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Making Friends Down Under: The Beginnings Of Lds Missionary Work On Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia, 1961, Fred E. Woods Apr 2011

Making Friends Down Under: The Beginnings Of Lds Missionary Work On Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia, 1961, Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

The year 2011 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the beginnings of LDS missionary work on Thursday Island. On this jubilee occasion, it is fitting to ask how the message of Mormonism came to this tiny Australian isle and how American Mormon missionaries adapted to a region far removed from their culture and homeland. Using journal entries, letters, and interviews from the first three full-time elders to preach on the island, it is possible to sketch a portrait of what these young men experienced.


The Circumference Of The Apostleship, Richard Bennett Jan 2011

The Circumference Of The Apostleship, Richard Bennett

Faculty Publications

In Robert Bolt's classic drama A Man for All Seasons, the ever-principled and incomparable Thomas More, England's stout defender of the Holy Catholic faith, responded with unflinching conviction when pressed by the Duke of Norfolk about the reasonability and historicity of the Roman Catholic claim to priesthood legitimacy. "The Apostolic Succession of the Pope is--Why, it's a theory yes; you can't see it; can't touch it; it's a theory. But what matters to me is not whether it's true or not but that I believe it to be true, or rather not that I believe it, but that I believe …


Making Friends In Missouri: Telling The Steamboat Saluda Story And Its Aftermath, Fred E. Woods Sep 2010

Making Friends In Missouri: Telling The Steamboat Saluda Story And Its Aftermath, Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

The infamous "Extermination Order" issued October 27, 1838, by Missouri Governor Lilburn W. Boggs caused thousands of Latter-day Saints to flee the state and seek refuge in Illinois. Throughout the harsh winter of 1838-39, many Latter-day Saint families traveled to Missouri's eastern border (some 150 miles) in carts and wagons and on foot. While most crossed the Mississippi River by ferry at Quincy, some voyaged by riverboats from Richmond, Missouri, to the Quincy region in Illinois.


Wilford Woodruff And The Rise Of Temple Consciousness Among The Latter-Day Saints, 1877-84, Richard E. Bennett Jan 2010

Wilford Woodruff And The Rise Of Temple Consciousness Among The Latter-Day Saints, 1877-84, Richard E. Bennett

Faculty Publications

Historical evidence demonstrates that during the time Wilford Woodruff served as president of the St. George Temple, 1877-84, a profound change of attitude and a new understanding toward temple work developed among the Latter-day Saints. These years--highlighted as they were with completion of the St. George Temple; the introduction of endowments for the dead; the canonization of section 110 in the Doctrine & Covenants; and the construction of the Salt Lake, Manti, and Logan Temples--were critical to the formation of a new and rising temple consciousness and a growing sense of uniqueness among a people then undergoing a good deal …


We Know No North, No South, No East, No West: Mormon Interpretations Of The Civil War, 1861-1865, Richard Bennett Jan 2009

We Know No North, No South, No East, No West: Mormon Interpretations Of The Civil War, 1861-1865, Richard Bennett

Faculty Publications

While peace reigns in Utah, civil war, with all its horrors, prevails among those who earnestly desired to see the soil of these valleys crimsoned with the blood of the Saints, and, if we are mistaken in the signs of the times, before the conflict between the North and South shall have ended, all they unitedly desired to see meted out to the Mormons, will be poured out without measure upon those who have initiated the war of extermination, and are now carrying it on with all the energy they severally possess. So read the lead editorial in the Salt …


Of Printers, Prophets, And Politicians: William Lyon Mackenzie, Mormonism, And Early Printing In Upper Canada, Richard Bennett, Daniel H. Olsen Jan 2006

Of Printers, Prophets, And Politicians: William Lyon Mackenzie, Mormonism, And Early Printing In Upper Canada, Richard Bennett, Daniel H. Olsen

Faculty Publications

Well-known in both Canadian and Latter-day Saint history is the arrival of Charles Ora Card and his faithful band of followers in southern Alberta in 1887. Less explored is the much earlier venture into Upper Canada (Ontario) of such prominent Mormon leaders as Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, Orson Hyde, and scores of others during the 1830s in their concerted attempts to promulgate their new faith on Canadian soil. Their success in converting hundreds of people, many of whom were British- and American-born Methodists or members of other nonconformist faiths, prompted Mormon leaders to send missionaries …


A World In Darkness -- Early Latter-Day Saint Understanding Of The Apostasy, 1830-1834, Richard Bennett, Amber J. Seidel Jan 2005

A World In Darkness -- Early Latter-Day Saint Understanding Of The Apostasy, 1830-1834, Richard Bennett, Amber J. Seidel

Faculty Publications

Our first purpose will be to show that Joseph Smith's sense of an apostasy from the true Christian faith was ratified in the first vision; furthermore, that this understanding changed and developed during the early years of his prophetic training. Our second objective will be to examine how the doctrine of the apostasy was understood and taught by both leaders and missionaries within the first four years of the organization of the Church of Christ in 1830. Although this is a subjective rather than a quantitative study, we have concluded, after an extensive review of many of the contemporary sources, …


That Every Man Might Speak In The Name Of God The Lord: A Study Of Official Declaration 2, Richard Bennett Jun 2003

That Every Man Might Speak In The Name Of God The Lord: A Study Of Official Declaration 2, Richard Bennett

