![\"Sacrament](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/07\/sacrament-meeting-298791-gallery.jpg\")
<\/a>Perhaps I just forgot to mention it. \u00a0(I recall that I once forgot something, but now I can\u2019t remember what it was.) \u00a0Or perhaps I wanted to wait to announce it until the first full day of America\u2019s Golden Age had arrived. \u00a0Which it now has. \u00a0Today! \u00a0In either case, this article of mine \u2014 focused on the significant (and quite unexpected) Nephite element in the Restoration \u2014 appeared yesterday in Meridian Magazine<\/em>: \u00a0\u201cExploring the Ancient Origins of Sacrament Prayers in the Book of Mormon\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n I received the image above yesterday, via email. \u00a0It came from Deseret Book Company. \u00a0Perhaps you also received one? \u00a0If you haven\u2019t yet seen Six Days in August<\/em>, you really should. \u00a0In case you\u2019re worried, by the way, in case you\u2019re feeling secret Angst<\/em> or harboring a crippling existential dread, I understand. \u00a0But I wasn\u2019t the cinematographer on Six Days<\/em> \u2014 no hand-held Super-8 movie cameras or cellphone cameras were employed during the making of the film \u2014 and I don\u2019t appear in it. \u00a0Not even in a brief Hitchcock-style cameo role.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Interpreter Foundation series of free Witnesses-related short-video features will, I think, be helpful for students and teachers of the Come, Follow Me<\/em> curriculum of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a>, especially when that curriculum focuses on the recovery of the Book of Mormon and on the Book of Mormon Witnesses during the month of February. \u00a0But, of course, the series will also be beneficial for the human race more generally. \u00a0All should watch it. \u00a0Meet the latest to be reemphasized, which weighs in at just under twelve minutes: \u00a0\u201cEpisode 10: What were the Kinderhook Plates?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Witnesses of the Book of Mormon\u2014Insights Episode 10: In 1843, six men claimed to have unearthed ancient metal plates from a burial mound. They were eventually brought to Joseph Smith. Critics have claimed Joseph was fooled by what was ultimately revealed to be a fraud. What is the truth of this claim? This is Episode 10 of a series compiled from the many interviews conducted during the course of the Witnesses film project. . . . \u00a0These additional resources are hosted by Camrey Bagley Fox, who played Emma Smith in Witnesses<\/em>, as she introduces and visits with a variety of experts. These individuals answer questions or address accusations against the witnesses, also helping viewers understand the context of the times in which the witnesses lived. This week we feature Gerrit Dirkmaat, Associate Professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University. For more information, go to <\/span>https:\/\/witnessesofthebookofmormon.org\/<\/a><\/span>. Learn about the documentary movie Undaunted\u2014Witnesses of the Book of Mormon<\/em> at <\/span>https:\/\/witnessesundaunted.com\/<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n And don\u2019t forget that Undaunted<\/em> is now available for free streaming at The Witnesses Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n And we shouldn\u2019t overlook this<\/em> item, which \u2014 thanks to the generosity of Jonn Claybaugh, is also newly available from the aways dying but never quite dead Interpreter Foundation: \u00a0Come, Follow Me<\/em> \u2014 D&C Study and Teaching Helps (2025): Doctrine and Covenants 3\u20135: January 27\u2013February 2: \u201cMy Work Shall Go Forth\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n My wife and I went out to dinner last night with friends. \u00a0Obviously, they\u2019re all my wife\u2019s<\/em> friends: Given the latently violent, perpetually angry, rage-fueled, and callously cruel personality that the expert psychologists over on the Peterson Obsession Board claim to have discerned in me, I can scarcely be expected to have any friends of my own! \u00a0And then we proceeded with those friends on to a performance of Ragtime<\/em><\/a> at the new Ruth and Nathan Hale Theater<\/a> in Pleasant Grove (aka \u201cThe Ruth\u201d). \u00a0There, as usual, we ran into our friends Jack and Jeannie Welch.<\/p>\n Although it doesn\u2019t have all the bells and whistles of its sibling theater to the north, The Ruth is a beautiful new facility and a major step forward for arts and culture in Utah Valley.<\/p>\n Ragtime<\/em><\/a> is very far from the light comedies that are commonly offered at the Hale theaters. \u00a0Further, I have some reservations about its implicit politics and economics, and I\u2019m not a fan of Emma Goldman as either a person or a thinker. \u00a0But it\u2019s a powerful musical that raises troubling issues, and I think it\u2019s very good for people in Utah Valley to be exposed to such theater and such issues. \u00a0The performance last night was a good one. \u00a0It had some slight weak points, and there was one pause when the actors were asked to leave the stage for perhaps five or ten minutes on account of an unidentified technical issue. \u00a0(Perhaps it\u2019s not surprising that there are still bugs to be worked out in a brand new theater.) \u00a0But the cast was, on the whole, quite strong. \u00a0Some were very strong. \u00a0And the play offers excellent subjects for discussion.<\/p>\n There were a few empty seats last night. \u00a0The new theater has much more audience capacity than its Orem predecessor \u2014 not hard to manage that! \u2014 and I hope that even more people in the community will take advantage of this great new entertainment venue. \u00a0Live theater is a very different thing than movies. \u00a0(Although, as should be fairly obvious, I think highly of movies, too.)<\/p>\n I was delighted by the first part of this first item, which, of course, I\u2019ve drawn from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>\u2122.<\/p>\n \u201cSerbia\u2019s University Hospital names center after Brigham Young in response to Church donation:\u00a0Also, donations in Ghana inspire parliament member to investigate the Church, medical assistance in Bolivia decreases infant mortality rates\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n It puts me in mind of my little presentation to the 2024 FAIR conference back in August, which I gave under the title of \u201cAppreciating Brother Brigham.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n But back to the Hitchens File<\/em>. \u00a0Here are some additional theistic crimes to feed any gratifying sense of indignation that a simmering secularist may feel:<\/p>\n \u201cThe Church of Jesus Christ and Seventh-day Adventists Continue Humanitarian Collaboration: The organizations have worked together on more than 330 projects since 1995\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHow the Church continues to respond to December\u2019s earthquake in Vanuatu:\u00a0Powerful earthquake killed 14, injured 200 and displaced thousands\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHow this stake humanitarian group has helped mend \u2018loneliness, heartache and trials\u2019:\u00a0\u2018We laugh and love and try to build the kingdom of God as we love those around us,\u2019 said Karen Lewis\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThousands Gather to Package 1 Million Meals for Utah Food Bank:\u00a0Around 10,000 people to volunteer\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cA thousand hands; a million meals:\u00a0Youth, single adults, families and friends pack the Salt Palace Convention Center to pack 1 million meals for those experiencing food insecurity in Utah\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>