One Stake's Resource List for Struggling Members

[Curt Sunshine]

I saw this today and want to share - simply to point out that there are organized efforts to include some of the resources we like here, even in a stake in the center of Utah.

I have highlighted a few that jump out to me.

Resources for Dealing with Difficult Issues

____________ Utah __________ Stake

The following resources are meant to assist ward leaders as they minister to members of the church who are struggling with issues of doubt, “intellectual” concerns, or the complexities of church history. This list of resources is not comprehensive, but it provides an introduction and starting point on a variety of issues important to many members of the church. As ward leaders strive to understand these topics and different perspectives, they will better be able to work with others who are struggling with these issues. In addition to becoming acquainted with these resources themselves, ward leaders can share them (and read through them together) with members of the church who express their concerns. There are often no easy answers for many of these issues, but as members feel from their local leaders a sincere, open, honest, sympathetic, and informed desire to work through their concerns, they will often overcome their anxieties and emerge with a more mature commitment to the Gospel.


Dealing with Doubt, Uncertainty, and Belonging
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “Lord, I Believe,” April 2013 General Conference. (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/ ... e?lang=eng)

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Come, Join with Us,” October 2013 General Conference. (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/ ... s?lang=eng)

Elder Bruce C. Hafen, “On Dealing with Uncertainty,” Ensign (August 1979). (https://www.lds.org/ensign/1979/08/on-d ... y?lang=eng)

Elder Bruce C. Hafen, “Love Is Not Blind,” BYU Speeches (1979). (http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=651)

Terryl L. Givens, “Letter to a Doubter,” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 4 (2013): 131-146 (http://www.mormoninterpreter.com/letter-to-a-doubter/)

Terryl and Fiona Givens, The Crucible of Doubt: Reflections on the Quest for Faith (Deseret Book, 2014). (http://deseretbook.com/Crucible-Doubt-T ... /i/5125923)

M. Sue Bergin, “Keeping the Faith: What Can You Do When A Child Expresses Doctrinal Doubt?” BYU Magazine (Spring 2014). (http://magazine-stg.byu.edu/keeping-the ... al-doubts/)

Eugene England, “Why the Church is as True as the Gospel” (http://www.eugeneengland.org/why-the-ch ... the-gospel)

Mormon Scholars Testify Website (http://mormonscholarstestify.org/)


Difficult Issues in Church History, Scripture, and Teachings (General Resources)
Elder Steven E. Snow, “Start with Faith: A Conversation with Elder Steven E. Snow,” Religious Educator 14.3 (2013): 1-11. (http://rsc.byu.edu/archived/volume-14-n ... ven-e-snow)

The Joseph Smith Papers (The Church Historian’s Press, 2008–) (http://deseretbook.com/search/search#q= ... re&facets=)

The Joseph Smith Papers Website (http://josephsmithpapers.org/)

Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (Knopf, 2005). (http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Rolling-Bu ... 5G200GZX8W)

“Church Provides Context for Recent Media Coverage on Gospel Topics Pages,” Church Newsroom (November 11, 2014). (http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/c ... pics-pages)

Gospel Topics Essays (https://www.lds.org/topics?lang=eng)

FAIRMormon: Critical Questions, Faithful Answers Website (http://en.fairmormon.org/Main_Page)

Robert L. Millet, ed., No Weapon Shall Prosper: New Light on Sensitive Issues (Deseret Book, 2011). (http://rsc.byu.edu/recent-books/no-weap ... ive-issues)


Difficult Issues in Church History, Scripture, and Teachings (Specific Topics)

Mormonism and Traditional Christianity
Gospel Topics Essay: “Are Mormons Christians?” (https://www.lds.org/topics/christians?lang=eng)

Stephen E. Robinson, Are Mormons Christians? (Deseret Book, 1991). (http://www.amazon.com/Are-Mormons-Chris ... christians)


Different Accounts of the First Vision
Gospel Topics Essay: “First Vision Accounts” (https://www.lds.org/topics/first-vision ... s?lang=eng)

The Joseph Smith Papers Website: “Primary Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision of Deity” (http://josephsmithpapers.org/site/accou ... rst-vision)

Steven C. Harper, “Suspicion or Trust: Reading the Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision,” in No Weapon Shall Prosper (ed. Millet; Deseret Book, 2011). (http://rsc.byu.edu/archived/no-weapon-s ... rst-vision)


The Book of Mormon (Translation Process and DNA)
Gospel Topics Essay: “Book of Mormon Translation” (https://www.lds.org/topics/book-of-morm ... n?lang=eng)

The Joseph Smith Papers Website: “The Gold Plates and the Translation of the Book of Mormon” (http://josephsmithpapers.org/site/the-g ... -of-mormon)

