This study is an examination of the contributions made by George A. Smith (1817-1875) to the Mormon society in the Utah Territory. It is an historical exposition and appraisal of his work as a Church leader, colonizer, historian, military leader, and politician.George A. Smith was one of the most distinguished Mormon leaders during Brigham Young's administration as Church President. He played a vital role in aiding the exiled saints living in Iowa to complete the long exodus to Utah. The first colonizing mission to venture south of Utah Valley was led by George A. Smith. He acted as an administrative overseer to the central and southern Utah communities during most of his career in the territory. He assisted in the establishment of new communities in the region and concerned himself with their spiritual well-being as a Church leader, their political and economic growth as a legislator and economist, and their protection as a military leader. The study concludes that probably no man, save Brigham Young himself, made greater contributions as a Mormon colonizer and community builder. It is also maintained in the dissertation, that George A. Smith's achievements as a Mormon historian apparently exceeded that of any other nineteenth century Church member.

It has been observed that not all L.D.S. Seminary students are active in church attendance. There is little doubt in the minds of educators that parents affect a great deal the activities of their children.The purpose of the study was to learn what relationship, if any, existed between a seminary student's church attendance and the church activities of his parents, and to find out which, if any, of five specific areas of parental church activity had the most positive effect on a student's church attendance.Based on his experience in the church, the writer chose the following areas of church activity as the ones most likely to affect a seminary student's church attendance,1. the parents have been married in the temple.2. the parents hold a church position.3. the parents have served a regular mission.4. the parents have served a stake mission.5. the parents attend church regularly.Information cards were sent to every seminary in the church and were completed by approximately 60,000 students. A 5 per cent stratified sample was used in tabulating the data for the study. These cards were designed to obtain information about the church attendance of the seminary students and the church activities of their parents.

The history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South America between 1945 and 1960 shows growth in numbers of members and strength of those members. The church grew more than 1000 percent during those fifteen years and almost half of all South American branches came under the direction of local, native leadership. The three new missions organized were evidence of the growth being made. Church building was stepped up and Church literature in Spanish and Portuguese became plentiful.Some problems encountered were opposition of the prevailing church, misunderstandings with government, and the inefficiency of transportation and services. Visits of General Authorities inspired members and missionaries and gave direction to the work, and new and inovative proselyting techniques were employed, such as sports and music programs, which helped the work flourish. Lamanite areas in South America that were opened were found to be among the most receptive to the gospel message.

The literature on educational problems and procedures gives considerable emphasis to objectives. Sometimes called aims, goals, or values, the objectives have been variously formulated according to the philosophy and environment of their authors. Great variation is found in the many codes of objectives which have existed and which now are used in education.In examining the code of general objectives which has been published and circulated throughout the Latter-day Saint Seminary System since 1943, the writer was of the opinion that these objectives were not fully used by the seminary teachers and that they may not be those really desired for the system. In essence, the problem of the thesis was to trace the development and use of codes of objectives for the seminary teachers, and to analyze the present objectives in the light of their current usage.

The problem of this study was two-fold: first, to determine the accomplishments of the Utah Territorial Indian Superintendency during Brigham Young's term in office; and second, to study the difficulties which hindered this superintendency from functioning in a manner which would be most beneficial to the Indian people. These difficulties fit into three major groups: friction within the superintendency, Indian depredations, and lack of cooperation on the part of the Federal Government.The main sources of information for this study were the official letters sent by the superintendency to the Indian Commission in Washington. Letters sent from Washington to the superintendency as well as letters circulated in Washington, were also used. Books written by contemporaries along with the best available historical works of that period were also helpful in this study.

