Joseph Smith believed in sustaining the law. This book presents his main legal encounters in the context of his day. Party to more than two hundred suits in the courts of New York, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and elsewhere, he faced criminal charges as well as civil claims and collection matters. In the end, he was never convicted of any crime, and he paid his debts. These incidents were significant institutionally as well as personally. Eleven legal scholars analyze these legal encounters. Topics cover constitutional law, copyright, disorderly conduct, association, assault, marriage, banking, land preemptive rights, treason, municipal charters, bankruptcy, guardianship, habeas corpus, adultery, and freedom of the press. A 53-page legal chronology presents key information about Joseph’s life in the law. An appendix provides biographies of sixty lawyers and judges with whom he was involved, some being the best legal minds of his day. This book is for anyone interested in the life of Joseph Smith, whether general readers, historians, lawyers, or law students. Each chapter tells a fascinating story based on controlling legal documents—many just recently discovered—that allow detailed legal analysis and accurate understanding. The full book is available for free here: Sustaining the Law, edited by Gordon A. Madsen, Jeffrey N. walker, and John W. Welch Individual chapters: Preface Introduction Joseph Smith and the Constitution The Smiths and Religious Freedom Jesse Smiths 1814 Church Tax Protest Standing as a Credible Witness in 1819 Being Acquitted of a Disorderly Person Charge in 1826 Securing the Book of Mormon Copyright in 1829 Organizing the Church as a Religious Association in 1830 Winning against Hurlbuts Assault in 1834 Performing Legal Marriages in Ohio in 1835 Looking Legally at the Kirtland Safety Society Tabulating the Impact of Litigation on the Kirtland Economy Losing Land Claims and the Missouri Conflict in 1838 Imprisonment by Austin Kings Court of Inquiry in 1838 Protecting Nauvoo by Illinois Charter in 1840 Suffering Shipwreck and Bankruptcy in 1842 and Beyond Serving as Guardian under the Lawrence Estate 1842-1844 Invoking Habeas Corpus in Missouri and Illinois Defining Adultery under Illinois and Nauvoo Law Legally Suppressing the Nauvoo Expositor in 1844 Legal Chronology of Joseph Smith Lawyers and Judges in the Legal Cases of Joseph Smith Glossary of Early Nineteenth-Century Legal Terms Contributors Index

Mormonism began with a single family—the family of Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith. Just how did this family operate, and what characteristics did they exemplify? Although much has been written about this family, little has been produced with the intent of sifting through the historical records to reveal what kind of family this was. Through careful research, marriage and family therapists have developed several paradigms or models to facilitate family assessment, and these constructs can be used to evaluate a historical family. While there are certain limitations, there also are many constructs that can be successfully evaluated in a historical family. Kyle Walker uses five family process concepts—cohesion, resiliency, religiosity, conflict management, and family work and recreation—to examine historical sources that identify how the Smith family operated.

Katherine Smith Salisbury, the last surviving member of the Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith family was frequently sought out by converts, missionaries, and reporters for her recollections of those early events of the Restoration. Such visitors reported that she was a willing and able conversationalist on matters pertaining to her family and was quick to share her testimony of the truth of the work they helped to establish. Her early connection with Mormonism and her willingness to speak and write about her experiences make Katharine’s recollections an important source for the study of early Latter-day Saint history.One such recollection, published by a newspaper in 1895, appears at the end of this article.

From living in a dugout called the Castle of Spiders to eating so many weeds their skin took on a green cast to losing four children in just a few weeks to diphtheria, nearly everything imaginable happened to the Mormon settlers of Utah Territory. Here are the details of the lives of the common people⿿what they ate, wore, lived in, and celebrated, how they worshipped, and why they endured. Here are the details of the lives of the common people, those who traveled in the dust of the leaders. What they ate, wore, lived in, and celebrated. How they worshiped. Why they endured. This volume begins with Marlin K. Jensen’s eulogy of the uncommonly heroic common Saint. Twenty-one renowned historians then apply nearly every type of source and method imaginable to capture pioneer life’s ordinary rhythms and cycles. In Nearly Everything Imaginable, you’ll find hundreds of vignettes from Utah’s early settlers, including these: Old and young would gather for dancing; everybody came early and left about the midnight hour. The bedrooms opening from the hall were generally filled with babies snugly tucked away, while the mothers enjoyed the dance. The huge fireplaces at either end of the hall were piled high with dry cedar fagots, the flames from which leaped and danced up the chimneys. Candles held in place by three nails driven into wooden brackets were ranged high along the walls. Tickets were paid for in any kind of produce that the fiddlers could be induced to accept. Usually a couple of two-bushel sacks could be seen near the door, into which the dancers deposited their contributions. Father made a plow out of a big forked stock and we boys held it in place while our father pulled it. The stock plow was made of quaking aspen. He fastened it to himself by a strap. We plowed two and a half acres that way, and planted wheat. I always remembered that picture of my father doing the work of a horse.

