What Are Your Ideas About Studying the Old Testament?

I reflected upon this question overnight after someone at Church asked me to give them some tips as they looked at the course of study in “Come, Follow Me” Curriculum for next year. My grand-daughter Katelyn, I noted, also asked this question recently.

Let me be so bold as to state that the Old Testament has seldom been the preferred book of scripture, for most Latter-day Saints. Only as it comes up in the four-year rotation do we dare to dip our toes in the seemingly murky waters, compared to the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. Even the New Testament is more understandable and enjoyable — we tell ourselves.

I was blessed many years ago in the “old” Church to teach Gospel Doctrine for four consecutive years every Sunday. I know who was the most blessed of all, and it was me. The Old Testament is an acquired taste for sure. You can’t begin to love someone without that first kiss, and the scriptures are no different.

Grandfather Lee and Me on His Birthday

My first introduction to the Old Testament came back in the days when I was studying the scriptures topically, and my study of Zion led me directly into the ancient scriptures first to see if I could understand what the Lord had in mind in the establishment of Zion. My quest for knowledge became insatiable. I remember so well my Grandfather Harold B. Lee’s observation, when asked by one of his Brethren how he had become such a revered scriptorian. “There are no royal roads to learning,” he responded.

By that statement, he meant everyone had to search out the truth in the scriptures for themselves. His knowledge could not be automatically transmitted by birthright to any of his posterity, and I got that message very early in my life. It motivated me to begin my own quest that began with a contest (which I won in my junior year) in Seminary to read the Book of Mormon. In the mission field there was little emphasis in my labors to read and study the Old Testament. We were focused almost exclusively on the Book of Mormon. There again, I found myself winning the contests among the elders and sisters, all of which proved less than satisfactory, I can now admit.

I was well into our married lives before the Old Testament “hit my radar,” and I must affirm my topical study of Zion is what triggered me because of its foundational emphasis in the history of the world in setting the stage for the latter-day Zion and all the prophecies associated with it.

So my counsel, for what it’s worth, is to select a topic or topics that interest you most from Biblical history, and delve into the pages that way. Along your path, don’t be surprised if you chase down some rabbit holes you hadn’t expected to find. I know I did, and it all worked to my blessing and benefit.

Eventually, in my manual search for Zion (there were no computer search engines back in the day) I would move through the Old Testament page by page until I had highlighted every occurrence of the word “Zion” and then “ZION” and then “Sion” until I had satisfied my curiosity. I was just naïve to think such an exhaustive search would somehow qualify me as an expert in the subject of Zion. I certainly had no academic credentials to suggest that was true, just an overactive curiosity to drive me forward in the wee hours of the night and early morning.

My Finding in the New Testament

One quick example I have cited before. When I discovered the actual dimensions and the location of the city of the latter-day Zion in the scriptures, it was late one night and I was exhilarated beyond imagination. I cross-referenced the Old and New Testament with the Doctrine and Covenants and the Book of Mormon, and I was rewarded a hundredfold in my estimation. I showed my Dad, who excitedly took my findings to Elder Bruce R. McConkie who casually stated he had seen it “many years ago.”

My experiences in scripture study have confirmed the “no royal roads” observation of Grandfather Lee. Don’t EVER compare yourself against someone else. We are all in a different place, and now we have a whole Church synced and dialed in on the same study format each year. It took years of concentrated reorganization and recalibration at Church headquarters that started way back in the day of “Church Correlation” spearheaded by Grandfather Lee under President David O. McKay’s leadership to bring us to this point under the “Come, Follow Me” Curriculum. Gospel scholarship is a vast ocean upon which we each launch our little dinghy and hope to stay afloat for as long as we are able. Don’t be discouraged, and press forward through the Old Testament this year with the enthusiasm of new discoveries you haven’t even considered before. You will be rewarded beyond your wildest imaginings.

My Christmas Angels

I testify to all my posterity, growing in number now each year, that when we put forth our best efforts, the Lord blesses us by multiplying and magnifying our talents. It is a lifetime quest, and I’m still on the journey with you. He blesses us exponentially.

Someday . . .

