SO MUCH MORE THAN TURKEY ~~~~ Submitted by Larry Staker

In 2003 a group of psychologists did a study on gratitude and its impact on well being.. One group was assigned to

 record their troubles.. Another group to record things they were grateful for. Those who recorded gratitude had 

heightened levels of joy, happiness, optimism. Felt better, more willing to serve, slept better, dealt with stress better, 

and was less sick. ..those with negative attitudes did just the opposite.

Words of gratitude....Please, thank you, you are welcome, I appreciate..

We are told by our Prophets to  have an attitude of Gratitude—FEEL It and LIVE It
 ...how do we do that?
*Certainly, we can and should start by expressing sincere gratitude to Heavenly Father in prayer and by saying 

"thank you" to others. ...expressing verbal thanks, there's perhaps an even more powerful way to show our sincere 

gratitude. President Thomas S. Monson

 *A grateful heart ... comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His blessings and to those 

around us for all they bring into our lives... This requires conscious effort.. At least until we have truly learned and 

cultivated an ATTITUDE of GRATITUDE. Often we feel to do so or just don't get around to it. Someone has said the

 "feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it"   Thomas S. Monson.

Parable of the Ten Lepers:  And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. 

And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
"And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
"And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
"And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
"There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
"And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole."
Through divine intervention those who were lepers were spared from a cruel, lingering death and given a new

 lease on life. The expressed gratitude by one merited the Master's blessing; the ingratitude shown by the nine, 

His disappointment.

*President Gordon B. Hinckley said, "When you walk with gratitude, you do not walk with arrogance and conceit

 and egotism, you walk with a spirit of thanksgiving that is becoming to you and will bless your lives."

*Joseph F. Smith, sixth President of the Church, provided an answer. Said he: "The grateful man sees so much in 

the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives 

darkness out of his life." He continued: "Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much

happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the 

medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man!
 
*Bonnie Parkin former Gen. RS Pres: "Gratitude requires awareness and effort, not only to feel it but to express it. 

Frequently we are oblivious to the Lord's hand. We murmur, complain, resist, criticize: so often we are not grateful.

*We often take for granted the very people who most deserve our gratitude. Let us not wait until it is too late for us 

to express that gratitude. Speaking of loved ones he had lost, one man declared his regret this way: 

"I remember those happy days, and often wish I could speak into the ears of the dead the gratitude which was

due them in life, and so ill returned."
 
*When we encounter challenges and problems in our lives, it is often difficult for us to focus on our blessings.

 However, if we reach deep enough and look hard enough, we will be able to feel and recognize just how much

 we have been given

*My brothers and sisters, to express gratitude is gracious and honorable, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, 

but to live with gratitude ever in our hearts is to touch heaven. Pres Thomas S Monson

Christmas at the Relic Home

Last year we started a new tradition by inviting families to the Relic Home for Family Home Evening.

This Year we will do the same.

December 2nd

December 9th

December 16th

6:00 to 8:00 p.m. 

This year we will focus on the families who came early to Mt. Pleasant and lived in the  Fort.

  In 1859 Brigham Young gave the heads of families permission to bring their families here from Ephraim and Canal Creek to settle if they first built a fort to protect them from the Indians.  

Representatives from those families will be here to share the stories they have heard  about living in the Mt. Pleasant Fort.

This is a great opportunity for you and your children to learn more about the early settlers here.

If you would like to share your families story, Please let us know.   

Hope to see you then!!!

This sketch was found at the Fairview Museum.  It's authenticity is unknown.

Notice the N on the top and S on the bottom noting North and South.

MUTTON AND SOUR DOUGH

MUTTON AND SOURDOUGH

At a Sunday School class one sunday morning we arranged to have a dinner and social. Plenty of sheep men in the class, mutton and sourdeugh was to be the menu. It just so happened that no one wanted to cook and in order to keep things going I volunteered.

Never having done it before, it didnt turn out togood.
I decided to keep trying, and after three years of effort
I finally learned how. From then on I could do a pretty good meal.

With some help to getover the volume, I done several dinners, and for about twelve years I cooked a mutton and sourdough dinner for the ward every fall. Serving about 300 people each time.

There are several ways to serve mutton. The sheep herder likes his fried in deep fat and served with a hot drink, usually lamb ~is his choice.

