Standard of Truth Podcast – S6E11 "The Day Bernie Came Inside"

Date: March 12, 2026
Hosts: Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat & Dr. Richard Leduc

Episode Overview

In this lively and humorous episode, Dr. Gerrit Dirkmaat and Dr. Richard Leduc respond to listener emails, debunk wildly inaccurate portrayals of Latter-day Saint history in a college textbook, and address common criticisms faced by Latter-day Saint missionaries—particularly the claim that one should not pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. Through their characteristic wit and historical insights, the hosts invite listeners to seek truth through genuine inquiry and reaffirm the power of spiritual experience in testimony.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Listener Banter & Podcasting Conference Experiences

• The hosts recount humorous behind-the-scenes stories, including the ongoing joke that they meander before getting to the main points (04:36).
• Brief mention of an LDS podcaster conference, with shout-outs to other content creators, highlighting camaraderie and the irony of expert feedback (03:37–04:36).

2. Listener Emails: Humor and March Madness Bracket Names

• Notable Email from Maddie (08:02–13:47): Written "between agonizing waves of active labor," full of sharp wit and playful insults. Maddie provides a sprawling list of inside-joke bracket names for the show’s March Madness event.
  • Quote:
    "Why, you might ask, am I sacrificing the sacred focus of childbirth to commune with the auditory equivalent of beige wallpaper?"
    — Maddie’s email read by Richard (09:32)
  • The hosts riff on her style, French-Canadian spelling, and her mock disdain, with extended laughter about the term “beige.”
• Segment includes a selection of the best/funniest listener-generated bracket names: “Greatest MTC District Leader Ever,” “Crinkling Jeeves,” “Keep Betty Alive,” “Seven Levels of Subreddit Hell,” among others (13:24–14:38).

3. The Culinary Textbook Fiasco: "Joseph Young" the Invented Founder

• Source: American Regional Cuisines: Food Culture and Cooking by Lou Sackett and David Haynes (18:27–31:27)
• Summary:
  • A listener sends in excerpts from a college culinary textbook making egregious errors about LDS history, notably crediting “Joseph Young” (not Joseph Smith) as the founder of the Church and as Brigham Young’s father, and alleging the pioneers arrived in Utah in 1838.
  • Dr. Dirkmaat and Dr. Leduc mock the inaccuracies and discuss failures of peer review in academia.
  • Quote:
    "Thus, the group relocated successively westward, and led by Joseph Young’s son, Brigham Young, eventually traveled to the Great Basin in 1838."
    — Textbook excerpt (25:26)
• Insight: They underscore how authoritative errors persist in print—how even ostensibly serious books propagate myths that, if left unchallenged, shape public perception.

4. The Danger of Relying on Poor Sources

• Using both the culinary textbook and a James Buchanan biography, the hosts illustrate how bad scholarship in supposedly reputable works misleads readers:
  • Buchanan, for example, is wrongly said to have sent the army to Utah in response to the Mountain Meadows Massacre—a chronological impossibility (40:49).
• Takeaway:
  • "Just as a word of warning to everybody: if you are looking for a quick and dirty, easy means of finding something on the internet, you are very likely to be misled... you are paying for convenience in accuracy."
    — Dirkmaat (36:17)

5. Responding to Missionary Challenges: Should You Pray About the Book of Mormon?

• Email from 'Crew,' an about-to-serve missionary: (51:39–54:09)
  • Shares struggles with friends' claims that praying to know if the Book of Mormon is true is unreliable because “feelings can get in the way.”
  • Friends quote scriptures (especially Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful...”) to support this.
• In-depth Discussion:
  • The hosts dismantle the analogy and argument. They point out that the warning against praying about truth ignores the biblical command in James 1:5 ("If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God...") and note the irony of refusing to seek personal revelation on the most important questions of faith (60:26).
  • They also address the “Galatians 1:8” argument ("even if an angel brings another gospel..."), highlighting double standards when Christians accept the Book of Revelation, which was delivered through an angel after Galatians was penned (69:16).
  • Quote:
    "Why would an all powerful God tell you to ask him and then allow Satan to be more powerful than God? Why would God say I want you to ask if he meant just make sure you don't ever ask?"
    — Dirkmaat (65:38)

