This Week in Mormons

Jana Riess takes Elder Dale G. Renlund to task over his remarks on doubt during a BYU-Hawaii devotional. Specifically, Riess describes Elder Renlund's remarks as insensitive, because people really do doubt, and they do feel a lot of pain. Kurt has some thoughts. Building on that, we think it would great if we could help each other through difficult issues of faith. Therefore, we are introducing a new segment, "Wrestling with Doubt" wherein we will present a topic and ask you to sound off on it to help others, or provide your own question. We want this to be constructive and we'd love to use your emails or SpeakPipe audio to carry the discussion. So send us an email, comment on Facebook, or leave some audio here that we can use to further the discussion as we outline in the show. In world-altering news, Geoff attended an event with Elder Christofferson and Bob Woodward, which was all well and good, but more importantly, he MET FREAKING MCKAY COPPINS. You can watch the video below. ? What's up with the recent push to forbid missionaries from coming over for an eating appointment if there is not an investigator present? Is this church wide? Does it prevent missionaries from bonding with ward members? Killers frontman Brandon Flowers has some words to say about migrants and how we treat each other as brothers and sisters, and he uses Mosiah 18 to convey his message. Check out their new video for "Land of the Free." Utah is being asked to outlaw conversion therapy. Conversion therapy does not work, but does it need to be outlawed to be disavowed? Would you like to see pictures of the Rome Italy Temple? Click here. See them. Use them. Other news: President Nelson's daughter dies, rumors abound of home-centered church being a precursor to home-only church, and two mini temples will be rededicated in 2019 after being unceremoniously closed and mysteriously stripped to their studs.

Arianne has a full recap of two-hour/home-centered church, including how short sacrament meeting felt and how long Sunday school felt. It was wild! Tiffany embraces new openness that allows parents to sit in with bishop's interviews. She and her husband found this to be an important experience and also a great opportunity to prepare one's children. In addition, with youth now advancing with the calendar year instead of on their birthday, Tiffany had a great chance to witness the way the temple has prepared for this change, including smaller clothing availability! Which leads us to other temple changes. Major temple changes! You can read our full coverage of the changes to temple ordinances, but since Tiffany is a temple worker, she has some immediate insight into what's gone down inside the House of the Lord. Pretty awesome stuff. Even though we try to be sensitive of what happens in the temple, this great post from Third Hour goes over what Latter-day Saints do in the temple. Hey, let's stay on temple news. So, there's a man who creates LDS temples in Minecraft. His name is Justin Tate. He's a winner. Also, check it out this awesome video of the way the Rome Italy Temple is revealed from the motorway, similar to the shock and awe of the San Diego California and Washington DC temples. As has become an annual tradition, the Church has announced the creation of a handful of new missions and the closure or consolidation of others. Look for Geoff to geek out more about this on his next show, but remember, resources are finite, and the missionaries are going where the work is happening. Women are typically incredibly hard on themselves, and Latter-day Saint women are no exception (perhaps stronger examples, even). A blogger wrote a great piece about being cherished and loving oneself. Give it a read. With this year's Light the World campaign in the rear window, we now know how much money was raised by the vending machines, over $2 million! Incredible. On this month's segment of Mormons Behaving Badly, we get to visit the alleged malfeasance of one Michael Williams, a former gubernatorial candidate in Georgia. Brother Williams has been charged with insurance fraud and a false report of a crime. You might remember this guy for his deplorable deportation bus that he drove around to get attention for how much he loathes immigrants. In other political news, Mia Love has rebounded from her reelection defeat, jumping over to CNN as a contributor. Take that, Jason Chaffetz!