The older sheep need to have more effort and care to make it tender.Sliced pieces of meat dipped in eggs and rolled in cracker crumbs, then browned to a golden brown and placed in a steamer and steamed for five hours. This will make it very tender with out any grease. Any body will just love it.

Sourdough: Some claim to have a sourdough start that grandfather brought with him across the plains, but I prefer to start mine fresh each time. I'm going to use it for awhile. It is easy done, just takes a little time.

Using a crookery jar that will hold about a gallon. Mix one cup of white flour, a teaspoon of dry yeast and ~a teaspoon of sugar, and enough water to make a paste, stir well, then let set in a warm place for a day, stir again.

Add a cup of water and enough flour to keep it a soft paste. Then let it set again for another day. It should be ready to use by the third day. If you want more just increase the flour and water until you have the volume you need.

Just remember it takes a day or two to be ripe enough to use.When your start is ready to use, pour it into a large mixing pan and mix with flour and water, and a little yeast and work it just like you would a batch of bread. After it is mixed well (kneaded) place in pan, cover with a cloth and let it rise until it doubles in size, don't hurry. Knead it again and roll it out on a board, cut into roll size pieces and place in a baking pan, brush with grease, cover and let rise until double in size. Place it in theoven and bake for about thirty five minutes at 350 degrees. When golden brown take from oven, brush with grease again and place on a cooking rack.

They are ready to serve, Have butter and honey or jam ready.Some times it takes several tries to get every thing to turn out alright. Like I said it took me three years of practice before I learned how. You should be a lot faster learner than I was. Good luck.

The Josephine Cambron Peterson Family

This History is taken from the book "The Family History of William Bristol, Ane Marie Sophie Clausen, Joseph Cambron, and their Descendants ...... Written by Pat L. Sagers. 

Home of Erick Strom and wife Sophia Magreta Ohmanson ~~~ Researched and Compiled by Tudy Barentsen Standlee

C.N. Lund Jr. (The Old Home )

C. N. Lund Jr. 

C.N. Lund Jr. was born in Mt. Pleasant in 1885 and died in 1944

Rare Historical Plates ~~ by Harold Lundstrom ~~Deseret News Editorial Staff

AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND JOURNALS OF CHRISTIAN NIELSEN LUND SR. ~~~ 1917

THIS LITTLE TOWN by Hazel Gunderson

Taken From BYU Rigby Star August 28, 1913

Julia Ann Taylor Allred

Family Group Sheetof Wesley Bills (Taken from original Pioneer Association History Files)

Home of Christen Hansen and wife Ida Marie Larsen ~~ Researched and Compiled by Tudy Barentsen Standlee

Slavery and Abolition

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/topics/slavery-and-abolition?lang=eng

When the L.D.S. Church was organized in 1830, there were two million slaves in the United States—about one-sixth of the country’s total population. For three centuries, women and men had been kidnapped or taken as war captives in Africa and shipped across the Atlantic, and European Americans came up with various justifications for enslaving them and their posterity. In 1808, the United States banned the transatlantic slave trade, but the status of slaves already in the country and their descendants was a matter of continuing debate.

Slavery was gradually abolished in the Northern States in the late 1700s and early 1800s, including in the early Latter-day Saint centers of New York and Ohio. In the Southern States, including Missouri, slavery and the domestic slave trade continued. Many Americans supported slavery. Of those who opposed it, some focused on limiting the spread of slavery, some hoped to see it gradually end, and some—an outspoken few known as abolitionists—called for a more immediate and unconditional end to slavery. Because the exaggeration of racial differences was common in early American social, scientific, and religious thought, even many abolitionists advocated returning black Americans to Africa rather than integrating them into American society.

