Digital Commons Network^™

Weaving, Christine Bird

BYU Studies

Morning enters and splits the Hogan

and she wakes from dreams of mountains,

hungry for offerings tall for maize

her eyes hold visions until she sees

patterns her mother taught her

Embracing Our Highest Worship: Some Thoughts On Our Approach To The Temple, Tyler Johnson

BYU Studies

I understate the matter when I say the temple strikes different Church members differently. I have friends who entered the temple for the first time many years ago and felt immediately at home. Indeed, they resonate with President Henry B. Eyring, who once said, “The first time I walked just a few feet into the temple I had the feeling that I had been here before. In an instant, the thought came to me that what I recognized was a sense of peace beyond anything I had felt before in this life, but that I seemed to recognize, and almost …

Building An Innovative “Latter-Day Saints Without Borders” Organization, Warner Woodworth

BYU Studies

This article is a reflection and a call to action for many readers who may share a concern about how to reduce human suffering and empower the poor around the world. It is an attempt to describe stories of Latter-day Saints who became social entrepreneurs by laboring to practice our religion—that is, people willing to help the poor, feed the hungry, serve the homeless, and bless the sick everywhere. Attending sacrament meetings on Sundays, accepting a Church calling, doing weekly temple service, being a neighborhood ministering brother or sister, holding daily prayer and scripture reading—all are well and good. Yet …

Both Things Are True By Kate Holbrook, Katie Lewis

BYU Studies

Kate Holbrook was a professional historian (PhD, Boston University), a gospel scholar (MTS, Harvard Divinity School), a mother of three daughters, and a champion of Latter-day Saint women’s voices. She worked for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the managing historian of women’s history and edited several books in her efforts to amplify women in the Church. Before Holbrook’s life ended, Rosalynde Welch from the Maxwell Institute asked Holbrook if she would provide her own voice as well. Both Things Are True is Holbrook’s collection of personal essays edited and compiled by Rosalynde Welch, Jana Reiss, Jenny …

“It Must Needs Be”, Eric Dahlin

BYU Studies

After speaking to his son Jacob about Jesus Christ’s redemption of mankind, the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi declares, “It must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things” (2 Ne. 2:11). We often use the word opposition colloquially to explain the difficulties or challenges that we or others encounter. When others experience troubling times, we frequently, as well-intentioned members of the Church, remind them of this sentiment. Our aim is to provide solace for the one who is suffering by pointing out that facing opposition is a common feature of life (even if normalizing the suffering may …

Coming And Going To Zion: An Analysis Of Push And Pull Factors Motivating British Latter-Day Saint Emigration, 1840–60, Samuel Benson

BYU Studies

In 1863, acclaimed British writer Charles Dickens boarded a New York–bound emigrant ship docked at Liverpool. He was not a passenger but an observer; the subjects of his study were more than eight hundred Latter-day Saint emigrants aboard the ship Amazon. Dickens’s stated purpose, as he later wrote in The Uncommercial Traveller, was “to bear testimony against them if they deserved it,” but to his surprise, he instead found “the pick and flower of England.” Dickens lauded the Latter-day Saints’ politeness and their “aptitude for organisation,” and he praised their leader, Apostle George Q. Cannon. By the end …

Hope On The Hill, Miranda H. Lotz

BYU Studies

My children were grassy and wet that early fall day as they rolled down the hill over and over again. They giggled and slid down the muddy slope. This was not quite the experience I hoped to give when I dragged them from the suburbs of Washington, D.C., up to rural New York, but they seemed more pleased with this outcome than any other. Rain drizzled, and trees hung on to their green in a last attempt at modesty before their gorgeous reds and oranges were revealed.

Your Daddy Or Your Father?— Mimetic Desire Versus Christian Fatherhood, Bryce Dixon

BYU Studies

“The Yankees are my Daddy,” the Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez famously announced following the loss of some critical baseball games to their New York City rivals. The idiom “Daddy” refers to a victor’s domination over a loser in a competition. The winner becomes the Daddy, and the loser the submissive child. Ironically, a Red Sox player, David Ortiz—nicknamed “Big Papi,” or “Big Daddy” in Spanish—became the Yankees’ “Daddy” when his batting heroics led the Red Sox to a miraculous comeback win over the Yankees in the 2004 playoffs, reversing the “curse of the Bambino” that was believed to …

"Show Them Unto No Man", Barry R. Bickmore

BYU Studies

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) who attempt to educate themselves about the history of their religion can sometimes be confronted with a bewildering array of interpretations made by historians who range in perspective from traditional believers to atheists and include numerous variations in between. When asked about the origins of such discrepancies, the historians will naturally refer to biases exhibited by the others and perhaps even to their own possible sources of bias.

A Close Look At Scriptural Teachings Regarding Jesus Feeling Our Pains As Part Of His Atonement, Scott C. Woodward

BYU Studies

Scriptural teachings regarding the Atonement of Jesus Christ represent the most important and cherished doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Elder Richard G. Scott emphasized its importance, stating, “The atonement of Jesus Christ is the single most significant event that ever has or ever will occur.” Elder Neal A. Maxwell called it “the central act in all of human history” and “the hinge on which all else that finally matters turned.” And Elder Bruce R. McConkie declared it to be “the center and core and heart of revealed religion.”

