Last night in General Conference the prophet revealed a beautiful new logo for the church.
I don’t know if we had an official logo before this announcement, but I think it could have been considered an image or silhouette of the Angel Moroni statue which is found on the east center spire of the Salt Lake temple.
The Logo Incorporates Several Important Elements
Front and center the logo displays Thorvaldsen’s Christus. The Church uses the Christus extensively in its literature and other publications and it is widely associated with the Church.
The Church purchased a replica of the statue in the 1950s to illustrate to the world our belief in Jesus Christ. Since then the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has placed 17 other statues throughout the world. The two most famous of the statues are found in the Salt Lake Temple Square Visitor’s Center and the newly completed Rome, Italy Temple.
Next, the logo prominently displays the Church’s name. When I was a kid the title of the church was all one font size, then in the summer of 1997, they changed it to have “Jesus Christ” in a larger text to help emphasize our belief in Christ.
The rectangle around the title represents a cornerstone referencing the passage in the Bible of “Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.”
Third, surrounding the Christus is an archway symbolizing Christ’s emergence from the tomb.
One last element I noticed was the converging angled lines found in the outro in all of the recent media presentations the church has produced. I think it’s a nice inclusion of existing branding the church has been using.
President Nelson said of the logo, “[The symbol] portrays the resurrected, living Lord reaching out to embrace all who will come unto Him.”
Image Credit: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
This is just in! The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released volume 2 of their Saints book series. Saints chronicles church history from the restoration with Joseph Smith down to what I imagine will be whatever will have happened from now until the publication of the last book in the series.
This book is available for free in digital form though oddly enough they charge you if you get the audiobook from iTunes or Amazon. You can download the audiobook from the church website for free. If you prefer a paper copy it’s only $6.25.
The book is available on the Church’s website. Don’t worry if you missed reading volume 1 because that is also available there.
Image Credit: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Once it was known that Joseph Smith had the plates, the persecution became unbearable. Joseph and Emma determined to leave Manchester and move to Susquehanna county in Pennsylvania. Joseph and Emma were very poor and couldn’t afford to make the move. Fortunately, they were rescued by a fifty dollar gift from a farmer by the name of Martin Harris.
Traveling would prove to be a problem for Joseph and his wife. Though people claimed to not believe that Joseph had the gold plates, they were certainly anxious to get their hands on them. Joseph put the plates in a wood box then put it into the bottom of a cask which he filled with beans. A mob of fifty men gathered together determined to take the plates. When the mob approached Dr. McIntyre to be their leader, he called them a pack of devilish fools and told them to go home. The mob fell apart after quarreling about who would then become their leader.
Joseph would experience other difficulties during his trip. Joseph was stopped by an officer who presented Joseph with a search warrant. The officer thought he could get the plates, but went away disappointed when his search came up empty.
It would be a pleasant ride in the countryside for Joseph and Emma if they were able to make it to Pennsylvania without being accosted but that was not to be. Joseph was stopped a third time by another officer who meticulously ransacked the Smiths’ wagon and wasn’t able to find the plates.
After those attempts to steal the plates the Smiths arrived in Pennsylvania and Joseph quickly began the translation of the plates.
The time finally arrived for Joseph to take possession of the plates. It was known that Joseph would be receiving the plates, so in the early hours of September 22, 1827, Joseph went to the Hill Cumorah to receive the plates. Emma accompanied Joseph and waited in the wagon for Joseph while he climbed the hill.
At the location of the plates the Angel Moroni appeared to Joseph and gave him another warning, he said, “You will have to be watchful and faithful to your trust or you will be overpowered by wicked men, for they will lay every plan and scheme that is possible to get them away from you. And if you do not take heed continually, they will succeed.” (Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–45, book 6, [1])
Joseph had tried to get hold of a lockbox before he retrieved the plates but was unsuccessful, so before Joseph returned home with the plates he hid the plates in a hollowed-out log until he could find a box to store the plates.
Back at the Smith home, Lucy was fretting over Joseph’s task as she served breakfast to Joseph Sr., Joseph Knight, and Josiah Stowell. When Joseph and Emma entered the house Lucy had to leave the room when she saw that Joseph was empty-handed. Joseph followed Lucy and reassured her that he had gotten the plates and handed her a cloth that contained the Urim and Thummim. The Urim and Thummim were seer stones the Lord prepared for the translation of the plates.
The day after receiving the plates, Joseph Smith took a job repairing a well in order to earn some money to get a lockbox. That same day Joseph Sr. overheard a group of men plotting to steal the plates. Joseph rushed home to share what he’d overheard. Joseph Jr. was an hour’s drive away working on the well, so Emma traveled to see him.
Joseph returned home and then went to recover the hidden plates. He wrapped the plates in a shirt and headed for home.
Lucy Smith writes about Joseph’s trip back home with the plates, “After proceeding a short distance, he thought it would be safe to leave the road and through the woods. Traveling some distance after he left the road, he came to a large windfall, and as he was jumping over a log, a man sprang up from behind it and gave him a heavy blow with a gun. Joseph turned around and knocked him down, then ran at the top of his speed. About half a mile farther he was attacked again in the same manner as the former and ran on again; and before he reached home he was assaulted the third time. In striking the last one, he dislocated his thumb, which, however, he did not notice until he came within sight of the house, when he threw himself down in the corner of the fence in order to recover his breath. As soon as he was able, he arose and came to the house. He was still altogether speechless from fright and fatigue of running” (History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, 107-8).
