A more doctrinally accurate Second Coming of Jesus Christ painting, thanks to a red sharpie.
This is Bountiful, Utah's own "Hill Cumorah."
11. There
is a second American “Hill Cumorah,” in Bountiful, Utah.
The
famous Hill Cumorah, located just south of Palmyra, New York, is one of the
shrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was here that
Saints believe Joseph Smith was divinely directed to find the buried Golden
Plates that were later translated into the Book of Mormon, the cornerstone of
the faith.
Bountiful, Utah, too, has a Hill Cumorah.
Bountiful, named after a city mentioned in the Book of Mormon, has its Hill
Cumorah on the city's southeast side, east of Bountiful Boulevard at about
3800-4300 South in the Foothill/Summerwood Drive area. It's on the opposite
side of town from the Bountiful LDS Temple.
The unofficially named Bountiful Hill Cumorah, some 2,300 miles away from the
original, was first called that by Bountiful resident Wilford C. Wood, who
owned property there.
"He thought the hill resembled the Hill Cumorah," Wilford W. Cannon,
a grandson of Wilford C. Wood, said. Bountiful City officials in the 1990s began
referring to it as Hill Cumorah too.
"The city's slant on it is that it is a
historical name and it is easily recognized by most of the city staff,"
Tom Hardy, Bountiful city manager, said. "We do have a water tank on the
south side of the hill and we have informally called it the 'Cumorah tank,'
although it is not an official designation."
The water tank is a 1.5 million-gallon, 110-foot diameter, concrete structure.
This Hill Cumorah is well known by residents who live in that area of town and
by old-timers, but most others are likely unaware of it.
LDS Church President David O. McKay spoke at a special fireside on the meadow
behind the Bountiful hill in July of 1956.
According to the Davis County Clipper newspaper of July 27, 1956, leaders of
the Bountiful and South Davis stakes at the time "were treated to an
exceptional evening's entertainment" on July 19 of that year.
"The affair took place at Wilford Wood's 'Hill Cumorah,' a hill on his
property in Val Verda which closely resembles the original in New York. Special
guests for the occasion were President and Mrs. David O. McKay. President McKay
gave the more than 500 listeners an inspirational talk on divine
authority," The Clipper newspaper reported.
Wood, who died in 1968, had a passion for historical sites. As a member of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was also instrumental in the
church's acquisition of several key historical sites.
Among other purchases, he bought a portion of the Nauvoo temple lot on February
20, 1937, on behalf of the church and also the Liberty Jail in Independence,
Mo. He made the jail site purchase on June 19, 1939. Joseph Smith, the church's
first prophet, and four other church leaders were imprisoned for more than four
months in the jail, starting in December of 1838. The church now has a visitor
center on the site.
Best viewing options of the hill are at North Canyon Park on Bountiful
Boulevard or from as far away as portions of 400 East in Centerville. A large
residence now graces the south end of the hill, but Cannon said the north end
is committed to remain an undeveloped park area.
Source: Deseret News, by the Author, on July 25, 2003.
BOOK OF MOSES
12. The
Book of Moses and Book of Genesis do not comprise two different accounts of the
Earth’s creation.
The Book of Moses is simply an extraction from Joseph
Smith’s “Inspired” revision of the Bible, but it is how the first chapters of
the Book of Genesis were supposed to be, before mistranslations and
corruptions. The Book of Genesis in the King James version gives Latter-day
Saints common ground with other Christians, but as Saints, they have access to
much more information on the creation than any other faith.
Source: https://rsc.byu.edu/scriptures-modern-world/joseph-smith-translation-bible
Also, “The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible;
plus, a panel discussion, with S. Kent Brown, Victor L. Ludlow, Robert J.
Matthews and C. Wildfred Griggs.
13. This
is the wickedest of all God the Father’s earths.
Read Moses chapter 7 and you realize there are other
earths out there, maybe even some in a similar existence of mortal probation
like our earth right now.
Our earth is the wickedest of all earths, according to Moses 7:36.
And, speculating now, what might these other, less
wicked earths be like?
Intriguing possibilities for thought and perhaps the basis for a good novel
someday.
Likely these other earths are much more boring in many respects than ours.
They may have never had a world war, invented nuclear weapons or have a
preoccupation with TV shows and movies either.
If our earth really contains both the wickedest and the most righteous souls of
all, as a balance, then are these other earths more average?
Our earth is certainly a low end telestial world these days and yet these other
earths are more terrestrial level status.
They may have had more scientific development than we have in some areas, not
opting to go weapons development crazy. Murder might be rare on these other
earths.
Also, church members might be the norm there, at least as widespread as
Catholicism is on our earth. That could perhaps foster a kind of Utah
"zion curtain" kind of atmosphere globally on these other earths.
How would it feel as Saints, to be the majority and not minority?
Here are some other thoughts on what these other earths might be like:
1. It is doubtful there would be a Las Vegas on other earths, or much gambling.
2. There are probably no X-rated movies or much porn on the Internet.
3. There's likely a continual prohibition of alcohol drinking and to consume it
there is probably in the league of cocaine usage on our earth.
4. Men likely far outnumber women in the workforce. Many more women are
housewives, and as such, there is less unemployment.
5. Travel may be powered by something other than fossil fuel. People on other
earths are likely far more proactive in regards to pollution and have less
accent on economic gain. Homes might generally smaller and more modest.
Jesus Christ was crucified on our earth and these other earths logically must
know that and of our existence, because only here were there wicked enough
people to kill him.
BRIGHAM YOUNG
This is the famous hearse at Disneyland's Haunted Mansion attraction.
14. The Disneyland
“Hearse” is not Brigham Young’s.
“There’s always
room for one more” could be the unofficial slogan for Disneyland’s popular
Haunted Mansion attraction. That phrase could also apply to the growing
population of urban legends, including the incorrect belief that the white,
horse-drawn hearse in front of the Haunted Mansion, in Anaheim, California, is
the same one that carried Brigham Young’s body from his funeral to his burial
place in 1877.
Glen M. Leonard, director of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’
Museum of Church History and Art, said historical records are conclusive that
the hearse couldn’t possibly have been used for Young.
“Historical evidence shows no hearse was used,” he once told the Deseret News.
However, Leonard agrees that it’s possible the hearse may have gone to
California from Utah, where it could have been used in Salt Lake City, though
probably after President Young’s time.
Dozens of Internet sites claim the Haunted Mansion hearse was used for Young.
Some Disneyland visitors even report that tour guides occasionally tell guests
the hearse carried Young. Other Web sites debate the issue. All it takes is a “haunted
mansion and hearse” subject search on the Web to find these sites.
Leonard said Young’s will was explicit about his funeral and burial. President
Young died in the Lion House on August 29, 1877, and his body was carried on a
platform by clerks and employees, as prescribed in the will, to the Tabernacle
for the funeral. Afterward, the same pall bearers hand-carried the casket up
South Temple, through Eagle Gate and to the small private cemetery at First
Avenue.
No wheeled vehicle was used in the transport of the body for the few blocks it
needed to be transported.
Disneyland sources even express some doubt about the hearse’s Brigham Young
connection.
“It is documented to the extent that it can be documented,” John McClintock, a
regional publicity manager for Disneyland, told the Deseret News. “It is at
least a widespread belief that the hearse carried Brigham Young. . . . However,
the proof is hardly indisputable.”
Disneyland acquired the hearse from a Malibu collector, Dale Rickards, who had
nothing to trace the ancestry of the wagon. Apparently, there were once some
documents of authenticity, but when the previous owner of the hearse, Robert “Dobie
Doc” Cottle of Las Vegas, died, the papers apparently disappeared.
There are also rumors of a Young family from the Salt Lake area owning the
hearse before Cottle got it, but no one’s been able to verify that either. That
possible “Young” connection could be the source of the Brigham Young link.
The Disney Archives had no additional information available on the hearse.
To Disneyland, the hearse is a prop, and there is no official sign that
connects it to Brigham Young. In fact, the manufacturer’s plate on the hearse
is missing, so its origin cannot be verified.
McClintock said the Haunted Mansion continues to be one of the park’s more
popular attractions, and since many Utahns frequent Disneyland, the hearse and
a possible Brigham Young connection are discussed frequently.
(Notwithstanding the Brigham Young myth, there is one actual tie to Utah – and Latter-day
Saints – for the Haunted Mansion. When actor Kurt Russell narrated an insider’s
look at the newly opened Haunted Mansion in 1970 for Disney’s “Wonderful World
of Color” TV series, he was accompanied on the tour by none other than the
Osmond Brothers from Utah.)
Source: two articles by the Author, in the Deseret
News, one on February 23, 2001 and another on February 24, 2017.
CALLING AND ELECTION
15. A
person can fall/sin after having their “calling and election made sure.”
Church members who incorrectly believe exaltation is
absolutely guaranteed after a "Calling Election is Made Sure" rely on
the common title of such an event, rather than doctrine.
The more correct term would be "Calling and Election Made More Sure,"
in line with "A more sure word of prophecy." (2 Peter 1:19, History
of the Church, 5:389).
Joseph Smith taught (“History of the Church,” 6:252-253) that a man can fall
from grace after having a calling and election made -- if he commits
unpardonable sins (denying the Holy Ghost or committing murder or adultery).
Further such doctrine is taught in “History of the Church,” 5:291-292 and 6:81,
253.
Some lesser sins mean a judgment in the flesh will happen, followed by being
turned over to the buffeting of Satan (D&C 20:32-33, 132:26-27).
CHURCH
16. The
Church’s name is not totally unique, but has a doppelganger.
There is another church,
that broke off from the main Latter-day Saint Church, with an exceedingly
similar name (and copyright) to this title: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
Day Saints (No “The” and no hyphen, with an upper case “D”.)
The small, "Strangite" church, mainly
in the Wisconsin area, is a break off from the original Church, but has legal
rights to the title written in this paragraph.
This church was started by William J. Strang, June of
1844 and its members (less than 200 active as of 2025) believe he was the legal
successor to Joseph Smith. Their main church building is in Burlington,
Wisconsin. There are also branches of this church in Artesia, New Mexico and
Castell, Texas.
A person the Author talked to years ago visited the
main chapel in Burlington. She said she saw a giant portrait of Joseph Smith on
the wall and next to that was an identically sized portrait of William J.
Strang.
Go to Google and search for "Strangite" and
click on their Web Site to see that almost identical church title pop up, or
access the Web address below.
Source: https://www.ldsstrangite.com/about-us.html
The 28-story LDS Church Office Building in downtown Salt Lake City.
17. The
Church Office Building in downtown Salt Lake was originally planned to be 38
stories tall, not just 28 stories.
The 28-story Church Office Building
for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints soars above North
Temple Street, where it has been the nerve center for The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints for more than four decades.
However, the 420-foot tall building was originally planned to be much taller.
