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“True and Living”

“True and Living”

Last updated on: January 30, 2026 at 10:35 pm by Dan Peterson

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“True and Living” 2026-01-30T22:35:06-07:00 Dan Peterson

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Somewhere out there, you’ll find the last resting place of the Interpreter Foundation (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

“True and Living,” written by Daniel C. Peterson, was published today in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 67 (2025) : vii-xiv.

Abstract: What does it mean for the Church to be “true and living”? Is it prideful to make such a claim? Why is it important that the Church be both?

And I would also like to call your attention to “Conversations with Interpreter: A New Video Podcast, Starting Saturday, January 31.”

Although the Interpreter Foundation has fulfilled prophecy by being pretty much completely dead for the entirety of its existence, it somehow continues to fake life.

And are you, by the way, still holding out, refusing to watch the first episode of Becoming Brigham and declining to call it to the attention of friends, family members, neighbors, ward members, office colleagues, former friends, supermarket checkout clerks, dental hygienists, postal workers, beauticians, and arresting ICE agents? What’s your problem? Fortunately, the cure for what ails you is readily available, and completely free, at Becoming Brigham— Episode 1: Who Killed Joseph Smith?

And, by the way, you’re invited to a special fireside about the Interpreter Foundation’s Becoming Brigham project that will be held tomorrow evening, on Saturday, 31 January 2026, at 7:00 P.M. The location for the fireside is the Orem Lakeview Stake Center, at 450 West 1800 South, Orem.

A flyer that we’ve produced for Becoming Brigham that contains information about both the launch of the series on Monday, 26 January, and the fireside on Saturday, 31 January.

I’ve had a very long day and have scarcely been at home. And now it’s late and I’m tired. So I’m going to share with you some selected thoughts to ponder from Brigham Young that are to be found online:

“You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.”

“Why should we worry about what others think of us, do we have more confidence in their opinions than we do our own?”

“He who takes offense when no offense is intended is a fool, and he who takes offense when offense is intended is a greater fool.”

“Education is the power to think clearly, the power to act well in the world’s work, and the power to appreciate life.”

“It’s better to die doing good than to live doing evil.”

“To be gentle and kind, modest and truthful, to be full of faith and integrity, doing no wrong is of God; goodness sheds a halo of loveliness around every person who possesses it, making their countenances beam with light, and their society desirable because of its excellency. They are loved of God, of holy angels, and of all the good earth, while they are hated, envied, admired, and feared by the wicked. ”

“If you don’t feel like praying, pray until you do!”

“There is no music in hell, for all good music belongs to heaven.”

“I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self security. Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not.”

“We should never permit ourselves to do anything that we are not willing to see our children do. We should set them an example that we wish them to imitate.”

“Our religion will not clash with nor contradict the facts of science in any particular.”

“The men and women, who desire to obtain seats in the celestial kingdom, will find that they must battle everyday.”

“True Independence and Freedom can only exist in doing whats right.”

“Learn to be good for something.”

“Pray as though everything depended on the Lord and work as though everything depended on you.”

“To mind your own business incorporates the whole duty of man.”

“If I do not know the will of my Father, and what He requires of me in a certain transaction, if I ask Him to give me wisdom concerning any requirement in my life, or in regard to my own course, or that of my friends, my family, my children, or those that I preside over, and get no answer from Him, and then do the very best that my judgement will teach me, He is bound to own and honor that transaction, and He will do so to all intents and purposes.”

“Crying babies are like good intentions: Both should be carried out immediately!”

“We are in a great school, and we should be diligent to learn, and continue to store up the knowledge of heaven and of earth, and read good books, although I cannot say that I would recommend the reading of all books, for it is not all books which are good. Read good books, and extract from them wisdom and understanding as much as you possibly can, aided by the Spirit of God.”

“We went west willingly–because we had to.”

“It is difficult to find anything more healthy to drink than good cold water, such as flows down to us from springs and snows of our mountains. This is the beverage we should drink. It should be our drink at all times.”

“If you wish to get rich, save what you get. A fool can earn money; but it takes a wise man to save and dispose of it to his own advantage.”

“[Our] first and foremost duty [is] to seek the Lord until we open the path of communication from God to our own soul.”

“If the Devil says you cannot pray when you are angry, tell him it is none of his business, and pray until that species of insanity is dispelled and serenity is restored to the mind. (p. 175)”

“Mend it, fix it, make do, or do without.”

“Miracles, or those extraordinary manifestations of the power of god, are not for the unbeliever; they are to console the Saints, and to strengthen and confirm the faith of those who love, fear, and serve God.”

“It is for us to do those things which the Lord requires at our hands, and leave the result with him.”

“When people learn to master their feelings, they can soon learn to master their reflections and thoughts in the degree requisite for attaining the objects they are seeking. But while they yield to a feeling or spirit that distracts their minds from a subject they wish to study and learn, so long they will never gain the mastery of their minds.”

“All I have to do is keep my spirit, feelings and conscience like a sheet of blank paper, and let the Spirit and power of God write upon it what He pleases. When He writes, I will read; but if I read before He writes, I am very likely to be wrong”

Today, enroute back to Utah from McCall, Idaho, we dropped by the relatively new (2017) Meridian Idaho Temple, which seems plainly to me to be an hommage to the century-old Cardston Alberta Temple. (Photograph by my wife)

Finally, I share with you this item that I’ve recovered from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™: “Hundreds of Volunteers in Chile Provide Wildfire Relief: Meetinghouses in Concepción, Providencia, Los Ángeles and Buin have been converted into collection and distribution centers”

And don’t overlook this horror: “Latter-day Saints in Idaho serve others to honor United States’ 250th: Service includes a church donation of 40,000 pounds of food to a local food bank”

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