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Our exit from Afghanistan was badly botched. \u00a0And America\u2019s abandonment of those Afghans who had helped us there \u2014 often at considerable risk to their lives and the lives of their families \u2014 has long been a national disgrace and an obvious moral failure, as well as a disastrous precedent that will be remembered whenever we again seek local allies somewhere. \u00a0Furthermore, alas, the situation isn\u2019t improving: \u00a0\u201cTrump\u2019s refugee ban leaves Afghan allies abandoned: Thousands of Afghans who aided the U.S. military are stuck in limbo after Trump paused all refugee resettlement\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Since the Come, Follow Me<\/em> curriculum will be focusing during February 2025 on the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and since the witnesses to the Book of Mormon are an explicit part of that focus, we at the Interpreter Foundation are calling attention to the short-video features that we created as part of our overall Witnesses film project, \u00a0Today, I call this particular video to your notice: \u00a0Episode 11: What were the Voree Plates?<\/a><\/p>\n Witnesses of the Book of Mormon\u2014Insights Episode 11: In 1845, former member of the Church James Strang claimed to have found ancient metal plates. What were the Voree Plates? This is Episode 11 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. In this episode, 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 please watch Undaunted<\/em> \u2014 for free! \u2014 through the link that is provided at The Witnesses Initiative<\/a>. \u00a0Moreover, we encourage you to share these resources with friends and family and other interested parties. \u00a0If you like them and feel so inclined, don\u2019t hesitate to mention them in Come, Follow Me<\/em> discussions where their content might be helpful and relevant.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s installment in the Thursday series of online book reprints for our website is Joseph Smith and Our Preparation for the Lord\u2019s Final Judgment<\/em>: \u201cGeorge Mitton Tribute,\u201d<\/a> written by John P. Mitton. \u00a0The Interpreter Foundation thereby remembers a dear and faithful friend who was present at its establishment, as well as \u2014 earlier \u2014 in the efforts at the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) and, until a putsch made such service impossible, at the successor organization to FARMS, the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Thereafter, \u00a0he gave generously of his time, talents, and energy to help Interpreter succeed:<\/p>\n George L. Mitton was raised in Logan, Utah. Following military service, he served in the British Mission (1949\u201351) and later in many church callings. He received a master\u2019s degree in political science at Utah State University and did additional graduate studies at the University of Utah and Columbia University. He is retired from a career in education and state government in Oregon and now lives in Utah. He assisted for a decade as an associate editor of the FARMS Review<\/em> and published there, in Dialogue<\/em> and in BYU Studies Quarterly<\/em>. He was a founding member and was on the Board of Advisors of The Interpreter Foundation, and has published in its Journal. His marriage was to the late Ewan Harbrecht Mitton. They have four children, twenty grandchildren and thirty-seven great-grandchildren. George passed away on the morning of Tuesday, 20 August 2024. Quoting Dan Peterson (Founder of Interpreter) \u201cGeorge was soft-spoken, kind, funny, incisive, hard-working and deeply loyal to the Kingdom of God.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in Joseph Smith and Our Preparation for the Lord\u2019s Final Judgment: Essays by George L. Mitton<\/em>. For more information, go to https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/books\/joseph-smith-and-our-preparation-for-the-lords-final-judgment\/<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Finally, though, here are c0uple of juicy morsels for my anti-religious readers, lest their craving for additional evidence of the depravity of theists and theism go altogether unsatisfied. \u00a0They come, of course, from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial \u201cHow Religion Poisons Everything\u201d File<\/em>\u2122, that mighty and ever growing repository of the crimes that continue to be committed by fanatical religious zealots:<\/p>\n By the way, we would welcome any support that you might be able to give for the Interpreter Foundation\u2019s Not by Bread Alone<\/em> documentary effort<\/a>, which seeks to preserve and to tell inspiring stories from the pioneering Latter-day Saints of Africa. \u00a0The project is a relatively inexpensive one, with a a great deal of donated volunteer labor going into it, so even small monetary donations make a measurable difference.<\/p>\n<\/a>
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