Category Archives: Guest Post

Guest Post: The Military Mind of Joseph Smith

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Millennial Star is pleased to present a guest post from Morgan Deane, who operates the Warfare in the Book of Mormon blog.
Morgan describes himself as:
A regular guy raising a family that loves to study the Book of Mormon. I have a B.A. from Southern Virginia University and just finished an M.A. in History from Norwich University. I have presented papers on Napoleonic warfare and published papers about Asian, Napoleonic and Book of Mormon Warfare. Recently I seperated from the military after serving 9 years as an infantry riflemen, squad leader and intelligence analyst.

My research interests include the above topics, the American Civil War, the application of military theory, ancient warfare, and medieval warfare..  Currently I teach history at Trine Univeristy and I’m studying Chinese in preparation for a PhD program in East Asian history.

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Guest Post: What Goes Around…

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Another guest post from E. Paul Whetten. You can read Paul’s previous post here.

Several days ago I was having a real heart-to-heart discussion with my teenage daughter about obedience. During the discussion I explained to her that my demand for obedience was not a power trip for me. I am larger and stronger than her and, if it came down to it, I could force her to comply with my requests by brute strength (at least until the cops came). My desire for her to be obedient was much more important than my personal ego. I explained that her mother and I have been around the block a few more times than she has and can see things that are beyond the horizons of her personal experience. More importantly, if she learned to be obedient in the small things that we asked of her (i.e. pick up your room, do your homework, stop beating your sister with a board, etc.) then obedience would be easier for her in the big moments of decision. (i.e. – chastity, word of wisdom, tithing, no dating till your 16, etc.)

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Guest Post: Finding Silence in the Kingdom of Noise

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M* is pleased to welcome guest blogger E. Paul Whetten, who has graciously agreed to share a few posts with our readers.

E. Paul Whetten was raised in the Mormon Colonies in Mexico and is the oldest son of Edward R. and Gayle DeWitt Whetten. He is married to the former Sally Goodman of Mesa, Arizona, and they are the parents of 6 children. He currently serves as a counselor in the Young Men’s presidency of his stake and as a Gospel Doctrine Teacher in his ward. He has been a nursery leader, temple worker, young men’s leader, elder’s quorum president and counselor in a bishopric. From 1992-1994 Paul served as a missionary in the Chile, Viña del Mar Mission.

Paul is active in his community, serving as a member of several educational and political boards as well as being a guest presenter on American History for local schools and civic organizations in Arizona.

In The Screwtape Letters C.S. Lewis makes an interesting observation about noise in a fictional letter between a senior devil and a new tempter:

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Guest Post: Mindset: It’s more important than gear or skills.

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M* is pleased to present the first in a series of guest posts from Bo Smith on emergency preparedness, focusing on information Bo describes as “…what matters most’, to use the Covey-ism.”

Bo describes himself as, “A crackpot fundamentalist living in a small compound with his four wives and fifteen children. His hobbies include collecting ammonium nitrate and fuel oil, amateur pharmacology, shade tree gunsmithing, and yelling at passersby whilst wearing sandwich board signs revealing the end of the world. He resides in Murray, Utah.”

You can read more of Bo at his personal blog.

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Guest Post: Missionaries served God and country in WWII

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M* is pleased to share the following guest post from Brother Alfred Gunn.

Brother Gunn serves on the Gig Harbor Stake Public Affairs Council and in that capacity writes a monthly religion column for his local paper, The Peninsula Gateway. Be sure to check the “Worth Reading” section for links to Brother Gunn’s articles.

Three years ago I stood at the foot of Brazil’s iconic statue of Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado Rock overlooking Rio de Janeiro-a magnificent representation of the resurrected Christ, arms outstretched, the marks of atoning sacrifice in his hands.

In my tour group was Barlow Briggs, then a spry 86 years old, who had been a Mormon missionary in Brazil as a young man. He recalled how one Sunday after church he and his companion rode the Corcovado train up to admire the statue, erected only 10 years before. The next day, he said, bold newspaper headlines announced “War in the Pacific.” Pearl Harbor had been bombed that Sunday.

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