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Bishop Vaughn J. Featherstone’s Experience with the Scriptures and the Savior

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Cross-posted from Truth Will Prevail

Cobbled together by Dennis B. Horne

            Note: In his earlier years, in some talks given in the 1970s, as a counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone referenced a marvelous spiritual experience he received. The below contains both published text and newly transcribed wording that was withheld for whatever reason (perhaps felt to be too sacred then), from the published version, that gives further insight into the experience. Links are provided so readers can listen to both of the talks at their convenience:

            Let me tell you the greatest experience I believe I have had in all my readings of the scriptures—and I am sharing something that is very tender with me. I remember the night that I read 3 Nephi the 17th chapter [3 Ne. 17]. That is when I discovered the Lord Jesus Christ, my Redeemer, the Lord of lords, the King of kings, my Savior, my personal Savior; and I believe that is where I finally found the description of the Savior as I thought him to be.

            He had been with the Nephite people all the day long, you will recall, and finally said: [Read more…] about Bishop Vaughn J. Featherstone’s Experience with the Scriptures and the Savior

Church Developments and Their Timescales

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I was recently thinking about some of the significant programmatic changes that have happened in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the last few years. People have evaluated them in various ways and labeled them a success or failure, but popular opinion often swings on short-term thinking. For example, when, in October 2012, President Monson announced changes in the age limits for full-time missions, some made the coupled assumptions that this would either result in a proportional increase in convert baptisms or it should be considered a failure. It did not lead to a large increase in convert baptisms and some considered it only on that basis; however, this hasty act of labeling ignores a foundational bad assumption as well as a host of secondary effects that potentially act on a much longer time scale and are interesting in their own right.

The problem started with faulty assumptions. The first of these is that those who convert are in some sense “caused” by missionaries rather than merely facilitated. It is rooted at least partly in the experiences of a past era in which people in the United States and other sociopolitically similar areas could be reached by door-to-door salesmen and, correspondingly, that an increase in the number of people engaged in these activities would result in a proportionate gain in initial interest, teaching, baptisms and so forth. This assumption of course ignores years of entreaties that finding is the duty of the members of the Church while teaching is the responsibility of the full-time missionaries and that we should cease praying only that the missionaries find the honest in heart but rather that we should instead pray to be able to open our own mouths to share the gospel and invite others to come unto Christ. The reality is then that the model upon which the assumption (that more missionaries would lead to proportionately more convert baptisms) was based was largely invalid and the members of the Church should realize that missionary finding only ever constitutes a modest portion of the the success of the Church’s missionary efforts. The reality is members letting their light shine, setting examples of good works in the world and sharing the gospel in their individual circumstances, combined with a certain number who find the Church of Jesus Christ through their own individual searching are together a far more stable and effective source of interest.

[Read more…] about Church Developments and Their Timescales

FairMormon Conference Podcast #22 – Daniel Peterson, “Apologetics: What, Why, and How”

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Podcast: Download (55.8MB)

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This episode is a presentation from our 2018 conference. (If you would like to watch the video of this and the other presentations from the 2018 conference, you can still purchase video streaming.)

Daniel Peterson, Apologetics: What, Why, and How

Transcript available here.

A native of southern California, Daniel C. Peterson received a bachelor’s degree in Greek and philosophy from Brigham Young University (BYU) and, after several years of study in Jerusalem and Cairo, earned his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Peterson is a professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic at BYU, where he has taught Arabic language and literature at all levels, Islamic philosophy, Islamic culture and civilization, Islamic religion, the Qur’an, the introductory and senior “capstone” courses for Middle Eastern Studies majors, and various other occasional specialized classes. He is the author of several books and numerous articles on Islamic and Latter-day Saint topics–including a biography entitled Muhammad: Prophet of God (Eerdmans, 2007)—and has lectured across the United States, in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, and at various Islamic universities in the Near East and Asia. He served in the Switzerland Zürich Mission (1972-1974), and, for approximately eight years, on the Gospel Doctrine writing committee for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also presided for a time as the bishop of a singles ward adjacent to Utah Valley University. Dr. Peterson is married to the former Deborah Stephens, of Lakewood, Colorado, and they are the parents of three sons.

Audio Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.

Responding to Abuse

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The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of peace and good will.  The healing of relationships is an important goal of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

The General Authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ do not condone abuse of any type.  General Conference talks over the last several decades have made clear that abuse is not the Lord’s way and is never acceptable for members in good standing [a search for “abuse” in the General Conference section of lds.org produces many talks which address this concern].

