On this day in Mormon History
http://TodayInMormonHistory.com/
-- 195 years ago today - 1830 --
Church Membership at end of year: 280
New Converts : 274
Percent Change from previous year: 4,566.67% (1)
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-- 170 years ago today - 1855 --
Church Membership at end of year: 63,974
New Converts : -4,455
Percent Change from previous year: -6.51% (1)
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-- 170 years ago today - Dec 31, 1855 --
[Wilford Woodruff]
May the Lord Preserve me from evil sin & transgression. May he enable me to keep the word of wisdom & be preserved in life & health with my wives & Children. (2)
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-- 165 years ago today - Dec 31, 1860 --
[Apostle Wilford Woodruff]
This is the last day of 1860 which Ends this important & momentious year, which has been looked forward to by thousands for many years as a period which would date the Commencement of great & mighty Changes in the Earth...
The whole European World have appeared inspired to spend millions & labor with all their might to build Navies & Equipt armies & prepare For a mighty struggle & deadly Conflict with Each others. [Description of political events in Italy, England, France & China].
But the United States of America is the spot whare 1860 markes the Commencement of a new Erea ... Joseph Smith the Prophet of God told the people of the United States Government what awaited them & there final Destiny as a Nation because of there wickedness & abominations & because they would shed the Blood of Prophets & Saints. He said in 1832, 28 years ago that South Carolinia would rise up in rebelion and that war would Commence at that place & that the Southern States would arise up in rebelion against the Northern States & the Northern States against the Southern States & that war would be poured out upon all Nations which would End in the death & misery of many Souls & because of these things or as the prophet has said the people of the United States have put to death the prophet Joseph the Patriarchs Apostle & many Saints and driven the Church of Christ from place to place for about thirty years and Finally have driven them into the wilderness even into these vallies
of the Mountain and the Lord told us "to plead at the feet of the Judges Governors & Presidets of the United States & if they Heed us not and do not redress us of our wrongs (then the Lord says) I will arise out of my hiding place & in my fury I will vex the Nation and I will Cut off those wicked & unjust Stewards and appoint them there portions with Hipocritts & unbelievers.
1860 has laid the foundation for the fulfillment of these things. During this year the Abolitionest of Republicans of the Northern States Elected their President and Vice President and this has been taken as a pretext and the Southern States are rising up in rebelion against the Northern States are holding Conventions & preparing to Cecede from the Union as Joseph Smith said they would. South Carolinia Ceceded from the Union on the 20 Dec 1860 and others are preparing to follow their example. ...
The foundation has been laid during the year 1860 To break up & annihilate the American Government and the scenes which will follow in quick succession will be terrible & horrible in their detail. This Nation is guilty of sheding the Blood of the Lords anointed, of his Prophets & Saints and the Lord Almighty has decreed their destruction. The Lord has Commenced a Controversy with the American Government and Nation in 1860 and he will never cease untill they are destroyed from under heaven, and the Kingdom of God Esstablished upon their ruins. Let the Gentiles upon this land prepare to meet their God. (2)
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-- 140 years ago today - Dec 31, 1885 (Thursday) --
After two days' trial in the First District Court, at Ogden, the jury returned a verdict of guilty against Lorenzo Snow for u.c. [Unlawful Cohabitation] in 1885, notwithstanding the evidence introduced had proven him innocent. (3)
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-- 125 years ago today - Dec 31, 1900 --
Church membership: 284,000. About five out of every six latter-day Saints live in the predominantly Mormon Intermountain area of the western Unites States. (4)
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-- 95 years ago today - Dec 31, 1930 --
Referring to our telephone conversation of yesterday, I think very likely I misapprehended the purpose of your request for a more definite statement of my objections to the discourse of Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, published in the Utah Genealogical Magazine of October, 1930 [discounting Robert's idea of "pre-Adamites"], than what was found in my letter to the First Presidency of December 15, 1930. ... I herewith submit the following explanation of my letter. First, The purpose of my letter meant to secure from the First Presidency a simple statement whether or not the discourse of Elder Smith had been submitted to them, and perhaps to the Twelve, and had been approved by them as representing what was to be considered the attitude of the Church upon that subject. If that were the case I tried to express the thought that that fact ought to have been mentioned in the discourse; because of the apparent air of finality and authority of the pronouncement. It occurred to me that if the
discourse was to be regarded as the authoritative attitude of the Church it ought to have been made by someone else tan Elder Smith, or else the announcement made that he was authorized to speak for the Presidency and other authorities of the Church, since hitherto the Church has made no authoritative statement on the subject.
Second, If the dogmatic and apparently final utterance on the subject treated was after all but the expression of Elder Smith's personal views, then such fact ought somewhere to appear in the discourse that the hearers and readers might know what weight to accord the pronouncement made.
Third, I meant to imply by what was said in my letter that if the discourse of Elder Smith was but the expression of his personal views, hen I questioned his competency to speak with such dogmatic finality as he does in the discourse on the subject, (a) either by reason of his general learning or any known special research on the subject involved, and (b) that as an apostle Elder Smith was not competent to make such a positive and apparently not-to-be questioned pronouncement, because an earlier and a more experienced and learned apostle had made a directly opposite statement on the subject, which statement Brigham Young, President of the Church, publically approved, both which statement and approval, were published in the Journal of Discourses.
Fourth, I meant to imply in my letter that in view of all this, Elder Smith was not warranted in making such a positive and dogmatic statement, and that I had the right to know if he spoke by the authority of an agreed upon attitude of the present administration of the Church or not ' hence the questions of my letter to the First Presidency.
Fifth, To all this I add the following: I call in question the accuracy of Elder Smith's position ain reference to the whole doctrine of his discourse, as being contrary to a great volume of well developed and ascertained truth, established by the researches of scientists of highest character, of profoundest learning, and world-wide research. I hold his doctrine contrary at least to the plain implications of the scripture; as tending also to reduce the Church of the New Dispensation to the character of a narrow, bigoted sect, forsaking the God-given world movement idea of it; and as injurious to the continued faith in, and adherence to, the teachings of the Church not by 'a scattered few', but by a very great number of its membership.
Of course I stand ready to maintain the truth of these statements if given the opportunity, and I respectfully ask for permission to do so. (5)
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-- 55 years ago today - Dec 31, 1970 --
The Millennial Star, the oldest continuous Church publication, having been published in England since 1840, ends publication. The British Saints are to receive the Ensign magazine.
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1 - Wikipedia, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Membership History, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints_membership_history
2 - Wilford Woodruff's Journal: 1833-1898 Typescript, Volumes 1-9, Edited by Scott G. Kenney, Signature Books 1993, http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies
3 - Jenson, Andrew, Church Chronology
4 - Sherry Baker: Mormon Media History Timeline: 1827-2007, http://byustudies.byu.edu/showTitle.aspx?title=7984
5 - B. H. Roberts, Letter to Rudger Clawson, as quoted in Minutes of the Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1910-1951, Privately Published, Salt Lake City, Utah 2010
via todayinmormonhistory-email https://ift.tt/oCGxUNv
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