Gospel Topics Essay: “Book of Mormon and DNA Studies” (https://www.lds.org/topics/book-of-morm ... s?lang=eng)


The Book of Abraham and the Kirtland Egyptian Papers
Gospel Topics Essay: “Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham” (https://www.lds.org/topics/translation- ... m?lang=eng)

The Joseph Smith Papers Website: “Book of Abraham and Egyptian Material” (http://josephsmithpapers.org/site/book- ... n-material)


Joseph Smith, Polygamy, and Post-Manifesto Polygamy
Gospel Topics Essay: “Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo” (https://www.lds.org/topics/plural-marri ... o?lang=eng)

Gospel Topics Essay: “Plural Marriage and Families in Utah” (https://www.lds.org/topics/plural-marri ... h?lang=eng)

Gospel Topics Essay: “The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage” (https://www.lds.org/topics/the-manifest ... e?lang=eng)


The Mountain Meadows Massacre
Gospel Topics Essay: “Peace and Violence among 19th Century Latter-day Saints” (https://www.lds.org/topics/peace-and-vi ... s?lang=eng)

Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley, and Glen M. Leonard, Massacre at Mountain Meadows (Oxford University Press, 2011). (http://www.amazon.com/Massacre-Mountain ... s+massacre)


Teachings on Deification
Gospel Topics Essay: “Becoming Like God” (https://www.lds.org/topics/becoming-like-god?lang=eng)


The Temple
“Temple Garments,” Church Newsroom. (http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/temple-garments)

Matthew B. Brown, The Gate of Heaven: Insights on the Doctrine and Symbols of the Temple (Covenant Communications, 1999). (http://www.amazon.com/Gate-Heaven-Insig ... +of+heaven)

Donald W. Parry, ed., Temples of the Ancient World: Ritual and Symbolism (Deseret Book, 1994). (http://www.amazon.com/Temples-Ancient-W ... ent+temple)

Matthew B. Brown and Paul Thomas Smith, Symbols in Stone: Symbolism on the Early Temples of the Restoration (Covenant Communications, 2003). (http://www.amazon.com/Symbols-Stone-Sym ... s+in+stone)


Women, the Priesthood, and the Church
Elder D. Todd Christofferson, “The Moral Force of Women,” October 2013 General Conference (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/ ... n?lang=eng)

Elder Dallin H. Oaks, “The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood,” April 2014 General Conference. (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/ ... d?lang=eng)

The Joseph Smith Papers Website: “Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book” (http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSumma ... inute-book)

Sheri L. Dew and Virginia H. Pearce, The Beginning of Better Days: Divine Instruction to Women from the Prophet Joseph Smith (Deseret Book, 2012). (http://deseretbook.com/Beginning-Better ... /i/5078230)

Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, Janath Russell Cannon, and Jill Mulvay Derr, Women of Covenant: The Story of Relief Society (Deseret Book, 1992). (http://www.amazon.com/Women-Covenant-St ... f+covenant)

Sheri L. Dew, Women and the Priesthood: What One Woman Believes (Deseret Book, 2013). (http://deseretbook.com/Women-Priesthood ... /i/5112810)

Neylan McBaine, “To Do the Business of the Church: A Coorperative Paradigm,” FAIRMormon Conference, 2012. (http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/ ... e-paradigm)

Neylan McBaine, Women at Church: Magnifying LDS Women’s Local Impact (Greg Kofford Books, 2014). (http://www.amazon.com/Women-Church-Magn ... e+of+doubt)

The Mormon Women Project Website (http://www.mormonwomen.com/)

David L. Paulsen and Martin Pulido, “‘A Mother There’: A Survey of Historical Teachings about Mother in Heaven,” BYU Studies 50.1 (2011): 71-97. (https://byustudies.byu.edu/PDFViewer.as ... e5b079.pdf)


Race and the Priesthood
Gospel Topics Essay: “Race and the Priesthood” (https://www.lds.org/topics/race-and-the ... d?lang=eng)

“Race and the Church: All Are Alike Unto God,” Church Newsroom (February 29, 2012). (http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/race-church)

Elder Bruce R. McConkie, “All Are Alike Unto God,” BYU Speeches (August 18, 1978). (http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1570)


Same-Sex Attraction
Gospel Topics Essay: “Same-Sex Attraction” (https://www.lds.org/topics/same-gender- ... x+marriage)

Mormons and Gays Website (http://mormonsandgays.org/)

“Same-Sex Marriage and Proposition 8,” Church Newsroom. (http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/s ... position-8)

Ty Mansfield, comp., Voices of Hope: Latter-day Saint Perspectives on Same Gender Attraction (Deseret Book, 2011). (http://deseretbook.com/Voices-Hope-Ty-M ... /i/5062130)

Voice(s) of Hope Website (http://www.ldsvoicesofhope.org/

[startpoor]

That's a good step forward. Of course there are things I could be critical about regarding the contents of the list, but really, props are in order for legitimizing the issues.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SilentDawning]

Now THAT is a good approach to helping people deal with their doubts and concerns. It would be interesting to discuss some of them here to see how they help. I'm interested in the MMM one, because that one bothers me. I believe that someone higher up must have ordered the massacre for so many good people to execute so many other people.

