Item Detail
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18166
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2
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8
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English
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Without Purse or Scrip in Scotland
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Dialogue : A Journal of Mormon Thought
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summer 2006
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39
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no.2
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46-69
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[2007 Mormon Historical Association Winner for Best Article]
Aird examines the experiences of eight Scottish men who served as missionaries in their country during the 1840s and 1850s. These men were traveling elders who left their homes and taught, mostly in rural areas of Scotland where there were few members of the Church. They were instructed to go without "purse or scrip". Aird examined the journals of these men as well as conference minutes and reports in the Millennial Star in order to answer three questions: What did going without purse or scrip really entail? Where and how did they receive money, lodging, clothing, and support for their families? And how successful was this missionary effort? All of these men suffered for want of food and shelter. Some of them suffered more than others because they took the instruction to go without purse or scrip very literally. Some elders had to result to begging or foraging for food, they slept outdoors, even in bad weather; their clothes would be threadbare, while their families at home also suffered. Others were persuasive speakers and were able to obtain money from preaching. When the missionaries were in an area with members of the Church they were sometimes provided with food, clothing, shelter, and money. Their families were also given money and provisions by members. When applied literally "going without purse or scrip was not a success as far as providing food, shelter, clothes, and money." However, Aird concludes that a "more important measure of success is how the traveling elders viewed their missions." Three of the men did not state their feelings on the matter, but the others, all save one, reported that they had been blessed and rewarded for their service
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History of Utah 1540-1886
James Ririe - Archibald McFarland
The 1857 Reformation in Britain
The Ebb and Flow of the Church in Scotland
The Mormon Missionary of the Nineteenth Century
The Rocky Mountain Saints : A Full and Complete History of the Mormons
Why Did the Scots Convert?
Without Purse or Scrip? Financing Latter-day Saint Missionary Work in Europe in the Nineteenth Century