The Mormon Apocrypha

The Book of Mormon is the keystone of the LDS church, so it is no surprise that there are many sermons and teachings on it. In April 1921, Anthony Ivins gave one such sermon in General Conference, discussing its importance and the new changes the Book of Mormon received over the previous year. President Anthony W. Ivins Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles I do not remember, my brethren and sisters, a period in my life's experience in the Church when I felt my dependence upon the Lord to a degree greater than I do this morning. Should I follow my own inclinations, I would not attempt to make remarks at all, but to gam wisdom and knowledge and understanding by listening to the remarks of my brethren and communing with the Spirit of the Lord which is here this morning. I feel the necessity of wisdom, of sound judgment, of the help of the Lord in expounding the scriptures, and teaching the Latter-day Saints, and in discharging the responsibility which has come to me, as I have never f...

Among many other things, Orson F. Whitney was a poet. I already shared one of his poems, but I was inclined to share more, from allegories to dramatic retellings of moments of the restoration, he truly covered a wide variety of topics with his poetry. The Mountain and the Vale There's a mountain named Stern Justice, Tall and towering, gloomy, grand.  Frowning o'er a vale called Mercy,  Loveliest in all the land. Great and mighty is the mountain, But its snowy crags are cold,  And in vain the sunlight lingers On the summit proud and bold. There is warmth within the valley, And I love to wander there,  'Mid the fountains and the flowers, Breathing fragrance on the air. Much I love the solemn mountain. It doth meet my somber mood.  When, amid the muttering thunders, O'er my soul the storm-clouds brood. But when tears, like rain, have fallen  From the fountain of my woe, And my soul has lost its fierceness,  Straight unto the vale I go; Where the landscape...

The LDS church is not the only branch of "Mormonism" in the world and I want to include spiritual writings from other faith traditions within the "Mormon" umbrella and maybe even the occasional non Mormon Christian writings as well.  For my first foray into Mormonism outside the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I wanted to share a vision of Joseph Smith III, the son of Joseph Smith Jr, and leader of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints, now known as the Community of Christ. It is a snippet of a much larger sermon published in the Zions Ensign, a Newpaper run by the RLDS Church.    Vision by President Joseph Smith III   In 1883, Some of you will remember, I had a controversy in writing with L. O. Littlefield in the far west, and some of you thought I had picked up a job that I could not get through with. After I had written the third letter and they had published it in the Logan paper, I was something in doubt, and I made it a matte...