Though most early Latter-day Saint converts were from the Northern States and were opposed to slavery, slavery affected Church history in a number of ways. In 1832, Latter-day Saints who had settled in Missouri were attacked by their neighbors, who accused them of “tampering with our slaves, and endeavoring to sow dissentions and raise seditions amongst them.”¹ That winter, Joseph Smith received a revelation that a war would begin over the slave question and that slaves would “rise up against their masters.”² The next year, concerns that free black Saints would gather to Missouri was the spark that ignited further violence against the Saints and led to their expulsion from Jackson County.³

In the mid-1830s, the Saints tried to distance themselves from the controversy over slavery. Missionaries were instructed not to teach enslaved men and women without the permission of their masters.⁴ The Church’s newspaper published several articles critical of the growing abolitionist movement.⁵ After the Saints had been driven from Missouri and had settled in Illinois, however, Joseph Smith gradually became more outspoken in his opposition to slavery. He asked how the United States could claim that “all men are created equal” while “two or three millions of people are held as slaves for life, because the spirit in them is covered with a darker skin than ours.”⁶ As a U.S. presidential candidate in 1844, Joseph called for the federal government to end slavery within six years by raising money to compensate former slaveholders.

By the time the Saints migrated to Utah, there were both free and enslaved black members of the Church. Green Flake, Hark Lay, and Oscar Crosby, members of the vanguard 1847 pioneer company, were enslaved to Mormon families at the time of their pioneer journey. In 1852, Church leaders serving in Utah’s legislature debated what to do about black slavery in Utah Territory. Brigham Young and Orson Spencer spoke in favor of legalizing and regulating slavery, allowing enslaved men and women to be brought to the territory but prohibiting the enslavement of their descendants and requiring their consent before any move. This approach would guarantee the eventual end of slavery in the territory. Apostle Orson Pratt gave an impassioned speech against any compromise with the practice of slavery: “[To] bind the African because he is different from us in color,” he said, “[is] enough to cause the angels in heaven to blush.”⁷ Young and Spencer’s position prevailed, and the legislature authorized a form of black slavery that demanded humane treatment and required access to education.⁸

During the 1850s, there were about 100 black slaves in Utah.⁹ In 1861, the Civil War broke out in the United States over the question of slavery, as Joseph Smith had prophesied. On June 19, 1862, the United States Congress ended slavery in U.S. territories, including Utah. The next year, U.S. president Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that the U.S. government no longer recognized slavery in the rebelling Southern States. After the war, a constitutional amendment prohibited slavery throughout the United States.

Church Resources

“Letter to Oliver Cowdery, circa 9 April 1836,” Historical Introduction, in Brent M. Rogers, Elizabeth A. Kuehn, Christian K. Heimburger, Max H Parkin, Alexander L. Baugh, and Steven C. Harper, eds., Documents, Volume 5: October 1835–January 1838. Vol. 5 of the Documents series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Ronald K. Esplin, Matthew J. Grow, and Matthew C. Godfrey (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2017), 231–36.

Joseph Smith’s Views on the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States (Salt Lake City: Jos. Hyrum Parry, 1898).

Jonathan A. Stapley and Amy Thiriot, “‘In My Father’s House Are Many Mansions’: Green Flake’s Legacy of Faith,” Pioneers in Every Land series, Feb. 19, 2014, history.lds.org.

“Race and the Priesthood,” Gospel Topics Essays, topics.lds.org.

Journey of Faith ... Erick and Caroline Gunderson... written by David R. Gunderson

With permission of David R. Gunderson, we include the following book to our blog.   I will do a few increments at a time, as I have done with the Andrew Madsen and James Monsen histories.  I will also paste the pages over to David's own blog page: http://davidrgunderson.blogspot.com/

This book will be of interest to not only the Gunderson Family but also to the Brotherson, Ericksen, Peel,   Madsen, Larsen and more.

The Winter of 1867 and 68 .....Very Little Snow Fell

Sego Lily ... Utah's State Flower 

    To have water in the streams there must be moisture in the mountains.  All Spring there was no rain.  The residents of Mt. Pleasant and Fairview had planted crops in hopes of rain but it was a hot dry summer.  What crops did grow were poor.  Cattle were turned into the hills and there were guards to watch for the indians.  The hills west of Fairview in the spring were covered with sego lillies.  This root saved the lives of many and became the State Flower.  The roots of the sego lily were sweet but not sickening sweet and very white in color.  There was no need for cooking. Other roots for food were wild onion and cactus root.  In the spring some plants were cooked and made good greens. 

Utah Grasshopper 

 Crickets and grasshoppers had eaten most crops in the fields and the gardens. But the Lord did provide food of some kind for them to eat and there was very little sickness, and the people did keep well.

Enough to eat, Enough to wear

Always the humble will to share.

A kindly smile, a work of cheer, 

To make folks glad that I am here.

