![\"President](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2024\/10\/1_9-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a>The story that we told in the Interpreter Foundation\u2019s 2024 dramatic film Six Days in August<\/em> <\/a>\u2014 and on which we\u2019ll be expanding in our forthcoming series of short Becoming Brigham<\/em> documentaries \u2014 continues to be directly relevant to current events in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> as general conference proceeds and as we approach the establishment of a new First Presidency. \u00a0Pending release of our mini-documentaries (which we expect to begin in January), here\u2019s a helpful article in the Deseret News<\/em>: \u00a0\u201cThe history of succession in the Church of Jesus Christ:\u00a0The principles and procedures associated with the selection of new leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have long been established\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n I watched this 52-minute compilation last night, and enjoyed it quite a bit. \u00a0There are wonderful things happening: \u00a0\u201cWatch the October 2025 Edition of the World Report\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n And if this<\/em> 22-minute video thrills you even a quarter as much as it thrilled me, you\u2019ll be . . . well, pretty thrilled. \u00a0I regard the Perpetual Education Fund and BYU-Pathway as among the most phenomenal things that the Church has ever done: \u00a0\u201cGeneral conference special: \u2018Pathway to Hope: Jane Clayson Johnson in Africa.'\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n I\u2019m not the only person who feels that way: \u00a0Deseret News<\/em> (11 April 2025): \u201cNotre Dame professor: BYU-Pathway Worldwide may become Latter-day Saints\u2019 \u2018biggest gift to the world\u2019:\u00a0BYU-PW president predicts the low-cost, quality online education initiative will hit a massive milestone in student numbers later this year as the Church of Jesus Christ addresses global disparities\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n And here\u2019s a related item about BYU-Pathway: \u00a0\u201cEmmy Award-winning journalist shares how BYU\u2013Pathway is \u2018transforming higher education\u2019:\u00a0Speaking at BYU, Jane Clayson Johnson outlines how BYU\u2013Pathway is providing students a \u2018Pathway to Hope\u2019\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n The Pathway project needs more involvement from teachers, tutors, and even employers. \u00a0It seems to me something that is absolutely worthy of support and of volunteers.<\/p>\n It has been widely noted, in the aftermath of the attack in Grand Blanc, Michigan, that a considerable number of commenters, immediately after condemning the murders, scurried with unseemly to repair any potential boundary breaches and to guarantee the exclusion of the \u201cMormons\u201d by assuring anybody who was paying attention that Latter-day Saints are cultists who aren\u2019t really Christians. \u00a0In that regard, this article in USA Today <\/em>was important: \u00a0\u201cSlurs, stereotypes and violence have long plagued members of the Mormon faith: Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have long been subjected to prejudice and violence.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n And it was very good to see this story:<\/p>\n Moreover, although I would really like to talk to him about this,\u00a0David DesRosiers, at RealClearPolitics, had some good things to say: \u201cThe Parents of Charlie Kirk\u2019s Prodigal Assassin: Commentary\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 My friend and former BYU colleague Ralph Hancock has written a response to David DesRosiers that I hope he will publish somewhere.<\/p>\n And this article, which appeared in the\u00a0Wall Street Journal<\/em> but which, I think, is accessible to the general public,\u00a0came as a very pleasant surprise.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cRussell M. Nelson\u2019s Style Directive:\u00a0The president insisted on using the Mormon church\u2019s unwieldy full name. He had a point.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Of course, one of the greatest recent stories involving the Church has been the astonishing and astoundingly generous Latter-day Saint response to the killings in Michigan (which, by the way, would almost certainly have been much more numerous had law enforcement personnel not responded so very, very quickly) \u2014 including the fundraiser for the widow and family of the attacker. \u00a0Here are some worthwhile articles or videos:<\/p>\n Associated Press: \u201cMormon church leaders encourage forgiveness and love after Michigan attack\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Fox2 Detroit: \u201cGrand Blanc church attack: LDS member raises over $300K for family of shooter\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n NPR: \u00a0\u201cAfter Michigan attack, fundraising for shooter\u2019s family a \u2018forgiveness moment'\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Jana Riess: \u00a0\u201cI am proud of my Mormon people\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Thoughtful Faith: \u201cThis is My Religion: Christianity and the Michigan Shooting\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIn coming days,\u201d President Russell M. Nelson famously said, \u201cwe will see the greatest manifestations of the Savior\u2019s power that the world has ever seen.\u201d \u00a0A number of critics have mocked him for saying this, though I don\u2019t doubt that some very great miracles (in the conventional sense of the term) are still in the offing. \u00a0But isn\u2019t the donation, by Latter-day Saints, of more than $300,000.00 for the dependents of a man who sought to massacre a congregation of Latter-day Saint men, women, and children something of a miracle?<\/p>\n \u201cHow the gathering of Israel is accelerating around the world:\u00a0In June, Elder Quentin L. Cook announced a record number of convert baptisms; Church leaders around the world are seeing it firsthand\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n This put me in mind of a\u00a03 August 2025 article in the\u00a0Deseret News<\/em>: \u201cPerspective: The horizon is bright for the future of global faith:\u00a0Compared to the days when combative atheism dominated public discussion, it\u2019s hard to miss the array of signs and data hinting at a groundswell of religious resurgence\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>\n
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