Although the Joseph Smith Memorial Building directly honors the first president
of the church, the Church Office Building was originally envisioned to do so
too — with a planned 38 floors, to commemorate the 38 years of Joseph Smith's
life.
The 38 floors didn't materialize — for a variety of reasons — or the building
would have soared more than 500 feet high.
So what happened to the additional 10 stories?
J. Howard Dunn, who was in charge of project development for the Church's
building committee, said in a 1962 Church News article that the plans were
changed and eight stories were scrapped to better meet mechanical requirements
of the engineering department. Heating and air conditioning for the skyscraper
would best be handled in 14-story units, beginning above the first two floors.
At that time, the high-rise was to be 30 stories. Later, two more stories were also
eventually deleted from that plan.
The building height was reduced for two other reasons as well: First,
construction began on the Granite Records Vault in Little Cottonwood Canyon in
1960 and reduced the downtown office building space needed; second, departing
missionaries were to be housed elsewhere, again reducing required space.
The original building plans had called for housing space for up to 430 outgoing
missionaries in the first few floors of the Church Office Building. As it
turned out, missionaries were housed across the street to the north in an old
school until the Missionary Training Center opened in Provo in 1978.
(Missionaries were fed in the Church Office Building cafeteria in the early
1970s though.)
The Church Office Building cost $31.4 million (the equivalent of about $200
million today). The new building led to the substantial widening of North
Temple and State streets, too.
"The building is designed for immediate and future needs of the
church," Mark B. Garff, chairman of the church building committee, told
the Deseret News in 1969.
George Cannon Young designed the building, which was under design as early as
1961. The old Deseret Gymnasium, 37 E. South Temple, had to be relocated across
the street to where the Conference Center is now. Some Church Business College
buildings and other structures also had to be moved to make room.
Work on the three-story, underground, 1,400-space parking structure — Utah's
largest building excavation at the time — began first in 1962 and was finished
by about 1967. The extracted dirt, 250,000 cubic yards, provided fill material
for original I-15 construction in Salt Lake County.
When completed, the Church Office Building also allowed the church to
temporarily house all General Authorities there while doing a substantial
remodel of the Church Administration Building, 47 E. South Temple.
Source: The Deseret News, April 1, 2010, a story by the Author and Scott
Taylor.
LDS Church members wearing crosses was fairly common before the year 1950. This is an author family photo (his maternal grandparents), of the Ray and Lida Rigby family in 1946, in Grace, Idaho.
18. Wearing
crosses used to be fairly common in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
A family photograph of the Author’s supports the idea
that until about the early 1950s, church members wearing a cross was not
discouraged, although it was not nearly as common a practice as in other
Christian churches.
The accompanying photograph, dated 1946, is of the
entire Ray and Lida Rigby Family (the Author’s maternal grandparents) from
Grace, Idaho. The Author’s aunt, Maurine Rigby (Myer), is in the lower right of
the picture, is wearing a large cross.
It was the 1950s when apparently both wearing crosses and having facial hair
began to be shunned in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
(We're talking church policy here, not necessarily doctrine, in both
practices.)
A cross symbol is certainly not anti-Christian. It is mentioned a lot in the
Bible as a symbol of the Saints back then.
It is doubtful that the Prophet Joseph Smith ever saw a cross on a church in
his day, as Protestant churches didn't adopt the cross as a symbol until the
decades after his death. (Initially, Protestant churches viewed the cross as
purely Catholic, something they wanted to stay away from.)
-There's also some "lip" service to the cross in the Church. For
example, the Christian song in the Hymn book, page, 250, "We are all
Enlisted," states in its second verse: "Rally round the standard of
the cross."
Note that the Author is not recommending that Latter-day
Saints wear crosses. But, logically and ideally, the prime Latter-day Saint
symbol to wear might be an empty sepulchure (tomb), instead of a cross, to
celebrate the resurrection and an empty grave, instead of just the death of
Jesus Christ.
CREATION
19. Adam and Eve were placed on the Earth during
the Seventh, not the Sixth Day of the creation.
Doctrine and Covenants 77:12 states:
“Q. What are we to understand by the sounding of the
trumpets mentioned in the 8th chapter of Revelation? A. We are
to understand that as God made the world in six days, and on the seventh
day he finished his work, and sanctified it, and also formed man out of
the dust of the earth, even so, in the beginning of the seventh thousand
years will the Lord God sanctify the earth, and complete the
salvation of man, and judge all things, and shall redeem all
things, except that which he hath not put into his power, when he shall have
sealed all things, unto the end of all things; and the sounding of the trumpets
of the seven angels are the preparing and finishing of his work, in the beginning
of the seventh thousand years—the preparing of the way before the time of
his coming.”
Thus, Adam and Eve arrived on Earth on the seventh
day, not the sixth.
This creates some doctrinal inconsistencies, but
nothing else has been revealed about the subject.
20. Eve
was not actually created from Adam’s rib and life on Earth did not start from
evolution, but was transplanted here from other worlds.
All
statements regarding Adam’s rib and Eve are purely symbolic and figurative,
according to Elder Bruce R. McConkie. ("Mormon Doctrine," Bookcraft, page
242.)
Sometimes man loves to complicate things. Take
the creation of the Earth for example. You've got all those evolution theories
and even so-called scientific principles out there, claiming humans only came
about after millions of years of natural evolution on this planet.
If you believe in God and the Gospel, why accept such ideas?
Science at one time wrongly believed the earth was flat and the center of the
universe. One day, all mankind will see how simple it was that life came to be
on earth….
(Now creating the planet and preparing the earth to receive life is another
matter and a much more complicated process, for sure.)
If you believe what Brigham Young (Deseret News, April 30, 1856, “Journal of
Discourses,” 3:319; 7:285) and Joseph Fielding Smith (“Answers of Gospel
Questions,” 5:170-171; "Man, His Origin and Destiny," Deseret Book,
pages 276-277) said man (Adam) came to Earth directly out of Heavenly Father's
presence.
The "dust of the earth" references are purely symbolic.
Thus, essentially mankind was transplanted, as was all life. No need for
evolution. All creatures on earth already existed elsewhere.
Brigham Young once taught that God the Father created Adam and Eve by births in
the pre-mortal realm. They were his direct off spring (Deseret News, May 7,
1862; “Journal of Discourses,” 11:122; 9:282).
At another time, President Young said God the Father has a dual capacity for procreation
(Deseret News, September 4, 1872; “Journal of Discourses,” 15:137, 9:283).
This means that God the Father can produce spirit children (like we were) when
he desires and that seems to be mostly what he does.
However, when he wants to start a new earth, he creates a man that is more like
him -- flesh and bone.
This means these children are not immortal or resurrected, but rather
"unmortal," (as President Joseph Fielding Smith said in the Church
Section of the Deseret News on March 2, 1935). Adam and Eve would have lived
forever, if they had not partaken of the forbidden fruit.
But they made themselves mortal and that's how we eventually came to be.
Simple isn't it?
We are literally God's children on two levels. The only "evolution"
required was for Adam and Eve to choose to make themselves mortal.
21. The “Big Bang” never happened, to start the universe.
Eternity
is forever and we, as mortals, cannot grasp that endless concept. Therefore,
the so-called “Big Bang” never had to happen, as the universe has always been
in some stage of existence.
Whenever the Author ponders eternity, his mind rebels and lets me know it can't
comprehend that idea.
However, the Prophet Joseph Smith taught: "That which has a beginning will
surely have an end, take a ring, it is without beginning or end -- cut it for a
beginning place and at the same time you have made an ending place ... so it is
with God." ("Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” page 181.)
Thus, there has always been a God.
Our God, the Father, has his own Father and so forth backward into eternity.
There is a plurality of endless Gods.
There's no "Big bang" needed here -- that's man's atheist-leaning cop
out for understanding.
Somehow, a "God" has always existed. If not, there will be an end.
The universe has always been here in some degree.
Joseph Smith also stated that "God himself could not create himself."
And, he stated that the spirit of man has always existed.
(“Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,” page 354.)
DOCTRINALLY CORRECT
22. Artwork in church buildings is not
always doctrinally correct.
There’s some great, inspiring artwork out there
in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, sometimes the best
of art takes significant liberties in accuracy. That factor is almost expected.
Artwork doesn't have to be totally doctrinally correct to be spiritually
uplifting, but it is nice to always know correct doctrine.
The popular painting of Christ with angels in
the clouds that hangs in many temples is also not perfectly doctrinally correct
as Christ will be dressed in red at the Second Coming, not white.
The Doctrine and Covenants 133:48 states:
“And the Lord shall
be red in his apparel, and his garments like him that treadeth in the
wine-vat.”
In addition, there's one popular artist who uses
people she knows to paint and represent church prophets and their families.
One Sunday some years ago, the Author was puzzled over who was represented in a
painting at the entrance to the Relief Society Room in his ward meetinghouse. His
wife said, "That's Joseph and Emma!"
The Author replied, "It can't be ... doesn't look anything like
them."
Sure enough, this popular artist gets by with such liberties, as she apparently
uses people she knows to be the likeness of historic figures she paints.
(And it isn't just artwork in the Church that can be doctrinally incorrect, so
can some popular hymns be so.)
In addition, “Doctrinally correct” is a relative term
and can mean “correct for its purpose,” not always universally correct.
Too often members of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints think in narrow terms.
For example, doctrine is strictly correct or it isn't. Right?
Maybe not!
Take the popular painting of Jesus Christ in the clouds, with a fleet of
angels, as he returns for his Second Coming. Drawn by a world-renowned artist,
who also happened to be a Seventh-Day Adventist, this drawing is now a key
fixture in many LDS Temples, like Bountiful and Layton. Church leaders commissioned
the painting and apparently lengthened Christ's hair in it, as well as
down-played angel wings.
However, this drawing is still strictly not doctrinally correct. Is that a
problem?
“Correct” relates to purpose in the church and church leaders seem to
think this painting can so evoke the spirit of the Lord, that the fact that it
isn't absolutely doctrinally correct doesn't matter in that context.
Doctrine and Covenants 133:48 clearly states that Christ's apparel will be red
in color at his Second Coming. Several Biblical scriptures, like Isaiah 63:2
concur.
So, an image doesn’t have to be fully doctrinal correct, to still promote the
spirit. And, this is only the tip of the iceberg of such purpose vs. doctrinally
correct in the church.
Also, the Book of Mormon is said to be the most correct book on the earth
(History of the Church, 4:46.). So,
why are some of the incorrectly translated verses of Isaiah in the Old
Testament still repeated in the Book of Mormon, though some were corrected by
Joseph Smith in his "Inspired Version" of the Bible?
Again, it has to do with purpose. The Book of Mormon is correct for its
purpose, to be a familiar voice like the Bible (Isaiah 29:4 and 2 Nephi 26:16)
-- a solid missionary tool -- but not so different it turns away investigators
to the Gospel.