On another topic, I had a phone call from my son Mike this morning. He’s escaped from the confines of his home chasing deer who are running a few miles from his home for more pictures. He had a total hip replacement recently, and we discussed being careful and wise in his post-surgery exertions. Then he reminded me that tomorrow is our infant daughter Adrienne’s death date anniversary, December 9th, 1992. Thirty-three years ago!! Seems impossible to me now. Somebody check that math! We had her in mortality for a short 49 days, seven weeks of seven days, and then she was escorted home to her spirit-world home.

Now, I think of all those who are with her there, and that leads me to think about my own mortality. I’ve outlived most of my progenitors now, and I am routinely drawn to my thoughts about all of them these days. How much more time will I need to prepare myself for their company? 

I don’t know the answer to that question, but what I do know for sure, Katelyn, is that the Old Testament characters we will be reading about this coming year lived VERY LONG LIVES on this earth. We can learn from their experiences, I am certain.

ZION - Now More Than Ever

This has been a momentous week in my personal history. I have withheld comment about it until now purposefully. I was somewhat stunned when I realized this is entry #800 on these poor pages.

First, I celebrated my 78th birthday in the Bountiful Temple, while President Russell M. Nelson was observing his 101st birthday on the same day. He’s 23 years older than me, and no matter how fast I run I can’t ever seem to catch up to him! I have to say that life is good right now. I am so grateful to be able to move about freely and with good health for the most part. As part of my birthday celebration we gathered many of the family in the Orem Temple on Saturday for a sealing session conducted by Hank Nelson, my dear friend. The temples are where I feel closest to heaven, and particularly my beloved Patsy.

Bountiful and Orem Temples

Second, this is also the week of the commemoration of the events of 9/11/2001, when the Twin Towers in New York were astonishingly levelled by the malevolent attacks perpetrated by terrorists who flew highjacked airplanes into them. Another flew into the Pentagon and exploded upon impact a few miles away, and a fourth was diverted by brave passengers who sacrificed their own lives to crash the plane they were on into a field in Pennsylvania. I witnessed those events in our home as the scenes were portrayed on my TV screen in living color throughout the day. It was an unbelievable and shocking event in world history. Osama bin Laden was ultimately identified as the perpetrator/mastermind, and he was summarily brought to justice and executed later.

9/11/25

Third, Charlie Kirk, an outspoken and stalwart voice for conservatives in this country, was assassinated in Orem, Utah, on the campus of Utah Valley University while he was giving a rally. Regardless of his politics and the positions he espoused, those who opposed him made an arbitrary decision to take him out with a single sniper’s bullet. Just this morning as I write, President Trump announced the shooter had confessed his act to his father, apparently, and it was his father who turned him in to authorities in St. George, Utah. Governor Cox, yesterday, reminded the world that Utah still upholds the death penalty for perpetrators of such crimes, and this individual will be held accountable to the “fullest extent of the law.”

Charlie Kirk at UVU

Fourth, and perhaps most satisfying of all to me personally, Aaron Judge hit two home runs (Nos. 45 and 46) in a game against the Tigers in Yankee Stadium, now tying him with Joe DiMaggio on the all-time Yankees home run list with 361 career homers. President Trump was in attendance for the commemoration of 9/11, and told the Yankees in their locker room before the game started that they would win that game. Final score: Yankees 9 Tigers 3.

So, would you say it was an eventful week? I vote “YES.” Honestly, you can’t make this stuff up, can you?

I have been pondering all week about ZION, and this morning as I write I am wearing my ZION sweatshirt in memory of those precious ideals I attempted to capture in my compilation those many years ago. It would seem after the shocking events of this week that we are now more than ever further away from ZION than we have ever been. But, I have a differing viewpoint based upon all I know. It is instructive, I believe, that no matter how devastating the historical events may be, we somehow seem to survive and eventually thrive despite the evidence to the contrary. We are resilient as a nation, and we can choose resilience as individuals too.

I wrote the following ten years ago on April 15, 2015:

Zion’s Four Facets

I continue to get questions from people I know well about the end of the world. It seems the political upheavals we are witnessing continue to trouble even the most grounded saints. These concerns arise as a natural consequence of the bad news we hear every day.

The budget and deficit spending in America is out of control. The prophets of doom and gloom continue to spread fear and uncertainty all around. Conspiracy theories abound. Few are escaping the effects of the 2008 financial market meltdown. Widespread doubts about the future are escalating. Inflation is eroding purchasing power. Gas prices are averaging $4 per gallon in five states, and continue rising in more. The price of basic food is rising at the grocery store. It is a troubling time for most.

