The Work of This Last Dispensation

I noted with interest this morning that the Church reported a total membership of 17,887,212 at the end of December, 2025. In the first quarter of this year we no doubt have passed 18,000,000 members.

The world's population is now estimated at 18,300,000,000. If one were to plug those numbers into a calculator, you get a number like .002168% that represents the total percentage of people who have been baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in this final dispensation. 

Clearly, when one ponders this reality it can be a very disheartening prospect if we consider ourselves to be a missionary church as we do. Conversely, if one were to take the positive point of view with the same set of facts, why not conclude that our opportunities that await us in converting the world to the true blessings of the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ are virtually unlimited. We are expanding our reach throughout the world now with new missionaries and new missions being organized in record numbers. 

Twin Granddaughter
Missionaries Being Endowed

I was edified this morning as I reviewed a pivotal address on an Easter Sunday by President Dallin H. Oaks in General Conference in 2018. He entitled it "Small and Simple Things." He encourages us to consider just how impactful our influence can be in situations we might be tempted by Satan to think are meaningless and so trivial that we can easily become discouraged or disheartened. The monumental tasks ahead of us seem insurmountable at times when we look at the raw data.

However, think of the rising number of our young people who are routinely answering the calls into the mission field worldwide these days. It's staggering to contemplate the collective influence for good their efforts represent. 

Remember, these are the most innocent and inexperienced people we could possibly imagine, yet they answer their calls with hope and anticipation unfettered by the judgments of the world. And perhaps most importantly, they are succeeding in staggering numbers as baptisms continue to rise and temples are spreading throughout the world to provide eternal ordinances for those seeking a covenant relationship with their Heavenly Father and their Savior Jesus Christ.

Second Coming

My conclusion today is that we may be intimidated by the sheer magnitude of the mountain yet to climb in this dispensation as we prepare the world for the Second Coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. But (and it's a BIG BUT) we are promised the final victory in this small sample from the gospel of John:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6).

“I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12).

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).

Have You Become Internet Dependent?

I asked myself that question all of last week with the demise of my router that had died of "old age." I had it tested to discover why my access to the internet had slowly been degrading over the last several weeks. I use STARLINK as my provider, and they agreed through their interactive AI "consultant" who spoke perfect English with a lilting and cheerful voice that "she" would be happy to send me a replacement disk and router at no charge to me. It was a week in transit, and when I received it yesterday via FedEx I was up and running within minutes. Internet access has become "plug and play."

Lindon Temple

During my week of internet exile, I was able to fill in the downtime by attending several temples nearby in Utah. One day I had a "double-header" with an endowment session for two twin granddaughters in the Mount Timpanogos Temple as they prepare to leave on their missions. Then the next day one of their sisters was sealed in the new Lindon Temple. 

Another day I was headed up north for the live endowment of a grandson, also preparing for his mission to Brazil later this summer. Along the way with ample time to spare I took in an initiatory and endowment session in the Brigham City Temple, then caught a bite to eat before moving on to Logan for the session with my grandson in the Logan Temple. It was a long day, to be sure, and I arrived home after 10:30 p.m. filled with the fulfillment that can only come in participating with beloved family members. 

The good brother who was supervising the initiatory ordinances in Brigham City Temple asked me if I were related the Goates family that lives in the Woodland Ward. I was stunned! I replied, "Well, yes I am. That's me!" His daughter lives in our ward, and she had been talking about our family with him for years. No matter how large the Church becomes there seems to be no end of obscure but meaningful connections among us. We are still personal in all our relationships.

Wednesday of last week was also filled with a drop-in endowment session in the Bountiful Temple, because I couldn't make a reservation without my internet access. I realized just how helpless I was when I couldn't even print a family name slip for any of my outings last week.

I live alone in my "now-it's-way-too-big" home. With access to the internet I am playing background music continually from my Apple Music library. Without the internet I am listening to nothing but the sounds of silence, and my loneliness is compounded. 

I am also connected through the worldwide community of "X" (formerly Twitter), which was absent from my life last week. Increasingly the members of the Church are connecting through that medium, and I am grateful to have discovered that population ever since Elon Musk, its creator, has cleaned it up for a more meaningful experience for all participants.