Confused?
"Correct" doctrine simply isn't always black and white, at
least in a telestial world.
As long as a church member lives worthy, studies and keeps the spirit, these
inconsistencies in doctrine won't be stumbling blocks, but will be harmonious,
though probably not to the outside world itself.
EARTH
23. The Earth itself is a
single living entity and is a “she.”
According to Doctrine and Covenants 88:25-26, the
Earth abideth the law of a celestial kingdom and shall die, be quickened and
the righteous will inherit it.
Elder Parley P. Pratt stated that the Earth has a
spirit, just like our physical bodies do, in “Key to the Science of Theology,”
(Deseret Book, 1965, pages 127-128.)
President Joseph Fielding Smith also taught that the
Earth is a living body. (“Doctrines of Salvation,” (Bookcraft, 1954) volume 1,
p. 72.
Doctrine and Covenants 88:45 states:
“The earth rolls upon her wings, and
the sun giveth his light by day, and the moon giveth her light by night,
and the stars also give their light, as they roll upon their wings in their
glory, in the midst of the power of God.”
Note that the Earth is referred to as a “her” and the
sun as a “he.”
There is a huge amount of attention today to so-called
“climate change.”
Doctrine and Covenants section 123, verse 7
states:
"The whole earth groans under the weight of its (mankind's)
iniquity."
(To groan is in response to pain or despair,
based on dictionary definitions.)
Since the Earth is a living thing, abides a
celestial law (and man does not), could it be that man’s collective sins – now
worse than in the Days of Noah – be what is causing climatic shifts on the
planet? Perhaps. Doctrine and Covenants 88:87-89 also mentions the Earth’s
groaning, because of man’s sins.
ETERNAL PROGRESSION
24. There is no eternal progression from
Kingdom to Kingdom in the eternities.
Some church members falsely believe that eternal
progression in the three degrees of glory is along the same tracks.
So, if one starts in the Telestial Kingdom, eons later, you will be where the
Celestial Kingdom dwellers started, though they have now moved further ahead
proportionally.
However, Joseph Fielding Smith said this concept is false, because Celestial
progression is unlimited and progression is limited in the other two kingdoms.
("Doctrines of Salvation, Bookcraft, 1955, 2:31-32.) Progression in the
kingdoms is therefore along different tracks.
Furthermore, D&C 76:109, 112 states that Telestial kingdom dwellers can
never go where God and Christ dwell.
In addition, Spencer W. Kimball stated also that there is no advancement from
kingdom to kingdom ("Miracle of Forgiveness," Bookcraft, 1969,
243-244.)
Other sources: “Doctrines of Salvation,” 2:73, 288; Doctrine
and Covenants 131:1-4; Deseret News, November 6, 1999.
25. Males
and females will not exist in all the Kingdoms of Glory.
Male and females will only exist in the highest level
of the Celestial Kingdom.
Joseph Fielding Smith said all the powers of procreation will only exist in the
highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom, meaning only males and females exist
there.
Everywhere else, there will be sexless beings. ("Doctrines of
Salvation," Bookcraft, 1955, 2:73, 288.).
This correlates with Doctrine and Covenants 131:1-4 that states only residents
in the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom can be married and procreate.
26. Earth
time runs much slower than Celestial time.
Albert Einstein formulated a "theory" of relativity, but
to God much of it may not be a theory, but a practical way God does important things.
For example, take the time and space inversion component of the “Theory of Relativity.”
Examine Facsimile No. 2, the Figure one explanation from the Book of Abraham
and one will find this startling material: "Kolob, signifying the first
creation, nearest to the Celestial, or the residence of God. First in
government, the last pertaining to the measurement of time. The measurement
according to celestial time, which celestial time signifies one day to a cubit.
One day in Kolob is equal to a thousand years, according to the measurement of
this earth ..."
Interchanging a day (time) with a cubit (physical measurement) is time/space
inversion. (And this scripture was written long before Einstein came along.)
To God then, does time becomes a short physical measurement -- one step or
less?
Perhaps.
Also, the above verse states one day in Kolob equals a thousand years on earth.
Does that mean that the theory of relativity's time dilation effect is used by
God to better serve his purposes? Does it mean that no one in the Pre-Earth
life waits more than a week to be born, because time is moving so much faster
on Earth?
If so, some may have waited perhaps waited just minutes in the Celestial realm
to be born after their mother was born.
If Kolob is traveling near the speed of light, time moves much more slowly
there than on Earth. Thus, our earthly test can be done in a fraction of time.
Now this isn't the first to touch on this subject -
the book, "Science and Mormonism" by Melvin A. and M. Garfield Cook,
Deseret Book, 1968) did.
Also, the church's last general patriarch, Emeritus Patriarch Eldred G. Smith,
talked about time dilation and our time in mortality in his April 1966 General
Conference talk, "Can You Abide Two Hours?" (Improvement Era, June
1966, pp. 512-513.
EXCOMMUNICATION
Church News section of the Deseret News, October 16, 1943.
27. The names of “excommunicated” members
are a private matter today, but in the 1940s and into the 1950s, excommunicated
members’ names were published in the Church News section of the Deseret News.
If someone is excommunicated (renamed a
“withdrawal of membership” in current LDS Church terminology) from the Church
today, only the main ward and stake leaders usually know about it. In the 1940s
and into the early 1950s, it was standard practice for the church to publish
excommunication lists (and full names) in the Church News section of the
Deseret News.
Even in the late 19th Century, notices of
people being excommunicated were sometimes published in newspapers, though the
terminology was “cut off” from the church. Example: the High Council of the
Weber Stake of Zion stated that Orville F. Atwood, of the Hooper Ward of this
Stake, was cut off from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for
apostasy. (Ogden Herald, March 11, 1884.)
So, it has gone from public to private policy.
Sources: Church News section of the Deseret News, October
16, 1943; December 11, 1943; and February 9, 1946.
28. A few General Authorities have been
excommunicated in modern times.
For example, there was one Apostle (Richard Roswell
Lyman) excommunicated for a violation of chastity in the 20th
Century, on November 12, 1943 – and a member of the Quorum of the Seventy
(George P. Lee), excommunicated on September 1, 1989, for apostacy and conduct
unbecoming for a church member.
Historically, since the Church was organized in 1830,
a total of 23 General Authorities have been excommunicated. Of those, 17 were
apostles; 19 of them were born before 1850; and nine of those excommunicated
returned later to the church and were rebaptized – including Elder Richard R.
Lyman. Three other General Authorities have been disfellowshipped (and all of
those later returned to the church).
In addition, some mission presidents have been
released early for bad behavior over the decades. For example, in 1980, the
mission president for Sydney, Australia was sent home and disfellowshipped for
teaching plural marriage (although not actually practicing it) to his
missionaries.
Sources: Deseret News, November 13, 1943, p.1; “Deseret
News Church Almanac 1986,” p.53; “Deseret News Church Almanac 1990,” pages
40-64; and the Author’s own private interviews.
FORGIVENESS
29.
Christ has not forgiven the Jews yet.
There is one single scripture that is misused far, far more often than any
other, possibly church-wide.
One Utah ward averages about two Sacrament meetings a month where this certain
scripture is totally used incorrectly.
Here is perhaps this myth No. 1, that just doesn't seem to go away:
"Father, forgive them: for they know not what they do … (Luke
23:34).
This New Testament scripture is used frequently, yet erroneously in Sacrament
talks and lessons on forgiveness, to support always forgiving everyone
unconditionally. (Although that is what the rest of the Christian world
believes.)
Doctrinal fact: Jesus Christ wasn't forgiving everyone at the crucifixion by
saying this.
Joseph Smith added to the verse through the Inspired Version of the Bible:
"(Meaning the soldiers who crucified him)".
Christ has yet to forgive all. He only forgave the soldiers who were acting
under military orders ... The Jews he has yet for forgive.
And, yes, we are required to forgive everyone.
D&C 64:8-11 is the best scripture to support universal forgiveness.
The key problem?
Far too many church members only read the Book of Mormon over and over again.
They have never read the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, or
the Old Testament and have no clue about the Prophet Joseph Smith's teachings.
As such, they find this popular New Testament scripture on forgiveness and have
no clue what it is really stating.
Yes, erroneous doctrine is still taught at times in Church meetings.
Ghosts (as in deceased persons) do NOT inhabit the tangible Earth, or cemeteries, like Kaysville, Utah's.
GHOSTS
30.
“Ghosts” are definitely not deceased persons, but rather devils impersonating
them, as in they are the One-Third of the host of Heaven kicked out of God’s
presence, in the pre-Earth life.
Like the Bigfoot and UFO phenomenon, there is
certainly something out there that could be characterized as ghosts or spirits.
However, in Church doctrine, these can't possibly be deceased people. Ghosts as
the world calls them, are simply demons, the hosts of Satan, looking to deceive
man.
These demons have spent since the time of Adam watching the earth and its
mortal residents. They could easily impersonate a dead person, since they might
have observed/tempted that person throughout much of their life.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie agrees in his book "Mormon Doctrine," (page
312) that ghost appearances are probably of devils, not former mortal residents
of earth. These devils have never had a body.
When any person dies, they do not linger around us. They go straight to the
spirit world, a separate dimension from us. The spirit world is divided into a
paradise for the righteous and a hell/prison for the wicked.
Some righteous people might temporarily and for a good purpose be able to show
up in an earthly person's dream or vision, but the plan of salvation would be
flawed to let evil people linger around earth after their death.
What do these devils have to gain by impersonating deceased persons? By so
doing, they can draw people away from divine sources and make them think that
séances and spirit contacting can lead to revelation. These evil spirits have
watched the lives of people, so they can impersonate them, perhaps even mimic
their appearance.
They may even tell people some true
things, but their true objective is to lead us away from God.
Why pray to God for guidance, if you can contact the dead and take their more
exacting and enticing advice?
The Bible calls contacting the dead "spiritualism" and that it is an
offense to God (Leviticus 19:31 and 1 Samuel 28). It is a form of sorcery and
has no basis in the gospel.
The dead cannot be contacted by any earthly means. They are separate from the
world. Rare and brief dreams/visions by worthy family members are the only
cases where the dead would return and then only briefly and one-time.
If some people would spend as much effort trying to gain true revelation as
they do contacting the so-called dead, they would likely exalt themselves.
And, the only ones who can really contact the dead are other dead people. Church
members and believers in the spirit world do missionary work the majority of
the time there. The good are busy with that, while others are too busy
repenting or being in torment to return to earth, even if they could, which
they can't.
As a sidelight, no one except God or inspired persons can read a person's
thoughts (D&C 6:16). Devils can't read our thoughts. They can put thoughts
or temptations in our minds, though.
