Shortly after his 1924 election as president of Mexico, Plutarco Calles took steps to curb the power of the Catholic church in Mexico. Religious liberties were greatly restricted, a nationalist church (the Mexican Apostolic National Church) was formed under state control as an alternative and opposition to traditional Roman Catholicism, and terrible acts of violence took place on both sides of the Catholic/Cismatico (as the nationalist parishes were called) divide.

This is no doubt such a gross oversimplification of complex events about which I know almost nothing as to be useless, except as the broadest context for events that happened in March 1925, to LDS missionaries Leland Meres Mortensen (1901-1990) and Abdon Aragon Hernandez (1904-1976), serving not far from Mexico City. Both men were native Mexicans, although Elder Mortensen was an Anglo from the Mormon settlement at Colonia Dublan. His younger companion, Elder Aragon, was an Hispanic from the Mexican state of Chihuahua, baptized in 1921. Interestingly (to me, at least), both elders were serving their missions without having received their temple blessings; both men were eventually able to be endowed at Mesa, Elder Mortensen in 1929 and Elder Aragon not until 1958. Both men left written records of their experiences in March 1925.

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Most of us probably remember B.H. Roberts best as a scholar – perhaps you imagine him in the Church Historian’s Office poring over old documents, or in his study penning manuscripts, or behind the speaker’s podium at either General Conference or a political rally. Or maybe you think of him as the older man who accompanied his Mormon troops to France during World War I, ministering to their spiritual needs and comforting them when their friends died of the flu.

Betcha don’t think of him as a 20-year-old outdoorsman, building the health and stamina that helped him keep up with his troops when he was a man of 60.

Roberts was apprenticed to a Centerville, Utah blacksmith when he was a teenager, and he spent three years tending the forge, pounding iron, and developing his massive upper body strength. He hated the work, though, and couldn’t wait until his commitment was filled so that he could move on to try something else. That day finally came in the spring of 1877 just after he had turned 20.

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You silly people. This advertisement by an LDS merchant published in a 1923 Juvenile Instructor lets you know what really matters when it comes to the longevity of a marriage:

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Lesson 26: King Solomon: Man of Wisdom, Man of Foolishness

Although it is not evident unless you have access to the books cited in the References, this 1938 seminary lesson draws on the story of Solomon to make broadly the same point as the lesson in this year’s Sunday School manual: Our blessings, if not used wisely, can actually become stumbling blocks to us. The Sunday School manual takes that in the direction of living worthy to enter the temple rather than following Solomon’s example of excess; the seminary lesson looks at using political freedom (“true Americanism”) to bless the world with good will and brotherhood rather than succumbing to greed and selfishness.

TAKING ACTION AGAINST SOCIAL EVILS

Are there phases of our social life that can be improved, and how can it be accomplished?

Point of View

Man, made in the pattern of his Creator, travele4d slowly along the path of freedom during the early history of the world. Ignorance and bondage were the cause of human suffering and injustice for centuries. Two thousand years have passed since Jesus brought to mankind the hope of a world to be governed by good-will and brotherhood. (more…)

Lesson 25: “Let Every Thing that Hath Breath Praise the Lord”

The lesson in our current manual provides for only a taste of the beauty and poetry of the Psalms, suggesting that the class focus on Psalms that testify of the Savior. Additional teaching ideas suggest discussing the Psalms in terms of latter-day hymns and as poetry. Roy A. Welker, Spiritual Values of the Old Testament (Salt Lake City: LDS Department of Education, 1952), a work prepared for the seminaries of the church, offers four chapters on the Psalms: an overview, and three chapters examining various themes. (I wish I could reproduce all four chapters here, but the introductory one will have to suffice.)

The Books of Poetry: Psalms

The books that constitute this division of the Old Testament are designated as the Poetical books including Psalms and the Song of Songs, sometimes called the Song of Solomon. By far the most important of the two is Psalms although the Song of Songs has its own worth, too.

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For background, see here
next episode

Although Dalby started his graphic Book of Mormon with stories from Ether, Keepa’s republication will start with 1 Nephi and pick up Ether when we reach that point. I hope to be able to improve the quality of reproduction before long.

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More magazine mirth from those merry Mormons —

More of a Job

“Is that wife of yours as beautiful as ever?”

“Yes, but it takes her a little longer these days.”

Perfect Repetition

Dorothy: “And Jack, the darling, told me I was the only girl he ever loved.”

Della: “Yes, and doesn’t he say it beautifully!”

