Mormon Studies Commons^™

Tempering: Of Tree Houses And Tragedies, Kylie N. Turley

BYU Studies

This personal essay recounts a mother's worst nightmare: her seven-year-old son's 22-foot fall from a tree house onto a railroad tie, resulting in multiple skull fractures and serious brain trauma. The essay, however, is more than a recitation of the ride in the ambulance, the short stay in the emergency room, and the helicopter trip from Provo to Salt Lake City. The author delves into her own feelings and gives a candid, even brutal, self-analysis of her response to the unfolding tragedy: "They say you can tell who a person really is in a crisis. If they are right, then …

The Right Place, Sally Stratford

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Surviving By Faith: German Latter-Day Saints And World War Ii, Lynn M. Hansen, Faith D. Hansen

BYU Studies

There were more than ten thousand Latter-day Saints in Germany before World War II. Lynn M. Hansen and Faith D. Hansen were sent in 2008 as missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to gather oral histories of Mormons who had lived through World War II.

Rabbi, Where Dwellest Thou?, Mark D. Bennion

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Joseph Smith Papers. Manuscript Revelation Books, Facsimile Edition, Robin S. Jensen, James B. Allen, Robert J. Woodford, Steven C. Harper

BYU Studies

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, our most precious founding documents are the handwritten manuscripts of the revelations that constitute the scriptures. However, like so many old manuscripts, those that are still extant are not available for public scrutiny, as constant handling could damage and perhaps even destroy them. The next best thing would be a near-perfect, full-size, full-color facsimile that could be examined at will by anyone. That is what the Church Historian's Press has provided with the publication of two manuscript revelation books dating from 1828 to 1834; these books were the basis for the …

Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul Of Mormonism And Parley P. Pratt And The Making Of Mormonism, Matthew J. Grow, Gregory K. Armstrong, Dennis J. Siler, Edward A. Geary, Terryl L. Givens

BYU Studies

Parley Parker Pratt (1807-1857) was among the most talented and influential figures in the formative period of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Apostle, missionary, theologian, poet, polemicist, pris!oner, explorer, polygamist, and finally, in the view of many, martyr. Pratt was born in central New York State to Jared Pratt--a weaver thrown out of employment in his trade by the Industrial Revolution--and his wife, Charity. Like the Prophet Joseph Smith, who was two years his senior, Parley P. Pratt grew up in a family on the margins of the rural economy. Jared Pratt moved from place to place …

Who Chose The Gospels? Probing The Great Gospel Conspiracy, Lincoln H. Blumell, C. E. Hill

BYU Studies

In Who Chose the Gospels? Probing the Great Gospel Conspiracy, C. E. Hill, professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, challenges the seemingly pervasive view in scholarship that it was not until the fourth century, when Christian "orthodoxy" began to be firmly entrenched, that the four canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were selected by the church and raised to a status above all other competing Gospels. Hill argues that while this paradigm has become increasingly widespread in scholarship and is often propagated by the media or in popular culture (as in Dan Brown's The …

The Mormon Menace: Violence And Anti-Mormonism In The Postbellum South, Patrick Q. Mason, Heather M. Seferovich

BYU Studies

Relatively few stories in late nineteenth-century Mormon history are more riveting than those from missionaries serving in the American South. A handful of legendary Mormon personalities served there, such as J. Golden Kimball, B. H. Roberts, and John Morgan. There are countless inflammatory threats of violence, hundreds of instances of physical assault, and even a few murders. Although tragic on many levels, such violent elements are often the foundation of successful films, plays, and books.

Scribal Culture And The Making Of The Hebrew Bible, Karel Van Der Toorn, Robert L. Maxwell

BYU Studies

Karel van der Toorn, president of the University of Amsterdam and author of numerous books dealing with aspects of the Bible and ancient Israel, claims to have been writing an introduction to the Bible when he discovered that he was writing an altogether different book--an exploration of scribal culture in the Near East as a means to better understand the making of the Hebrew Bible. The developments he studies will be particularly interesting to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, since he explores the generations surrounding the Babylonian exile, including the time of the migration of …

The Lonely Polygamist, Brady Udall, Angela Hallstrom

BYU Studies

Brady Udall's The Lonely Polygamist, published in 2010, arrived amid a wave of pop-culture interest in the polygamist lifestyle: HBO's Big Love was gearing up for its finale; TLC's reality show Sister Wives had just hit the airwaves; and real-life stories of Warren Jeffs, child brides, and FLDS compounds were common tabloid fare. Although Udall had been at work on his novel for many years before polygamy became a hot cultural topic, some skeptical readers--Mormon and non-Mormon alike--wondered if the novel's intentions were more sensational than literary. Once reviews began rolling in, however, it became clear that The Lonely Polygamist …

To The Peripheries Of Mormondom: The Apostolic Around-The-World Journey Of David O. Mckay, 1920–1921, Kaitlyn S. Hedge, Hugh J. Cannon, Reid L. Neilson

BYU Studies

An around-the-world journey made by an Apostle may not be something extraordinary today, but in 1920 it was monumental. Hugh J. Cannon's To the Peripheries of Mormondom details the historic trip of Elder David O. McKay--the first Apostle to make a journey of this magnitude and to visit most of the places he did. He and Hugh J. Cannon were called on a one-year fact-finding mission to visit the Church's non-North American congregations and to study the customs and needs of the people at each place. This mission was the beginning of a major push toward the globalization of the …

Mormons And The Grand Army Of The Republic, Kenneth L. Alford Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Civil War veterans, like most military veterans, enjoyed continued association following the war. The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) veterans’ organization was established in 1866 and grew to be a large and politically powerful organization. This chapter by Kenneth L. Alford provides an overview of the GAR’s history in Utah with an emphasis on relations between Latter-day Saints and the GAR.

Maui

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Maui is the second largest island in Hawaii and is basically two volcanoes, Haleakala and Puu Kukui with a connecting central valley in between. In the early years of the LDS mission in Hawaii the greatest success in terms of baptisms seems to have been on Maui. In 1853 out of 17,574 people on Maui over 1000 were LDS.

An Interview With Barnard Stewart Silver

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

An Interview with Barnard Stewart Silver (Great-grand nephew of George Q. Cannon)

Born March 9, 1933, currently living in Holliday, Utah

Lived in Lahaina, Hawaii from 1963-1966 as a research engineer in conjunction for the Pioneer Sugar Mill.

Interviewer: Shannon Lee Kanekoa

Date of Recorded Telephone Interview – April 22, 2012

SLK: “Brother Silver, will you tell us about your adventure when you decided to follow your great, great Uncle George Q. Cannon’s footsteps, over 150 years ago, and climb up through the Olowalu canyon and over the West Maui Mountains down into Wailuku?” BSS: “Gladly. After studying the history …

Lorenzo Snow Drowned In Lahaina Harbor (From W.W. Cluff’S Journal)

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

On the 29th of March (1864) we sailed for Lahaina, on the schooner Nettie Merrill, Captain Fisher, for the island of Maui, a distance of about ninety miles from Honolulu. On the morning of the 31st of March, we came to anchor about one mile from the mouth of the little harbor of Lahaina.

Pools Of Living Water: No Longer A Thirsty Land?, Bruce C. Hafen

BYU Studies

St. George native Bruce Hafen tells how the settlers of this southern Utah town shaped and were shaped by the harsh terrain. His ancestors, who were among those Mormon pioneers who settled here, brought with them principles of faith, sacrifice, and hard work. It is crucial that today's people pass those principles to future generations through example and sharing family histories. Hafen compares the southern Utah desert landscape to Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia, especially as both are changed by rare occasions of rain that create "pools of living water" (D&C 133:29). This talk was presented at the annual meeting …

Baptism In The Early Church: History, Theology, And Liturgy In The First Five Centuries, Everett Ferguson, Noel B. Reynolds

BYU Studies

A Restoration emphasis on baptism has distinguished the teaching and practice of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1829 to the present. In contrast to many Christian denominations, the Church does not condone infant baptism sprinkling, nor does it accept baptisms by other Christian groups that do not have the authority restored by John the Baptist to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. A further critical distinction is their insistence that baptismal ordinances are necessary for salvation. Nevertheless, Latter-day Saints are not completely alone in all their views; the Campbellite Churches of Christ also see themselves as a …

Lahaina

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Lahaina was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaíi from 1820-1845. Government functions and the royal palace was at Mokuula, an island in a fish pond, now a park at the corner of Front Street and Shaw Street. From 1819 to after the U.S. Civil War Lahaina’s economy centered around the whaling industry. Whale ships would winter here and resupply and recuperate from whaling in the North Pacific. As whaling declined the Pioneer Sugar Mill was Lahaina’s economic engine from 1860 to 1999 along with a pineapple packing plant. Protestant missionaries from the ABCFM were invited to establish a mission …

Waikapu

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

It was also at Waikapu, that the LDS doctrine that the island peoples are descendants of Abraham through Lehi and are heirs to all the blessings of Abraham and his posterity was revealed through Cannon. This doctrine has been accepted by Latter-day Saints ever since, but the fact that had its pronouncement through him was not known until Cannon explained this to the Saints at Waikapu on December 28, 1900. President Samuel Woolley wrote that President Cannon “told them they were of the seed of Abraham and he knew it because the Lord told him so at Lahaina.”1 Waikapu is …

Pulehu

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Pulehu Chapel, Pepper Tree and Kula Monument On the slopes of Haleakala is the community of Pulehu. Located there is a small wooden chapel which is probably the oldest LDS chapel in Hawaii. This little chapel is near where some of the first baptisms in Hawaii took place. “This property came into the hands of the Church when Kiki the daughter of Kaala, through a proclamation dated July 16, 1903 conveyed two acres of a former three acre parcel to the Church ‘for . . .the good works and advancement of the gospel of the kingdom of Jesus on this …