Joseph Smith Film Showing in Nauvoo

By Chris Faulkner/MVM News NetworkTuesday, January 3, 2006 4:33 PM CST

Joseph and Emma Smith reenactors ride through the snow. A new film, “Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration,” is being shown at the Nauvoo Visitor’s Center in Nauvoo, Ill. →

NAUVOO, Ill. - The tissue box came in handy for many of the viewers of the first Nauvoo showing of “Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration.”The 68-minute movie debuted in Salt Lake City, Utah Dec. 17, six days before the anniversary of Smith's birth in Vermont 200 years ago.
The film was shown for media and tourists, and will be shown five times daily at the Nauvoo Visitors Center for the Church of Jesus Christ, Latter-Day Saints.Portions of the movie were filmed in Nauvoo, including scenes using more than 600 extras.The first half of the film deals with Smith's childhood and the events that led to his seeing the vision of God and Jesus Christ, and later, of the angel Moroni.The film ends with the killing of Joseph Smith and his brother, Hiram, in the Carthage (Ill.) jail. The film does not show Joseph being killed. He is seen comforting his slain brother, and then he looks out a window. As bullets fly through the windowpane, the camera cuts to the heavens and Smith's death is implied.Included in the several dozen people who watched the premier were the Denninghoff family of Paris, Ken., a town just northeast of Lexington.Ann Denninghoff said her older son, Mark, “talked us into making the nine-hour drive to see the film.”Mark is a student at Brigham Young University and he is home on break. As for why he didn't wait to see the film back in Utah, he said, “The film is booked clear through March.”His younger brother, Thomas, also made the trip, but their father, James, is a bishop in the church back home and had to work.Ann's heritage in the church goes back to the beginning. Four generations ago, Isaac Behunin joined Joseph Smith's church in New York. He traveled with the Latter-Day Saints through the various communities until they arrived in Nauvoo, Ill.“The film was so well done from an artistic point of view,” Ann said.Mark, who said he has done significant study on the life of Joseph Smith, said, “I thought it was a very accurate portrayal of the prophet. They used everything they had him saying straight out of his journals.”“They also quoted from the doctrines and covenants,” Ann said.Thomas said he liked the film “because it focused so much more on the spiritual aspect. It portrayed the magnitude of what the people went through.”Mark said the film would be good for people who are not members of the church to see. “You could have a good idea of what kind of person he was, and dispel a lot of ideas that some people have.”Childhood revelationThe film shows Joseph Smith's childhood, during which he nearly loses a leg to infection due to a serious illness. As he grows older, he starts to think more about death and spiritual things.But his father doesn't take the family to church, and the local pastor frequently implores the family to be concerned about their salvation and their need for baptism.Joseph's father said the preacher teaches people to fear God too much. Joseph is seen hearing numerous street evangelists.Still confused, Joseph asks God to give him wisdom.It is soon afterwards that, while praying in the woods, God and Jesus are shown appearing to Smith. They tell him that the church at that time had gone away from the true gospel, and that Joseph Smith was called to “restore” the full gospel, which is where the movie's title comes from.Smith has other visions later and said he met with John the Baptist, Peter, James and John (the disciples) as well as prophets Moses and Elijah.The angel Moroni tells Joseph that he will someday uncover ancient writings and that he is to translate them into the new revelation from God.Smith tells the preacher about his visions, but the pastor rejects them, saying there are to be no new revelations outside of what is written in the Bible.Smith eventually convinces his family and others of his newfound revelation, and sets out to translate the discovered tablets into The Book of Mormon. He called it “an additional testimony” to the Bible.The next part of the movie shows the Mormons being expelled from one community after another. It's never clear in the film why the others in the community don't like the Mormons. They go from New York to Ohio to Missouri, and it is there that Smith is tarred and feathered. The Mormons finally move to Nauvoo and settle in the area that is currently used as a tourist site.It is while setting up the community that malaria and other illnesses strike the Mormons. One of the members brings his dying son to Smith, who lays hands on him and he is healed. Soon, Smith and others go around the camp, healing all the other residents.It is also at Nauvoo that Smith reveals to the church members that God has revealed to him that families will stay together even in Heaven, a teaching contrary to Jesus' New Testament statement that there is no marriage in Heaven.It's also not clear what was specifically wrong with the Christian church at the time that needed “correcting” or “fulfilling.” Smith seems to reject the protestant preacher's notion that people must be baptized to be saved, but later institutes baptism by him and the church leaders for the Latter-Day Saints.Both the Christian church at that time and Joseph Smith profess the need to believe in Jesus to be saved.Also left out of the film is the fact that Smith had more than one wife. His wife, Emma, is the only one portrayed in the film. But the Latter-Day Saints - outside of a few splinter groups - no longer practice polygamy, which was a controversial subject as the church settled in Utah.

