Mormon Bloggers

Joseph Smith (1805 – 1844) A few years ago in recognition of the 200th anniversary of his birth in 1805 on December 23rd, our stake held a youth fireside at the end of the year honoring the Prophet Joseph Smith.  I was asked to be the keynote speaker. I assembled many notes for that talk, most of which I never used.  This morning I discovered them in a deeply buried archive file on the computer, and share them here with the readers of this page.  Joseph Smith was a remarkably candid and forthright speaker and writer.  He pulled no punches, it appears to me, particularly in his own self-appraisals.  Most of what I have gathered below comes from his History of the Church compilation (hereafter HC), some 3,200 pages in total.  (Many of these statements have also been compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith.)  Today legislation in Washington can be cobbled together approaching that many pages with ease and... Read the rest of this entry »

On this Pioneer day, I decided to answer all the personal questions that you are asked when you fill out the profile on Mormon.org.  There are a whole lot more under the FAQ section (about 80) but that will have to wait for another day when I have more time.  I thoroughly enjoyed the process of answering these questions and felt like I was being interviewed, thus the title of this blog post. 01. Please explain the part prayer plays in your life? Having grown up with daily prayer, I can’t imagine a day go by in which I don’t communicate with my Heavenly Father in prayer.  We start the day in prayer as a family asking for the Lord’s blessing upon us as we work.  We end the day in prayer the same way, usually kneeling by the bed, reporting our activities to God and thanking him for his help.  We give thanks for the food we eat at mealtimes and participate in public prayers in our weekly worship service.  It is through prayer and reading scriptures that I feel close to God and directed... Read the rest of this entry »

A few years ago I spoke in one of the wards in our stake as the regular third Sunday high council speaker.  With ample time to develop a topic (a rarity) I felt impressed to revisit the 5th Chapter of Alma.  As the president of the church and also the head of government as chief judge, Alma decided to appoint another chief judge and go out among his people to “. . . pull down by the word of God all the pride and craftiness and all the contentions which were among his people, seeing no way that he might reclaim them save it were in bearing down in pure testimony against them.”  (Alma 4:19). Later in the day on that Sunday afternoon, I received a call from an older, venerable and kind brother in that ward who declared, “That was the greatest talk I have ever heard in my whole life.”  All I did was ask Alma’s 42 questions.  It might be a worthwhile Sunday activity today for you and your family to consider your answers. ALMA... Read the rest of this entry »

June 27 marks the 166th anniversary of Joseph Smith’s death. I found this amazing video in honor of him (click here for another good one). I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and restored His church to the earth. I know that he loved the Saints and the Lord and that he sacrificed so much to bring us the blessings of the gospel. Praise to the man! Challenge: May we continue to share his story and our testimony of him with all the world so that he did not die in vain. AKPC_IDS += "218849,";Popularity: 1% [?] Read More →

I know that Jesus Christ still speaks to His children, through all types of revelation: the scriptures, our Church leaders, and personal revelation through the Holy Ghost. It does not make any sense to me why some believe He has stopped communicating with His children. His works never change, for He is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (2 Nephi 29:9; see also Hebrews 13:8). He has not stopped, but has spoken to His children ever since Adam and Eve, giving us all the knowledge we need to return to Him. We especially need His guidance in these latter days, the final scenes before His Second Coming, and I am so grateful we have it. I know the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and that President Monson is a prophet. I know that Christ lives and loves us, and I am so grateful He shows His love by continuing to speak to us today. Challenge: Read 2 Nephi 29. AKPC_IDS += "218850,";Popularity: 1% [?] Read More →

This soul warming and inspirational video is posted on YouTube by Mormon Messages. A modern-day Apostle describes the unwavering faith Church’s founders showed, even in the face of death, to remain true to their testimonies of the Book of Mormon. Read the entire talk by clicking HERE. AKPC_IDS += "208831,";Popularity: unranked [?] Read More →

This new Mormon Message has been floating around Facebook, and I can see why. This beautiful woman radiates peace, faith, and courage. We should all have her attitude with whatever trials face us. I like Elder Holland’s quote at the end: “When suffering, we may in fact be nearer to God than we’ve ever been in our entire lives. That knowledge can turn every such situation into a would-be temple.” Challenge: Use your trials as opportunities to come closer to Christ. AKPC_IDS += "197707,";Popularity: unranked [?] Read More →

I am taking a very small break from Section 132 to participate in the Book of Mormon YouTube Challenge today. In case you haven’t heard any thing about it, the details are as follows: Dear friends, On May 3, 2010 (perhaps as part of your Family Home Evening program) if all reachable members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints–and any non members interested– would follow the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkKblIMfmjI and watch the YouTube video of Jeffrey R. Holland bearing testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, we could potentially achieve promoting that video to the YouTube homepage, based on volume of views. TIPS ON HOW TO ACHIEVE THIS: 1 increased views – multiples views by one viewer count2 comments – the more comments, the more valuable Youtube sees your video. Comments almost carry as much weight as views.3 favorites – everyone needs to “favorite” the video. 4 thumbs up – **please take special... Read the rest of this entry »

In Relief Society recently, we had a lesson about the creation. For me, there is no doubt that this world (and others) was created with purpose by Jesus Christ, under the direction of a loving God. It’s difficult for me to comprehend the idea that this world is a matter of chance, like some believe.. I feel that things work together to perfectly for that to be the case. I look at flowers, mountains, cactus, stars, and rivers and I am in awe of our God. He has given us so much beauty – in addition to the things we need. We believe that “He divided the light from darkness to make day and night. He formed the sun, moon and stars. He divided the waters from the dry land to make seas, rivers and lakes. He made the earth beautiful and productive. He made grass, trees, flowers, and other plants of all kinds. These plants contained seeds from which new plants could grow. Then He created the animals-fish, cattle, insects, and birds of all kinds.” Because of this creation, the earth was... Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been reading the arguments on MormonThink.com off and on for several years now.  I have a lot of respect for the individuals behind the site, even though most of them choose to be anonymous.  I am confident that I have been visited by several of the contributors there or at least by those who read their site and others like it such as Ex Mormon and Post Mormon. I am by no means a scholar or intellectual.  I think I’m pretty smart and that I’m pretty good with logic.  After all, I have made a living for thirty years demystifying computers for others.  But I know there are a lot of people out there who are smarter than I am and who have the academic credentials to prove it.  I like to think that I’m just a regular, average, typical Latter-day Saint. I like smart, thinking people and especially people who present logical conclusions well, either in writing or verbally.  Critical thinking is a skill that I am constantly striving to improve.  I confess that I am impressed... Read the rest of this entry »

Modern-day Apostles testify that Jesus Christ is the Savior and that He lives today. The painting (left) He is Risen is by Simon Dewey. AKPC_IDS += "180752,";Popularity: unranked [?] Read More →

Today, I’m posting another excellent YouTube video from Seth Adam Smith. Seth’s note to viewers is copied below. “The testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith lives on, for he left a name and a fame which cannot be slain! “This video is not only Joseph Smith’s testimony, but it is also my testimony. In 2004, while attending the BYU Semester at Nauvoo, I spent a lot of time researching and pondering the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I would often sit at the bench next to his grave and think about the things I had both heard and felt. “In the quiet of those nights, I gained a firm conviction of the truthfulness of Joseph Smith’s testimony which I cannot deny. “I wanted to capture the essence of those experiences in this video. It took me a long time to film and put this video together (it’s been a project that I’ve been working on for over two years), but I feel it was well worth my labors. “I care little about how many... Read the rest of this entry »