October, 2026 - wasmormon.org

A $3 Million Check and a Genealogy Center: The Church Comes to the Juneteenth Museum

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that it has committed $3 million to support construction of the museum. Plans for the museum include a genealogy center intended to help visitors discover and preserve family histories through experiences powered by FamilySearch.” “The church’s donation will finance a FamilySearch-powered center inside the museum.” - Oct 7 Church Newsroom Press Release and Oct 9 Deseret News article

On October 7, 2026, Dr. Opal Lee turned 100. The woman known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth,” who campaigned for decades until Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, celebrated with a crowd in Fort Worth, a ceremonial demolition on the future site of the National Juneteenth Museum, and a gift. The Church of Jesus …

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Book of Mormon Jacob 3_8–9 skins will be whiter – darkness of their skins filthiness

“And it came to pass that those Lamanites who had united with the Nephites were numbered among the Nephites; And their curse was taken from them, and their skin became white like unto the Nephites; And their young men and their daughters became exceedingly fair” - The Book of Mormon — 3 Nephi 2:14-16, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

“And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.” - The Book of Mormon — 2 Nephi 5:21, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

“And I beheld the Spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles, and they did prosper and obtain the land for their inheritance; and I beheld that they were white, and exceedingly fair and beautiful, like unto my people before they were slain.” - The Book of Mormon — 1 Nephi 13:15, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

“And it came to pass that I beheld, after they had dwindled in unbelief they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations.” - The Book of Mormon — 1 Nephi 12:23, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The 1832 First Vision Account Leaves Out “Which Church Is True?” Question

"by searching the scriptures I found that mankind did not come unto the Lord but that they had apostatized from the true and living faith and there was no society or denomination that built upon the gospel of Jesus Christ as recorded in the new testament" - Joseph Smith – 1832 First Vision Account | wasmormon.org

The Restoration story most members know starts with a question. In the 1838 account (Joseph Smith—History, every missionary flip chart), fourteen-year-old Joseph walks into the woods near Palmyra, troubled by competing churches, and asks God which denomination is right. The lessons set the hook with Joseph’s honest seeking and provide a foreshadowing solution, simply ask …

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“The teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible... My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join... I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join.” - 1838 First Vision Account | Joseph Smith—History 1:10-20 | wasmormon.org — “The teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible... My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join... I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join.” - 1838 First Vision Account | Joseph Smith—History 1:10-20