gkearney

You are right, such can be done for U.S. expatiates. Further there are BSA groups for expatriates as well in some countries. However these options is not open to youth in nations with their own national scouting programs. What I am addressing here is the interaction between the local scouting programs and the Church youth programs. Most LDS youth in scouting outside of the United States and Canada will be in a community or school based scout group not attached in any way to the Church. My site does speak to this issue of U.S. expatiates and BSA scouting options. For some, living as you were with no scouting options this is a good option to follow. Others may well benefit from having their children in the local scouting program which exposes them to the local culture and to youth their own age.

As suggested I have added forums to the site: https://sites.google.com/site/intldsscouts/

Thank you for your comments I will add the link to the manual. However it is focused on the BSA program and would have to be adjusted for scouting outside of an LDS sponsored unit where the LDS scouts make up only a small part of the whole unit. Does anyone know if there is a similar handbook for scouting outside of the United States? I noticed that the sacrament meeting issue does not apply except when outside the ward or stake. In our case here in Australia this would not really be an issue. The stake that encompasses where we are located covers an area the size of Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, and California. Lots of camping potential in an area that big while still staying "within the stake".

While some of the elements predate masonry they do not come together in a single codified ritual in antiquity. Given this fact we have to assume that the rituals of Freemasonry played a role in the development of the temple endowment. That said it is the rituals and not the endowment proper that share these elements.

Well I am a Freemason and I have one of these cases about which you speak. I don't have any problem with using it as a temple bag. I admit I never thought of doing so but with it's space for an apron I can see how it would be good for that. As an aside I wear a Masonic Square and Compasses pin every Sunday to church and to the temple on my suit coat no one has ever said a word about it to me.

I have been working on an internet resource for international LDS Scouting. Internationally LDS sponsored scout groups are rare. However it is not uncommon to find LDS youth, both boys and girls in scouting. It is also sometimes the case that we encounter LDS youth from the United States who take part in the local scouting programs overseas. In such cases there are occasional issues that arise from the "duty to the Queen" statement found in the oath in commonwealth realms to the fact that in most of the world scouting is co-educational. The site I have been developing is at https://sites.google.com/site/intldsscouts/ please have a look and email me your thoughts. Thank you Greg Kearney

Hello. This is greg Kearney I am the Freemason, or Mason if you will the terms are interchangeable, who gave the lecture and wrote the web pages at FAIR about Freemasonry and the Church. I am an active temple attending LAtter-day Saint and an active life member of Franklin Lodge #123 A.F. and A. M of Maine. I would be happy to answer any questions abou this topic sent to me. [email protected]