The Utah War: “Buchanan’s Blunder”
On July 24th, 1857, a handful of riders, including Abraham Smoot and Porter Rockwell, rode into Big Cottonwood Canyon, where Brigham Young and the Latter-day Saints were celebrating Pioneer Day. The riders brought with them...
Sacred Temple Clothing of Latter-day Saint Temples
Alright, as you already know, temples like these are very sacred places for Latter-day Saints. As we’ve explored in other videos, we go to temples to participate in ordinances and to make covenants (or promises) with God. Some ordinances require the wearing of sacred...
Why Did Joseph Smith Make Changes to the Doctrine and Covenants?
Hey guys, so, Latter-day Saints believe that the Bible and the Book of Mormon are inspired scripture largely written by ancient prophets. But we also believe that prophets today receive revelations from God as well. Some of the prophet...
What Can Latter-day Saints Say about the Temple, Outside the Temple?
Hey guys, so in 1985 President Ezra Taft Benson said the following: “The temple is a sacred place, and the ordinances in the temple are of a sacred character. Because of its sacredness, we are sometimes reluctant to say anything about the...
Can Latter-day Saints Play with Face Cards?
Hey guys, so I hold in my hand … a deck of playing cards. Now, you don’t hear Latter-day Saint leaders talking a lot about cards these days, but for a long time, past leaders discouraged members (sometimes rather strongly) from playing...
Did Joseph Smith Send Men on Missions and then Marry Their Wives?
Hey guys, so as you already know, Joseph Smith practiced polygamy, or plural marriage — he was married or sealed to more than one woman. Now, some of the women he was sealed to were already legally married to other men. It appears that...
Did Some of Joseph Smith’s Wives Practice Polyandry?
Hey everyone, so if you’ve watched some of the other videos we’ve done on polygamy, you know that this is a topic that I struggle with, as do many modern Latter-day Saints. It’s messy history, and it’s hard to separate fact from fiction...
What Is the Deseret Alphabet?
Hey guys — we talk about a lot of controversial and heavy stuff in this segment of the show, but I wanted to lighten the mood a bit today and just talk about a piece of Latter-day Saint history that I find downright fascinating. We’re...
The Historical Context of Jeremiah, Lehi, and the Fall of Jerusalem
Hey guys, so reading the Old Testament can be really hard, partly because the authors of the Old Testament largely assume that you are already familiar with a lot of the historical context surrounding the stuff they’re writing about. In a...
The Historical Context for Isaiah — Assyria, the Syro-Ephaimite War, & Babylon
In 3 Nephi 23, Christ issues a really interesting commandment: “Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.” So let’s dig into Isaiah a little bit. There are a lot of...
Did Emma Smith Claim She Never Believed in Joseph’s Revelations?
Hey guys, so Joseph Smith was killed in June of 1844. Today we’re going to talk about a letter purportedly written by his wife, Emma, to the editor of the New York Sun in 1845. The letter has some pretty intense things to say, but the most...
Why Do Bible Passages Show Up in the Book of Mormon
Hey guys, so if you’ve read the Book of Mormon, you might notice that some verses contain text that is similar to or perfectly matches text from the Bible. So in this video, we’re going to explore some of the theories...