An interview with Boyd K. Packer's nephew, Lynn Packer...

[Tacenda]

Just wanted to share these podcasts.  I'm so glad it wasn't a bashing of Boyd K. Packer.  Often his 'little factory' speech at the General Men's Priesthood Session years ago, gets shared and made fun of over and over among the critical members of the church.  In the 3rd podcast, his nephew shares a story leading up to the 'little factory' talk.  It makes Pres. Packer much more human, apparently Pres. Packer expressed to his nephews and brother or brothers (?) that he was just sick about it, and couldn't eat when they had dinner together right before giving the talk, apparently the talk wasn't coming all from him, but maybe the higher ups at the time.  

Also, in the first two podcasts, his nephew shared that he was much more lenient on things such as gays than is portrayed in General Conference.  Sounds like his first talk many years ago about it, wasn't really coming from him but from Pres. Kimball.  His second talk probably was though and as his nephew mentioned, he was just being a protector of the faith.  

Throughout the podcasts, Lynn Packer mentions Paul H. Dunn.  I guess Lynn was one of the first that exposed the lies by Bro. Dunn.  He was once a reporter for KSL and has a book coming out called "Lying for the Lord - the Paul H. Dunn Stories".  I don't know what all will be in the book.  And probably need to listen to these again because I was busy doing several things that distracted me.   

Finally, it's mentioned that one of Pres. Packer's favorite TV shows was "Three's Company", kind of interesting.  But makes him more human too, very glad to hear some bits about the personal life of Boyd and hope you do too.  

 

http://athoughtfulfaith.org/lynn-packer-paul-h-dunn-lying-for-the-lord-2/

Edited April 30, 2016 by Tacenda

[cinepro]

The most disappointing thing about the Dunn situation isn't his lying about the Baseball and war stories.  It's his involvement in the huge AFCO fraud in the 70s and 80s, and the Church members who lost their investments partly because they trusted the company's association with Dunn.  Apparently after the fraud came to light, Dunn's office produced a letter that showed that Dunn had resigned from the board of directors of AFCO years earlier, and Packer was able to show that the letter itself was faked. 

1980s: AFCO chairman Grant Affleck, a former bishop, and Carvel Shaffer, a former high- councilman, entice hundreds of Mormons to invest in various land and real estate ventures. Each emphasizes his personal devotion to the Mormon church in attracting investors. Elder Paul H. Dunn sits on the board of directors, and potential investors are shown a prospectus with Elder Dunn’s name and picture in order to inspire confidence. Affleck and Shaffer are both convicted of securities fraud.

https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/pdf/080-59-65.pdf

[Tacenda]

Just now, cinepro said:

The most disappointing thing about the Dunn situation isn't his lying about the Baseball and war stories.  It's his involvement in the huge AFCO fraud in the 70s and 80s, and the Church members who lost their investments partly because they trusted the company's association with Dunn.  Apparently after the fraud came to light, Dunn's office produced a letter that showed that Dunn had resigned from the board of directors of AFCO years earlier, and Packer was able to show that the letter itself was faked. 

 

They talk about that too, I should have mentioned.  Listening to the last one now.  I guess I jump the gun a lot when posting a topic!  Thanks for sharing the Sunstone article.  I guess this topic could be split in two.  

[USU78]

Lynn is a great Aggie, a great Bee, a great friend. 

[Tacenda]

3 minutes ago, USU78 said:

Lynn is a great Aggie, a great Bee, a great friend. 

Lynn got really choked up when telling the story of when Boyd asked that they all get together in the church office building for dinner right before the PH session and having to give that talk about the 'little factory'.  

They often spoke, and Lynn shares that through the years his uncle had changed somewhat, which is understandable.  But I totally sense he loved his uncle.  

[Scott Lloyd]

1 hour ago, Tacenda said:

Just wanted to share these podcasts.  I'm so glad it wasn't a bashing of Boyd K. Packer.  Often his 'little factory' speech at the General Men's Priesthood Session years ago, gets shared and made fun of over and over among the critical members of the church.  In the 3rd podcast, his nephew shares a story leading up to the 'little factory' talk.  It makes Pres. Packer much more human, apparently Pres. Packer expressed to his nephews and brother or brothers (?) that he was just sick about it, and couldn't eat when they had dinner together right before giving the talk, apparently the talk wasn't coming all from him, but maybe the higher ups at the time.  

Also, in the first two podcasts, his nephew shared that he was much more lenient on things such as gays than is portrayed in General Conference.  Sounds like his first talk many years ago about it, wasn't really coming from him but from Pres. Kimball.  His second talk probably was though and as his nephew mentioned, he was just being a protector of the faith.  

