Wyoming.

Later, as a teenager, I became enchanted with J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. I have since read the books in Russian as well as numerous times in English. While some wrongly believe the story is little more than an occult initiation, I love the series’ central message – that good will always triumph over evil, that love is more powerful than hatred, and that qualities like sincerity and friendship are to be valued more than position and wealth.

I trace my love of writing directly to my love of Harry Potter. I consider Harry Potter the greatest book series ever produced and Albus Dumbledore is my favorite literary character (I’m also a certified Slytherin on Pottermore, if anyone is curious. And my patronus is a magpie). It was that magical tale which so thoroughly inspired me that characters, storylines, and worlds of my own creation began inhabiting my thoughts. These characters have become my friends and confidants. When the time is right, I will share some of them, and their unique adventures, with you.

The most important thing I learned to read in my parents’ home, however, was the Holy Scriptures. Each night, my Dad called our family together and we read a chapter from The Book of Mormon, the Bible, or another book of scripture and ended the day with a prayer. Each week we also had a Family Home Evening where we gathered, sang hymns or songs, read scriptures, had a spiritual lesson, played games, ate sugary treats, and enjoyed the time together. These habits of daily prayer, scripture study, and Christian worship so carefully cultivated by my Mom and Dad have likely shaped my life more than any others. It is these very habits that I plan to pass on to my future children.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the guiding light of my life. I love the Lord and the teachings of the holy prophets, both past and present. I have attempted to share my testimony of the truth as a missionary, on social media, in my writings, and with my friends. I encourage people to come to Christ, to learn of Him, and to have faith in His redemptive power. I also encourage all who have not done so to investigate The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Read The Book of Mormon, which is another witness for Christ that supports the Bible’s declaration of His divinity. Pray to the Father and ask Him, in the name of the Lord, whether The Book of Mormon is from Him. I testify that it is and that it confirms that Jesus is the Christ. Have the courage to follow the promptings you receive from the Holy Spirit and come to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and add even more knowledge about the Savior to that knowledge which you already have. I promise that it will bless your life and strengthen your understanding of life, your dedication to goodness, and your family.

Among other things, the Gospel of Jesus Christ has informed my political views more than any other source. Part of my religious creed is that the U.S. Constitution was inspired by God. He worked through the Founding Fathers, who were wise and honorable men, to create that document and establish America as the first free nation in modern times. His hand was directly and powerfully involved in the founding of this Republic. His eternal law was the source from which our Founding Fathers drew their inspiration. His principles are enshrined in the supreme law of our land. America is His base of operations in these last days before His return.

Some of the men that God used to establish this nation were my descendants. Among others, I am distantly related to Caleb Strong. Caleb Strong was an associate of John Adams, served in important positions during the Revolution, was a member of the Constitutional Convention, was elected as one of Massachusetts’ first senators, and served as the governor of that great state for 12 years. All throughout my family history are individuals of piety and purpose who left their mark on this and other nations. I seek to honor them by doing my best to carry forward their heritage of patriotism and devotion to God.

The doctrine of my Church also forewarns of a global Satanic conspiracy that “seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries” (Ether 8:25). We are commanded by the Lord to “awake to a sense of [our] awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among [us]” (Ether 8:24). Modern prophets have identified this “secret combination,” or conspiracy, as the communist conspiracy with its goal of world revolution. Those same prophet-leaders have identified this conspiracy as the “greatest satanical threat” to the Church and to mankind. It was not mere coincidence that I chose to write my first two books, A Century of Red and Red Gadiantons, on the communist conspiracy. I did so because I have sworn to fight this archenemy of humanity wherever it raises its ugly head.

The communist conspiracy is feverishly working to subvert our society. You can see it everywhere you look. Communism has never been more powerful and prevalent than it is today. The main reason people do not grasp this fact, however, is that the cabal rarely uses the name “communist.” Instead, it works through front movements like feminism, environmentalism, LGBT, “Islamic” terrorism, democracy and democratic movements, and progressivism. The communists have our culture pinned in a corner and are closing in for the kill. In order to defeat their cultural assaults, we must reenthrone our Faith, Families, and Freedom. We must adopt the Christian constitutionalism of our forefathers. And we must repent, turn to Christ, and become an upright and moral People.

Perhaps I will close on a more optimistic note. About three years ago, I began dating again. In 2017, I met a happy, faithful, and gorgeous girl named Emma. After two years of interesting courtship, we were married in Panama City, Panama on April 12, 2019. I’m thrilled to be married once more and I’m excited for the day when I will be a father. After God, family means everything to me. My three loyalties are to my Faith, my Family, and my Freedom. I have given much of my short life to teaching the principles of Liberty and to countering and exposing their enemies. I am committed to spending the rest of my life in God’s service, in my family’s service, and in the service of my blessed country.

I am so grateful to have been born in the greatest nation on God’s earth, in one of the best states in that nation, and in a truly wonderful family with parents who taught me the true Gospel of my Savior Jesus Christ. I love the Lord, I love my family and my wife, and I love the Freedom I enjoy in such abundance here in the United States. I trust that for years to come I will be able to fight the battles that need to be fought and help provide you with sufficient information and inspiration along the way so that you can assist in this colossal struggle. May we stand shoulder to shoulder through the dark days ahead and faithfully do our duty until the Lord returns to formally end the war that He has already won. We’re on the victorious side, ladies and gentlemen. We merely need to hold on until the buzzer sounds. That is the sure testimony and personal witness I leave with you. The ultimate victory is ours.

Zack Strong,

July 16, 2019.