Apostolic reflections on the affliction of cancer

ELDER Neal A. Maxwell of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Quorum of the Twelve spoke candidly to the Deseret News about his cancer, in 1999, some 5 years before his passing in 2004.

And, contrary to what many people may suspect, he considered his cancerous disease to be more of a blessing than anything else.

Speaking at the annual National Cancer Survivors Day for Utah at Hogle Zoo on June 5, 1999, he said one of the blessings of cancer is that it can help a person sort out the big things from the little things in life.

Here's more of the original Deseret News interview:

"We have a different perspective, a sharper focus," he said about cancer patients. "I've been given by the Lord a delay en route."

Elder Maxwell, age 72 at the time, said hair is one of those things that doesn't seem as important after suffering from cancer. A loving conversation with your family, however, ends up seeming very critical.

He was diagnosed with leukemia three years ago. It was caught fairly early but was progressing very rapidly. He had multiple chemotherapies and ended up spending 46 days in the hospital.

Elder Maxwell was only able to work part time in his church duties until 10 months ago when he regained his strength and returned to full-time status.

"I feel much better now," he said.

He's still receiving some chemotherapy but remains very hopeful.

"Each of us faces an eventual exit route," he said of life.

Elder Maxwell said quite a number of general authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been stricken with cancer, including President Spencer W. Kimball, Elder Bruce R. McConkie and President Howard W. Hunter.

"There's no immunity from suffering," he said of church leaders. "Only variation from suffering. How we handle it is the key."

He's especially thankful for the special care his wife, Colleen, whom he describes as a "Florence Nightingale," provided him.

Elder Maxwell said leukemia also has given him a much greater appreciation of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Another blessing he made reference to from his illness was a better capacity to receive help from others.

"We must learn to receive," he said.

He said he also has a greater respect for the doctors and nurses who deal with cancer patients on a daily basis. He credited the advances of medical science for also helping more cancer patients recover.

"I'm wiser by the experience," he said.

The church leader advised cancer patients against wondering why me and why now? He urged patients not to allow tomorrow to overhang today and to continue to avoid self-pity.

He had told the organizers of the event that he wasn't looking for any special treatment or recognition there. He was just glad to attend such an event where special kinship can be felt.

"I draw from their fellowship," he said.

Indeed, he was not dressed in the usual suit and tie apparel of the general authority, but rather a jacket, T-shirt and casual pants. He even carried and sometimes wore a baseball cap.

-Written by Lynn Arave and published in the Deseret News, June 6, 1999.

SIDE NOTE: As a reporter, I was fortunate to be able to speak one-on-one and privately that day with Elder Maxwell for about 7 minutes. I also thought of a great final question just as others noticed Elder Maxwell and came flooding over, swamping him in a sea of zoo-goers -- and it was interview over. I don’t recall what that unasked query was, but I guess I was not supposed to ask it ….

Some years later, I would attend a memorial service for Elder Maxwell (not sponsored by the LDS Church) at the University of Utah. I was surprised how well he had impressed many non-members of the Church. I’m sure he is currently reaching out to many others now in the Spirit World, as perhaps only his gentle, poetic style can do. --Lynn Arave.

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

Not enough Church members partake of the ‘meat’ of the Gospel?

                           One of W. Cleon Skousen's doctrinal books (and still for sale on Amazon).

NOT enough members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints partake of the meat of the gospel, W. Cleon Skousen, Church author/scholar, said.

He spoke on April 3, 2003 to the B'nai Shalom group of Jewish converts at their semiannual meeting on "Lessons I've Learned from Life" at the Capitol Hill First Ward Chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Skousen, then age 90, was energetic and focused. (He died less than 3 years later in 2006.)

"I plead with you," he said. "Take the time to get into the meat."

Skousen has written 42 books on Church doctrine and teachings, and he said they all touch on meaty aspects of the gospel. It was Elder John A. Widtsoe, a Church apostle from 1921 to '52, who taught him to study. Skousen believes Elder Widtsoe understood the gospel of Jesus Christ better than any other apostle of his time.

He said a key difference is that milk eaters of the gospel only ask "what" to do next, while meat eaters also ask "why."

"A few Saints get to the meat level," Skousen said. "The why and the how people are the ones that are really progressing in the gospel."

Why don't more get into the meat?

