Mormon Studies Commons^™

Fired From Carpool, Cristie Cowles Charles

BYU Studies

"I don’t think this is working out.” “What do you mean? What part isn’t working out?” “I just feel like we have different styles. I mean, I miss my kids so much while they’re at school that I want to see them as soon as possible afterward. And you seem to have . . . different priorities.” My neighbor Julie’s blown-out blonde hair shakes at that last word, and she shifts in her doorway.

Perspectives On Latter-Day Saint Names And Naming: Names, Identity, And Belief, Edited By Dallin D. Oaks, Paul Baltes, And Kent Minson, Matthew B. Christensen

BYU Studies

Perspectives on Latter-day Saint Names and Naming: Names, Identity, and Belief, edited by Dallin D. Oaks, Paul Baites, and Kent Minson, is an exploration of the significance and practices surrounding names within the context of the faith and culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Wild Fruit, Victoria Web Rutherford

BYU Studies

Unlike when my parents euphemistically said they purchased me on sale at Kmart, my husband and I actually did get our children from a McDonald’s PlayPlace, where they showed distinctive signs of having been formed from McNugget-clay paste, salt, and ketchup. The older boy, a five-year-old dynamo, was high powered, fast talking, and quick, but he wasn’t childlike. He was a T-Rex, or so he rasped over and over from his perch on the play structure before shaking the tenuous plastic or bounding on top of the tube slide and jolting the riders inside. Brother, an observant two-year-old, was almost …

Full Issue

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

The Stewardship Of Our First Freedom, Elder Clark G. Gilbert

BYU Studies

When Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke at the University of Oxford’s Pembroke College about the impact of religious freedom on public morality, he charged people of faith to be effective stewards of religious freedom. Elder Cook stated, “There is no better demonstration of the great benefits associated with religious liberty than for devoted members of various faiths who feel accountable to God to model principles of integrity, morality, service, and love.” In this sense, our religious freedom stewardship extends not only to society but …

On Gospel Methodology At Brigham Young University, Richard D, Osguthorpe, Justin Collings

BYU Studies

In recent years, both university and Church leaders have placed renewed and welcome emphasis on President Spencer W. Kimball’s “Second Century Address,” one of the central texts in the BYU canon. Of the many stirring ideas in that landmark address, one of the most evocative is President Kimball’s declaration that “gospel methodology, concepts, and insights can help us to do what the world cannot do in its own frame of reference.” Current BYU leaders have reflected on the concept of “gospel methodology,” and at the August 2022 university conference, Academic Vice President C. Shane Reese invited BYU faculty to explore …

The Psalm Of Nephi In An Age Of Anxiety And Division, Patrick Q. Mason

BYU Studies

It is probably fair to say that readers over the years have responded more positively to the Book of Mormon’s religious teachings and spiritual power than to its purely literary merits. When Parley P. Pratt famously wrote that “sleep was a burden when the night came, for [he] preferred reading to sleep,” it was not because of the Book of Mormon’s page-turning plot. Rather, Pratt testified, “As I read, the spirit of the Lord was upon me, and I knew and comprehended that the book was true.” On the other hand, those uninspired by what they discovered in the book’s …

Richard Bushman’S Byu Years: The Beginnings Of An Influential Career, J. B. Haws

BYU Studies

The case can be made—and has been made—that Richard Lyman Bushman has been as influential as anyone in his generation in shaping the way that Latter-day Saints think about, write about, and talk about our shared history. His seminal books on Joseph Smith, his essays on historical philosophy, his two decades of mentoring graduate students every summer—all of these have had a real and discernible impact on Church publications and paradigms.

One Day’S Return, Long Past Childhood, Dixie L. Partridge

BYU Studies

You walk out beyond pasture

to see where it will take you. Dawn

blossoms from the hilltops. No breeze.

You come to still drowsing fields, a rock slope

with buttercups congregating.

Knit Together, Liz Busby

BYU Studies

The unusual thing about knit fabric is that it’s one continuous strand. Woven fabric consists of a warp and weft where individual strands arranged in a grid weave in and out, touching but ultimately separate. The knit fabric on everything from an ugly Christmas sweater to your favorite soft t-shirt looks like it’s made of hundreds of little “v” shapes, but it’s not. It loops in and through itself over and over and over, but it’s all connected. One long piece of yarn.

