Episode 142: D&C 43 – Section 60
Poor Edward Partridge can’t catch a break, what with all the micromanagement. Joseph, Oliver, and Sidney (Rigdon) are on their way to Cincinnati, while his other buddies are sent to St. Louis. They’re all instructed to make haste while not speedily returning, and somehow God’s jewels are involved.
Drink count – 6
Eth count – 4
The Pink Papaya Shop created a whole series of watercolors called The Wives of Joseph Smith
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Podcastriarchal blessing: Bevin F
Podcastriarchal music is Our Happy Life by Maps and Transit, edited for length
My Book of Mormon 
January 16, 2017 at 9:50 pm
If I heard right, I was given some homework this week, and asked to figure something out? What’s the big deal about Cincinnati? What was going on there that the Lord should see fit to command Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Oliver Cowdery to stop there on their way back to Kirtland?*
You know, if I’m going to be the podcast’s General Authority, here’s the first lesson you should learn about General Authorities – they never answer the question you asked, they only answer the question you “should have asked”. So I’d like to change the question to, “What’s the big deal about WKRP in Cincinnati?”
Good question! Well, as everyone knows, a prominent cast member on WKRP in Cincinnati was Gordon Jump, who you might also remember as the Maytag Repairman, as well as the pedophile bicycle shop owner on a very special episode of Diff’rent Strokes. Less well known, I think we can agree, was his role in the 1969 version of the LDS temple endowment film, in which he played the apostle Peter. (That being well before my time, I sadly can’t expound further.)
Yes, Gordon Jump was an active Mormon, and as a celebrity, he was a darling of the LDS church back in the day, and was featured in a lot of soft-sell church videos aimed at non-members. He wasn’t quite the Tom Cruise of Mormonism (that would probably be Donny and Marie), but he was perhaps the Kirstie Alley of Mormonism?
For anyone who wants to take a trip back to 1982, and learn about Mormons with Gordon Jump, be my guest:
*Yeah, I don’t have a good answer for your actual question, guys. D&C 61 will mention Cincinnati again, in the context of the “congregations of the wicked” already mentioned, but I can’t find any details on what exactly our Dream Team got up to in town, after they arrived. I’d say I’m sorry for not coming through for you, but second lesson about General Authorities – they never apologize.
January 16, 2017 at 10:19 pm
DONNIE AND MARIE ARE MORMON??????????????
January 19, 2017 at 8:12 am
Well, Marie was a little bit country, you see, and Donnie was a little bit rock ‘n’ roll. But they were more than a little bit Mormon—at least most of the time. I was on the sound crew when they appeared at the Colorado State Fair in 1976 or 77 and they would not come out of their respective trailers until seconds before they were to go on stage and were then whisked away in separate limousines the minute the show was over, which gave the impression that they were all the way Hollywood.
I have and Osmond (brothers, no Marie) album released on Kolob records that is full of Mormon references about the pre-existence and such. Yeah, they were (are probably?) Mormons.
January 19, 2017 at 2:57 pm
I saw Donnie when he was in the title role in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat back in… 1994? 1996? He *forgot his lines* and Pharaoh had to prompt him. I was so disappointed when he broke character.
February 2, 2017 at 8:52 pm
I was a fan of Glam Rock back in the ’70s so my favorite Mormon celebrity is/was musician, MIck Ronson. He was beyond a little bit rock’n’roll and played an amazing lead guitar. Mick was one of the Spider from Mars with David Bowie. He played guitar with Mott the Hoople, Ian Hunter, and Lou Reed among others. See Mick perform along side David Bowie singing “Starman” in a video from 1972. Sadly Mick passed away back in 1993.
January 18, 2017 at 3:48 am
i know you said “maytag repairman guy” but i guess i was picturing the “please don’t squeeze the Charmin guy”. Now i’m bummed because i really want to see a temple endowment movie with the charmin toilet paper guy. I humbly ask for that with a broken spirit………
January 22, 2017 at 1:05 am
A little late to the party for this episode, but I’ll add my two cents’ worth:
First, I can help you out, Duke. In 1831, Cincinnati was the seventh largest city in the U.S. and a major junction of river, stage, and canal routes. To travel from Kirtland to Independence by water, you would pass through Cincinnati (more on that in the next episode). It was a frontier boom town at the time, so it had many “wicked Gentile congregations” to preach to. Missionaries had already had some success, and by 1833 there would be a branch of the Church there with over 100 members.
Second, Marie and Bryce seemed to have had some question as to who was speaking with regard to the commandment to Edward Partridge. As a former LDS member of 38 years and who has held the callings of Gospel Doctrine teacher, Ward Financial Clerk, and 2nd Counselor in a Branch Presidency (equivalent to a Bishopric), I can tell you without any question that in this instance, unequivocally, it is GOD speaking. And God is telling poor Edward that Edward’s money isn’t really Edward’s money because God gave it to him (even though Edward did all the work, of course). And now Edward is to give that money to the missionaries for their journeys, and when they get back, if they feel like paying Edward back, that’s fine, but if not, then Edward’s left holding the bag. Sorry, Edward. Nice guy, that God.
My wife and I have long held that Edward Partridge and Thomas Marsh are the real “Saints” in this story (don’t get me started on the milk strippings slander…)
Love the show – keep up the Lord’s work! 😉
PS: The Osmonds are all still very Mormon. Back in the ’70s, the Osmonds were the public face of the LDS Church. God gave them fame and celebrity to show the world how great it was to be a Mormon, don’t you know? (and Donny didn’t serve a mission because it was rationalized that he was making more converts by being famous!) 😀
January 22, 2017 at 3:04 pm
Oh, and I forgot to add the “shaking the dust from off your feet” is an actual priesthood ordinance that is still occasionally performed in the LDS Church to this day. It’s in reference to Matthew 10:14 (there’s a great Wikipedia entry all about it, including an extensive description of its performance by Mormons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaking_the_dust_from_the_feet ). Supposedly, nowadays it’s only to be done “when the spirit prompts”, but it used to be quite common for missionaries to do it whenever they felt like a town rejected them.
In essence, it’s a way of “marking” a town which wasn’t receptive to proselyting for eventual destruction when the whip comes down – I mean, when Jesus returns. 😉 (apparently God can’t remember who to destroy without a pin in Google Maps!) The idea behind it is that the town is so unworthy that you remove every last trace of it from you – even the dust on your feet – and by doing so, ‘seal’ your testimony of how bad those people were for not drinking your Kool-Aid. (Oh, yeah!)
February 5, 2017 at 5:19 am
Hey Mars Girl, while we’re talking Mormon Rock Stars, let’s not forget Robbie And Randy Bachman of Bachman Turner Overdrive!