Noah's_Ark_on Mount Ararat_by_Simon_de_Myle, from Wikipedia Commons.
GREAT FLOOD
31. Noah and his family
were not the only righteous people on the Earth before the Great Flood.
Other righteous people were saved and taken, by
translation, away with the City of Enoch. Noah and his family remained to
perpetuate the human race on Earth ("The Signs of the Times," by
Joseph Fielding Smith, Deseret Book, 1952, pages 6-7; Moses 7:18-69 and
Doctrine and Covenants 38:4.
32. The
Great Flood was actually an act of mercy by God, not an act of vengeance.
According to President John Taylor, the Flood
was an act of mercy, not God's anger. With the Flood, God halted the wicked
people’s rule and their sinful effect on future generations. The world started
again with a clean slate. (John Taylor, “Journal of Discourses,” 19:158-159).
33. The Tower of Babel was not built to
reach heaven, but rather because the people at the time lacked confidence in
God’s promise not to flood the Earth again.
A casual
reading of Genesis Chapter 11 might convey the idea that the people of that day
were trying to reach heaven, but verse four states “let us make a name,”
implying that their motives were arrogant and worldly.
Indeed, Joseph Smith’s Inspired Version of the Bible
(Genesis 11:6) states that “the people harkened not unto the Lord” and so
rebellion, pride and ungodly were the people at that time.
Cleon Skousen states in his “First 2,000 Years” book
(Bookcraft, 1953, page 250), that the people at the time lacked confidence in
God’s promise to never flood the world again. In essence the Tower of Babel was
built to escape the judgment of God, should the Earth be flooded again.
Dr. Hugh Nibley, Brigham Young University professor,
stated that the tower was to be a symbol of man’s mastery over nature and that
there was some evidence that all of man’s knowledge at the time also be placed
inside the tower. (From “Setting the Stage – The World of Abraham, Part 9,”
Improvement Era Magazine, October 1969, p. 93).
HYPNOTISM
34. Hypnosis can
compromise agency for some people. Thus, members are discouraged from
participating in hypnosis for entertainment purposes.
However, hypnosis can be used to treat diseases or
mental disorders, under the direction of competent medical professionals.
Source: General Handbook of the Church, 38.7.6.
Statute of Joseph and Emma Smith.
JOSEPH SMITH
35. Joseph Smith defended himself at Carthage jail.
The Prophet fired several shots at his attackers. He
had a pistol in the jail and one account said he shot four times and brought a
man down every time. (“History of the Church,” 6:607-608 and 6:617-618.
Brigham Young later said Joseph Smith wounded three of
his assailants (“History of the Church,” 7:31).
36. Joseph Smith did not actually see his
late brother, father, mother, plus Abraham and Adam already residing in the
Celestial Kingdom during a vision, in present time.
That was a vision of the future, not the present.
Source: "Answers to Gospel Questions,” 1:48 and Church
News section of the Deseret News, January 5, 1937, p. 7.
37. Joseph Smith did ordain a successor to
himself.
He ordained his brother, Hyrum Smith, though Hyrum
would not leave his side and was also killed.
Source: “History of the Church,” 6:546.
JOURNAL OF DISCOURSES
38. The
Journal of Discourses is more accurate doctrinally than many members realize.
The Journal of Discourses is not some shady, unreliable source
of doctrine.
Put in context with an early, doctrinally evolving church, the "J.D."
is not something to be shunned, or ignored, but rather embraced.
Sure, there are some speculative and opinion kinds of doctrines found within
its 26 volumes, but then there was no Correlation Committee back then either!
Talks were often impromptu in the 1800s.
And, scribes obviously made some errors too.
The Journal of Discourses are generally under-rated and yet offer glimpses of
pioneer life in Utah and reveal what doctrines the church leaders and members
at the time of the mid-19th Century were wrestling with.
In recent years, occasionally, an official church manual has quoted from the
Journal of Discourses.
Now to be accurate, all the J.D. is are re-prints of talks by church leaders as
originally published in the Deseret News.
(A “game” played in many past church manuals would be that instead of listing
the more easily found Journal of Discourses as a reference, the actual Deseret
News reference would be cited instead, as if that was more accurate ... when it
was the same thing.)
Scribes, or clerks, (like George D. Watt), tried to write down the talks of
leaders, like Brigham Young, and they were printed in the Deseret News for a
wider, regional church audience to read.
The grave of George D. Watt, in the Salt Lake Cemetery.
The 26 volumes of Journal of Discourses compiled many
of those talks. It was Brother Watt who received clearance from the First
Presidency to publish the Journals, mainly as a way to provide him income, but
also to send these talks overseas, to church members in Great Britain.
(Note that Watt was years later excommunicated from the Church.)
A comparison by the Author of many of the key Journal of Discourse talks,
particularly those by Brigham Young, with the Deseret News, found no
disagreement between the two.
However, once in a while, the Author noticed that Brigham Young would come back
a week later in the Deseret News and state he thought he was misquoted, or
didn't make a point clear the talk prior and then he would briefly try to
clarify or correct it.
Those "corrections/clarifications" are NOT included in the
Journal of Discourses, however.
Today's church leaders have found it wise to not speculate like their 19th
Century counterparts did in the Deseret News/Journal of Discourses.
But anyone who takes a shot at the accuracy of the Journal of Discourses is
also taking a swing at the accuracy of the Deseret News.
No newspaper, even today, is free from errors, but even the opinion pages in
newspapers spur thought and reflection.
So, keep reading the Ensign and General Conference Ensigns, today's counterpart
for the old Journal of Discourses.
Yet, if one has the time, they will not regret reading the Journal of
Discourses, for the doctrinal rewards they offer.
Source: “Voice in the West, Biography of a Pioneer Newspaper” (the Deseret
News), by Wendall J. Ashton, 1950, pages 68-69.
Note: the Author spent hours comparing many key
doctrinal sections of the Deseret News of the 19th Century with the
Journal of Discourses accounts and found them to be identical. The only
differences were that a few times Brigham Young would add some comments of
clarifications to what he had said weeks earlier in the Deseret News – and
those comments were not included in the Journal of Discourses.
The Prophet Joseph Smith made some Latter-day prophecies.
LAST DAYS
39. The U.S. Constitution will definitely
“hang by a thread” in the last days, but it may or may not be saved by the
Priesthood.
There is no first-hand account of how Joseph Smith
said this -- it is all recollections only.
The version the Author prefers is by Elder Orson Hyde,
who said if it is to be saved at all, the Elders of the church will save it.
Not that it has to be saved necessarily.
(Current events prove that at times the Constitution may
already be “hanging by a thread.”)
Source: Deseret News, January 13, 1858, or “Journal of
Discourses,” 6:152.
40. The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will not be huge in numbers during the
last days.
Some church members seem to believe the church will
grow by many, many millions and millions in the last days. However,
nowhere in the Scriptures does it indicate that the Church will be
"large" in the last days.
In fact, the Book of Mormon indicates that the Church will be world-wide in the
last days and yet its members "few" because of the wickedness of the
world (1 Nephi 14:12).
So, this isn't about "failure" in any way.
It may well be that the Lord is doing one last surge in preaching, before
conditions really get bad before the Second Coming.
Eventually, the full-time missionaries will be called home and then the Lord
preaches his own sermons with natural disasters (Brigham Young in Journal of
Discourses, 8:123).
Just because a missionary may not convert, or baptize someone on their mission
doesn't mean he or she is a failure.
Noah likely converted relatively few in his years of preaching (and any he did
left by way of the translated City of Enoch).
The Lord gives everyone a chance to hear the truth in the last days.
41. Salt
Lake City will not be the most wicked city in the world during the last days.
Heber C. Kimball said it would "classed among the
wicked cities of the world."
Source: Deseret News, May 23, 1931.
42. All
Latter-day Saints will not walk back to Jackson County, Missouri in the last
days.
The reality is that some Saints will walk back, but
not all.
Graham W. Doxy, a member of the Seventy, addressed the
myth of all Saints walking back to Missouri in an Ensign Magazine article titled,
“Missouri Myths.” (Ensign, April 1979, pages 64-65.) He stated that it was
logical that a few church members would go back to Missouri to assist in
latter-day preparations, but that there was a scriptural support for a mass
exodus.
Brigham Young stated that the Church would remain in
the Salt Lake Valley forever, if it remained righteous and that just a portion
of the priesthood would go and build up a center stake in Zion, presumably
Missouri. (“Journal of Discourses,” 11:16, from comments made on December 11,
1864.)
Elder Orson Pratt said that not all Saints would
return to Jackson County, but a large congregation would. (“Journal of
Discourses,” 15:364-365, from comments made on March 9, 1873.)
President Lorenzo Snow stated that some Saints would
return to Jackson County in the last days. (“Journal of Discourses,” 18:374,
from an address made on April 9, 1877.)
LOST TEN TRIBES
43. The Lost Ten Tribes are a separate and
unknown group of people.
Some church members incorrectly believe that the Lost
Ten Tribes are Russians, or some other group of Earth-bound people.
However, Elder James E. Talmage taught that the Lost Ten Tribes are hidden away
and an unknown body of people ("Articles of Faith," Deseret News
Press, 1968, page 340).
Joseph Smith taught that these tribes reside in some unknown region of the
north (“Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith," Deseret Book, 1976, Page
85).
44. The Lost Ten Tribes are truly “lost,” as
in living in an unknown place right now and perhaps even the prophet doesn’t
know where they are.
The Lost Ten Tribes are lost unto man, but not God.
That’s what all the modern prophets and church leaders have stated over the
decades. Why the prophet may not even know where they are involves an
experience by the Author. On June 25, 1973, the Author and hundreds of other
departing full-time missionaries were in the Solemn Assembly Hall of the Salt
Lake Temple in a meeting with the Prophet Harold B. Lee and he opened it up to
questions and answers. One missionary asked President Lee where the Lost Ten
Tribes were and the Prophet responded with, “Elder, if they weren’t lost, we’d
know where they are.”
There will be no alcohol during the Millennium. Photograph from Wikipedia Commons.
MILLENNIUM
45. Alcohol will not exist during the
Millennium.
You may not agree with this deduction, but the Author
strongly suspects that alcohol will not exist in the millennium,
after Jesus Christ returns to the Earth and the planet is transformed to
Terrestrial ("Garden of Eden") conditions.
Alcohol is the world's most used/abused and dangerous drug and it is sad for
the so many people who all but center their lives around its use -- at least
socially.
So, those who rely on alcohol had better be prepared for a total lack of the
drug after the Second Coming.
(The consumption of alcohol is against the Church's Word of Wisdom doctrine,
D&C 89.)
In the Garden of Eden, there appeared to be no decay and so it is really doubtful
that the fermenting process will exist then in a Terrestrial type of world.
It is possible a scientist could find another way to artificially create a form
like alcohol then, but that's about it.
