General Conference Broadcasts Not Exactly 'Live,' Thanks to High Tech

Newer technology, like mountain top electronics, actually slows down broadcasts slightly.

You may notice this most if you have an older television airing LDS General Conference in a separate room from your newer TV ...

There's a noticeable delay of a few seconds in the newer TVs, vs. the older ones.

Conference listeners to radio will find and even greater delay -- 8 seconds or more.

And, Internet watchers of conference may actually be watching up to a three-minute delay of conference.

What is truly live these days?

The live or real-time broadcasts of LDS general conference aren't truly live or real-time. The only place to experience the conference literally as it happens is inside the Conference Center in Salt Lake City.

That's because the quirks of broadcasting and the Internet create noticeable delays, ranging from a few seconds to a few minutes.

That might seem odd, in this age of high-tech gadgets and available media, when many expect speed-of-light delivery.

However, tune both a radio and a TV at your house to conference and you will have different delays.

In fact, if you have a radio on in one room and a TV on in another nearby room, the disparity in the timing of the broadcasts will be distracting, as TV and radio broadcasts are some six seconds apart.

In the 21st century, so-called "live" TV and radio broadcasts are actually slower than ever.

The delays in modern broadcasting have nothing to do with creating some time to censor objectionable content from a live event at the last second.

"The short answer is digital broadcasting," said John Dehnel, chief engineer for Deseret Media Company Radio, which includes KSL-AM/FM, KSFI, KRSP and the BYU Radio Network. "It takes some time to encode the audio to digital."

Basically, that means the fastest broadcast these days is high-definition television, with only two seconds of delay from the source.

High-definition radio has about an eight-second delay.

"The longer delay for radio is in part a deliberate attempt to make HD robust in a mobile environment so that the audio can be buffered in the receiver and not drop out if there is a momentary loss of signal," Dehnel said. "In analog, it might fade or get static, but in digital it's either perfect or it does not work at all."

If you don't think HD radio's delay is long enough, there's a huge delay for the streaming signal over the Internet for general conference — 2½ to three minutes of lapse.

"There is approximately a three-minute delay between the television broadcast and the Internet streaming versions of general conference," said Cody Craynor, a spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "The delay is due to file conversion necessary to stream conference proceedings over the Internet."

So, it all boils down to a slower but clearer signal in the 21st century.

It turns out even the Nauvoo Bell ring on KSL Radio isn't live anymore, because of that technical delay in the HD signal.

"In order to make sure it rings exactly at the top-of-the-hour second, we now play a recording of the bell controlled by a GPS clock instead of putting the live line from Temple Square on the air as we used to," Dehnel said.

(-Adapted from a Deseret News article by Lynn Arave, on Oct. 1, 2010.)

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Journal of Discourses: Treasure Trove of Doctrine

The Journal of Discourses is not some shady, unreliable source of doctrine.

  After all, what's not to like about the equivalent of vintage General Conference talks from more than a century and a half ago?
 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 in the 1800s either!
 Talks were often impromptu in the 1800s. I doubt most speakers of the era even had a written text. (Imagine how your own Sacrament meeting talk might go if did not have written notes, or notes on your smart phone!)
 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.

I've even noticed that in the past 10 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/original 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 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.
  I've read all 26 volumes of the Journal of Discourses.
  I've also made my own index of each volume, since the official index for the Journal of Discourses is very lacking.
  Sure, I came across some "there is life on the moon" kind of things talked about therein, but if you've read the Standard Works and 
have some solid doctrinal foundation, then the J.D. would do nothing but expand your gospel understanding.
I've compared many of the key Journal of Discourse talks, particularly those by Brigham Young, with the Deseret News and found no disagreement between the two.
However, I once in a while 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.

  Some on social media have taken potshots at the J.D., in the summer of 2026, comparing them to the Apocrypha. That is an inaccurate comparison. I've read and studied both and the Apocrypha is extremely poor in both doctrine and history.

 The J.D. is a good supplemental history source, a good look at the lives of Latter-day Saints in the second half of the 19th Century.

Some on social media have made claims that many of the talks were exaggerated in their prophetic nature by the scribes. I've found no evidence of that. If it did happen, it was rare. 

As stated earlier, Brigham Young read what the Deseret News published, He was a busy man, but the Deseret News was the only media around for decades in Utah Territory. (And, the newspaper's original motto, was "truth and liberty.")

  President Young's clarifications I found occasionally in the Deseret News, a week or so after some discourses, proves he was paying attention to what the scribes wrote. If a scribe was embellishing talks, I think President Young would have noticed and even had them removed.

