This is the official site of Vern Sommerfeldt. Director of the Center for Doctrinal Understanding. Consultant to the Children of Israel Foundation (A U.S. registered 501c3 non profit organization).
The overall focus of the Center for Doctrinal Understanding
is the Book of Mormon and its sacred and saving relationship
to the House of Israel and to the Land of Israel and its capital,
the city of Jerusalem.
Specifically, we are strongly committed to helping our Father
in Heaven’s “children of the covenant” through two key initiatives:
1. LDS Scriptural Proficiency which includes—
- Providing a means whereby members of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can become
scripturally, doctrinally, and spiritually self-reliant; - Helping to rescue, retain, and redeem our college-age
young adults—single and married.
2. An Ensign to the Nations which includes—
- Supporting the spiritual and physical gathering of
the House of Israel; - Developing and strengthening relationships of trust
and friendship in the Holy Land; - Assisting children, youth, and young adults living
in Jerusalem and surrounding areas, in cooperation
with the Jerusalem International YMCA and with
the Children of Israel Foundation (A U.S. registered
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization); - Seeking to “bring out of obscurity” Elder Orson Hyde’s
historic journey and mission to Jerusalem—thereby,
helping to realize the fulfillment of the prophetic
pronouncements and supplications made by this
latter-day apostle on behalf of the Savior and Messiah,
even Jesus Christ.
We invite you to join with us in “labor[ing]” in these exciting and significant parts of what the Prophet Joseph Smith called “the most honorable cause that ever graced
the pages of human existence.” (History of the Church, vol. 4, pp. 39, 40)