Before 1995, training provided to local leadership was less formalized, leaving local leaders to determine how to deal with offenders and how to counsel victims. Since that time, the governing handbooks have clarified the strong position of the church that protection of victims is a primary priority for local leadership.

In 1995, a Handbook* was published concerning this issue. In one of the sections, the stance of the Church against abuse was given teeth by instructing that abusers should not be given callings or have a temple recommend until they have repented. [Read more…] about Responding to Abuse

Book Review: We’ll Sing and We’ll Shout: The Life and Times of W. W. Phelps

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Available at a discount at the FairMormon Bookstore

William Wines Phelps (usually known as W. W. Phelps) is probably most often thought of in conjunction with some of the most beloved hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “Praise to the Man,” “The Spirit of God,” “Gently Raise the Sacred Strain,” and “If You Could Hie to Kolob” are just a few of the fifteen hymns that he wrote that appear in the current hymnal. But there was so much more to his life, and Bruce Van Orden, an emeritus professor of church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University, has been researching it for decades. This research was recently given a boost by the Joseph Smith Papers Project, which gave greater access to materials that Phelps was involved with.

There is little known about Phelps’s early life, or where and how he was educated, but he grew into a very intelligent and articulate man. He joined the Church in 1831 at age 39, and his talents were immediately put to use. He served in church leadership councils, including the Council of Fifty (it was he that coined the term “theodemocracy”); he was a writer, poet, and printer, and actually did more ghostwriting for Joseph Smith than was previously realized. He was also very much a family man, as well as a close friend of Joseph (again, moreso than has previously been understood). This book concentrates on these facets of his life.

[Read more…] about Book Review: We’ll Sing and We’ll Shout: The Life and Times of W. W. Phelps

FairMormon Questions: First Presidency Statement on Temples

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FairMormon has a service where questions can be submitted and they are answered by volunteers. If you have a question, you can submit it at http://www.fairmormon.org/contact. We will occasionally publish answers here for questions that are commonly asked, or are on topics that are receiving a lot of attention.

QUESTION:

The First Presidency recently issued a statement on temples. In it, they said “Prophets have taught that there will be no end to such adjustments as directed by the Lord to His servants.” I am wondering what prophet prior to this statement said this?

ANSWER:

Here are some relevant quotes:

On 4 May 1842, after President Joseph Smith gave the first Nauvoo-era endowment to a small group of Latter-day Saints, he told apostle Brigham Young that “this is not arranged perfectly; however we have done the best we could under the circumstances in which we are placed. I wish you to take this matter in hand: organize and systematize all these ceremonies.” (https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/joseph-smith-and-doctrinal-restoration/7-joseph-smith-and-restitution-all-things)

Joseph Fielding Smith noted that the “work of salvation for the dead came to the Prophet [Joseph Smith] like every other doctrine — piecemeal. It was not revealed all at once.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, volume 2, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols., (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954–56), 168.)

[Read more…] about FairMormon Questions: First Presidency Statement on Temples

FairMormon Conference Podcast #21 – Lisa Olsen Tait, “Takeaways from the Gospel Topics Essays”

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Podcast: Download (42.9MB)

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This episode is a presentation from our 2018 conference. (If you would like to watch the video of this and the other presentations from the 2018 conference, you can still purchase video streaming.)

Lisa Olsen Tait, Takeaways from the Gospel Topics Essays

Lisa Olsen Tait is a historian and writer specializing in women’s history at the Church History Library. She earned a PhD in American Literature and Women’s Studies from the University of Houston. Her dissertation and subsequent publications have focused primarily on gender and generational issues in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century Mormondom. Her long-term project is a biography of Susa Young Gates. Her work portfolio currently includes writing (with Kate Holbrook) a history of the Young Women’s organization and serving as a review editor for Saints, the new history of the church. Lisa serves as co-chair of the Mormon Women’s History Initiative Team (MWHIT), an independent group that promotes research and sharing of Mormon women’s history among scholars and in the community at large. Lisa has four children and two dogs and lives in Highland.

Audio Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.

Book Review: Faith is not Blind

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Available at a discount from the FairMormon Bookstore

Bruce C. Hafen was a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy until 2010 when he was given Emeritus status. Prior to that, he was a president of BYU-Idaho and dean of the BYU Law School. He also was recently the president of the St. George Temple. Marie K. Hafen, his wife, taught at BYU-Idaho, BYU, and the University of Utah, as well as serving on the Young Women General Board and on the Deseret News board of directors.

