This study involves the history of one of the largest softball tournaments in the world. Sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Tournament has become one of the greatest athletic events in the Church. The problem is limited to an analysis of the motives, influences, and events which has been of greatest importance in the origin and development of this Tournament.

Early Church member W. W. Phelps wrote, "Cumorah...is well calculated to stand in this generation, as a monument of marvelous works and wonders" (Latter-day Saints' Messenger and Advocate, November 1835, 2:221). With a stately monument of the Angel Moroni cresting its summit, and a yearly pageant commemorating salient events associated with the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, it is fulfilling the exact role that Phelps envisioned. However, the general population of the Church is relatively unfamiliar with the history of this significant Latter-day Saint landmark. The following thesis is an in depth study and documentation of certain historical aspects of the Hill Cumorah as a significant, sacred geographic location to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The approach of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 posed several real and imagined threats to the Mormon Kingdom in the Great Basin. The Pacific Railroad ended Mormon geographic isolation and brought economic competition from the States. The railroad also made it possible for miners to get to the gold fields faster and with the heave equipment necessary to make Utah mining profitable. Sensing the political problems and the social and moral evils that would accompany the railroad, the Mormon leaders, in hopes of meeting these problems, counseled to extend their economic goal of self-sufficiency. Through stepped-up cooperation and unity they felt this could be accomplished.

The Box Elder Stake Academy was a part of the Church System of Academies under the direction of Karl G. Maeser. The historical setting of Box Elder County is rather unique. It was here that Lorenzo Snow directed one of the most successful forms of the United Order. The nearby city of Corinne was established as one of the few gentile cities in Utah, and from there a new crusade to end Mormon rule in Utah was begun. The Box Elder Stake Academy was one of the first academies created under the direction of the First Presidency of the Church. This study includes the purpose for its establishment and methods of accomplishing its goals as viewed within the political, social, religious and economical conditions of this era. The establishment and decline of this academy was closely tied to the historical events of this period. Special attention was paid to the academic function of the academy and the problems involved in its administration. An attempt was made to portray the feeling of dedication and purpose expressed by the faculty as they attempted to achieve excellence in their responsibilities to the students and academy.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the individual's bases for moral behavior and his major field of study are related to his moral judgement. Previous studies have indicated that the effect of certain moral education programs was either negligible or detrimental to the accomplishment of their objectives. Because of the emphasis by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints upon fundamental principles as determinants of moral behavior, it seems appropriate to examine the effects of these concepts upon the individual.

The definition of rhetoric has recently been expanded to include elements of experience, particularly the experiences that landscape provides. One landscape that has rhetorical significance is the American frontier, both in Colonial times and in the nineteenth century. The frontier had a rhetorical impact on women, in particular, giving them freedom to change their roles and achieve economic, political, and social success. Because of the tremendous significance of the frontier in women's lives, a new definition of frontiers emphasizes conditions such as opportunity for change, a dangerous and uncertain atmosphere, a freedom of thought and action, and an ability to redefine roles. This new definition allows for both a literal and symbolic interpretation of frontiers. In studying American women's history, it becomes clear that women needed a frontier existence to flourish and create an independent (and decidedly American) identity. Colonial women enjoyed an unprecedented freedom because they existed on a frontier. As the frontier moved westward, women living on the East Coast were deprived of freedoms and opportunities and were increasingly confined to the home. As a result, suffragists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony adapted a feminist rhetoric, the practice of which provided a symbolic frontier for eastern women. Though their female rights rhetoric empowered eastern women, society was too restrictive for complete change; consequently, it took over seventy years for women to obtain suffrage. While women on the East Coast struggled to attain suffrage, Mormon women living in the West enjoyed political, social, and economic freedoms (including the vote). Mormon women enjoyed this freedom because they existed on geographical, rhetorical, and religious frontiers. They lived in the untamed West, practiced the feminist rhetoric of their eastern counterparts, and participated in a radical new religion that not only gave them a mandate from God to change their roles, but also gave them the opportunity to be part of polygamous marriages. These marriages, though seemingly enslaving, actually benefitted Mormon women. Mormon women provide a great example of empowering effect of frontiers. The frontier, as defined in this thesis, gave women freedom and opportunity.

From time to time some members of the Church knowingly or ignorantly circulate fallacious stories, rumors, or unsubstantiated reports of a sensational nature, which become more injurious than constructive. Also problems arise when the record of a person's spiritual experiences is published about by others. Often such material becomes garbled as it is passed from person to person. This study investigates some of these rumors and stories in an attempt to discern if there is any truth in them and to present statements of General Authorities as to the position the Church takes, if any, concerning the stories embraced in this thesis. Included also are suggested guidelines and criteria that one might use to attempt to validate or recognize the error of stories not included in this study and other stories that may be forthcoming.

This study is a history of the schools and educational programs organized and maintained by the LDS Church while the saints resided in Ohio and Missouri between the years of 1831 and 1839. The instructors, curriculum, organizational structure, and the purpose of each school is given when information in these areas was available. In Kirtland, the Church organized the School of the Prophets, School of the Elders, Kirtland High School, Hebrew School, a singing school, a writing school, and a few grammar schools. The Church leaders in Missouri organized the Colesville school, a school in Independence, Far West School, and a few others in Caldwell County. However, mob activities probably limited the educational pursuits by the members of the Church in Missouri. Church members took available of many opportunities to enhance their formal education, and some of the schools established by Latter-day Saints were well organized in comparison to many other schools of the early Republic.

The purpose of this study was to see if there would be any advantage in using the phase teaching method of independent study in the LDS seminary classroom and to measure changes in student's attitude, knowledge, and behavior toward seminary taught lessons.

This study is a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with thirty-two couples who have been married for eight years. Although the couples in this sample have similar religious, economic, and cultural backgrounds, the quality of each marriage is quite different. Ten couples have exceptionally high-quality marriages, eighteen have average-quality marriages, three are struggling, and one couple has been divorced. The purpose of this study was to better understand what the ten couples with high-quality marriages are doing to create successful relationships. I conclude that high-quality marriages are created by a couple's participation in a particular process with a specific paradigm that facilitates a critical characteristic. I also postulate that high-quality marriages are undergirded by three guiding principles. A couple's environment, circumstance, and parental role models constitute the framework from which marital decisions spring, but for the respondents in this study, contextual issues by themselves neither explained nor were consistently associated with marital quality. The ten couples with the best marriages participate in a process of covenanting, communicating, and complying to heartfelt marital obligations. They tend to function most consistently from an other-centered paradigm, and have the characteristic of love as the trademark of their relationships. High-quality marriages are governed by three principles: they are mutually created, require constant nurturing, and are dynamic. This process, paradigm, and characteristic constitute three important dimensions of high-quality marital relationships. If both couples are making choices from within this imaginary three-dimensional sphere or realm, the result is a high-quality marriage. If one spouse makes choices from within this imaginary sphere while the other spouse chooses options from outside, the resultant quality tends to be average. When both spouses are consistent in making choices outside this sphere, it constitutes the foundation of a low-quality marriage.