I have wished the Lord had given us a little more clarity in the matter. But for me, it is enough. The prophets for 133 years of the Church have maintained the position of the prophet of the Restoration that the Negro could not hold the Priesthood nor have the temple ordinances which are preparatory for exaltation. Spencer W Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W Kimbal p488
I saw a striking contrast in the progress of the Indian people today ... The day of the Lamanites is nigh. For years they have been growing delightsome, and they are now becoming white and delightsome, as they were promised. In this picture of the twenty Lamanite missionaries, fifteen of the twenty were as light as Anglos, five were darker but equally delightsome. The children in the home placement program in Utah are often lighter than their brothers and sisters in the hogans on the reservation. At one meeting a father and mother and their sixteen-year-old daughter were present, the little member girl – sixteen – sitting between the dark father and mother, and it was evident she was several shades lighter than her parents - on the same reservation, in the same hogan, subject to the same sun and wind and weather ... These young members of the Church are changing to whiteness and to delightsomeness. Spencer W Kimball, general conference address 1960
It is an act of extreme selfishness for a married couple to refuse to have children when they are able to do so. When married couples postpone child bearing until after they have satisfied their material goals, the mere passage of time assures that they seriously reduce their potential to participate in furthering our Heavenly Father’s plan for all his spirit children. Faithful Latter Day Saints cannot afford to look upon children as an interference with what the world calls, self-fulfilment. Our covenant with God and the ultimate purpose of life are tied up in these little ones who reach for our time, our love and our sacrifices. Spencer W Kimball
I saw a striking contrast in the progress of the Indian people today ... The day of the Lamanites is nigh. For years they have been growing delightsome, and they are now becoming white and delightsome, as they were promised. In this picture of the twenty Lamanite missionaries, fifteen of the twenty were as light as Anglos, five were darker but equally delightsome. The children in the home placement program in Utah are often lighter than their brothers and sisters in the hogans on the reservation. At one meeting a father and mother and their sixteen-year-old daughter were present, the little member girl – sixteen – sitting between the dark father and mother, and it was evident she was several shades lighter than her parents - on the same reservation, in the same hogan, subject to the same sun and wind and weather ... These young members of the Church are changing to whiteness and to delightsomeness. Spencer W Kimball, general conference address 1960
Now the Lamanites number about sixty million; they are in all of the states of America from Tierra del Fuego all the way up to Point Barrows, and they are in nearly all the islands of the sea from Hawaii south to southern New Zealand. The Church is deeply interested in all Lamanites because of these revelations and because of this great Book of Mormon, their history that was written on plates of gold and deposited in the hill. The translation by the Prophet Joseph Smith revealed a running history for one thousand years – six hundred years before Christ until four hundred after Christ – a history of these great people who occupied this land for that thousand years. Then for the next fourteen hundred years, they lost much of their high culture. The descendants of this mighty people were called Indians by Columbus in 1492 when he found them here. Spencer W Kimball, article Ensign July 1971, ‘Of Royal Blood’
On the sad character Cain, an interesting story comes to us from Lycurgus A Wilson’s book on the life of David W Patten. From the book I quote an extract from a letter by Abraham O Smoot giving his recollection of David Patten’s account of meeting ‘a very remarkable person’ who had represented himself as being Cain:
‘As I was riding along the road on my mule I suddenly noticed a very strange personage walking beside me ... His head was about even with my shoulders as I sat in my saddle. He wore no clothing, but was covered with hair. His skin was very dark. I asked him where he dwelt and he replied that he had no home, that he was a wanderer in the earth and traveled to and fro. He said he was a very miserable creature, that he had earnestly sought death during his sojourn upon the earth, but that he could not die, and his mission was to destroy the souls of men. About the time he expressed himself thus, I rebuked him in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by virtue of the Holy Priesthood, and commanded him to go hence, and he immediately departed out of my sight’. Spencer W Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness pp.127-128 [cf. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein!]