Logan Temple

Brigham City Temple

I will be the first to raise my hand in favor of the internet in my life. I will also admit to my dependency upon it these days. Even a week without it brought immeasurable joy as I picked up my delivery yesterday from FedEx and installed my new components to restore my access.

Promises From God Are Reliable, Even When They Seem Elusive

I awoke this morning with a scripture in my mind:

And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved. (Omni 1:26, emphasis mine).

Out of that little book of only one chapter comes these powerful words of promise from Omni. It’s a timeless invitation to one and all, no exceptions.

I also reflected on the baptism of great-grandson Simon Johns last Saturday, and thought of this chapter heading in Alma 5:

To gain salvation, men must repent and keep the commandments, be born again, cleanse their garments through the blood of Christ, be humble and strip themselves of pride and envy, and do the works of righteousness — The Good Shepherd calls His people — Those who do evil works are children of the devil — Alma testifies of the truth of his doctrine and commands men to repent — The names of the righteous will be written in the book of life. About 83 B.C.

By my count, Alma poses 42 questions to us in this chapter, as he reasons with us about our discipleship. He concludes with these verses that spoke again to my heart this morning:

For what shepherd is there among you having many sheep doth not watch over them, that the wolves enter not and devour his flock? And behold, if a wolf enter his flock doth he not drive him out? Yea, and at the last, if he can, he will destroy him.

And now I say unto you that the good shepherd doth call after you; and if you will hearken unto his voice he will bring you into his fold, and ye are his sheep; and he commandeth you that ye suffer no ravenous wolf to enter among you, that ye may not be destroyed.

And now I, Alma, do command you in the language of him who hath commanded me, that ye observe to do the words which I have spoken unto you.

I speak by way of command unto you that belong to the church; and unto those who do not belong to the church I speak by way of invitation, saying: Come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye also may be partakers of the fruit of the tree of life. (Alma 5:59-62, emphasis mine).

I have been feeling the pull of my Redeemer this weekend, as we seek the answers we need in all our various needs as a family. To be sure, we are being tested individually and collectively, and our love for one another strengthens us in those struggles. I feel to testify this morning that the ravenous wolves at our doorsteps will be ultimately be slain because of our collective faith in our Great Deliverer.

As I have studied the deliverance of our ancient cousins in the house of Israel from the wicked Pharaoh in Egypt, who first promised, then reneged on his promise to let them go after ten plagues Moses called down upon the Egyptians, I have concluded he could certainly be classified as a “ravenous wolf.” And yet he and all his hosts were drowned in the depths of the Red Sea while chasing after Moses and his faithful followers. But even that miraculous deliverance was not enough to convince them to trust in God. Instead, they wandered and their faith in God was tested for forty long years thereafter before they were permitted to enter the promised land of Israel. Even today’s headlines coming out of Israel, and their conquest of their wicked enemies in Iran, are resounding proof to me that God has never forgotten His children among the descendants of Judah.

Today, April 13, 2026, in the Jewish calendar celebrates something most of you have never heard about. It’s called Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG’vurah (Hebrew: יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה, literally  ‘Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day’), known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah (Hebrew: יום השואה, Yiddish: יום השואה) and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day, is Israel’s day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust by Nazi Germany and its allies, and for the Jewish resistance in that period. In Israel, it is a national Memorial Day, but several Jewish communities around the world observe the day as well. The first official commemorations took place in 1951, and the observance of the day was anchored in a law passed by the Knesset in 1959. It is held on the 27th of Nisan (which falls in April or May), unless the 27th would be adjacent to the Jewish Sabbath, in which case the date is shifted by a day.

Celebrating Yom HaShoah

If ever there were an example of long-lasting suffering and the faithful persistence to seek deliverance, it is surely to be seen in the example of Judaism today. They are still living in the land granted to them by Yeshua (Jehovah). Remarkably, Israel has never declared war on their neighbors to acquire more territory, but has fought defensive wars against all their aggressors.

I have thought about our most recent suffering as Goates Kids this morning as these memories have flooded my thinking. I must hasten to add that I am by no means inflating our current challenges by comparing them to the travails of the descendants of Judah. That is not my intent here. Rather, I want to remind us of the promises of God that never fail us. His promises for deliverance are reliable, even as elusive as they might seem right now. "Elusive" is one word to describe it, and another might be “improbable.” Our faith will be tested as part of our mortal experience. We can help one another as we bind together in our faith in the Lord's deliverance. That is true for our family, as it is for every other family on earth today. There truly is strength in our numbers if we remain faithful to Him.

