This Week in Latter-days

[dropcap]G[/dropcap]iven our production schedule the past few weeks, we haven't actually discussed the big one: the Church's wealth! In case you missed it, a whistleblower alleged that the Church has mishandled charitable contributions and used them to either build a war chest or bail out other for-profit, Church-owned entities as opposed to spending the charitable contributions on charitable purposes.

The Church is famously opaque about its finances, but that was not always the case. You might have read in passing that Salt Lake used to publish financial reports well into the 20th century, but then stopped sometime in the 1950s or 160s. The presumption is that this was to avoid shedding a light on all of our money. However, that wasn't the case, as this great op ed explains. It was to avoid embarrassment for being in the red during the McKay era due to spending so much money on international expansion. The tradition has continued, but at this point, for what purpose? Who is benefiting from caginess about money? We don't need to know everything, but perhaps some greater detail would take away the mystery and the bogeyman in the process.

For its part, the First Presidency released a statement that largely said nothing new, and Newsroom also published an article purporting to explain how Church funds are used, but it was also (perhaps predictably) bereft of detail. If you want to see that lack of detail in video form, enjoy below.

There's actually been news not related to the Church having a portfolio half the size of Apple's cash on hand! The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington performed at the Washington, D.C. Temple visitors center as part of the beloved Festival of Lights celebration. This seems like a perfectly good thing, right? Ecumenism! Outreach! New friendly relationships! Well, many of you on Facebook did not think so, and that makes us sad.

In temple news on the other side of the country, the Salt Lake Temple is now closed for about four years to undergo the largest, most extensive renovation in its history. As one might expect, there are many couples who  have wanted to wed in the historic building, which resulted in a major crunch of weddings leading up to the temple's closure. One bride even reserved the temple before even being engaged!

Also in Utah, a man claiming to be frustrated with the gentler sex's refusal to pay him the attention he feels he deserves decide to run around in the Logan Utah Temple with an ax. Neat.

Merry Christmas to you! To mix things up a bit this week, we've gotten together your favorite This Week in Mormons co-hosts to share personal stories of Christmas most relevant to them. You'll find laughter, tears, joy, and humility in these stories from Tiffany Hales, Devin Thorpe, Al Doan, Kurt Francom, Jared Gillins, Arianne Smith, and Geoff Openshaw. We hope they will bring you Christmas cheer.

Transcript

Geoff Openshaw:

[0:16] Hello my little elves to die Santa.

Headed to this week in Mormons thanks for taking the time to tune in this week because this week is Christmas were right upon it we wanted to mix things up a little bit.

So what follows in this special episode are small Christmas anecdotes from the various co-hosts of this week in Mormons.

Some of the stories are humorous some of the stories are tearjerkers summer touching summer spiritual summer secular.

[0:45] What's Ray's we see the common threads of the Christmas season through different lenses through different hosts I want to take this time out front to thank everyone who participated and to get things kicked off.

We're going to hand it over to our very own Tiffany Hales of the twin sisters was a story.

About how she eventually got the best of her mother during Christmas.

Tiffany Hales:

[1:17] Now you may think the game of Survivor was invented by Mark Burnett and made famous by CVS and its host Jeff proust but you would be incorrect.

The game of Survivor was invented by me and my mother.

During my entire childhood Christmas was a dance my mother and I played to see who could outwit outplay Outlast,

my mother never wanted anybody to know what they were getting for Christmas,

she was famous for wrapping small items in big boxes with extra heavy items like bags of beans or towels to throw you off when you were trying to guess the gif,

and you always had to guess the gift before opening it so it became a game between me and my mother for her to outwit my guessing skills,

now my guessing skills became finely-tuned and quite Adept at a very early age I would scour the house for all the hiding places for presents until my parents got smart and started keeping the presents at my dad's business.

[2:20] I would dig through the trash for receipts,

I would look in the trash for bags from stores I would even go into my mother's sewing room and dig through the fabric scraps in her trash to figure out what she might be making me

I would eavesdrop on conversations and I would unwrap and rewrap a present and you couldn't even tell

I was obnoxious and I'm pretty sure I drove my mother that to the brink of Christmas insanity,

no Christmas 1975 was a particularly memorable one in our game of Survivor I was 8 years old,

the rule in my family was you could not have a Barbie and her accompanying accessories until you were 8 years old.