The Book Of Mormon Art Catalog, Jennifer Champoux

BYU Studies

You can learn much about a society from its religious art. Compare, for example, two images of Christ’s descent from the cross—one a Counter-Reformation Flemish painting and the other from just twenty years later in nearby Protestant Amsterdam. In the earlier piece, Peter Paul Rubens (fig. 1) creates a scene of movement, drama, vivid color, and swirling drapery and depicts the body of Christ as muscular and heroic. In the second, by Rembrandt (fig. 2), we see a somber, quiet, darkly monochromatic scene and Christ’s frail, sagging body. How might we account for such different visual interpretations of this pivotal …

End Matter

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

What If I’D Not Been Raised To Know You?, Darlene Young

BYU Studies

I think I would have noticed.

Mary’S Assumption, Christopher Bissett

BYU Studies

On resurrection morning

surely He appeared to you,

His mother.

Mormon Envoy: The Diplomatic Legacy Of Dr. John Milton Bernhisel By Bruce W. Worthen, Matthew B. Christensen

BYU Studies

Mormon Envoy: The Diplomatic Legacy of Dr. John Milton Bernhisel by Bruce W. Worthen is an exploration of the life and diplomatic career of Dr. John Milton Bernhisel, a prominent—though perhaps lesser known—figure in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Worthen’s research and analysis shed light on Bernhisel’s role as a diplomat and advocate for the Latter-day Saint community during a important period in American and Utah history.

Restless Pilgrim: Andrew Jenson’S Quest For Latter-Day Saint History By Reid L. Neilson And Scott D. Marianno, Matthew B. Christensen

BYU Studies

Restless Pilgrim: Andrew Jenson’s Quest for Latter-day Saint History, written by Reid L. Neilson and Scott D. Marianno, is a captivating biography that delves into the remarkable life and passionate quest of Andrew Jenson, an assistant church historian of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from 1886 until his death in 1941.

Was Joseph Smith A Money Digger?, Steven C. Harper

BYU Studies

Was not Jo Smith a money digger?” It’s a legitimate, frequently asked question from Joseph Smith’s day to ours. An early Latter-day Saint newspaper, the Elders’ Journal, asked and then answered that question in a pair of articles published in 1837 and 1838. The first article teased readers with a list of provocative “questions which are daily and hourly asked by all classes of people whilst we are traveling,” then promised that answers would follow in a subsequent issue. The second article answered candidly: “Yes.” Joseph Smith was a money digger, meaning that he dug for buried treasure. “But,” …

Being Latter-Day Saints (1841–1857): Four Matriarchs In The Centreville, Delaware, Branch, Marie Cornwall

BYU Studies

After Joseph Smith established The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he began sending missionaries to the eastern states. It did not take long before small branches began popping up in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Delaware. While many of the new converts joined with the main body of the Saints, first in Missouri and later in Nauvoo, others remained in their communities. With few exceptions, much of the history of the Latter-day Saints focuses on the migrations to Nauvoo and settlements in Utah. Available histories offer few details about community life among Latter-day Saints who remained where …

Full Issue

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Approaching The Tree: Interpreting 1 Nephi 8, Edited By Benjamin Keogh, Joseph M. Spencer, And Jennifer Champoux, Sydney Gee

BYU Studies

Approaching the Tree: Interpreting 1 Nephi 8 is a collection of essays and artwork about Lehi’s dream compiled by Benjamin Keogh, a PhD candidate in systematic and historical theology at the University of St Andrews; Joseph M. Spencer, an associate professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University; and Jennifer Champoux, the director of the Book of Mormon Art Catalog. It focuses on “providing original readings” of 1 Nephi 8 from a variety of scholars and artists (xi).

Puritans, Pagans, And Imperfect Christmas Gifts, David F. Holland

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Early American campaigns against Christmas illustrate both the irrepressibility of the impulse to celebrate Christ and what is lost when we reject the good that comes from suspect sources. Both lessons point us toward the Savior’s gracious acceptance of our own imperfect offerings.

Teaching And Researching Revision: Introducing A Tool To Extract Edits From Word Documents, Matthew Baker, Jordan Smith, Scout A. Mcmillan

Faculty Publications

As instructors consider the technologies that will disrupt the future of business communication, writing tools enhanced by artificial intelligence (Al)-such as ChatGPT -are probably at the top of the list. Researchers have already begun proposing teaching strategies to overcome the challenges and embrace the opportunities of Al. For example, one study analyzed the performance of Al-generated business writing (AIAfnan, Dishari, Jovic, & Lomidze, 2023). Based on evaluations produced by human graders and plagiarism-detection software, the researchers recommended that business writing instructors use casebased assignments and adjust rubrics to more heavily weight content that Al fails at generating well (e.g., detailed …