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Yesterday’s post reproducing plans for housing 40 families in a United Order/Order of Enoch-style community, including facilities for their recreation and religious gatherings — and especially the communal kitchen — fired the imagination of other bloggers. First came J. Stapley’s “In Zion, Who Takes Out the Trash?” exploring whether freeing a part of the people from the necessary drudgery of life by expecting another part of the people to do such work actually negates the Zion we speak of building. And this morning comes Amy Tanner Thiriot’s post looking at some instances from 19th century church history when Latter-day Saints actually tried to live the communal ideal of “the big table” by dining together as well as sharing food preparation and clean-up chores in a common kitchen. The common kitchen was an important feature of the house plans presented in yesterday’s post — but in that plan, unlike in the very real communities described here, the architecture provided for individual family dining rooms rather than at “the big table.”

So how did that communal dining experience work out in real life? Read on.

Brigham Young called two hundred families to settle the Little Colorado River Valley in northeastern Arizona in 1876. One of the purposes of the mission was to establish United Order settlements, organized on the principle of mutual cooperation rather than competition.

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Isaac Davis Haines (1835-1901) seems to have lived a life of both idealism and hard practicality. Born in Ohio to a family with a Quaker background, he claimed to have had a visionary experience with his deceased daughter Jessie who taught him about the Gospel and the responsibility Haines had to save his kindred dead. After searching several years for a faith that matched his vision, Haines met missionary B.H. Roberts who taught him the Gospel as preached by the Latter-day Saints, and Haines was baptized in August 1884. Haines soon brought his wife and children into the Church.

The Haines family moved to Logan where Haines engaged in genealogical research and temple work. He also served for a time as superintendent of Utah’s Industrial School, a reformatory for both boys and girls, involving at least some of his family members in that project. He was also elected mayor of Logan.

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Once again I apologize for the withering of Keepa. I’m hopeful now that I can stay vertical rather than horizontal most days and will able to think moderately clearly again, so I’ll do my best to resurrect this poor blog.

Keepa posts are often built on trivia, those fascinating bits of history that are overlooked in more serious forums. I ran across one such bit today that brought tears to my eyes. Although I’m not able to flesh it out into a real post at the moment, perhaps it will reward your clicking over here today:

In 1947, German Mission President Walter Stover was finally able to visit Berlin after the end of World War II and hold a conference for whatever church members were able to reach the meetings. It was a successful conference, in part because President Stover was able to rent light bulbs for the day of the conference so that the Saints didn’t have to meet in the dark.

Rented light bulbs.

Radio Program over KSL, Sunday, January 28, 1934

Narrator: This is KSL, Salt Lake City, Utah, broadcasting from the great Mormon Tabernacle. For the next 30 minutes we shall bring to you the sixth of a series of sketches depicting the origin and meaning of notable hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The music tonight will be sung by the Tabernacle choir under the direction of Anthony C. Lund, with Frank W. Asper at the console.

—

One of the oldest hymns sung by the Latter-day Saints, the favorite of Wilford Woodruff, their fourth president, was written by the English poet, William Cowper in the middle of the [eight]eenth century.

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An Extravagant Wife

A farmer asked a farm hand the cause of his worried and harassed expression.

“Th’ trouble, boss,” said the hand, “is mah wife. She is the stravagantest person I know. She is always after money. Money this, money that, more money. She come t’ me for one dollar, an’ then she wants two dollars, an’ so it goes.”

“But, Joe,” inquired the boss, “what does she do with all this money?”

“Well, th’ fact is, boss,” explained Joe, “I ain’t give her none yet!”

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(See here for background)

From 1957 –

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My mom turns 80 years old in July. Her very short bucket list consisted of one item, a visit to the Holy Land. She did not want to go alone, however, so she took me, her best friend Marguerite, and my nephew Russell who leaves on a mission to Germany in August. We just returned May 30th from our twelve day visit. For me, it was a return trip. I spent a summer term at the BYU Jerusalem Center in 1990. On this most recent trip, we visited many of the same sites that I had visited 20 years earlier and it brought back a flood of memories.

This trip however included a visit to a site that did not exist when I was in Israel in 1990, and because it relates to Mormon history Ardis invited me to share it here on Keepa. (more…)

I hesitated to post this lesson outline; hence its appearance on Tuesday instead of Sunday. I hesitated because in looking at this as written, it would appear that I devoted far more time to an introductory story that did not come from the manual than to the lesson itself, and we’re all sensitive these days about criticism that goes “Stick to the manual! Stick to the manual!”

In reality, however, the story took only a couple of minutes, and the vast majority of the time was involved with discussing the lesson presented in the manual. My outline for that doesn’t take much space because it is simply a list of questions and could not predict the exact course of the discussion. Whether it is evident or not from what is posted here, whenever the discussion included specific ideas from the manual (and it often did), we read the suggested scriptures and I tried to be sure to respond to comments in a way that drew on the discussion in the manual.

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Warning: Don’t try these medical cures in 2010. And stop asking, “Does this make me look fat?”