We are joined by none other than the president of LeadingSaints, Kurt Francom, to go over the week's news. Kurt is the best! Reportedly, Latter-day Saint temple ceremonies are about to receive a refresh of sorts, with rumors (ah, the Mormon rumor mill) stating that the endowment will be shortened and perhaps rescripted to be more equitable toward both genders. Of course, it's all speculation, and based on what's "leaked," we might know more details by the time you listen to this. In the wake of the Church ditching "Mormon" branding, some online groups were quick to alter their names to reflect the Prophet's counsel. Others took more time. Others, like This Week in Mormons, are still pondering how to go about it. However, what appears to be emerging is yet another cultural checklist item, where the purported righteous among us embrace those that quickly de-Mormoned themselves and question or judge those that have not. This is a slippery slope, friends. Are you ready for two-hour church? This week is the week! Kurt and Geoff converse about what their respective wards have been doing in preparation for the monumental shift, and Kurt reminds us that we've kinda been down this road before. ICYMI, sister missionaries now have even more flexibility to wear pants, following an initial rollout of such guidelines in 2016. Is President Nelson the oldest person on Instagram?! These are the hard-hitting issues! KUTV might have the answer to this crucial, game-changing question. Our own Jeff Borders, author of the great column, "The Convert Files," provided us with a solid breakdown of 2018 in Latter-day Saintdom. Check it out and get a final refresher before embracing 2019. A wonderful man has produced painting of fallen missionaries for those missionaries' families. Read the story with the link, but watch the video below. Lastly, a genius Mormon gave his parents a painting of Jesus for Christmas. They loved it! The only problem is, it was actually a picture of Ewan McGregor as Obi Wan Kenobi. And Kurt hates pranks! Please support TWiM by writing a review on iTunes. it might seem insignificant, but it actually plays a big role in our visibility. It'll take you less than five minutes, and if your review is worthwhile, we'll give you a shoutout!

It's not easy being a working professional Latter-day Saint woman, especially not a single one. But Angela Brower is those things, and proudly so. She is an active, faithful woman who also happens to be a very successful opera singer, based in Germany. In 2016, Angela fulfilled a life's dream and performed with the (then-named) Mormon Tabernacle Choir alongside Rolando Villazon. We caught up with her after her performance to discuss maintaining one's faith even in difficult, more demanding professions that are full of opportunities to falter. Angela is an example to girls around the world that you can follow your passions and remain a faithful Latter-day Saint woman. So what does it take to keep one's faith? How about dating when you are a woman with ambition? What keeps you grounded? Listen in and find out.  

Al is back for some Christmas cheer for all to hear! Can you be baptized into another church and remain a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in good standing? This is a complex issue, and at the center of it is author and podcaster Gina Colvin, who faced a disciplinary council, but allegedly not because she had also been baptized an Anglican and preached from their pulpit, but because of publicly saying President Nelson is not a prophet, among other things. The episode has caused many in the media to reflect on where the "line" is for Latter-day Saints that wish to be involved with other faiths. *Update* - Gina had her council and did not get excommunicated. See her Facebook post below. Keeping with news that has been updated since our time of recording, sources told us that Deseret Book was going to stop carrying products that "erroneously" used "Mormon" on their title (i.e. anything not the Book of Mormon or related to the Mormon Trail). The move aligns with President Nelson's August council to be less Mo' and mo' Latter-day Saint. But it's still problematic. Since the time of recording, the Salt Lake Tribune managed to get official word from Deseret Book that this is, indeed, happening. Titles containing "LDS" will also be under scrutiny. What do you think of this change? And more huge news! Latter-day Saint youth will now advance through the youth program following the calendar year in which they turn 12, 14, or 16 instead of on the birthday itself. This will radically change the makeup of youth classes while also serving a very real logistical need as we move to a two-hour block in a few weeks. Boy Scouts or Scouts or Scouting or whatever the heck it's called now teased that it might file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because of the innumerable abuse-related lawsuits coming its way. Chapter 11 would shield it somewhat from lawsuits. Is this the end of BSA, which was already reeling from the Church severing its relationship with the venerable group? Do we foster an environment of questioning in our Sunday school classes? Real, honest, thoughtful questioning? Or are we too hung up on appearances to seem vulnerable or not learned? Our own Jeff Borders takes us to task, but in a loving way. The Trib also ran a great piece on a history of General Conference talks being corrected after the fact, sometimes resulting in a written talk that varies significantly from the recorded one; or even more drastic: the complete re-filming of a talk because it needed to be worked over so much. Other news: the Oakland California Temple to reopen its doors after a lengthy renovation; Greg Trimble