"Because most people aren't interested in meat," he said.

"There are some boring speakers. That's 'cause they get on milk and can't get off it. . . . It's the duty of everyone to be a good sacrament meeting speaker."

He said the big test in life is to endure to the end, but many are too busy with sporting events — even on Sunday — to do that.

"Don't let the holy day become a holiday."

Exercise, or just doing what the Lord has told you to do, is also essential.

"Church service is so important, and we should be active in the community, too."

Skousen also said he's a firm constitutionalist and initially believed it was wrong to be pre-emptive with Iraq and go to war over there.

"But I feel good about it now. . . . Serve your country."

Regarding keeping a year's supply of food, he advises those with old and outdated storage to just throw it away and start over.

"The wonderful thing is that you didn't have to use it," he said.

Skousen also advises church members to keep journals and said he has 150 journals outlining many details of his own life.

"We have a lot of things we have to sharpen up."

He's keen on both the leadership and progress of the church today.

"What a magnificent (church) leadership we have today. I see nothing but progress happening in the kingdom."

Skousen also touched briefly on his service as Salt Lake City's police chief in the mid-1950s by saying it wasn't his idea — Church President David O. McKay asked him to do it.

He also was a longtime professor in the department of religion at Brigham Young University.

-Witten by Lynn Arave and published in the Deseret News, April 12, 2003.

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

Clarifying the story of Moses and ‘The Ten Commandments’ from Hollywood’s version

1956 Deseret News Archives photo showing (L-R) Mrs. and Mr. Cecil B. DeMille, Charlton Heston and LDS Church President David O. McKay in Salt Lake City for the "Ten Commandments." premiere.

IF you've ever watched the classic movie "The Ten Commandments" by Cecil B. DeMille, it is so engaging it may have become your definitive version of the story of Moses.

(At the bottom of this story are details about a Utah scene in the movie.)

But the 1956 film, starring Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner, sprinkles more than a little fancy among its facts.

From a romance that never existed and concocted characters to an instant parting of the Red Sea, the movie is riddled with fiction.

It is, in fact, a cinematic masterpiece in everything except accuracy. It won an Oscar, three other major movie awards and was nominated for another seven awards.

No later movies about Moses even come close.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints tend to read mostly the Book of Mormon and too many members are clueless about what the Old Testament story of Moses truly states.

 In Hollywood's defense, perhaps making an almost three-hour movie out of a few dozen Bible chapters requires some invention just to fill the time and keep viewers engaged.

Historically, ABC-TV airs the classic movie, the highest grossing film of the 1950s, each year during Easter weekend. (The one year ABC didn't air the movie — 1999 — it received a browbeating.)

There’s also somewhat of a Utah connection to the movie. There’s good evidence that its producer, Cecil B. DeMille, wanted to eventually make a major motion picture of the Book of Mormon. In fact, he and his wife, plus Charlton Heston, came to Salt Lake City for the movie’s premiere and met with Church President David O. McKay (see picture above from the Deseret News Archives).

Now, in an effort to shed some light on what's Holy Bible and what's Hollywood, here is a sampling of differences between the Kings James version of the Old Testament and the classic Hollywood “Ten Commandments” movie:

 According to the commentary on the 2004 DVD release of the film, the movie's script was enhanced by non-biblical sources, such as: Josephus, the Sepher-ha-Yashar, the Chronicle of Moses and the Quran. Also, some parts in the script are mere inventions.

 The movie refers to all the kings of Egypt with specific names, while the Bible refers to each one only as "Pharaoh."

 No wives of any kings are mentioned by name in the Bible, while a star in the movie is "Queen Nefretiri," obviously a variation of "Nefertari," the wife of Rameses II, according to Egyptian history. The Bible mentions no extra romance of Moses with anyone, though Nefretiri's love of Moses is one of the dominant components of the DeMille movie.

 Moses' mother is said to be Yoshebel in the movie, while Exodus 6:20 states it was Jochebed.

 The daughter of Pharaoh is only mentioned in the Bible when she rescues baby Moses from the river. In the movie, she eventually goes with the Israelites out of Egypt.

 There is also no biblical mention of Moses having any early relationship with any of the Pharaoh's sons.

 Moses apparently didn't have the choice to marry any of Midian's seven daughters; he was given the offer of a specific wife. Exodus 2:21 states: "… and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter."