Called as an Apostle at age 25, Heber J. Grant was acutely aware of his inadequacies. Feeling unseasoned and unsure, he questioned whether he had the “qualities that count” for such a position. Yet he took solace in his faith: “There is one thing that sustains me and that is the fact that all powers, of mind or body, come from god and that He is perfectly able and willing to qualify me for His work provided I am faithful in doing my part.” Despite insecurities, Grant always excelled. His single mother, Rachel Ivins Grant, gently fostered the tenacity, industry, and faith that permeated his life. This is the little-known story of Heber J. Grant and his values before he became Church President. “When a leader reaches distinction, we often wonder about his background, the experiences that influenced and molded his aspirations and character. Here, Ronald W. Walker has painstakingly accessed the most reliable sources, mined intimate details, and penetrated to the story behind the story. This is the finest work yet on the formative years of the Church’s seventh president.” —Truman Grant Madsen This book was simultaneously published as BYU Studies Journal volume 43 number 1.

A story that includes spiritualist séances, conspiracy, and an important church trial, Wayward Saints chronicles the 1870s challenge of a group of British Mormon intellectuals to Brigham Young’s leadership and authority. William S. Godbe and his associates protested against Young because they disliked his demanding community and resented what they perceived to be Young’s intrusion into matters of personal choice. Excommunicated from the Church, they established the “New Movement,” which eventually faltered. Both a study in intellectual history and an investigation of religious dissent, Wayward Saints explores nineteenth-century American spiritualism as well as the ideas and intellectual structure of first- and second-generation Mormonism. A compelling story, and the author has a compelling way of drawing the reader into it. I recommend it. —Klaus Hansen, author of Mormonism and the American Experience

Even among those of us who are convinced of the divinity of the Book of Mormon’s source and the primacy of its message, there is a tendency to find “the most perfect book ever written” prolix. However, when compared with the King James Version of the Bible the Book of Mormon offers some very important additions. Take, for example, the Book of Mormon Beatitudes—3 Nephi 12:3–11, which parallels Matthew 5:3–11. Though the ands and alls and yea and again of the Nephi version are clearly superfluous, at least a third of the eighteen percent additional words used by Nephi enrich the passage; they are no more redundant than the “and thirst” in “hunger and thirst after righteousness.” “Blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” while using more words than the original, makes it clear that the Sermon was directed to those who had come unto the Savior in the waters of baptism. And verse 6—”Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled”—is made specific with the addition of “with the Holy Ghost.” Verse 10’s alteration of “righteousness’ sake” to “my name’s sake” serves a similar focusing function, distinguishing between suffering for any good cause and enduring persecution specifically for devotion to Christ.

The Doctrine and Covenants was meant to be read. It should be read often. Yet it is not easy for most people to get through. So here is a reader’s edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. All of its passages have been organized by topic and formatted to enhance readability.

The Doctrine and Covenants was meant to be read. It should be read often. Yet it is not easy for most people to get through. So here is a reader’s edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. All of its passages have been organized by topic and formatted to enhance readability.

No abstract available.

My thoughts on Joseph Smith’s interest in past worlds cluster into three sections. The first deals with the challenge of evaluating and assessing Joseph Smith’s recoveries of texts or views from past worlds or civilizations.The second develops a list of ways in which the past functioned in Joseph Smith’s process of continuing revelation. The third focuses on the dynamic link between the past and the present in Joseph Smith’s concept of priesthood authority and its restoration.