I turned eight about a month before Christmas and received my first Barbie so of course for Christmas I wanted all of Barbie's accessories,

specifically the carrying case with the fold-down bed and her Country Camper.

I had picked them out of the Sears catalog as usual I could not sleep on Christmas Eve with the excitement of Christmas and my anticipated new Barbie toys.

[3:27] Sleeping on Christmas Eve or rather not sleeping on Christmas Eve was normal and again part of the game of Survivor that my mom and I would play I would always be sent to bed about 10 p.m. I would struggle to fall asleep,

and I usually wake up somewhere between 3 and 4 a.m. which was generally shortly after my mother went to bed we would then spend the next 4 hours with my parents yelling at me to get back in bed,

threatening to take away my Christmas presents if I didn't I got really good at being as quiet as a church...

Original picture: Merrick's Art

[dropcap]H[/dropcap]ave you survived your ward Christmas party? Did kids disappear? Was all hope lost? Was the program too long? Did Santa make an appearance? This is serious stuff!

Tiffay is very bothered by Geoff's, Al's, and Devin's thoughts on the forthcoming Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, going as far as saying she has "street cred" on this issue. Do. Not. Mess. With. Tiffany. Either way, the Sisters are excited now that the cast has been revealed, a member of which is LDS and owns a tequila company....

Did you catch the Tabernacle Choir's Christmas concert? How did such an affair become such a tradition? The Deseret News has the answer.

In more Christmas news, what have the prophets said about Santa Claus? If this matters to you — and it shouldn't — LDS Living compiled a list containing such pertinent information.

Here's a tragic tale of competing visions of what it means to "sustain" leaders and how it relates to LGBT rights. A young missionary from Idaho, serving in California, favored same-sex marriage. His stake president approved of him going to the temple and going on a mission. While in the field, the missionary lost his recommend. His mission president did not believe that he could sustain his Church leaders if he favored same-sex marriage, and a Seventy agreed. The problem? You can't be a missionary if you don't have a temple recommend.

Related to same-sex marriage, we reported about 18 months ago that Family Search would be updated to allow records for same-sex couples. That effort has taken many years because the back-end infrastructure has required a complete rewrite to support such relationships. Now, the Church has announced that the functionality is live.

Jeremy Goff is something of an influencer on Facebook. But sometimes noted bloggers are desperate for content, which brings us to his recent piece, "Have I Covenanted to Go to Church When I Am Sick?" No, you have not. Look, we've written stuff in desperation for clicks, too, but, come on....

The supposedly Latter-day Saint-friendly Trump administration, via the Department of Homeland Security, is dramatically increasing the cost to access records - by 500%. Mitt Romney is trying to stop it.

[dropcap]J[/dropcap]osie! Josie! Josie! We're thrilled to have our favorite expat back in the studio, and there's been plenty of international news to cover since we last spoke with Josie Gleave.

Due to a protest at Utah's capitol building in supporting of Utah ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment, a long-gestating proposed Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Church felt it important to first have no comment, and then an hour later revise that lack of comment with a reminder that the Church's position on the issue hasn't change in 40 years. (See this primer from 1980 that elaborates in detail on said position.) But what is the issue with a piece of legislation that would codify equality between the genders? We know that women are paid less than men. We know that women face inequities in social situations. We know hat women aren't privy to the same opportunities as men. So what's wrong with formally banning such practices? It's more complicated than you'd think, and as is often the case with these sorts of things, the Church is wrapped up in wording and potentially broad interpretations therein as opposed to the idea of equality itself.

In other political news, the Church has come out in favor of a federal Fairness for All Act as a replacement for the already passed Equality Act. The bill, sponsored by Utah Congressman Chris Stewart (R), is modeled after a similar piece of legislation that made it through Utah's legal apparatus recently. It aims to find a middle ground or a compromise in protection LGBT rights while allowing for some carve-outs that would allow church's and church-owned institutions (see: BYU), as well as small businesses some leeway in not providing services or employment to those who live a so-called "lifestyle" that contravenes one's convictions. Human rights groups have already decried the bill, arguing that compromise isn't appropriate when it comes to fundamental rights for a portion of the populations.

