May 18th

May 18, 1843 - Joseph Smith tells Judge Stephen A. Douglas, "I prophecy in the name of the Lord God that in a few years this government will be utterly overthrown and wasted so that there will not be a potsherd left".

May 18, 1947 - On the trek westward Brigham Young "called the Captains of tens to his wagons and gave them a pretty severe lecture." He upbraids them for wasting meat and for wasting ammunition while hunting.

May 18, 1877 - The NEW YORK HERALD publishes an interview with Sarah Pratt, wife of Apostle Orson Pratt. She says she had not believed in Mormonism since Nauvoo, and had been endeavoring after the family first arrived in Salt Lake to "rear my children so that they should never espouse the Mormon faith," while concealing "from my neighbors and from the church authorities the fact that I was thus rearing them." Sarah also said, "Here was my husband, gray headed, taking to his bed young girls in mockery of marriage . . . He told me that he believed it was his duty to take other women besides myself to wife."

May 18, 1879 - In discussing whether all "colored" people are denied priesthood, John Taylor rules that Chinese are eligible to receive priesthood.

May 18, 1884 - Apostles instruct stake leaders about President John Taylor's ruling that as payment for their services, bishops will receive 8 percent of tithing they collect, and stake presidents 2 percent of stake tithing.

May 18, 1885 - John Taylor tells Abraham H. Cannon, "It seems that some so-called Saints in various parts of the country are beginning to weaken and talk of compromise. Some of the leading men in Idaho are even in this frame of mind. Such talk is an evidence to me of utter lack of faith in God and His promises." Five years later WIlford Woodruff issues the Manifesto.

May 18, 1894 - In Salt Lake Temple, "Jane Elizabeth Manning (a Negro woman) is sealed as a servitor for eternity to the Prophet Joseph Smith." Joseph F. Smith acts as proxy.

May 18, 1950 - First Presidency letter to make 30 percent increase in living allowances for general authorities.

May 18, 1958 - First stake beyond North America or its territories (Auckland New Zealand).

May 18, 1968 - CHURCH NEWS report about D.K. Brown, police-chief of Jacksonville, Florida. As special-agent-in-charge of FBI office there Brown had succeeded in "breaking the back of a strong Ku Klux Klan by obtaining convictions for bombings of a Negro home."

May 18, 1986 - CHURCH NEWS announcement instructs Mormons not to "be parties to" rumors that "the Proctor and Gamble Co. has some connection with satanism and devil worship, based on the firm's moon and stars trademark."

May 18, 1988 - Apostle Howard W. Hunter signs agreement with State of Israel that "the Church will not engage in any missionary activity within the borders of Israel, as long as such activity is not allowed by the government of Israel."

May 18, 1993 - Apostle Boyd K Packer tells All-Church Coordinating Council that LDS church faces three major threats: "The dangers I speak of come from the gay-lesbian movement, the feminist movement (both of which are relatively new), and the ever-present challenge from the so-called scholars or intellectuals."

No comments: