Okrahomer

Agreed. I do think there is probably still a “BYU look”; although maybe it is morphing a little right now. It would help if BYU would shed the no beards policy.

I don’t get it either. I noticed at least one genuinely puzzled commenter asking for non‑partisan information about the Church, specifically because he admires Dan’s scholarship so much that he wants to understand more about Dan’s religious beliefs. And given the sheer volume of incredulous reactions, I wouldn’t be surprised if others are now curious as well. That’s a good thing. Good for Dan.

Here From the comments, some folks simply cannot get their minds around this.

For what it’s worth (admittedly not much) my reaction to this kerfuffle is that it tends to confirm that the Church and its members are viewed as peculiar people. I understand why some find it offensive that a department of government classifies us as something other than “Christian” when many of us are deeply convinced that we are sincere followers of Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, there are aspects of our beliefs other Christians find (sometimes jarringly) different. So while I may disagree with this classification, there is a significant internal voice that embraces the “peculiar people” side of our identity. I’m hard-pressed to understand why this development should be viewed in a purely negative light. Our very peculiarity is a major reason many choose to investigate and join us.

From my perspective, there is definitely a Protestant low-church component to LDS Sacrament meetings, but that only captures one aspect of it. Theologically, the center is the Sacrament ordinance itself; so while the talks change each week, the ordinance remains the same every time. The repetition of the ordinance over years of participation makes it almost instinctive to sense when one of the priests makes a mistake. Because of that, I think our approach is best understood as a hybrid of high- and low-church patterns —sermon-style in its delivery, but sacramental in its core focus. The model works for me, because while I can usually enjoy the talks, it’s the weekly repetition of the ordinance that connects me in a tangible way to Jesus Christ.

In my scouting experience, “Leave no trace” was more of a guideline than a rule.

Oh you’re right! The preposition matters when the enemy is furniture: Defenders From the Folding Chairs!

Passers of Gas Defenders of the Folding Chairs Perpetuators of Mild Chaos

Published here 2025 % Change Stakes 3,695 2.41% Missions 451 0.22% Districts 488 -1.21% Wards and Branches 32,046 1.17% Total membership 17,887,212 2.16% New children of record 91,835 0.24% Converts baptized 385,490 24.88% F/T Teaching Missionaries 78,596 6.03% Senior missionaries 31,613 1.58% Service Missionaries 4,518 7.78% Births + Converts 477,325 Absolute Increase 377,431 Deaths + Exits 99,894

If you’re teaching youth, the first 10-minutes has to be “current events”, so real lesson time will likely net out to about 15-minutes. But this may also reflect how the modern attention span has shrunk in the doom-scrolling age.

It’s not 1-hour Church…https://www.deseret.com/faith/2026/03/30/sunday-meeting-schedule-change-announced-church-of-jesus-christ/

The Lesson of Lazarus By Denise Tucker I have a brother spiritually dead, wrapped tight in graveclothes of sin, enclosed in the terrible tomb of Babylon. But there is One, Even now, who can call forth a life from that grave A message in the miracle— There is no one He cannot save.

openings orson scott card he came from agony to us it was our pain etched on the body he had left fastened to the cross but as he touched the key to the lock and opened up our dark prison only light was in his smile and he named us all his own then we followed him to grass tipped rocks where many long shed bodies waited he slipped into one dark tomb into the white shroud into the reawakened flesh and as the prison filled with light we sang and rolled away the stone

From a believer’s perspective, this “tin plates” idea is hard to reconcile with the historical context — at least for me it is. Joseph Smith lived in a small community where many neighbors were skeptical or even hostile, and some, like Philastus Hurlbut, actively collected statements against him. If he had really bought a large amount of tin or spent time engraving metal plates, I would expect someone would have noticed. What one sees from contemporaneous reports instead are mostly general accusations of fraud, without any concrete details about materials or methods. I’m not saying fabrication was impossible, but it’s a problem that makes the theory unconvincing to me.

New Zealand and Australia are on my bucket list. Since the list is quite long now, it's a good thing retirement is now also on the horizon: #1 on the list (actually my wife's # 1) is a walking tour of the Cotswolds. I'm not sure what comes after.

I feel the same.

Ah! I hadn’t even thought of that. So he believes disruption theory manifests in a kind of Correlation 2.0. That seems a lot more plausible.

Thanks for the transcript. I had to chuckle when it translated President Oaks’ name as “Dallin Chokes.” 😜 I’m admittedly a poor historian; nevertheless, If I am understanding Dr. Park, he seems to imply that “disruption theory” has already influenced Church governance in the form of correlation; but since correlation preceded publication of the theory by almost 3 decades, one would rather surmise that the reverse — that correlation influenced Christensen’s thinking — is more likely.

Good point. Apparently, he had connections in basically every state and many foreign countries. The thing about “possibly” paying tuition for a BYU-Idaho female student made my heart sink; but even if it’s true, who knows what it actually means?

This popped up on my news feed.

Same for me

I believe he said (fairly recently) that he is an accountant.

Wow! This is quite a moving conversion story. I liked how he described: “I felt as if wind were rushing through me.” Thanks for sharing!

If not too personal: How many sons do you have? (I am #5 of 6).

That makes sense. In any event, I love the list.