   Some on social media also preach that studying the Journal of Discourses will downgrade your integrity of Brigham Young. Again, I found the opposite. In one line of a sermon, President Young might be explaining some deep doctrine and in the next he's talking about farming, the lifeblood of pioneer life back then.

  I've concluded that when President Young delved into some strange doctrines, he knew what he meant, but that meaning didn't always come across clearly in his discourses. (Again, today's General Authorities have weeks to prepare General Conference talks; some even have script writers/advisors; and they have days after a discourse was given to still make changes before the permanent printed/on-line version of their talk is set.)

  Brigham Young, like any man, had his own opinions and he was only a prophet when acting as such. Move him into the 20th or 21st Century and I'm certain he would not speak off the cuff, or speculate as much.

(You also should not try to bury your own history, but learn from it, though you need to learn to read the J.D. in the context of the 1800s...)

  Today's church leaders have also found it wise to not speculate like their 19th Century counterparts did in the Deseret News/Journal of Discourses.

  Yes, some critics of the Church might use strange ideas from the J.D. against the Latter-day Saints, but the J.D. has more solid doctrine therein than oddball ideas.

  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.

  (I worked at the Deseret News for 32 years and had access to its archives and so I know the newspaper's history -- and I spent my extra time for two decades scouring in the newspaper's vaults.)
  So, keep reading the Ensign and General Conference talks, today's counterpart for the old Journal of Discourses.
  Yet, if you have the time, you will not regret reading the Journal of Discourses, for the doctrinal rewards they offer.

  Yet, note that the J.D. are a place for advanced doctrine, not a place for gospel beginners. A Latter-day Saint ideally needs to know basic church doctrine and have at least some years in the church under their belt, BEFORE that launch into the Journal of Discourses.

   The J.D. printed books are a lot easier reading than the cumbersome newspaper microfilm reading too!
  Note that while virtually all of the past 3 or so decades of the Deseret News are on-line and searchable by Google, the Journal of Discourse's era of the Deseret News issues are not -- and may never be.
 (That's probably because Google-searchable would make some of the off-the-wall segments of the Journal of Discourses too easily found by church critics. Also, old Deseret News of the early 20th Century used to contain lists of excommunicated members and some church leaders have indicated they don't want their descendants finding an ancestor's name on those lists. Hence the blackout on old Deseret News editions.)

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

Why The 'Intellectual Reserve' Copyright'?

WHY does the LDS Church have an "Intellectual Reserve, Inc." copyright on its manuals and other publications?
This name replaced "Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" at the beginning of the 21st Century, likely around 2001 or 2002.
Nothing to worry about here.
A bunch of church attorneys chose the name and  purely for  legal reasons to keep up with the times.
Despite the "Sunstone-ish" sounding copyright, there's nothing to read into here.

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

God Does Intervene In Our Lives

THIS life isn't set in stone --- there is always hope.
Even though God the Father likely knew  if we would be faithful and return to his presence or not before we were born, I strongly believe that outcome isn't set in stone.
Here's why.
God can see the future as it will be and I've always wondered if he ever intervenes and allows the possibility of changing the original outcome.
I believe we have our free agency to choose, but at times God will inspire and/or humble us so that we have time to reflect and consider a difference course of action that could ultimately change what will happen.
If this wasn't true, then why come to mortality in the first place, if God knew already if we would only fail or succeed as he could see into the future?
Sure you might need to have a physical body, but otherwise there's no reason to come to Earth if there no chance for a different outcome.
But I think because God does intervene to some degree, stopping short of taking any of our personal free agency away, that the outcome can be changed at many different points in our lives.
Thus, this means there is a reason to live a mortal life. The outcome is not set or certain yet. We repent or change the course as we listen to the spirit.
This hope alone is worth God letting us live our lives to truly prove if we are worthy to return to him.
(Note that this a different look on the subject of a similar blog posting I did int the past.)

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

It's "Nigh" unto Kolob, Not "Hie" unto Kolob

OK, my eyebrows raise when I see the title of a song in the LDS Hymn book, "Hie unto Kolob." (page 284).
Its title is simply NOT doctrinally correct.
(Some LDS artwork is not doctrinally correct either, so this should come as no real surprise.)
Based on the Book of Abraham 3:1-4, 9, the song takes an incorrect title.
"Hie" is not "Nigh."
"Hie" in Old English means "to quickly, hasten, hurry," according to Webster's Dictionary. "Hie" is NOT found in the Book of Abraham.
"Nigh" means "nearly, almost," according to Webster. "Nigh" is found in the Book of Abraham.
"And thus there shall be the reckoning of the time of one planet above another, until thou come nigh unto Kolob, which Kolob is after the reckoning of the Lord's time; which Kolob is set nigh unto the throne of God, to govern all those planets which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest."  (Abraham 3:9).
That's what the scriptures states, "nigh" twice.