 In the movie, Moses is said to be a successful military commander, but that reference comes from Josephus, not the Bible.

 The movie shows Moses openly fighting an Egyptian, killing him and then being arrested and exiled. Yet Exodus 2:11-15 says that Moses saw no one else when he killed the Egyptian and that Moses fled afterward, since the Pharaoh sought to kill him.

 Some characters, like Baka (portrayed by Vincent Price), are not mentioned in the Bible.

 Joshua never came to the land of Midian to persuade Moses to return to Egypt. God sent Moses back to Egypt (Exodus 3:10).

 The movie doesn't accurately portray Moses as being "not eloquent" in speaking (Exodus 4:10).

 The movie only shows four of the 10 plagues of Egypt. Not only were there time constraints, but Hollywood at the time could not re-create some of the special effects needed to show some of the plagues.

 Moses doesn't tell Pharaoh that his word will bring the last plague or that Pharaoh decreed that all firstborn of Israel would die. God alone executes the final plague (Exodus 12). Furthermore, the Bible offers little beyond saying the firstborn of Pharaoh died, while the movie focuses extensively on this son's death.

 The movie shows an instant parting of the Red Sea. However, the Bible states that the strong east wind took all night to part the waters (Exodus 14:21). (That means the Lord kept the Pharaoh and his army at bay a really long time.)

 The Pharaoh is not shown as drowning with his army in the movie. Even though Exodus does not state that Pharaoh did drown, Psalm 136:15 implies that Pharaoh did drown with his army.

 Israel sang and danced to celebrate the defeat of Pharaoh and his armies (Exodus 15), but the movie portrays them as simply standing in silent amazement.

 The movie also does not show Israel's battle with Amalek or of God supplying Israel with manna, water and quail.

-Written by Lynn Arave and originally published  in the Deseret News, March 27, 2010.

NOTE: According to the Deseret News of Feb. 7, 1976, the "burning bush" scene in the "Ten Commandments" movie was actually shot in the Wasatch Mountains, east of Holladay Boulevard and Wasatch Drive.
Arnold Friberg's home was just below those foothills ... with mists covering some of the mountains, it was considered a good likeness of what Mount Sinai would have been like for Moses.


NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

The Mystery of the Granite Records Facility

THE Granite Mountain Records Facility in Little Cottonwood Canyon contains what is very likely the world's most extensive collection of family records.

Operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, these vaults are encased in the mountain, located about 20 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.

When these vaults, about one mile up the canyon, first opened in 1963, the public was invited for tours. However, by the end of the 20^th Century, they were off limits to all but vault workers. The media were also never invited there, likely after the 1970s.

“LDS buys quarry tract as records repository” was a Sept. 29, 1959 headline in the Salt Lake Tribune. The story stated that the Utah Granite Company and Temple Granite Quarries Corporation had sold the land needed for the records vault to the Church. Exact details of the transaction were never made public.

“Church cuts vaults in Granite quarry” was a Jan. 12, 1961 headline in the Salt Lake Tribune. The story reported that some 80 years after the Latter-day Saint Church first began chipping and hauling away granite blocks for its future Salt Lake Temple, the Church was back in the same canyon doing other work with the dominant stone there.

Work had started on the project in the summer of 1960.

The Centennial Development Company of Juab County had the contract to do the excavation in the canyon. The company first drilled a 700-foot exploration tunnel, to be followed by larger tunnels.

President Henry D. Moyle, Second Counselor in the Church’s First Presidency, told Malin Foster of the Tribune that the vaults are being built at the safest known place from disasters in the area for storing records. The rock vaults were also considered an ideal location for the storage of records based on temperatures and humidity.

“Drills deepen sanctuary for Church records” was a May 29, 1961 headline in the Tribune. Staff writer Don LeFevre reported that a crew of 14 men were cutting through granite to create large caverns.

“Their environment is a dark, damp and cool one as they labor on the construction of the vault which will one day house millions of dollars worth of valuable microfilm and documents,” LeFevre wrote.

To that date, the drilling was through some 1,800 linear feet of rock and completed channels measure 27 feet wide and 16 feet high. A total of six portals had been drilled into the mountain, on the north side of the canyon, above Utah Highway 210.

