What Book Has Made a Significant Difference in Your Life?

 My first response this morning to Shauna’s newest question was obvious - the Book of Mormon. It is the pinnacle upon which the Church was established in this dispensation. It is the bedrock upon which my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ was first founded. I won a contest in Seminary for reading it from cover to cover as the fastest to complete the task.

And then I reflected more deeply and came up with another answer, again one that should surprise no one who knows me well. For me it became my own “fifth standard work.” I speak of the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I carried it with me for a lifetime during the years I was doing my teaching in various Church callings. I wore out the binding as it began to fall apart in my hands through overuse. I marked it throughout, and cross-referenced it to the scriptures again and again.

The author/compiler was Joseph Fielding Smith when he served as the Church Historian. He was a grandson of Hyrum Smith, the Prophet’s brother and co-martyr in Carthage Jail, and later became the tenth President of the Church. He was Grandfather Harold B. Lee’s seatmate companion in the Quorum of the Twelve for many years, and he called President Lee as his first counselor in the First Presidency of the Church. I loved Joseph Fielding Smith all the days of his life, and I still revere him for his composite scholarship in compiling the Prophet Joseph’s core teachings.

When I say “scholarship” in today’s world, few will appreciate that back in the day before personal computers there was no such thing as a digital assist in researching Church history. Truth be told, we are still uncovering treasures not available back in the day to President Joseph Fielding Smith when he put together his seminal volume. It still stands the test of time when I consider the avalanche of materials that continue to surface in our day.

I undertook my studies way back in the days I occupied my meager basement office in our home at 2034 Ashton Circle. I had my books and an electric typewriter. That was it, coupled with my overarching desire to discover truth independently from all others. I loved the content of my “five” standard works, particularly the Prophet’s teachings, arranged as they were in chronological sequence by President Joseph Fielding Smith.

I will never forget my discovery of the size of the future city of Zion, as described by Joseph Smith. I painstakingly ferreted out that hidden treasure by calculating the miles on a map of the United States. Using Independence, Missouri, as the centerstake point on my map, I laid out the dimensions of a perfectly square city extending in all directions to discover a “city” that stretched from the Canadian and Mexican borders on the north and south and the Rocky Mountains and the Allegheny Mountains on the west and the east! The key was revealed in Revelation 21. All it took was a little elementary math being applied to convert furlongs into miles. I showed my finding to my father, who in turn excitedly took it to Elder Bruce R. McConkie. Elder McConkie’s response to my father was, “Oh yes, I saw that many years ago too.”

That little story illustrates how magnificent the process of revelation can be for each truth seeker who is willing to put in the time to learn. God rewards effort with knowledge. It is often difficult to escape the self-imposed boundaries of our own finite lives to grasp the scope of the work of the Godhead, who have created “worlds without end.” I became immersed in the attempt to understand their thinking and their expansive vision for us as true followers.

Today, the work of temple building continues unabated throughout the world. Those temples each represent a local Zion community where they stand as a central place for gathering and worship worldwide in the midst of all the foreseen wars and rumors of wars that were prophesied anciently. We are living witnesses of the fulfillment of all the prophecies about the establishment of Zion.

The terms Zion and New Jerusalem both appear in the Bible. In the Old Testament, Zion is typically a synonym for the city of Jerusalem with its temple mount. New Testament prophecies foretold that the Lord would one day create the heavens and the earth anew. As part of this new creation, a city of God referred to as a “new Jerusalem” would come “down from God out of heaven.” Preachers in Joseph Smith’s day disagreed about the meaning of these terms. Some used the phrase “cause of Zion” as a name for the spread of Christianity.

The Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith’s early revelations spoke of a future city of Zion that would serve as a gathering place for the scattered descendants of Israel in the last days. Joseph Smith’s inspired revision of Genesis gave an account of a “City of Holiness” called Zion built by the ancient prophet Enoch. Those who gathered to Enoch’s Zion eliminated poverty and were unified, righteous, and pure in heart. Eventually, Enoch and the inhabitants of Zion were taken up to heaven. Beginning in 1831, Latter-day Saints sought to establish a city of Zion where they could prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. One revelation called this city the “New Jerusalem.” Another referred to Zion more broadly as a people who are “pure in heart.”

In 1831, Joseph Smith received revelation that the site for the city of Zion would be near the town of Independence in Jackson County, Missouri. Today there is a physical monument marking that spot. Bishop Edward Partridge began to purchase lands in the area and help settle new members as they arrived. In the summer of 1833, Joseph Smith and his counselors in the First Presidency sought divine guidance as they drafted a plan for the city, which included a grid of roads and 24 civic and church structures all consecrated as “temples” for different purposes. That summer, however, citizens of Jackson County drove the Saints out of the county, forcing them to abandon their land and their efforts to build the city of Zion.

