Starting in late 2013, the Church began to publish essays on LDS.org that confirm many of the troubling issues found in Mormonism. These essays discuss controversial events or topics that hadn’t previously been addressed by the governing body of the church, including the ban that prevented blacks from receiving the priesthood or entering the temples, the Book of Mormon translation and DNA research, and the Book of Abraham translation. The efforts to be more open with the complete history of the Church will lead to a better understanding of the founding events for both believers and investigators.

Although the essays contain information and footnotes that may be viewed as “spinning the story” in favor of the church, many view these essays as baby steps in the right direction toward transparency and truthfulness toward church members. These essays also help the church protect itself from litigation lest discouraged members ever attempt to sue to church for fraud or non-disclosure of the facts, as was the case with Stake President Tom Phillips, who filed for a hearing in 2013 after discovering troubling information about the Church that had never been disclosed to him before and which made the church’s truth claims much less believable.

Many of the essays are buried deep within LDS.org and are difficult to the find. The following resource provides links directly to the essays to make it easier for those who wish to find them:

http://mormonessays.com/how-to-find-on-lds-dot-org/