Alcohol is logically simply a telestial world substance.
So, there you have it, the ultimate and eternal prohibition is coming!
(Plus, remember: The Second Coming is not the end of the world. It is only the
end of the wicked and the end of wicked practices.)
Source: “Mormon Doctrine,” by Bruce R. McConkie, page
303.
46. No
one will be eating meat during the Millennium.
Meat eating will not exist during the 1,000 years of
peace on Earth. Animals, like lions and tigers, will presumably become
vegetarians and will lay down with sheep in peace. Isaiah 11:7 states that the
lion shall eat straw, like the ox. There is some sort of physical change here,
where everything from bears to man will no longer need or have a desire to be
carnivorous. Hunting will no longer be a sport or allowed and guns will be
unnecessary. What purpose lions, tigers and the like will have then is unknown.
Will they become large pets? Perhaps.
47. Jesus
Christ and other resurrected beings will not live on the Earth during the
Millennium, they will just visit it, when necessary.
The Earth will only be a Terrestrial world during the Millennium.
As such, Jesus Christ and other resurrected beings -- Celestial Dwellers --
will only visit the Earth, as needed, to govern and administer to it. They will
not reside here.
Source: Joseph Smith, in “History of Church,” 5:212.
MISSIONARIES
1946 Missionary Handbook.
48. Full-time
missionaries used to be able to engage in swimming during their mission time.
Why are full-time missionaries in The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints NOT allowed to go swimming?
The myth is that it is because "Satan has power over the
water." Who is teaching young people this incorrect doctrinal reason?
Seminary teachers? Sunday School instructors? Both?
While it is true that all missionaries
cannot go swimming, the Author has different reasons why and believes they hold
up far better than the Satan reason.
The Satan reason is based on Doctrine and Covenants
section 61, particularly verse 19, where "the destroyer" is seen in a
vision riding with power upon the waters.
(Joseph Smith and 10 Elders of the church were traveling in canoes down the
Missouri River when this revelation was received.)
First of all, nowhere in Section 61 is
"Satan" specifically mentioned. Most readers just assume that the
destroyer is Satan, but he is likely not -- and that is the myth that teachers in the church have perpetuated for decades.
In Doctrine and Covenants 105:15, it states:
"Behold, the destroyer I have sent forth to destroy and lay waste mine
enemies..."
Thus, the destroyer is sent directly by God and if he
is Satan (an enemy to God), how can he destroy himself?
So, whoever the destroyer is, it is likely NOT Satan. (It is possible that the destroyer may be nature -- storms, earthquakes -- and the like, which God controls.)
This D&C section also addresses missionaries for
the church, that they are to go two-by-two and prepare for the Second Coming.
Nowhere does it say that missionaries should not go
swimming.
In fact, verse 6 states that "all flesh is in mine hand, and he that is
faithful among you shall not perish by the waters."
If anything, verse 5 states that the Lord has decreed in anger many
destructions upon the waters -- especially "these waters" (the
Missouri River).
Verse 16 is the key verse in Section 61: "And it shall be said in
days to come that none is able to go up to the land of Zion upon the waters,
but he that is upright in heart."
That's likely a prophecy for the future.
--Anyway, a copy of the official "Missionary's Hand Book" of the
Church from 1946, by President Heber J. Grant, addresses missionaries and
swimming.
On page 27 it states, "Mixed swimming should be avoided."
That's all it states about swimming. Swimming was allowed by
missionaries in 1946, just not with females.
The prohibition against missionaries and swimming came about later,
probably in the late 1950s.
In some missions today, like the Hawaii Mission, mission rules clearly state
that the mission's boundaries end where the sand of a beach begins.
However, in other missions, like Oregon, full-time missionaries sometimes
preach at the beach and so all mission rules regarding that must not be the
same.
Thus it is policy, not doctrine why full-time missionaries are not supposed
to go swimming.
-Notwithstanding the 1946 Missionary Handbook also quoted
the late President Joseph F. Smith (who died in 1918): "It is not a good
thing, neither is it at all wise, for our elders to go out on excursions on
dangerous lakes, or streams, or bodies of water, just for fun. They had better
stay away. The Lord will protect them in the discharge of their duties."
Thus, missionaries by an early 20th Century admonition, were advised to not run
rivers or take any pleasure boating excursions on any "dangerous"
bodies of water.
The true reasons why missionaries can't swim are likely two-fold:
1. A rise in immodest bathing suits, starting in the 1950s. (So, it
may really be about "Satan having power over the swimsuit
designers!")
If missionaries can't swim, they generally won't go near the beaches and see
the immodest sunbathers.
2. An increase in missionaries drownings -- particularly in foreign
lands. Elders preach in far away nations and on time off, may spot a neat
little island at the edge of the ocean, and think they should try and swim
there.
Not knowing local dangers or currents, a significant number of missionaries
have drowned in such situations of ignorance.
Swimming pools are relatively safe (though immodest apparel can be there
too and swimmers sometimes drown in swimming pools also), but again a
blanket rule against ALL swimming was applied some 60 years ago to all
missionaries, certainly because of immodest apparel concerns and accident
dangers more than anything about Satan's so-called power over water.
In conclusion: The context of D&C 61 focuses on TRAVEL
upon the water, by boat (not swimming).
Some Church members need to question such prevalent myths, rather than
instantly buy into them, or perpetuate them further.
-Pure obedience-wise, ALL full-time missionaries may NOT go swimming because
that's been the inspired rule for many decades.
(Missionaries are also discouraged from participating in
other risky activities, like rock climbing, due to the danger ...)
49. “Blue Reports” existed for Returned
Missionaries, until at least some time in the late 1970s.
“Blue Reports” were filled out by a mission president
on all returning full-time missionaries and then sent to Church headquarters, a
practice that continued into at least the late 1970s. This card was a
“subjective” review by the mission president. After a missionary was released,
they were sent to Church Headquarters, the First Presidency. The reports were
used as a reference in cases where a returned missionary might seek church
employment, or private employers might ask the Church about a particular returned
missionary in later years.
Ratings on the report were excellent, good, fair or
poor in categories like diction, personality, gospel knowledge,
resourcefulness, making friends, willingness to do missionary work,
trustworthiness and neatness in appearance and dress.
In addition, conformity to mission rules and any known
improper relationships with the opposite sex were included on the Blue Reports.
The Author was only aware of the existence of Blue
Reports because of a personal letter that a former missionary of his mission
received from Elder Marion D. Hanks of the Seventy in the late 1960s – and that
letter was still circulating about the England-Bristol Mission when the Author
served there in the mid-1970s.
Still curious some years later about these Blue
Reports, the Author sent a letter to Elder Hanks asking about them. Soon after,
the Author received a call from Elder Hanks. He said the letter was true, but
was surprised it was still circulating years later. He then said the Church no
longer uses Blue Reports, because they were deemed too subjective and didn’t
allow for the fact that a returned missionary could change and improve behavior
in later years. So, as of the late 1970s, they were discontinued.
Source: Personal telephone call by Elder Marion D.
Hanks, to the author, on July 28, 1986.
NEW TESTAMENT
50. If
you can believe in the Gospel, all things are actually not possible, despite
what a mistranslated New Testament scripture states.
God can do the impossible to us -- heal, restore life,
etc. However, despite what Mark 9:23 in the King James version of the Bible
says about all things being possible to God, or he who believes, that verse was
not translated correctly.
Joseph Smith's Inspired Version restored that verse in Mark to say that we can
do anything God says we can do. Not that God, or we can do anything and
everything.
God doesn't and can't create something from nothing. He reorganizes existing
material; works within his perfect understanding of natural law -- but can't
break those laws himself.
God also won't force us to obey his laws or do anything contrary to the Gospel
principles.
Now, we don't want to bring God down to our level. He certainly can do things
we consider impossible. He's light years advanced of man, but God himself
was once a man like we are now and therein rests our hope of slowly advancing,
precept by precept to be more like him.
Source: Joseph Smith’s Inspired Revision of the Bible,
Mark 9:23.
51. John
the Baptist was actually not the “least in the Kingdom of God.”
Despite what Matthew 11:11 in the King James Bible
states, Joseph Smith taught that what the Savior was really teaching here was:
"He that is considered the least among you is greater than John the
Baptist and that is I myself." (See "Teachings of Joseph Smith,"
pages 275-276.) Christ was speaking to skeptics and answered them appropriately,
that he was greater than John the Baptist, though they considered Christ, the
least in the Kingdom.
52. “Talents” mentioned in New Testament
parables are money, not talents, as in abilities.
Just see any
Biblical footnote and D&C 60:2-3 and D&C 82:18.
53. We should be wise servants, not wise as
serpents.
We should be wise as serpents, Matthew 10:16 in the
King James Bible states. Joseph Smith's Inspired Version of the Bible corrected
this reference to say "wise servants." Makes more sense, since the
serpent was the lone creature Satan could control in the Garden of Eden.
(But note that D&C 111:11 still uses the term
"wise as serpents" and so that must still be correct in certain
usages.)
54. Jesus Christ did baptize some followers
during his Earthly ministry.
According to John 4:3 in Joseph Smith's Inspired
Version of the Bible, Christ did baptize some converts, though not as many as
his disciples did.
55. An unspecified number of wise men
visited Christ shortly after his birth, not necessarily three wise men.
“Some wise men,” or “the wise men” are the only terms
in the New Testament. No number of how many wise men there were is specified.
“Three” just because the traditional number over the centuries.
Source: Matthew 2 and the other accounts of Christ’s
birth.
56. Women were not to
rule in the church during Christ’s Earthly time, not that they could not speak
in the church.
1 Corinthians 14:33, King James Version, states “speak
in the church,” but Joseph Smith’s Inspired Revision changed “speak” to “rule,”
meaning women cannot hold the priesthood, but can speak in Church, though they
can’t govern in the Church.
57. Simon Peter actually wanted to kill a
high priest while trying to defend Jesus Christ, in a New Testament account.
According to Heber C. Kimball, Peter tried to kill the
priest (John 18:10-18), but missed and only took off his ear.
Source: Deseret News, December 2, 1857.
58. Christ taught that some wicked men at
the judgment bar never really knew who he was during mortality, not that Christ
won’t know these men.
Matthew 7:21-23 was rewritten in Joseph Smith’s
“Inspired Revision of the Bible to clarify that it is such evil men who didn't
ever really know Christ. Jesus Christ knows who all men are.
59. A “holy kiss” was not originally stated
in the New Testament.
A “Holy Salutation” is the correct term, used in
Joseph Smith’s “Inspired Revision of the Bible, Romans 16:16. A “salutation is
a gesture or utterance as a greeting.
60. Jesus Christ spoke in parables to hide
doctrine and meaning from the unworthy, not just so a story could have a simple
meaning.
