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The FIRST DAY of Christmas Past was just too easy! Prophet Joseph Smith, was the ANSWER all did see! SNIP Joseph Smith, Jr. was born on December 23, 1805. His nephew, Joseph F. Smith, said of this fact – “in my judgment the next birthday celebration to that of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ should be that of Joseph Smith.” The following is parts of a talk Joseph F. Smith gave at a Memorial honoring the Prophet Joseph Smith’s Birthday held on December 23, 1894. That year marked the 50 year anniversary of his martyrdom. “I should like to...

Is there anything that goes by the name “Christian” that has not been usurped, abominated, surpassed and eclipsed by that damnable heresy Mormonism! Let us not allow Christmas to draw our attention away from the great event of the ages – the birth of Joseph Smith. Let us not permit the events recounted in the gospels to distract us from the great events of the “Restoration”. God forbid that the annunciation of angels, the trembling wonder of shepherds and the reverence of wise men at the advent of God become flesh should eclipse the news of the “First Vision.” God...

'Twas the night before Smithmas, and all through the temple, Not a cumelon was creeping, or a tapir, (for ex-emple!) The garments were hung out to dry in the air, But fortunately for us, we have two extra pairs. The children were stashed at Gramma's homestead, While Mom and Pop got dunked once again for the dead! And Mom in her veil, and I in my old bakers' cap, Had just about finished another endowment wrap! When beyond the temple grounds I heard a big clatter Even sprang from my seat to see about the chatter; To the pentagram window...

If you were ever to receive a liturgical Order of Smithmas Sacrament Meeting devoted to Joseph Smith, here's what it might look like! Part B of Double Posting: 'Answers' to the 26-Question Quiz from Part A {Note: This is part B of How would YOU score on this 26-question quiz about 'Smithmas?' [Vanity, Part A]} What makes this part B? Well, the "answers" to the 26-question quiz of part A weren't included there. Want to see how you scored in that Part A Quiz? [If you haven't yet taken the Quiz, go HERE before continuing to read this piece...Then come...

Almost half of the 164-year existence of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir has been led by three men who served as director-conductors of the choir for 73 of those years. One of those men, the 3rd-ranked director-conductor (in terms of longevity), was J. Spencer Cornwall -- a veteran of leading the choir for 22 years (1935-1957). [The two who served longer were Evan Stephens, 26 years; and Jerold Don Ottley, 25 years...see List of Mormon Tabernacle Choir music directors). Still in good standing with the church, the Mormon Church even brought Cornwall back for the 1979 tabernacle reunion event. There --...

[URL=http://s208.photobucket.com/user/gahamm_photos/media/mormon/moxmas.jpg.html][IMG]http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb254/gahamm_photos/mormon/moxmas.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Mormon MOxmasDecember 12, 2005 photo of the Joseph Smith nativity scene in the main lobby of the BYU administration building. The caption under Smith's image is enlarged in the upper right hand corner. In the crib is a doll representing baby Joseph Smith.

66 years ago today (Dec. 17, 1947), an Old Testament "scholar" for BYU gave the annual "Joseph Smith Memorial Fireside" message in Logan Utah at the Lds Institute for Religion. The Institute, geared to be a spiritual hub for Utah State University Mormon students, has grown from 114 students to it being perhaps the "second largest" LDS Institute of Religion in the world with over 7,000 students. See Perry honors 75 years of Logan InstituteThe Logan Institute has made a significant "contribution" to the Mormon celebration of "Smithmas" by developing "Joseph Smith Memorial firesides" that "began in 1944 and have...

SNIP According to the student manual, who is the Rod and Root of Jesse?" "Joseph Smith" SNIP

Ninth LDS President David O. McKay, once wrote: “The fallacy that Jesus has done all for us, and live as we may, if on our deathbed, we only believe, we shall be saved in his glorious presence, is most pernicious. Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, has given us the means whereby man may obtain eternal happiness and peace in the kingdom of our Father, but man must work out his own salvation through obedience to the eternal principles and ordinances of the gospel. For centuries men have been blinded by the false teaching of ‘belief alone sufficient’; and...

The church has put up a couple interesting...topic pages recently on LDS.org... Today, the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past...Funny, I don’t see the word “theory” used here: ...(2 Nephi 5:21). ...“theory” wasn’t used in this statement on the “negro question”: The position of the Church regarding the Negro may be understood when another doctrine of the Church is kept in mind, namely, that the conduct of spirits in the premortal existence has some determining effect upon the conditions and circumstances under which these spirits take on mortality (Statement by the First Presidency, August 17, 1949). Joseph Fielding...