Salt Lake Temple

Despite however elusive those promises might appear to be today, please be comforted by these verses, again from Alma:

But behold, the Spirit hath said this much unto me, saying: Cry unto this people, saying — Repent ye, and prepare the way of the Lord, and walk in his paths, which are straight; for behold, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and the Son of God cometh upon the face of the earth.

And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.

And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

Now I say unto you that ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness.

Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism.

And whosoever doeth this, and keepeth the commandments of God from thenceforth, the same will remember that I say unto him, yea, he will remember that I have said unto him, he shall have eternal life, according to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which testifieth in me.

And now my beloved brethren, do you believe these things? Behold, I say unto you, yea, I know that ye believe them; and the way that I know that ye believe them is by the manifestation of the Spirit which is in me. And now because your faith is strong concerning that, yea, concerning the things which I have spoken, great is my joy. (Alma 7:9-17, emphasis mine).

I testify of the truthfulness of these words, and also of your steadfast faith despite all the evidence of your sufferings right now. These are circumstances which none of you invited, certainly, knowing you as I do. However, imagine now if you can (though you don't remember) how we shouted for joy in the pre-existent realms of the spirit world as we watched our revered parents Adam and Eve partake of the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of all things good and evil. They opened the doors of mortality for each of us. We longed for this day of our mortal probation, and now it is upon us in all its varied shades of light and darkness. I hope you will accept my testimony and my sure knowledge that our present condition in mortality will someday also pass away. For me, it will probably come sooner than any of you as I stare down the barrel of my long-lived mortality in the natural course of uncertain future events that lie ahead.

There’s a threatening line in the endowment ceremony from Lucifer that has been ironic since it was first spoken: “I have a word to say concerning these people. If they do not walk up to every covenant they make at these altars in this temple this day, they will be in my power.” It only underscores his sworn oath to destroy all who will surrender to his evil enticements.

It’s ironic in my mind, because altering one word in the lips of Jehovah represents an eternal promise when you substitute Jehovah for Lucifer: “If they DO walk up to every covenant they make at these altars in this temple this day, they will be in my power.”

Knowing what I know about each of you, I am confident you will continue to walk in the light of Christ’s eternal promises for each of you. Those eternal promises are indeed reliable, no matter how elusive they might appear today.

They have been promised to us since the pre-existence. They will never fail us in our faithfulness in our covenants with our Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost bears that witness to our souls every day of our mortal probation as we walk in light and truth and forsake the ravenous wolves nipping at our heels.

Satan’s evil designs are like the two inches of snow that fell overnight that are rapidly disappearing in the warmth of the sun this morning.

P.S. The SON always wins. 

"Grandpa, What Does The War In Iran Mean To Us?"

All my grandchildren have a stake in the answer to this question, so I will attempt it here. 

On February 28, 2026, the world as we know it changed forever. A coalition of U.S. and Israeli forces dropped a deluge of smart bombs targeted at the Islamic leadership. For forty-seven years their reign of terror in the Middle East had been allowed to perpetuate itself, virtually unopposed in pursuit of nuclear weapon technology aimed specifically at the United States and Israel. There were attempts at appeasement along the way, but their intent was to buy time and never to make peace. Instead, the annihilation of these superpowers was their ideology, and under the guise of “religion” they claimed Allah had sanctioned it. 

Well, the world has seen religious zealots before, but they never seem to resemble peacemakers. True religion, however, TRUE religion has at its core the pursuit of peace. As I write today, I am remembering all the recent addresses by General Authorities in the last six months that proclaimed peace, peacemakers and the gospel of Jesus Christ as the antidote for wars worldwide. 

Netanyahu and Trump

We live in the days of President Donald J. Trump, the POTUS who has been going about the business of stopping wars worldwide by the elimination of dictators, despots and hellions the world over since he took office for the second time in his life. 

He and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, perceived the threat from Iran was escalating. They took action without giving any advance warning, wiping out the internal leadership of 49 key Islamists who had been the core command structure. The intelligence gathering was fostered by internal sources that pinpointed their secret gathering place and time where the first bombs struck with unerring accuracy. 