A Busy Year for Latter-day Saints

By: Robyn Heirtzler
There，s nothing like a little friendly competition to get people going.
Gordon B. Hinckley, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, probably didn’t intend for it to be a competition when he challenged church members to finish reading the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. Still, even those who missed his challenge in the August issue of the Ensign magazine soon heard about it. “What chapter are you on?” became a catchphrase in Latter-day Saint circles.
Hinckley assured church members that if they read a little more than one and a half chapters a day, they would be able to finish all 239 chapters by December.
“Without reservation I promise you that if each of you will observe this simple program, regardless of how many times you previously may have read the Book of Mormon, there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God,” Hinckley wrote.
Millions of members all over the world heeded the challenge. Hinckley gave a similar challenge as a counselor in the First Presidency (in 1979 and again in 1988), but for many people this was their first time reading the Book of Mormon. Some finished with plenty of time to spare; others spent their New Year’s Eve scrambling to finish before the stroke of 12. Regardless of when they finished—or whether they finished at all—local members agreed that the experience was worthwhile.
“It was definitely worth it,” said one Cedar City woman, who asked to remain anonymous. “I have a stronger testimony of the gospel and a realization of how true it really is. I’ve read the Book of Mormon before, but this time it made a lot more sense and things tied together. I was able to follow the story better.
“I don’t know if it’s because I’m older, but I was able to see the connections between the world today and what the Book of Mormon is talking about,” she continued.
According to a story in the Dec. 27 Deseret Morning News, Covenant Communications saw a significant increase in Book of Mormon product sales—including the Book of Mormon on tape, CD, DVD, VHS, Book of Mormon Heritage Edition, and the Book of Mormon in triple combination on CD and MP3—between August and December, from approximately 11,000 last year to 28,000 this year. A DVD narrated by Rex Campbell was an especially hot item, but “sales of the book on CD (were) 10 times higher than the same quarter last year at the church’s main Distribution Center.”
Kris Bahr, manager of Mountain West Books in Cedar City, said she also saw an increase in sales for Book of Mormon-related items. CDs and cassettes were the most popular, especially in October through December as people started their Christmas shopping. The big illustrated editions of the book were also best sellers. Bahr said the DVD, which came out last year, was only available through special order, but a few people requested it.
Reading the Book of Mormon was only part of what kept church members busy during 2005. Latter-day Saints all over the world spent the entire year celebrating the 200th birthday of Joseph Smith Jr., founder and first president of the Church. Smith was born Dec. 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vt.
Thousands of youth in Cedar City and the surrounding area participated in “A Great and a Marvelous Work” this past July at the Centrum. Celebrations also took place in St. George, Provo, Ogden, Logan and Salt Lake City. The year-long birthday party culminated in a worldwide broadcast on Dec. 23.
Wards and stakes throughout the church found other ways to celebrate the life of a man members revere as a prophet. Youth from the Enoch 4th Ward, for example, planned and took part in an “evening of elegance” and Joseph Smith birthday party on Dec. 20. Bishop Monte Criddle and his wife, Marnie, came dressed as Joseph and Emma Smith. Others in attendance acted out the parts of people from church history: Brigham Young, Lorenzo Snow, Parley P. Pratt, Eliza R. Snow, etc.
The menu, décor and dress were much as they would have been in the 19th century. Marnie Criddle gave the young men and young women a quick course in etiquette, including how to use the beautiful china that women in the ward had loaned for the occasion. At the end of the evening, SUU dance student Heather Smith taught a square dancing lesson.
Seventeen-year-old Chanel Schulthies said it was stressful preparing for the evening of elegance, but worth it to sit back and enjoy it in the end.
“I had fun doing the whole thing,” she said.
For Schulthies, the Youth Spectacular in July was the most memorable part of celebrating Joseph Smith’s 200th birthday.“Youth Spectacular was the best part,” she said. “It was the one that had the biggest impact on everyone, including me. “The spirit was so strong when we were up there sharing our talents, bearing our testimony of Joseph Smith. That was amazing. There were a lot of kids there who didn’t have a testimony of Joseph Smith, but came away with one.”

