Prolific and popular LDS author, Matthew B. Brown, was laid to rest today at the Orem City Cemetery at 1pm.  He passed peacefully through to the other side of the veil on October 5, 2011 after a brief and unexpected illness.

I only met Matthew personally fairly recently, when I participated in the Expound Conference that he organized in May, 2011.  However, I have long been a fan of his work, having been familiar with a number of his books for years, especially his first three, Symbols in Stone, The Gate of Heaven, and All Things Restored.  These books were highly inspiring to me and helped encourage me to pursue what I am doing today.  Matthew had an incredible talent for research and brought to light a wonderful wealth of information in a manner that made it accessible and exciting to a wide LDS audience.

The following is a list of some of his major publications:

Symbols in Stone: Symbolism on the Early Temples of the Restoration (1997 – Covenant Communications)
The Gate of Heaven: Insights on the Doctrines and Symbols of the Temple (1999 – Covenant Communications)
All Things Restored: Evidences and Witnesses of the Restoration (2000 – Covenant Communications)
The Plan of Salvation: Doctrinal Notes and Commentary (2002 – Covenant Communications)
Plates of Gold: The Book of Mormon Comes Forth (2003 – Covenant Communications)
Joseph Smith: The Man, The Mission, The Message (2004 – Covenant Communications)
Receiving Gifts of the Spirit (2005 – Covenant Communications)
Prophecies: Signs of the Times, Second Coming, Millennium (2006 – Covenant Communications)
A Pillar of Light: The History and Message of the First Vision (2009 – Covenant Communications)
Exploring the Connection Between Mormons and Masons (2009 – Covenant Communications)

You can also see many great papers and discourses by Matthew on the FAIR LDS website here.

Matthew’s buoyant personality, boundless energy, brilliant mind, and zeal for the Gospel will be sorely missed. He had so much that he was working on that he was eager to share with the world.  I hope that at least some of that can still come to light so that we may further benefit from his talents.

Matthew is survived by his sweet wife, Jamie.  FAIR has set up a donations page for anyone who would like to make a contribution to help out the family.

There will be a memorial service Saturday Oct. 15 at 1:00 PM at the Carterville Chapel in Orem.

For those who knew Matthew and would like to share your fond memories of him, Jamie Brown, along with Tyler Livingston, has set up the Matthew B. Brown Memorial Page on Facebook.

Some of his most recent efforts can be viewed on the webpage he recently set up, www.ExpoundLDS.com. It contains an incredible wealth of information on LDS beliefs, temples, Scripture, and many other topics.

Farewell, Matthew, dear friend! You will be greatly missed, but we know that you are received into the arms of your loved ones and into the rest of your Friend and Master, Jesus Christ and our loving Father. Well done, thou good and faithful servant.