Faculty Publications

Official Declaration 2, tucked away quietly at the very tail end of the Doctrine and Covenants, is in many ways a fitting conclusion to the preface of the Doctrine and Covenants recorded 147 years before. In section 1 the Lord reveals much about the Restoration and about the divine pulley of the First Vision in particular. The term pulley emphasizes the two-way nature of the First Vision, for although Joseph prayed to know heaven's will, God "called upon" his servant to initiate the Restoration. Although much has been said about the boy prophet's request, surely God's intent counts for just …


The Cemetery Record Of William D. Huntington, Nauvoo Sexton, Fred E. Woods Jan 2002

The Cemetery Record Of William D. Huntington, Nauvoo Sexton, Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

When John Butler first visited Commerce (later known as Nauvoo) he recalled, "I asked Brother Joseph what kind of a place it was. He said it was a low, marshy, wet, damp and nasty place, but that if we went to work and improved it, it would become more healthy and the Lord would bless it for our sakes." The Prophet Joseph Smith also stated, "the name of our city (Nauvoo) is of Hebrew origin, and signifies a beautiful situation, or place, carrying with it, also, the idea of rest; and is truly descriptive of the most delightful situation... This …


And I Saw The Hosts Of The Dead, Both Small And Great: Joseph F. Smith, World War I, And His Visions Of The Dead, Richard Bennett Jan 2001

And I Saw The Hosts Of The Dead, Both Small And Great: Joseph F. Smith, World War I, And His Visions Of The Dead, Richard Bennett

Faculty Publications

As I pondered over these things which are written, the eyes of my understanding were opened, and the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me, and I saw the hosts of the dead, both small and great (D&C 138:11).


Two Sides Of A River: Mormon Transmigration Through Quincy, Illinois, And Hannibal, Missouri, Fred E. Woods Jan 2001

Two Sides Of A River: Mormon Transmigration Through Quincy, Illinois, And Hannibal, Missouri, Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

The infamous extermination order issued 27 October 1838 by Missouri Governor Lilburn W. Boggs caused thousands of Latter-day Saints to flee the state and seek refuge in Illinois across the Mississippi River. Illinois, established in 1817, had high hopes for its future, but just two decades later it was smitten, like the rest of America, with the economic depression of 1837. In such a needy condition, the people Illinois welcomed the Mormon migrants for three central reasons. Financially motivated, the state viewed the Latter-day Saint influx as an opportunity to raise its population to boost the economy through the collection …


More Precious Than Gold: The Journey To And Through Zion In 1849-50, Fred E. Woods Jan 1999

More Precious Than Gold: The Journey To And Through Zion In 1849-50, Fred E. Woods

Faculty Publications

The California gold rush, the first international gold rush in history, turned the world upside down, reaching its zenith in the years 1849-50. As a result of the rush during these two climactic years, the population swelled our nation's Pacific coast, entitling California to receive statehood in the fall of 1850. During these catalytic years, Latter-day Saints were journeying to the American West for a different kind of treasure. They gathered from afar to their Mormon mecca nestled in the Salt Lake Valley to fulfill their dreams of establishing Zion. Yet the California gold rush had a significant impact on …


Some Reflections At Winter Quarters, Richard E. Bennett Jan 1997

Some Reflections At Winter Quarters, Richard E. Bennett

Faculty Publications

On this Memorial Day weekend, it is altogether fitting and appropriate that we gather today at this sacred place to remember the lives of our progenitors everywhere. From Gettysburg to Hiroshima, from Arlington to Flanders Field, and from the city cemetery to the family plot, we honor our dead ancestors and friends long since stilled. Whether they died on the battle fields of war or perished in the labor of giving birth, we honor them. Whether on the trail to a new life in Oregon or a new chance in Ukraine, they all were the lifeline to our present bright …


Eastward To Eden: The Nauvoo Rescue Missions, Richard E. Bennett Dec 1986

Eastward To Eden: The Nauvoo Rescue Missions, Richard E. Bennett

Faculty Publications

I have felt sensibly there was a good deal of suffering among the saints in Nauvoo, as there has been amongst us, but the Lord God who has fed us all the day long, has his care still over us and when the saints are chastened enough, it will cease. I have ever believed the Lord would suffer a general massacre of this people by a mob. If ten thousand men were to come against us, and no other way was open for our deliverance, the earth would swallow them up (Journal History, 27 Sept. 1846). These were the words …


Cousin Laman In The Wilderness: The Beginnings Of Brigham Young's Indian Policy, Richard E. Bennett Jan 1986

Cousin Laman In The Wilderness: The Beginnings Of Brigham Young's Indian Policy, Richard E. Bennett

Faculty Publications

Historians of the American West have observed that compared with most other mid-19th century American overlanders, whether Oregon-bound farmers or California Agronauts, the Mormons enjoyed a relatively more amicable, more peaceful relationship with the American Indian. Furthermore several contend with cause that Brigham Young was the principal architect of peace with the Ute, Shoshoni, Navaho, Hopi, and other tribes in the deserts and valleys of "Deseret," the Mormon Zion in the Great Basin Kingdom. Leonard Arrington, Davis Bitton, James Allen, and other modern writers have argued that Young pursued a conciliatory (if not self protective and condescending) policy toward the …