The Mormon Apocrypha

Orson F. Whitney was a very prolific Latter-day Saint. Born on July 1, 1855, to Horace Whitney and Helen Mar Kimball, Orson was a man of many talents. He was a father of nine children. He was a bishop and on the city council in Salt Lake. He went on a few missions; first he went to Ohio and Pennsylvania, and later he was called to go to Europe to help oversee the Millennial star. He was an apostle for 25 years, from April 9, 1906, to his death on May 16, 1931. But probably one of his biggest contributions to the world is the fact that he is considered by many to be  the father of latter-day saint literature. His work includes multiple works of biographies, hymns, sermons and poetry, inspiring thousands of saints in his lifetime and beyond. He once said about Latter-Day Saints, " We will yet have Milton's and Shakespeare's of our own . "  I already did a post about a poem of his, but I wanted to do a conference talk as well. This one was delivered in April of 1921, and...

Invictus William Ernst Henley   Out of the night that covers me,       Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be       For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance       I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance       My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears       Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years       Finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate,       How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate,       I am the captain of my soul. William Ernst Henely Invictus was a poem written by William Ernst Henley in 1875 while he was in the hospital for tuberculosis.  It is a po...

 It is the 24th of July, known as pioneer day in Utah, as it was the day that the first saints entered the Salt Lake valley. To celebrate this momentous occasion, I wanted to talk about a novel about the pioneers. The Great Joshua is often hailed as the great Mormon novel. Written in 1941 by Maurine Whipple over a three-year period, it is considered to be one of the great tales of Mormonism.  Here is the Blurb of the Giant Joshua: Set in the 1860s at Utah’s Dixie Mission, The Giant Joshua is the deeply moving story of a far-flung outpost in the desert where a band of Mormons, like the giant Joshua, fight to survive in an arid land. A young Mormon girl―innocent, tender, courageous―finds herself torn between fear of her older husband and love for his son; between her passionate faith in the stern tenets of Mormonism and her equally passionate desire for beauty and gaiety.  Considered a classic in historical fiction, The Giant Joshua was first published by Houghton Mifflin i...

Orson Hyde was one of the best missionaries in Mormonism, preaching in the Middle East, Europe and the United States. Located in the sixth volume of the Journal of Discourses is one of his sermons, about the hardships the saints face and the preaching of the Gospel. A question arises in the minds of some few, and perhaps in the minds of a great many—"How will our present difficulties terminate? I would like to know the sequel. We have been kept in suspense for a length of time, and I would like to know the final issue." In my opinion, there is no person that can know the final result of the present movements until it is seen. We have faith in relation to it, and the assurance of the Almighty that all will be well; but the exact how and manner in which it will be brought about we cannot tell; for it is by faith that we move, and not by sight. But in the course of some remarks which I may make, you may, perhaps, be led to a satisfactory conclusion as to what the final issue may...

Presented down below is a sermon by Wilford Woodruff delivered in the Tabernacle at Salt Lake City, on Sundy June 30, 1878. It is located in the 19th volume of the Journal of Discourses. In it, Woodruff discusses the power of faith and the priesthood. There is a principle that I feel disposed to say a few words on, in connection with what brother Rich has been saying, and that is the principle of faith. [The speaker then read the 11th chapter of Hebrews.] I have taken the liberty of reading this catalogue of blessings which ancient men of God obtained through the principle of faith; which principle is as much needed today by the people of this generation, as by any people at any age of the world. We might continue the chapter of results and operations of the principle of faith to the present day. For by faith Joseph Smith received the ministration of God out of heaven. By faith he received the records of Nephi, and translated them through the Urim and Thummim into our own language, and...