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48 responses
With all the talk about missionaries around here lately, I have again pondered on something that concerned me both while a missionary and afterwards, teaching in the MTC and more generally as a non-full-time-missionary member of the Church. It is about the sheer inadequacy of our missionaries. Read More
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24 responses
Over on Conglomerate, Elizabeth Brown links to an article about the “Scum of the Earth Church” as an example of niche marketing. Read More
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5 responses
Lesson 15: Numbers 11-14; 21:1-9 Read More
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28 responses
We’ve all heard the stories about intrepid missionaries who faced rejection door after door only to be let in at the final house that they contacted. Read More
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133 responses
“If you don’t pay your tithing and serve in the Church, you give up your right to bitch,” Read More
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29 responses
I like referring to non-Mormons as “Gentiles.” Read More
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275 responses
On Tuesday, gay rights activists will, according to news reports, hold a rally on or near the BYU campus. How might you respond to this? Read More
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13 responses
My song is love unknown, My Saviour’s love to me, Love to the loveless shown, That they might lovely be. O who am I, That for my sake, My Lord should take Frail flesh and die. Read More
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20 responses
While reading Wilford Woodruff’s diaries recently, I discovered that I have been living in a cursed part of the country. What am I to make of this, and the more general phenomena of Mormon cursing? Read More
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266 responses
I’ve heard lots of people discuss how their missions caused a spiritual crisis for them. So did mine. Read More
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32 responses
The late Carlfred Broderick was a professor of Marriage and Family Therapy at USC as well as a Stake President. He may have been one of the most profound–not to mention funny–LDS thinkers of his generation. Read More
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32 responses
Today’s headlines contain news of a new gospel: The Gospel of Judas. Read More
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38 responses
Among Mormon History nerds, “Camelot” refers to the period of time in the 1970s and early 1980s when Leonard Arrington served as Church Historian. It is traditional to look back on it as a Golden Age that was tragically lost. Read More
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23 responses
I’ve taken down the post titled “The Real Danger?” because it was pointed out to me that its impetus was unnecessarily divisive. This was certainly not my intent and so I considered deleting my first paragraph. Without a statement of that impetus, however, the post simply became a denunciation of pornography, which someone else pointed out was something everyone agrees with and someone else said was old news. Such a denunciation has been done much more effectively in the LDS context by President Monson in the recent General Conference and by President Hinckley in the Priesthood Session of the April… Read More
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64 responses
Mormons have an ingrained habit of interpreting their history in the rosiest of all possible terms, even when — as a historical matter — a less rosy interpretation makes more sense. Read More
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5 responses
Last year in Sunday School, as we were finishing up the Doctrine and Covenants, the teacher asked us what the spirit of Elijah meant to us. I immediately thought: “the spirit of adoption.” I’m not sure where that thought came from, but I have continued to think about it in the past few months. Read More
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11 responses
In the past, I have suggested that the Mormon constitution is English, but of late I have wondered whether it might be Roman. Read More
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27 responses
I’m very pleased to present the second Times & Seasons baby of the month, my daughter Mara Gwen. Read More
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44 responses
Peggy Fletcher Stack’s recent Salt Lake Tribune article on the Church in Chile is definitely worth a read. Read More
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21 responses
In Notes from all over a link was added to a news item claiming that the latest Dutch spelling reform requested that the name “Christ” be written with a lower-case “c”. That information was spread on various American news channels and blogs. Flurries of comments ensued. Read More
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73 responses
Ok, here’s the last session for this General Conference. It’s been fun. Read More
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74 responses
Welcome to the second day of General Conference. President Hinckley, President Faust, and Elders Oaks, Ballard, Wirthlin, Scott, Holland, and Uchtdorf have yet to address a general session this year, so there is a lot to look forward to today. Read More
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52 responses
I am not sure how an open thread on Priesthood Session will work, but let’s give it a try. I hope someone will provide summaries of the talks to provide a basis for the conversation. Read More
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128 responses
Ready for Round Two? Here is the open thread for the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference. Read More
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9 responses
I just finished reading Mormon Lives: A Year in the Elkton Ward and–wow–what an amazing book. It reminds me of Saints Well Seasoned: Musings on How Food Nourishes Us–Body Heart, and Soul. Not only were both books quirky little takes on Mormonism, but neither seems to be very well known. What LDS titles do you think deserve more attention than they are getting? Read More
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107 responses
This is an open thread for discussions of the Saturday morning session of General Conference. Read More
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10 responses
Over the past few years, we have been watching General Conference at home. I know this is old hat in Utah and some other regions, but it’s a relatively recent innovation in the nether regions, enabled by the internet, satellite television, or certain cable providers. For families with children, General Conference in the home is a huge blessing, though sometimes I feel a bit of nostalgia for the old days. Read More
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39 responses
Q: So Dave, how did you come up with the idea for LDSelect? A: It’s a long story. The concept goes back to when I was dating Fawn Brodie, a few months after I got kicked out of Hogwarts . . . Read More