學校從友善家庭開始

同村協力　學校從友善家庭開始 　「我的兒子來到你的教室，並不是像一只空瓶子來被你填滿，而是像一只裝滿的籃子，來到一個有些特別東西可以分享的不同環境和社會。」Robert Lake在他所著《Caught Between Two Worlds》書中這樣寫著。 　每一個孩子帶著不同的家庭故事來到學校，同時也把家庭的文化特質、力量和期待，以及焦慮、壓力、問題和危機帶到教室來。 家庭功能弱化，學校概括承受 　台灣教改第一個十年，正是家庭結構變遷激烈和家庭功能備受挑戰、威脅的時期。走進絕大多數家庭，正在不斷弱化、甚至碎裂成一個一個個體，全國教師會理事長吳忠泰很憂心，「再麻木的人都會有所感受。」 　在教室裡，老師很容易察覺到，要收齊全班學生營養午餐費用的速度比以前慢；班上有孩子突然轉學、或中輟、或莫名奇妙地轉進來；來自低收入戶、單親、隔代教養家庭的學生一直成長；外籍配偶家庭子女更以驚人的速度增加。 　在學校門口，有愈來愈多的外傭接送「小主人」，也開始出現除了要規劃家長接送專區，有些學校還會劃定「XX安親班」「XX才藝班」的專區。 　同一個學校，同一個台灣，學生家庭出現社經地位兩極化，對孩子的教育安排有如兩個世界。然而，不管是窮爸爸還是富爸爸的孩子，親子親密溝通的時間普遍匱乏，家庭生活教育普遍失落。 　「十個家庭大概只有一個家庭還可以發揮『家』的作用，」中國健康家庭協會秘書長游乾桂觀察。家庭功能嚴重弱化，導致學校學生數儘管愈來愈少，需要特殊教育或特別輔導的學生卻愈來愈多。 　例如有感覺統合失調的孩子愈來愈多，上課注意力難以集中和持久，「十年前一個班頂多只有一、兩個，現在有十幾、二十個都在吃藥，」北市仁愛國小老師李芳琪指出這個難以想像的事實。 　家庭的結構變遷和功能弱化的趨勢，學校和老師很難置身事外。 　 學校是孩子的最後城堡 　 　絕大多數的父母在現在的大環境裡要維持一個像樣的家，顯得力不從心。 　「所有的父母愈來愈焦慮、愈來愈沒安全感，」心靈工作室負責人王浩威指出，像一座座孤島、各自奮力求生的父母會產生一種期望，「一出家門，就會有一個無形的空橋直通學校。」 　學校可以成為家庭的延伸，父母這種期待的背後，有著極大的焦慮，也顯示對學校教育好自己孩子的強烈寄望。 　「學校應該跟7-Eleven一樣，不要四點就關門，」台北市家長協會理事長包崇敏認為，學校應該扮演更積極的角色，凝聚社會力量，或是成為父母學習成長的機構。因為，「學校是現在社區唯一具有號召力的團體，」包崇敏說。 　教養孩子成長的第一個城堡──家庭，逐漸失守，傳統社區的力量瓦解，學校就像是孩子最後的城堡，要扮演起連結家庭孤島的橋樑，為孩子以及家庭，撐起穩固的支持網絡。 　 友善家庭，為家長多設想 　學校老師教育孩子的角色日漸吃重。因為除了父母或監護人以外，教室裡的老師是學生生活中最重要的成人。 　《教養的迷思》作者茱蒂．哈里斯（Judith Harris）認為，老師對教養孩子的權力和責任，比父母還來得大，因為「老師影響孩子在家庭以外的世界，而這個世界是孩子要度過一生的地方。」 　