For years, William E. McLellin (1806–1883) has been a mystery to Mormon historians. Converted in 1831, he served missions with Hyrum Smith, Samuel Smith, Parley Pratt, and others. He was also ordained one of the twelve original Latter-day Saint Apostles in 1835. Yet seeds of doubt and difficulty were already evident in his brief period of excommunication in 1832 and in various points of tension and later conflict with Church leaders. In the early 1980s, the fabled McLellin journals were reportedly located by the infamous document forger, Mark Hofmann. Little did anyone know that they were soon to be found in the holdings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which had acquired the journals in 1908. These six detailed and fascinating journals, written from 1831 to 1836 during McLellin’s most faithful years, now shed new light on the nature of early Mormon worship and doctrine, as well as on religious attitudes in America in the 1830s. They document his daily travels, meetings, preachings, healings, sufferings, and feelings. They offer many clues toward solving the mystery of McLellin in early Mormon history. McLellin died in Independence, Missouri, in 1883. Although no longer affiliated with any LDS church or party, he held firm to his testimony of the Book of Mormon and to the events he experienced and reported in these remarkable journals. “McLellin’s unusually full and literate journals open to view another side of Mormonism that was flourishing in the tiny hamlets and small towns of America.” — Jan Shipps “In early Mormon documents like McLellin’s journals, one finds all of the makings of a modern Acts of the Apostles.” — John W. Welch An essential source for anyone interested in the beginnings of Mormonism and the religious history of America. Copublished by the University of Illinois Press and BYU Studies, with permission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Typical histories of the United States talk about the American Revolution as if the only issues were secular or economic, such as offensive regulations or taxation without representation. But religion was also crucial, as demonstrated by this collection of lectures that were delivered in conjunction with the Library of Congress exhibition Religion and the Founding of the American Republic.

Life in Utah has never been easy. Thin soil and thick politics challenged everyone as Utah grew toward statehood in 1896. Native Americans, Mormon and gentile settlers, federal officials, LDS Church leaders-these Utah men and women all filled crucial roles. This book contains the best articles from BYU Studies on Utah history. Looking back on life in pioneer Utah, this centennial collection includes stories that are deeply rooted in the life of this state.

These studies offer solid information about the material culture of the first-century Judea. Even though the story of Masada itself has recently become significantly politicized and rightly reexamined in the scholarly literature, these developments do not diminish the importance of this archaeological site as a source of information about the world of the New Testament.

John W. Welch, “Narrating Homicide Chiastically: Why Scriptures about Killings Use Chiasmus,” examines eight chiastic structures that pertain to homicides—three legal texts and five homicide narratives. The legal texts include “The Case of the Blasphemer (Leviticus 24:13–23)” and “The Law of Homicide (Numbers 35).” The narratives include “Abimelech’s Killing of Seventy of His Brothers (Judges 9:56–57)”; “The Case of Phinehas (Numbers 25)”; and “The Slaying of Laban (1 Nephi 4:4–27).” Welch concludes that these eight structures assist readers in recognizing the broader context of each homicide passage and “to discern the key central point on which the case turns.” Welch’s paper also contributes on a further level by cataloguing thirteen possible reasons why authors employed chiasmus when narrating a homicide. These purposes include, “propelling logic and persuasiveness,” “creating order,” “restoring equilibrium,” “processing circumstances,” “probing relevancy,” and “reinforcing memory.”

This article demonstrates certain similarities existing between texts in 1 Nephi in the Book of Mormon and a little-known document entitled “The Narrative of Zosimus.” The Narrative’s core material was written originally in Hebrew and appears to be at least as old as the time of Christ, and perhaps much older. There is no evidence that any knowledge about the Narrative of Zosimus existed in any English-speaking land prior to the publication of the Book of Mormon.

Joseph Smith had only one request of the publisher of the Chicago Democrat, to whom he directed his now-famous Wentworth Letter: All that I shall ask at his hands, is, that he publish the account entire, ungarnished, and without misrepresentation. Since 1959, BYU Studies has been a premier publisher of primary historical documents in LDS Church history. Continuing this tradition, Opening the Heavens gathers in one place the key historical collections documenting divine manifestations from 1820 to 1844. Gathered here are the historical documents concerning the First Vision, the translation of the Book of Mormon, the restoration of the priesthood, the many visions of Joseph Smith, the outpouring of keys at the Kirtland Temple, and the mantle of Joseph Smith passing to Brigham Young. Each collection of documents is preceded by a chapter explaining the event. As you read the accounts of divine manifestations in Opening the Heavens, the truth of the Restoration events becomes clearer. The original, eyewitness accounts will endure for generations, making this one of the most persuasive and influential Church history books you may ever read or own. Many new historical resources have become available since the first edition of Opening the Heavens. Newly discovered testimonies have been added to this second edition, and footnotes cite sources recently made available by the Joseph Smith Papers Project. This valuable collection offers remarkable access to the earliest historical sources. The ebook version of the second edition includes live links to online resources that contain images of original documents and information about their creation.