In the aftermath of General Conference two weeks ago, I’ve had a chance to review the content, topics and themes we heard expressed by the living prophets. Patsy and I were asked to speak about the prophets in a recent sacrament meeting.

I chose to focus on the two senior Apostles - President Thomas S. Monson and President Boyd K. Packer. What did you hear from them two weeks ago? I heard a clear emphasis on priesthood power as it relates to family. Temple ordinances and marriage covenants were also themes. Missionary work and proclaiming the gospel throughout the world also came up more than once. Entering into temple marriage was a plea from the Prophet to young single men.

So where were the themes of doom and gloom, predictions of the pending demise of the planet being ground into dust? Conspicuously absent. Rather, we hear the announcements of three new temples echoing each opening statement by the Prophet as General Conference begins each six months. Just this week a new “super building” housing 5 stakes and 48 wards in Provo was announced. The City Creek project surrounding Temple Square in Salt Lake is on time, set for opening in a year from now.

Time and again we hear, “and this is just the beginning” in the promised establishment of Zion in the midst of Babylon. Living prophets are decidedly optimistic because of their absolute faith in the plan of salvation. There seems to be no fears in any of the living prophets.

Many years ago I began putting it all together on paper. I discerned four facets related to our understanding of the word “Zion” in the scriptures. I found that in each scriptural reference to Zion one could pinpoint one or more applications of the word. These four facets are people, place, condition or time.

People

Zion is a covenant people, set apart, consecrated, and sanctified from the rest of the world. They are different, they are peculiar and they are pure. They have come out of the world, entered in at the gate of baptism, are born of the Spirit and have taken hold of the iron rod. They reject the clarion voices from amid the mists of darkness, and ignore the taunts and jeers of those in the spacious building of sin. God has purged his people in all the other dispensations of which we have record, and the purification has come as a result of extreme adversity and affliction. Gold is never refined in an air conditioned chamber. If the covenant people cannot sacrifice and consecrate their lives to God, it has forever been the case that the rest of the world was willing to cast them out, throw them into the lions’ den, or stoke up the fiery furnace. Let us never be deluded into thinking we will inherit Zion in any other way, nor be worthy of the company of earlier martyrs at that future wedding feast unless we consecrate.

Place

Zion is two world centers of righteousness and judgment that are ultimately joined together physically. One is Independence, Missouri, the “centerstake,” from which “the law” will emanate, the other is Jerusalem, from which “the word” will go forth. Those who love and cherish the Constitution of the United States, it would seem, will rally to Zion and her stakes (and by extension her temples) upon the American Continent and throughout the world wherever they may find themselves. Christ will come to the Earth and sit in his temples in Jerusalem and in Jackson County, from which will go forth His word. They will combine eventually in the Lord’s timetable with the heavenly Zion when the earth enters the terrestrial phase of its existence, thus returning to the status it once enjoyed referred to in the 10th Article of Faith as “paradisiacal glory.” This telestial world in which we now live will give way to a terrestrial world that will stand for one thousand years, a period of time referred to as “The Millennium.” This is the place at the end of the path in Lehi’s vision where the tree of life grows.

Condition

Zion will stand apart from all worldly influences. Men and women of honesty and truth will seek the peace Zion affords, trust their temporal and spiritual welfare to each other, or sink lower and lower with the rest of the world who will be at war. There will be no middle ground - either total acceptance of God’s salvation, or Lucifer’s damnable embrace of death and destruction. Zion will be the light on the hill, and so formidable will be her strength and beauty because of God’s overshadowing presence that her enemies will shrink at the sight of her. The society will be characterized by people of one heart, one mind, and one objective spreading the truth of God’s salvation over the face of the earth as with a flood.

Time

Zion will come to pass in the due season of the Lord, and that season is upon us even now. We live at the end of the sixth seal of John’s Revelation, meaning the end of the sixth thousand-year period since the Fall. It is called “today” in the scriptures, and it is a day of sacrifice. It is not a day in which to trust in the arm of flesh, seeking security in the carnal pleasures of today’s society. Zion’s time is not fully ripe until the Bridegroom comes to accept the Bride, as John foresaw. The paradox of Zion’s timetable is that she will be nurtured as it were in the bull rushes like Moses, in the midst of unparalleled wickedness and abominations among men. The wheat and tares continue growing together, and the tares keep looking more and more like the weeds they are. And we also see the fig tree putting forth its leaves every day.

