Welcome to the Mormonverse

I was once invited to attend a Mormon scholarship conference. As a lifelong member of the church, a returned missionary and a teaching assistant for a religion professor at BYU, I eagerly looked forward to the event. My barely contained excitement was quashed, however, when I discovered just how boring Mormon scholarship is. The speakers droned on about semantics and primary sources and peer reviews and all manner of other topics in which I had no interest. In short, these very intelligent people used whatever the opposite of imagination is to talk about all of the mindbendingly incredible things there are to discuss within Mormondom. 

I'm sick of it. I know that scholarship, research, sources, blah, blah and blah are important, but I have started looking at Mormonism as more than a history to be studied or a faith to be followed. It is a massive universe filled with adventures, prophecies, heroes and villains. The way a person may look at Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings or Star Wars is how I look at the Mormon canon. Where someone may be able to rattle off every spell uttered in The Goblet of Fire, I can recite the twelve sons of Israel and tell you about their outrageous shenanigans. Does that make me some mega nerd? Yes. But I think it's a shame that being a fan of a fictional universe is fine while being a fan of the scriptures and doctrine I believe in is stigmatized. My goal with this blog is to find and connect with the other mega fans of church history, doctrine and culture and hopefully convert others to the fandom.

 My views, opinions and theories do not reflect the stance of the church and I will steer clear of topics that may be controversial or sensitive. I will provide sources where possible, but bear in mind that the goal of this blog is to discuss things in a more casual and less scholarly setting.

 Following is a working list of the type of content you can expect from this blog:
Charts: I love charts, maps, graphs and chronologies that facilitate study and I will periodically post the ones I have made.
Continuity errors: When posed with a question that "proves the Mormon church wrong" the answer is sometimes very simple if you look for it. I will be posting answers I have arrived at through my own study to these questions.
Fan theories: This is where I will speculate on certain topics and provide my own personal commentary. Again, this is not meant to be a scholarly endeavor. Take what you read with a grain of salt. 
Fandom connections: I will be looking at other popular fandoms through a Mormon (and in a broader sense, Christian) lens.
Comments: I am willing to address questions in the comment section or via email through zelphonandagus14@gmail.com.

Let us all press on!

 Mikey

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