Joseph Smith believed in sustaining the law. This book presents his main legal encounters in the context of his day. Party to more than two hundred suits in the courts of New York, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and elsewhere, he faced criminal charges as well as civil claims and collection matters. In the end, he was never convicted of any crime, and he paid his debts. These incidents were significant institutionally as well as personally. Eleven legal scholars analyze these legal encounters. Topics cover constitutional law, copyright, disorderly conduct, association, assault, marriage, banking, land preemptive rights, treason, municipal charters, bankruptcy, guardianship, habeas corpus, adultery, and freedom of the press. A 53-page legal chronology presents key information about Joseph’s life in the law. An appendix provides biographies of sixty lawyers and judges with whom he was involved, some being the best legal minds of his day. This book is for anyone interested in the life of Joseph Smith, whether general readers, historians, lawyers, or law students. Each chapter tells a fascinating story based on controlling legal documents—many just recently discovered—that allow detailed legal analysis and accurate understanding. The full book is available for free here: Sustaining the Law, edited by Gordon A. Madsen, Jeffrey N. walker, and John W. Welch Individual chapters: Preface Introduction Joseph Smith and the Constitution The Smiths and Religious Freedom Jesse Smiths 1814 Church Tax Protest Standing as a Credible Witness in 1819 Being Acquitted of a Disorderly Person Charge in 1826 Securing the Book of Mormon Copyright in 1829 Organizing the Church as a Religious Association in 1830 Winning against Hurlbuts Assault in 1834 Performing Legal Marriages in Ohio in 1835 Looking Legally at the Kirtland Safety Society Tabulating the Impact of Litigation on the Kirtland Economy Losing Land Claims and the Missouri Conflict in 1838 Imprisonment by Austin Kings Court of Inquiry in 1838 Protecting Nauvoo by Illinois Charter in 1840 Suffering Shipwreck and Bankruptcy in 1842 and Beyond Serving as Guardian under the Lawrence Estate 1842-1844 Invoking Habeas Corpus in Missouri and Illinois Defining Adultery under Illinois and Nauvoo Law Legally Suppressing the Nauvoo Expositor in 1844 Legal Chronology of Joseph Smith Lawyers and Judges in the Legal Cases of Joseph Smith Glossary of Early Nineteenth-Century Legal Terms Contributors Index

During his lifetime, Joseph spoke fairly often about his First Vision. Historians have grouped these accounts by author: four written by Joseph, five composed by others, and a dozen later reminiscences by people who heard him tell of the experience.1 In addressing a variety of audiences, both formally and informally, these accounts consistently speak of the Father and the Son as two separate personages, who are described as having bodies and looking like each other. The Father called Joseph by name. They both spoke to him in English. He was told that his prayers were answered, that his sins were forgiven, that he should not join any of the existing churches, that he should keep God’s commandments, and many other things. He was left wholly exhausted but completely filled with love and joy, knowing that God had a work for him to do. In many ways, this experience was both spiritual and physical. Twenty-three years later, on Sunday, April 2, 1843, in Ramus, Illinois, Joseph spoke more clearly than ever before about the tangible nature of the exalted bodies of God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. He also stated how those two divine beings relate to and are different from the Holy Ghost, the third member of the Godhead. He said, “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit” (D&C 130:22).

Here are the papers presented at the international academic conference held at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., in recognition of the bicentennial of Joseph Smith’s birth. These remarkable articles aim to elucidate Joseph’s life and mission by positioning him—to the degree possible—within the larger framework of American spirituality and world religions. These papers examine the worlds of Joseph Smith, past, present, and future. Session 1 explores the early-nineteenth-century world of his day. Session 2 examines the ancient worlds with which he interacted. Session 3 introduces readers to Joseph Smith at a personal level, showing the breadth of his influence, the depths of his relationships, and the heights of his revelations. Session 4 explains the theological world that his revelations challenged, both temporally and spiritually. Session 5 develops issues ­relating to the future and his efforts to build up the kingdom of God and establish Zion throughout the world. Presenters included Latter-day Saint and other Christian scholars from Brigham Young University, Columbia University, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pepperdine University, Roanoke College, the University of Richmond in Virginia, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, and the University of Durham in England.