Refugees, and immigration in general, remain a hot-button issue in the United States and elsewhere. The Church quietly released a statement affirming its supported of embattled communities, and encouraging members to accommodate those who are forced out of their homeland in search of safety and peace. However, a seemingly minor inclusion encouraging Latter-day Saints to use "legal" means to support these individuals is bound to become an excuse among a certain ostensibly rule-of-law focused subset of our population to ignore these individuals and continue on a path of discrimination and xenophobia. Don't be that person. These are all God's children who elected to keep their first estate.

Also, the Church proudly reshared a Washington Post article (you don't see this much on official Church channels) discussing the work being done with refugees in Utah after the Trump administration has paved the way for states to block these programs.

Lastly, the Church has now said it will support a conversion therapy ban in Utah.

For those in the United States, we hope you had a great Thanksgiving and did not succumb to the worldly deluge the is Black Friday. (But we do hope that you had a fabulous Cyber Monday.)

Comedy is a fickle medium. What's funny to one is not funny to another. Moreover, what passes as comedy in some environments is considered rude or inappropriate in others. Latter-day Saints are no strangers to comedy, having pursued it with varying degrees of success. BYUtv is eager to capitalize on the need to bring appropriate, uplifting comedy to the masses, and it has done so with its new hit improv comedy show, Show Offs. Lest you be confused, Show Offs is not just improv in the vein of Whose Line Is It, Anyway? Rather, it is long-form improvisational comedy neatly packaged for families. It's great.

Two stars of the show, Hailey Smith and Lisa Valentine Clark, who joined us four years ago to promote One I Was a Beehive, are back in the studio to discuss comedy as it pertains to Latter-day Saints, the unique struggles and opportunities they face not just as women in comedy, but Mormon women in comedy, how they work with Hollywood A-listers (and keeping some of them clean is part of the fun), and what it's like to continue working in a Utah-based market for so many years.

Transcript

Geoff Openshaw:

[0:00] Hey hey hey it this week in Mormons,

love we have all of you with us today and always I am Geoff openshaw you were Intrepid host if you like what you hear please smash that subscribe button and whatever you're listening on make sure you're a regular repeating

and give us a visit at this week in Mormons. Cam where you can not only listen to the show or other shows you can also read some of our,

our news coverage some of our original blog content and all sorts of lovely things so we thank you for doing that in advance,

so we're thrilled to be joined today by none other

than esteemed comedienne-actor — I don't know exactly which gender pronouns are using nowadays — Hailey Smith of Show Offs.

Hailey Smith:

[0:46] Hey how's it going.

Geoff Openshaw:

[0:48] I'm doing great thanks so much for being here how are you doing.

Hailey Smith:

[0:51] Oh I am doing great so happy to be here thank you.

Geoff Openshaw:

[0:56] Just just a quiz you do you know where you are and that do you know what show you're on right now I want to see if you ask.

Hailey Smith:

[1:02] Oh I had something with something about this week or I'm familiar with the group.

Geoff Openshaw:

[1:12] Did you remember that you were actually on the show Once 4 years ago.

Hailey Smith:

[1:16] I do remember that yeah it was good times have I had to buy all with a few technical difficult.

Geoff Openshaw:

[1:25] We both have a lot of technical difficulties that was on here as well with Lisa Valentine Clark once I was a beehive so I think it's streaming scriptures or something like that,

I think so.

Hailey Smith:

[1:41] Yeah I know it.

Geoff Openshaw:

[1:43] It might even be on Amazon Amazon Prime Prime Cut a random sore LDS related films to but.

Hailey Smith:

[1:48] Yeah.

Geoff Openshaw:

[1:50] So that was a lot of fun in that you referenced as we have all kinds of fun technical difficulties I actually review the episode before we talk today and it cracked me up how much stuff we left in there,

oh my God hold on it said Lisa popped in here.

Hailey Smith:

[2:05] O Visa.

[dropcap]D[/dropcap]evin Thorpe, the nicest person alive and host of Your Mark on the World with Devin Thorpe, is in the guest seat today. We love you, Devin!

Arguably the biggest story this week is BYU-Idaho's decision to stop accepting Medicaid, the government-sponsored health care plan for low-income individuals and families. University policy requires students to have a form of health insurance, and without Medicaid, some students are required to purchase BYU's more expensive health care plan. What is the deal here folks? Update since time of recording: BYU-Idaho has rescinded the policy.

