A classic study of an influential American religion....Provides both the specialist in religion and the general reader with a thoughtful history of this complex religion.

    Understanding its origin and development through the experiences of Wilford Woodruff will answer questions posed by individuals inside and outside of the Church. What is the relationship of temple ordinances and Old Testament rituals? Why have some ordinances been discontinued? Why did married women choose to be sealed to Joseph Smith? What is priesthood adoption? When were proxy ordinances introduced?Many books and articles address a specific temple ordinance or a period of time in Mormon history, but the development of all temple ordinances has never been included in a single volume - until now.Jennifer Mackley's meticulously researched biographical narrative chronicles the development of temple doctrine through the examination of Wilford Woodruff's personal life. The account unfolds in Woodruff's own words, drawn from primary sources including journals, discourses, and letters. Mackley elucidates the doctrine's sixty-year progression from Old Testament practices of washings and anointings in the 1830s, to the endowment, sealings, and priesthood adoptions in the 1840s, through all of the vicarious ordinances for the dead in the 1870s, to the sealing of multigenerational families in the 1890s. Her narrative is enhanced by 120 archival images (some previously unpublished), as well as extensive footnotes and citations for the reader's further study. More information can be found at www.wilfordwoodruff.info.

    Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

    Willard Marriott Library. Leonard Arrington is considered by many the foremost twentieth-century historian of Mormonism. He played a key role in establishing the Western History Association and the Mormon History Association, and more than a half-century after its publication, his revised doctoral dissertation, Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints 1830-1900, remains a standard. But Arrington’s career was not without controversy. Gregory Prince takes an in-depth look at this respected historian and, in telling Arrington’s story, gives readers insight into the workings of the LDS Church in the late twentieth century. In 1972, during a major reorganization of the LDS Church, Arrington was asked to serve as the official church historian, thereby becoming the first—and thus far the only—professional historian to hold that title. He immediately set out to professionalize the entire Church History Division and open its extensive archives to scholarly researching. While the output of and from that division moved Mormon studies to a new level, the shift of historiography from faith promotion ecclesiastical, to scholarly and professional research and analysis was unacceptable to a handful of powerful senior apostles. In 1980 the History Division was disassembled and moved to Brigham Young University. That led to a shift in the professionalization of the Church History Division and Archives and in Arrington’s career but not to a loss of his broad influence. This biography is the first to draw upon the remarkable Arrington diaries (over 20,000 pages); it is supplemented by the author’s interviews of more than 100 people who knew or worked with Arrington. The book is of additional significance given continuing battles between the LDS Church and scholars, which frequently gains national attention because of excommunications of prominent intellectuals.

    But while on vacation with her family in Mexico, she meets Ed, a seventeen-year-old Baptist from Illinois who is spending his vacation building houses for the homeless. Laurie returns to Utah determined to make a difference through her actions and weekly editorial in the student newspaper.Unfortunately, she finds her best friend, Roz, has also changed. Their strong-willed personalities collide as they stand on opposite sides of a heated battle involving popularity and Church standards. As Laurie writes impassioned pleas in the student newspaper for how things ought to be, she seems to further alienate herself from her peers, leaving her with only her new-found friend in Illinois. In the end, Laurie discovers how difficult and terrifying--and absolutely worthwhile--it is to truly stand for something.

    Oaks, former President of Brigham Young University, and justice of the Utah Supreme Court, and now a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, one of the governing bodies of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church). Elder Oaks presented these at various sessions of the LDS General Conference, and at devotionals and firesides at BYU.

    Sometimes we stay on one plateau thinking that is all we need to do, but if we can move forward toward the next plateau we would find that there is more to learn and more to do.

    . ." So begins the first book in the Book of Mormon, as the prophet Nephi brings us through the wilderness to a promised land where his family fractures rather than flourishes. But in spite of that tragedy, Nephi points us to the hope he found in his father's inspired dream for the future. Driven by his father's fears and faith, he sought and received his own revelations about how his people might someday find redemption and might ultimately help bring about the redemption of Israel and the entire human family.In this brief theological introduction, philosopher and theologian Joseph M. Spencer investigates the central themes and purposes of a book he calls a "theological masterpiece." What was Nephi trying to accomplish with his writings? How can readers today make better sense of Nephi's words? What can an ancient seer offer readers in the twenty-first century?