From there the campaign expanded to include other strategic targets nationwide and continues today. Iran is home to some 90 million people, and this development was so stunning that residents took to the streets throughout the country. They would have sought safety in bomb shelters typically, but this time they were celebrating in the streets, once the news of what was happening spread quickly. They invested immediately their confidence in the overwhelming force that had been imposed against their hated dictators. 

This is indeed a striking development in the future not only of Iran, but in my judgment signals the opening of the major gathering of the lost tribes of Israel who will now be introduced in this new generation to the fullness of the gospel. There was a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that was forced to close after the overthrow of the Shah of Iran all those years ago. Our missionaries were withdrawn. 

Now in all likelihood that mission will reopen when hostilities settle and the freedom of the people is restored. They have been starved for the truth, and will welcome our missionaries and the message of the restored gospel, if it is allowed to proceed under a new Iranian government in the days ahead. I am impressed as I write these words today that we may very well see members of our family deployed there as part of that effort. 

Do I believe this hastens the day of the Second Coming? Well, certainly, we are a day closer, but I can tell you this much whenever I am asked this question (as recently as yesterday by my old partner Steve Harris): Keep your eye on Jerusalem and Jackson County, Missouri, as temples continue to be built worldwide. Those two centers of influence will one day have temples built prior to the Second Coming of the Savior. 

I saw a quote from President Gordon B. Hinckley that has been making rounds on social media this week that seems apropos: 

President Hinckley was a key player in the leadership of the Church for his entire life. He often showed up in the Parleys Sixth Ward, when I was in the bishopric and he was visiting his daughter Virginia and her husband Jim Pearce, and their children. He was Grandfather Lee’s traveling companion along with their wives, when they visited the Holy Land together. I considered him a dear friend, and he spoke at my mother’s funeral in 2000. I commend his counsel to each of you. 

There is no need to feel any anxiety among yourselves, my dearest posterity. I am undertaking my estate planning process these days, and I am proceeding as if life in Pine Valley will go on long after I am dead and buried beside my dear companion Patsy. 

Live your lives as though you are prepared to stand before your Savior in a coming day, sooner or later. That is how you prepare yourselves for the Second Coming. I believe all those people who once stood in my wedding reception line in 1969, have already had their own personal Second Coming, and in the due course of time so will I. 

Events on the earth will continue to unfold in sometimes shocking and eventual developments that may appear to be jarring and unsettling on their surface, but take heart - these are mere preparatory steps in the gradual unfolding of the promised day when the Savior will return trailing clouds of glory. 

Second Coming of Jesus Christ

I will continue to prepare by living my covenants I have made in the temple. Those covenants are capped with my sacred sealing covenants with Patsy. I know she lives on in the spirit world, and is there waiting to greet me with open arms once again. That reality guides me and prompts me in all that I am doing today to prepare myself for her company. I know she will be anxious to give me the guided tour when we are reunited. 

What Influenced You Most as You Figured Out How to be a Parent?

I had to smile quietly to myself when I saw this question from Shauna this morning. I’m old enough now to wonder if I really EVER have figured out how to be a parent (he said with a broad grin). But, nevertheless, I will attempt an answer only because there are now so many up and coming parents among us.

As I reflect upon my life, I am consistently being reminded of past memories. My future is much shorter than my lengthy history. I think it is safe to conclude the single greatest influence in my life has been my lifelong love affair with the scriptures, beginning with the Book of Mormon. When I told Dianne that I had offered a pdf copy of my compilation of all the ZION scriptures to Woodland Ward members as I taught recently in Sunday School, she smiled and observed, “Yeah, Dad, you were obsessed.” Yes, guilty as charged, Dianne.

She no doubt recalled all the late nights I spent at my desk pounding it out on the manual typewriter long before the Internet had been invented. And here I sit at my desk this morning, still pounding it out on my very intelligent and advanced computer keyboard. It was laborious back in the day, no doubt about it, but I had found a topic that propelled me through all the standard works and into the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The scriptures became familiar to me, as revelation upon revelation poured out to me merely as a reward for making the attempt to learn. The prophets who wrote them came to life before me night after night.

