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Some of you, I think, will enjoy this: \u00a0\u201cHow to watch the Tabernacle Choir\u2019s pilot of \u2018Music & the Spoken Word\u2019 in Spanish: The Spanish pilot of the Tabernacle Choir\u2019s \u2018Music & the Spoken Word\u2019 airs Sunday, July 30\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n There is much food for thought in the survey data reported here. \u00a0I\u2019m not sure whether to be encouraged or discouraged: \u00a0\u201cWhere Boomer Faith in God Is Low, Gen Z Belief Is Up: What nearly 20,000 people in 26 countries believe about God, Satan, and the supernatural.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Some of the attention of the Interpreter Foundation has been focused in recent months on the Democratic Republic of the Congo. \u00a0(I hope that you will see the results of this attention in a year or two; some will see it much sooner.) \u00a0So I was pleased to see this, and the more so because it involves Elder Ian S. Ardern, of the Africa Central Area presidency, whom I first met at his home in New Zealand long before his call to service as a General Authority and even more his tenure presiding over the Fiji Suva Mission: \u00a0\u201cNew friends, strengthened faith: 1,200 youth attend FSY in Democratic Republic of the Congo: \u2018Thank you for being on the covenant path,\u2019 Elder Ardern tells the youth\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been working today on notes for my remarks at the beginning of the Wednesday morning opening session of the annual FAIR conference. \u00a0The expectation that I\u2019ll have images during my presentation has fundamentally changed my approach: \u00a0In olden times, I sometimes chose my topic at FAIR immediately before standing up to the podium. \u00a0But I can\u2019t do that anymore. \u00a0The tech people need to have all PowerPoint materials in hand several days before the meetings begin.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n One of the most astonishing things to me about the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in England is its beginning. \u00a0I quote from the important 1992 volume by James B. Allen, Ronald K. Esplin, and David J. Whittaker entitled Men with a Mission: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the British Isles, 1837-1841<\/em><\/a><\/span>:<\/p>\n To all appearances, the spring of 1837 was hardly the time to send any of his leaders abroad, but, Joseph Smith declared, \u201cGod revealed to me that something new must be done for the salvation of His Church,\u201d and this \u201csomething\u201d was the mission to England. The announcement surprised Heber Kimball. On June 4 the Prophet approached him in the Kirtland Temple, saying, \u201cThe Spirit of the Lord has whispered to me, \u2018let my servant Heber go to England and proclaim my gospel and open the door of salvation to that nation.'\u201d The news astounded him. He had long thought of preaching in England, but now, with Kirtland in crisis? And alone, without others of his quorum? Heber had expected to be part of such a mission, but he considered himself an unlikely candidate to lead out. With his lack of formal education and limited experience as a leader, the idea of leading a mission to sophisticated England \u201cwas almost more than I could bear up under.\u201d He asked the Prophet if Brigham Young could accompany him, but needing \u201cBrother Brigham\u201d in Kirtland, Joseph would not consider it. One disaffected colleague chided Heber for being such a fool as to listen \u201cto Joseph Smith, the fallen Prophet\u201d and leave for England at such a time. Another also thought it foolish but, seeing his determination, gave him a cloak to help him on his way. Brigham Young urged him to go, promising \u201cin the name of Israel\u2019s God you shall be blessed.\u201d In preparation, Heber daily retreated to the attic story of the temple and poured out his soul.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n To say that it was an outwardly unpromising moment to send Elder Heber C. Kimball, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and one of the very most faithful members of the Church, across the Atlantic Ocean is an understatement. \u00a0The Panic of 1837, which soon enveloped the Kirtland Bank and plunged both town and Church into chaos and despair, began in May. \u00a0That same month, Warren Parrish led others, including some members of the Quorum of the Twelve, in speaking out against Joseph Smith. \u00a0And yet Joseph set apostles Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde and Joseph Fielding (a British-born priest at the time)\u00a0 apart as missionaries to England on 11 June. \u00a0And, just two days later, on 13 June 1837, they departed from Kirtland, Ohio, along with Willard Richards (himself a future apostle and a future member of the First Presidency). \u00a0Within roughly a year, the Latter-day Saints would largely have abandoned Kirtland.<\/p>\n It was a daring move on the part of Joseph Smith and, I would say, a prophetic one. \u00a0It certainly wasn\u2019t \u201cprudent\u201d by earthly standards. \u00a0But did it contribute \u2014 mightily \u2014 to the \u201csalvation of [the] Church\u201d? \u00a0In my opinion, mightily so.<\/p>\n It seems to me a perfect illustration of a definition of faith given by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.:<\/p>\n Faith is taking the first step, even when you don\u2019t see the whole staircase.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n And, finally, some new horrors from the ever-terrifying Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>\u2122:<\/p>\n \u201cNew Organic Gardens in Peru Will Nourish the Bodies and Minds of Children: Over 2,400 students will benefit from the Church\u2019s collaboration with the Qali Warma National School Feeding Program\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cOffering Hope to Young Victims of Abuse in Samoa\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>
(LDS.org public domain photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a>