Brother Phelps may have aided the Prophet Joseph Smith in the translation of the Book of Abraham, but he indirectly helps to perpetuate an incorrect belief among LDS Church members today.
Phelp's song essentially says to hurry to Kolob, as if Kolob is the eternal goal of church members.
The problem is that I feel that most church members incorrectly believe Kolob is WHERE God actually dwells.
In fact, Kolob is simply the name of a great star that is NEAREST where God dwells (Abraham 3:3) and not actually the place where God dwells.
(We are given no specific name as to God's residence, except perhaps highest level of the Celestial Kingdom.)
I feel Abraham chapter 3 is more than an astronomy lesson.
The Lord is saying to draw near unto him, like Kolob is.
And, anyone who strives for eternal perfection -- required for becoming like God -- knows you can't hurry, or hasten that process. It take time and goes precept by precept.
Also, a man CAN'T be perfect in this life. (Jesus Christ was the only perfect person to have ever lived on Earth.) So, the Lord may also be implying to become as "nearly, almost" as perfect as you can in this life -- thus coming nigh unto Kolob.
That's my two cents on that subject.

--In another beef about an LDS hymn, a second song is "Come, Come, Ye Saints" (LDS Hymns Pages 30 and 326.)
A key phrase in that rousing Mormon pioneer rendition is "All is well, all is well."
Why is that particular phrase in that song?
Had the hymn's writer, William Clayton, not read the Book of Mormon enough or what?
"Wo be unto him that crieth All is well!" (2 Nephi 28:25).
Was Clayton oblivious to that verse or what?
Why did he have to use the phrase exactly as mentioned in the Book of Mormon in the hymn?
Clayton's original name for the hymn was actually "All is Well," later changed to "Come, Come, Ye Saints." So, at least that's one improvement in the song over the years and likely evidence that I'm NOT the only church member to have a problem with the "all is well" phrase.
Now I'm not saying for things NOT to well with the Mormon Pioneers, early church members,or even today's Saints.
Clayton COULD HAVE used a different word, instead of "well" in the song.
"All is clear"; "all is serene"; "all is great"; or "all is best" could have been possible substitutes.
Normally, as in "nigh unto Kolob," it may be best to quote scripture, but not when it is clearly a negative, as with 2 Nephi 28:25.
-Hymn No. 7, "Israel, Israel God is Calling" is another LDS Song that seems to have a problem. Clearly, the most key words in this rousing hymn are: "Come to Zion." That should be the song's title, not "Israel, Israel God is Calling."
--There is already a precedent for doctrinal changes in LDS Hymns. "I am a Child of God" had a one word change from "know" to "do," after a suggestion by then Apostle Spencer W. Kimball.
--I discussed doctrinal problems with the two hymns talked about above with a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He figures it was all in the smoother kind of wording as to why the songs came out the way they did. 

-And here's another hymn that has been altered:

An LDS Church committee changed some wording in the rousing hymn, “Praise to the Man,” in 1927.

Original verse:

“Long shall his blood, which was shed by assassins, Stain Illinois while the earth lauds his fame.”

Switched to: “Long shall his blood, which was shed by assassins, Plead unto heav’n, while the earth lauds his fame.”

 -In addition, the hymn "Praise to the Man" was originally written as a funeral eulogy and was, at first, NOT a rousing hymn at all. It was only years later when a Scottish tune was used, that it became an upbeat, marching hymn.

--UPDATE: After further thought and also after considering a reader's comments below, here's a clarification:

The LDS realm of arts, music and artwork, isn't always strictly doctrinally correct and may not have to be.
There's a "correct for its purpose" doctrine in the LDS Church and the arts probably fall under that umbrella.
While some hymns may not be strictly doctrinally correct, they can still elevate a congregation spiritually.
In the art realm, the Statues of the Angel Moroni commonly found may or may not be accurate likenesses of Moroni himself, but they still stand for much truth and are powerful symbols of the restoration of the Gospel.
The world of arts often takes certain liberties, it has to, to even be created.
Songs aren't necessarily written to be doctrinal essays and probably should not be analyzed as such. They are rousing musical renditions to honor God and evoke his Spirit. That is their purpose. Absolute correct doctrine in a hymn is a priority much further down the line of importance ...

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







 

A More Authentic Rendering of Jesus Christ at the Second Coming

I prefer my doctrine to be as accurate as possible.

