There is something inherently spiritual and sacred about saying farewell to someone before they die. Tender feelings are expressed through flowing tears, tender touches and verbal expressions of love often taken for granted are shared freely and meaningfully.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched my mother-in law and her brother say goodbye to their ailing and aged mother. My heart ached as my wife’s uncle gently cradled his mother’s head and told her that he loved her. Few words were spoken those of us in the room, but the unspoken feeling was that the end is near.

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Today marks the 165th anniversary of the first endowments being given in the latter days. At that time, the Nauvoo temple was still far from completion. Baptisms for the dead were conducted in the cellar font, but there was not yet a place for the endowment. The upper room of the Red Brick Store in Nauvoo would have to suffice. “Although on one occasion Joseph Smith stated that in the days of poverty the Saints could obtain their endowments on a mountain, there were no mountains in the vicinity of Nauvoo. Moreover, the surrounding prairie offered insufficient privacy for the administration of temple ordinances…. Apparently the one place where he felt he had enough control of access to insure the required privacy was in his own store.” (1) On 4 May 1842, Joseph Smith gathered nine men (2) and gave them the endowment.

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With “September Dawn” — the movie that reportedly tries to make Brigham Young look like Osama bin Laden — about to come out, and criticism aimed at the Church coming seemingly from all sides, it’s nice to read something, well, nice about Mormons. And it is written by an evangelical too.

Next time I hear a comment about polygamy or how we are not Christian or are a cult, instead of feeling down I will choose to concentrate on these sentiments:

I know that I’m going to get in trouble in some quarters for the following statement, but I’m going to say it anyway. I love Mormons, and I deeply appreciate the role played by the LDS church in our nation and our culture.

On the Republican side, recent data indicates Mitt Romney is inching up in popularity in the crucial states of Iowa and New Hampshire. He has 24 percent of the vote in NH, behind McCain but solidly ahead of Giuliani. In Iowa, he is third with 14 percent to McCain’s 26 percent and Giuliani’s 19 percent.

On a nationwide basis, Romney’s support has slowly been inching up, as a look at these results and this graph indicate. Reports from the field indicate Romney has the most efficient campaigning organization.

The Bloggernacle loves to play down Romney’s chance in this election, but I don’t think that’s wise. If I were a betting man, which I’m not, I’d put good money on him winning the Republican nomination. The general election is unfortunately another story, however.

UPDATE: This poll shows Romney solidly ahead in NH.

Overall, I thought “The Mormons” was a wonderful documentary that showed most of the positive things about the Church from a secular perspective while also exploring many of the criticisms in a fair way.

In this post, I would like to touch on one area where I thought the documentary really fell short, and this is the area of how we treat intellectual dissidents.

UPDATE: Look at this link for complete transcripts from “The Mormons.” Both Elder Holland and Daniel Peterson touch on this issue pretty eloquently.

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