- RL on Beyond the Wasatch: David O. McKay, Overseas Temples, and the International Church: “Interesting read. Allowing for the ordination of Fijians seemed like a test case for later priesthood expansion. Wish the expansion was sooner but enjoy any Fiji mentions in Church history. Doing a mission in Fiji the model of Church schools there contributing to growth and stabilization is one I appreciated and hope we move forward overseas to further grow the Church. I wonder is we get an era of brick and mortar school expansion at some point in the future to match temple expansion. Pathways seems to be testing out learning centers in some countries.” Apr 2, 18:17
- on Cutting Edge Latter-day Saint Research, March 2026: “On the overrepresented white exiters, page 3,9. Lifers outnumber converts 5:1. So for the average Utah member, 16.7% are a convert and 84.3% of that group is white. 83.3% are lifers are 95% of that group is white. Exiters are 96.6% white. Membership is 93.37% white and exiters are 96.6% white. How is whiteness coming into play for exiting if not explained in a confounding variable like SES?” Apr 2, 18:04
- on How Many Latter-day Saints Have Ever Had An Elective Abortion? How Did They Feel About It?: “I invite all of you to remember this conversation when we sing the following lyrics during the Easter Sunday Morning session of General Conference: “Consider the sweet tender children who must suffer on this earth; The pains of all of them He carried from the day of His birth.” I’m the blond guy in the Bass section with tears in my eyes, every single time we sing that one.” Apr 2, 15:07
- on Cutting Edge Latter-day Saint Research, March 2026: “Stephen, thank you for yet another installment in your “cutting edge research” series. These are much appreciated.” Apr 2, 09:45
- on How Many Latter-day Saints Have Ever Had An Elective Abortion? How Did They Feel About It?: “One of my moms gave birth to a 9-pound baby girl early this morning. And another will be having her twin boys by C-section tomorrow. I am living the high life right now, participating in the most impactful and deeply spiritual work that I have ever been involved in. I have no idea why you would pretend to “feel sorry” for me, nor why you expect me to care at all what you think of me. I do know that if we had not been there for these mons those fateful days last summer, these three little children would be dead today, and their mom’s would have been left carrying the psychological trauma of knowing in their hearts that they had killed their own children. If you want to “feel sorry” for someone, maybe you could think of the million other children and their moms, in the US alone, who weren’t so lucky last year. By the way, Dallin Oaks is very much a living prophet, and not a dead one as you imply. And the passage I quoted about repentance and forgiveness “for the sin of abortion” is from today’s General Handbook, wording that was revised just a couple months ago. (https://bit.ly/4m37Bwe) This is current Church policy, much more authoritative than the summary from a Newsroom press release that you are relying on. And if anyone is curious about how Pro-Life Utah helps these women, here’s a short talk I gave last year, telling some of our stories: https://bit.ly/41MLqB6” Apr 2, 04:40
- on Cutting Edge Latter-day Saint Research, March 2026: “RL: I don’t see where it says that in the article, it looks like the lifers and leavers have a similar racial profile. Maybe I’m missing something? Gary Bergera: Agreed. It’s probably making them miss out on readership. Sometimes the titles are descriptive enough one can kind of tell what they’re about by often not, and in today’s low attention span environment you’d think abstracts would be a no-brainer. Jack: Some of that is a function of that new Journal of Mormon Polygamy. I’ve heard whispering about that Journal but nothing solid enough to repeat here in public, so I’m not sure what’s motivating a whole journal on that subject.” Apr 1, 18:19
- on Cutting Edge Latter-day Saint Research, March 2026: “A lot of stuff on polygamy. That seems to be all the rage right now–especially during the Nauvoo period.” Apr 1, 17:10
- on Cutting Edge Latter-day Saint Research, March 2026: “Thanks again, Stephen. It looks like the Journal of Mormon History may want to consider including abstracts for its articles.” Apr 1, 09:24
- on Cutting Edge Latter-day Saint Research, March 2026: “OK the Demographics article is enjoyable, I love anything sociology of religion. One thing I want to understand is why Whites are overrepresented in exiters? Interesting it can’t be explained generally by SES.” Apr 1, 08:11
- on Cutting Edge Latter-day Saint Research, March 2026: “The Demography article is more interesting to me and is available here: https://www.ryantcragun.com/the-demography-of-exiting-retention-and-conversion-among-members-of-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-in-utah/amp/” Apr 1, 06:53