(The canyon road leads to Snowbird and Alta ski resorts. The Church has a historical trail just inside the mouth of the canyon and on the opposite, south side, that commemorates the granite quarry when the S.L. Temple blocks originated from.)

“Crews work in LDS ‘cave’ project” was a Jan. 27, 1962 Tribune headline. By early 1962, crews were done drilling and were pouring cement and deciding the best type of flooring, walls and ceiling for this “cave.” Trenches in the floor had also already been made for future plumbing and electrical lines.

This story also stated that the First Presidency itself chose the site for this granite vault records repository.

“Impregnable storage vaults safeguard LDS genealogical records” was an Oct. 6, 1963 headline in the Ogden Standard-Examiner. This Associated Press story stated that the vaults were originally called “The Little Cottonwood Project,” had cost more than $1.5 million, had been more than three years in the making and was slated for completion in about one year.

There were three 600-foot-long storage vaults, lined with 18 inches of cement and corrugated steel. Three large heavy bank-like vault doors covered the entrances. The three main passages were also intersected by three others, more than 400 feet long and all interconnected.

“LDS grants look-see of tunnels” was a Dec. 2, 1963 headline in the Salt Lake Tribune. Church leaders first toured the new granite vaults. Then selected civic and business leaders had their turn on day number two; and finally on the third day, the general public got to come and take a look on a guided tour. They were titled "Church Records Vault" when they opened. (Their current title is "Granite Mountain Records Facility.")

The Tribune story stated the inside of the vaults were painted in pastel colors and boasted self-contained power, water and ventilation.

The story also said that the vaults were “buried beneath 600 feet of solid granite.

There have been no public updates by the Church on these record vaults. Presumably, they have been updated and likely contain not only original microfilm records, but likely the cutting edge in records storage, including CDs and other high-tech equipment.

-Similarly, the U. S. Air Force had began work on its own Cheyenne Mountain Complex in 1957, inside a granite mountain in Colorado, near Colorado Springs. That much larger vault was not completed finished until 1967, cost more than $142 million and sits underneath an estimated 2,000 feet of granite.

-The Salt Lake Tribune of Aug. 23, 1967 reported that landowners in Little Cottonwood Canyon had dropped a plan to build a housing subdivision at the mouth of the canyon, in favor of constructing a private facility for microfilm and other storage inside the mountain itself. Located just up the canyon from the Church’s granite vaults, they were designed to be similar to those man-made caverns. Today, they are called Perpetual Storage, Inc., located at 6279 Little Cottonwood Road.

-The accompanying illustrations above are some of the images from a mid-1960s brochure, published by the LDS Church on the Vaults.

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

General Conference from a Century ago

                       Note the sign in the upper righthand corner of this photograph.
                                                -- Utah State Historical Society picture

General Conference in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a lot different a century ago.
Foremost, the first public address microphone was barely invented and not yet available for use in a large conference hall. So, hearing a speaker's talk was sometimes difficult.
Also, seats were not padded and air conditioning did not exist, among other things.
However, if you look in the upper righthand corner of the photograph above, there is something else significant: a sign on the fence of Temple Square, warning people: "Beware of pickpockets."
Thus, thieves were apparently out in force in Salt Lake City during the 1920s -- General Conference notwithstanding.


NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only. 

Reflections on Ward Boundary changes: Back when boundaries lasted 40 years

                      A Deseret News map of Salt Lake's original ward boundaries.


MY own ward boundaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have changed significantly over the decades.
In some 35 years of living at the same address, I've survived four major Ward boundary changes and have attended four different church buildings.
(And, that doesn't count my five years serving in the bishopric of a Student ward 12 miles away either ...).
However, early ward borders in Salt Lake City remained about the same for almost 40 years.
In February of 1849, Salt Lake City was divided into an original 19 wards. By 1885, there were just two extra wards and little change in the boundaries of most of the wards.
This was in spite of Salt Lake's population growing from 5,000 in 1849 to some 20, 768 by 1880.
According to the LDS Church News section of Sept. 22, 1985, the old 18th Ward contained where Church headquarters were and also to serve the families of just 3 men -- Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and Newel K. Whitney.
And, back then, each ward was and economic unit, as well as an ecclesiastical area. For example, the original Salt Lake Second Ward banded together to dig a canal from Emigration Canyon to water their farms.

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.