The fireside was wonderful. Elder Oaks brought the assistant church historian with him, and they took turns presenting different topics of great concern in this area.
Here are some of my favorite things from the evening:
Richard Turley (the historian) said he is often asked out of all the artifacts he has come across in his work, which was his favorite. He said it is the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon. It was hidden in the cornerstone of the Nauvoo House in 1841, to keep it safe. It was found years later (in 1882) when Emma Smith's new husband wanted to remodel the house. It had been waterlogged and was in pretty bad shape. Her husband dried it out, and then sold it page by page to tourists who were interested in it. Over all these years, the church has been able to buy back most of it and now has it preserved safely. Elder Turley said he has looked at it over and over again. It has very little punctuation and has smooth flow of text. Clearly it is dictation.
When translating the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith produced a single draft in less than 90 days. He had less than one year of education.
Joseph started a journal three years after the Book of Mormon. It was pretty rough, and you could see how uneducated he was. The writing was very unpolished. Contrasting his journal writing to the Book of Mormon, it is clear that the only way it's possible it happened the way he said, was that he did it "by the gift and power of God".
Elder Oaks spoke of the continuing authority of current church leadership. He said two main causes/manifestations of apostasy are disobedience and false prophets. False prophets deceive more easily people who already believe in prophets. He said to always look to their fruits when judging their teachings. If feelings are negative about current prophets, it leads to apostasy. Apostasy creates chaos, which is against the way of the Lord.
They set out examples of apostasy in the early days of the church. Sidney Rigdon sought to be guardian of the church after the maryrdom. James Jesse Strang claimed he had been designated also. He claimed to have a letter from Joseph telling him he would be the successor, and claimed visitation of an angel, unearthing a sacred record. He tried to duplicate the church in Vory, Wisconsin. It faded. Scholarly review proved the letter to be a fraud.
Elder Oaks talked about how apostasy continues today. Disobedience in most visible. False prophets continue. Some people call out errors of church leadership and claim their right to setting them straight ("I have a better way than the Lord's current leaders"). Focus on the whole, not the minute defects. There will always be minute defects, but focus on the whole. Judge by fruits not the occasional fruit fly.
They talked about the belief that some people hold today that the keys didn't actually get passed from Joseph on to Brigham. They did. Without keys priesthood can't operate. The idea that the current prophet has strayed is an idea Satan has used forever. The current prophet has the same keys Joseph held.
Elder Oaks said he is often asked why the leaders won't answer people's doubts. They don't address doubts, they address questions. Doubts come from already unbelieving, questions come from wanting to believe. Questions are to be encouraged. Asked with real intent of better understanding and desire to obey. Asked in faith, questions can lead to revelation. Doubt leads to disobedience which renders people less able to receive revelation. The Lord will always answer questions, but not always in the way we wish.
When you start towards apostasy, you are on the wrong side. Don't be on the wrong side. There is no salvation or exaltation through false prophets.
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