- Kent Larsen on What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday, 3/8?: “Roger, why are you posting here a criticism of F&T meeting? I don’t think the OP called for that. You cited Elder Packer, but you don’t tell us what YOU got out of a F&T meeting. Nor do you tell us why you are focusing on what others did wrong, instead of how YOU reacted. Please, complaints about how the meetings work appear in MANY different places. I think everyone has heard them. Instead, we’re asking here about how to take what does happen and get something out of it. It is every bit as much our responsibility to mold what happens into something we benefit from, as it is for the speaker/testifier to provide good material. Elder Packer’s own example suggests this. He talked about speakers who only bring a thimble full of good material AND about audiences that used umbrellas to avoid getting wet. You are complaining about the speaker only bringing a thimble full, and ignoring the question of your umbrella.” Mar 15, 15:28
- on What Did Church Lead You to Think About Yesterday, 3/8?: “President Packer stated that a testimony should contain 5 things with no storytelling. In fact, Deseret book sold a glove for the Primary kids to remind them of the 5 elements. Sort of the ultimate in Mormon kitsch. The most memorable F&T meeting I attended involved a member grieving over the loss of a grandchild. He filled about 15 minutes. But it didn’t matter. The members felt they were assisting with the grieving process. Storytelling and short doctrinal talks would be interesting. Maybe poetry and musical numbers. As long as the presenter stayed away from politics and the mysteries. A 2-1/2 time limit might be nice. That could be waved in special circumstances. I don’t think the current format for F&T meeting works.” Mar 15, 14:23
- on My Meeting with the Pope: “Nothing like that would ever happen in our church, of course. :)” Mar 14, 20:40
- on My Meeting with the Pope: “There’s definitely a history of people having an audience and then immediately insinuating to the media that the Pope is on their side, wink wink, and I’m sure people abusing audiences like that can get exhausting for the pontiff.” Mar 14, 18:23
- on My Meeting with the Pope: “That is a great picture–tell your coauthor he’s the one who really looks like a missionary. And you got the perfect missionaries-with-a-convert pose. I’m sure Pope Leo appreciates you keeping the discussion private, even though I imagine he was still circumspect just in case. I think it would be fascinating to have an unguarded conversation about law and politics with President Oaks, but I presume that never happens for the same reason.” Mar 14, 17:12
- on B. H. Roberts Beginner’s Guide Update: “Because of the initial free release, I didn’t think that publishers would be interested in it.” Mar 14, 15:20
- on My Meeting with the Pope: “I have great hope for the new Pope. He seems to want to carry on the mission of Pope Francis. To help the poor, widows etc. He has spent much of his life in northern Peru. He speaks an indigenous language: Quechua. And has dual citizenship in Peru. He understands the plight of the poor and the needs of Native Americans. I glad you got to meet him.” Mar 14, 09:04
- on B. H. Roberts Beginner’s Guide Update: “Thanks for doing this, Chad. I look forward to reading it.” Mar 14, 06:49
- on A Review: Chosen Land: How Christianity Made America and Americans Remade Christianity: “Thanks for pointing that one out, Jonathan!” Mar 13, 22:24
