Standard of Truth

Mark sits down with renowned church historian Gerrit Dirkmaat to discuss powerful experiences they have had visiting church history sites, and that others have had in the groups they have lead through these places. Mark and Gerrit explain why visiting these sites can have such a deep effect on our faith, testimonies, and sense of belonging to the church.

 

Perserving Families Podcast

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/preserving-families-podcast/id1654226536

 

Sign up for our free monthly email: ⁠ ⁠https://standardoftruthpodcast.substack.com⁠

 

If you have any questions or possible topics of discussion for upcoming podcasts, please email us at: ⁠⁠[email protected]

In this episode, we tackle the question of why early Utah Saints embraced cooperative economics like the United Order. Gerrit digs into a 1866–67 Inspector General's report submitted to Congress by Generals Ruesling and Hazen. The document characterizes Latter-day Saints as "open and avowed foes" of the United States, recommends banning Mormons from government contracts, and bizarrely treats the fact that Mormon contractors underbid Gentile competitors as evidence of disloyalty rather than fiscal responsibility.

 

They close with the Articles of Agreement from the St. George United Order, a digression on the gold standard, and a ranking of the worst Google-reviewed presidential homes (with John Tyler's Sherwood Forest taking the crown thanks largely to ill-tempered family dogs).

 

Sign up for our free monthly email: ⁠ ⁠⁠https://standardoftruthpodcast.substack.com⁠⁠

 

If you have any questions or possible topics of discussion for upcoming podcasts, please email us at: ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]

Richard returns to share a temple-trip story from Kenya where a skeptical food vendor's view of the Church changed after witnessing the love at the temple. The hosts then read listener emails. The episode ends with 16-year-old Abigail's question about Jingle Bells being a Thanksgiving song and so Gerrit obviously shares a quote from Frederick Douglass as he takes down Jingle Bells with its roots in 19th-century blackface minstrel shows. We read the United Order question but leave the answer for next week.

Sign up for our free monthly email: ⁠ ⁠https://standardoftruthpodcast.substack.com⁠

If you have any questions or possible topics of discussion for upcoming podcasts, please email us at: ⁠⁠[email protected]

In this episode, Gerrit is joined by his brother Dallin as guest host while Richard is away following the passing of his father. After announcing the NCAA bracket winner and working through the mailbag, including a listener-made "Dendometer" chart ranking Gerrit's biggest pet peeves, the brothers tackle a question about whether Latter-day Saints will one day gather to Missouri to build the New Jerusalem, tracing the doctrine from early revelations through Brigham Young's teachings to the modern church's global gathering. The episode closes with tender reflections on losing a father and the hope of the Resurrection.

Sign up for our free monthly email: ⁠ ⁠https://standardoftruthpodcast.substack.com⁠

If you have any questions or possible topics of discussion for upcoming podcasts, please email us at: ⁠⁠[email protected]

Any LDS podcast can do a review of general conference two weeks after the broadcast but here in the truth podcast we want to do our review of general conference three or possibly four weeks after the original broadcast

Because of this, we are dropping a previously aired premium episode from Joseph Smith, and the Restoration about his preparation for the First Vision

Sign up for our free monthly email: ⁠ ⁠https://standardoftruthpodcast.substack.com⁠

If you have any questions or possible topics of discussion for upcoming podcasts, please email us at: ⁠⁠[email protected]