Throughout the podcasts, Lynn Packer mentions Paul H. Dunn.  I guess Lynn was one of the first that exposed the lies by Bro. Dunn.  He was once a reporter for KSL and has a book coming out called "Lying for the Lord - the Paul H. Dunn Stories".  I don't know what all will be in the book.  And probably need to listen to these again because I was busy doing several things that distracted me.   

Finally, it's mentioned that one of Pres. Packer's favorite TV shows was "Three's Company", kind of interesting.  But makes him more human too, very glad to hear some bits about the personal life of Boyd and hope you do too.  

 

http://athoughtfulfaith.org/lynn-packer-paul-h-dunn-lying-for-the-lord-2/

So I'm not fully comprehending you here. Are you saying Elder Packer was "just sick" about the talk he was about to deliver because he didn't really believe what he was going to say but was being coerced into giving the talk by "higher-ups"? That's quite an allegation, if that's what you mean.

[Tacenda]

7 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said:

So I'm not fully comprehending you here. Are you saying Elder Packer was "just sick" about the talk he was about to deliver because he didn't really believe what he was going to say but was being coerced into giving the talk by "higher-ups"? That's quite an allegation, if that's what you mean.

Not exactly how you put it, no.  He was just sick about how to give the talk.  I never said anything other than that.  I took it that it might have been something he was encouraged to talk about.  But I guess I might have heard wrong.  Maybe you'll have a different take on it if you listen.   

[Scott Lloyd]

26 minutes ago, Tacenda said:

Not exactly how you put it, no.  He was just sick about how to give the talk.  I never said anything other than that.  I took it that it might have been something he was encouraged to talk about.  But I guess I might have heard wrong.  Maybe you'll have a different take on it if you listen.   

I can see him being "just sick" about having to address the subject matter, the way it pained Jacob to have to sermonize about the unchastity among some of his followers. But that doesn't mean Jacob was in any way equivocal about what he said.

Edited May 1, 2016 by Scott Lloyd

[USU78]

1 hour ago, Tacenda said:

Lynn got really choked up when telling the story of when Boyd asked that they all get together in the church office building for dinner right before the PH session and having to give that talk about the 'little factory'.  

They often spoke, and Lynn shares that through the years his uncle had changed somewhat, which is understandable.  But I totally sense he loved his uncle.  

He's told me that story. 

[halconero]

I believe that was Jacob, Scott, not King Benjamin.

Funnily enough, for someone who is way more liberal and lenient with people's interpretation of the Gospel, his "to Young Men Only" comes across as one of the most liberal, loving, caring talks on chastity that I've read.

[USU78]

28 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said:

So I'm not fully comprehending you here. Are you saying Elder Packer was "just sick" about the talk he was about to deliver because he didn't really believe what he was going to say but was being coerced into giving the talk by "higher-ups"? That's quite an allegation, if that's what you mean.

As Lynn explained it to me, it was more like sick with worry because of the difficulty of the subject matter.

[Scott Lloyd]

9 minutes ago, halconero said:

I believe that was Jacob, Scott, not King Benjamin.

 

Arrgh! I knew that.Good catch!

Fixed it.

Quote

Funnily enough, for someone who is way more liberal and lenient with people's interpretation of the Gospel, his "to Young Men Only" comes across as one of the most liberal, loving, caring talks on chastity that I've read.

I agree that it is loving and caring. I have always thought so.

Edited May 1, 2016 by Scott Lloyd

[Scott Lloyd]

6 minutes ago, USU78 said:

As Lynn explained it to me, it was more like sick with worry because of the difficulty of the subject matter.

That makes more sense to me.

[Tacenda]

1 hour ago, Scott Lloyd said:

That makes more sense to me.

I'm not very good at memory recall, sorry if I painted a different picture.  I second guess myself a lot too.  I wonder if I was wrong, it being someone above him having him speak on that subject, or did I just assume this?  Maybe USU78 can recall since he spoke with Lynn.  

Edited May 1, 2016 by Tacenda

[mfbukowski]

There was a Ruth Packer allegedly also a relative who was a prominent poster on the Mormon apologist boards in the early 1990's, as I recall specifically on an AOL forum.

Anyone remember her?  Was she a relative?  She said she was.

[USU78]

10 hours ago, Tacenda said:

I'm not very good at memory recall, sorry if I painted a different picture.  I second guess myself a lot too.  I wonder if I was wrong, it being someone above him having him speak on that subject, or did I just assume this?  Maybe USU78 can recall since he spoke with Lynn.  