Check out this new Nativity video, The Christ Child. The Church has gone to enormous lengths to make it as historically accurate as possible, and we dare say, it might be the best Nativity video ever produced by anyone ever. Period.

Related to that, apparently there is a faith-affirming legend that the Three Wise Men are actually Samuel the Lamanite, Nephi, and Lehi. Yes. This is real. Google it!

Mormons love Disney, so it should come as no surprise that Google search traffic over the past year has shown Utah to be, far and away, the U.S. state with the most interest in Disney+, the recently released streaming service.

Peggy Fletcher Stack has a new article about polygamy, particularly how the practice remains an eternal principle within Mormonism even if it's currently illegal. Moreover, men may be sealed to two women at the same time while all parties are still alive. What does this mean for Latter-day Saint women who are uncomfortable with the practice?

Since the October General Conference, we've been speculating what the upcoming 2020 General Conference "unlike any other" might entail. We got a small peek into that this week when the First Presidency announced that instead of a Women's Meeting or Priesthood Session on Saturday night, there will be a Saturday evening session for everyone age 11 and up, and the letter hints at the proceedings focusing on the Restoration. Who knows if this is a permanent change or not.

The Church has been involved in essential charity work of late. In Cambodia, it has been improving hospitals, this hot off the heels of announcing an amazing-looking temple. In Papua New Guinea, the Church has helped provide beds. In addition, the Church

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]e've got a smattering of a news, a veritable cornucopia of information for you to digest as it relates to Latter-day Saints. Plus, TWiM founder and all-around wonderful human, Al Doan, is back in the hot seat along with Geoff.

There's a new white handbook for missionaries. To be clear, this is not a replacement of Preach My Gospel, which is more of a missionary manual. The white handbook, which now has a faded image of Christ on the front (how Catholic of us, having Jesus near our hearts!) contains rules and regulations, as well as best practices for missionaries. It was last updated in 2010.

In other missionary news, North American (i.e. American and Canadian) missionaries were pulled from the Bolivia Cochabamba Mission last week following weeks of civil unrest due to disputed elections in the Andean republic. No missionaries have been harmed, but given the history of violence against Latter-day Saint missionaries in Bolivia, it's understandable that the Church is being cautious.

The final details have been revealed for the much-hyped Children and Youth program, following a "Face-to-Face" event with Elder Gerrit W. Gong and organizational leaders. Goals will be made! Pendants will be worn! Rings will be placed upon fingers! Mutual will cease to be fun (per Al)! Additionally, a few outlets have wondered why the Young Men's theme does not gel with that of the Young Women when it comes to recognizing Heavenly Mother.

Also, there's this amazing post by Elder Gong:

You can follow the new Children and Youth program at Strivetobe.

Lots has been happening in Southeast Asia this week! President Nelson is on a tour of the region at present. First, he stopped in Vietnam, a country that recently granted the Church a certificate of operation of sorts only last week. Next, he was off to Cambodia, where he revealed the amazing design of the Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple.

In crucial Latter-day Saint news, we've all learned that the Real Housewives franchise is coming to Salt Lake City. How many ministering assignments will be ruined? How many releases will be extended? How many overly pious women will make Latter-day Saints look like close-minded fools, and how many media outlets will be more than happy to run with that story? It's going to be interesting. Farewell, "Mormon Moment."

According to an article at the Exponent II, motherhood may be bad for your health. Well, yes. Motherhood is not easy.

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]ragedy has struck a Latter-day Saint offshoot in Mexico, with Mexican cartels executing women and children near the Mormon colonies. As the affected families mourn, many have noted that these individuals are not Mormons, but fundamentalists unrelated to the Utah church. So what defines a "Latter-day Saint" or a "Mormon"? Who owns the right to be called a "Mormon"? And why are Mormons in Mexico in the first place?

Let's talk about bishops. Should we still call released bishops "bishop"? Kurt, a former bishop, has experience with this. Geoff, as his usual self, demands that all female leaders be addressed as "President" following their release. Also, what is a bishop's most important duty in the new era of Young Men and Young Women organization?

On to Utah, land of glory and fry sauce. We now know the location of the unfortunately named second temple in the St. George metropolitan area. Wikipedia also has a wonderful article about "Utah Mormon English," reminding us all that Utah is weak!

