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FairMormon Conference Podcast #26 – Matt McBride, “Women of the Global Church: Stories on history.lds.org”

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This episode is a presentation from our 2018 conference.

Matt McBride, Women of the Global Church: Stories on history.lds.org

Transcript available here.

Matthew McBride is the web content manager for the Church History Department and a graduate student in American history at the University of Utah. He is the author of A House for the Most High: The Story of the Original Nauvoo Temple and coeditor of Revelations in Context: The Stories behind the Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants. Matthew has also published in the Ensign and the Journal of Mormon History. He lives in American Fork, Utah, with his wife Mary and their four children.

Audio Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.

Book Review: The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Maxwell Institute Study Edition

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Available in the FairMormon Bookstore

I’ve been reading and collecting the Book of Mormon my entire life in one form or another, from the illustrated “Book of Mormon for Beginning Readers” (or whatever it was called in the 1970s) to the official blue copy I handed out as a missionary, to Royal Skousen’s “Earliest Text.” I’ve also collected books written about the Book of Mormon, including much of Skousen’s Critical Text Project. I’ve appreciated being able to learn about the book and read it in these various formats particularly because I don’t usually like reading the same book more than once. This book edited by Grant Hardy gives a fresh new way to read it again, taking the official 2013 text and reformatting it to make for easier reading as well as to more easily identify various aspects, and also adding footnotes and other markers to point out changes gleaned from Skousen’s work, internal consistencies, and other interesting tidbits.

The book begins with the introduction from the 1981 edition “with minor modifications in 2013 (and the substitution of people for men in the third and next-to-last paragraphs),” (page vii) and then has the usual testimonies of three and eight witnesses, but then it also has the testimony of Emma Smith, taken from an interview by Joseph Smith III in 1879. In this, she mentions that Joseph did not have any manuscripts or books, what the plates felt like, that he did it “sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the [seer] stone in it,” (page ix) and that she did not believe her husband capable of composing it by himself.

This is followed by the Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and Brief Explanation about the Book of Mormon, as you would find in a regular edition, although the Brief Explanation has an explanatory phrase inserted about the Plates of Ether. Then there is a Brief History of the Text, which is used as the editor’s introduction. In this, Hardy recounts the translation, printing, and subsequent editing and printing of the second edition. [Read more…] about Book Review: The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Maxwell Institute Study Edition

Faith is Not Blind – Interview with Elder and Sister Hafen

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Podcast: Download (39.2MB)

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Faith is Not Blind is a book by Elder Bruce C. and Sister Marie Hafen and published by Deseret Book. This book addresses the many ways that individuals encounter the challenges to developing faith or the language of testimony. In preparing to serve missions, while on a mission, or when someone returns from missionary service, we all encounter stages of faith progression. But how do we manage those experiences in such a way to come out the other side with greater faith?

In this book, and with this interview, Elder and Sister Hafen discuss their mission, temple, and personal experiences dealing with difficult issues about how to travel the trials of faith, the challenges of life, and develop a stronger relationship with God as a result. This podcast comes courtesy of Latter-day Saint MissionCast, and carries a missionary slant to the content.

To purchase a copy of Faith is Not Blind, by Elder and Sister Hafen, click here. Purchase the Audio CD click here.

Happy Easter from the DR Congo (The Kinshasa DR Congo Temple: A Personal Perspective, Part 3)

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Rodrigue Kabuya Kabamba

Description of the Series

Over the next several weeks, we will trace the temple’s history from its announcement to the completion of the temple building. And from its completion as a sacred building to its dedication and use as a House of the Lord by the Latter-day Saints in this choice part of the world.

Those interested in a more details about the Church in the DR Congo and its new temple may consult or download an in-depth history that is posted at the Southeast Africa Area website:

Many of the video supplements in this series will complement and personalize the written history: early members will tell fascinating stories of the challenges and blessings of the coming of the Church to the country, some will talk about their roles in temple construction and operation, and others will describe how having a temple in Kinshasa will bless their lives.

This Episode

While working on a recent project, I asked Rodrigue Kabuya Kabamba, a member of the Church in Kinshasa, DR Congo, to help me on some graphic designs. This isn’t the first time he has bailed me and others out — his work has been an important part of several other Church projects during the last few years, including his handsome designs for several visual concepts — large and small — that were needed for the open house and dedication events of the new Kinshasa DR Congo Temple. Nearly all of this time-consuming work has been done cheerfully at no cost as part of Church assignments.

Recently, as he copied the graphics he created for me from his laptop to mine, he included some of his video projects, including a short video he had created for Africa Southeast Area Public Affairs in 2017. It contained a delightful montage of Congolese children describing what Easter meant to them. After seeing it, I asked if he would mind if I asked permission from the Area Public Affairs to add English subtitles, a new and include it as part of a blog post.

With the kind permission of the Africa Southeast Area Public Affairs team, I am posting Rodrigue’s touching video, along with another short extracted from an oral history where he explains his perspective on visual communication and shares his testimony.