「學校或老師要怎麼做？要不要多幫家長做一些，這是一念之間，」南投縣信義國中校長全正文說。採取友善家庭的行動，並不是來自法律或上級的要求，而是來自對孩子的愛與希望。 　面對家庭造成教育現場的困擾或問題，「從同理心出發，會比較有能量來幫這些家庭，」全教會今年度「SUPER教師獎」得主、高雄前金幼稚園老師黃明玉說。 採取友善家庭的行動 　多一個友善家庭的行動，孩子的成長就可能多一分希望。 　高雄龍華國小，七、八年前是一個學生外流、親師疏離的學校，在蔡純姿上任校長後，為家長和老師搭起「愛的連線」，讓老師和家長學習彼此接納，龍華因而整個改觀，學生回流增加兩、三倍。 　「當家長第一次接到老師的電話家庭訪問，很感動，」現任高雄市前金國小校長蔡純姿回想當年，老師一通關心的電話，打破多年的冷漠，搭起親師合作的第一道契機。 　老師的「舉手之勞」，有時就減輕家長一些負擔。北市仁愛國小老師王美蘭就會儘量幫忙低收入孩子注意、申請各種獎助學金，申請書填好、叫孩子過來簽名，天真的孩子還高興地說，「老師你要我簽好多名，我好像大明星喔！」 　從北到南，從都會到鄉村，從山地部落到平地，面對家庭因素對孩子可能造成的不利影響，有愈來愈多的學校和老師已經開始採取友善家庭的行動。 友善家庭學校行動一：讓家長享受為人父母的喜悅 　許多學校舉辦了一系列的講座與工作坊，讓家長學習放手、放輕鬆。北市西湖國中還特別推出「家長有參加，孩子有獎勵」來吸引家長踴躍出席。 　「我要讓家長也能體會陪孩子成長的快樂，」新竹龍山國小老師丘慶鈴說。她讓孩子回家念童詩給家長聽，設計親子共讀的書香下午茶，透過班級會訊讓每個家長看得見孩子的成長以及分享有關親子教育的好文章，「讓家長有能量陪伴孩子走下去。」 　 友善家庭學校行動二：讓家長發揮助力並有成就 　 　「不管我到哪裡或在哪裡教書，我一定會記得一件我學會的事，那就是不能低估一位家長的力量，」美國愛荷華一位老師Carla Becker道出多年教學的心得。 　家長的力量，宜蘭縣慈心華德福教育實驗小學校長張純淑感受尤深，因為學校就是在家長的協助下成立。家長不但自己組社團，協助學校安排課程，而且把許多社區資源也帶進學校。 　在西湖國中有一個家長志工組織「慈心團」，成員包含孩子已畢業的家長，協助學校認輔需要特別關心的孩子，其中熱心的家長還會留意隔壁的西湖國小是否有需要特別關心的學生，等他們一進入西湖國中，會告知孩子班級導師與輔導室來一起關心。 　 友善家庭行動三：幫孩子看見父母的亮點 　父母如何工作和生活，身教就是給孩子最好的家庭教育。但現在父母因職場的限制或到外地工作，「孩子很難像過去可以從父母身上學習到勤奮、努力工作的價值典範，」南投神木國小校長史新健很遺憾。 　讓孩子有機會去了解父母、去學習父母的工作內容，是台北縣鼻頭國小「幫孩子看到父母身上亮點」的做法。 　鼻頭國小邀請家長擔任學生的「社區老師」，把他們的專長或本事或經驗交給孩子，例如鼻頭的人文典故、如何駕船和捕魚、認識海產、

遺屬中遺贈應如何處理(ERICLEE)

