Posted by:
baura
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Date: July 30, 2011 03:09AM
July 29, 1842 - SANGAMO JOURNAL editorializes: "We do not know what course will be pursued by Mr. [Orson] Pratt. If he sinks under the denunciations and schemes of Joe Smith-- if he fails to defend the reputation of himself and of the woman he has vowed to protect before high heaven--he will fix a stain upon his character which he can never wash out, and carry to the grave the pangs caused by 'the gnawings of the worm that never dies.'" Pratt had recently refused to sign a statement attesting to the good character of Joseph Smith after finding that Joseph had proposed marriage to Pratt's wife while Pratt was on a mission.
July 29, 1847 - 152 members of the Mormon Battalion (discharged early due to illness) arrive in Salt Lake Valley accompanied by wives, children and 47 Mississippi Mormons. This swells the population to over 400. William Clayton notes: "The soldiers appearing in military order, many of them mounted. They have 29 wagons in the company and one carriage."
July 29, 1887 - 25,000 people pass by John Taylor's body as it lies in state in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. At the funeral a letter written a decade previously by Taylor is read: " "I have no desire for any particular formula, but I should wish my body to be washed clean, to be clothed in clean white linen garments and robes, with shoes, apron and cap, etc.; to be laid in a coffin sufficiently large to contain my body without pressure. Should I die here, let me be buried in my own lot in the grave yard. Let the coffin be neat and comely, but plain and strong, made of cedar or red wood, or of our own mountain pine; if of the latter, colored or stained, and placed in an outer strong box, with a light cotton or woolen mattress or bed and a convenient pillow for the head. . . . Should I die in Jackson County, Missouri, let the above directions be carried out as far as practicable." Taylor's former secretary, L. John Nuttall, describes the funeral procession: "There were 1 hurse, 7 bands of music and band carriages, 43 carriages, 31 buggies, 19 wagons and one cart. Total vehicles 101"
July 29, 1889 - Wilford Woodruff preaches: "These are some of my feelings, brethren and sisters, with regard to our young men and maidens. They occupy a position, as I have often said, that no previous generation ever occupied. Many of these young men and maidens that are here today will, in my opinion, if they are faithful, stand in the flesh when Christ comes in the clouds of heaven. These young people from the Sabbath Schools and from the Mutual Improvement Associations, will stand in the flesh while the judgments of the Almighty sweep the nations of the earth as with a besom of destruction, in fulfillment of the revelations of God, and they will be the very people whom God will bless and sustain."
July 29, 1921 - Several apostles "read the revelations which do not appear in the present edition of the Doctrine & Covenants, about twenty in number with view of recommending to the First Presidency certain of them be included in the edition we are just now preparing." This refers to uncanonized revelations of Joseph Smith as published in official HISTORY OF THE CHURCH." None of them are included in the new edition of the Doctrine & Covenants.
July 29, 1932 - George H Brimhall, in a fit of depression, kills himself with his hunting rifle while his wife is out shopping. He served as BYU President from 1904 to 1921 and is only BYU president to commit suicide.
July 29, 1946 - Joseph Fielding Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve writes to Belle S. Spafford, the Relief Society General President, and her counselors: "While the authorities of the Church have ruled that it is permissible, under certain conditions and with the approval of the priesthood, for sisters to wash and anoint other sisters, yet they feel that it is far better for us to follow the plan the Lord has given us and send for the Elders of the Church to come and administer to the sick and afflicted." This ends the practice of "washings and anointings" for women (usually preparatory to childbirth). A previous Relief Society President wrote of this ordinance, "this beautiful ordinance has always been with the Relief Society, and it is our earnest hope that we may continue to have that privilege, and up to the present time the Presidents of the Church have always allowed it to us.'
July 29, 1947 - Quorum of Twelve letter to general Relief Society presidency states that women should seek blessings of health from priesthood leaders and not from other women. This officially ends more than a century of women's anointing and sealing blessings of health on other women and sometimes on men.
July 29, 1960 - Hugh Nibley writes in a letter, "The two greatest nuisances in the Church are (a) those who think they know enough to disprove the claims of Joseph Smith, and (b) those who think they know enough to prove them."
July 29, 2005 - Yahoo webpage news story states: "The Mormon faith looks set to lose its 150-year-old dominance over US state of Utah by the year 2030 as more people leave the church than can be recruited, figures showed."