435: NEW LDS PROJECT UNDERWAY: WRITING A NEW HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

Writers, researchers, and Church historians have teamed up to produce a new history of the Church. It will be a new four-volume history.  The first Volume One will be published later this year. It is called Saints, The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days.

This new project was announced in this month's February Ensign. See below highlighted in yellow.

Elder Steven E. Snow, a General Authority Seventy and Church Historian and Recorder announced the new project for the Church in an  article in this month's February 2018 Ensign.  Elder Snow Taken announces that "together, the four volumes tell the story of the Lord’s Church striving to fulfill its mandate to perfect the Saints". He describes that the new style for writing the history will be in a narrative style. Snow took Brigham Young's advise to do so. He says in his Ensign article:  

In 1861, President Brigham Young (1801–77) urged Church historians to change their approach. “Write in a narrative style,” he advised, and “write only about one tenth part as much.”

The story on the next pages follows that counsel. I am pleased to introduce a new four-volume series called Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days. Chapter 1 is included in this issue, and subsequent chapters will be published in this magazine over the next several months. The first book will be available later this year, and the other volumes will follow.

Saints was prepared in response to the Lord’s commandment to “keep the church record and history continually” (D&C 47:3). Unlike past histories of the Church, it is a narrative history written in an engaging style that will be accessible to both youth and adults.

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It will be interesting to see how the new history of the Church will be received. I find it interesting that the title of the four-volume of the new Church History is called "A Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days. As we all know, everyone loves a great story. My youngest enjoys having a story read to her before she goes to bed.

The word 'story' defined in the dictionary has several meanings. Here are a few of them.

• an account of imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment
• a fictional narrative shorter than a novel
• a widely circulated rumor
• a narrative, either true or fictitious, in prose or verse, designed to interest, amuse, or instruct the hearer or reader

The Church has revealed the cover art for the new book that will contain the  "New History of the Church". It is a painting of what looks like a fairytale landscape. But instead of the typical castle, there is beautiful finished Nauvoo Temple on top of a hill. 

If anyone who has read HISTORY and not the narrative STORY, will know that Nauvoo never looked like this. Because the Saints had to abandon Nauvoo, the Temple was not entirely completed. 

Construction was only half complete at the Death of Joseph Smith in 1844. The basement with its font was finished, as were the first floor assembly hall and the attic. When these parts of the building were completed they were used for performing ordinances (basement and attic) or for worship services (first floor assembly hall). After a succession crisis, Brigham Young was "voted" in as the church's leader by the majority of Latter Day Saints in Nauvoo. As mob violence increased during the summer of 1845, he encouraged the Latter Day Saints to complete the temple even as they prepared to abandon the city. The Nauvoo Temple was in use for less than three months. Most of the Latter Day Saints left Nauvoo, beginning in February 1846, but a small crew remained to finish the temple's first floor, so that it could be formally dedicated. Once the first floor was finished with pulpits and benches, the building was finally dedicated in private services on April 30, 1846, and in public services on 1 May. In September 1846 the remaining Latter Day Saints were driven from the city and others from the neighboring region entered the near-empty city and vandalized the temple. The temple was evidently damaged by fire and a tornado before being demolished. 

...

The history of the Church that I have read is far from this fairytale looking and "picture perfect" image on the cover of the New History of the Church. The history that I have read keeps me up at night. However, if I want to fall asleep  maybe this might be a good story to read. 

434: THE SUPER-FULL-BLUE-BLOOD MOON IN JANUARY 2018

There were two full moons this month in January. The first one happened on the first day of January and the second was on the last day of the month. Alot happened between those two full moons. The two major things were President Thomas S Monson passed away and President Nelson was sustained as his replacement. The below photo I took on January 1 of the first full moon called the Wolf Moon as it rose above the Wasatch Mountains.



I wish I had a great photo to post of the second full moon which happened to also be a Total Lunar Eclipse. But I don't.. all I have is the below cloudy dark photo with the city lights from the Salt Lake Valley.

The cloud coverage was unfortunate, because seeing a super blue blood moon is a rare event (which also happened to be on Tu BiShvat.)  There is potentially alot of symbolism on surrounding these events which I am still trying to process.

Despite knowing that the weather wasn't going to be promising,  I still got up really early to hike in the East Foothills above Salt Lake City to get a good view of the eclipse in the western horizon. However, all I saw were dark clouds. This is the first major sign in the heavens that I missed due to cloud cover.

This is what I was hoping to see, but didn't

So, maybe instead this post should be titled instead sharing the EVENTS we did NOT see that we wish we could have (like the Lunar Eclipse).. how about  EVENTS we DID see that we wish we had not. So here it goes:

434: "RECENT EVENTS THAT WE WISH WE HAD NOT SEEN"


EVENT 01:
HUNDREDS OF DEAD BIRDS FALLING OUT OF THE SKY IN DRAPER:

Just prior to the Super Blood Moon on Tuesday, there were hundreds of dead birds that fell from the sky in the Southern part of the Salt Lake Valley.

“It’s one of the rarest things I’ve ever heard of,” said Sergeant Chad Carpenter with the Draper City Police Department.
“As I was driving, these birds were just falling out of the sky,” said Draper resident, Lacey Brown as she was driving down the street on 300 East in Draper.

Here is the link to the news story that aired on Channel 13.
  http://fox13now.com/2018/01/30/hundreds-of-birds-fall-from-sky-in-draper/

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EVENT 02:

TELEPROMPTERS  PRESENT AT PRESIDENT NELSON'S PRESS CONFERENCE:

What should be a non-scripted press conference where reporters can ask the new First Presidency any question, it appeared that there were teleprompters used. These teleprompters can be seen from the photos on the  LDS newsroom website where you can see them in the photos. (Personally, I think President Nelson did a great job for a 93 year man and I  am okay with having a 93 year old man needing help to not say something that might come out wrong, and/or having prior knowledge of the questions beforehand.. but I prefer a true non-scripted, correlated press conference)

Sidenote from the Press Conference:  I am impressed to see such oneness in the First Presidency alreaddy. It seems as though President Oaks know exactly what President Nelson is going to say next. One, Two, Three.. JINX. 

LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwbHIT5pjuY

EVENT 03:

ORDAINING and SETTING APART OF THE NEW FIRST PRESIDENCY WITHOUT A SUSTAINING VOTE OF THE MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH : 

We read in the D&C that EVERY calling in the Church requires a sustaining vote by the members of the Church. Traditionally the protocol is that a person after accepting a calling, they are presented to the members of the Church for a sustaining vote prior being ordained/set apart in that calling.  It would be like showing up to Church and finding out there is a new Bishopric, or a new Relief Society Presidency only to heard that they have already be SET APART in that calling before there was a sustaining vote of the members of the ward. Probably not the same, but kind of like having the POTUS taking the oath of office prior to a vote from the public.

Reference Scripture Doctrine and Covenants 20: 65 

"NO person is to be ordained to ANY office in this church, where there is a regularly organized branch of the same, without the vote of that church"

EVENT 04:

GROUND HOG SAW HIS SHADOW.
Yep..Today is Ground Hog Day and the little fury creature apparently saw his shadow which means... SIX MORE WEEKS OF WINTER. However that might be a good thing because here is Salt Lake City.. we haven't really had winter yet. We might be hurting this summer with the lack of water that comes from our snowmelt.