In these two chapters, we engage in the translation of the Book of Mormon.

Martin Harris deals heavily in chapter 5. He hears about the plates, tells Joseph that he’ll pray about it, and if the story was not of God, he would fight against it. Upon praying, however, the Spirit witnessed to Martin it was true. This convinced him enough that he gave Joseph $50 to travel to Harmony PA, where there would be less risk of attacks from enemies trying to get the plates.

Still, Martin was a mixed bag. One moment hot, the next cold. He received a page of characters from the plates to take to New York City, where the well known story of Charles Anthon occurs. Given that Egyptian was not yet translated (Champollion was only then beginning his translation), Anthon proclaimed more than he really knew about the characters and their translation. Continue reading →

Book Review: On Fire in Baltimore – Black Mormon Women and Conversion in a Raging City, by Laura Rutter Strickling

I personally believe there are perhaps only a handful of white members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (I’m trying to follow the Pres Nelson!), who truly understand the black experience with the Restored Church. I’m one of them.

Raised in pasty white western Montana, my first real experience with black people was in the Air Force, especially when I was stationed in Montgomery, Alabama for almost 17 years.There, I spent a decade as ward mission leader and in the stake mission presidency. It was in 1987 that we decided it was time to actively proselyte among Blacks. Even though the Revelation occurred almost a decade before, no real effort was made to preach to Blacks in the stake. It wasn’t long before two of our wards each were baptizing dozens of Blacks a year.

I was tasked with being a group leader in Tuskegee, preparing it over a five month period to become a branch. In working in my ward, and throughout the stake, I experienced a level of racism I was not expecting. Continue reading →

Prior to today, there were 189 temples announced, under construction or dedicated. With these 12 today, we now are at 201 temples in the works!

This list, as of today, does not include the 12 announced.

https://www.lds.org/temples/list?lang=eng

Given that the Conference talks are up within a day or so, we will not be live blogging this year. Instead, we will be blogging regarding significant talks or statements made during Conference.

We invite our readers to submit guest posts during the week or two after Conference to share which talks inspired them, and why they inspired you. Share your inspiration with us!

Thanks,

rameumptom

Welcome to the Saints vol 1, book club.

The manual is a very different history book of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter -day Saints. First, it is written in narrative format, which means it is easy reading. Second, while it is inspiring, it faithfully discusses the more controversial issues that were often buried or intentionally ignored in the past. Third, it contains the experiences of several people, particularly women. Fourth, it uses many sources, from Lucy Mack Smith to Bushman’s Rough Stone Rolling to the Joseph Smith Papers Project. Continue reading →