I went page by page with a marker circling every reference I found. It was tedious and painstaking, but when I found the word ZION, I put it in context in my written compilation including surrounding verses, and kept going until I felt I had found each reference. The last time I touched it was 2002, when I printed the final copy. I found only a few takers in my latest invitation, but years ago I opened it up to the whole world in The Goates Notes, my blog page, and never looked back. An online search will quickly yield the results.

What did THAT have to do with parenting, you may ask? The quest for eternal life in my mind correlates directly with the establishment of Zion in these last days. Yes, there is a very broad and expansive definition at the global scale, but perhaps more meaningful is that individually we are the composite collective of ZION as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We trace our priesthood lineage back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Through them we have the potential to become like them, and by extension like our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

That reality has been my steadfast and lifelong quest as I have “figured out” parenting. I reviewed again the story of the willingness of Abraham to offer his only son Isaac on the altar of sacrifice, and his hand was only stopped by the intervention of an angel when his faithfulness had been tested to the utmost. In the case of the Father, I reflected just last week, there was no stopping the crucifixion of His Son on the cross outside Jerusalem so the full effect of the Atonement could be realized for all His children who had ever lived on Earth. Imagine what THAT self-restraint not to intervene must have looked like!

As parents, we do all we can do to teach our children the correct principles of the gospel. Often, it may feel like we’re going down a long, long checklist of commandments and requirements, but reduced to its essence we find a much simpler compilation I am reminded of each time I attend an endowment session in the the temple.

“We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Faith is hope for things that we cannot see but are true. We believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior, and we trust Him to help and guide us.

Repentance is when we change our hearts to be more like Heavenly Father. When we do something wrong, we feel sorry and promise ourselves and Heavenly Father that we will not do that wrong thing again. When we repent, we can be forgiven because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Baptism is the first step in becoming a member of Jesus Christ’s Church. We can be baptized when we are eight years old. At age eight, we are old enough to know the difference between right and wrong.

The gift of the Holy Ghost is given to us by a priesthood holder after we are baptized. The Holy Ghost prompts us to choose the right, comforts us, and helps us understand eternal truths. The Holy Ghost is like a still, small voice that we feel in our minds and hearts.

It was standardized by the Prophet Joseph Smith, as with all the other Articles of Faith, so he could merely point to them as references for the repetitive questions he was constantly asked.

As I grew older and more children came into our home, my approach to embracing the scriptures as my guide to parenting became pivotal and defining in helping me to become a father. I reasoned that my Father in Heaven would have to become my role model. I know I must have failed many times in achieving that ideal, but I kept persisting, and still do, despite my weakness. I believe Patsy and I first found each other in the pre-existence. We chose each other there and then. When we came to Earth, we found each other here and now. The direct correlation is that then each of our children also appeared here on Earth in our family circle because we were all promised to each other in our pre-mortal existence too.

I often reflected on Grandfather Harold B. Lee’s obvious emotional reaction as he pronounced those precious sealing words upon us at the altar on the morning of December 19, 1969, in the Salt Lake Temple. I was his first grandson for whom he performed that ordinance, though he had performed it before for hundreds of others who had asked him to. It is my belief he may have had a glimpse into eternal realms beyond our physical sight as he perceived that magnificent posterity that would one day come to mortality through our loins, as their parents. I believe you might have surrounded that altar as our spirit children, waiting patiently to join us. The spirit whispers it is true as I write this morning.

So, what has influenced me as I have sought to be a parent? I hope I may have answered this question to your satisfaction. My counsel to all of you as you undertake and continue your parenting is this: Take the scriptures as your infallible guide first and foremost. I predict you will make mistakes as you raise your children, most assuredly, if my life is any indication. However, anchoring yourselves in the gospel of Jesus Christ, particularly with the promise found in D&C 58:42-43, is the assurance you seek:

Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.

By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins — behold, he will confess them and forsake them.

In your attempts at raising a righteous posterity, remember what I have come to call “Divine Amnesia.” It is the part and parcel of the mercy of our Father in Heaven. It is His eternal promise to all who invite those spirits to join you here, with whom you have made eternal covenants even before this world was created. You are never alone as parents in this mortal life.

He and His Son are at your elbow in ALL the days of your lives. Of that, I bear my humble and solemn witness.