A wee, sweet baby at my breast

Three small lads watching the door...

For Papa coming home at dusk

My heart asks for nothing more.

     .......................     Mary Jane Pritchett

    The blessed rain came in the Spring of 1869.  Sage brush grew tall, some to four or five feet and was used as fence.  Children enjoyed seeing who could jump over the tall sage brush and the boys liked to see who could catch the most rabbits.  

    The railroad was finished on May 10, 1869.  The people said that fall they had the best crops they had since coming to Utah.   God moves in mysterious ways.  

the above post are excerpts from "Lest We Forget"  

by Beatrice Pritchett Budvarson.

Boxing and Wrestling ...... A Popular Sport Years Ago

MARINE CORPS BIRTHDAY ~~~ Submitted by Les Seely

The Marine Corps birthday is coming up Nov. 10 it will be  244 yrs. a go when it was organized, and I am very proud to have served , I received this article a few years ago and thought it was something to share.    Les Seely

---

Home of Rasmus Anderson and wife Annie Brotherson

Abraham Lincoln and the Mormons Mary Jane Woodger

Abraham Lincoln and the Mormons

Mary Jane Woodger

Mary Jane Woodger is a professor of Church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University.

In early June of 1863, Brigham Young sent Mormon convert and journalist Thomas B. H. Stenhouse to transact Church business in Washington, DC, and to ascertain what policy President Abraham Lincoln would pursue in regard to the Mormons. At this time, Stenhouse was an active Church member and an assistant editor of the Deseret News. Stenhouse “had a wide reputation throughout America and [had] journalistic contact with hundreds of editors east and west with whom he was personally acquainted.”[1] When Stenhouse asked Lincoln about his intentions in regard to the Mormon situation, Lincoln reportedly responded: “Stenhouse, when I was a boy on the farm in Illinois there was a great deal of timber on the farm which we had to clear away. Occasionally we would come to a log which had fallen down. It was too hard to split, too wet to burn, and too heavy to move, so we plowed around it. [That’s what I intend to do with the Mormons.] You go back and tell Brigham Young that if he will let me alone I will let him alone.”[2] see more: https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/civil-war-saints/abraham-lincoln-and-mormons

Dick Allred, Spring City Has Passed On

Richard “Dick” Warren Allred

4/24/1939 ~ 11/1/2019

Richard “Dick” Warren Allred, 80 of Spring City, Utah passed away November 1, 2019 at the Veteran’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. Born April 24, 1939 to Frank Beck and Evaneal Olsen Allred in Salina, Utah. Dick served his country in the US Navy from 1957 to 1963. Married Dianne Ruth McCormick in 1963. He continued his education and earned his bachelors degree in Engineering. They lived in Southern California until 1978 and then moved to Spring City, UT where they raised their family. He was a member of the Sanpete County Search and Rescue where he served as the Commander and also as a State Commander. Dick enjoyed competition shooting and made many life long friends through Search and Rescue. Dick loved being and doing things with his family and grandchildren. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Dick is survived by his sons, Rick (Jody) Allred, Mt. Pleasant, UT; Frank (Lainie) Allred, Pleasant Grove, UT; brother Terry (Nevada) Allred, Spring City, UT; grandchildren, Jessica, Jorie, Riley, Adrianna, Rhyker. Preceded in death by his parents, wife Dianne, sisters LaRea Allred, Judy Allred. Funeral services will be held Wednesday November 6, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. in the Cedar Creek Ward (7655 E 15000 N, Spring City) . Viewings, Tuesday November 5, 2019 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. and Wednesday from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. prior to services both at the church. Interment in the Spring City Cemetery with Military Honors.