In a series of revelations that followed, the Lord instructed the Saints regarding spiritual characteristics they lacked but which were necessary for any people who desired to build Zion and gave them instructions on how to move forward. The Saints began to prepare for “the redemption of Zion,” a time when they would return and reclaim their land in Missouri and resume building the holy city. Some in the Church still hold to the belief that a future gathering as foretold will take place there, and only there.

The Saints’ attempts to redeem Zion, including appeals to the United States legal system, did not result in an acknowledgment of their rights or in an immediate return to Jackson County. In a January 1841 revelation regarding the failed attempt to build a temple-centered Zion in Jackson County, the Lord explained, “It behooveth me to require that work no more … but to accept of their offering.” (D&C 124). The same revelation commanded the Saints to build a temple in Nauvoo, Illinois, and establish that city as a new place of gathering.

In Nauvoo, Joseph Smith taught that Zion “consisted of all North and South America,” adding that, in one sense, “any place where the Saints gather is Zion.” He also emphasized the importance of the temple for Zion and the gathering, declaring that “where we can get a [temple] built first, there is the place.” Joseph anticipated that a temple city such as Nauvoo would serve as the center of gathering, and that stakes of Zion would be established in many places, each serving as a refuge for the faithful. (Joseph Smith Discourse, April 8. 1844).

The Latter-day Saints continued to hope for a return to Jackson County, Missouri. At the same time, Church leaders such as Brigham Young taught the importance of building Zion wherever the Saints were. Not long after they settled in the Salt Lake Valley, President Young spoke of their growing city as a New Jerusalem and the rising Salt Lake Temple as the focal point of the gathering. (Brigham Young discourse, Sept. 11, 1853, in Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [London: LDS Booksellers Depot, 1854–86], 1:78; Franklin D. Richards discourse, Oct. 6, 1853, in Journal of Discourses, 1:321).

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Church began to establish stakes of Zion in many locations around the world. Describing this effort, Elder Spencer W. Kimball explained that “the First Presidency and the Twelve see great wisdom in the multiple Zions, many gathering places where the Saints within their own culture and nation can act as a leaven in the building of the kingdom.” (Spencer W. Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1982], 440).

Today, this notion of “multiple Zions,” cannot possibly be misunderstood as the expansion of missionary work and temple building continues worldwide. Latter-day Saints gather to local stakes of Zion and build temples in many countries, and Church leaders emphasize the importance of becoming a people who live up to the ideals of Zion — unity, godliness, and charity. (D. Todd Christofferson, “Come to Zion,” Ensign, Nov. 2008, 37–40).

I think we all hold our breaths at General Conference time in eager anticipation of the announcement that might come of a future temple yet to be built in Jackson County, Missouri. I illustrate my early efforts at understanding Zion from the perspective of the Prophet Joseph Smith for the purpose of underscoring the allowance that must be made for continuing revelation to the LIVING prophets among us. They are the only true and viable source for guidance we must embrace as we live in anticipation of the Second Coming.

Consider these inspired words from President Russell M. Nelson:

"My dear brothers and sisters, in a coming day, Jesus Christ will return to the earth as the millennial Messiah. So today I call upon you to rededicate your lives to Jesus Christ. I call upon you to help gather scattered Israel and to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord. I call upon you to talk of Christ, testify of Christ, have faith in Christ, and rejoice in Christ!

"Come unto Christ and 'offer your whole [soul]' to Him. This is the secret to a life of joy!

"The best is yet to come, my dear brothers and sisters, because the Savior is coming again! The best is yet to come because the Lord is hastening His work. The best is yet to come as we fully turn our hearts and our lives to Jesus Christ." (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/10/57nelson?lang=eng).

I was first introduced to the thinking of the Prophet Joseph Smith through the book The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I devoured it from cover to cover and every page in between. I endorse it wholeheartedly to all of you…

… And at the same time I encourage and invite you to feast upon the words of the living prophets among us who will NEVER deceive us in these perilous last days.

Do You Favor Politicians or Business People?

It's no secret, I am certain, to those who follow this page that I have increasingly eschewed politicians in general. I have mostly lost interest in the copious and omnipresent onslaught of reporting on political intrigues and the back and forth verbal battles that play out every day. Frankly, it's exhausting.

What has become painfully obvious to me and perhaps to you too is that the career politicians historically have not been interested in seeking solutions for the American people. Why? Their own self-interest was always at the forefront of their endeavors. 

Some career politicians like former President Joe Biden, who was re-elected for a lifetime in politics, finished as a multi-millionaire, and he is just one among many who amassed a personal fortune in ways that are only now becoming apparent. 

Term limits on the members of the House and the Senate cannot be far behind if it ever came to a vote that could be put on a ballot. Also, surprisingly to many, American citizenship at birth is currently not a requirement, and that fact should also be addressed in coming days.