    What is it, and where can it be found? Is it an ideal to be hoped for in the next life, or a reality to be sought here and now? "To me there was never a time when we had a greater need for happiness and for the peace, contentment, serenity, hope, gratitude, and joy that are part of it," writes Mary Ellen Edmunds. In Happiness: Finders, Keepers, she offers a wealth of practical, cheery, spirit-filled suggestions for living a happier life. Since our Father in Heaven's plan is "the great plan of happiness," and since one of the reasons for our very existence is that we "might have joy" (2 Nephi 2:25), it's clear that we're meant to be happy right now, here, today! We can do so, even in the midst of trials, if we understand the true nature of this heavenly gift. "I am convinced that even with the heavy burdens, the awful injustices, and the tragedies in the world, there is happiness all around us," writes the author. "We must be the finders and the keepers — those who are aware of and who cherish this holy, abundant blessing." Overcoming stress, maintaining a sense of humor, remembering our blessings, feeling gratitude — these are just some of the paths to happiness discussed in this delightful book. Warm personal stories and solid insights from the scriptures and the words of Church leaders help shape our perspective. The message is one of hope: There are things we can do and feel that will make us almost instantly happier. As Mary Ellen says: "May we remember that we already chose the great plan of happiness, but we need to choose it again, hour after hour and day after day, through all our earthly experiences. . . . If we will, we can live happily ever after!"

    

    In her compelling style, Sheri dew outlines five ways - scriptures, the gift of the Holy Ghost, priesthood ordinances, temple covenants, and the atonement of Jesus Christ - in which God makes His power available to us. "When we have the power of God with us, nothing is impossible," she states. God Wants a Powerful People explains how we can seek access to the powers of heaven to help us live up to who we really are.Talk on one compact disc Approx. running time: 60 min, About the Author Sheri Dew is the bestselling author of several books including the biographies of LDS Church Presidents Gordon B. Hinckley and Ezra Taft Benson and No Doubt About It. She served as second counselor in the general presidency of the Relief Society of the LDS Church from 1997 - 2002, and in March 2003 the White House appointed her as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations.

    Richard Lloyd Anderson, wherein he presents evidence from original sources on each of the eleven witnesses of the metal plates from which the Prophet Joseph Smith translated the ancient scriptural account known as the Book of Mormon.

    Many of the three thousand hardy souls who trudged across thirteen hundred miles of prairie, desert, and mountain from 1856 to 1860 were European converts to the Mormon faith. Without funds for wagons and oxen, they carried their possessions in two-wheeled carts powered and aided by their own muscle and blood. Some of the weary travelers would finally be welcomed by their brethren in Salt Lake City; others would go to wayside graves or get caught in early winter storms in the Rockies and hope to be rescued by the parties sent out by Brigham Young. The migration is described in Handcarts to Zion, which draws on diaries and reports of the participants, rosters of the ten companies, and a collection of the songs sung on the trail and at "The Gathering." LeRoy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen dedicated the book to his mother, Mary Ann Hafen, who wrote about the long journey in Recollections of a Handcart Pioneer of 1860: A Woman’s Life on the Mormon Frontier, also a Bison Book.

    

    Consumer with grief, his disciples did not realize that within three days, as the Jews measure time, earthshaking events would culminate in Jesus' resurrection, the which they would all become eyewitnesses. The Garden Tomb tells the story of the Savior's burial, mission to the world of the spirits, and triumph over death - all of which constitute the third act in the singular drama that was and is the Atonement of Jesus Christ.About the AuthorAndrew C. Skinner is dean of Religious Education and a professor of ancient scripture at BYU. He has served as a bishop and as a member of the Church Materials Evaluation Committee. He holds a master's degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the University of Denver. A popular speaker known for his thought-provoking ideas, he is the author or co-author of many books, including Gethsemane and Golgotha, the first two books in his Atonement trilogy.