6. Mission Stories: "The Day Bernie Came Inside"

• Story Segment (71:36–82:13)
  • Dr. Dirkmaat shares the titular story: As a young missionary in rural Wisconsin, he and his companion often relied on a quirky branch presidency member—Bernie—for rides. Bernie had unusual beliefs (preferring Doctrine & Covenants, ambivalent about the Book of Mormon) but never joined lessons.
  • One day, Bernie unexpectedly accepts, and during an emotional lesson with an investigator struggling with anti-Mormon arguments, Bernie's "most powerful spiritual experience" turns out to be... finding discounted VHS tapes at Walgreens.
  • Quote:
    "He said, 'I had the most powerful spiritual experience I've ever had in my life last week... I was there to buy an eight pack of VHS tapes for my wife so she could record Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. I found the cassettes... and then I had a powerful spiritual experience, and it said, stop, wait. And right up there by the cash register was the exact same set of VHS tapes for $0.50 less... Most powerful spiritual experience I've ever had in my life.'"
    — Bernie’s story as retold by Dirkmaat (80:06–81:59)
  • Purpose: The story underscores the need for authentic personal revelation over rote testimony, and the value of genuine spiritual experiences.

7. Affirming Spiritual Experience & Inviting Personal Inquiry

• Wraps up by strongly encouraging listeners to trust in God's promise to answer sincere seekers, affirming the reality and life-changing nature of revelation through the Holy Spirit (82:23–85:47).

  • Quote:
    "Please believe them that before us be more than them that be against us. The audacity of someone to argue that the omnipotent God who tells you to pray to him doesn't have the ability to answer you, or that Satan is somehow more powerful than the king of the universe... The testimony that comes from the Holy Ghost cuts to your center. It changes who you are, and who you will forever be."
    — Dirkmaat (82:23–85:47)

• Encouragement to keep seeking and standing firm, with a humorous note on future plans to count all 'fornication' references in scripture (87:03).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "After a while it just kind of sounds like I have an anger management problem." – Dirkmaat (02:38)
• "Why, you might ask, am I sacrificing the sacred focus of childbirth to commune with the auditory equivalent of beige wallpaper?” – Maddie, read by Leduc (09:32)
• "You keep on using that word [superfluous]. I do not think it means what you think it means. Inconceivable." – Dirkmaat (23:49)
• "He has the Mormons getting to Utah before Joseph Smith is in Liberty Jail, let alone murdered in Carthage Jail." – Dirkmaat (27:18)
• "You're paying for the convenience of a Wikipedia response…and you’re paying for the convenience in accuracy." – Dirkmaat (36:17)
• "James 1:5 says, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God. So if I were you, I wouldn't give up on that verse. I would hammer it." – Dirkmaat (65:38)
• The 'VHS tape' story as a metaphor for varying interpretations of spiritual experience (80:06–81:59).

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Listener banter & conference stories: 00:37–04:36
• March Madness names & Maddie’s email: 08:02–14:38
• Culinary textbook errors (Joseph Young): 18:27–31:27
• Dangers of poor sourcing & Buchanan example: 31:31–42:27
• Missionary email: praying over the Book of Mormon: 51:39–71:16
• Debunking anti-Mormon proof-texting: 57:10–71:16
• "The Day Bernie Came Inside" story: 71:36–82:13
• Affirmation of personal revelation: 82:23–85:47

Tone & Style

• Witty and incisive: Frequent self-deprecating jokes, sarcasm, and banter.
• Faith-affirming and pastoral: While scrutinizing errors, the hosts gently but firmly invite listeners (especially youth/missionaries) to seek truth sincerely.
• Unapologetically detailed: Willingness to digress for historical or exegetical depth.

Summary Takeaway

Through humor, historical rigor, and personal anecdotes, this episode champions the value of informed inquiry, spiritual experience, and steady faith amid misunderstanding—inviting listeners not to be cowed by poorly-sourced critiques or superficial arguments, but to seek direct answers from God and to find joy in their religious heritage.