This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Date: Feb. 15, 2012
Summary: Leaders discuss a working group that will focus on preparing to spread the Mormon message to the Islamic world.
Quote: "I don't think [Muslim converts] have a problem being assimilated," apostle M. Russell Ballard says, except "maybe in Utah."
Date: June 11, 2008
Summary: LDS leaders are briefed on emerging scientific advances and their possible effect on moral questions:
Quote: "The question of students choosing performance-enhancing drugs to concentrate during tests after studying all night is already here," says Gerrit W. Gong of the Seventy. "Do any such drugs contradict the Word of Wisdom?"
Date: Feb. 21, 2007
Summary: Mormon leaders are reassured that marriage — despite earlier media reports — remains a desire of the vast majority of adults, but are warned that Latter-day Saints, like the general populace, are delaying nuptials and having fewer children.
Quote: "Separating marriage myth and fact," says Gerrit W. Gong of the Seventy, "may help our young LDS adults maintain the faith and hope they need as they seek and commit to marriage today."
Date: Nov. 12, 2008
Summary: LDS leaders hear about the difficulty keeping young single adults committed to the faith. The activity rate in North America at the time was 30 percent; internationally it was 20 percent.
Quote: "Young single adults are among the church's most underutilized resources," says Bruce C. Hafen of the Seventy. "They have enormous potential, but face high risks in today's world."
Date: Dec. 3, 2008
Summary: LDS leaders are briefed about the increasing threat of piracy on the high seas and view a short clip from Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean."
Quote: "I show [this clip]," says Gerrit W. Gong of the Seventy, "because, though meant in fun, Captain Jack [Sparrow] makes pirating appear good and traditional authority appear silly."
Date: May 15, 2008
Summary: LDS leaders discuss the faith's welfare services and the effectiveness of its push for members to have at least a three-month, if not a year, supply of food. In 2007, 18 percent to 20 percent of U.S. Mormons had a three-month supply, while 10 percent to 15 percent had a full year. Fewer than 3 percent of international members had either.
Quote: "It would be advisable [to] have a survey through the bishops," apostle M. Russell Ballard says. "We want to know whether we are really gaining on this thing with our members."
Date: Sept. 17, 2008
Summary: LDS leaders hear about what led to the housing crisis and how financial institutions took on too much risk.
Quote: "We have some commotion but no need for fear," says Gerrit W. Gong of the Seventy.
Date: Jan. 12, 2011
Summary: What was intended as a conversation about the LDS Church's cybersecurity measures, turns into a conversation about Chelsea Manning's sexual orientation.
Quote: "I'm suspicious that the news media cover up anything involving homosexuals when it would work to the disadvantage of the homosexual agenda and so on," says apostle Dallin H. Oaks, "and I was just wondering if there was some of that in this."
Date: June 13, 2012
Summary: General authorities hear a presentation on the history of Kurds and discuss ways to bring their faith to these people in Northern Iraq.
Quote: "The only hesitancy we've had is that anything we do in Kurdistan will be viewed very negatively by the Turks," says Bruce D. Porter of the Seventy, "and we're moving into Turkey."
Date: Feb. 18, 2009
Summary: Former Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., explains how valuable it is to the church to have active members in the Senate, who can help facilitate meetings with foreign leaders.
Quote: "Having them in there and knowing that their temple recommend is more important than their election certificate," Smith says, "is of inestimable value."
Date: Nov. 11, 2010
Summary: With medical marijuana making inroads, LDS officials discuss their stance on the drug and how to talk about it with their members.
Quote: "I can't understand our great emphasis on getting rid of tobacco to then start a project to increase marijuana," says the late apostle L. Tom Perry. "It's so inconsistent."
Date: May 16, 2012
Summary: Former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt presents a plan for the LDS Church to work with other faiths to create a nationwide network to fight for religious freedom and against abortion and gay marriage.
Quote: "The new battleground for religious freedom is in the states," Leavitt says. "What we need is an organization on the ground."
Date: Oct. 29, 2008
Summary: The discussion focuses on the economic collapse and how it might lead to fewer older Mormons being able to serve missions.
Quote: "We have to pause and remember that we're leading 13 million people worldwide," says the late LDS apostle Boyd K. Packer, "and this pestilence is somehow touching them all so we've got to settle down, sober up and wise up."
Date: Nov. 19, 2008
Summary: David Magleby, a political scientist from Brigham Young University, walks the general authorities through an analysis of the 2008 election, with a major focus on gay-marriage initiatives.
Quote: "If this becomes a vote of the gays versus the Mormons," Magleby warns, "we are going to lose twice."
Date: Unclear
Summary: Church leaders discuss changes to its history department.
Quote: "Church history is a huge universe that we can't possibly comprehend in its totality," says emeritus general authority Marlin K. Jensen. "And so from that great body of things we might do, we've got to focus in on those things that would be of most importance for us."
Source: Mormon Leaks videos found at http://bit.ly/2dSlQVt