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“Pioneers of Africa” and the “Temple on Mount Zion”

“Pioneers of Africa” and the “Temple on Mount Zion”

Last updated on: September 2, 2024 at 2:59 pm by Dan Peterson

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“Pioneers of Africa” and the “Temple on Mount Zion” 2024-09-02T14:59:27-06:00 Dan Peterson

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Elder Edwin Q. Cannon baptizing converts from the Nigerian village of Ikot Eyo on 4 March 1979.

Last night, my wife and I watched a video — not quite an hour long — entitled Pioneers of Africa. Directed by Marcy Brown and produced at least partially under the auspices of Brigham Young University, it’s about the limited, tentative, and awkward approaches of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the continent of Africa prior to the 1978 revelation on priesthood, and about the history of African Latter-day Saints thereafter up to the time of the production of the film, which was about 2001. It concludes with the Saints eagerly anticipating the construction of temples on their continent.

I heartily recommend Pioneers of Africa. It is inspiring and enjoyable, and it was heartwarming, once again, to see interviews with departed leaders of the Church such as Gordon B. Hinckley, David B. Haight, and Neal A. Maxwell. Moreover, for me personally, it was very pleasant to see photos and footage of my beloved mission president, Edwin Q. Cannon, and his wife, Janath Russell Cannon, who were two of the very first to take the Restored Gospel into Ghana and Nigeria. (These were our initial toeholds on the continent.) The film captured interviews, too, with some of the African leaders who played a pivotal role in the emergence of the Church there. These are now invaluable historical resources.

Of course, a very great deal has happened with the Church in Africa since the beginning of our current millennium. That’s a story that the Interpreter Foundation hopes to carry on with and to tell, at least in small part, with its Not by Bread Alone series, which is currently underway with the able leadership of Jeff Bradshaw.

We enjoyed Pioneers of Africa so very much that we immediately re-watched the 6.5-minute Interpreter Foundation video “Elder and Sister Renlund: Falling in Love with the Peoples of Africa.” Wonderful.

The Interpreter Radio Tower stands directly next to the subtly multi-colored Interpreter Headquarters Complex, on the beautiful eastern shore of fabled Utah Lake (Wikimedia Commons public domain photo)

Newly posted on the unchanging website of the Interpreter Foundation: Interpreter Radio Show — August 25, 2024

For the 25 August 2024 installment of the Interpreter Radio Show, Steve Densley and John Thompson joined with special guest Bradley Kramer to discuss Bradley’s recent article in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship and Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon lesson 38.

Their conversation was recorded and it has now been archived (without commercial and other interruptions) and made available for your listening pleasure. The “Book of Mormon in Context” portion of this show, for the Come, Follow Me Book of Mormon lesson 38, will also be posted separately on Tuesday, 10 September 2024.

The weekly Interpreter Radio Show can be heard live on Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640, or you can listen to it on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

The Phoenix Arizona Temple (LDS Media Library) is one of the three temples in the Greater Phoenix area. The other two are in Mesa and in Gilbert.

The 2024 Temple on Mount Zion Conference

The seventh Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Temple on Mount Zion Conference will be held on Saturday, 28 September 2024 in room 251 of the Tanner Building, Brigham Young University. The conference will be held live, with no streaming. Recordings of the presentations will be available at a later date. Expanded, fully footnoted versions of the presentations will be published in a book of proceedings, anticipated sometime in 2025.

For more information, including the program schedule, abstracts, and presenter biographies, go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/conferences/2024-temple-on-mount-zion-conference/.

“SquareTwo” is an online publication, which permits it to dispense with even cutting-edge print technology such as this.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

One of the most interesting ornaments to the contemporary faithful Latter-day Saint intellectual scene — arguably superior even to the imminent Hulu series Secret Lives of Mormon Wives — is the independent online journal SquareTwo. Earlier today, I received the note immediately below from its editor, and I thought that some here might be interested she had to say about the latest issue:

Dearest readers, our beloved book review editor, B. Kent Harrison, passed away on 14 August 2024. He had been with SquareTwo from the beginning. A good man, a scientist full of wonder, a firm advocate for women, and a faithful member of the Church was Kent. We miss him sorely. We offer a biography of his life here.

Our second piece is very timely. Rachel Zirkle outlines how it is possible to stand for truth and yet not be contentious. While that feat is always easier in the abstract than it is in concrete reality, Zirkle is able to offer practical advice, based on her own family experiences. Would that all could take her advice to heart in this election season!

Our third piece is a real zinger. I am a huge fan of Andrea Dworkin, a real prophetess in her time, an almost John the Baptist-type figure. Though hugely controversial then and now, and certainly not G-rated, reading Dworkin is like having your head lit on fire. Imagine my delight when Holly Hamilton-Bleakley of the Department of Philosophy at the University of San Diego wanted to write an essay on what she, as a Latter-day Saint, found compelling about Dworkin’s stance on pornography. I believe Holly has the distinction of being the first Latter-day Saint to write (approvingly) about Dworkin, but this cross-worldview synergy works really, really well.

Our fourth piece is a sacrament talk that V.H. Cassler recently gave on “dark miracles.” How is it that the very worst things in our lives are the most powerful source of change? Calling on insights from Carlfred Broderick, Francine Bennion, Jeffrey R. Holland, and others, Cassler makes the case that suffering is a dark miracle. Ask yourself, would the Atonement have been the Atonement if Jesus had been given an anesthetic? If not, why not?

Our final piece is a double book review of Julia and of The Power by V.H. Cassler. Each has an intriguing feminist premise: Julia is the story of Orwell’s 1984 told from the point of view of the character Julia. The Power’s premise is that all women—but no men–develop an electric skein under their skin that enables them to kill instantaneously simply by touching someone. Cassler finds these works intriguing, but ultimately deeply flawed.

We have some responses to our current Readers’ Puzzle, and a new Readers’ Puzzle for you to ponder.

Enjoy this new issue!

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