—oooOooo—

To “Maud”: There have been a number of formulas given in the Journal on the care of the hair. There is no better tonic for the hair than sunshine. Sit out doors every day for half or three quarters of an hour. Loosen the hair and let the air blow through it and the sun shine on it. Airing and sunning the hair keeps it sweet and clean and is also good for the scalp. If you have any disease of the scalp this has a tendency to cure it, and make it healthy and active. Go without a hat as much as possible, using a parasol instead.

—oooOooo—

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George Richard Stoll was born in Salt Lake City in 1935. He graduated from Salt Lake’s South High School in 1953 and, as many of us do, he saved a pristine copy of his graduation invitation, and a copy of the program showing that he was a seminary graduate.  He went on to the University of Utah where he took part in student dramatic productions, and naturally he clipped from the newspapers the reviews of plays he was in. Somewhere along the line, he got a blue cardboard shoebox, where he kept those mementos of his high school and college days. He didn’t graduate from the University until 1969, but when he did graduate he put his diploma with its brilliant red cover into the shoebox.

George didn’t finish his university degree on schedule in the 1950s because in 1955 he was called to serve as a missionary in the East German Mission, with headquarters at Berlin. His older brother Walter James was already serving as a missionary in that area, so when a newspaper published a story about the brothers serving together, of course that clipping went into the blue shoebox.

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The story of David’s sin with Bathsheba followed by the even blacker sin of causing an innocent man’s death is used in both this year’s lesson manual and in the following 1933 seminary text is used to teach the principle of repentance following sin, and the preferable route of avoiding sin in the first place. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there is a difference in tone between the two lessons, despite both lessons unequivocal condemnation of sin and frank acknowledgment of the sorrows that accompany repentance.

David, the Fallen Hero

Lesson Text: 2 Samuel 12.
Song.
Responsive Reading: Psalms 51:1-8.
Prayer by Student.
Memory Text: Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness; according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.” – Psalms 51:1. (The 51st Psalm was written at this time by David, and should be read)

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Lesson 23: “The Lord Be Between Thee and Me Forever”

The current lesson contrasts the loyalty of Jonathan and David, contrasted with the hatred and betrayal between Saul and David. Earlier lessons, like this pair from the 1957 seminary text by Heber Cyrus Snell, Ancient Israel: Its Story and Meaning, make those same points as part of a fuller, political/historical summary of David’s reign.

The Kingdom Under David

Had not Saul and Samuel – and that strange group called the “sons of the prophets” – recognized the Philistine threat to their national existence and exerted their utmost powers against it, Israel might well have been swallowed up in oblivion, just as the rival nations around her, including the Philistines, actually have been. Had a greater leader than Saul not arisen to renew the fight for independence and build a stable kingdom, this might still have been her fate. In the light of Israel’s contribution to the world such an eventuality would have been the greatest loss. Neither Judaism, Islam, nor Christianity would have played a part in history.

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Lesson 22: “The Lord Looketh on the Heart”

The current lesson runs quickly through Saul’s choice as Israel’s king, episodes where Saul usurped religious authority, and the ordination of David as Saul’s replacement. The lesson tends toward the black and white (Saul is a good man, then inexplicably he does bad things, so the Lord punishes him). I like the fuller exploration of Saul’s kingship from a 1942 seminary text by Maude Beesley Jacob, The Message of the Old Testament, which gives a much more rounded view of Saul’s contributions to Israel, and casts the events leading to his downfall as an outgrowth of those achievements rather than the current manual’s starker “he just went bad” approach.

Other lessons from the same source carry forward the story of Saul and David (these chapters could have fit equally well with last week’s lesson), and present the Biblical figures in a sympathetic, three dimensional light.

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While this year’s lesson focuses more on the wickedness of those who do not honor the Lord, this 1947 children’s lesson emphasizes Hannah’s righteousness in honoring her commitment to God, Samuel’s willingness to promptly answer the voice of the Lord, and the Lord’s blessing of these two righteous people who honored God first.

SAMUEL, THE KING-MAKER; “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth”

To the Teacher:

“The height of the pinnacle is determined by the breadth of the base.” – Emerson.

“Tell me what you are busy about and I will tell you what you are.” – Goethe

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Probably few of these will even make you crack a smile – sorry – but read ‘em anyway. You’ll find out what made your great-grandparents smile.

—oooOooo—

“No, darling,” said a mother to a sick child, “the doctor says I mustn’t read to you.”

“Then, mamma,” begged the little one, “won’t you please read to yourself out loud?”

—oooOooo—

Precocious infant: “I think grammar’s very easy, mother. I know all about singler and pureal.”

Proud mother: “Do you, dear? That’s very clever! Perhaps you can tell me the plural of ‘sugar’?”

