Crime and Preachment

This is such a great newspaper find with Mormon Missionaries and possible family both referenced even if not directly connected.

Monmouthshire Merlin & Silurian, 21 June 1856

First the missionaries. There wasn't much information easily to find about Abednego Spencer Williams (1827-1896) born in Blaenau, Monmouthshire, except that he came to Utah in the 1880s, and is buried in Ogden City Cemetery.

There's a bit more for Israel Evans (1828-1896). His story reads like an overview of westward expansion. Born in Ohio, his parents joined the LDS Church and moved to Missouri when he was only five. They relocated to Nauvoo, Illinois after the expulsion from Missouri and then left Nauvoo ahead of the mobs to follow Brigham Young. Israel marched with the Mormon Battalion in the War with Mexico and was present for the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill. Instead of becoming a rich Californian, he went to Utah. He served a four and a half year mission to Wales and led a successful handcart company (only two deaths) to the Valley in the turbulent year of 1857.

The year before, 1856, when Elinor, Jane, John and family left for Utah, Israel helped the Welsh Saints who took the train from Abergavenny and provided a moving account in his journal. He helped the Saints load onto the S. Curling at Liverpool. Elinor had gone a few weeks earlier and sailed on the Enoch Train. John and Jane Vaughan Lewis were likely on that train heading out from Abergavenny and who knows which Vaughans left behind were there to bid farewell:

The Gospel ≠ Politics

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Good News that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, atoned for our sins and resurrected from the grave so that we all will rise in resurrection and stand before Him to be judged. We will inherit a kingdom of glory (with a few exceptions). Those who exercise Faith in Christ, Repent, are Baptized by His authority, Receive and live by the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end keeping the Commandments (Moses's 10 plus a few related others you'll find in your Temple Recommend interview or the Temple itself), will be joint heirs with Christ of all that the Father has. (See 3 Nephi 27:13-27; D&C 76; Romans 8:17) And this is available to all, living or dead. (See D&C 128).

Now, what the Gospel is not:

Good Advice from Anonymous D on Blogging and Life

In some email exchanges about my new blogging opportunities at MormonDems.com, my good buddy offers me this:

I don’t worry about such things going to your head, or really anything about you. If I were in your place the only concern I would have would be maintaining my intellectual integrity. I guess that’s the soul of the artist, what little there is of it in me. The whole subject of draping your personal belief on the gospel has been a real bugaboo with me of late. I’m constantly reminded of the various tales of the counsel in heaven, how that has been co-opted to argue against communism, socialism, health care.

Recently, and you made a comment on this about rape, chastity, and virtue, but the thing is that Moroni 9:9 wasn't meant as a comment about sin. The Lamanite young women were not sinful, but the Nephite men robbed them in a very real way of something they can never get back - [their innocence]. Even with the healing of the Atonement and feeling perfectly clean, victims of such things go through the rest of their lives changed. I’m not saying that the object lessons we teach about the atonement, with the nail leaving a hole, or other craziness are true, they aren’t. But still in this life we live with the burden of things taken, the result of our own sins or others.

Live-Blogging April 2012 LDS Conference - Saturday Afternoon

Here we go again! I had some lunch - crackers and tuna and did my Saturday cleaning. My wife went shopping again and cleaned up on chocolate chips. My BYU daughter woke up from her nap in my big chair, so I got it back. We have limited seating space in the family room as my 15-year-old boy is lying, stretched-out on the couch and we really can't complain because he went to the doctor yesterday and was diagnosed with walking pneumonia! He has his germ mask so we can hope it doesn't spread.

Keep clicking for my updates, but you don't have to rely on me, conference is better direct at this link.

You Meet the Most Interesting People in Prison

Back to my project of transcribing my 2nd-Great-Grandfather's prison journal, I found his account of an execution with a rather spooky postscript. Grandpa Wood was in for unlawful cohabitation which he believed not a crime as he maintained his religious beliefs and practices took precedence over federal territorial law. It is interesting that throughout the journal he drew a clear distinction between his people or the "Cohabs" and the criminal element he called the "Tuffs" [or "Cons."]

