As some know, Kris and I have worked together for the past couple of years doing research on Mormon healing. Our earliest work has focused on the liturgical aspects of Mormon healing, but we intend to eventually get to medical science as well. We recently found out that our paper, “‘They Shall Be Made Whole’: A History of Baptism for Health,” has been accepted by the Journal of Mormon History. We also just finished up our next paper, “The Forms and the Power: The Development of Mormon Ritual Healing to 1847″ and are looking forward to seeing what the editors say about it. I think they are both exciting papers, but now it is on to the next thing. (more…)

John P. Hatch, ed., Danish Apostle: The Diaries of Anthon H. Lund (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 2005), 882 pages, clothbound.

Jedediah S. Rogers, ed., In the President’s Office: The Diaries of L. John Nuttall 1879-1892 (Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 2007), 511 pages, clothbound. (more…)

One of the most invaluable publication series in Mormon Studies is Utah State University Press’s Life Writings of Frontier Women, with Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, Series Editor. I have the full quiver of volumes and several have been integral in my research in Mormon liturgical history. This year, perhaps in a bid to balance the various narratives, USU Press is printing Exposé of Polygamy: A Lady’s Life among the Mormons. (more…)

I haven’t written for a while, and now I feel remiss. Today was graduation day at BYUH, and the visiting apostle, Elder Ballard, told us all to have more of an online presence. (more…)

Perhaps as we celebrate our feasts we will give thanks for our co-religionists who sacrificed much more than we currently do for Zion’s sake. Besides reading Justin’s excellent post, the following are a few journal entries of our religious progenitors: (more…)

I am typically an Amazon.com man. I have the free two-day shipping and I love their used and new options. This year, however, we received a couple of gift certificates to Barnes & Noble. I recently decided to use them. (more…)

Donald G. Godfrey and Kenneth W. Godfrey, The Diaries of Charles Ora Card: The Utah Years, 1871-1886 (Provo: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2006), 604 pgs. (more…)

The Harold B. Lee Library Digital Collections has been slowly amassing one of the most important digital archives in Mormon Studies. I just noticed that they have added the Young Women’s Journal. (more…)

In 1852, years before the handcart pioneers walked west and just one year after the first baptism in Hawaii, the Saints erected their first chapel. It still stands. (more…)

Hosea Stout was in charge of police at Nauvoo and Winter Quarters. His diary, edited by Juanita Brooks, is a great treasure, though very rare on the used book market. He wrote mostly of the activities relating to his work, but on occasion we see personality that reflects the devastation of the pioneer trek. Hosea left Nauvoo with six children and within a year and a half lost them all. Especially poignant is the death of his namesake: (more…)

I am entering my 3rd and final week with two rare Mormon diaries. This is my first municipal inter-library loan experience. I just finished volume one of Juanita Brooks’ two-volume On the Mormon Frontier: The Diary of Hosea Stout (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1964). It is fitting that I would receive and read it now. (more…)

As Bushman wrapped up his biography of Joseph Smith during the summer of 2005, Glen Nelson, who publishes a variety of Mormon Cultural projects, asked him to keep a diary of the events surrounding the roll-out of the book for publication. The fruit of those diaries was an unbound limited edition that sports a handmade cherry-wood slip case. Kofford Books received permission to publish a paperback edition which is available as of this week on Amazon. I picked up a copy at MHA a month ago. (more…)

I was surprised to be called Friday to see if I might be able to substitute in Primary for the 11-12 year olds on Sunday. It seems that the teacher is not entirely dependable and would I be a back up? I was given the information on the Church site to get the lesson materials and began to prepare. This is not a remarkable occurrence. I am sure it happens thousands of times each week in the church. The surprise is that I haven’t had a calling in the church for months. (more…)

My parents left Utah as part of the great migration to the west coast. When I was young, leaving and finding a place in the world was simply part of life. It is what we do. We are progressive and brave. While others stayed in the cradle of Deseret, we expanded and capitalized on gentile opportunity. I was proud of what we did. I still am; but as I have gotten older, I have realized the price we pay for it. (more…)

