Thesis (M.A.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Theatre and Film. / Electronic thesis. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 176-182). Also available in print ed.

Thesis (M.A.)--B.Y.U. Dept. of Communications. / Electronic thesis. Also available in print ed.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Home Economics Education. / Electronic thesis. Bibliography: leaves 134-136. Also available in print ed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Notre Dame, 2006. / Thesis directed by George M. Marsden for the Department of History. "July 2006." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 670-706).

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is an evangelical religion. From a beginning in western New York in 1830, it grew into a world-wide organization which numbered more than a million and a half members by 1960. Those largely responsible for this growth have been the Church members who have volunteered two to three years of their time to missionary service. In 1960 there were approximately 7,000 of these missionaries working in different areas of the world. Of this number, almost 1,800 were serving in Europe, where with the exception of the personnel of the United States government groups, they probably constituted the largest single group of organized Americans living abroad. This study will trace the history of Mormon missionary work in France up to 1960. The French Mission encompasses most of the French-speaking areas of western Europe, and at various times during its history included all of France, the Channel Islands, and those parts of SWitzerland and Belgium where French is the predominate language. Also included in this study is a brief description of Mormon proselyting among the French-speaking Waldenses people of northern Italy. This was included because for many years Italy has been, at least nominally, assigned to the French Mission. Though missionaries have not proselyted in Italy for more than 100 years, there are a handful of Mormons living in that country. In this thesis, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is frequently referred to either as "the Church" or "the Mormon Church." This is done to avoid the repetition of its longer official name. Also, the Mormon missionaries are termed simply "the missionaries" or "the elders," the title elder being an office or degree of the Mormon priesthood to which all male missionaries belong. There are two remaining terms which need clarification. They are "branch" and "ward." In Mormon usage the branch is a small congregation of believers presided over by a branch president and two counselors. The ward is a somewhat larger congregation presided over by a bishop and two counselors. In the writing of this thesis a number of people have been instrumental in aiding the author by advice or in research materials. A particular debt of gratitude is owed to Professor S. George Ellsworth, chairman of the writer's graduate committee, for his valuable counsel and assistance. Appreciation is also expressed to the other members of the committee, Professors Leonard J. Arrington and Douglas D. Alder, for their helpful suggestions and encouragement. For their cooperation in allowing access to the historical data and records on the French Mission, the writer owes a special thanks to the staff of the Church Historian's Office of the Mormon Church. The author is also sincerely grateful to those who have read and criticized this thesis, and especially to his wife, Connie, who helped more than words can express by her patient encouragement.

This thesis explores the problems encountered by Latter-day Saints in establishing released time privileges for the Central Idaho Seminary District. A careful examination of minutes of state and local school boards, of L.D.S. Church Boards of Education, and of local seminary histories plus personal interviews determined which problems had been resolved.The major problems were 1) whether released time was constitutional; 2) whether high school credit should be given for religious instruction; 3) getting good ethical men to serve on school boards; 4) creating good working relationships between public school and the seminary; and 5) overcoming the feeling that the Latter-day Saints wanted released time just for themselves. It was found that when the people had their questions answered, they were no longer opposed to the program.

The purpose of this thesis was to analyze and compare the influence of secular educational philosophy upon the curriculum of the seminaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.In order to do this it was necessary to review and record the development of secular educational philosophy and curriculum. This was followed by writing the development of the educational philosophy and New Testament curriculum of the seminaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Next a comparison was made of the influence of the secular philosophies and curricula upon the religious educational philosophy and the New Testament curriculum of the Church.It was found that there was a carryover of the secular influence upon those who received their background training in secular educational philosophy and curriculum development. This training greatly influenced their approach in developing the New Testament curriculum for the seminaries of the Church. Although the background training from their secular education helped them to develop the New Testament curriculum, nevertheless, after a certain amount of experience, they began to attain a measure of independence from the philosophies of the secular educators.

The history of Mormonism reveals that almost from its beginning, the new church was to be not only a basis for an ecclesiastical Kingdom of God but for a temporal Kingdom as well. This temporal Kingdom, never fully realized, was to develop into a political state preparatory to the inauguration of the Apocalyptic Kingdom. Ultimately, this Kingdom was to rule the whole world.Theory and practice did not always merge in the organization and administration of this Kingdom. When Joseph Smith organized the nucleus of a political government for the Kingdom of God in 1844 it became rather obvious that the separation between the political and the ecclesiastical Kingdom was rather theoretical; the leading officers of both organizations were identical.The Council of Fifty, as this embryo world government was most generally called, actively worked to bring about the political Kingdom of God. In response to its immediate cause for organization, the Council explored the possibilities for relocating the Saints in an uninhabited region where they might build the Kingdom without interference. After the untimely death of Joseph Smith it was this Council which organized and directed the exodus of the Saints to the West.

Public educators are using drop-out studies as a means of improving the curriculum and increasing the holding power of the schools. The public educators are attempting to prepare man for life and the religious educators are attempting to prepare man for eternity. There have been many studies concerning the public school drop-outs, but this is the first one concerning seminary drop-outs.The purpose of this study has been to determine why some students drop-out of seminary before graduation. After learning the reasons for the students dropping out, it is important that changes be made to increase the enrollment and holding power of the seminary program.This study included seminary drop-outs in twelve of the seminaries in the State of Utah. The students were enrolled in the adjacent high school during the 1960-61 school year, but were not enrolled in the seminary. There were 210 students in the study and all of them were sent questionnaires. Of these, 125 (about 60 per cent) were returned.

The agricultural village was the basis of the original economy of Utah established by the Mormon settlers, but it has since been supplanted in importance by the industrial and commercial activities of the large centers of the Wasatch Front counties of Salt Lake, Weber, and Utah. This study was conducted in an attempt to determine the future of those communities removed from industrialized northern Utah. The village of Meadow, Millard County, was chosen as an example and it was subjected to a detailed geographic analysis. From this analysis conclusions have been drawn regarding its future.