Hence, I took my limited -- make that very, very limited artistic ability -- at making the famous LDS Church Second Coming of Jesus Christ drawing in my home more authentic by coloring Jesus to have red apparel.
That's how Christ will look when he comes again (Doctrine and Covenants 133:48).
No, I don't care for watered-down doctrine.
That's why my favorite Standard Work is the Doctrine and Covenants.
No parables, no allegories, just straight-forward doctrine.
Now the red does make the painting stand out more in the room, but is that bad?
(Note that some of these Second Coming Christ paintings do have Jesus wearing a red-colored sash at his waist, so there is some small consideration to doctrinal accuracy with the work.)
In fact, it was a non-LDS artist, commissioned by the LDS Church, who drew this famous painting. So,  it is amazing how well it turned out anyway, considering it is one of the most used depictions of Jesus in the church today.

Note that a red-colored and fully doctrinal painting of Christ at the Second Coming is likely too startling for use in Temples. A painting doesn't have to be fully doctrinally correct to invite the Spirit ....

UPDATE: Nov. 24, 2012: My wife made me move this doctored painting from the downstairs family room into my den. She doesn't care for it.

UPDATE 2017: Occasionally, Church members offer to buy this hastily done, modified piece of work. (Of course, it is NOT for sale. Anyone could color their own, better one -- and the author of this blog didn't create the original painting.)

UPDATE 2020: The doctored, with red, painting on this blog, now appears in various Facebook posts and has taken on a life of its own. 

 

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

The Unknown Wild Card in Earth Sciences

                                              -NASA photograph, from Wikipedia Commons.

MAN thinks he knows a lot about science. At least as far as the basics go.
But, no he does not!
Man might have landed a small car size rover successfully on Mars, but he has no true concept of Earth science.
According to LDS doctrine, the entire planet earth is one huge, single living thing.
(D&C 88:25-26).
Factor that into today's science!
You can't because God isn't letting man understand that, but it is the wild card in earth science.
No matter how many natural disasters man can learn about as being possible, he doesn't generally understand that God is in control of the entire planet, through the Earth, a living thing itself, that does abide the law of a Celestial Kingdom.

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

What Will the Millennium Be Like?

The Millennium is the promised 1,000 years of peace, where wickedness will vanish and Christ will reign upon the Earth.
The Earth returns to Garden of Eden conditions and guns, for one thing, won't exist for long in the Millennium!
Scripture/doctrinal searching and extrapolating, here are some probable changes I suggest MAY COME in life and the earth during that 10 century period:
--Farming will be the universal trade. Families will ONLY eat what they grow (Isaiah 65:18-23), but then with Garden of Eden conditions (no weeds, perfect weather), that shouldn't be a problem, as everyone will be green thumbed!
But this also means that there may be no urban areas anymore. People will live on small farms or have gardens very nearby.
Sprinklers and irrigation may cease to exist. Weeding and fertilizers will not exist either. There will be no deserts (D&C 133:29).
--Temple work will be the other predominant profession. Only those still mortal can do temple work, but resurrected beings will return to provide exact family ancestries. Errors in past temple work will be corrected. Adjustments in the eternal marriages of some will undoubtedly be done.
--Pornography, risqué paintings, movies, videos and the like will all be destroyed. (Every corruptible thing will be consumed, D&C 101:24). How much of your video/book collection will survive? The Las Vegas Strip will likely go up in flames, but there will be new scripture to read from the Lost 10 Tribes. Weapons of war will be made into tools (Micah 4:3).
--Meat eating will not exist. Fast food will be gone. 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? Cows can give milk; sheep wool, but snakes? Death will be in the twinkling of an eye, followed by a resurrection of likely all people and animals.

--There will be no disease. People will live to 100 years old and then die and be resurrected in the twinkling of an eye (Isaiah 65:20, D&C 101:29-31). No CDC will be needed. No immunizations will be needed and the common cold will be "cured."
--Boat travel may no be necessary. All land will be brought together to one single mass, even islands cease to stand alone. (D&C 133:23). The City of Enoch will return and may rest in the Gulf of Mexico, if you believe some theories.
--There may not be any mountains or valleys (Isaiah 40:14, Doctrines of Salvation 2:316). That means skiing or snowboarding or snow may cease to exist. There may just be a continual summer season, no winter or fall for sure.
--The skies will change. The very earth, or maybe solar system, will move nearer the Kolob realm, thus changing most constellations in the sky. But you may not see stars anyway, because it may be light 24 hours a day (Zechariah 14:6-7).
--Professions that will likely cease to exist: butchers, cattle ranchers; zookeepers; fishermen; gunsmiths; policemen; soldier; attorney; reporter (at least investigative); dentist; many doctors; psychologist; loan officer, lobbyists, spy, king/queen/dictator; mortician; grave digger; salesman; weatherman, English or Spanish teacher; plumber.
--The government will be a theocracy, with Christ as the head. No more democracy.
--Animals may be able to communicate with man. After all, the serpent spoke in the Garden of Eden.
--People will really rest on the Sabbath.
--There will be no Aaronic Priesthood. (D&C 13).
--There will initially be those of other, non-LDS faiths on the earth, though all must accept the truth by the Millennium's end (History of the Church 5:212).
--There will only be one language spoken — the Adam Language (Zeph 3:9). Perhaps the veil will be lifted enough for everyone's original language to return.
--A continual resurrection will take place, where those in the spirit world who accept the truth and are worthy are brought forth. (D&C 88:99).
--Prayers will be answered quickly (D&C 101:27).
--I'm unclear on transportation and what will exist. There's no way polluting gasoline-powered vehicles will remain, but what?
--How many homes, buildings will there? With security and perfect climate and no darkness, some may be unnecessary. (There were apparently no structures in the Garden of Eden!) Will there be bathrooms? The usual bodily waste may not be part of a terrestrial body. Fat and baldness may vanish as well.
-They will likely be NO alcohol, as the decay and fermenting processes that exist now will have vanished forever.
-There will probably be no different races. All will be white. (2 Nephi 5:21).