The subject of the execution was a "Tuff" who had perhaps broken both the laws of man and of God. According to the Deseret News, Fred “Welcome” Hopt was executed for the July 3, 1880 murder of John F. Turner of Provo, Utah. Turner was a teamster and the son of Provo’s sheriff. Hopt had a history of several run-ins with the law and supposedly had sworn vengeance against the sheriff and his family. He was convicted of hacking John Turner to death with an axe while the young man was sleeping at camp near Park City. The body was found a week later in Echo Canyon where it had apparently been dumped by Hopt.

The diary transcription follows. Spelling and punctuation are as in the original:

Death Needs More Respect

I enjoy Halloween with its pagan traditions. I even like the idea of an "All Saints Day" that follows even if outside my own religious faith as I like holy people even more. But imagination, magic, ghosts, a scary story or two, even a "Ghostbusters" movie, and especially the trick-or-treating are fun except that I enjoyed it a lot more when I was a little kid and didn't have to keep answering the door bell. What I really don't like about Halloween is the pretend gore, especially that associated with the commercial haunted houses - or horror pics. Or jumping out and scaring people. Oh yeah, and zombies.

I read in some pop psychology-type articles that some people crave the adrenalin rush they get from being scared. Others may have adequate stimulation with regular life. For me, reading a book and taking a nap are plenty of stimulation. I think there is also a psychological aspect to confronting fear and even gory death in a sufficiently fake and safe environment. It's sort of a way to deal with or even hide from the reality of our own potential gore and death.

In real life we do eventually have to face those things. Some think I'm odd because they just don't bother me that much.

Truth and Love with Honors

I attended a very beautiful funeral today. It may seem odd, but I really love funerals, especially Mormon funerals which I find so uplifting and positive because of the strength of powerful faith that this life is not the end and there will be a glorious resurrection. This funeral also included military honors as the deceased was a Navy Veteran of World War II. It was not at a National Cemetery which sometimes are limited to abbreviated ceremonies due to budget cuts and increasing demands. The elderly Veterans who served their brother-in-arms today performed a very moving, patriotic, graveside service.

What Do Sarah and Anthony Have in Common?

Sexting? Lying? Hypocrisy? Making stuff up? Nope.

Actually, it's what a lot of people have in common. They are normal.

Now, I'm not making excuses for either one of them. They should get the consequences of their actions and choices. The Congressman may have to resign or at least his influence is significantly diminished. And someday, consequences will catch up with Sarah. It may take a while.

He Is Risen!

I can't help it. I have to say it. On this Easter morning, I woke early beside my beloved wife. I've set out Easter baskets while my almost grown kids still sleep. I went through a Sunday School lesson I was asked to teach last night for a sister who needed to be with her elderly mother in serious illness. The lesson is "I Am the Light of the World." I share my fervent belief that He is.

Basic Principles

As it's Sunday, I felt it appropriate to go a little (actually, a lot) religious today. I have a lot of thoughts going around my head for blogging, including one actually in draft form, but I come back to this idea of the most important message I could convey.  I have this opportunity rather frequently as I teach young Aaronic Priesthood men on Sundays (14-15-year-olds in Teachers Quorum).  I also used the theme when I was Bishop. And I used all the way back through my life including when I spoke in church on my LDS Mission to Brazil.  This isn't something I came up with on my own, but had an amazing spiritual instructor when I was a young man of eighteen.  It has formed the basis of my religious life.

My freshman Book of Mormon teacher at BYU was a guy named Jeff Holland.  I only had him for the first semester or first half of the Book of Mormon.  But when we got to Second Nephi, Chapter 2, he launched into a presentation of the basic principles of the Gospel.  Jumping from Second Nephi to Third Nephi which would have normally been in the second semester, he went through Chapter 27 starting at verse 13, where the Lord Jesus Christ himself explains his Gospel to the Nephites, and listed seven basic principles: