Mormon Studies Commons^™

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.

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 …

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.

A History Of Nahom, Warren P. Aston

BYU Studies

Around 700 BC, a wealthy man in southern Arabia donated three limestone altars to a temple dedicated to Ilmaqah, the moon god. Inscribed on each altar was a text identifying him as the grandson of Naw'um of the Nihm tribe. The three altars were unearthed in 1988 by German archaeologists amid the ruins of the Bar'an temple near Marib, in modern Yemen. They provide the earliest known reference to the Nihm, who today, nearly three millennia later, retain the name and are one of Yemen's largest tribes.

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 …

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 …

Understanding Christian Baptism Through The Book Of Mormon, Noel B. Reynolds

BYU Studies

Early Christianity saw a wide proliferation of theories and practices concerning baptism, and now many Christians, including Mormons, commonly understand it as a means to repent and wash away one's sins. But the Book of Mormon prophets taught that baptism is a covenant and a witnessing to God that one has already repented and commits to follow Jesus Christ, and that sins are remitted by the Holy Ghost.

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 …

The Beginnings Of The International Teacher Education Program (Itep) In The Church Schools Of The South Pacific, Dennis A. Wright

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints1 sponsors elementary and secondary schools for students in Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Kiribati. As a support for the teachers and administrators in these schools, the Church provides in-service and professional development opportunities through the International Teacher Education Program (ITEP). This service is currently provided through Church service missionaries appointed because of their professional credentials in teacher education.2 As adjunct faculty in the School of Education at Brigham Young University-Hawaii (BYUH)3, ITEP missionaries teach accredited classes from the BYUH teacher education curriculum. As a result, faculty members in the Church schools have the …

Lorenzo Snow At Lahaina 1864

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Tuesday, March 29. Elders Ezra T. Benson, Lorenzo Snow, Joseph F. Smith, William W. Cluff and Alma L. Smith sailed from Honolulu on the Schooner “Nettie Merrill”, Captain Fisher, for Lahaina, on the Island of Maui, a distance of ninety miles from Honolulu.

Afterward

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

During the 2012 MPHS conference on Lanai and Maui a couple of questions arose that weren’t answered at the time, but apparently later have been.