Betty Mae Jansson ~~~~ Rememberd by Many

Betty Mae Jansson


3/11/1945 ~ 9/14/2019

Betty Mae Jansson, 74 of Mt. Pleasant, Utah passed away peacefully in her sleep on Saturday, September 14, 2019 in Centerfield, Utah.
Betty was born on March 11, 1945 in Mt. Pleasant, Utah to Norma Porter Jansson. She shared her life alongside her brother and best friend Bert Porter. She was an angel walking this earth. Her love for family and friends was unsurmounted. She enjoyed meeting new people and welcoming them into her heart. She loved sharing stories about the old days.
Betty worked at the turkey plant in Moroni for most of her life, where she met many life-long friends. She loved being out in the community and spending time at Terrell’s, having a drink at Wheeler’s, getting her hair done at the salon, and riding with her brother on the side-by-side to look at the leaves up the canyon.
Betty is survived in life by her brother Bert (Elva) Porter, and her two nieces Tracy(Chad) Larsen and Kim (Dale) Sanderson. She adored her three great nieces and nephew; her 3 great-great nieces; and 2 great-great nephews; Lindsay, Cory, Alisha, Keerah, Braylin, Dreyson, Cooper, Oaklee. She is preceded in death by her mother Norma Jansson.
Graveside services will be held Thursday September 19, 2019 at 12:00 noon in the Mt. Pleasant City Cemetery with a visitation from 11:00 to 11:45 a.m. at Rasmussen Mortuary.

Danny Ross Dyches

Danny R Dyches


11/6/1950 ~ 10/28/2019


Danny Ross Dyches, 68, passed on, October 28, 2019, surrounded by his loving family. Danny was born Nov. 6, 1950 in Mt. Pleasant, Ut. to Dean and LaRae Carlson Dyches. He married Barbara Joan Johansen on June 7, 1975 in the Manti LDS Temple. They have a son, Jeremy (deceased); grandson, Brody; daughter, Nicole (Jason) Larson; granddaughters, Olivia, Brooklyn, and Gracie; daughter, Raquel Christensen; granddaughter Janee, grandsons Jaxon and Braxton. Danny was a State Farm agent for 41 years. Danny lived life to the fullest. He was a turkey grower, enjoyed farming, hunting, visiting with family and friends, riding the West mountain, and especially the deer hunt. Danny’s favorite holidays were the 4th of July and Christmas-riding around playing music. He loved spending time with his friends, family, and grandchildren. Danny had a love for everyone and will be missed by all who knew him. He loved serving his community, as Mayor of Moroni City, by taking care of the ball field and cemetery, and waving to everyone he saw. Danny was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and had an unconditional love for all. Danny is survived by grandson, Brody; daughter Nicole (Jason) Larson, granddaughters, Olivia, Brooklyn, and Gracie; daughter, Raquel Christensen; granddaughter Janee, grandsons Jaxon and Braxton. Danny was preceded in death by his wife, Joan, son Jeremy, his parents, Dean and LaRae Dyches, and siblings, Ranae Seely, Vernon Dyches, and Oleaha Mower, and many wonderful aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends. The family would like to thank Kelli Davis and family for all their love and support. Services will be held November 2, 2019 in the Moroni LDS Stake Center

Black Mormons in early Mormonism

The following is taken from Wikipedia 

Black Mormons in early Mormonism 

Main article: Black people and early Mormonism

The initial mission of the church was to proselytize to everyone, regardless of race or servitude status.^[5][6] When the church moved its headquarters to the slave state of Missouri, they began changing its policies. In 1833, the church stopped admitting free people of color into the Church for unknown reasons.^[6]:13 In 1835, the official church policy stated that slaves would not be taught the gospel without their master's consent, and the following year was expanded to not preach to slaves at all until after their owners were converted.^[6]:14 Some blacks joined the church before the restrictions, such as Joseph T. Ball and Peter Kerr, and others converted with their masters, including Elijah Abel, William McCary, and Walker Lewis.

Jane Manning James had been born free and worked as a housekeeper in Joseph Smith's home.^[7] When she requested the temple ordinances, John Taylor took her petition to the Quorum of the Twelve, but her request was denied. When Wilford Woodruff became president of the church, he compromised and allowed Manning to be sealed to the family of Smith as a servant. This was unsatisfying to Manning as it did not include the saving ordinance of the endowment, and she repeated her petitions. She died in 1908. Church president Joseph F. Smith honored her by speaking at her funeral.^[8]

Other notable early black LDS Church members included Green Flake, the slave of John Flake, a convert to the church and from whom he got his name. He was baptized as a member of the LDS Church at age 16 in the Mississippi River, but remained a slave. Following the death of John Flake, in 1850 his widow gave Green Flake to the church as tithing.^[9] Some members of the black side of the Flake family say that Brigham Young emancipated their ancestor in 1854, however at least one descendant states that Green was never freed.^[10] Samuel D. Chambers was another early African American pioneer. He was baptized secretly at the age of thirteen when he was still a slave in Mississippi. He was unable to join the main body of the church and lost track of them until after the Civil War. He was thirty-eight when he had saved enough money to emigrate to Utah with his wife and son.^[8]