Explaining Racial Disparities In Personal Bankruptcy Outcomes, Bronson Argyle, Sasha Indarte, Benjamin Iverson

Faculty Publications

We document substantial racial disparities in consumer bankruptcy outcomes and investigate the role of racial bias in contributing to these disparities. Using data on the near universe of US bankruptcy cases and deep-learning imputed measures of race, we show that Black filers are 21 and 3 percentage points (pp) more likely to have their bankruptcy cases dismissed without any debt relief in Chapters 13 and 7, respectively. We uncover strong evidence of racial homophily in Chapter 13: Black filers are 10 pp more likely to be dismissed when randomly assigned to a white bankruptcy trustee. To interpret our findings, we …

Fintech Lending With Lowtech Pricing, Mark J. Johnson, Itzhak Ben-David, Jason Lee, Vincent Yao

Faculty Publications

FinTech lending—known for using big data and advanced technologies—promised to break away from the traditional credit scoring and pricing models. Using a comprehensive dataset of FinTech personal loans, our study shows that loan rates continue to rely heavily on conventional credit scores, including 45% higher rates for nonprime borrowers. Other known default predictors are often neglected. Within each segment (prime/nonprime) loan rates are not very responsive to default risk, resulting in realized loan-level returns decreasing with risk. The pricing distortions result in substantial transfers from nonprime to prime borrowers and from low- to high-risk borrowers within segment.

Who Invests In Crypto? Wealth, Financial Constraints, And Risk Attitudes, Darren Aiello, Scott R. Baker, Tetyana Balyuk, Marco Di Maggio, Mark J. Johnson, Jason Kotter

Faculty Publications

We provide a first look into the drivers of household cryptocurrency investing. Analyzing consumer transaction data for millions of U.S. households, we find that, except for high income early adopters, cryptocurrency investors resemble the general population. These investors span all income levels, with most dollars coming from high-income individuals, similar to equity investors. High past crypto returns and personal income shocks lead to increased cryptocurrency investments. Higher household-level inflation expectations also correlate with greater crypto investments, aligning with hedging motives. For most U.S. households, cryptocurrencies are treated like traditional assets.

Measuring State And Trait Attention Control Using Mouse Movements, David W. Wilson, Jeffrey Jenkins, J. S. Valacich

Faculty Publications

Attention is a scarce resource in an increasingly distracting world. Although computing devices might well be blamed for much of the distraction we experience, these devices also afford an opportunity for feedback and improvement, as seen in a variety of contexts. This paper provides initial evidence that mouse movement data can be used to measure users’ attention control. Attention control refers to the ability to maintain top-down attention to goal-relevant stimuli and resist the distracting influence of irrelevant stimuli competing for attention. During a controlled experiment with conditions of varying levels of distraction, we captured participants’ mouse movements to determine …

The Critical Need For Human Capital Measurement Standards And Transparency In Healthcare, Heather Whiteman, Solange Charas, Hieu Bui, Lee S. Webster, James Gaskin

Faculty Publications

Despite long histories, the disciplines of healthcare performance analytics and human capital analytics followed parallel but separate tracks during the 19th and 20th centuries. Little has been done to integrate these two analytic disciplines to improve the delivery of medical care and the sustainability of healthcare organizations. Today, there is an increased demand for healthcare to meet the aging world population, spiraling healthcare costs, and a shortage of human resources to meet patient needs. It is imperative that healthcare professionals apply innovations to explore and optimize value from a combined discipline of healthcare human capital measurement and reporting.

Utahns Sound Utahn When They Avoid Sounding Utahn, Joseph A. Stanley

Faculty Publications

Today’s sociolinguistic variable: realization of post-tonic, unstressed /tən/ – e.g. mountain, button, kitten, satin – Hereafter, a Wellsesque inspirated label: MOUNTAIN – Three main variants:

1. [tʰɨn] • aspirated alveolar stop + reduced vowel + nasal • AmE citation form, formal, careful • Probably accessible by most speakers.

2. [ʔn̩] • glottal stop + syllabic nasal • AmE standard, casual, typical. • The most common for probably all speakers.

3. [ʔɨn] • glottal stop + reduced vowel + nasal • Non-mainstream: found in Utah, New York, and scattered elsewhere (Roberts 2006, Freeman et al. 2012, Eddington & Brown 2021, Davidson …

An Analysis Of Ukrainians’ Language Attitudes And Ideology: A Conflict-Catalyzed Identity Shift, Kateryna Kravchenko, Joseph A. Stanley

Faculty Publications

Literature Review:

• Positions of Russian language have traditionally been strong
• “The State has to ensure the comprehensive development and functioning of the Ukrainian language in all spheres of social life throughout the entire territory of Ukraine” (Constitution of Ukraine, art. 10)
• The majority of Ukrainians (74%) have never experienced discrimination against Russian speakers by Ukrainian speakers, and 67% have never experienced discrimination against Ukrainian speakers by Russian speakers (Masenko, 2009, pp. 117-119).
• After 2014, slight changes in attitudes: more positive views towards Ukrainian, worsening of attitudes towards Russian (Kulyk, 2016)