When Paul wrote to the Colossians that we should have our hearts knit together in love, did …

Forgiveness, Erik Jacobsen

BYU Studies

To release

some clutched pebble

or rock

or boulder.

Susa Young Gates: Daughter Of Mormonism By Romney Burke, Dave Hall

BYU Studies

Years ago, I asked a pioneering historian of Latter-day Saint women why there was no biography of Susa Young Gates. She replied that Gates’s reputation for being difficult meant no one was eager to spend enough time with her to write one. But the lack of a biography of this key figure among second-generation Church leaders left a serious gap in the historical literature. Recently, Romney Burke, a retired physician and great-grandson- in- law of Gates, sought to fill that gap with his Susa Young Gates: Daughter of Mormonism.

The Mormon Military Experience: 1838 To The Cold War By Sherman L. Fleek And Robert C. Freeman, Kenneth L. Alford

BYU Studies

The Mormon Military Experience, written by Sherman L. Fleek and Robert C. Freeman, is the first book to provide a comprehensive review of the Latter-day Saint military experience. The authors are to be applauded for undertaking a book of such an expansive nature and managing the subject matter as thoroughly as they have done.

End Matter

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

Stiff-Necked, Darlene Young

BYU Studies

Caught in the drainpipe

of this tin-can quick-charge one-use world,

I’ve had enough.

Blast me, Lord; tear the roof right off.

Crack me open

like a bookspine puckered new; splay me.

Dog-ear me.

Slavery In Zion: A Documentary And Genealogical History Of Black Lives And Black Servitude In Utah Territory, 1847– 1862 By Amy Tanner Thiriot, Matthew B. Christensen

BYU Studies

Slavery in Zion: A Documentary and Genealogical History of Black Lives and Black Servitude in Utah Territory, 1847–1862 is an important and carefully researched book by Amy Tanner Thiriot. Delving deep into an often-overlooked and lesser-known aspect of Utah’s history, Thiriot explores the intricate dynamics of slavery and servitude in the region during the period spanning from the Saints’ arrival in the mountain west to 1862. Thiriot is an independent historian and adjunct instructor in the BYU– Idaho Family History Research program.

The Last Leaf, Ben De Hoyos

BYU Studies

Shadows strained eastward as the yielding sun,

In solemn salute, frosted Nebo’s peaks

In glowing hues of squash and melon and

The last leaf dropped. Like fine pink sugar spun

Temples Of The Imagination, Jeffrey Thayne, Nathan Richardson

Interpreter Foundation Books

To the left, you see a temple that resembles those built by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. However, this temple is not one that has ever been built by the Church—it is an imaginary temple. But what is so interesting about that? We can all close our eyes and imagine in our mind’s eye temples that do not currently exist. Talented artists could then put that to canvas and create a depiction. What is special is that this image

Steadfast In Defense Of Faith, Shirley S. Ricks, Stephen D. Ricks, Louis C. Midgley

Interpreter Foundation Books

The title of this volume of essays in honor of Daniel C. Peterson, Steadfast in Defense of Faith, was not idly chosen. It reflects his most widely known public role as an apologist. Over the years, Dan has had not only to defend the faith but also frequently has been required to define and justify the legitimacy of apologetics as a scholarly endeavor. On one such occasion he wrote: The Greek word from which our English term apologetics derives means “defense.” The notion of saying that one is “sorry” is a much later linguistic development. (In Plato’s Apology, his hero …

To Make The Attempt, Isaac James Richards

BYU Studies

Fall, not spring.

Idaho, not New York.

Dusk, not dawn.