A son of a prominent Philadelphia judge, Thomas L. Kane came from a family that was well connected to the political and aristocratic powers of east-coast America. In 1846, the governor commissioned Kane as a lieutenant colonel in the state militia, and he carried this title until he became a brigadier general during the Civil War. Although not a member of any organized religion, Kane honorably defended the Latter-day Saints on the national stage for nearly four decades and throughout his life remained a confidant of Young and other Latter-day Saint leaders. As one of the most influential friends of the Mormons, Kane holds an unprecedented place in their history, and his patriarchal blessing promises that his name will be held “in honorable remembrance” among the Saints. For example, after reading newspapers accounts of the Saints’ 1946 forced exile from Illinois, Kane sought out LDS leaders in Philadelphia and soon headed west. In Nebraska Territory at the camp know as Winter Quarters, he assisted with the call of the Mormon Battalion and began his lifelong friendship with Brigham Young and other notable Latter-day Saints. This richly illustrated volume examines the relationship Thomas L. Kane and his wife, Elizabeth W. Kane, had with the Saints from social, political, and religious perspectives. Authors include Thomas G. Alexander, Richard E. Bennett, Lowell C. (Ben) Bennion, Thomas R. Carter, Edward A. Geary, Matthew J. Grow, William P. MacKinnon, and David J. Whittaker.

Some have argued that Mormonism began with a book, the Book of Mormon. This printed beginning quickly spawned a prolific amount of published material both expounding and defending early doctrines of the Latter-day Saints. Between 1836 and 1860 about ninety Church members authored a variety of written works. Although many publications were based on the writings of Parley P. Pratt and Orson Pratt, some represented original ideas. Most pamphlets grew from missionary efforts, but others countered anti-Mormon literature then in circulation. In promoting truth, Mormons found the press to be a powerful weapon. These early pamphlets developed from the interactions of Church members with themselves, their message, and their neighbors. As Mormonism grew, David Whittaker explains, the press became a key element in providing the institutional glue for helping to hold together this dynamic social and religious movement. Whittaker’s dissertation explores the rise and development of pamphlet literature during the Church’s formative years. Whittaker’s dissertation explores the rise and development of pamphlet literature during the Church’s formative years.

Joseph Smith and his family had considerable contact with Methodism in the years surrounding his first vision, as Richard Bushman has described. Lucy and Joseph Sr. attended Methodist meetings while the family lived in Vermont. In Palmyra, Joseph Jr. reportedly attended Methodist camp meetings, where he experienced “a spark of Methodism,” and joined a class meeting of the Palmyra Methodist Church. Willard Chase, one of Joseph’s treasure-hunting associates in Palmyra, was also a Methodist class leader. Later, Chase hired a “conjuror,” and he and his sister Sally used her “green glass” in an attempt to find where Joseph had hidden the gold plates, which apparently did not violate his Methodist scruples. During the time that Joseph translated the plates into the Book of Mormon, he and his wife, Emma, attended Methodist meetings, and Joseph reportedly joined a class. Joining a class meeting was significant. It defined one as a member of a Methodist society. Anyone could attend public meetings, but joining a class implied a deeper level of commitment. Classes met once a week, usually in someone’s home. They were supposed to include about a dozen members, a size thought best to promote intimacy, openness, and discipline, though they often ballooned to two or three times that number. Class meetings were not preaching occasions. After singing and prayer, the leader would usually examine each member in turn, asking them to reveal their troubles and triumphs in front of their neighbors. The leader recorded attendance and contributions weekly. Attending a class meeting would have given Joseph Smith an inside look at all that it meant to be a Methodist.

The Life of Dr. Frederick G. Williams: Counselor to the Prophet Joseph Smith is a thoroughly researched documentary history of Frederick G. Williams and his immediate family. This book provides an intimate look at many significant events in the Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and pioneer Utah periods of Church history. Frederick G. Williams (1787–1842) was an important figure during the early days of the restoration of the gospel and the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served as a missionary on the original mission to the Lamanites (1830–1831), was a personal scribe to the Prophet Joseph Smith for four years (1832–1836), participated in Zion’s Camp (1834), was Second Counselor in the First Presidency for five years (1832–1837), was a central figure in the miraculous events surrounding the Kirtland Temple dedication (1836), and for twelve years was the principal doctor for the Saints in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois until his death in 1842.