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

Pre-Block Time Recollections

Block time" meeting schedules in the LDS Church began more than 32 years ago on March 2, 1980.
Many are too young to even recall that, or weren't even born then …. But this was one of the most significant changes ever in the LDS Church.
Consider this: By my recollection, you spent 4 1/2 to 5 hours in church meetings each Sunday BEFORE the block time schedule came along.
Priesthood was 8 a.m.-9:30 in many wards and Sunday School went from 10-11:30-ish.
(I recall you rushing home as a teenager to grab some breakfast and help get the rest of the family ready for Sunday School.)
Then, you came back at 6 p.m., or so, for a sacrament meeting the routinely went 90 minutes or more -- there was little direction on when the meeting should end.
Today you spend 3 hours only in regular meetings under the block time, or about 40 percent less.
--As I was researching block time I realized my wife's stake, Ogden East, was one of the pilot program stakes and so it actually began block time almost a year earlier in 1979.
--Two significant church milestones were November 1989, when the church discontinued its budget donations from members; and November 1990, when it equalized the costs of full-time missionary service for ALL missions (except senior missions).

(Note: The photo above shows the old wooden junior Sunday School pulpit (cira 1950) that existed in my home ward as I grew up in the pre-block time era. This pulpit has since been donated to a city museum.)

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

My Ward's Best Example

THE then oldest member of my ward, Elizabeth Hess, died Jan. 3, 2010 at the age of 84.
"Beth" was always a great example — upbeat, faithful and always doing what she should.
When she died, she was praying and kneeling along the side of her bed. So, even in death, she set a great example.
The next time I'm too lazy to kneel and say my prayers, I need to recall Sister Hess, who never felt too tired to do so.

Fascinating Church Trivia

OK, let's get this straight -- this isn't a gripe session, or an anti-Mormon article on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
It is simply a collection of some unusual trivia, if you will, of things I have discovered over the years about what has to rate from the most unusual church on the planet:
Fascinating Church trivia -- (some of it unique content to this article):

-The Church Office Building in downtown SLC, was originally proposed to have 38 floors, that number to honor Joseph Smith's total years of life. However, heating and design, plus cost, lowered the total floors to 28 only.

-Joseph Smith didn't go down without fighting at Carthage jail, despite what some movies or accounts depict. Clearly, he had a gun and shot some of his assailants before he died. Just read the footnotes to official church history for the complete story.

-There is ANOTHER Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The small, "Strangite" church, mainly in the Wisconsin area, is a breakoff from the original Church, but has legal rights to the title written in this paragraph. Note there is no dash in Latter Day in their title or a beginning "The."
I dare you to go to Google and search for "Strangite" and click on their Web Site to see that almost identical church title pop up.

-Check out the copyright on most printed materials or other media and you will see the name Intellectual Reserve Inc. To some, that name may be shades of Sunstone, but it is a name the church started using early in the 21st Century as a legal requirement and no, the church leaders didn't choose the name, some church attorneys did.

-Ensign Peak, located just north of downtown Salt Lake City, is probably the LDS Church's most sacred mountain, a Mormon version of Mount Sinai.

-Not one of the original and first group of Mormon Pioneers who entered the Salt Lake Valley on Juny 24, 1847, died en route.

-The Seagulls and the cricket event in Utah not only happened when Brigham Young had traveled east and was not around, but this happening was apparently not considered a miracle until weeks or months afterwards.

-There was no "lone tree" standing in the Salt Lake Valley when the Mormons arrived. There were many other trees standing along creek banks. However, there may have been a single cedar tree standing not far from the center of Salt Lake City. The lone cedar tree has a special monument to its honor, located at about 600 E. and 300 South in Salt Lake City.