Still, a prayer

Reclaiming The “Primary Question”: A New Beginning For Joseph Smith’S First Vision, William G. Perez

BYU Studies

In October 2019, Russell M. Nelson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, reminded Church members that “in the springtime of the year 2020, it will be exactly 200 years since Joseph Smith experienced the theophany that we now know as the First Vision. God the Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph, a 14-year- old youth. That event marked the onset of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness, precisely as foretold in the Holy Bible.” President Nelson then designated 2020 as a bicentennial year and invited listeners to …

Delivering The Family Proclamation Insights From Former Relief Society President Elaine L. Jack, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Olivia Osguthorpe

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

On September 23, 1995, President Gordon B. Hinckley presented “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” at the general Relief Society meeting of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Regarding this document, Sheri Dew, biographer for both President Gordon B. Hinckley and President Russell M. Nelson, writes, “Seership and the proclamation on the family are inextricably connected.”[1] Due to the impact and increasingly controversial nature of the family proclamation, as well as other narratives that have surfaced in various forms (such as books, social media posts, YouTube videos, and interviews), clarity regarding its inception and presentation is critical.

Front Matter

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

How Do I Teach The Fall? Distinction And Harmonization, Mark T. Lewis

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

At least every other year, if not more frequently, Sunday School teachers throughout The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints share core doctrines drawn from the Fall of Adam and Eve with their students. The sacred story of what transpired in Eden is recorded in multiple scripture passages (Genesis 3, Moses 4, and 2 Nephi 2) and is represented in Latter-day Saint temples. While essential doctrines related to the Fall’s necessary and beneficial impact on human progress towards exaltation are clear,[1] some conflicting narrative details can be difficult to sort out—especially for younger students. One interpretive strategy that teachers …

What To Do When "I Don't Know" Is The Only Answer, Brent D. Fillmore, Joan W. Fillmore

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

About seven months into our service as mission leaders, we attended a district conference on one of the islands in our mission. We flew in on Friday and intended to spend some time with the missionaries after the conference ended. At about ten thirty on Monday morning, one of our assistants called from the mainland. He was very emotional. He told us that while four elders had been playing soccer at the church, suddenly and for no apparent reason, one of them had collapsed. We got a few more details, and we asked him to call an ambulance, get over …

"I Say Unto You, My Brethren" Helping Female Students See Themselves In The Book Of Mormon, Cassidy Nichole Pyper

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

In 1 Nephi 14, an angel prophesied to Nephi that if the Gentiles heeded the words of the Savior, he would “manifest himself unto them in word, and also in power, and in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks” (verse 1). The Book of Mormon uses the expression “stumbling blocks” multiple times throughout its text to describe obstacles that could cause someone to “stumble” or “err”[1] on their path to Christ and salvation. Like all of us, the youth and young adults of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints encounter stumbling blocks on their …

"That Evil May Be Done Away" Wickedness And Christ's Power To Save, Eric Wing

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

The Book of Mormon has a clearly stated purpose: “to the convincing of Jew and Gentile that JESUS IS THE CHRIST.”[1] Yet among its rich, Christ-centered content in the form of sermons, stories, themes, and illustrations, the book also frequently focuses on sin and its devastating results.[2] In fact, the text of the Book of Mormon contains over a thousand statements—almost two per page—that directly link some form of wickedness to a stated consequence. The book’s abundant use of this textual patterning—linking sin to its results— provides a wealth of data to further understand the valuable message of the Book …

Reflections On Sin, Sinfulness, And Homecoming On The Day Of The Atonement, John S. Tanner

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Two years ago I was privileged to spend Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, in Israel. I flew to Israel via New York seated by an orthodox Jew. He was making an annual pilgrimage to his spiritual home for this most sacred High Holy Day, which began at sundown the day we arrived. I spent the flight and much of the next day thinking about how atonement and homecoming were connected for me, as well as about sin and sinfulness. As a Latter-day Saint, I believe that Christ’s Atonement makes possible our spiritual homecoming by cleansing us from sin through …

How Reconversion Narratives Can Help Us Teach Our Students, Eric D'Evegnée, Sarah D'Evegnée

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

As two English professors, we regard stories as our daily bread. Our love of the complexity of stories and storytellers led us to explore the pattern in the book Faith Is Not Blind[1] and apply it to the everyday lives of people who used it. This pattern of finding “simplicity beyond complexity”[2] takes a metacognitive approach to understanding the development and the nurturing of lifelong faith. In our work at faithisnotblind.org, we’ve interviewed over one hundred people about how their faith has been challenged and how they have responded in ways that preserved their faith. The stories are diverse, thoughtful, …