The Mormon Apocrypha

Elder Melvin J. Ballard has been a recurring character on this blog, so I wanted one of 2026's first general conference talks to be from him. In this one, he talks about the importance of the church. Elder Melvin J. Ballard Of the Qurom of the Twelve Apostles I desire, my brethren and sisters, to read two short extracts from a revelation of the Lord, given one hundred years ago to the Church. The first is from the eighty-sixth section: " Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you, with whom the priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers — " For ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with Christ in God — " Therefore your life and the priesthood have remained, and must needs remain through you and your lineage until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began. " Therefore, blessed are ye if ye continue in my goodness, a light unto the Gentiles, and through ...

As we end the year, I wanted to give one last post for Melvin J Ballard. On December 25, 1925, a hundred years ago today, Ballard dedicated the continent of South America for missionary work. The prayer given below is the prayer he used to dedicate South America.  Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. In the name of Jesus Christ, Thy well-beloved Son, we Thy servants approach Thee on this beautiful Christmas morning in this secluded spot in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, South America, in a land far distant from our mountain home but in a country which Thou has called a part of the land of Zion. We are very thankful for our safe arrival after a voyage of twenty-one days on the seas without a moment’s sickness. We do acknowledge that Thou didst temper the elements for our good and that Thy protecting care has been over us in our travels, both upon the land and the sea, and for health and strength to labor for Thee and Thy cause. We are grateful that we have been ...

  Melvin J. Ballard was the son of Bishop Henry Ballard and Margaret McNeil, pioneers of Utah, and was born in Logan, Utah, February 9, 1873. He was raised on a farm and spent the hours he could snatch from other duties in diligent study. He graduated from the Brigham Young College in 1894, and later taught music, in which he is gifted, in that institution. He had given fourteen years to outside missionary service besides work in the Church at home and presided over the Northwestern States Mission for ten years. After all that, he was ordained an apostle in January 7, 1919 and opened the South American Mission in 1925 in Bueros Aires, Argentina. Before leaving the following July, he prophesied, " The work of the Lord will grow slowly for a time just as an oak grows slowly from an acorn... The work here is the smallest it will ever be. The South American Mission will become a power in the Church." He served in the quorum for twenty years, before passing away from cancer on J...

The Great Depression was a hard time for everyone, including members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. So, to read this General Conference must have been hopeful. It goes over how blessed the members are, with inventions like the telephone and light bulb, and the continued growth of the Church. When the talk does discuss the hardships, people were dealing with, it discusses it in a hopeful tone, saying not to despair and that God will help them through it. Elder Melvin J. Ballard  Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles Benefits of Conference It has been my great pleasure now for nearly forty years to be in attendance at the General Conferences of the Church. I count it a liberal education in the science of life to have had this distinguished privilege, not alone from the things that were said, but the spirit that prevailed during those many sessions has brought to me understanding, light and knowledge that I have prized most highly. I have observed that there has a...