Black Mormons in the United States[edit]

Before 1978, relatively few black people who joined the church retained active membership.^[11] Those who did, often faced discrimination. LDS Church apostle Mark E. Petersen describes a black family that tried to join the LDS Church: "[some white church members] went to the Branch President, and said that either the [black] family must leave, or they would all leave. The Branch President ruled that [the black family] could not come to church meetings."^[12] Discrimination also stemmed from church leadership. Under Heber J. Grant, the First Presidency sent a letter to then Stake President Ezra Benson in Washington D.C. advising that if two black Mormon women were "discreetly approached" they would be happy sit in the back or side so as not to upset some white women who had complained about sitting near them in relief society.^[6]:43

On October 19, 1971, the Genesis Group was established as an auxiliary unit to the church. Its purpose was to serve the needs of black members, including activating members and welcoming converts. It continues to meet on the first Sunday of each month in Utah. Don Harwell is the current president.^[13] When asked about racism in the church, he said "Now, is the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints racist? No, never has been. But some of those people within the church have those tendencies. You have to separate the two."^[14]

From 1985 to 2005, the church was well received among middle-class African-Americans, and African American membership grew from minuscule before 1978 to an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 in 2005.^[15] A 2007 study by the Pew Research Center found that 3% of American Mormons were black.^[16] African Americans accounted for 9% of all converts in the United States.^[4] A 1998 survey by a Mormon and amateur sociologist, James W. Lucas, found that about 20 percent of Mormons in New York City were black.^[17] Melvyn Hammarberg explained the growth: "There is a kind of changing face of the LDS Church because of its continuing commitment to work in the inner cities."^[18] Sociology and Religious Studies Professor Armand Mauss says African Americans are particularly attracted by the focus on promoting healthy families. However, these numbers still only represent a fraction of total church membership in the United States, suggesting that African Americans remain comparatively hesitant to join, partly because of the church's past.^[19] Still, Don Harwell, president of the Genesis Group, sees it as a sign that "People are getting past the stereotypes put on the church."^[20]

LDS historian Wayne J. Embry interviewed several black LDS Church members in 1987 and reported that "all of the interviewees reported incidents of aloofness on the part of white members, a reluctance or a refusal to shake hands with them or sit by them, and racist comments made to them." Embry further reported that one black church member "was amazingly persistent in attending Mormon services for three years when, by her report, no one would speak to her." Embry reports that "she [the same black church member] had to write directly to the president of the LDS Church to find out how to be baptized" because none of her fellow church members would tell her.^[21]:371

In the United States, researchers Newell G. Bringhurst and Darron T. Smith, in their 2004 book Black and Mormon, wrote that since the 1980s "the number of African American Latter-day Saints does not appear to have grown significantly. Worse still, among those blacks who have joined, the average attrition rate appears to be extremely high." They cite a survey showing that the attrition rate among African American Mormons in two towns is estimated to be between 60 and 90 percent.^[22]:7

In 2007, journalist and church member, Peggy Fletcher Stack, wrote, "Today, many black Mormons report subtle differences in the way they are treated, as if they are not full members but a separate group. A few even have been called 'the n-word' at church and in the hallowed halls of the temple. They look in vain at photos of Mormon general authorities, hoping to see their own faces reflected there.^[23]

Growth in black membership 

The Plan of salvation in Swahili.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf visiting the Accra, Ghana LDS mission in 2007

The church had an increase in membership upon repealing the ban by experiencing rapid growth in predominately black communities while other mainstream sects have been losing members.^[20][48] After 1978 LDS Church growth in Brazil was "especially strong" among Afro-Brazilians, especially in cities such as Fortaleza and Recife along the northeast coast of the country.^[49] By the 2010s, LDS Church growth was over 10% annually in Ghana, Ivory Coast, and some other countries in Africa. This was accompanied by some of the highest retention rates of converts anywhere in the church. At the same time, from 2009 to 2014, half of LDS converts in Europe were immigrants from Africa.^[50] In the Ivory Coast LDS growth has gone from one family in 1984 to 40,000 people as of early 2017.^[51][52] This growth lead to well over 30 congregations just in Abidjan by the early 2010s.^[53] The revelation also helped pave the way for the church's exponential growth in areas like Africa and the Caribbean.^[19] The church has been more successful among blacks outside the United States than inside, partly because there is less awareness of this past historic discrimination.^[54] In 2005, the church had some 120,000 members in West Africa,^[55] and the Aba Nigeria and Accra Ghana temples.