Main Feature

Happy Easter from the DR Congo! (French with English subtitles)

Video Supplements

03A: Testimony of Visual Artist from the DR Congo (French with English subtitles)

A Look at the Church’s Change of Policy on Same-Sex Couples and their Children

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Members of the Church and interested outsiders have noted that the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ recently announced a change of its policy regarding same-sex behavior and the blessing or baptism by custodial parents in same-sex relationships.[1]

Such changes in policy are not unexpected. As President Boyd K. Packer taught:

Procedures, programs, the administrative policies, even some patterns of organization are subject to change. The First Presidency are quite free, indeed quite obliged, to alter them from time to time. But the principles, the doctrines, never change. If we overemphasize programs and procedures that can change, and will change, and must change, and do not understand the fundamental principles of the gospel, which never change, we can be misled.[2]

Many sincere members of the Church struggled with the previous policy. For them and many others, we should understand this change as removing a heavy burden, for which we can rejoice.[3]

Some are asking about the First Presidency “flip-flopping.” Tied with this concern is the fact that President Russell M. Nelson (then President of the Quorum of the Twelve) said of the earlier policy: [Read more…] about A Look at the Church’s Change of Policy on Same-Sex Couples and their Children

FairMormon Conference Podcast #25 – Jeff Robinson, “Thinking Differently About Same-Sex Attraction”

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This episode is a presentation from our 2018 conference. (If you would like to watch the video of this and the other presentations from the 2018 conference, you can still purchase video streaming.)

Jeff Robinson, Thinking Differently About Same-Sex Attraction

Transcript available here.

Dr. Robinson received his Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Brigham Young University. His doctoral dissertation was a qualitative study in of married Latter-Day Saint men with histories of homosexual activity. For the last 25 years he has worked in private practice specializing in assisting individuals experiencing a conflict between their experience of same-sex attraction and their religious beliefs and/or personal values. He has given numerous presentations on the issue of same-sex attraction and has conducted training for therapists and a variety of settings. He and his wife Wendy are the parents of eight children and the grandparents of eight.

Audio Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.

FairMormon Questions: Having unsettling feelings before receiving my endowment

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FairMormon has a service where questions can be submitted and they are answered by volunteers. If you have a question, you can submit it at http://www.fairmormon.org/contact. We will occasionally publish answers here for questions that are commonly asked, or are on topics that are receiving a lot of attention. This particular question has three answers below.

QUESTION:

I’m not endowed, but I hear details about  special clothing and secretiveness that I am unsettled by. If something is so holy, then why does it feel wrong?

ANSWER FROM FAIRMORMON VOLUNTEER RENE KRYWULT:

I am Rene Krywult from Vienna, Austria, Europe, and I am one of those at FairMormon who answer questions. I am not a spokesperson for Fairmormon, and also not for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Thus, I only speak for myself. What I say should not be misunderstood as being authoritative doctrine of the Church. My mother tongue is German, not English.

Dear Brother, I can certainly understand your unease. In Christianity, the way sacred ordinances and church services are done are called “liturgies.” So, sacrament meeting is a liturgy, baptism is a liturgy, anointing and blessing is a liturgy and so on. [Read more…] about FairMormon Questions: Having unsettling feelings before receiving my endowment

FairMormon Conference Podcast #24 – Brad Wilcox, “‘Have You Been Saved By Grace?’ How Do We Respond?”

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Podcast: Download (54.5MB)

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This podcast series features past FairMormon Conference presentations. This episode is a presentation from our 2018 conference. (If you would like to watch the video of this and the other presentations from the 2018 conference, you can still purchase video streaming.)

Brad Wilcox, “Have You Been Saved By Grace?” How Do We Respond?

Transcript available here.

Brad Wilcox is a professor in the Department of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University where he also enjoys working with such programs as Especially for Youth, Women’s Conference, and Campus Education Week. He is the author of the book The Continuous Atonement and the BYU devotional “His Grace is Sufficient.” Brad grew up in Provo, Utah, except for childhood years spent in Ethiopia, Africa. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Chile and later returned to that country to preside over the Chile Santiago East Mission from 2003 to 2006. He and his family have also lived for a time in New Zealand and Spain where he directed study abroad programs for Brigham Young University. Brad has served as a member of the Sunday School General Board. He and his wife, Debi, have four children and six grandchildren. Reading, writing, teaching, and traveling are some of his favorite things. He loves Peanut M&M’s and pepperoni pizza, but he realizes that doesn’t sound too healthy so he is really trying hard to learn to love salads.

Audio Copyright © 2018 The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, Inc. Any reproduction or transcription of this material without prior express written permission is prohibited.

Three Excerpts from “Answers Will Come: Trusting the Lord in the Meantime” by Shalissa Lindsay

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Available from the FairMormon Bookstore

[A review of the book can be found here.]

Not having all the answers is more blessed. (p. 29)

In our quest for faith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a tremendous and indispensable asset. But not because it offers all the answers to every possible question. Even—perhaps especially—within the restored gospel, there have to be some opportunities for us to question and doubt. They provide the opposition against which faith can grow and strengthen. In fact, Christ has deliberately withheld some things for this express purpose.1 He told Mormon, “I will try the faith of my people.”2

Hence, the Lord supports faith but does not demand it. He lets us discover substantial internal evidences in latter-day scriptures, but withholds incontrovertible proof. He gives us eleven witnesses of the gold plates, but leaves Book of Mormon geography uncertain. By not compelling us to believe, Christ offers us the chance to be “more blessed.” He told the Nephites who had seen him that “more blessed are they who shall believe in your words because that ye shall testify that ye have seen me.”3

And He told his doubting Apostle Thomas, “blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”4 [Read more…] about Three Excerpts from “Answers Will Come: Trusting the Lord in the Meantime” by Shalissa Lindsay