-The Mormon Pioneers came through Emigration Canyon and into the Salt Lake Valley. Why that route? Because of Devil's Gate, a rugged and narrow geographical feature only a few miles east of the mouth of Weber Canyon. Advance scouts for the pioneers were considering coming through Weber Canyon, but Devil's Gate halted that idea and caused the detour to East Canyon and then Emigration. A wagon train had actually made it through Devil's Gate a year or so earlier, but was bogged down a lot.

-What are "Blue Cards"? They were reports that mission presidents completed on every LDS missionary until sometime in the late 1970s. They were a subjective report on the missionary's attitudes and work. They were accessed later, if the missionary applied for employment with the church, or the church needed to provide a reference on a particular former missionary. A former LDS Seventy told me the Blue Cards were discontinued, because they were too subjective. What he didn't tell me was if all the old cards were kept and are still referred to at all.

-Do you subscribe to the Salt Lake Tribune, or read it on-line? Back in the 1890s, just having a subscription to the Salt Lake Tribune was grounds to hold an excommunication hearing on a church member, as the newspaper was that anti-Mormon in its early years.

-The original plans for the Salt Lake Temple called for 2 Angel Moroni statues, one on each end. However, only the east Angel became a reality. In the "Brigham Young" room at Cove Fort is a drawing by Truman Angell that clearly shows angel statues on each end.

-If someone is excommunicated 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. So, it has gone from too public to perhaps a much too private knowledge policy today.

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

The Simple Truth About the Creation of Man

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.
I say baloney. 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, I'm sure.)
I 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; J.D. 11:122; 9:282).
At another time, President Young said God the Father has a dual capacity for procreation (Deseret News Sept. 4, 1872; J.D. 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 J.F.S. 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.

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

27 Myths Held by Some Church Members

Here are 27 gospel myths some LDS Church members commonly believe erroneously:

