Twenty-Four (1829)(^41) Compare Luke 9:36; Matthew 16:20; 17:9; Mark 4:10–11, 34.
(^42) DHC, 1:109–10; See also Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling, 120.
(^43) See D&C, 28:11.
(^44) Often referred to as William E. McLellin. See D&C, 66:1; 68:7; 75:6; 90:35.
(^45) SNS, 107.
(^46) Compare BOM, 3 Nephi 11:3.
(^47) DHC, 1:64.
(^48) SNS, 85–7.
(^49) SNS, 1, and entire book for complete contents of the LDS/Mormon temple endowment.
See also “Background surrounding the 1990 changes to the Mormon temple ceremony,” lds-
mormon.com, 2001, 18 May 2011 http://www.lds-mormon.com/whytemplechanges.shtml.
“Before INTRODUCTORY ANNOUNCEMENT: Before beginning the Endowment service,
we present the following statement from the First Presidency.
FIRST PRESIDENCY’S STATEMENT: Since the temple Endowment was first administered in
this dispensation, minor changes have been made from time to time by the First Presidency and
Council of the Twelve, acting unitedly in their capacity as Prophets, Seers and Revelators.
After an exacting and extensive review, and following solemn prayer on many occasions in
the Upper Room of the Salt Lake Temple, modifications in the Endowment ceremony have been
recently made by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve. Those of you who are familiar
with the ceremony will recognize these changes which do not affect the substance of the teachings of
the Endowment, nor the covenants associated therewith.
As with the other aspects of the Endowment, you are under solemn obligation not to discuss
these sacred matters outside of the temple.
May you be blessed of the Lord in the selfless service which you give in His holy house.
Sincerely, the First Presidency.”
(^50) SNS, 87, 105.
The “philosophies of men” were once pointed out by a sitting general authority as applicable
to LDS/Mormon leaders themselves: “7. I have heard a few of you declare that you are greater than
ancient apostles such as Moses, Abraham, Noah[,] Is[a]iah, Isaac, Jacob and etc. This reflects the
attitude of all of you. 8. I have heard one or more of you declare that you can change anything Jesus
had said or taught. This also reflects the attitude of all of you.” (Letter by George P. Lee,
photographically printed in Excommunication of a Mormon Church Leader: containing the letters of Dr.
George P. Lee [Salt Lake City: Utah Lighthouse™ Ministry, 1989] 54); emphasis added.
See also George P. Lee, “Letters to the [LDS] First Presidency and the Twelve,” as quoted in
Salt Lake Tribune, 2 Sept. 1989 and “The Lee Letters” in Sunstone Magazine, Aug. 1989: 50–5. (Cover
reads Nov. 1989, but footers and title page indicate Aug. 1989)
https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/issues/072.pdf.
Dr. Lee was summarily excommunicated on 1 Sept. 1989 on the charge of “speaking ill of the
Lord’s anointed,” although his letters evidence that he had followed the protocol outlined in D&C,
42:88–93 (quoted excerpts in italics herein). Those letters became public only after LDS leaders
refused to acknowledge any error on their part “in secret” and thereby “be reconciled” with their
brother “in a meeting, and that not before the world.” Instead, they “...rebuked [him] openly, that he or she
may be ashamed” and thereby failed to abide and be bound by their own governing doctrine, thus self-
evidently “declar[ing] that [they] can change anything Jesus had said or taught,” as further proof of
Lee’s original accusations against them, manifested by virtue of their actions and sanctioned by the
so-called “priesthood” of “the Lord’s anointed.” (See Appendix 1.)
Dr. George P. Lee (1948–2010), a Navajo Indian, was the first Native American to have been
called as an LDS General Authority (1975–1989) throughout the entirety of Mormon history (which is
strange, considering the Indians are the “sole intended benefactors” of the Book of Mormon, as Joseph
Smith, Jr. well knew). One could logically wonder why it took Brigham Young’s church nearly a