“La Ofrenda” is a sacrament hymn written by José V. Estrada G. It is possible that it was based on “Venid Hermanos En La Fe” by Edmund Richardson or drew inspiration from similar places. It is one of the hymns that was only published in the 1912 edition of the Mexican mission hymnals. Note: This is a part of an ongoing series, the Mexico Mission Hymns Project.  La Ofrenda José V. Estrada G. Latter-day Saint Psalmody no. 223 (“Jesus, mighty King of Zion”) 8.7.8.7 first beat Since this text was only published in one edition of the hymnal, there are no variations in text. Table 1. Trans ..read more

One of the more interesting finds among the dead sea scrolls is a text that was written onto copper rather than papyrus of animal skin. It’s a unique find, and has become an area of interest for the noted scholar George J. Brooke, who recently spoke with the Latter-day Saint history blog From the Desk about the copper scrolls. What follows here is a co-post to the full interview, covering some of what these copper scrolls are. To start, George J. Brooke explained what the copper scrolls are: The Copper Scroll is made from three sheets of 99% pure copper (30 x 83 cms; 29 x 72 cms; 29 x 79 cms ..read more

  Stephen Cranney and Josh Coates This is one of a series of posts discussing results from a recent survey of current and former Latter-day Saints conducted by the BH Roberts Foundation. The technical details are in the full methodology report here. How often do members pray? This is one of those standard questions that are in most religion surveys and many generalist surveys. Still, the problem with virtually all such surveys is that the Latter-day Saint sample is too small to derive reliable estimates from. However, the Cooperative Election Study is one of the few surveys that has both ..read more

“Venid Hermanos En La Fe” is another example of the prolific hymn writer Edmund Richardson. It bears some notable resemblances to “La Ofrenda,” another sacrament hymn written by José V. Estrada G., though the Richardson text was written first. Note: This is a part of an ongoing series, the Mexico Mission Hymns Project.  Venid Hermanos En La Fe Edmund Richardson Songs of Zion, No. 10 (Again We Meet Around the Board) LM (8.8.8.8), second syllable Hymn Text: Table 1. Variations in text of “Venid Hermanos En La Fe” over the course of Church publications. 1907 1912 ¡Venid hermanos en ..read more

Anecdotally, a common recurring dream among members (and a lot of ex-members) is the classic “return-to-the-mission,” where somebody is called to be a missionary again in middle age.  Dream interpretation can be irresistible to conjecture about, but any particular interpretation is ultimately non-falsifiable. While it makes sense that that particular dream is manifesting some Freudian, deep-seated anxiety our current psychometric tools are way too blunt to test anything. It’s so widespread I suspect the return-to-the-mission dream means something psychologically, but I don’t know what. &n ..read more

As mentioned previously, Edmund Richardson seems to have had a particular interest in linking indigenous Mexican peoples to the Book of Mormon narrative and “La Voz de Jesucristo” is the third example of this. For some relevant historical analysis, see the following posts: Note: This is a part of an ongoing series, the Mexico Mission Hymns Project.  “La Voz de Jesucristo”Edmund RichardsonOh Stop and Tell Me Red Man7.6.7.6 D Hymn Text: Table 1. Variations in text of “La Voz de Jesucristo” over the course of Church Publications. 1907 1912 La voz de JesucristoSe oye otra vez,Llaman ..read more

In part one, I talked about coming to the conclusion of deciding to both be an atheist and also remain as bishop a year or so into my time as bishop. Part of the conundrum that I was working through was how I felt about my spiritual experiences. I mentioned in my last post that I was not feeling very content with where those experiences seemed to have led me. Furthermore, my PhD education had introduced me to some basics of cognitive science as my adviser had shifted her focus to that field. I talked about this in these posts at JI from a few years back, but had felt strongly prompted to work ..read more

Edmund Richardson seems to have had a particular interest in linking indigenous Mexican peoples to the Book of Mormon narrative. In many ways, however, his approach was a colonizing narrative in which the indigenous peoples were ignorant, benighted peoples in need of civilizing through the efforts of Euro-American Latter-day Saints. “¡Oh gente afligida!” is just one example of Richardson’s poetry on the subject, with “La Obra Ya Empieza” and “La Voz de Jesucristo” being two other examples. For some relevant historical analysis, see the following posts: Note: This is a part of an ongoing s ..read more

Many years ago I retreated to Rock Canyon just above the Provo temple to pray about something I was stressed out about that, in my adolescent universe, was a big screaming deal. I retired to the beautiful night-time scenery of the Utah Valley lights twinkling below in the twilight fully expecting some kind of comforting spiritual atta-boy shoulder rub, and if all responses to prayers are really just psychological wish fulfillment as some say, that is probably exactly what I would have gotten with enough time and energy.  Instead I got something along the lines of “stop crying, and get up ..read more

Richard Lyman Bushman’s most recent book focuses on presenting a cultural history of the gold plates. I’ve reviewed Joseph Smith’s Gold Plates in the past, but Dr. Bushman did an interview that was recently published on the Latter-day Saint history blog From the Desk that had some interesting tidbits. What follows here is a co-post to the full interview. Richard Bushman described some of what led him to research and write this book: I had always found the gold plates intriguing: a stack of thin, hammered, metal sheets that looked like gold, covered with engravings, partly sealed, bearing a tho ..read more