This course has been written to present a simplified version of the Book of Mormon for use with students whose reading skills are below average. It was specifically designed for released-time Indian seminary students. The Indian students often find it very hard to compete with white students in seminary. Where this problem exists teachers have found it advisable to form all-Indian classes.Released-time Indian seminary classes are a recent addition to the L.D.S. Seminary system. In the 1962-63 school year two such classes were held. The future holds promise that many more will be instituted. Teaching the Book of Mormon to released-time Indian students requires a course of study quite different from those employed to teach white students. Until the time of this writing such a course of study had not been made. For this reason this course was developed. It was first used in a released-time seminary class composed of Ute and Navaho Indians. The course was taught during the 1962-63 school year at the Blanding Seminary in Blanding, Utah. It covers a major part of the material in the Book of Mormon. In form it continually evolved as new and better ideas were discovered. The final product incorporates the best of these ideas. In make-up it consists of a text and a series of sixty-nine lessons. The text is composed of rewritten and simplified material taken from the Book of Mormon. The lessons are made to follow the directional objectives and the standard format of the L.D.S. Seminary system. Motivational items are included for each lesson. As a special feature the course includes a plan for building the vocabulary of the students who study it. It also includes suggestions on how the course can be modified in order to meet a variety of uses.

This interpretive study investigated the "quilt" and its significance to Latter-day Saint Women. Mormon master quilters were chosen because of their knowledge of fabrics, patterns, and symbolism, their skill levels, and their intense interest in quilting. The researcher conducted interviews with the master quilters from July 1995 to April 1996. Field notes were taken and data concerning both observed actions and verbal comments regarding the importance of the quilt were collected, charted, coded, and analyzed.Several dominant patterns and themes emerged from analyses of the data, including: quilting is an enjoyable and active art form among Mormon women, pattern selection is a personal choice and one of immediate interest to the quilter, Mormon women quilt for personal reasons, textiles are important to the quilting process, and quilts are used for gifts of endearment, financial gain, awards or rewards, and artistic expression. It was determined that Mormon quilters are not significantly different from other quilters. There is only one specific quilt pattern that is unique to the Mormons and not used by other quilt cultures.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether LDS sophomore and junior seminary students have significant differences of concern about concepts and attitudes contained in each of the thirty-five Directional Objectives which guide the curriculum of the Seminary System of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.The study involved LDS Seminary students from the Burley, Idaho; Arimo, Idaho and Ogden (Weber) Utah seminaries, and consisted of 164 sophomore and 109 junior students.An instrument was developed called the Student Inventory. It consisted of statements of concern expressed by a cross section of seminary students about the thirty-five Directional Objectives, and contained a total of 560 statements divided into an A and B section of 280 statements each.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has always possessed a vigorous concept of the value of education for its youth. Programs of religious instruction have encouraged the young people to further their understanding of religious concepts. In July, 1953, all of the Church educational institutions, except those in the islands of the Pacific, were combined into one organization and named The Unified Church School System. As of January 1, 1965 the Pacific Board of Education, which directed the Church schools in the Pacific Islands, was also incorporated into the aforementioned mother unit. One important department of continual research in this system is curriculum development. The development of teacher manuals for the instructors is a never-ending process. New manuals are needed as educational understanding progresses. New methods of presentation are under experimentation with the hope that the youth will more readily accept the religious instruction and put it into vital application in their lives. The purpose of this particular field project is to develop such a course of study for the teachers in one particular segment of this educational system.The Church Schools of the Pacific teach a class of religion each year in their junior and senior high schools, sometimes referred to as "Church Colleges." This necessitates the use of six different gospel subjects. They are generally arranged in this order: seventh grade: Book of Mormon; eighth grade, New Testament; ninth grade, Church History; tenth grade, Old Testament; eleventh grade, Modern Scripture; and in the twelfth grade, a special leadership and church service training program. The Church schools in the Pacific have had the use of the courses of study developed by the seminary program, a sister department in the school system for released time and non-released time junior and senior high school students. The first four courses mentioned are used quite successfully, with some adaptation, but a need has developed for a course for the eleventh graders in Modern L. D. S. Scripture on a par with those developed by the seminary department. It is the work of this field project to develop such an outline, field test it a year, then print it after evaluation as a course of study. The final draft printed for use in the schools of the Pacific would also be presented as partial fulfillment of the master's degree by the writer to the graduate department of religion at Brigham Young University.

This study was conducted for the primary purpose of discovering the relationship of two personal variables to effective seminary teaching.It was hypothesized that:(1) There is no significant difference between seminary teachers whom the department considers as very effective (high-rated) and seminary teachers whose teaching effectiveness is questioned by the department (low-rated) in their ability to empathize with the self concept of their students.(2) there is no significant difference between seminary teachers who are high-rated and seminary teachers who are low-rated in their ability to sociempathise (perceive student's social status among peers).