Free Republic

PROVO — An endorsement of a historic document project could put top-tier research on LDS Church founder Joseph Smith in a league with work on other notable Americans, such as Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln. The National Historical Publications and Records Commission, a division of the National Archives, has endorsed an ongoing project sponsored by the Joseph F. Smith Institute at Brigham Young University. In conjunction with the archives of the LDS Church, the institute is compiling more than 5,000 documents pertinent to Smith, including personal correspondence, legal documents and revelations the early LDS Church leader recorded. The completed project...

SALT LAKE CITY — Elder David B. Haight, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, passed away at 4:15 this morning of causes incident to age. Family members were with him at his home at the time of his passing. At 97, he was the oldest living apostle. His death comes just ten days after the passing of Elder Neal A. Maxwell. Elder David B. Haight was named to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 8 January 1976. Elder Haight had served as an Assistant to the Twelve...

'Many burdens made lighter' Everyone expected LDS Apostle Neal A. Maxwell to die in 1996, soon after he was diagnosed with acute leukemia. He already had a full life as pig farmer, student, soldier, scholar, father, author and apostle, and had written 30 books and traveled to nearly every continent. Instead, the Mormon leader, known for his eloquent writings and carefully crafted sermons, launched a new ministry to cancer victims. Last week, it finally ended. "He accomplished more in the last eight years than most do in a lifetime," LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley said Tuesday at Maxwell's funeral....

The director of the world's largest humanitarian food program visited some of the welfare facilities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Friday afternoon and declared himself very impressed. James T. Morris, executive director for the United Nations World Food Program, toured the LDS Church's Welfare Square, Humanitarian Center, Temple Square and Conference Center in Salt Lake City on a whirlwind four-hour excursion. "I was very impressed. It was quite remarkable," Morris said. Morris believes the LDS Church's welfare plan is a perfect example of how the poor and needy should be helped. "The most impressive thing is...

SALT LAKE CITY — Elder Neal A. Maxwell, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died last night after a lengthy battle with leukemia. He was 78 years of age. Elder Maxwell died at home surrounded by his family at 11:45 p.m. Wednesday night. It was the 23rd anniversary of his call to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, one of the highest-ranking bodies of the Church. Funeral arrangements are pending. Elder Maxwell served as a member of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy from 1976 to...

PARIS, Idaho - While the Mormon church is accommodating growth with new temples in nearby Rexburg and in New York City, LDS leaders are not neglecting the historical roots of their faith. An extensive restoration project is being considered for the Paris Tabernacle, a 118-year-old meeting hall designed by a son of church leader Brigham Young. The tabernacle's steps are being restored this summer to their original condition, reusing the same rocks that were embedded in the original sandstone steps more than a century ago. While that is considered ongoing maintenance, teams of craftsmen, engineers and professionals also are on...

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala - Clutching the Book of Mormon and dressed in a white starched shirt and neatly pressed charcoal colored slacks, Willy Guzman walked across the cracked sidewalks of Zona 6 in Guatemala City to the shiny, white church that rises above the modest and mostly shanty flats of the neighborhood. As it neared 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning, the streets were bustling with men dressed in Western-style suits and women in skirt suits pushing baby strollers, all making their way towards the church. “Everyone walks to church,” Guzman explained, “so as not to make anyone work on this day...