...Latter-day Saint scripture and teachings affirm that God loves all of His children and makes salvation available to all. God created the many diverse races and ethnicities and esteems them all equally... ...for much of its history—from the mid-1800s until 1978—the Church did not ordain men of black African descent to its priesthood or allow black men or women to participate in temple endowment or sealing ordinances. SNIP In 1852, President Brigham Young publicly announced that men of black African descent could no longer be ordained to the priesthood, though thereafter blacks continued to join the Church through baptism and...

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — In their zeal to tout their faith in the public square, conservatives in Oklahoma may have unwittingly opened the door to a wide range of religious groups, including satanists who are seeking to put their own statue next to a Ten Commandments monument on the Statehouse steps. The Republican-controlled Legislature in this state known as the buckle of the Bible Belt authorized the privately funded Ten Commandments monument in 2009, and it was placed on the Capitol grounds last year despite criticism from legal experts who questioned its constitutionality. The Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil...

<p>Four calling birds? A partridge in a pear tree? No one is sure exactly what the twelve gifts in the “The Twelve Days of Christmas” represent, but there have been several theories. One interesting claim is that the song was written to help young Catholics learn their faith. In this interpretation, each Christmas gift represents something connected to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Looking at the song this way helps families focus on the true meaning of Christmas. We've taken this tradition and added a little bit of an LDS spin to it.</p>

From the video, "Lesson in Compassion".

A former Mormon bishop in Riverside County is expected to serve three years in prison for sexually assaulting two teenage girls who attended a Menifee church, prosecutors said. Todd Mitchell Edwards, 49, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts related to the assault of the teens, ages 16 and 18, as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, said John Hall, a spokesman for the Riverside County district attorney's office. The counts were sexual battery and sexual penetration with a foreign object. In addition to the prison time, Edwards will also have to register as a lifetime sex offender as part...

Following the distribution of the Jesus Christ/Joseph Smith DVD last month, there have been many conversations and opinions published online regarding the Christian outreach effort. One exchange took place on the Salt Lake Tribune’s public forum. A Catholic woman, who believes in “love and charity to all” wrote to express her dismay over the DVD distribution, ending her letter with a kind hope that Latter-day Saints had been able to enjoy their Church’s General Conference despite the “sport” engaged in by “anti-Mormons.” Perhaps this was not the most charitable and loving letter “to all” in consideration of the nature of...

TAMPA — It's rollicking, risqué and oh, so irreverent. So if you're a member of good standing of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, how do you react to “The Book of Mormon,” the blockbuster musical that makes a mockery of your religion? You embrace it. “Even bad publicity can turn into good publicity,” said Mark Cusick, president of the Florida Tampa mission of the LDS church. “We're looking at it as an entry point to tell people what our religion is all about. The idea is you've seen the play, now read the book.” So don't look...

OREM — Missionaries who return early from their service need additional help from ward members and clinical professionals to cope, a new study says. Kris Doty, Ph.D, chair of the Department of Behavioral Science at Utah Valley University and a clinical therapist, led a team of students in studying the effects of a missionary’s early return on their faith and lives. Doty found that 74 percent of participants had feelings of failure and 65 percent were uncomfortable in social settings due to early release... The 348 study participants were males and females, ages 20-29, who returned early from the mission...

Two Utah Boy Scout leaders are facing significant backlash after posting a video online of the men tipping over a nearly 200-million-year-old rock formation in Goblin Valley State Park. Glenn Taylor and David Hall, from Highland, Utah, have now been removed from the Boy Scouts of America. An investigation is underway to determine whether the men will face felony charges. SNIP ...leadership of the Utah National Parks Council, the Boy Scouts’ local chapter, consulted with leadership of the chartering organization for the men’s unit — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — including ward and stake leaders, according...

MARTINSBURG - A lawsuit filed in Berkeley County against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, otherwise known as the Mormon Church, and local church officials accuses church leaders of covering up allegations that the son of local church officials sexually abused 12 children over the course of more than five years. Christopher Michael Jensen, 22, of Cheswick Drive, Martinsburg, was found guilty of one count of first-degree sexual assault and two counts of sexual abuse by a custodian Feb. 6 following a jury trial in Berkeley County Circuit Court. The criminal charges involved only two of the 12...