The Mormon Apocrypha

 In 1895, the LDS Church released a manifesto saying that General Authorities must require approval from the First Presidency before they could seek office. This was done in a possess to keep the church politically neutral. Not everyone agreed with the manifesto. Moses Thatcher did not agree with the document and was released from the Qurom of the Twelve the following year. B.H. Roberts too did not agree but signed it under the threat of losing his position. TO THE SAINTS: To the officers and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in General Conference assembled. DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: Every Latter-day Saint will recognize the value of union, not only in action but in matters of faith and discipline. As to the rights and authority of the Priesthood of the Son of God, it is of the highest importance that there should be no difference of opinion among the officers and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Feeling the necessity of a corre...

Wilford Woodruff was well known for always writing in a journal. He started his journaling in 1835, "Believing it to be beneficial to review our past life, and not only our privilege but duty to keep an accurate account of our proceedings." He kept a journal for the next 63 years, his last entry being on August 31,1898, two days before he died.  Journaling was not just something he believed he should do. He believed everyone should keep a record of their lives. Below is a sermon on the topic. Maybe after reading this, you could make one of your New Year's resolutions to write in a journal everyday. I said I fell to say a few words. We have had a good exertation from Brother Joseph Young. He said some had thought that we should have the privilege of coming to these rallies & setting down & resting but he thought that we had as much to do as ever. I think so to. I am thoroughly Converted to the faith that we shall never arrive at that period of existence when we sha...

Sealings were and still are a very important part of the LDS Church. You may be sealed to be a part of your family for all eternity. But in the early days of the practice of Sealing, people were getting sealed to apostles and prophets. They worried that their parents who passed on would not accept the gospel and wanted to get sealed to people who had, sealing themselves to people like Joseph Smith and John Taylor. This practice never sat well with Willford Woodruff and worked against it as early as 1874.   The Law of Adoption Discourses Delivered at the General Conference of the Church, in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Utah, Sunday, April 18, 1894 President Wilford Woodruff I feel thankful for the privilege of meeting with so many of the Latter-day Saints this morning. In order to present my position before the Saints I wish to say that I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over sixty years, a member of the quorum of the Apostles fifty-five ...

40 years. Three Prophets. This was how long it took to build the Salt Lake Temple. Thousands of Saints worked on the temple, laying brick on brick. On April 6, 1893, all that work paid off when Wilford Woodruff gave the dedicatory prayer, finally consecrating the temple as a house of the Lord. Salt Lake Temple Dedicatory Prayer Dedicated 6–24 April 1893 by Wilford Woodruff Our Father in heaven, Thou has created the heavens and the earth, and all things that are therein; Thou most glorious One, perfect in mercy, love, and truth, we, Thy children, come this day before Thee, and in this house which we have built to Thy most holy name, humbly plead the atoning blood of Thine Only Begotten Son, that our sins may be remembered no more against us forever, but that our prayers may ascend unto Thee and have free access to Thy throne, that we may be heard in Thy holy habitation. And may it graciously please Thee to hearken unto our petitions, answer them according to Thine infinite wisdom and lo...