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.