什麼叫遺贈呢？亦即遺囑人以遺囑之方式對於他人（受遺贈人）為無償讓與財產上利益之行為。可能有人會覺得奇怪，贈與東西給他人，為何不在生前就辦好這件事，也好說個明白，以免死後遭人質疑遺贈這件事的真假。難道是因為沒有時間，來不及於生前贈與？倒不盡然。很多遺囑是被繼承人生前早就預立好了，既然有充裕的時間安排將部分遺產贈與他人，怎麼會沒有時間親自把東西送給該人呢？這牽涉到遺囑人對遺贈這件事的看法。可能被繼承人生前礙於某些因素，不便於在世時公開贈與這回事，故選擇於死後由遺產管理人代勞。或者遺贈附有停止條件，也就是受遺贈人完成某條件後，給予其若干獎勵，而始發生遺贈的效力者，只是受遺贈人完成的時間不易確定，無法把握於遺贈人生前即可完成，故立下遺贈，以確保受遺贈人將來得請求的權利。 被繼承人死亡後，繼承人或遺產管理人發現遺囑中有遺贈時，該如何處理？首先需先確定該遺囑是否為合法有效之遺囑（遺囑之法定要件參後述），若不符合遺囑之法定要件，依民法第七十三條：「法律行為，不依法定方式者，無效。」遺囑應屬無效。則遺囑中之遺贈效力自然大有問題，能否引用民法第一百十一條法律行為之一部無效者，全部皆為無效，但除去該部分亦可成立者，則其他部分，仍為有效之規定來論斷遺贈之效力，尚須視個案狀況而定。還有遺贈的內容，不可違反強制或禁止之規定（民法第七十一條），也不可以違背公共秩序或善良風俗（民法第七十二條），否則為遺贈無效。 若是受遺贈人於遺囑發生效力（遺囑人死亡）前死亡者，該遺贈也不生效力。（民法第一千二百零一條）再來要審核遺贈的財產在繼承開始時是否仍為遺產的一部分，如果有一部分已非屬遺產，該部分之遺贈為無效。全部不屬於遺產者，全部遺贈為無效。但遺囑另有意思表示者，從其意思。（民法第一千二百零二條）前面所說遺贈的財產假如在繼承開始前發生滅失、毀損、變造或喪失對該物之占有者，遺囑人因而對他人取得權利時，推定遺囑人以該權利，為遺贈。（民法第一千二百零三條）遺贈附有義務者，受遺贈人以其所受利益為限，負履行之責。（民法第一千二百零五條）遺贈無效（參前述）或拋棄（受遺贈人在遺囑人死亡後，得拋棄遺贈，而溯及於遺囑人死亡時發生拋棄的效力）時，其遺贈之財產仍屬於遺產，而由繼承人按其應繼分繼承之。 （民法第一千二百零六條）再就遺贈與全部遺產的關係而言，是否有遺贈的上限？其實只要遺囑人於不違反繼承人之特留分規定範圍內，皆得以遺囑自由處分遺產。但如果遺囑人一時不察，致遺贈的範圍侵犯繼承人的特留分時，應得特留分之人（即繼承人），得就其不足特留分之數由遺贈財產中扣減之。受遺贈人不只一人時，應按其所得遺贈價額比例扣減。（民法第一千二百二十五條）前面所說﹁扣減﹂的標的，僅限於遺贈及應繼分之指定（參最高法院八十一年台上字第一○四二號判決），不及於被繼承人之生前贈與（最高法院二十五年上字第六六○號判例），換句話說，被繼承人的生前贈與則與繼承財產無涉，不受關於特留分規定的限制。 但若符合民法第一千一百七十三條歸扣之要件時，則另依該規定處理「繼承人中有在繼承開始前因結婚、分居或營業，已從被繼承人受有財產之贈與者，應將該贈與價額加入繼承開始時被繼承人所有之財產中，為應繼遺產。但被繼承人於贈與時有反對之意思表示者，不在此限。前項贈與價額，應於遺產分割時，由該繼承人之應繼分中扣除。贈與價額依贈與時之價值計算。」