Malc

My little branch in Scotland had 300-350 members on the records, a weekly attendance of about 20-25 (mostly the same people each week) and more than 100 inactive "Prospective Elders" - males over 18 and not ordained. Because people in Scotland in the 60s & 70s often lived their lives close to where they were born, it was fairly easy to locate many of the inactive members. However, a lot of them were not happy to be "found", and a good number of the found ones denied ever having been members of the church.

Thanks, Calm. You know that I'm a non-believer - I'm sure nobody here thinks otherwise - but if it is of interest to you I'd be happy to send you the text of my PB.

I know I'm more than a little late replying, but this analogy makes me think of my Patriarchal Blessing - it says (paraphrasing) that I should be up there in the mountains helping people.

Thanks, Calm. You know you're just encouraging me to be lazy - I could (should) have verified that info myself.

Some religions (including, I believe, Mormonism) claim to provide answers to the "three eternal" questions, the last of which (below) is relevant to your penultimate question: "Isn't whether someone is going to live with God or not kind of the point of religion?": Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going after this life? At least, this is what I remember of the "pitch" from the missionaries in Scotland in the 1970s.

Good points - thanks. For anyone really interested, there is an article in the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies: How the Guide to English Pronunciation of Book of Mormon Names Came About. The Abstract says: I checked for a Spanish language Guide, but find myself insufficiently interested to pay for it.

Not to be argumentative, but do we have any particular reason to believe that the usual English pronunciation of "Moroni" is any more valid that, say, the Spanish pronunciation, or Ehrmann's choice. When I was a branch president in Scotland, my first counselor called Nephi "Nefee".

Also, du bist ein Hamburger, nicht war? :v