Ardis’s recent post at T&S on home libraries, got me thinking about a new piece of software that I am testing out. I’m not sure why I like the idea of cataloging books so much, but I have to admit that the fun of doing it has made me consider ponying up the $40 or whatever to purchase the software once the free trial is over. (more…)

Things have been a bit slow going here as most of my free time is going towards MHA prep. However, I thought it would be nice to share the good news about Google Books for Mormon Studies. Google has gone though major libraries and digitized their books. Publishers have also digitized their collections and they are available in various states of accessibility though Google’s website. This is an incredible resource. (more…)

I grew up hearing cussing /swearing. I heard it all the time. It wasn’t hard core language that fell on my young ears, just the D word, H word and S word having to do with manure and the oft used A word that referred to one’s posterior and the kicking thereof. (more…)

Due to the explicit discourse of Joseph Smith, most frequently called the King Follet Discourse, many Latter-day saints believe that the spirit and mind of man is eternal and can never be created or destroyed. While he had preached this concept five years earlier, there was a significant diversity of thought post-martyrdom on the topic. Perhaps the two most identifiable ideologies were those of Orson Pratt (see here) and Brigham Young. This post will deal with Brigham’s thoughts on spirit creation from the perspective of a unique aspect of his thought: spirit destruction. (more…)

Years ago, my wife confided to me that Sundays are definitely not a day of rest. To be perfectly fair, I conceded the point. I was serving in a Bishopric and “got” to escape the struggle of getting small children ready for church, loading them into the car, and then sitting with said children alone while your spouse quietly and serenely smiled down upon your antics from the stand. We talked about this and agreed that my responsibility to my children didn’t end because I was on the stand. Many are the sacrament meetings that I have a small squirrly in the chair next to me in an attempt at discipline or reward for good behavior (my son would have gladly submitted to a public thrashing rather than sit in front of people, my daughter was just the opposite). The ward members didn’t seem to mind. (more…)

Beneath the highest sea cliffs in the world lay the remnants of Kalaupapa. A handful remain of the thousands that once had no choice to leave. Shortly after the 1866 establishment of the settlement on the shores of Moloka’i, the first Mormons came. Lepers. (more…)

I’ve been worried for a while about my daughter. Many of her friends are in pre-school, and I often wonder, is she missing out on some of the great things pre-school has to teach her? I’ve recently realized that this attitude is merely falling into a trap that is currently afflicting society. We are beginning to think that pre-school represents indispensable preparation for our children. Poppycock!

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Britney Spears was recently voted the most annoying person of 2006 by Star Magazine. Most of this was a combination of her bad parenting and wild partying. I’m not the one you would normally find defending such a person, but perhaps there is something to be said for her, and it should give a broader warning. (more…)

With the political prominence of several Mormons, some media outlets have focused critically on Mormon beliefs and practices. Included among these reports have been some write-ups on the underwear worn by many faithful Latter-day saints, which we call “garments,” “temple garments,” or more formally the “garment of the holy priesthood.” Perhaps out of ignorance or malice, these sacred vestments have been treated by the media in a manner that is offensive to most Mormons. Notably, images of individuals posing in the clothing have been distributed. Though such incidents have occurred since the 19th century, such explicit treatment of the sacred is, not surprisingly, disturbing to faithful Latter-day Saints. (more…)

A year ago, I commented in a post on the symbols of Christmas that I didn’t tell my kids to believe in Santa, but I wasn’t going to discourage that belief. My views have since changed. I find myself quite hostile towards the entire complex of social deception. Accordingly, I hereby declare my anti-santa-belief position. (more…)

Collier’s recently published Office Journal of Brigham Young includes, in appendices, several meeting transcripts that relate to the tension over Orson Pratt in the governing quorums of the Church. In the introduction to these appendices, Collier claims that a certain researcher (Gary Bergera) misused and poorly transcribed one of these manuscripts and “went so far as to deliberately alter documents in order to cast aspersion upon President Young.” Count this as reason #132 that the Church Archives should not restrict material like this. (more…)