One of the great leaders of Latin America. Spencer W Kimball, presenting Book of Mormon to August Pinochet, dictator of Chile
Sometimes masturbation is the introduction to the more serious sins of exhibitionism and the gross sin of homosexuality. Spencer W Kimball, LDS New Era article p39 November 1980, ‘President Kimball Speaks Out on Morality’
There are more than 60 million people of Lamanite extraction. It is no accident that the Church now prospers among them in Mexico, Central and South America, in the islands of the sea, and among the Indian tribes of North America. Spencer W Kimball, Ensign March 1974, ‘No Ordinary Man’
There are some people who have said that behind the bedroom doors anything goes. That is not true and the Lord would not condone it. Spencer W Kimball The Teaching of Spencer W Kimball @ p311
This heinous homosexual sin is of the ages. Many cities and civilizations have gone out of existence because of it. It was present in Israel’s wandering days, tolerated by the Greeks, and found in the baths of corrupt Rome. Spencer W Kimball, article New Era p39 November 1980, ‘President Kimball Speaks Out on Morality’
The things of God cannot be understood by the spirit of men. It is impossible to always measure and weigh all spiritual things by man’s yardstick of scales. Admittedly, our direct and positive information is limited. Spencer W Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W Kimball
Today thousands of Lamanites are coming into the Church. More than one hundred Lamanite branches have been organized among the stakes and within the missions. In many of these branches the leadership is provided by the Lamanite members. They are the branch presidents, the teachers, the auxiliary leaders, the music directors. Lives are being transformed. In some cases whole Indian communities are being affected ... In fulfillment of Nephi’s prophetic words, the Lamanites in our day are, indeed, being restored to their rightful plea in the House of Israel. By their obedience to the principles of the gospel, they are beginning to receive the blessings promised to their ancient fathers. Boyd K Packer, article Relief Society Magazine 1964, ‘For the Blessing of the Lamanites’
When I said you must teach your people to overcome their prejudices and accept the Indians, I did not mean that you would encourage intermarriage. I mean that they should be brothers, to worship together and to work together and to play together; but we must discourage intermarriage, not because it is sin. I would like to make this very emphatic. A couple has not committed sin if an Indian boy and a white girl are married, or vice versa. It isn’t a transgression like the transgressions of which many are guilty. But it is not expedient. Marriage statistics and our general experience convince us that marriage is not easy. It is difficult when all factors are favorable. The divorces increase constantly, even where the spouses have the same general background of race, religion, finances, education, and otherwise ...
The inter-race marriage problem is not one of inferiority or superiority.
When one considers marriage, it should be an unselfish thing, but there is not much selflessness when two people of different races plan marriage. They must be thinking selfishly of themselves. They certainly are not considering the problems that will beset each other and that will beset their children ...
We are unanimous, all of the Brethren, in feeling and recommending that Indians marry Indians, and Mexicans marry Mexicans; the Chinese marry Chinese and the Japanese marry Japanese; that the Caucasians marry the Caucasians, and the Arabs marry Arabs. Spencer W Kimball, The Teachings of Spancer W Kimball pp.302-303
I started to read it [The Miracle of Forgiveness], and all the old feelings of horror came back – the same feelings I had on my mission, when I read the book, and felt a total sense of despair. Was this really what God is like?
I found the part about the old Apostle, and his encounter with a huge, hairy black man, who, it turned out, had to be Cain. It was incredible that a man in the 20th century would include this stuff in a book.
I read the part about rape, and how a woman is probably better off being killed than allowing her rape to occur. What was Kimball thinking? Would he really wish that sentiment on someone he loved?
At any rate, I think Kimball’s book was one of the worst in the long, sad history of Mormon publishing. I am amazed it’s still available, still in print. I can’t think of a single book which did more to discourage and depress people who, for various reasons, felt they needed hope.
My wife trashed my daughter’s copy of the book after she saw it on the coffee table. lightfingerlouie, board post 31st July 2007, ‘The Last Time I Saw a Copy of The Miracle of Forgiveness’
... the existing Indian tribes are all direct descendants of Lehi and his company, and that therefore they have sprung from men all of whom were of the house of Israel. James E Talmage, The Articles of Faith p293
It [polygamy] ended. We moved on. M Russell Ballard, Ensign article June 2010, ‘Sharing the Gospel with Confidence’