Author: Kaimi Wenger

A new century dawns upon the world today. The hundred years just completed were the most momentous in the history of man upon this planet. It would be impossible in a hundred days to make even a brief summary of the notable events, the marvelous developments, the grand achievements, and the beneficial inventions and discoveries,…

There’s an interesting article by Peggy Fletcher Stack about some of the changes in the revised _Gospel Principles_ manual. Among other things, references to _Mormon Doctrine_ have been removed. T&S’s Julie Smith asks some good questions — “Over the years, I’ve heard many, many people express that the Teachings of the Prophets books were very…

At least, that’s what’s alleged in this interview with UCSB professor Jacqueline Stevens:

The inimitable ladies of Feminist Mormon Housewives are raising money for Heifer International again this year. This is a charity which buys cows (and ducks and chickens) for impoverished villagers in third-world countries; it’s hard to think of a better cause. If you’re able to pitch in, I encourage you to click over to FMH…

Why do we use first initials for LDS leaders who otherwise use their middle names? M. Russell, L. Tom, D. Todd, L. Whitney — we all know who these people are. What is the reason for continued usage of first initials, rather than simply saying “Russell Ballard” or “Todd Christopherson”?

Blog spam is depressingly common (though our filter is top notch); one common spam tactic is a comment which says “hi” or “great post” but then links to some sketchy porn site or gambling or the like. We just got a series of comments which were a variant of those, from some spammer in Italy.…

Are we as church members downplaying Jesus? I don’t mean this in a theological sense; rather, it seems to me that church members (and leaders) tend to de-emphasize the use of the single-name description Jesus. We regularly use the name Jesus when it is associated with the title Christ. However, when we use a single-word…

That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many…

Thanks to reader Clair for pointing this out in comments: The first issue of the Times and Seasons was published at Nauvoo. — 170 years ago today [err, yesterday] – Nov 15, 1839 . Happy birthday to us!

The trial court in Reynolds v. United States gave the following jury charge, which the Supreme Court later found was proper and not inflammatory. I think it not improper, in the discharge of your duties in this case, that you should consider what are to be the consequences to the innocent victims of this delusion.

Yesterday in Elders Quorum I taught Lesson 40: “How Glorious are Faithful, Just and True Friends.” It was a lot of fun — it’s a great set of discussion materials. Today, I read a fascinating article in the New York Times about the science of human friendship and connection. I love the idea of Zion…

Writing about the punch after the Boise State-Oregon game, Gene Wojciechowski at ESPN notes, (emphasis added) Sportsmanship isn’t dead in Football Bowl Subdivision programs, but it’s on a respirator. I covered the Minnesota-Syracuse game Saturday, then watched large chunks of the Charleston Southern-Florida, BYU-Oklahoma and Alabama-Virginia Tech games. On Monday night I watched the Miami-Florida…

According to scripture, what ought one do in order to run and not be weary, walk and not faint? That’s easy, right. The answer is set out in plain view, in the Book of Isaiah. Wait — Isaiah?

me: okay, apropos of nothing who rocks more – mormons in bands, or evangelicals?

We’ve all heard of Mormon crickets. But did you know that there are not just one, but half a dozen types of Mormon butterfly? They’re named for their practice of polygamy (heh), and they’re beautiful. The Great Mormon butterfly (Males are blue or black, females have striking speckled patterns of red, black and gray).

I’ve put together a list of sorts of online lesson aids (thanks in part to the very useful help of many T&S commenters) which I’ll be using in my talk. I’ve grouped them by category as follows:

I really liked President Monson’s recent talk, Finding Joy in the Journey. President Monson talks about enjoying life and focusing on our relationships with the people around us, especially family: Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get…