We're a few years removed from Russia adopting strict laws regarding religious activity, some of which have even caused the closure of entire missions, but now we've seen a Jehovah's Witness imprisoned simply for living his faith. Russia. Our friend in peace.

Do you make a difference in your calling? Our own Jeff Borders wonders that very thing. As a convert, he had unique experiences when he received a certain calling, and he wasn't sure if he was being successful.

Matthew Gong, son of apostle Elder Gerrit W. Gong, is gay. He recently penned a birthday letter to himself where he elaborated on his experience as the gay son of a prophet. It's a great read that covers many bases, but it forces us to ask ourselves whether our religion, our church,

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t's a week of temples, Halloween post mortems, garment reviews, and Church school news. Jared Gillins is back to bring his special brand of wit and brilliance to the proceedings.

Are ward trunk or treat activities ruining the community vibe of Halloween (i.e. are parents not bothering with actual Halloween in the neighborhood in favor of the ward activity)? One op-ed writer for the Salt Lake Tribune seems to think so.

If you have ever been in a leadership position, you might be familiar with the wonder that is the "reporting month." The problem is, the "quarterly" report is poorly representative of actual attendance and outreach efforts. The Church is looking to change that a bit with a move to count and record sacrament meeting attendance weekly. This is huge! Trust us.

http://www.thisweekinmormons.com/2019/11/were-one-step-closer-to-the-end-of-the-reporting-month-with-weekly-sacrament-meeting-attendance-records/

On to temple news. Moses Lake, Washington, a reasonably small metropolitan area, is slated to receive a temple, and now the Church has revealed said temple's location, right on some farmland off of Interstate 90.

Some source, reportedly on the record, have stated that the Washington DC Temple open house will occur in fall 2020, over two and a half years after the temple closed for major renovation work.

After a number of temples were closed because of weather damage, then quietly rebuilt from the studs up, we wondered how long it would take to finish such work. We've already seen the rededications of temples in Oklahoma, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Now, the last of them, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, will finally be open to the public before a dedication ceremony.

http://www.thisweekinmormons.com/2018/03/mini-temples-renovation-complete-rebuilt/

This one's for the men out there. Who has purchased the new Cotton Stretch garment style? Do they breathe at the expense of being too tight? Do the new cuts sufficiently hide your thunder? Geoff and Jared have both tried them out and have competing visions. Also, should garments be worn 24/7? Jana Riess wonders.

The Tabernacle Choir will be joined by singer Kelli O'Hara and narrator Richard Thomas at its annual Christmas concert. Will mail robots be safe?!

Now onto Church schools. BYU once considered opening satellite campuses throughout the west. How would this have changed things?

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hat a week! The Sisters are back after their wonderful General Conference recap appearance to bring you their solo (soli?) show.

How's your Halloween prep going? Does your ward have a trunk or treat activity? What of the hilarious people making headstones to commemorate all of the Church programs that are now DEAD?

Tiffany receives a call to be the ward family history consultant, but everything is nebulous. What are her responsibilities? What is the reporting structure? Nothing is organized! Apparently the calling is supposed to be a priesthood leader, but it's all a mess. So what happened? Is she still the leader while someone else has the title?

We were remiss in talking about women now being allowed to serve as witnesses for baptisms. Anyone who is a member of the Church can, in fact! And women can witness for sealings! The Sisters have a powerful perspective on this. How wonderful it is to see a girl sitting in a witness chair in the baptistry.

The Church appears to be getting involved in Cuba! In a shocking appearance, the Cuban ambassador to the United States visited with President Nelson in Salt Lake City, describing the saints as "welcome" in his communist country. Neat!

Kristin Chenoweth demands that Kelly Clarkson sing with the Tabernacle Choir. C'mon, Kelly! Stop hosting your weird daytime talk show and siiiiiiiing with us!

Noted blogger, Jana Riess runs a first and second part in a series breaking down the new temple recommend questions, describing them as "clear as mud." Is that the case, or is Jana trying to find problems where they don't exist?

If you want to send some love to our buddy, Al, Inc. carried a podcast covering the Missouri Star Quilt Co, his baby.

Mormons Behaving Badly!

* A Utah woman is charged with illegal sexual conduct with two underage girls

* A Mormon financial planner sentenced to 14 years in prison for scams!

* An assessor in AZ had a side hustle - of running an illegal adoption ring

The University of Utah to