Regarding the LDS Church in Africa, professor Philip Jenkins noted in 2009 that LDS growth has been slower than that of other churches.^[56]:2,12 He cited a variety of factors, including the fact that some European churches benefited from a long-standing colonial presence in Africa;^[56]:19 the hesitance of the LDS church to expand missionary efforts into black Africa during the priesthood ban, resulting in "missions with white faces";^[57]:19–20 the observation that the other churches largely made their original converts from native non-Christian populations, whereas Mormons often draw their converts from existing Christian communities.^[56]:20–21 The church also has had special difficulties accommodating African cultural practices and worship styles, particularly polygamy, which has been renounced categorically by the LDS Church,^[56]:21 but is still widely practiced in Africa.^[58] Commenting that other denominations have largely abandoned trying to regulate the conduct of worship services in black African churches, Jenkins wrote that the LDS Church "is one of the very last churches of Western origin that still enforces Euro-American norms so strictly and that refuses to make any accommodation to local customs."^[56]:23

Notable black Mormons[edit]

Since her baptism in 1997, Gladys Knight has strived to raise awareness of black people in the LDS church.

• Ezekiel Ansah, Ghanaian-born football player.
• Thurl Bailey, basketball player and singer.
• Alex Boyé - actor and musician.^[65]
• Alan Cherry, Latter-day Saint singer and actor.
• Eldridge Cleaver, former Black Panther Party leader.
• Edward Dube, member of the First Quorum of the Seventy.
• Alvin B. Jackson, Utah State Senator
• Frank Jackson, basketball player
• Jane Manning James, one of the first black members of the church
• Ebenezer Joshua, first Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
• Gladys Knight, who joined the church in 1997, created and now directs the LDS choir Saints Unified Voices.^[66]
• Emmanuel A. Kissi, Ghanaian medical doctor and writer.
• Mia Love, former mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah and member of the United States House of Representatives.
• Marcus Martins, sociologist
• Julia Mavimbela, school teacher and community leader in South Africa
• Burgess Owens, football player and writer.
• Jabari Parker, basketball player
• Niankoro Yeah Samake, presidential candidate in the country of Mali.^[67]
• Joseph W. Sitati, member of the First Quorum of the Seventy.
• Catherine Stokes, former deputy director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, in August 2010 she was one of the original 13 members of the Deseret News Editorial Advisory Council.^[68]
• Winston Wilkinson, American politician.

Elijah Abel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search

Elijah Abel
Third Quorum of the Seventy
December 20, 1836 – December 25, 1884
Called by	Joseph Smith
Elder
January 25, 1836 – December 20, 1836
Called by	Joseph Smith
Personal details
Born	July 25, 1808 Frederick-Town, Maryland
Died	December 25, 1884 (aged 76) Salt Lake City, Utah Territory
Resting place	Salt Lake City Cemetery 40°46′37.92″N 111°51′28.8″W
Biography portal   Latter Day Saint movement portal

Elijah Abel, or Able^[1] (July 25, 1808 – December 25, 1884)^[2] was one of the earliest African-American members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is considered by many to have been the first African-American elder and seventy in the Latter Day Saint movement.^[3] Abel, although predominantly of Scotch and English descent,^[4] appears by his African heritage to have been the first and one of the few black members in the early history of the church to have received the priesthood.^[3][5] And it was his distinction to be the faith's first missionary to have descended in part through African bloodline.^[3] But in 1849, Brigham Young declared all African-Americans ineligible to hold the priesthood and Abel's claim to priesthood right was also challenged. As a skilled carpenter, Abel often committed his services to the furthering of the work and to the building of LDS temples. He died in 1884, shortly after serving a final mission for the church (in his lifetime he officially served three) to Cincinnati, Ohio.^[6][7]