Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Geography. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-118).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Brigham Young University, 1994. / Chairman: Thomas G. Alexander. Includes bibliographical references (p. 250-253).

This is a biographical study of Elizabeth D. Kane (1836-1909), travel writer and wife of Thomas L. Kane, non-Mormon friend of the nineteenth-century Mormons of Utah. Primary source materials are mainly Elizabeth's fourteen diaries (spanning the years 1853 to 1909), letters and narrative accounts. Elizabeth was greatly influenced by Thomas, while maintaining her independence. She was interested in religion and feminist issues, and those interests, combined with her marital relationship, shaped her life's direction. Thomas Kane's interest in the Mormons also influenced Elizabeth's religious and feminist views, and she initially struggled with accepting Thomas's work for them because of their practice of polygamy. When Elizabeth went to Utah in 1872, her religiosity, feminism, and marriage provided the context in which she wrote her travel accounts, Twelve Mormon Homes (1874) and A Gentile in Utah's Dixie (1995).Elizabeth and Thomas had a companionate marriage. Theoretically they were equal partners, but Thomas often acted as Elizabeth's mentor, introducing her to well-known feminists, encouraging her to attend medical school and develop her writing talents. Religion was important to her, particularly as she tried influencing Thomas to join her Christian (Presbyterian) faith. Elizabeth thought about the Women's Rights movement and wrote her own ideas regarding women's role, endorsing feminist concepts like voluntary motherhood and addressing issues like polygamy and the double moral standard.This study analyzes Elizabeth's travel accounts which provide information on rural Utah and Mormon polygamous women from the perspective of a trusted outsider. During her Utah visit, Elizabeth changed from being resentful of the Mormons because of Thomas's devotion to them, to being friendly towards them. After Thomas's death in 1883, Elizabeth worked as a local leader in the Women's Christian Temperance Union and was a prominent citizen of Kane, Pennsylvania, the town which she and Thomas founded in the 1860s.This study is important to women's history because Elizabeth represents how many nineteenth-century women became more independent and socially conscious. It is significant in Mormon history because of her her travel accounts and because her writings provide information on the important relationship between Thomas L. Kane and the Mormons.

Raising a family as a single parent is difficult at best. As an LDS single parent, these difficulties take on a unique challenge. The purpose of this project is to offer specific, LDS related guidelines to assist the LDS single parent mother in strengthening her family and thus acquiring the skills needed in handling the unique challenge of raising a family in a gospel oriented society. A variety of resources were used to include theorists, practicioners, scriptures, and personal experiences. Examples and case studies demonstrate the integration of gospel principles and family practices as they relate to LDS single parent families.

In the years 1920-80 the Mormon Church developed, expanded and refined an architectural program based on the concept of the standard plan. Standard plan buildings were selected, individualized and built for local ward units under the direction of the Church Building Department which created uniform standards of quality and appearance across the worldwide Church and created a tangible link between foreign members and the central Church.Although functional and financial considerations directed virtually all design decisions and formed the operative basis of the program other elements also determined the nature of the Mormon approach to building. Growth, in the membership, more than any other single factor, affected the nature of building in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The mid-century emphasis on the accelerated missionary program, internationalization of the Church, and the emphasis on global uniformity of Church programs led to the use of the standard plan as the exclusive method of new construction in 1980.

Since the first man perceived and used his environment, there has existed a reciprocal man-land relationship. The physical environment provides opportunities for man's use and also sets limitations. Man's perception and use of his environment is greatly influenced by his culture, which consists of past experience, technology, attitudes, and needs. It is these factors that determine what a man will see as possibilities in land use, and how he will use his environment.In the case of the relic Mormon Culture Region, Mormon religious beliefs highly influenced perception of the environment. Most visual geographical features of the landscape in the relic Mormon Culture Region were influenced by religious doctrines and practices. General examples of such landscape features in the region are: rural-urban pattern, agriculture activities and patterns, urban landscape, vegetation, irrigation systems, buildings, settlement patterns, and natural resource exploitation.

The purpose of this study was to show by the use of the opinions of LDS athletes who have excelled in sports whether or not excellence in gospel living contributes to excellence in sports.Religion has played a role in sports from very early history and has continued to the present time. The degree of religious influence has been determined by the society of the time, whether it played a minor or a positive role.The results of the study pointed out the following:The teachings of the LDS Church had a positive influence, according to LDS athletes, on the fourteen qualities of sports that were selected by coaches representing excellence in sports. The areas they were positive in were moral laws, word of wisdom, and priesthood responsibilities. The athletes were in conflict on whether the Sabbath day was an influence or not on excellence in sports, and they determined that keeping current on Church happenings and paying Church financial obligations had no bearing on the athletic qualities.

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.

This work is a history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) in Australia to 1900. The first Latter-day Saint missionary to Australia was William Barret, a British convert who left directly from England and arrived at Adelaide, South Australia in 1840. In approximately 1841 Elder Andrew Anderson, also from England, arrived with his family at Sydney, New South Wales. These two Elders proselyted for the church, but the extent of their work is uncertain.John Murdock and Charles Wandell were the first missionaries from Utah; they arrived at Sydney in October, 1851. The appointment of these missionaries marked the formal beginning of the Australasian Mission. Their concentrated efforts in the Sydney area brought many converts into the church. Murdock went to Melbourne but was unsuccessful there because of the gold excitement; gold was discovered in April, 1851.