AnchoredinChrist

Expounding on my own opinion and beliefs of what happened would require their own thread, so I won't do that here, maybe I'll write about it this weekend. For now I'll just say that I think proper historical practice for a 1 hour 45 minute video of Emma Smith would be to prioritize her own contemporary words over the many-years-later words of others.

Excerpt from - "Ask the Pope or Ask an Atheist”: Ask the female atheist “Tell me about God” She will narrow her eyes and say “God? There is no God. He does not exist!” Miraculous. Even without existing God wears a suit and tie.

- Position - If “A” looks up to “B” Then by nature of the physical universe “B” must look down on “A” Rather like two birds Positioned One on a tree And one on the ground. Or so thought Marjorie Who had always wanted to marry A man she could look up to But wondered where that Would place her If she did. Imagine her astonishment When she met Michael and found That together they stood Physics on its head. You could never Draw this on paper For it defies design But year after year They lived a strange Arrangement That by all known laws Could not occur: She looked up to him And he looked up to her.

- Short Roots - The tree At the church next door to me Turned up its roots and died. They had tried To brace its leaning, But it lowered And lowered, And then there it lay— Leaves in grass And matted roots in air, Like a loafer on a summer day. “Look there,” Said the gardener, “Short roots—all the growth went up— Big branches—short roots.”“ How come?” I asked. “Too much water. This tree had it too good. It never had to hunt for drink.” Especially in thirsty times, My memory steps outside, And looks at the tree At the church next door to me That turned up its roots and died.

- The Lesson - Yes, my fretting, Frowning child, I could cross The room to you More easily. But I’ve already Learned to walk, So I make you Come to me. Let go now— There! You see? Oh, remember This simple lesson, Child, And when In later years You cry out With tight fists And tears— “Oh, help me, God—please.”— Just listen And you’ll hear A silent voice: "I would, child, I would. But it’s you, Not I, Who needs to try Godhood.”

- The Woman - God fashioned me For feeding; And set me in A hungry land. I give -- To satisfy The unconscious appetite Of the unborn, And the child's First thirsting need. I give -- To be Sweet sustenance To aching man, And then Quiet comfort To a weary, wanting World. There is much Hunger here. Oh, Father -- fill me, That I may nourish Generously.

- Mother To Child - Look -- Your little fist Fits mine Like the pit In a plum. One day And one size, These two hands will Clasp companionably. Help me, child Forgive me When I fail you. I'm your mother, True, But in the end Merely an older equal Doing her faltering best For a dear Small friend.

Another one of her poems of Heavenly Mother: - Jesus Remembered - I am imagining this morning After my amen in his name That when our Mother helped Jesus prepare for his thirty-three-year mission into the world’s wilderness She laid a hand on his heart and said: Don’t forget this: Of the many people you will teach And bless and heal, pay special attention To the ones who look like me. Things have gone awry, as we knew They might and many are badly used Especially your sisters who are seen as Property and positioned five feet lower In the temple than the men And are kept from the scriptures And from speaking And are subordinate everywhere And oh the daily prayers your Father hears From our dear Jewish boys: “Praised be God that he has not Created me a woman.” You will not forget your Mother’s words. You will pay special attention To the ones who look like me. I am imagining that She watched carefully As he walked the dusty earth doing shocking things That made their way into my Bible And perhaps into his Mother’s journal: He spoke today to a woman in public— A Samaritan!—at Jacob’s well— Disreputable act, they say. He calls women from their houses to come and listen And follow him as disciples, ministering to him. Unheard of, they say. Today he allowed a woman (of ill repute they say) To wash his feet with her tears And dry them with her hair. I wept. He performs miracle after miracle at the request Of those who look like me. He saved a woman from stoning by calling out Our dear hypocritical boys The scribes and Pharisees. Ah, to sweet Martha and Mary He speaks of the life of the spirit and the mind As “the better part” of the busyness of women. He calls women to pray, to lead To preach the gospel—such good news! He remembered! Sitting here now with the thin pages that Softly rustle as I turn them, I feel Jesus laying a hand on my heart and saying to me: Do what ye have seen me do. And I believe he asks me to pay special attention To those who look like our Mother. I remember.

- Time for the Gulls - It’s time, Father, For the gulls, I think. My arms shake From flailing my field. I sink, Broken as the little stalks Beneath their devouring burden. I yield it all to you, Who alone can touch all things. It’s time, Father, For the gulls. I will be still, And listen for their wings.

- My Season - Seeing the tree Beneath a baptism of snow, You may call her barren. But is it so? And for all your watchings On a March night When the twigs seem dark And the bark Feels cold to your hand -- Can you call her fruitless And so leave? She smiles, Calm in the station Of seasons And in the ordination Of sun, and sap, and spring. As for me? You turn away, Impatient with the promises you've seen. But -- inside I fill And pulse and flow With the urgency of green. I've a season, Like the tree. And all your Faithless doubts Will not destroy The rising spring In me.