Danielle and Geoff recount the early days of their courtship. Take that, Francoms! Carolyn Homer at By Common Consent has a great rundown of how we can make more out of conversations about the Word of Wisdom with our friends and coworkers. Asked about Mormons not drinking caffeine? Don't just shrug it off. Go in depth! Check out Kurt Francom's great podcast interview with his wife, Alanna, discussing her previous role serving as a bishop's wife. Salt Lake County is now minority Latter-day Saint. What does that mean for the future of the area? Is it good? Is it bad? Is it nothing? Activists are trying to pressure Kristin Chenoweth out of performing at the Tabernacle Choir's Christmas concerts because of the Church's perceived efforts against the LGBT community. Chenoweth has been a past recipient of a GLAAD award. But seriously, what on earth is up with the image the Salt Lake Tribune chose to use in the story about Chenoweth?! We have some hot updates on pageant cancellations! You have through 2020 to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Then it is OVER. The girl from that one meme got baptized. You know, the one below. Should the Church sue over this Deadpool poster? Will Latter-day Saints boycott Once Upon A Deadpool because of the clear ripoff the poster is of the famous painting "The Second Coming"? Other news: the Dominican Republic Missionary Training Center to close, Peggy Fletcher Stack wins some award, and a great story about the Book of Mormon being translated into Ukrainian.

Mere days before the 2018 midterm elections, Marty Stephens, the chief lobbyist for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, encouraged Latter-day Saints to "follow the prophet" and vote against Utah's Prop 2, which would have legalized medical marijuana in the state. The problem, however, is that Mr. Stephens is also President Stephens of a stake in South Jordan, and his remarks came during stake conference; he was not serving in his capacity as a lobbyist at the time. The problem, of course, is that these actions largely contravene official Church guidance. Neat. In horrible news, a BYU student attempted suicide by jumping from the 4th floor atrium in the Tanner Building, home of the Marriott School. We recorded the podcast on Tuesday, and we found out after the fact that the student succumbed to her injuries. This is terrible stuff, but it's been good to see the BYU community rallying to help those who need counseling and experience suicidal thoughts. British Prime Minister Theresa May was kind enough to take a break from doomed Brexit negotiations (yes, Brexit is a mistake) to meet with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Per custom, Elder Holland presented the prime minister with a copy of her genealogy. But Elder Holland was not done! He traveled all around England, the location of his Latter-day Saint mission. At a Christmas service in Oxford, Elder Holland was invited to speak. He related a personal story about his father's two heart attacks. Amazing stuff. The beloved apostle also met with the archbishop of Canterbury regarding joint service opportunities between Latter-day Saints and Anglicans. Everyone needs a true crime podcast, and church-owned KSL is not exception. The network's new podcast, Cold, covered the Susan Powell story, , who disappeared in 2010. The prime suspect was Josh Powell, her husband, who later killed himself and his two sons. This is more a story that involves Mormons than one that is about Mormonism. Going back to Mormons Behaving Badly, in a Mark Hofamann-esque move, an enterprising individual named Kevin Shuwer, of the metropolis of Lehi, Utah, has been running a scam swapping out real Latter-day Saint artifacts for fake ones. He created digital reproductions of photos, stole books, and created a counterfeit 1830s hymnal, and he sold all of this stuff to collectors, totaling nearly $700,000. Also, Tiffany has never seen Oceans 11. What the what? Although it happened nearly a month ago, the Camp Fire devastated the lives of many in California, including Latter-day Saints. One woman, Brynn Chatfield, gained fame for publishing a video of her family driving through the fire.

We're joined by two great guests this week: Devin Thorpe of Your Mark on the World and Rosemary Card of the Q. More podcast. Please send them lots of love for taking the time to join our little family. Rosemary regales us with stories of meeting President Nelson and even corresponding with him! What do we make of new leadership? How do you feel about all the changes this year? Would they have been possible under President Monson? Early returned missionaries need hope and love, not judgment, and the Church took huge moves this week to help those individuals, as well as others who might not have felt they were able to serve a mission. The mission application process is now the same for everyone, and one can be assigned a proselytizing or service mission, or even no mission at all. The incoming congress is the least-LDS one in thirty years. What does that mean for Mormonism?! Also, there's a dichotomy of Mormon types in congress now, from very Mo Mitt Romney to formerly Mo Kyrsten Sinema. Devin has his review of the book Saints, and just in time for Geoff to have started the audiobook of it. Have you read Saints? What's your take? In some quick news: Sam Young's excommunication stands, and we have many thoughts on inappropriate bishop's interviews; the Urdaneta Philippines Temple is finally going to break ground; and a wonderful stake patriarch who climbs mountains! Visit our guests! * Devin is hosting the GTStreamathon, where he'll be up for 24 straight hours interviewing non-profit leaders about their impact on the world. Follow it for updates. * You can also follow Good.Crowd to learn more about important crowdfunding opportunities. * Also, follow Your Mark on the World and subscribe to Devin's podcast! * Visit devinthorpe online and follow his articles on Forbes. * In the market for amazing temple dresses? Visit Q. Noor. * Likewise, Rosemary's podcast, Q. More, is crushing it, and you should give it a listen.  