I got the impression it had not been an assigned topic.

[ALarson]

16 hours ago, Tacenda said:

Just wanted to share these podcasts.  I'm so glad it wasn't a bashing of Boyd K. Packer.  Often his 'little factory' speech at the General Men's Priesthood Session years ago, gets shared and made fun of over and over among the critical members of the church.  In the 3rd podcast, his nephew shares a story leading up to the 'little factory' talk.  It makes Pres. Packer much more human, apparently Pres. Packer expressed to his nephews and brother or brothers (?) that he was just sick about it, and couldn't eat when they had dinner together right before giving the talk, apparently the talk wasn't coming all from him, but maybe the higher ups at the time.  

That must have been a tough talk for him to give.  I do believe that these were not just his thoughts alone though, but that the topic had been discussed and the other leaders had shared their thoughts and opinions and felt it was important that someone publicly address them.  It would be a hard talk to give (and definitely not one of my personal favorites  ).  

(Thanks for posting the link for the podcast, Tacenda.  I'll try to take a look!)

I also may purchase and read Lynn Packer's book (Lying for the Lord: The Paul Dunn Stories).  It looks like it could be interesting and I've read it gives some interesting behind the scenes details. 

.

Edited May 1, 2016 by ALarson

[ALarson]

14 hours ago, Tacenda said:

Not exactly how you put it, no.  He was just sick about how to give the talk.  I never said anything other than that.  I took it that it might have been something he was encouraged to talk about.  But I guess I might have heard wrong.  Maybe you'll have a different take on it if you listen.   

I plan on listening to the podcast (anyone should who has questions about what he actually said).  It's hard to remember everything and we all get our own impressions of what is being expressed (thanks for trying here, though).  

Is Lynn Packer an active member today?  I honestly don't know much about him other than I do remember he's the one who wrote about Paul Dunn at the time.

[JulieM]

I just read today that Greg Prince was originally going to write a biography of Paul Dunn but ended up not finishing it.

But, he is publishing his biography on Leonard Arrington soon.  That's one that I'll read for sure!  

[Duncan]

For me to believe that Pres. Packer liked "Three's Company" I'd have to hear that from some other source other than one person

[ALarson]

10 minutes ago, Duncan said:

For me to believe that Pres. Packer liked "Three's Company" I'd have to hear that from some other source other than one person

I think it came from his nephew, correct?  It seems like he'd know, but I haven't read the book yet.

It is kind of humorous when you consider what the sitcom was about!  But it was entertaining  

[JulieM]

On May 1, 2016 at 7:29 AM, ALarson said:

Is Lynn Packer an active member today?  I honestly don't know much about him other than I do remember he's the one who wrote about Paul Dunn at the time.

I read that he is not active in the church, but I have no first hand knowledge about that.  Others may know more about his current status.

[Tacenda]

I ordered the book on Kindle, so should be interesting.  Yes, I don't believe he's active either.  

And pretty sure he didn't lie about Pres. Packer liking "Three's Company".  In the podcasts somewhere, Lynn stated that sometimes Boyd and his brothers would joke with sexual innuendos.  Again, makes him human.  And there's always the Don Knott's character and the older couple who were landlords.  A lot of other things that one might like the show for too.  But it wasn't that Lynn said he kind of liked the show, it was apparently his favorite.  I'll re-listen and try to point to which podcast and the time that he said it.  

Duncan, I like you, found it hard to believe when I read it on another board.     

Edited May 3, 2016 by Tacenda

[Duncan]

2 hours ago, Tacenda said:

I ordered the book on Kindle, so should be interesting.  Yes, I don't believe he's active either.  

And pretty sure he didn't lie about Pres. Packer liking "Three's Company".  In the podcasts somewhere, Lynn stated that sometimes Boyd and his brothers would joke with sexual innuendos.  Again, makes him human.  And there's always the Don Knott's character and the older couple who were landlords.  A lot of other things that one might like the for show too.  But it wasn't that Lynn said he kind of liked the show, it was apparently his favorite.  I'll re-listen and try to point to which podcast and the time that he said it.  

Duncan, I like you found it hard to believe when I read it on another board.     

Don Knotts IS THE FUNNIEST GUY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! one of my favourite movies ever is "the Ghost and Mr. Chicken"

[bluebell]

15 minutes ago, Duncan said:

Don Knotts IS THE FUNNIEST GUY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! one of my favourite movies ever is "the Ghost and Mr. Chicken"

He was best in The Private Eyes. 😂