Throwback: Oaks defends himself in Op-Ed against charge of lying

Remember that time Oaks had to publicly defend himself in a Salt Lake Tribune Op-Ed after publicly being called a liar by a Prophet's grandson?

My dictionary defines lying as being "deliberately untruthful" and a "lie" as "a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive." I did not "lie" to the reporter and, contrary to the wire-service story printed in the October 16 Tribune, I did not "admit" to "falsely telling" the reporter something that was untrue. 

I withdrew one sentence I had spoken in a long interview, and I did so three days before the article was published because I realized, when I saw the written transcript, that this single sentence was not "truthful" (meaning "accurate" or "correct"). When a newspaper publishes something that it later realizes to have been incorrect, does it apologize to its readers for "lying" or does it just print a correction? My statement to the reporter was corrected before it was published.

Read more here.

Nepotism in the Russell M. Nelson Administration?

The LDS Church has a history of nepotism. Of course this is not a new discovery (a quick google search will show this has been discussed before). A few examples are:

• M. Russell Ballard is the grandson of apostles Melvin J. Ballard and Hyrum M. Smith. Through Smith, Ballard is a descendant of Hyrum Smith, brother of church founder Joseph Smith
• Joseph Fielding Smith was the son of church president Joseph F. Smith
• Henry B. Eyring was nephew of church president Spencer W. Kimball

Maybe I will need to do a blog post on this later, but for now I would like to just present the nepotism by the newest LDS Church President Russell M. Nelson and his children (and their spouses).

Four of Russell M. Nelson's sons-in-law have been called as mission presidents (one was additionally called as a temple president), potentially saving his family thousands of dollars in tuition money if his grandchildren chose to attend a church school (LINK).

Additionally, two former bosses of his sons-in-law have since become an apostle and general authority seventy, Ronald A. Rasband and Kevin W. Pearson, respectively (see below).

Daughters

• Emily passed away in 1995
• Bradley E. Wittwer (husband of Emily), remarried Julie
• Senior VP of Ingenix 2004-2005 (LINK)
• In 2005 Kevin W. Pearson, CEO of Ingenix (1998-2005), is called as mission president to Tacoma Washington, 2005-2008
• While mission president, Kevin W. Pearson was called as a general authority
• Note: a few years after Wittwer and Pearson left Ingenix the company settled lawsuits for hundreds of millions of dollars. See here for more info.
• Marsha and Marjorie divorced and remarried
• Marsha N. McKellar (H. Christopher)
• Divorced between 1995 and 1997 (?)
• Married Richard Workman between 2005-2010 (?)
• Marjorie N. Helsten (Bradley)
• Divorced 2011 (LINK)
• Marjorie married Brad Lowder 2013 (LINK)
• 4 of the remaining 6 daughters have been called as mission presidents' wives:
• Gloria N. Irion (Richard): 
• Tennessee Knoxville Mission President, 2011-2014 (LINK)
• Nauvoo Illinois Temple President, 2016-present (LINK)
• Brenda N. Miles (Richard)
• Alpine German-Speaking Mission President, 2011-2014 (LINK)
• Sylvia N. Webster (David)
• Brazil Curitiba Mission, 2004-2007 (LINK)
• Rosalie N. Ringwood (Michael)
• Korea Seoul West Mission President, 2004-2007 (LINK) 
• General Authorities Seventy, First Quorum, 2009-present (LINK)
• He was VP of Huntsman Corp while Ronald A. Rasband was President and COO during which time Rasband was called to be mission president in NYC (and later became a general authority and apostle)
• The remaining 2 sons-in-law have recently been released from stake presidencies:
•  Wendy N. Maxfield (Norman): 
• 2nd Counselor in Stake Presidency, 2008 - 2017? (LINK)
• Laurie N. Marsh (Richard)
• Stake President, 2012-2017 (LINK)

Son

• Russell M. Nelson Jr (Britney)
• I don't know, but he is only 45 years of age

Covenant Path? What's that?

In Russell M. Nelson's first day on the job he talked about staying on the "covenant path"? I thought that phrase seemed a little strange. What exactly is the covenant path? Well, I looked to back at old General Conference talks and found that that phrase wasn't used in General Conference until 2007 when Elaine S. Dalton, in her talk Stay on the Path, quoted Jeffrey R. Holland:

“Beginning with our baptism, we make covenants as we follow this path to eternal life, and we stay on the path by keeping them. …

“… The promptings of the Holy Ghost will always be sufficient for our needs if we keep to the covenant path. Our path is uphill most days, but the help we receive for the climb is literally divine. We have three members of the Godhead—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost—helping us because of the covenants we have made.

“To remind us of those covenants, we partake of the sacrament each week. In the prayer offered on the bread, we ‘witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that [we] are willing to take upon [us] the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given [us]; that [we] may always have his Spirit to be with [us]’ [D&C 20:77]” (“What I Wish Every New Member Knew—and Every Longtime Member Remembered,” Liahona and Ensign, Oct. 2006, 11–12).

 In his original article, Holland clarifies what he means by "covenant path":

• "Beginning with our baptism, we make covenants as we follow this path to eternal life, and we stay on the path by keeping them. "
• "If our covenant path has an earthly symbol of an eternal destination, it is the house of the Lord, the holy temple."
• "Actually, the path to the temple will be easier than it might appear at first because you will find happiness as you move along it and you will also find help for the journey."
• "Now that you have entered into this path lighted by our Redeemer and are being assisted by angels, avoid backward glances toward the darkness and remorse of the past."

In his April 2014 General Conference talk, Gary Stevenson cited a personal conversation he had with apostle David Bednar in which Bednar shared how easy it is to check where you are on the covenant path:

Recently, Elder David A. Bednar described a simple way to conduct a family assessment to mark progress on the covenant path by essential ordinances. All that is needed is a piece of paper with two columns: “name” and “plan for next or needful ordinance.” I did this recently, listing each family member. Among them, I noted an infant grandson, soon to be blessed; a six-year-old grandson, whose preparation for baptism was essential; and a son turning 18, whose preparation for the priesthood and temple endowment was imminent. Everyone on the list needed the sacrament ordinance. This simple exercise assisted Lesa and me in fulfilling our role to help each member of our family along the covenant path, with an action plan for each of them. Perhaps this is an idea for you which will lead to family discussions, family home evening lessons, preparation, and even invitations for essential ordinances in your family.

Yep, it's just a matter of making a checklist and checking it off. Who knew?

New (Spiritual) Polygamist LDS Prophet Cites Scripture on Polygamy First Day on the Job

Tuesday it was announced Russell M. Nelson is the new President and Prophet on the LDS Church. He also happens to be a spiritual polygamist in that he is sealed for time and all eternity to two women.

In the Press Conference following the announcement, Peggy Fletcher Stack asked, "What will you do to bring women, people of color, and international members into decision-making for the Church?" What the video here.

As part of the response, Nelson referenced the following scripture for D&C 132:63:

But if one or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused, shall be with another man, she has committed adultery, and shall be destroyed; for they are given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my commandment, and to fulfil the promise which was given by my Father before the foundation of the world, and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may bear the souls of men; for herein is the work of my Father continued, that he may be glorified.

 Here was Russell M. Nelson's relevant comment (watch here):

In the Doctrine and Covenants there is that verse that says before the foundation of the world women were created to bear and care for the sons and daughters of God and in doing so they glorify God. Next question.

Ardis Parshall of the blog Keepapitchinin has a great analysis of the use of D&C 132:63 by General Authorities.