- ASKING FATHER - I tiptoed into prayer. Hesitantly: "Father, do you mind that I am giving so much attention to Her these days?" There were no words. There was thought. I thought there was an instant embrace warm, I thought, and soft and strong that drew me in so close and drew the Mother in so close and there we were held tight in a circle of three a familial trinity. That's what I thought. What I know is this: tears on my cheeks. Amen.

This is the title poem of her very first poetry anthology, "Beginnings": - Beginnings - Today You came running With a small specked egg Warm in your hand. You could barely understand, I know, As I told you of Beginnings– Of egg and bird. Told, too, That years ago you began, Smaller than sight. And then, As egg yearns for sky And seed stretches to tree, You became– Like me. Oh, But there’s so much more. You and I, child, Have just begun. Think: Worlds from now What might we be?– We, who are seed Of Deity.

This is one of her many poems referencing Heavenly Mother: - A Motherless House - I live in a Motherless house, A broken home. How it happened I cannot learn. When I had words enough to ask “Where is my Mother?” No one seemed to know, And no one thought it strange That no one else knew either. I live in a Motherless house. They are good to me here, But I find that no kindly Patriarchal care eases the pain. I yearn for the day Someone will look at me and say, “You certainly do look like your Mother.” I walk the rooms, Search the closets, Look for something that might Have belonged to her— A letter, a dress, a chair. Would she not have left a note? I close my eyes And work to bring back her touch, her face. Surely there must have been A Motherly embrace I can call back for comfort. I live in a Motherless house, Motherless and without a trace. Who could have done this? Who would tear an unweaned infant From its Mother’s arms And clear the place of every souvenir? I live in a Motherless house.

In honor of Carol Lynn Pearson's passing, I wanted a thread to be able to share her poems. I happen to love the field of poetry myself, but I've never gotten a hold of any of her anthologies as my local libraries don't carry any of her works. If you happen to know a poem of hers that I don't have included please post it too. This was one she wrote referencing her future passing: TO THOSE WHO HAVE LOVED ME When I am gone Let me lie in state in your heart for a day or two or more. Then plant me deep in the soil of your best work And let me help toward harvest.

Um, she did: "Sister Emma, in speaking of the condition of the Church after her husband’s death, said to me, “I was threatened by Brigham Young because I opposed and denounced his measures and would not go west with them. At that time, they did not know where they were going themselves, but he told me that he would yet bring me prostrate to his feet.” (Early History of the Reorganization, Apostle Edmund C. Briggs, pp. 88, 93-95) She says she opposed and denounced Brigham Young, so I see that as her rejecting "the Church (that went west)," without her acting to abandon her beliefs: "Q.—It has been stated sometimes that you apostatized at Father's death, and joined the Methodist Church. What do you say to this? "A.—I have been called apostate; but I have never apostatized, nor forsaken the faith I at first accepted; but was called so because I would not accept their new—fangled notion." (Joseph Smith [III]. —The Saints' Herald, vol. 26, pp. 289, 290. RLDS History of the Church 3:353-358; The Saints Advocate 2:49-52, October 1879) She did that too: "At one time my husband came to me and asked me if I had heard certain rumors about spiritual marriages, or anything of the kind; and assured me that if I had, that they were without foundation; that there was no such doctrine, and never should be with his knowledge, or consent. I know that he had no other wife or wives than myself, in any sense, either spiritual or otherwise." (1 October 1879 - "Last Testimony of Sister Emma," Saint's Herald, Vol. 26, No 19 p. 289.) If she opposed and denounced Brigham Young, why would she have wanted to follow him anywhere? She never gave "financial stewardship, protection of Joseph's remains, care for her children, or the practical realities she inherited" as reasons for not following the Church west, but opposing and denouncing Brigham Young, being threatened by him, not accepting a "new-fangled notion" from the new leadership (whom she voted against in the succession crisis), and her views that they didn't know where they were going themselves. Not to mention that Brigham Young unceremoniously disfellowshipped her less than three months after Joseph Smith died. "...that there was no such doctrine, and never should be with his knowledge, or consent. I know that he had no other wife or wives than myself, in any sense, either spiritual or otherwise." (1 October 1879 - "Last Testimony of Sister Emma," Saint's Herald, Vol. 26, No 19 p. 289.) I'm pretty sure this is her saying that he never practiced it. Did they even include any of these super relevant quotes from her in this video?

I'm sorry for the persecution you and your family have suffered, it seems that online death threats are a dime a dozen nowadays.

If you were referring to the two-hill theory then I understand now, though I myself ascribe to there being one Cumorah. I think it to be plausible that since the final battle was in the land of Cumorah, that it was a "land of bones" as soon as the carnage of hundreds of thousands of people ended, which would mean that it would definitely not be a place that the Lamanites would want to settle after the war. I don't see why the victorious Lamanites would remain stationed there after the battle had ended, since all the wars were then over -- but it would yet remain a good place to have things buried. I think the fact that Moroni transcribed so much from other plates indicates that he had access to all those plates while he was transcribing them onto the gold plates, but I understand that others have other explanations for that.

Me: Let me guess, they practice polygamy Me: Wow, what a surprise.

