How can we let ourselves and our own desires die so we can be born again to a new life, a full life in Christ, here and now in this mortal life?

    With in-depth research and never previously used documents, Jonathan A. Stapley explores the rituals of ordination, temple sealings, baby blessings, healing, and cunning-folktraditions. In doing so, he demonstrates that Mormon liturgy includes a much larger and more complex set of ritualized acts of worship than the specific rites of initiation, instruction, and sealing that take place within the temple walls. By exploring Mormonism's liturgy more broadly, The Power of Godliness shows both the nuances of Mormon belief and practice, and how the Mormon ordering of heaven and earth is not a mere philosophical or theological exercise. Stapley examines Mormonism's liturgical history to reveal a completereligious world, incorporating women, men, and children all participating in the construction of the Mormon universe. This book opens new possibilities for understanding the lived experiences of women and men in the Mormon past and present, and investigates what work these rituals and ritualizedacts actually performed in the communities that carried them out. By tracing the development of the rituals and the work they accomplish, The Power of Godliness sheds important new light on the Mormon universe, its complex priesthoods, authorities, and powers.

    The story of High-Ranking Mormon leader Hans Mattsson seeking sincere answers from his church but instead finding contempt, fear, doubt...and eventually peace

    But where do you start? How can you convey what's on your heart in a way that will be well received? Every relationship and situation is unique, and that's why these essays from respected scholars, apologists, and pastors—including Sandra Tanner, Robert Bowman, David Geisler, Bill McKeever, Mark Mittelberg, J. Warner Wallace, Lynn Wilder, and others—lays out a variety of creative methods for sharing the gospel effectively so you can...initiate authentic conversationsrespond with compassion and clarity to Mormon teachingsunderstand your Mormon friends and find ways to keep the dialogue goingSpeaking the truth to Mormons can feel daunting when you're unprepared. Let the suggestions in this book give you solid ideas for reaching those who are lost but don't realize it.

    A new opportunity arrives when a collection of eleven mummies and several papyri covered in indecipherable hieroglyphs are due to arrive in New York’s South Street Seaport direct from the Valley of the Kings. Enlisting the help of a crooked customs agent and a black market antiquities dealer, he assumes the identity of Michael Chandler, nephew of deceased Egyptologist Antonio Lebolo, and lays claim to the shipment. The showman’s plan to amass his fortune displaying the stolen artifacts across the country becomes more complicated when one of his accomplices dies a suspicious death, causing Lyman and the man’s beautiful widow to make a hasty escape from the city. Through four states, along the Erie Canal, and eventually to the doorstep of Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, Lyman exhibits his dusty companions before a curious public. Rarely more than a few breaths ahead of his enemies, Lyman struggles to keep his prize from slipping away as he tangles with grief, love, betrayal, and a growing sense of his own mortality.

    She used to be the one not to be named. We listened so hard at the edges of the conversation to hear anything—any detail, any dropped syllable. But thanks to the work of the visionary writers and editors who crafted DOVE SONG the Mormon concept of a Heavenly Mother now has so much presence! So many words! May we never lose her again.” —Joanna Brooks DOVE SONG is an anthology of poetry and art centered on the Mormon concept of Heavenly Mother. It includes 138 poems from 80 poets and artists from the early church, to the late 20th Century to today. “DOVE SONG is unique in the canon of Mormon literature. And uniquely important. Not only is it a work of fine art, a carefully arranged series of poems that the poets have used their finest skill and training to create, but it is a work of history, a work of inspiration, and a sacred record of many individuals’ spiritual quest for additional revealed knowledge about Mother in Heaven.” —Susan Elizabeth Howe “This anthology is a shattering summary of poetic revelation, feminist theology, and Mormon history about our Mother God. Over seventy poets speak across time from 1844-2017, describing their visions and yearnings for the divine feminine, like soul mates through the veil. They begin in 1844 with W.W. Phelps, Eliza R. Snow, and Lula Green Richards in 1899, then disappear from the fin de siè·cle to the 1970s when Carol Lynn Pearson and Linda Sillitoe sing our Mother back. Like holy scribes, these poets persist, wondering and writing in the wilderness, seeking a promised land where God is home.” —Maxine Hanks