The Spirit whispers the truth that Zion will indeed have to be led out of bondage as the children of Israel were led out under Moses. While we are in the midst of spiritual bondage right now, the scriptures are replete with types and shadows of a physical bondage yet to come that will precede the day when all things are fulfilled.

We will not see the establishment of the headquarters of Zion until the temporary landlords who now occupy the sacred sites of the habitations of the New and the Old Jerusalem are swept off. The reclamation of those lands will come in the wake of destruction as foretold by all the prophets who witnessed the promised day, and that time is not far distant. Without an understanding of the impending destruction as the lynch pin to prophecy, the promises of the Lord to Israel that she will ultimately redeem the promised lands of her inheritance seem incomprehensible.

One need not read far into The Book of Mormon to discover that this land is not promised to the Gentiles who now occupy it. Rather, it will be given as an inheritance to the scattered remnants of the House of Israel now being gathered, and to those relatively few Gentiles who repent, embrace the gospel and by adoption become Israel. To think otherwise would be to deny the very faith that gave the prophets their utterance. And this despite the obvious evidence that the Gentiles who occupy this Promised Land today have material wealth and military might beyond even the wildest imaginations of the prophets who foresaw their destruction.

Ephraim’s descendants will figure prominently in the leadership of the House of Israel in the development of Zion, but it would be a gross error to assume that Zion is the private domain of Ephraim. The scriptures speak plainly of all the tribes coming to their inheritances in their various lands. We are witnessing the emergence of all these long-lost cousins in Israel in our day, as adversity, lawlessness, and political upheavals continue to drive them to our borders of freedom. They come because of wars, famines, diseases, natural disasters, and the love of freedom, but whatever the reasons they are coming to claim their promised blessings at the hands of Ephraim. Let us never be so surfeited by the things of this world that we cannot embrace them, when they come with little more than the clothes on their backs.

Conclusion

There is not a clear road map to Zion, a “checklist” if you will, that will land us unerringly at the gates of the Holy City. To come to Zion requires clean hands, a pure heart, and pure faith. To be a consecrated saint is to hearken to the voice of the Lord by the power of the Holy Ghost, to receive revelation upon revelation, and to possess a submissive heart that endures all that the Lord sees fit to inflict upon us. All the inhabitants of Zion are as little children, full of faith, and eager to do the will of the Father in all things.

We are not worthy of Zion’s society in our present state, but the chastening is in full effect and the spiritual mettle of us all will be put to the test in due time. Those who persist in their hidden sins while proclaiming their beliefs with their lips only, will fail to accumulate the needed midnight oil droplet by droplet over a lifetime of faithfulness. Those who cling steadfastly to their institutional faith, never risking the failure of individual responsibility for their decisions will sink in the depths of forgotten dust with the discarded baggage. We cannot endure the journey to Zion on borrowed light, nor will we find the oil of the Spirit to buy at midnight.

We must beware of repeating the patterns of old. Zion is a steadily progressing caravan of strangers and foreigners seeking a city built without hands. It is to be expected that the “corporate” Church would have difficulty implementing the celestial principles upon which Zion will be built. That reality does not make the Church’s doctrines any less true, nor the need for the Church’s organization less compelling. One laudable development is that the Church is adapting to the worldwide need for simplicity, as evidenced by the priesthood and Relief Society manual of instruction – it’s back to basics with Gospel Principles.

This is an important point that cannot be glossed over. The Church members’ compromise with Babylon is nearly complete. In a forthcoming day there will be an entire separation of the righteous from the wicked. Babylon is slated for destruction. That fact is a well-documented scriptural reality, and so is the establishment of Zion.

We are in the world as never before in our history, and we are more of the world too. From the days of Brigham Young whose mission was to separate the saints from the world by leading them to these remote valleys of the Mountain West, to the administration of Gordon B. Hinckley who has welcomed the world with the red carpet, we have come full circle. Living prophets lead the way.