Okay so I just looked up his latest videos, and he decided to do another 30 Day challenge, which was titled, "30 Days Living Like a Mormon Missionary." But then sometime after, he made another video stating that after doing so many more deep dives into LDS doctrine, there are a few (literally three, so he was very specific and not just vague) doctrinal issues that he still had unbelief with in his mind and so he decided since he wasn't 100% fully aligned that he wasn't going to go through with his baptism after all. His latest video (released seven hours ago) was one stating that he believes the LDS church has some manmade doctrines in it, but he frames it as non-criticism as he states that he believes every church has manmade doctrines to a certain extent. I happen to also think that the LDS church has some manmade doctrines in it, both past and present, so that's something that I happen to understand. I still think that his past words were genuine and I don't think his previous decision to be baptized was financially motivated because pretending to want to get baptized would make a good Youtube video -- it's not like Mormons are super well liked on Youtube. I wish him well, I hope he feels able to retain his testimony of the Book of Mormon going forward. By definition, a person doesn't need to be a member of the LDS church in order to be Mormon.

Holy for real???? I know about this guy! At least I did a while back, it was probably a couple of years ago that I first found his channel because he, as a non-Mormon Christian, decided to film himself reading the Book of Mormon and his commentary on it (what he liked and didn't like about it) as an interfaith side project thing. He was maybe just curious enough to decide to read it while telling others his thoughts. As far as I know there really aren't other non-Mormon Youtubers reading through the Book of Mormon for interest's sake so I thought it was a unique project to put online. Him voicing the things he didn't like about it as he was reading it out loud though led to there being contentious Mormons in his comments sections arguing with him, to the point that he ended up stopping and I think even deleting his videos (so no, he wasn't doing it to be mean to Mormons or to the Church and he wasn't doing it for monetized views, because once people started getting mean he deleted everything.) Some time later I guess some other nicer Mormons convinced him to start his Book of Mormon reading project back up again, which he did. I remember watching his first reboot video in which he read the title page of the Book of Mormon and of it being the most correct book and him saying politely that he doesn't ascribe to that. I didn't end up watching his whole Book of Mormon reading series, but look at him now! So yeah, he's been familiar with Mormonism for at least the past couple of years; he's read the Book of Mormon and has had back-and-forths with Mormons in his comment sections throughout that time, but back then he was definitely not interested in becoming a Mormon himself. I'm super surprised to see this now, I would definitely view this "personal challenge" of his as sincere. It could be that he'd already gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon but previous to these 30 days he was unsure about whether or not he wanted to align himself with the LDS church. Thank you so much for sharing!

I'm not following what this means, it was my understanding that Mormon hid the records except for some plates that still had some space left on them, giving them to Moroni. Moroni wrote of Mormon's death and the end of the Nephite civilization on them and then immediately put them with the rest of the plates: Mormon 8:4 "Therefore I will write and hide up the records in the earth; and whither I go it mattereth not." So he wrote of the end of civilization, put his few plates with the others, and then he wandered for over 35 years. After 35 years of that he wandered back to the Hill Cumorah and dug up the records again, because he had the time and there had been some space left and he thought of a few things to add, so why not. I didn't interpret it that he actually carried the plates around during his years wandering, they would be too heavy, they wouldn't be safe because he didn't know when or where he would end up dying, and at the time he didn't even think he'd end up writing more. (Moroni 1) It makes sense to me that he buried them, wandered around on his own, returned and dug them back up and after writing more then reburied them, and died an indeterminate length of time after that that. I think that all of the records were buried in the exact same spot, at the Hill Cumorah.

I forgot to add that overall I think it was very well formatted and is a genuine work of theological theory.

So, I just finished reading them both, and these were my thoughts in no particular order: — I like that you decided to put this together and try to think of things in an outside-of-the-box way. — It doesn't bother me that you gave recommendation to BYU faculty in it. I don't ascribe to the "only publicly preach what church leaders say you're allowed to" rule, so I don't extend that to the BYU schools either. But stating that recommendation specifically only to BYU faculty does of course really narrow the target audience. — Brigham Young taught that the scriptures are not as important as God's "living" word of the church leaders, so that conflicts with the words you give of Joseph F. Smith (I think Brigham Young to be 100% wrong on that, and that such should be self-evident, but you might end up having someone else argue with you on that point.) — The idea that our spirit bodies weren't "birthed" by a Heavenly Mother womb is also put forward by Monogamy as Divine Design. — I don't think us not being "birthed" by a Heavenly Mother from Heavenly Father God-sperm means that we are not their spirit children. If they gave our individual intelligences the self-awareness needed for us to have conscious choice (moral agency), gave us our preparatory understanding to come to earth, love us greater than any earthly parent could, then I would consider it to still be accurate to say that every person on the earth is a child of God, with or without any covenant, with or without there being a Christ. Maybe you were getting at something else though and I just didn't read it closely enough.

This meme will forever be my favorite illustration of Adam-God Doctrine:

Thank you, I don't really know that I have anything specifically profound that I could expound on it, but I find living a life anchored in Christ to be the best general rule to live by ✝️