Christ spoke in parables in order to hide the true
meaning of teachings from the unworthy. Parables meant only the spiritually
enlightened listener could understand his sermons. (Inspired Revision, Matthew
13:12, 21:35/"Mormon Doctrine," by Bruce R. McConkie, Bookcraft,
1966, page 553.)
61. The resurrected Jesus
actually didn’t care if Mary touched him, when he appeared to her.
He didn't want Mary to "hold" (or detain
him), according to the Inspired Version, John 20:17.
62. It is actually the “Testimony” of
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament, not their Gospel of,
according to Joseph Smith, in his Inspired Revision of the Bible.
Source: Joseph Smith’s Inspired Version of the Bible.
63. When Satan tempted the mortal Christ,
it was the Spirit of God, not the Devil, who lifted him up to a tall mountain.
According to the Inspired Version, "The
Spirit" lifted Christ up, not Satan (Inspired Version, Luke 4:1-2.
64. There was no corn on the cob type of
corn mentioned in the New Testament. At that time, only the Americas had corn
on the cob.
According to the Later-day Saint Bible Dictionary,
“Seven different words in Hebrew and three in Greek have been translated as
“corn” in the KJV. They are words referring to the cereal grains used for food,
such as wheat or barley. Corn in English refers to the cereal grains most
common in a given region, such as wheat in England, oats in Ireland and
Scotland, or maize (Indian corn) in Australia, Canada, and the U.S. Thus “ears
of corn” in the English of the KJV would be called “heads of grain” in the United
States. Indian corn (maize) was known and used only in the Western Hemisphere
prior to the discovery of America; it is not the corn of the Bible.”
Thus, “corn” is likely grain, when used dozens of
times in the King James Bible.
OLD TESTAMENT
65. One book in the King James Bible is not
inspired scripture.
Joseph Smith’s Inspired Version of the Bible clearly
states that the book, “Songs of Solomon” is not inspired scripture. (It is
probably akin to the Apocrypha, at best.)
66. The Old Testament did not originally
state that witches were to be put to death.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints only believe the Bible "as far as it is translated
correctly" (Eighth Article of Faith).
LDS Church members believe in modern and continual revelation and have
additional Scriptures from God.
Yet, perhaps the worst single word mistranslation in the entire Bible is found
in the Old Testament.
The Kings James Version, Exodus 22:18 states: "Thou shalt not suffer
a witch to live."
The Prophet Joseph Smith did a partial restoration of the Bible in his "Inspired
Version" (also called "Inspired Translation").
Here's what the Joseph Smith version of Exodus 22:18 states:
"Thou shalt not suffer a murderer to live."
One single wrong word may have prompted the Salem Witch trials and related
murders over the centuries.
One single word, if it had been correct, would have also given more support for
capital punishment ... still a hot issue in the 21st Century.
While the Book of Mormon is the best asset to help a person gain a testimony of
the Restoration of the Gospel and that Joseph Smith was a modern prophet of
God, the Inspired Translation of the Bible by Jospeh Smith also proves its
worth as a supplemental testimony builder.
67. Lamb and lion will lie down together in
the Millennium. While that’s true, no such scripture exists that states that
specifically.
"The Spirit of God," a very popular LDS hymn
on page 2 of the current Hymn book, states in verse No. 4:
"How blessed the day when the lamb and the lion shall lie down together
without any ire."
The confusion comes not just from "The Spirit of
God" hymn, but also because many LDS Chapels contain a popular painting
depicting a lamb and a lion laying down together peacefully.
This analysis is not to doubt that the day will actually come in the millennium
when all animals -- and all of God's creations -- will be at peace -- but
simply that after hearing a song so often and seeing a painting can alter one's
memory of what scriptures specifically state.
Yes, the day will come after Christ's return in the Second Coming, that a lamb
and a lion will be able to co-exist peacefully. That is not the issue here.
Isaiah 11:6 (King James Version) mentions a WOLF and a lamb together; and also
a leopard and a kid laying down together -- not a lion.
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down
with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a
little child shall lead them." (Isaiah 11:6)
Isaiah 65:25 has similar wordage.
PIONEERS
The mouth of Weber Canyon.
68. The original group of Mormon Pioneers
didn’t initially intend to enter the Salt Lake Valley by way of Emigration
Canyon, but rather via Weber Canyon.
A Weber Canyon entrance into the Valley of the Great
Salt Lake was the direct access for the Mormon Pioneers and is where they would
have traveled, if they could have.
Weber Canyon was a section of what was then called the Hastings Cutoff. An 1846
map made by T.H. Jefferson identified the Devil's Gate area as "Granite
Canyon."
The wild Weber River roared over rocks in a deep,
narrow crevice at the bottom of Devil's Gate. The canyon was only wide enough
to handle the river, let alone wagons.
Heinrich Lienhard, a frontiersman in Jefferson's
frontier party, described his wagon passage through Devil's Gate as the wildest
part of his journey across the wilderness of the west.
In his diary account for August 6, 1846, he recorded:
Devil's Gate in Weber Canyon today is just an obscure, side road, off the Freeway.
Photograph by Whitney Arave.
"The Weber River had broken down the steep, high
Wasatch Mountains; it was a deep cleft through which the waters foamed and
roared over the rocks.
"We ventured upon this furious passage, up to
this point decidedly the wildest we had encountered, if not the most dangerous.
We devoted the entire forenoon and until fully one o'clock in the afternoon to
the task of getting our four wagons though. . . .
"In going back for each wagon we had to be very
careful lest we lose our footing on the slippery rocks under the water and
ourselves be swept down the rapid, foaming torrent."
That same year, the Allen and Avery group recorded its
passage through the "Granite Canyon" area and for them it required
grueling teamwork and sturdy rope to hoist wagons and oxen through the narrow
passage.
(However, the Granite Canyon name on that early map
apparently wasn't scary enough for the Mormon Pioneers. After all, they
had likely thought that the Devil himself may have stirred people to force them
westward. So, the `devil' was a perfect name for a natural gorge that prevented
safe wagon passage to their promised land -- and it was the more unpleasant
cousin of the "Devil's Slide," 23 miles to the east, that they had
passed by days earlier.)
The legendary Porter Rockwell led some advance Mormon Pioneer scouts in a
survey of lower Weber Canyon.
They found the gorge at Devil’s Gate even worse than
Hastings had described it.
Source: “Pioneers had a devil of a time in Utah,” by the Author, Deseret News,
December 17, 2002.
69. Not one of the original Mormon Pioneers
died en route to the Salt Lake Valley.
All 143 men, three women and two children who left
Winter Quarters on the 111-day, first and vanguard pioneer trek of 1847, made
it safely to Salt Lake City.
Source: Deseret News, July 24, 2008.
The Miles Goodyear Cabin, in Ogden, is Utah's oldest home.
70. The arriving Mormon Pioneers were not
the only white people in Utah territory in 1847.
There were at least six other white men living in the
greater Salt Lake area at the time the first Mormon Pioneers arrived.
Most histories of early Utah would have you
believe that Miles Goodyear was the lone non-Native America living in Utah
territory when the Mormon Pioneers arrived in 1847.
However, there may have been at least FIVE others living in the region before
the pioneers, bringing the total to 6.
Details on these five men are sketchy, but according to a Deseret News article
from Dec. 15, 1906, under the headline of: "Utah Legends, Indians,
Trappers and Pioneers" ...
1. A mountain man, Peg Leg Smith was living in the Bear
Lake Valley (half in today’s Utah and half in Idaho) before the pioneers
arrived there. He told the settlers many Native American tales about Bear Lake
and also operated a trading post at Dingle (Idaho), on the north end of the
valley.
2-3. Two brothers, by the last name of Goodall operated a horse and
goat ranch in the Ogden "Flats" area and had to be bought out too,
like Goodyear did.
William H. Kimball, Heber C. Kimball's oldest son, was sent by Brigham
Young in 1848 to buy out the Goodall's. They apparently had 750 horses grazing
on 10 square miles. Kimball moved the horses to Antelope Island ("Church
Island"). Although no purchase price to the Goodall's was recorded, they
told Kimball that they had secured the land from Mexicans, who had started a
mission there.
4. Barney Ward was also mentioned as another mountaineer who was living in the
Ogden area when the pioneers arrived. He dealt in tobacco and liquor sales,
products not much in demand by pioneer settlers.
(-In addition, Ogden Canyon supposedly originally contained a dugout and a
cabin that was reputed to have been built by Peter Skene Ogden.)
5. Finally, "Daddy Stump," another non-Native American, was
living on Antelope Island when the Mormon Pioneers started exploring the Isle
in 1848. That’s also the first mention of the man. Stump, believed to be a
mountain man and perhaps also known as a bear killer, had built a small cabin
and had a small orchard of peaches on Antelope Island. (Improvement Era
Magazine of 1907.)
Daddy Stump has other historical references, as does Peg Leg Smith, but the
other three men remain mysterious, with the single mention in history. Sadly,
the 1906 Deseret News article did not list its source or sources on the men's
existence. But assuming there is some accuracy to the account, then the area
was certainly not deserted when the pioneers arrived, as is so often
envisioned.
Source: Deseret News, July 21, 2018.
71. Brigham Young did not say “This is the
Place,” when he entered the Salt Lake Valley.
He stated: “It is enough. This is the right place.
Drive on.”
However, there is still some doubt. Jeffrey Carlstrom
and Cynthia Furse, in their book "A History of Emigration Canyon,"
note there is "considerable room for doubt that Young ever made this
famous pronouncement." That's because no firsthand accounts of it exist.
Wilford Woodruff is credited with recounting what President Young said, but
that was in 1880, 33 years after it happened and about three years after
President Young had died.
Other source: “Brigham Young the
Colonizer,” by Milton R. Hunter.
The original "This is the Place" monument, northeast of the larger, newer monument.
72. There is a second This is the Place
monument -- the original version -- much smaller than the modern one, and
located about 400 yards northeast of the larger, newer marker.
This Is the Place Monument is not located exactly
where Brigham Young made his famous statement. Unfortunately, history didn't
leave us with an exact location. However, when the first and the original
monument on the site was dedicated on July 25, 1921, Elder B.H. Roberts, a
member of the Seventy and a church historian, cited a journal of President
Woodruff that "proved conclusively that there can be doubt that the spot
now marked by this concrete monument is very near to the actual place."
The current, newer and much larger monument was placed
in 1947.
Source: Deseret News, July 24, 2009.
There is a "Lone Tree" monument in downtown Salt Lake.
73. The Salt Lake Valley was not a treeless
area, or a place with “one lone tree,” when the first Mormon Pioneers arrived.
There were many trees along the creek beds.
There was a "lone tree" in the
barren Salt Lake Valley when the Pioneers arrived in 1847. It is simply pioneer
legend that paints such a grim picture of the Salt Lake Valley — barren, harsh
and a desert, save a lone cedar tree. In reality, say historians, the valley
was well-watered, with tall grasses and trees along the many stream banks.