Precocious infant, after reflection: “Why, lumps, of course!”

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The Instructor (successor to The Juvenile Instructor) and its parent auxiliary the Sunday School were the first to champion the collecting and organization of library materials for classroom use — in the 1940s and ’50s when the first big push was on, such libraries were not “meetinghouse” libraries or even “ward” libraries, but “Sunday School libraries.” The magazine very often published articles on how to mount pictures on cardboard, how to make maps and charts, and how to store unwieldy items that didn’t fit neatly into the cardboard file boxes. Eventually the magazine included color centerfolds of artworks and flannelboard story pieces, and many of the magazine’s stories were marked with suggested keywords for filing the articles in the library system.

You can tell from these 1949 covers that the editors are thinking “libraries!” Even though the covers are black and white, and even though some of the leaders pictured are men that you wouldn’t necessarily think would ever come up in a church class, these covers are ready-made to be mounted and put in the library. Even the magazine’s name and date are as small and unobtrusive as possible.

So … let’s see who was being preserved in our libraries in 1949:

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XI. Picnics, Excursions, Parties and Winter and Summer Outings
I. Introduction (to be linked when posted)

XII. Conduct in Places of Worship

When we discuss proper deportment on the street, in the ball-room, at the table, shopping, etc., we have two points of consideration: the duty of the individual to himself, and his duty to society. The subject of proper deportment at places of public worship must necessarily be the most important of all, for we have not only to consider duty to the individual and duty to society, but also duty to the Creator of the universe. Subjects discussed hitherto have been purely ethical, that which is approved by the best society of the civilized world. We have now reached that dividing line between the purely ethical and the religious, for with regard to our conduct in sacred places we must say, “What is my duty to myself? To my associates? To my heavenly Father?”

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My grandmother died unexpectedly, at the age of 78, when I was 18. My father, then in his late 50s, came home on the night of her death in what struck us as a very emotional state, even considering the circumstances. This was a man who refused to discuss his wartime experiences, had only once taken time off work for illness during my lifetime, a man whose working life had been spent taking responsibility, a man to whom everyone else in his extended family turned when there was unpleasant business to address. He was utterly devastated. As he sat at the table to make a show of attempting to eat the meal my mother had saved for him, he simply said:

‘I had a little brother and sister and I only found out about them today.’

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This past Sunday while we were talking about the story of Jael, a brother who often participates in class discussion stood and said, “This reminds me of our duty to wage just war.” He went on and on about a supposed duty to wage offensive war, and how we neglect that duty too often today, and … and … and it took me quite a while to find an opening to break into his monologue and change the subject.

Two months ago during the Gospel Principles lesson on prayer, our Relief Society teacher read an interminable list of things we should pray for. When she got to the political section of her list, she instructed us to pray for the Tea Party agenda in specific detail. Oh, she didn’t mention the Tea Party by name, but she told us we needed to pray that our taxes won’t be raised any higher, and that our leaders won’t take this country down the path to socialism, and that we can replace all our bad leaders at the next election. She returned to the theme of “taxes are too high” several times during the lesson without any specific tie-in to prayer other than, I guess, we were supposed to pray that her friend doesn’t lose her house when “they”  raise taxes.

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I recently had the fun of searching through thousands of images of Latter-day Saints choosing pictures to illustrate a forthcoming encyclopedia of Mormon history. This is one of my very favorites. Can’t tell you who or where or when, but the image was identified as a church welfare project. Can you say “salt of the earth”?

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Notice: I went far off the reservation with this lesson. If you’re going to be offended because I did not follow the manual in telling the stories of Hannah and Ruth, please don’t read any further. There is no excuse for chastising me in a comment.

Lesson 20: “All the City … Doth Know That Thou Art a Virtuous Woman”

Numbers 26-27, 36
Judges 4
Joshua 2
Hebrews 11:17-31
James 2:23-26

Purpose: To encourage class members to emulate the righteous qualities of [Biblical women]

Introduction:

As some of you may know, I earn my living doing historical research for scholars. I specialize in Mormon and Utah history, and spend most of my time digging through the Church archives. Most of my clients, believe it or not, are non-Mormons who are interesting in learning and writing about Mormon history.

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The Improvement Era asked its readers to submit Mormon-flavored jokes this year, mixed with the magazine’s usual brand of humor. Illustrations were provided by the Era’s in-house artist, Fielding K. (“Smat”) Smith.

Earnest Student

Tommy: “Grandma, if I was invited out to dinner, should I eat pie with a fork?”

Grandma: “Yes, indeed, Tommy.”

Tommy: “You haven’t got a pie in the house that I could practice on, have you, Grandma?”

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See here for background

last chapter

Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.

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See here for background

last chapter
next chapter (to be linked when posted)

And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.

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