[Curt Sunshine]

The MMM essay is very good. It describes the condition of the time well, but it doesn't avoid laying blame ultimately on the local stake presidents and the rhetoric from SLC and Pres. Young.

The book it references that is on the list is excellent.

[richalger]

[richalger]

What is MMM?

[mom3]

Rich - MMM = Mountain Meadows Massacre.

[SilentDawning]

Mountain Meadows Massacre. It happened after the Saints moved to Utah. They were afraid of attacks from outsiders (with apparently good reason). There was a group of apparently peaceful outsiders headed west. Someone in the church (it's murky as to who) thought they were going to attack Mormon settlements so they dispatched an army to stop them. The Mormon army ended up massacring all the men. Not sure about the women, but the children and survivors were then placed in Mormon homes.

The immediate, Mormon commander took the fall for it, and I think he was executed. But some believe the order to execute the innocent travelers came from higher officials in the church, perhaps even Brigham Young. History is silent on that one.

DHO apologized for what happened in the PBS.org special on the Mormons, indicating "there is no doubt that MEMBERS of our church were involved".

This is one part of our history that has given me pause over the years. I learned about it on the steps of a non-member's I approached about learning the gospel when i was 23. The fact that I knew nothing about it was evidence, to him, that I'd been brainwashed. It left an indelible memory on me -- at the time, thinking it was an oversight that no one had ever told me about it. Now I know it was probably deliberate.

It helped that DHO apologized, or at least, expressed regret for what happened, and that members were involved. That has helped a bit. But the MMM is problematic for me...

[LookingHard]

Mountain Meadows Massacre. It happened after the Saints moved to Utah. They were afraid of attacks from outsiders (with apparently good reason). There was a group of apparently peaceful outsiders headed west. Someone in the church (it's murky as to who) thought they were going to attack Mormon settlements so they dispatched an army to stop them. The Mormon army ended up massacring all the men. Not sure about the women, but the children and survivors were then placed in Mormon homes.

The immediate, Mormon commander took the fall for it, and I think he was executed. But some believe the order to execute the innocent travelers came from higher officials in the church, perhaps even Brigham Young. History is silent on that one.

DHO apologized for what happened in the PBS.org special on the Mormons, indicating "there is no doubt that MEMBERS of our church were involved".

This is one part of our history that has given me pause over the years. I learned about it on the steps of a non-member's I approached about learning the gospel when i was 23. The fact that I knew nothing about it was evidence, to him, that I'd been brainwashed. It left an indelible memory on me -- at the time, thinking it was an oversight that no one had ever told me about it. Now I know it was probably deliberate.

It helped that DHO apologized, or at least, expressed regret for what happened, and that members were involved. That has helped a bit. But the MMM is problematic for me...

Do you feel the event is more problematic for you or the fact that it was never mentioned to you?

[Orson]

The idea that a stake has made that list is encouraging, thanks for the info Ray.

MMM is a topic that I also have wanted to understand and have studied deeply. Two of the most troubling things about it for me are:
1) the Cedar City RS (if I remember correctly) met together as their men marched to the meadows and prayed for the safety of those who were tasked with "avenging the blood of the prophets." (my memory places this info in the Walker, Turley, Leonard book)
2) the culture of that place and time was so fixated on obeying your leaders that one man who felt compelled to speak up against the plan to attack the emigrants feared for his life as he left the meeting (and two men had been sent to deal with him, but they missed him because he took another route home). Other sources also said that the penalty for disobedience could be anything up to and including death. One man was beaten delirious and carried the effects of it for the rest of his life because he disobeyed council/policy by aiding the emigrants or something as simple.

With this in mind I don't think a direct order from BY was necessary, as SD points out it may seem to us that it would be from the way we view the world, but the word of local leaders was as binding. The decision was made by stake presidents Haight and Dame, they tasked John D. Lee and others to carry it out. John D. Lee was the only one officially sentenced and executed for the crime. Late in life Lee wondered why he had been abandoned by BY and the church when all he ever did was his duty.