"One of the greatest myths of the church is that the valley was total
desolation," said the late Dr. Stanley Kimball, a Utah historian. No
pioneer diary accounts he ever found supported the desolate valley idea.
Most of the paintings depicting the valley when the Mormon Pioneers arrived
look more like the west desert area than the Wasatch Front.
Richard Jackson, professor of geography at Brigham Young University, did
extensive research in the 1970s on what the Salt Lake Valley was really like
when the pioneers arrived.
"Briefly, there was not a lot of timber in the valley according to pioneer
diarists, but there was clearly some, especially along the creeks," he
said.
But regardless, the pioneers did not have an easy time in Utah, and some people
still feel the desert of Salt Lake did "blossom like a rose."
"Settling the Utah area in the 1840s and '50s was a challenge," Glen
Leonard, director of the Museum of Church History and Art, states on the church
Web site, lds.org.
"They had left a lush farm area and came to an arid region. The soil was
good, but the water was scarce. The seasons were short. So, Brigham Young
wisely scattered the people out into small communities so that they had the
natural resources — the water and the soil — and the community resources, the
well-organized communities with different skills and talents, and then he just
challenged them to make the desert blossom like a rose. And they did."
How did the myth of the lack of trees in the Salt Lake Valley of 1847 start?
Richard Jackson, professor of geography at Brigham Young University, said that
idea developed in later years, probably for three reasons:
"First, as the settlers celebrated the 24th of July, the oratory often
included a certain amount of hyperbole about the magnitude of the trip across
the plains, settling and developing the Salt Lake Valley, etc. As with most
reminiscences, the story tends to grow with the retelling, so the Salt Lake
Valley became ever more arid in those accounts," he said.
"Secondly, by the 1850s and 1860s when these myths became common, the only
land not being farmed or built upon was in fact the worst land that was more
arid and so later arrivals concluded that the entire valley found in 1847 by
the pioneers was basically the same as the remaining marginal lands in the
valley.
"Thirdly, as Brigham Young and the leaders encouraged the settlers to go
south to Dixie, etc., the idea that Salt Lake Valley was a treeless desert
implied that the farms and city that the settlers had developed with the help
of the Lord could be replicated in the more marginal sites he was encouraging
settlers to move to," Jackson concluded.
The late Stanley Kimball, a Utah historian, once said he also believed it came
about after the desirable valley filled up — consciously or subconsciously to
foster the idea that it had been tamed and to encourage people to settle in
Dixie and other frontier areas.
Besides paintings, the biggest myth supporter is perhaps the "Lone Cedar
Tree" monument in Salt Lake City, in the median on the south side of the
intersection at 600 East and 300 South.
The Daughters of the Utah Pioneers erected this monument on Pioneer Day in 1934
to honor what was supposedly the only cedar tree in the valley when the 1847
pioneers arrived. Some original pioneers are reputed to have sung hymns and
prayed by the tree.
One problem with that story is that the pioneers followed the Donner Party
trail to about 1700 South, then headed to a small grove of cottonwood trees
near today's 300 South State Street — missing the "Lone Cedar Tree."
Vandals cut the so-called Lone Cedar Tree down on September 21, 1958. A related
controversy ensued with the DUP when the media said the tree's status was a
fraud anyway.
A new plaque was added to the monument in 1960 and is still there today — for
anyone to see and decide from themselves if the tree's legendary status holds
merit.
For historical balance, here's more accounts supporting the Salt Lake Valley as
being a desolate area, when the original Mormon Pioneers arrived:
Not very pioneer expressed excitement over the
first view of the Great Salt Lake Valley in 1847. For example, one pioneer,
Mrs. Harriet Young said, “Weak and weary as I am I would rather go a thousand
miles farther than remain in such a forsaken place as this.” (From "Utah
in Her Western Setting" book, by Milton R. Hunter, page 118).)
After all, none of the previous emigrants to the west
(outside of Miles Goodyear or a few trappers) had thought the Great Salt Lake
Valley was worth settling in. To many, it was a country that God forgot. (From
“Brigham Young the Colonizer,” by Milton R. Hunter, page 11 and page 27.)
Despite all this information, there is a "Lone Tree" monument in Salt Lake City, honoring an old single, pioneer era tree, located at 600 East, between 300 South and 400 South.
Other source: Deseret News, July 24, 2004, by the
Author.)
74. Brigham Young did not deliver the
first ever sermon in Utah Territory, July 1847.
According to the Salt Lake Telegram newspaper of July
24, 1921, it was delivered by Apostle Orson Pratt, on July 24, 1847, soon after
the first group of pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.
Elder Pratt based his talk on two verses from the Book of Isaiah in the Old
Testament, Chapter 52, verses 7-8:
7. "How beautiful upon the
mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth
salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
8. Thy watchmen shall lift up
the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they
shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring
again Zion."
Note that LDS Church President Brigham Young was too
ill that day to give a discourse and only made a few comments after Elder
Pratt's sermon.
Elder Pratt's discourse was an inspiration to the pioneers, since they had all
safely made the trek to the Salt Lake Valley.
(And, on July 24, 1921, some Church members met in Parley's Canyon, named after
Elder Pratt's older brother, Parley, and held a campfire reunion to honor Orson
Pratt and other pioneers. Many of this group were descendants of Pratt
himself.)
75. Handcart travel comprised an extremely
low number of pioneer transportation to Utah.
There were no more than 4 percent of the
estimated 70,000 people who immigrated to Utah Territory between 1847 and 1869
(when the railroad was opened) who came by handcart. Thus, handcarts are not
anywhere near the norm in numbers. Despite this small number, many, many wards
every summer sponsor handcart-trek events for their young men and young women.
Sadly, however, the participants are rarely ever told about the astonishing low
number of handcart using pioneers.
Source: Deseret News, July 24, 2008.
Handcarts are iconic pioneer symbols in Utah, despite their low actual usage, in the old West. This handcart image is used by the Rainbow Gardens Greenery Restaurant, in Ogden.
76. Handcarts themselves didn’t carry
everything a handcart company relied on.
There were ox-driven wagons accompanying all handcart
companies.
All handcart companies traveled with supply wagons that
carried tents, extra food and other provisions too, according to Orton. One
wagon was allocated for about every 100 members of a handcart company.
Source: Deseret News, July 24, 2008, by the Author.
77. No Mormon Pioneer companies ever hired
guides to take them westward.
The Mormon Pioneers universally were unique in one
other way — no Mormon Pioneer parties hired guides to take them west.
Mormon Pioneers did all the advance research they could and then relied in the
church leaders with them for guidance.
Source: Deseret News, July 24, 2008, by the Author.
PRE-EARTH LIFE
78. Satan’s plan as proposed in the
pre-Earth life was a flat-out lie and would not have worked.
Satan simply could not have delivered what he promised
in the Pre-Earth life.
According to Elder Dean L. Larsen, it was all just a
lie. (Ensign Magazine, September 1981, p. 22.)
It was a grandstand play, designed to get attention,
appeal to emotion and encourage the doubtful or undecided Spirits to go along
with.
Satan could not have gotten everyone to follow God’s
commandments by force, since thought would still have been independent.
Compulsion was not a means for true obedience. (That belief was echoed by
Robert Murray Stewart in the Church News section of the Deseret News on March
20, 1937, p.7.)
Furthermore, Satan’s plan was simply a power-grab. He
wanted God’s “honor,” which was his power (Doctrine and Covenants 29:36) and
basically strived to overthrow God the Father. Satan ended up being cast out of
heaven and he took one-third of the host of heaven with him. Logically, if he
had somehow gained God the Father’s power/honor, it likely would not have
lasted long, because the universe is based on law and order. Having none,
Satan’s universe would likely then collapse into total darkness and chaos and
all of man’s progression would be permanently halted forever.
SALT LAKE TEMPLE
The Salt Lake Temple, in a pencil drawing by Steven Arave.
79. The Salt Lake Temple’s original plans
called for two Angel Moroni statues – one each on the eastern and western
spires.
The original plans for the Salt Lake Temple called for
two Angel Moroni statues, one on each end. However, only the east Angel became
a reality. In the "Brigham
Young" room at Cove Fort is an early drawing of the Salt Lake by Truman
Angell (temple architect) that clearly shows angel statues on each end.
80. Elevators were a known mechanical
device when the Salt Lake Temple was built and so no miraculous space was reserved for them.
Rumors still circulate that some shafts in the temple were provided for elevators -- even
before that technology existed. Truman O. Angell, Sr., temple architect visited
Europe in 1856, just when elevators were coming into use there. So, he knew
about them. But it just turns out that the west center tower in the Salt Lake
Temple was a convenient place for two elevators.
Source: The Design, Construction, and Role of the Salt
Lake Temple, by Richard O. Cowan, Brigham Young University’s Religious Studies
Center.
On the Web at:
https://rsc.byu.edu/salt-lake-city-place-which-god-prepared/design-construction-role-salt-lake-temple
SEAGULL MIRACLE
The Seagull monument on Temple Square.
81. Brigham Young was not in Utah Territory
when the seagull miracle happened.
President Young had returned to Winter Quarters and
was only notified of the miracle by a letter.
Source: Encyclopedia of Mormonism, by Richard W.
Sadler.
On the Web at:
https://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Seagulls,_Miracle_of
82. Some church members did not realize the
seagulls eating the grasshoppers was a miracle, until months later, when the
story grew and eventually became a legendary event.
Source: “Was the ‘Miracle of the Gulls"
Exaggerated? LDS Historians Explain,” by Trent Toone, in LDS Living, July 23,
2018.
Mormon Crickets were numerous in Pioneer times on Great Salt Lake marshlands.
83. Other, Anti-Insect Miracles happened in
Northern Utah a few years after the Salt Lake area event.
Perhaps the most famous miracles in Mormon Pioneer
history occurred in June-July of 1848 when the first crops in the Salt Lake
Valley were threatened by a plague of insects, what would later be called
“Mormon crickets.”
Starting in May, the crickets started eating the
wheat, corn, beans, pumpkins, cucumbers, squash, melons and other crops – and
continued to do so for a month.
After many prayers by the pioneers, a white cloud of
seagulls flew in during early June and started devouring the crickets.
However, this was not a one-day event. The birds came
daily for about three weeks, eating insects, drinking water and then
regurgitating before eating more of the insects. The remainder of the pioneer
crops were saved.
This timely appearance of gulls was described in a
letter of June 9 to Brigham Young, who was back East at the time: "The sea
gulls have come in large flocks from the lake and sweep the crickets as they
go; it seems the hand of the Lord is in our favor."
(However, for some pioneer settlers, it apparently
required months of time afterward for this to be heralded as a miracle.)