Our resident expat Aussie, Josie Gleave, sits in the hot seat to bring an international perspective on all the week's interesting news. She's on a mission to keep us informed about Latter-day Saint-related news outside of the Mormon Corridor. We endorse this effort. After Utah voters effectively ignored the preferences of the Church and passing a medical marijuana ballot measure, we're left to wonder whether the Church's political influence is waning in the Beehive State. With shifting demographics (i.e. less Mormon ones), are the days of the Church Administration Building driving policy behind us? Do we truly preach of Christ? You'd think we do, but our intrepid columnist Jeff Borders did some research and found that maybe our meetings aren't as Christ-centric as we might think. California is, unfortunately, burning, including LDS meetinghouses. The destruction in these areas is staggering. Help out if you can. The Joseph Smith Papers have come out with a 4th edition that covers the Book of Abraham. For the uninitiated, the Book of Abraham was translated from a set of papyri obtained by Joseph Smith. Linguists have argued that the scrolls are just funerary documents, which has led many to question the authenticity of Joseph's prophetic abilities. But Joseph also received inspiration for the Book of Mormon by looking at a stone in a hat, so who's to say he couldn't receive inspiration for the Book of Abraham by staring at some papyri? This American Life ran a segment about awkward or inappropriate bishop's interviews, a recurring theme of late in the wake of Sam Young's excommunication for his unrelenting pressure for the Church to cease such practices. It's a hard and sometimes graphic listen, but worth your time. Check it out below. ? As for Josie's international news segment: the Singapore Stake's children's choir sings Bette Midler to the Muslim Missionary Society; the Young Women and Primary general presidents are touring the Pacific; Young Single Adults are not being menaces to society in Papua New Guinea, where they are engaged in a service project; Hong Kong is also a land of service; Elder Quentin L. Cook just did a massive swing through Europe; Elde...

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Saints collectively lose their mind over President Nelson's encouragement that we "eat your vitamin pills" and "get some rest" in reference to ongoing changes as the Restoration continues. It's madness! President Nelson's wife, Wendy, describes him as "unleashed" with regard to his work as a prophet. Is that weird? Is it awesome? Prophets, unleashed! Will you miss the counseling meeting in Relief Society and elders quorum? Will it be weird to get up and go home after Sunday school? Tragic news out of Utah, as the mayor of North Ogden, who was in Afghanistan with the Utah National Guard, was killed over the weekend. Brent Taylor was LDS, naturally. An Afghan soldier that he had been training turned on him and killed him. An Afghan army pilot also wrote a letter to Brother Taylor's wife. In other fun political news, Utah House of Representatives candidate Todd Zenger uses the Title of Liberty found in Alma 46 to make his case. It's probably better not to use the Book of Mormon for political gain. Then Utah's governor got into the action. Bad politicians! So, uh, a "relationship expert" on Dr. Philquoted Joseph Smith. Just read some King Follet and call it a day. Family Search has released some awesome new features that show you which ordinances are ready within your family tree. Check out the video below. It does all the work for you! Donny and Marie Osmond are ending their 11-year run at the Flamingo casino in Las Vegas. Go! Care to learn what working for Chip and Joanna Gaines taught two Latter-day Saint women? Well, OK. Read this. Also, listen to Tiffany talk about it. Let's talk about hilarious misheard hymns. They are so funny.

Happy Halloween! To celebrate, let us remember this wonderful couple that RIPed Home Teaching and three-hour church. Also in Halloween news, a brilliant BYU communications student showed up to a party in blackface. Now he's facing discipline. Is that OK? Is he a fool? He's done ridiculous things. There's a great new Church website about dealing with and thwarting abuse. Check it out. There are no more less actives! Stop calling them that! Everyone is returning! Famed church pageants are going away! What's up with this? What's up with austerity? Is your ward full of anti-Santa people? The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting is horrible, and the Church has spoken out against antisemitism. Mormon Helping Hands are putting their hands all over Florida! A great ward in Chicago is closing down because of altering demographics. Sad. The University of Utah has a great new Century of Black Mormons digital exhibit. Check it out!

