I would guess that very few people, even among the Latter-day Saints, are thinking about this. But today marks the 180th anniversary of the murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith by a mob while they were in the custody of the state in the jail at Carthage, Illinois. I’ve been thinking about that terrible crime, and lines from a song have come, unbidden, into my mind. In 1972, a Utah Valley singer (and later actor) by the name of... Read more
I was mightily unhappy, almost physically ill in fact, when I first came across this story: “Heretic: Check out the scary new trailer, plot, cast, creative team and release date of Hugh Grant starrer movie” “Heretic Trailer Previews A24 Horror Movie About Mormon Missionaries Starring Hugh Grant” “Hugh Grant Plays a Disturbed Trickster Who Holds Mormons Captive in Heretic Trailer (Video)” “Hugh Grant Torments Mormons in First Trailer for Heretic“ “Hugh Grant Gets Creepy and Traps Two Young Mormon... Read more
1. Come, lay his books and papers by, he shall not need them more; the ink shall dry upon his pen, so softly close the door. His tired head, with locks of white, and like the winter’s sun, hath lain to peaceful rest tonight,—The teacher’s work is done. 2. His work is done; no care tonight his tranquil rest shall break; sweet dreams, and with the morning light, on other shores he’ll wake. His noble thoughts; his wise appeal,... Read more
A twelve-minute piece that we recorded in Kirtland, Ohio, during the same May 2024 trip on which we filmed much of “Who Actually Saw the Gold Plates? | A Marvelous Work Episode 5” has now gone up online as an “extended cut”: See “School of the Prophets – Dan Peterson” I returned home from my service in the Switzerland Zürich Mission roughly a century and a half ago, perhaps somewhat less, but my brief recent stay there has led... Read more
This bit of footage, shot back in May at the foot of Torleif Knaphus’s Angel Moroni monument, which stands atop the Hill Cumorah near Palmyra, New York, somehow didn’t survive into the Final Cut of “Who Actually Saw the Gold Plates? | A Marvelous Work Episode 5.” I can’t imagine why! I want to share a few passages that I marked for my notes during a reading of Lee Nelson, Visions from Beyond the Veil (Springville, UT: Cedar Fort,... Read more
Although I no longer possess public political opinions or interests, I’m reliably informed that a national election is approaching in the United States of America. In fact, I’ve actually seen apparent political news coverage. (And somebody to whom I’m as close as anybody possibly can be really, really, really liked this article.) But I have a complaint about how political issues are covered, at least in this country: Almost all of the coverage is analogous to the coverage that... Read more
I was surprisingly sad to leave Switzerland this time. As we were packing up to leave the house in which we’d been staying, the couple that takes care of the place arrived to tidy up after us for the absentee landlord, who is a lifelong friend of theirs (but who now resides in the United States and is currently serving a mission with his wife in England). We ended up talking for quite a while. They’re long-time temple workers... Read more
Well, the FAIR LDS conferences in Europe ended a week ago (though two or three solo presentations may remain). They were, I think, reasonably successful. The in-person attendance in Rome was disappointingly poor, but the audiences in Salzburg and Göteborg were fairly good. And, in all cases, the talks were recorded, translated, and made available—or will soon be made available—online. One of the obvious benefits of the FAIR LDS conferences, however, is that they provided considerable merriment and a... Read more
First of all, I wish a happy Juneteenth to everybody out there. It’s a great day to remember. I first visited Switzerland fifty-four years ago. Yes, I’m that old. It was a brief visit, on a six-week tour of Europe with a busload of recent high school graduates. We stayed for a couple of nights in Saas-Fee and visited Zermatt, where we saw the Matterhorn. I fell instantly in love with the country, and I decided that I wanted... Read more
We headed out this morning along the northern shore of the Brienzersee (through Ringgenberg, which was probably my most important tracting area in the Berner Oberland and perhaps altogether in my mission, and where I had a remarkable set of unexpected experiences with the local Protestant pastor), back over the Brünigpass to Altdorf and over the spectacular Klausenpass. When we reached Linthal, on the other side of the Pass over in Kanton Glarus, we turned around and retraced our... Read more
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