This book is an expansion of a talk they gave together at a BYU-Hawaii devotional on January 24, 2017, which was an updated version of a talk called “Love Is Not Blind: Some Thoughts for College Students on Faith and Ambiguity” at a BYU devotional on January 9, 1979. Since 1979, the Internet has of course come to be a new avenue for people to stumble across things that would destroy their faith, and much of the book focuses on that.

The Hafens suggest a three part model for understanding stages of belief that people might go through. First, is what they call “simplicity.” This is when people have an innocent faith and “tend to think in terms of black or white – there is very little gray in [their] perspective. And many youth and young single adults have a childlike optimism and loyalty that make them wonderfully teachable. They typically trust their teachers, believe what they read, and respond eagerly to invitations for Church service. New adult converts often have similar attitudes” (page 8). [Read more…] about Book Review: Faith is not Blind

The Temple 3: A Light to the World (The Church in the DR Congo: A Personal Perspective, Part 10)

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The DR Congo Kinshasa Temple Shining At Nightfall

In a presentation at the 2018 FairMormon Conference, I shared stories of some of the faithful Saints in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa) [1]. In this new series of presentations, I would like to speak from a more personal perspective, reflecting on the meaning of that experience for Kathleen and me, and pondering some of the dynamics of numerical and spiritual growth of the Church in that country.

The series is organized into eleven parts:

1. Prologue: What brought us to Africa?
2. Snapshot of the Church in the DR Congo
3. The missionaries
4. What attracts people to the Church?
5. Building from centers of strength 1 — Kisangani
6. Building from centers of strength 2 — Wagenya
7. Taking the Gospel to the “ends of the earth”
8. The temple 1: “Turning the hearts of the children”
9. The temple 2: “Holiness to the Lord”
10. The temple 3: A light to the world
11. “The labourers are few”

In this episode, I discuss why the temple is a light to the DR Congo — and to the world.

It was said anciently that God’s light filled the place of His presence in the heavenly temple. On earth, that light is symbolized by the Holy of Holies in the House of the Lord. In the symbolism of the temple, the Holy of Holies, corresponding to the celestial room of modern temples, is not only a place of light, but also the source of light for the entire universe.

Some may wonder, if temples are places of light, why the window openings of the Salt Lake Temple are relatively small and narrow, giving its exterior the appearance of thick battlements. As it turns out, there is a scriptural explanation for both the thick walls and the narrow windows. It seems clear that the purpose of the reversal in temples versusordinary homes in Old Testament times must have been meant to be symbolic rather than practical. Designing ancient temples that differ in obvious waysfrom buildings of ordinary construction would have allowedthe Israelites to reflect on why such an anomalous design was required.

After providing the context for these architectural features, we will describe what they specifically have to do with the DR Congo Kinshasa temple, and what counsel Elder David A. Bednar implored the Congolese Saints to remember during a visit to the temple site.

We conclude the episode by an impromptu version of “Jesus of Nazareth” by Elder Rafarahavotra of Madagascar.

[1]The video version of the entire FairMormon presentation is available on the FairMormon YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJl9FvLKmjw. The seven segments of this presentation, in an edited and somewhat expanded form, are available for reading at Meridian Magazine(www.ldsmag.com) and the website of The Interpreter Foundation(https://interpreterfoundation.org). For more articles and videos by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, see www.templethemes.org.

FairMormon Conference Podcast #20 – Brittany Chapman Nash, “An Act of Religious Conviction: Mormon Women and Nineteenth-Century Polygamy”

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Podcast: Download (92.8MB)

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This episode is a presentation from 2015. If you would like to watch the presentations from our most recent conference, you can still purchase video streaming.

Brittany Chapman Nash, An Act of Religious Conviction: Mormon Women and Nineteenth-Century Polygamy

Transcript available here.

Brittany A. Chapman Nash is a historian at the Church History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She received a BA in Humanities from Brigham Young University and an MA in Victorian Studies from the University of Leicester. She specializes in nineteenth-century Mormon women’s history and is co-editor with Richard E. Turley Jr. of the seven-volume Women of Faith in the Latter Days series, which features the life writings of Latter-day Saint women. She serves on the executive committee of the Mormon Women’s History Initiative Team (MWHIT). She and her husband, Peter Nash, live in Salt Lake City.

Audio and Video Copyright © 2015 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.