It's our 400th show! How did we get here? We joke a lot, but in all seriousness, big thanks and hugs to everyone who has helped us get to this point. There's no show without you, TWiM Nation. We're happy to be a part of it. So join Geoff and Al as they reminisce about nearly nine years of podcasting. (Al thought it was longer.) What has This Week in Mormons meant to you? We'd love to hear about it. There is, of course, some news. "According" to a "researcher" who is an expert in finding the average between three values, the current First Presidency is now the oldest, ever! Way to set the curve, President Nelson! Jana Riess does her best to praise Latter-day Saint singles, but the article is weird and mostly praises those who get married later in life. Look, folks that are having a hard time with not yet being married, we get it. It sucks. It can make it hard to stay in the Church. It can make you question everything. But hang in there. Does a mission define you as a Latter-day Saint? Do we prop up returned missionaries at the expense of those who opt not to serve? Here's a great story about how Mitt Romney's kids told him to watch the sitcom New Girl, but instead, he and Anne sat down and watched HBO's Girls and had a VERY different experience. Open house tickets for the Rome Italy Temple are now available, so get thee to the Spanish Steps!  

all the rage, and with the Sisters being in Idaho, Tiffany is anxiously awaiting a digital mission call for her oldest daughter in the coming weeks. Did you know that President Nelson wrote one of the hymns sung by the TabCATS during General Conference? It's true! The closing song of the conference, "Our Prayer to Thee" has lyrics penned by none other than our favorite prophet/surgeon. You wouldn't know it because it's not like President Oaks said, "And the choir will sing, 'Our Prayer to Thee,' which incidentally was written by our beloved prophet.'" This isn't Krushchev's USSR, folks. Amazing Race hosted early losers and capra enthusiasts in Arizona Ozzie Osborne at their goat yoga studio. Let us all remember that goat meet is underappreciated in the United States and you should all eat more of it. Horse meat is next. Learn all about young Latter-day Saint kids competing in fierce, Utah-based dance competitions! LDS Living continues to push all ridiculous stereotypes of genders by reporting on an elders quorum that decorated for a ward party using shop tools, nuts, bolts, and washers. Great job, men! Just step up and use Pinterest next time! Because a ton of women assumed that President Nelson's proposed social media fast needed to happen immediately in the wake of General Conference, the promotional folks behind Jane and Emma (read our review) resorted to old school methods to get the word out, including opening phone banks. It worked. The film is expanding! Take that, Salt Lake Tribune! Speaking of fasting, are women prone to judging? Will fasting become a barometer of righteousness? Should women publicize their decision to fast? But seriously, Tiffany's daughter would rather wait to open her mission call and not break her fast than just use social media as a tool and let people enjoy the opening of her call. LDS Living also has all the hot ideas to decorate your vehicle for trunk or treat. Yippee.

Join Al and Geoff for a wild ride through General Conference, including brilliant breakdowns of the "home-centric" church, including a shorter block of time at the church building. Also, what's in a name? Everything! Are we Mormons? Not sure. Is this the "Mormon Church"? Definitely not. Do we take part in Mormonism? Maybe? We're still figuring all of this out. So let's work through General Conference. Let's talk about faith. Let's talk about conversion. Let's talk about how to keep newer members integrated into the gospel and how to help returning members feel at home there. We can do so much more, and General Conference helps us get there. Also, we got some new temples, which is awesome!

It's time to get ready for General Conference, and after April's doozy of a weekend, expectations are high to be blown away once more. But will we? Will two-hour church actually be a thing? Will American still have their civil wedding done in the temple along with their sealing? Will testimony meeting go out the window? Will women ever pray again during conference sessions? Geoff and the TWiM Sisters break it all down. Arianne notes the different approaches taken by Utah's two daily newspapers on millennials. The Deseret News ran a positive article on millennials being the future of the Church, needing to be heard and understood, and showing all that they are capable of. The Salt Lake Tribune chose to show how many millennials are kinda in and kinda out of the Church, opting for their own "way" of doing things. Either way, Millennials are clearly lazy and entitled. Obviously. "Less active" is no longer a thing. We are supposed to call these people "returning members." Didn't know that, did you? Tiffany has a ball with the story about a man who accidentally shot his pistol at church in Provo, frightening his whole ward. Turns out, the man was Tiffany's home teacher once upon a time. The Studio C cast is off on a new adventure, and we wish them well. President M. Russell Ballard's wife, Barbara, passed away this week at age 86. Hey, we're back! Thanks for waiting for us.