(If more church members would read more than just the Book of Mormon over and over each year, they would not keep repeating most of these and other myths!)
1. Cain is bigfoot. He is simply not bigfoot, unless God is a liar. God said in Moses 5:40 that Cain could be killed. So he wasn't made immortal or translated. Thus, he could not have survived old age or the Great Flood and furthermore, Moses 5:47-48 said Lamech killed someone and it could likely have been Cain.
2. Adam and Eve were placed on earth during sixth day of the creation. D&C 77:12 clearly states it was on the SEVENTH DAY for their arrival.
3. The day-by-day sequence of events relating to the creation of the world in the Temple endowment account and the accounts of it found in the standard works are identical. No, the sequence of days in the creation are different in the temple than the scriptures. Elder Bruce R. McConkie noted that in the Ensign magazine, June 1982, P. 11 and said those who attend the temple frequently will know the "why" for these differences.
4. Jesus Christ did not baptize anyone while he was in mortality. 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.
5. Jesus Christ forgave universally while he hung on the cross. No, he only referred to the soldiers who crucified him in the reference -- Joseph Smith's Inspired Version, Luke 23:35. He's yet to forgive the Jews who killed him.
6. Joseph Smith never ordained a successor to himself. He did. He ordained Hyrum Smith, though Hyrum would not leave his side and was also killed. See History of the Church 6:546.
7. Joseph Smith did NOT defend himself at his last stand in Carthage Jail. He did do so. He had a pistol and one account said he shot 4 times and brought a man down every time. See History of the Church 6:607-608 and 6:617-618. Brigham Young later said Joseph Smith wounded 3 of his assailants (HC 7:31).
8. This is NOT the wickedest of all earths. It is, see Moses 7:36.
9. There is progression from kingdom to kingdom in the eternities and/or the 3 kingdoms just proceed at different speeds/locations on the same track of progress. False. Joseph Fielding Smith said the three degrees of glory are on separate tracks. You cannot progress from kingdom to kingdom in the eternities. See Doctrines of Salvation 2:73, 288; D&C 131:1-4.
10. If "thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." (Mark 9:23). No, Joseph Smith restored that scripture to its correct meaning in his Inspired Version -- "If thou wilt believe all things I say unto you, this is possible to him that believeth." This means everything God says you can or should do is possible, not simply everything in the universe is possible, if you believe.
11. "They were called home." That's a common LDS funeral statement. However, how can you go home to where you've never been before and to where it is only a temporary residence -- the spirit world?
12. Kolob is where God dwells. That's incorrect. Kolob is only said in the scriptures (Book of Abraham Facsimile explanation No. 1) to be nearest to the residence of God.
13. Hypnotism for entertainment is OK. No, the official church policy states: "The use of hypnosis under professional supervision for the treatment of diseases or mental disorders is a question to be determined by competent medical authorities. Church members should not participate in hypnosis for the purposes of demonstrations for entertainment." (See Deseret News Nov. 6, 1999).
14. The Journal of Discourses and Mormon Doctrine are unreliable gospel sources. False. Both works have now been quoted in recent priesthood lesson manuals in the 21st Century. They do contain opinions and are not standard works, though. The Journal of Discourses is essentially the sermons from the church's early brethren in Salt Lake reprinted from the Deseret News, their original source.
15. Salt Lake City will be the wickedest city in the world in the last days. False. Heber C. Kimball said it would "classed among the wicked cities of the world." (Deseret News May 23, 1931.)
16. The U.S. Constitution will hang by a thread in the last days and church will save it. There is no first hand account of how Joseph Smith said this -- it is all recollections only. The version I prefer 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. See Deseret News Jan. 13, 1858, or Journal of Discourses 6:152.
17. Three wisemen visited the baby Jesus in the manager. Three is just the traditional belief. The scriptures do NOT mention an exact number.
18. John the Baptist is the "least" in the kingdom of God. False. Even though it states that in Matthew 11:11. 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.)
19. "Talents" mentioned in the New Testament are abilities. False, they are money. Just see any Biblical footnote and D&C 60:2-3 and D&C 82:18.
20. Simon Peter only wanted to cut off a high priest's ear trying to defend Jesus Christ. No, according to Heber C. Kimball, Peter tried to kill the priest, but missed and only took off his ear. (See Deseret News, Dec. 2, 1857.
21. We should be wise as serpents. (Matthew 10:16). Joseph Smith's Inspired Version of the Bible corrected this reference to say "wise servants." Makes more sense, since the serpent was the ONLY creature Satan could control in the Garden of Eden. (But D&C 111:11 still uses the term "wise as serpents" and so that must still be correct in certain usages.)
22. Christ taught that some wicked men at the judgment bar he won't know, even though they prophesied and cast out devils in his name (Matthew 7:21-23.) False, Joseph Smith's Inspired Version rewrote the verse to clarify that it is such men who didn't ever really know Christ.
23. Women were not to speak in churches in Christ's time (1 Corinthians 14:33). False. Joseph Smith's Inspired of the Bible states that women were not to RULE in the church. Thus, they could speak.
24. The Book of Abraham, Book of Moses and Genesis comprise THREE different versions of the creation of the world. Technically false. The Book of Moses is simply an extraction from the Genesis in Joseph Smith's Inspired Version. It supercedes that source.
25. Joseph Smith saw his late brother, father. Mother and Abraham and Adam already in the Celestial Kingdom. False, this was a vision of the future. See "Answers to Gospel Questions 1:48 or Church News Jan. 5, 1937, p. 7.
26. Christ will be dressed in white at the Second Coming. False, he will be wearing red. See D&C 133:45-51.

27. You can't repent in the spirit world. False, you can, but it is more difficult. See D&C 45:17 and "The Vision," where Elder Melvin J. Ballard said in a talk in the Ogden Tabernacle on Sept. 22, 1922, that it is 10 times harder to repent in the spirit world.

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

Are Ghosts Real?

LIKE the Bigfoot and UFO phenomenon, there is certainly something out there that could be characterized as ghosts or spirits.
However, in LDS doctrine, these can't possibly be deceased people. Ghosts as the world call's 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. Some 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," 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 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 either good or evil people linger around earth after their death.
Worse yet is if they could haunt a place for years or come back whenever they felt like it, but they can't.
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. 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 means from this earth. 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 contact 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.

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

Do UFOs Really Exist?

       "Aliens" and UFOs in Legoland California's "Miniland," almost hidden in a Las Vegas Representation.

UNIDENTIFIED Flying Objects ("UFOs") have received lots of notice in recent decades. Anything that's a mystery to man catches the fancy of many people.
For the atheists, the "God is an astronaut" approach fits the bill, with UFOs used to explain away deity.
For others, it may simply be a quest to try and find evidence of UFOs.
Aside from errant, high altitude weather balloons or top secret government aircraft (as the Stealth bomber certainly might have appeared as a UFO to many before it was publicly unveiled), can UFOs really exist?
There's something out there flying around that people keeping seeing — it's not all from their imagination.

 The  first "Enterprise" ship in Vulcan, Alberta, Canada, a small town themed after "Star Trek."