The Seagull Monument on Salt Lake’s Temple Square
commemorates that event.
However, the early Layton-Kaysville area apparently
benefited from what may also be a similar miraculous event.
Grasshoppers, rather than the more famous Mormon
crickets, caused the majority of the insect damage in pioneer Utah. (Crickets
were hardly a nuisance in Utah after 1850.)
During the summer of 1854, grasshoppers threatened to
destroy all the crops of settlers in the Layton-Kaysville area.
This insect horde rose one morning like a low, dark
cloud. However, huge wind gusts soon came from the eastern canyons and carried
the grasshoppers out over the Great Salt Lake.
Millions of dead insects later washed up on the shores
of the lake and most of the settlers’ crops were spared.
While gusting canyon winds occasionally occur in
winter, early spring or late fall, they are very, very unlikely to happen in
the summer, according to northern Utah weather records.
In fact, historically, this is the lone recorded
canyon wind gusting event in the summer months (June, July and August) for
Davis County. From mid-May to early September, these winds have otherwise never
blown.
The same windy “miracle” also repeated at least twice,
though in Salt Lake County.
A year later, in 1855, in the western area of Salt
Lake County, swarms of grasshoppers also threatened settlers’ crops. Once
again, a providential wind came along and blew the insects into the Great Salt
Lake.
The same thing happened again during 1868 in Salt
Lake.
After noticing the quantities of dead insects in
the lake in 1868, Benjamin LeBaron wrote, "I consider this later
deliverance from the grasshoppers just as great and miraculous as the former
1848 rescue from the ravages of the black crickets."
The years 1854-56, 1867-72, and 1876-79 are believed
to have been the worst years of grasshopper infestations in Northern Utah
during the pioneer era.
Sources: “Encyclopedia of Mormonism;” “Utah’s Weather
and Climate,” by Dan Pope and Clayton Brough; http://historytogo.utah.gov
and “Davis County Land of Peace, Beauty and a Quality of Life,” by the
Davis School District, 1994.
SECOND COMING
A rainbow in Arches National Park. Photo by Liz Arave Hafen.
84. Rainbows are more than just a sign that
God won’t flood the world again, they will also help predict the Second Coming
of Christ.
Spot a rainbow after a rainstorm or by a waterfall and
you will usually simply be amazed by its simple beauty.
Scientifically speaking, a rainbow is an optical/meteorological phenomenon,
where a spectrum of light appears in the air when the sun shines into droplets
of moisture in the atmosphere.
No mystery here. It is a cause and effect event.
But rainbows are one of the greatest earthly signs that God has ever used to
convey his promises.
After the Biblical Great Flood, God declared the rainbow to be a sign that he
would never flood the Earth again (Genesis 9:11-17).
Now whether the rainbow made its first appearance then, or if God simply said
the rainbow, an existing phenomenon, would be his sign, is unclear.
Anyway, the rainbow is one of the simplest and easiest to spot signs of the
impending end of the world ("end of the wicked") in the last days.
Joseph Smith taught:
"The inhabitants of the earth are asleep; they know not the day of their
visitation. The Lord hath set the bow in the cloud for a sign that while it
shall be seen, seed time and harvest, summer and winter shall not fail; but
when it shall disappear, woe to that generation, for behold the end cometh
quickly." (“Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith," page 305.)
Also by Joseph Smith:
"I have asked of the Lord concerning His coming; and while asking the
Lord, He gave a sign and said, "In the days of Noah I set a bow in the
heavens as a sign and token that in any year that the bow should be seen the
Lord would not come; but there should be seed time and harvest during that
year: but whenever you see the bow withdrawn, it shall be a token that there
shall be famine, pestilence, and great distress among the nations, and that the
coming of the Messiah is not far distant." (Teachings of the Prophet
Joseph Smith," page 340.)
So, the year you do not see the rainbow, the end of the world is not far away.
How could rainbows disappear? God withdrew all light for three days following
the crucifixion of Jesus Christ (3 Nephi 8:21) and while that seems
scientifically impossible, it happened.
Perhaps, there's some scientific law he will use to prohibit rainbows.
Otherwise, if there was enough fog, smoke, and/or haze around, that might
prevent rainbows from being seen.
Still, it is not a matter of how God is going to withhold the rainbows, simply
that he will do it.
85. Jesus Christ will be dressed in all-red
attire, not white color at the Second Coming.
Doctrine and Covenants 133:46-48 states of the Second
Coming of Jesus Christ:
“And it shall be said: Who is this that cometh
down from God in heaven with dyed garments; yea, from the regions which are not
known, clothed in his glorious apparel, traveling in the greatness of his
strength?
And he shall say: I am
he who spake in righteousness, mighty to save.
And the Lord shall be red in his apparel, and his
garments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat.”
SIN
86. Sin is rather subjective, based on
circumstances.
According to a blockbuster, but usually unheralded
teaching by the Prophet Joseph Smith:
“That which is wrong under one circumstance, may be,
and often is, right under another. God said, 'Thou shalt not kill'; at another
time He said, 'Thou shalt utterly destroy.' This is the principle on which the
government of heaven is conducted—by revelation adapted to the circumstances in
which the children of the kingdom are placed. Whatever God requires is right,
no matter what it is, although we may not see the reason thereof till long
after the events transpire.” (From “Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,”
page 256, Deseret Book, 1979.)
This is clearly one of Joseph Smith’s greatest ever teachings.
There is probably not one single one of the Ten
Commandments that doesn’t have exceptions to be righteously transgressed,
either from events of Saints in the Standards Works, or in Church History.
Of course, the key is having divine revelation to ever
break them righteously! Joseph Smith’s teaching are not an excuse to break
commandments, but clearly outline that we must have revelation if we are to
always try to do right.
Right and wrong are not black and white and are more
shaded than we imagine. That's the ultimate reason why we should not judge
others ....
Personal revelation is one of the keys to a righteous life.
Latter-day Saint funerals are often held in a decreased member's chapel.
SPIRIT WORLD
87. The Deceased are not truly called “Home,”
despite countless such references in Latter-day Saint funerals.
How can you go “home” to where you've never been
before and to where it is only a temporary residence -- the spirit world? No,
this is a misleading doctrine that is frequently taught at Latter-day Saint
funerals.
(The only support for the spirit world being “home”
would be that a newly decreased person might have many relatives or friends
living there already – and thus the place will feel like “home.”)
88. You can repent in the Spirit World,
although it is much, much more difficult.
A person can repent in the Spirit World. However, Elder
Apostle Melvin J. Ballard said in a talk in the Ogden Tabernacle on September
22, 1922, that it is 10 times harder to repent in the spirit world.
Doctrine and Covenants 45:17 also states that it is a
“bondage” not to have one’s body in the Spirit World.
Source: “The Vision,” by N.B. Lundwall, Bookcraft,
1951, p.46-48.
89. Jesus Christ is not in the Spirit
World.
There was a widower of a few years -- and a member of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – who spoke and reflected on
his wife's passing at a Sacrament meeting that the Author attended. His wife
had said that she looked forward to meeting Jesus in "Paradise" (the
Spirit world) -- and her departed family members.
No one had the heart to correct he, nor his late wife's incorrect understanding
directly.
Yet, a significant number of newspaper obituaries of Church members wrongly
declare that a deceased person has gone back to their Heavenly Father, or Jesus
Christ.
Jesus Christ is NOT present in the Spirit world, nor does he likely visit
there.
Why?
Because he could only spend three days there, as a spirit, after his mortal
death.
It is the world of spirits after all and only spirits can reside or visit
there. All inhabitants do live by faith there, much as they do here. To have
Christ, or God the Father there defeats the purpose of the Spirit world – and
you have to be a spirit to reside or visit in the Spirit World.
Yes, the Holy Ghost and Light of Christ can be felt in the Spirit world by the
repentant, but that's all. Even prayer is likely present in the Spirit world.
No deceased person likely meets Christ or God the Father until they are at the
judgment bar, or after they are resurrected.
90. A deceased person’s memory of life
before birth is not instantly or automatically restored in the Spirit world.
One of the most common myths about the spirit world is
that our knowledge of life before birth is instantly restored after death.
That is simply not true. Think about this, if it were true, why would people in
the spirit world need to be taught the basics of the gospel, for they knew all
this in the pre-earth life and even chose to come to earth to be tested?
Elder Melvin J. Ballard, an apostle from 1919-1939, taught that the dead don't
know any more when they die then they did alive, except that they have now
passed through the process of death.
A popular vintage church video production, "Man's Search for
Happiness," contains the error that knowledge of life before birth will be
restored after death. Yes, it will eventually be restored, but not immediately.
Such restoration is probably based on worthiness.
There is no shortcut to hearing the gospel -- you hear it from the elders in
this life or the next, or not at all.
If you refused to hear the message on earth, it is likely you will not want to
hear it there either.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie also said that the same attitudes, knowledge, habits,
etc. a person has are all carried to the spirit world.
Joseph Fielding Smith also taught that residents of the spirit world can
exercise both faith and repentance. (Church News section of the Deseret News,
January 5, 1935, p. 7.)
Notwithstanding, we all likely speak the same language in the spirit world and
so perhaps the same language skills (Adamic language?) we had in the pre-earth
life are instantly restored to us, though.
91. The Spirit World is located on Earth.
Both Brigham Young and Parley P. Pratt stated in 19th
Century discourses that the Spirit World in actually on Earth, though invisible
and unreachable by man. President Young said that residents of the Spirit World
can see us, but that we can only see them, if the Holy Spirit opens our eyes.
Elder Pratt stated that there is a veil drawn between
the mortal Earth and the Spirit World.
Sources: Deseret News, August 27, 1856, p.195, from a
sermon delivered on June 22, 1856. Also, Parley P. Pratt in “Key to the Science
of Theology,” Deseret Book, 1978, p. 80; Ensign Magazine, January 1977, p.49;
and Doctrine and Covenants 88:25-28.
92. There are only adults in the Spirit
World.
Every resident in the Spirit World is an adult in age
– they are no children, or seniors there. All spirit world residents are
adults, according to President Joseph Fielding Smith, "Answers to Gospel
Questions," 1:60. Even those who died as babes are adult in appearance,
though visions of deceased persons may make them appear as about the age when a
person last saw them on earth.
93. When a person dies, their spirit is
naked, lacking clothes.
When we die, our spirit is naked, yes without clothes!
Just as we entered the mortal world naked, our spirit is initially naked -- and
it appears that someone (perhaps a family member or friend?) is dispatched to
meet a spirit just before he or she enters the spirit world and gives them a
robe to wear.
Source: “Wilford Woodruff, History of His Life
and Labors,” as recorded in his daily journals. Prepared for publication by
Matthias F. Cowley, September, 1909. Reprinted by Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 7th Printing,
1978, 541.
TEMPLE WORK
The Salt Lake Temple.