This anthology is the first to present the full range of Brazilian poetic creativity and beauty in English translation. English editions of modernist and contemporary poets exist, most notably An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Brazilian Poetry, edited by Elizabeth Bishop and Emanuel Brasil, and the more recent Other Shores: 13 Emerging Brazilian Poets, by Ricardo Corona and Charles A. Perrone. Until now, however, no volume has assembled the works of the great poets of Brazil’s earlier periods-those who wrote according to the baroque, neoclassical, romantic, Parnassian, and symbolist styles that were sequentially popular from the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries.

There are twenty-seven poets represented in this bilingual anthology and over 130 poems; these range from the sixteenth century to the present but with the bulk coming from the twentieth century. There is also a broad range of topics and political points of view, as well as a diversity of racial and cultural ethnicity represented among the poets. But whether they were native African, Portuguese-born, or mestizo, the principle guiding criterion for their inclusion is their poems’ inherent literary value.

Portugal has enjoyed three major poetic ages of universal stature and interest: (1) the medieval era, with a large body of verse known as cantigas (canticles or songs) written by King Dinis and some 152 other troubadours; (2) the sixteenth century with such luminaries as Gil Vicente, court playwright and poet, and Luis de Camoes, the most celebrated poet in the Portuguese language and author of the epic poem The Lusiads; and (3) the twentieth century, where there are numerous writers of unquestioned merit headed by the renowned Fernando Pessoa. These three poetic moments also enjoyed excellence in prose. Attention is called to the medieval chronicles of Fernao Lopes and, from the sixteenth century, the Perigrination of Fernao Mendes Pinto, and the so-called shipwreck literature, which can properly be called a genre invented by the Portuguese. Undoubtedly the best-known novelist of the twentieth century is Jose Saramago, the first writer in Portuguese to be awarded the Nobel Prize in literature.

In the 130 years since the word “folklore” was coined, folklorists have been trying unsuccessfully to decide what the word means. I shall not solve the problem here. Yet if we are to do business with each other, we must come to some common understanding of terms. Briefly, I consider folklore to be the unofficial part of our culture. When a Sunday School teacher reads to his class from an approved lesson manual, he is giving them what the Correlation Committee at least would call official religion; but when he illustrates the lesson with an account of the Three Nephites which he learned from his mother, he is giving them unofficial religion. Folklore, then, is that part of our culture that is passed through time and space by the process of oral transmission(by hearing and repeating) rather than by institutionalized means of learning or by the mass media.

The number seven was significant to the pre-Columbian communities of Mesoamerica, as it was in the Book of Mormon. A pan-Mesoamerica legend tells of a core people descended from seven tribes, which may coincide with the seven lineages mentioned three times in the Book of Mormon. While no verifiable evidence ties these two accounts together, a closer look at the Mesoamerican legend is warranted. This article examines numerous depictions of the seven tribes in Mesoamerican art contained in their lienzos (pieces of fabric with historical drawings or maps), illustrated books called codices, and post-Conquest documents that were shown to and translated for Spanish clergy, who made a record of the various accounts.

“Education is more than preparing for life,” George H. Brimhall once said. “It is life.” His love for education was first instilled in him by his mother. Education became his constant passion, sustaining him through humble beginnings as a Utah pioneer to his pivotal role as president of Brigham Young University. For him, the motivating force ­behind education was the Latter-day Saint doctrine of eternal progress. As a teacher at BYU and then its president (1904–1921), Brimhall was known as a dynamic orator and as a compassionate administrator whose primary desire was to help students succeed. Brimhall’s faith in and devotion to his religion coincided with his love for learning, and he believed it was BYU’s unique mission to become a university where spiritual education and secular education supported each other. During times of conflict, disappointment, personal tragedy, and great economic uncertainty, Brimhall steadfastly steered the school through the growing pains of its early years toward its unique mission.

Notwithstanding the frigid circumstances, a genuine warmth emanates from the Alaskan Saints. The match that lit this internal flame was the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, first striking the Alaskan borders at the turn of the twentieth century. They have subtly shaped Alaskan society, although composing less than five percent of the state’s population. Their influence on Alaskan communities can be seen through their family values, humanitarian service, community projects, and family history centers. This book tells the story of the rise and influence of Latter-day Saints as they joined hands on their journey of “melting the ice.” Melting the Ice was praised by the Alaska Historical Society in Volume 33, Number 2 of Alaska History. Read the review here. Companion Documentary