The Nauvoo Cultural Hall is a part of the Church’s extensive renovation and restoration work on various buildings from Old Nauvoo. However, the building is not a full restoration and there are large differences between the modern building and it’s nineteenth-century counterpart.
Old Pictures of the Old Masonic Hall and 1978 Restoration (more…)
Kirtland, Ohio
As for the Kirtland Temple, it’s likely that those who tour the building will receive a lot of historical information. The building is owned by our cousins, the Community of Christ, and they usually run their tours in a historical fashion, as opposed to the Mormon sites which are almost always part of the Mission and staffed by missionaries. While the LDS missionaries are encouraged to study the history of the sites they service they are also expected to stay “on script” at most sites; the RLDS sites are usually staffed by historians or history students and, as such, you’ll probably get a different tour each time you go. (more…)
Yes, I spelled the title correctly. These are common myths about the Latter Day Saint movement, a religious movement that contains The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (note the hyphenation; also commonly called the Mormons), the Community of Christ, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and many others. Of course, to be completely honest, this is mostly about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and the Community of Christ (CoC), formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and their common (and separate) history. (more…)
I’m not sure about doing both of these sites in the same day, but Joseph (and I think Emma) made this trip a few times in the first few years of their marriage. Palmyra was a small town that benefited slightly from the construction of the Erie Canal and is the township where Joseph grew up from a young boy to a young man. He hobbled into Palmyra a little crippled boy still recovering from an intensive leg surgery and finally left as the leader of the Lord’s Restored Church. (more…)
The obelisk stands 38 1/2 feet high – one foot for every year of Joseph’s life. It is difficult to understand why a Church that had only recently found financial independence and was struggling to assimilate into American life and culture would go to the expense of building a monument in such an out-of-the-way place (more…)
As some of my family drives cross-country this year they will be visiting many Mormon historic sites. I wish I could go with them. I’ve been to sites like Kirtland, Nauvoo, and Winter Quarters many times but it has been years since I’ve gone.
When I went those times in the past I remember certain aspects vividly: walking the cemetery at Winter Quarters, standing in a hot, small room where the tour guide said in reverent tones that the Father had visited (I think this is the upstairs room at the Whitney Store in Kirtland), walking around the large rectangular depression where the Nauvoo Temple had once stood (and now stands again), walking through the Kirtland Temple and pondering the oddness of female priesthood in the RLDS Church (more on that below), visiting family at the Johnson Farm, and walking through the peaceful Sacred Grove. (more…)
| Us: | Echo, where’s Jesus? |
| Echo: | (points to a picture on the wall) Jesus! |
| Us: | And Echo; We have a Prophet, do you know what a Prophet is? |
| Echo: | Uh-huh; You follow! |
| Us: | Right, Follow the Prophet! Echo, do you know the name of the Prophet? |
| Echo: | Uh-huh; (slaps her chest proudly) Echo is a Prophet! |
| Us: | Wow, um… wow… well… Echo, his name is Monson. The Prophet’s name is Monson; can you say ‘Monson’? |
| Echo: | Echo is a Prophet! |
To be sung either to the tune of “Follow the Prophet”, or mixed in with it – not sure if this is parody or some silly extraneous lyrics.
Ehud was a prophet
Raised up by the Lord
Stabbed a very fat man
With a homemade sword!
Ehud by his acts
Brought freedom to the land.
Ehud is a hero
For those who are left-hand(ed)! (more…)
Okay, so I’ve written the first post on the blog, which was supposed to say what this was all about. I’ve written the second post, which was a technical cheat sheet that I am now using all the time at work. The third post was a long post regarding my annoyance with (and rewriting of ) my primary lesson this week (still haven’t given it – I suppose I’ll say how it went on Sunday). Now I’m not sure what else to write about. I mean, what is the point of having my own space on the Internet? My sister has her blog which is mostly a combination journal/newsletter, but I’m not sure if that’s the route I want to go.
I’m not sure who is reading this blog, or who would want to since there’s not really an overall theme yet – like silly pictures or fun links. (more…)
I teach the 10-11-year-olds in my ward primary. This year’s course of study is the D&C and Church History. After reading a lot about Church History and Joseph Smith (including in the completely awesome biography, Rough Stone Rolling) I was worried before starting as to how I would be teaching the course. Thankfully the lesson manual is written with a surprising amount of carefully chosen wording and nuance. If you are a member who doesn’t know many details about Church History you really won’t find anything in the manual troubling, and if you know a lot about Church History you’ll find that the lessons are carefully worded to consciously flow around controversial subjects.
In teaching I’ve never really had much problem with the lessons. Until now. (more…)
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