- Stephen C on Dieter F. Uchtdorf, [Probable Future] President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: “Thanks for the correction, I’ve modified the OP accordingly. ” Jan 13, 11:13
- on Dieter F. Uchtdorf, [Probable Future] President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: “Being born in Ostrava does not make Pres. Uchtdorf a Sudenten-German. His father, Karl, was born in a small village in Saxony about 150 km west of Berlin, and his mother was born in Zwickau, a city in Saxony. They married in Zwickau, and they had children (all older than Pres. Uchtdorf) born in Zwickau, Berlin and Neustrelitz, a city in Mecklenburg, north of Berlin. Karl was a German customs officer, and it seems likely that he was posted to Ostrava after Sudetenland was absorbed into the German Reich. The family left after Karl was conscripted into the German army, and moved to Zwickau, which makes sense as it was Pres. Uchtdorf’s mother’s hometown. They were joined there by Karl after the war ended.” Jan 13, 11:06
- on Weekly Calls as a Safeguard Against Mission Abuses: “I think whether it’s appropriate to contact, or even in very extreme situations go above the president’s head, depends on where it falls on the continuum of badness. On one hand we want to avoid a sort of “every member a mission president” situation where parents are calling about every little thing and distracting the mission president (I could definitely see something like that being a problem, and I’m sure MPs have their own stories), but on the other hand there should be enough outside contact to avoid some of the situations that have been raised here. I wasn’t even implying that my parents should have called the mission president to try to change the mission culture, just that having an outside anchor for the missionaries would have really helped prevent some of the excesses.” Jan 13, 10:57
- on Weekly Calls as a Safeguard Against Mission Abuses: “I’m a little late to the party, but a question. Weekly calls only help if there is some sort of redress. Missionaries don’t want to face the social consequences of being seen as an ark-steadier, or a critic of the mission president. So even if a missionary vents to a parent, and the parent agrees the mission president’s policy is mistaken, what recourse is there? It feels odd for me as a parent to contact the mission president to tell him his policies are wrong. Case in point: Our son’s mission president requires them to make temple trips monthly–and to do it on p-day. By the time they’ve driven two hours each way, they have little p-day time left for groceries, zone sports, buying new shoes, and generally taking a break. These days, the missionary rulebook says that missionaries should not sacrifice p-days, meal breaks, or scheduled sleep hours in hopes of receiving additional blessings–a provision I wish had been present when I was a missionary. The mission president’s rule about using p-day time to go to the temple seems to violate the spirit if not the letter of that provision in the handbook. Is it appropriate for me to contact the mission president and tell him about the deleterious effect of his policy on missionary preparedness and mental health?” Jan 13, 10:24
- on Dieter F. Uchtdorf, [Probable Future] President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: “Twenty-one years ago the Times and Seasons web site was still in its first year of operation when Neal Maxwell and David Haight died in July and the church sustained Dieter Uchtdorf and David Bednar as apostles in October 2004. This was the first change in the Quorum of the Twelve since Howard Hunter had died and Henry B. Eyring was called nine years previously. A short note of Uchtdorf and Bednar’s calling as apostles was posted here, and dozens of comments followed. The current Quorum of the Twelve have now all become known to us in the time of internet communication and social media. https://archive.timesandseasons.org/2004/10/new-apostles-uchtdorf-bednar/” Jan 13, 09:03
- on Dieter F. Uchtdorf, [Probable Future] President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: “There’s also the fact that Uchtdorf clearly donated money to the Biden campaign in 2020—which he then tried to play off like it was a relative who did it when he got some conservative backlash, but come on, it was clearly him. (Of course as a German born during WWII, as you’ve noted, it makes perfect sense why he’d oppose a wannabe-dictator in the first place; he’d know the warning signs better than anyone.) Even if a donation for Biden only indicates that he is merely a moderate liberal at best, that still puts him to the left of at least 60% of the active U.S. church membership. Hence why I think the church’s liberals are still not completely out of line to hope he’d be a more progressive church president, at least comparatively (though you’re probably right that an Uchtdorf presidency still wouldn’t result in, say, gay sealings or female ordination—though that’s partly cause he’d be outnumbered in the Q15 anyways).” Jan 13, 07:45
- on Dieter F. Uchtdorf, [Probable Future] President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: “I think he’s the most well known current apostle and he seems to come from a place that resonates with many-where he was not part of the religious majority. Excellent modern speaker. During COVID I was living in Germany and we tuned in for a meeting with him and his wife where he spoke in German and it was translated. 2 things I remember. 1. He talked about how bad American chocolate was and that he brings back suitcases of his favorite chocolate from the grocery story. He didn’t say the name but showed a piece and it was the Lindt brand. 2. His wife said something I think about regularly, “The Church is a place where we practice being Christians.” Simple and profound. I want more Oaks time to learn and see where he helps steer the ship but look forward to future leadership and input by others..” Jan 13, 06:31
- on Dieter F. Uchtdorf, [Probable Future] President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: “German – Pilot – Pres = Love it! I met him shortly after he was called and is as nice as you would think. I just like his positive and uplifting attitude in his conference talks.” Jan 13, 06:15
- on Weekly Calls as a Safeguard Against Mission Abuses: “IMO the church has an unhealthy obsession with baptism #s and hoarding money. Let me add temple building in there too. The three-fold obsession of the church. Bless their hearts. Being “dressed down” for “low numbers” is all the proof you need. Six months before baptism? I guess that is a byproduct of prior days of huge numbers of converts with little to no teaching….” Jan 12, 20:00
- on Weekly Calls as a Safeguard Against Mission Abuses: “I served in the early 70’s, a period when number-chasing by mission leaders was rampant throughout the world. I was blessed beyond measure to have, for most of my mission, a president with a background in the humanities (BYU Spanish professor), who had served in Mexico in an era when they were required to teach people for 6 months before they could be baptized. When I worked in the mission office, this president (and his wife and children) became a second family to me and I had talks with him that were that were comparable to that of a warm, caring father with his son. He even helped guide me into my future career (translation and language services). Yes, we had rules and were expected to follow them. We had numerical goals and had to report on them every week. This was not an “anything goes” warm-and-fuzzy mission. But our baptism levels were not “up there” with other missions, and my mission president was dressed down afterwards by the authority who gave him his exit interview. His wife was bitter about it for years afterwards. Some of the countries that had spectacular baptism rates during that era later had to have Elder Oaks or Elder Holland come and administer the work there to try to clean up the chaotic situation created by tens or even hundreds of thousands of members of record who had essentially no connection with the Church. By the time my own sons served, also in Latin America, some 20 to 25 years ago, the situation had already greatly improved. Due to the sheer number of mission leaders now being called, there will still be an occasional abusive or fanatical leader, but overall I think we are doing much, much better.” Jan 12, 16:26