President Donald J. Trump

It cannot have escaped your notice that President Donald J. Trump is only six months into his administration, and the list of substantive achievements for the benefit of the American people is staggering by anyone's calculations. The thin margins in both the House and the Senate with the whole House up for re-election each two years, perhaps explains the urgency we have witnessed.

Securing the borders was first and foremost on the Trump agenda. The speed and the sweeping success of accomplishing that goal was simply stunning to observe. Deportations mounted as illegal immigrants were rounded up and sent packing back to their countries of origin. Self-deportations have increased, no doubt because those who were here illegally got the message that America was transforming quickly into a law and order posture.

On other fronts, the first six months of Donald Trump's second presidency have been the most "successful" of any American president since Franklin D. Roosevelt, according to an analysis conducted by Newsweek.

The legislative efforts paid off in passage of his flagship "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," a tax and spending package. It narrowly passed along strictly party lines illustrating once again we are a narrowly divided nation politically. The reductions in taxes and spending were staggering, and makes one wonder how any right-thinking politician from the other party could oppose it.

Newsweek asked "ChatGPT" to rank the accomplishments of 20th and 21st century U.S. presidents in their first six months, taking account of the level of support they enjoyed in Congress.

The model gave Trump an overall score of "very high," thanks to legislation such as the One Big Beautiful Bill and Laken Riley Acts.

On July 4, 2025, Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law after it narrowly passed both the House and Senate. The legislation slashed certain taxes, including extending Trump's 2017 tax cuts; raised the U.S. debt ceiling; increased spending on the military and border control; and cut some funding from Medicare and other welfare programs. According to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, the package will add $3.3 trillion to the federal debt over the next decade.

Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law on January 29, with the bill taking its name from a Georgia college student who was murdered by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant in February 2024. The legislation requires noncitizens charged or convicted of a range of offenses, including theft and assaulting a police officer, to be held without bond. It also gives states more freedom to sue the Department of Homeland Security over immigration enforcement.

The analysis cited above concluded that the first six months of Trump's second term were the most productive since Roosevelt's first term in 1933. In his first 100 days, Roosevelt passed 15 New Deal statutes, including the Emergency Banking Act.

Third in the calculation was Biden's first 100 days, which saw the package of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan designed to combat the economic effects of coronavirus, along with the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act and a bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday. This package was passed despite the Democrats and Republicans being tied in terms of 50 affiliated Senators each, giving then-Vice President Kamala Harris a tiebreaking vote.

At the other end of the spectrum, the analysis gave the worst score for the first six months to Theodore Roosevelt, who became president in 1901, arguing that he passed "no major statue before March 1902."

Bill Clinton was also ranked poorly, with the conclusion his only major legislative reform during his first six months was the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act.

Here's some insight from a foreigner, Dafydd Townley, an American politics expert at the University of Portsmouth in the U.K., who told Newsweek: "While Donald Trump has achieved some legislative successes, they are more reflective of the partisan support in Congress. Not every president in the modern era has had such a one-dimensional party to support his legislative agenda. The Democratic Party has long been a coalition of diverse voices, making it difficult to appease every member of Congress. Both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama found this out during their first term in office.

"Until the George W. Bush era, Republicans failed to hold both House and Senate majorities in the modern era, apart from two years in the first Eisenhower administration. Even during the Bush years, control of the Senate shifted back and forth on several occasions, making legislative efforts difficult, if not impossible. Reagan's ability to bridge the partisan divide and work with congressional Democrats on specific bills, such as Social Security reform and immigration policies, suggests a White House capable of achieving ideological success despite congressional barriers. The same applies to Richard Nixon, who gained considerable legislative success despite having a Democrat-controlled House and Senate when he entered office.

"Democrat presidents of the early Cold War had to contend with conservative Southern Democrats in Congress, despite Democrat majorities in the House and Senate. These long-serving members dominated congressional committees, thereby limiting the legislative success of John F. Kennedy, for example. The successful passage of a huge number of bills as part of his Great Society program is a testimony to Lyndon Johnson's management of Congress.

"Trump has been much more reliant on the use of executive orders to implement Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's blueprint for Trump's second term in office. The Trump-inspired legislation in this Congress is more likely to consolidate power within the executive branch and lead to less congressional interference in the president's management of the White House and its agencies."

Left unstated in this analysis by Newsweek, and in my mind more substantive, is Trump's experience as a deal maker among the nations of the world. He imposed tariffs, thought my many "experts" to be disastrous. Instead, the heads of nations have been making historic trade deals with America that have the potential to increase revenues we haven't seen for decades, reduce the deficit spending, and provide American jobs. Those results have already been witnessed, with more to come.

My conclusion: I would much rather have a Donald J. Trump in the White House today than any other politician you can name who would undermine these achievements we have witnessed to date.

If Republicans lose control of either the Senate or House in the 2026 midterm elections, it will make it significantly harder to get the party's bills approved by Congress.

I believe the American people are "woke" now to the possibilities of what may yet be done.

I hope I am right.