    More than a century after the practice was banned, it casts a long shadow that obscures people's perceptions of the lives of today's Latter-day Saint women. Many still see them as second-class citizens, oppressed by the church and their husbands, andforced to stay home and take care of their many children.Sister Saints offers a history of modern Mormon women that takes aim at these stereotypes, showing that their stories are much more complex than previously thought. Women in the Utah territory received the right to vote in 1870-fifty years before the nineteenth amendment-only to have it taken awayby the same federal legislation that forced the end of polygamy. Progressive and politically active, Mormon women had a profound impact on public life in the first few decades of the twentieth century. They then turned inward, creating a domestic ideal that shaped Mormon culture for generations. Thewomen's movement of the 1970s sparked a new, vigorous-and hotly contested-Mormon feminism that divided Latter-day Saint women. By the twenty-first century more than half of all Mormons lived outside the United States, and what had once been a small community of pioneer women had grown into adiverse global sisterhood.Colleen McDannell argues that we are on the verge of an era in which women are likely to play a greater role in the Mormon church. Well-educated, outspoken, and deeply committed to their faith, these women are defying labels like liberal and conservative, traditional and modern.This deeply researched and eye-opening book ranges over more than a century of history to tell the stories of extraordinary-and ordinary-Latter-day Saint women with empathy and narrative flair.

    In these stunningly original poems, Heather Harris Bergevin turns over our mythology, our history, our literature, and our lives in search of the women whose lives have been called "evil." She gives them a voice, allows them to tell their stories, and, in the process, changes the way we think about the world.

    Becca struggles to make sense of her new relationship with an outcast dad, and the code of the Prophet which promises a superior existence with strict obedience. Blanketed by apocalyptic prophecies of world destruction for unbelievers and looming threats of being declared an apostate, she strives to “Keep Sweet” alongside an enormous new family of three mothers, a new father, and dozens of brothers and sisters. Underneath the beauty of wholesome childhood adventures with family and friends is an aching awareness that something isn’t right as she grows into womanhood and realizes her future is not her own. She must break the code before it is too late.

    The author, a Mormon and a journalist who once worked for the Tribune, tells a story of secret deals, behind-the-scenes backstabbing, and manipulation of the political and legal systems by a church that controls the politics of Utah.      Based on many interviews and extensive research, the book describes the history of enmity between the Church and the newspaper, which came to a head in 2000. In that year, the Tribune reopened an investigation into an 1857 murder of a wagon train of 120 men, women, and children passing through Utah. The Mountain Meadow Massacre had been conducted by highly-placed church members and historians have said it was condoned by Brigham Young, the leader of the Mormon Church.      The published stories intensified efforts by the Church to kill the newspaper. When a hedge fund took ownership of the Tribune, the Church in 2013 saw an opportunity to take advantage and ensure the paper's demise. Just as the paper appeared to be going under, a small group of citizens became the David that took down the Mormon Goliath and delivered the Pulitzer Prize-winning paper to a steady local owner who is willing to fight for its long-term survival.     This is a cautionary tale about the dangers of mingling church and state and the ways in which big money can threaten the freedom of the press.

    We can feel angry, having the same arguments over and over. We can feel unsupported, unappreciated, and unloved.This can lead to us feeling lonely in our marriage, when more than anything we want to be connected to our spouse.Inside this book you'll learn what you can do to start creating real confidence and deep connection in your LDS marriage. You'll learn: How to talk to so your spouse will listen How to listen so your spouse will talk What Mormon wives most request from their husbands (it's probably not what you think) How to effectively show and receive love How to get everyone to work around the house without nagging How to be irresistible to your wife (it starts way before the bedroom) How to reach an agreement when it seems impossible My name is Mike Frazier. I majored in neuroscience at BYU, got my MD degree at UCLA, and am a practicing LDS psychiatrist. I've been cited in Men's Journal, RedBook and the U.S. News and World Report.You'll learn some of the things that have helped couples I've worked with in the book. I'll also share personal stories with you from my own marriage. But, you won't have to rely solely on my personal or professional experience as you read.Nearly 500 Mormon wives contributed to creating this book by answering important and deep questions about what they wanted from their husbands.The answers they gave were outstanding, and in some cases, surprising. Also, many were hysterical. You'll hear their voices in quotes throughout this book.By the end of the book, you'll understand what it takes to create an amazing mental, emotional, physical and spiritual connection in your LDS marriage.I'm excited to present this book to you, so jump in and start creating the marriage that you want to last forever.Mike Frazier, MDP.S. For tools to implement what you read, visit HelpingLDSfamilies.com/resources and take your results to the next level.