For the Latter-day Saints, what might a UFO be? There are some possible answers that fit into the gospel framework.
Scripturally, "there are no angels who minister to this earth but those who do belong or have belonged to it." (D&C 130:5)
This seems to me to totally preclude any "aliens" from being angels.
However, God has created other earths and all "inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God." (D&C 76:24).
Humans are his standard, made in his likeness (Genesis 1:17). So, non-human aliens as intelligent beings would NOT exist then, except in science fiction.
These worlds were also created by Jesus Christ and are saved by his same redeeming power. But, Christ died on this earth, the wickedest of all God's creations (Moses 7:36) and even many non-Christians accept that Christ was at least a historical figure in earth's history.
Yet, what about these other earths? Christ's atonement still redeems the people there and so what do they know of him? Their scriptures must at least mention another planet, our earth, where he died for the sins of all. They know of us.
Since ours is the wickedest earth and focused on weapons and warfare, we might have the best weapons, but what about other technology?
Could one of these other earths be very far advanced in say space travel, because they are more righteous and haven't wasted all their time and efforts on war?
If so, that would be the first possibility to UFOs. Are they resident humans of other earths come as a pilgrimage to see the wickedest earth, the one planet where Christ, who is also their Savior was born in mortality, died and was resurrected? Perhaps.
These people seem to simply be observers, who don't harm or threaten people. Crop circle markings and occasional, unexplained animal mutilations are among the only physical traces attributed to UFOs (and those evil twists could be more like Satan's power manifested than that of aliens).
Actual abductions of people are more likely fabricated tales, or the unreal experience of mentally ill people.
Another possibility of UFOs fitting into the gospel is if angels and exalted beings do travel in such vehicles and they are occasionally glimpsed.
Do celestial beings need vehicles to travel in?
There are references in the Old Testament to celestial "chariots" (Isaiah 66:15, Jeremiah 4:13).
In 2 Kings 2:11, "a chariot of fire and horses of fire" were used to take Elijah to heaven (translate him). Unless that is pure symbolism, it does imply a vehicle was used. How might a person in ancient times describe a flying vehicle? They knew chariots, but they did not know space vehicles.
When God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith, they didn't need a vehicle of any sorts, at least for short range travel. Neither did the Angel Moroni.
Another possibility for UFOs in the gospel sense is that they could be coming from the City of Enoch or the Lost 10 Tribes. Both these are to return to the earth in the last days. Would they have scout ships here first?
Neither of those two lost groups of people are likely on earth, at least not in this dimension. So, them being off planet, it does make some sense that they are scouting around.
If they physically live on another planet, they may have vehicles and those could be far advanced of anything the earth has.
Otherwise — without explaining UFOs away as "other earth" visitors, UFOs could be some sort of tool by Satan to lead us away.
Some people do spend much of their life seeking UFOs, a distraction from the gospel and serving others.
Is the rise of UFOs somehow related to the world's increasing wickedness and that Satan and his hosts can somehow grandstand some physical signs in the sky because of that?
The Scriptures do talk of signs and wonders in the heavens before Christ returns. (D&C 45:40).
Could UFOs be some part of that prophecy? Perhaps.
Of course if you believe in UFOs abducting people, then that's certainly a sinister side to UFOs, but why the Lord would allow Satan and his demons to do that kind of kidnapping is not logical.
So, unless UFOs are pure apparitions, there are humans piloting them and they could be connected with another earth, the lost 10 tribes, or City of Enoch.
And, it is only the unwise person who simply believes UFOs don't exist at all.

Eight Improper Things to Do in Sacrament Meetings

OK, some courtesies and guidelines of conduct for use in church meetings just aren't taught today, like they should be.

Here are 8 guidelines I have for Sacrament meeting conduct:
1. Don't let your children keep and play with the sacrament cups. Besides the noise, there's the principle of sacred usage.
2. If you walk out of the chapel during the sacrament services, don't return while it is still going on. Likewise, don't try to enter a chapel while the actual passing of the sacrament is underway. It is distracting to others and is simply common sense not to intrude on such a sacred rite.
3. Don't let the door slam, if you do leave the chapel. Help it slowly shut, quietly.
4. Don't go in and out multiple times in a sacrament meeting, or let your children do that. Again, it is distracting and disturbs reverence. Better to stay in the foyer, if you have to leave/return more than twice. (I counted one man and his child leave and come back in the chapel 11 different times during one recent sacrament meeting.)
5. Do not, I repeat do not, ask the congregation to turn to a scripture during your sacrament meeting talk! The brethren have often said not to do that and yet some must think they are an exception to that, despite that it is a noisy and disrupting practice.
6. Take care not to let your young children mangle the hymn books.
7. Strive to teach your children to take the sacrament with their right hand. Parents should be the ones to ideally teach that, not others.
8. Don't let children play with nor eat out of noisy paper or plastic wrapped containers -- and clean up after your kids after they eat in the chapel. (I've seen too many bishops in a ward, or the ward that meets afterward, who have to vacuum the chapel after a service, with a little hand vac...)

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