Joseph had successfully made it home with the plates! Joseph needed a place to keep the plates so he sent his youngest brother Don Carlos down the road to the home of his older brother Hyrum to get a box in which to store the plates. It wasn’t until the plates were safe in the box that Joseph relaxed.
Before I share these awesome videos. I think it would be helpful if you had a background in what the Book of Mormon is. Check out this post I created about what the book is.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently undertook the monumental task of creating a series of videos depicting the stories contained in the Book of Mormon. I don’t know how in-depth they are going to be in every story of the Book of Mormon, but based on the first season, they are quite thorough.
I was tempted to embed each video on a page for you to easily find, but anticipating that they will be releasing quite a few over the next several years, I’ve decided to simply direct you where to go to find them.
All of the videos are available to see on YouTube. Be sure to subscribe so you can be kept up-to-date on the newest episode.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also hosts the videos natively on their site. This might be a little easier to watch chronologically since YouTube is a bit confusing sometimes on navigation.
Each tile represents a section of scriptures. The longest video is the master story while the shorter videos are little vignettes of things that occurred during that time as well.
I don’t know why they didn’t include the short videos in the longer video, but I think they made them as specific lessons for the church’s study curriculum during the 2020 year. Maybe one day an extended version will be available.
Image Credit: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
I asked my daughter what the Book of Mormon is and she said, “Some people talking about Jesus and their lives and some stuff like that.” That is the answer of a 10-year-old who has grown up in a home where she has grown up learning different stories and memorizing passages from the Book of Mormon.
She’s not wrong.
The Book of Mormon is scripture that originated here on the American continent. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has published a brief video about what the Book of Mormon is.
Unfortunately, a one-minute video isn’t long enough to understand what the Book of Mormon is. I probably won’t do it justice, but I’ll give it a try.
The History
The Book of Mormon is a compilation of the writing of prophets much like the prophets of the Bible.
The first prophet in the Book of Mormon is Lehi. Lehi and his family lived in Jerusalem at around 600 B.C. which was in the time of Jeremiah in the Bible.
The Lord warns Lehi of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and tells him to take his family and flee. The family traveled to the seashore where Lehi’s son Nephi (the narrator of the first part of the Book of Mormon), was instructed by the Lord how to build a ship in which the family would sail to what we now call the American continent.
Establishing a Nation
Not all was well in Lehi’s family. The two eldest sons were real complainers and fought the trip at pretty much every point.
Once the family arrived on the new continent, those two brothers and their families separated from the rest and they would eventually become two civilizations called the Nephites for those who followed Nephi and the rest of the family, and Lamanites for those who followed the brothers Laman and Lemuel.
Over time God continued to call prophets. One such prophet was Enos. You can watch a video my family made about Enos Here.
Also over time, the peoples’ righteousness fluctuated and there were conflicts between the Nephites and the Lamanites.
A large portion of the book named after the principal author Alma, describes numerous wars between groups of Nephites and Lamanites.
Why the Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ
The crowning part of the Book of Mormon is Christ’s visit to the inhabitants of the continent.
During Christ’s ministry, He said, “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd” — John 10:16.
Following Christ’s resurrection, He came here to the American continent and ministered to the people for a short while. This account can be found in 3 Nephi 11-27 in the Book of Mormon.
For many years following Christ’s visit, there was peace in the land, but that was not to last. Eventually, contention crept back into their lives and the Book of Mormon was finalized with bloodshed and complete destruction of the Nephite civilization.
One of the last Nephites was Mormon, a prophet and historian. Mormon was the one who compiled all of the available historical records and that is why the book is named after him.
Mormon had a son named Moroni to whom he passed the plates of the Book of Mormon. Moroni was the last to record in the book. He took the plates and buried them in what would one day become New York.
How We Got the Book of Mormon
In 1823 Moroni visited Joseph Smith and instructed Joseph in the translation of the plates into what we know as the Book of Mormon.
I encourage you to read the several posts I’ve written about Joseph Smith regarding his life, the personal visit of God the Father and Jesus Christ, the translation of the Book of Mormon, and the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The story begins with Getting to Know Joseph Part 1
In Conclusion
I’m going to simply let you read the second half of the Introduction Page in the Book of Mormon. It puts it best.
Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”
In addition to Joseph Smith, the Lord provided for eleven others to see the gold plates for themselves and to be special witnesses of the truth and divinity of the Book of Mormon. Their written testimonies are included herewith as “The Testimony of Three Witnesses” and “The Testimony of Eight Witnesses.”
We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10:3–5.)
Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is His revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the Second Coming of the Messiah.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a beautiful video for Christmas. Enjoy and Merry Christmas! There is such power in being able to view what the nativity might have looked like.
I love how this video makes me feel. Pay attention to how you feel while watching this video. That feeling you are feeling is the Spirit of God.