But never doubt for one minute - the caravan is on course, though there will always be those among us who cling to the past fiercely, as though we are going to return somehow to the purity and simplicity of an earlier time. These somehow wish they could live in the days before the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and started rolling downhill. We are picking up speed as the little stone rolls forward. But let us not be smug.

God will cut short the work in this last dispensation of the fulness of times. The Bride may have grown weary while waiting and defiled herself with the world, but this time there will be a wedding with the Bridegroom and the Church will become the Bride of Christ. The best course we can take is individual repentance and to let the rest of the Church and the world who fail to repent go their merry way to destruction. As midnight draws nigh there will be fewer opportunities to obtain oil to light our little lamps of faith. Unconsecrated material possessions in that hour will be a poor store of value - ancient prophets used the word “slippery.” (Helaman 13:31).

Now I offer this final observation. Patience with the unfolding timetable of the Lord is indispensable to the true disciple. Many, knowing what the scriptures reveal concerning conditions in a Zion society, and observing these circumstances do not now exist in the Church, and thinking they have somehow been “called” to lead the way, have made unwise and premature decisions to move out in front of the caravan. Like the ancient Rechabites of Jeremiah’s day they prefer the separatist life to the heat of the day in the kingdom with all its paradoxes, contradictions and ironies. They are never wise stewards, and seem to lack the faith they proclaim.

The keys of the priesthood reside with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and those keys and this kingdom will never again be taken from the earth. The path to Zion is first discovered deep within the hearts of men and women, and they gravitate to others who have made a similar discovery, all of whom are subject to the Lord’s mouthpiece. That man, the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, like Moses who stood at the head of another caravan, will lead Israel out of whatever form of bondage enslaves us. Until that promised day comes, it is enough to hear the Lord whisper again, “Be still, and know that I am God.” His promises will never fail, and the gates of the Heavenly City await us.

So put away your Mayan calendar, and add to your food storage in the spirit of faith not fear.

* * *

Finally, I offer this concluding statement for your consideration:

I promise you all, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we can each be filled with the spirit of prophecy to guide us unerringly toward the implementation of Zion principles now and forever. It is within our grasp even now, and it is never too late. 

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.

Eternity in the Making

The morning of December 19, 1969 dawned crisp and clear in Salt Lake City, Utah. I picked up my bride-to-be, Patsy Hewlett, early on our way to the Salt Lake Temple to be sealed for time and for all eternity to each other. My Grandfather, Harold B. Lee, then one of the senior Apostles in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was scheduled to officiate at the ordinance that would bind us to one another. He was very emotional during the brief ceremony, sensing, I felt, the spirits of those who would come through our union. I believe he knew the identities of each one who would come to join our family.

On another December day fifty years later in 2019 we would gather as many of our children and grandchildren as we could to participate in a sealing session in the Salt Lake Temple just before it closed for what will be an extensive four-year renovation. We were assigned to the sealing room behind the old sealing office just off the Celestial Room to perform proxy ordinances of marriage for our deceased ancestors – all family names our family had prepared. One by one we took our turns at the altar in the center of the room and relived again the morning it all began with just the two of us in 1969. This time the altar was surrounded by our cherished posterity, all of whom had been sealed as couples in previous live ordinances for themselves. The realization of that blessing pronounced upon us fifty years earlier had come to pass, fifty years in the making.

Patsy and I have been through many wonderful and challenging times together over those fifty years. Perhaps the most humbling of all has been this last several years as we sought diligently to petition our Father in Heaven for answers to my deteriorating health. The downward slide accelerated in the last six months. I know it is good to be humble without being compelled to be humble, but this last six months especially we have been compelled to be humble. Our circumstances are not unusual for most people as they grow older. Few old people I have known are afraid to die, it’s just the getting there that is so difficult.

We simply could not find that elusive answer to why I was “off” from what everyone had known me to be earlier in my life. Then the meningioma brain tumor was diagnosed, and the answer to the medical mystery was staring right back at us from the doctor’s computer screen. It was the brain that had been squeezed and compressed over a long period.

So compromised had I become pre-surgery that I calculated I was at about a 2 on a 100 scale. I had my heart and my lungs that were still functioning well – everything else had been shut down as my brain’s way of compensating to keep me alive. Simple tasks in earlier years were now seemingly impossible to accomplish. My brain told me I could do these things – I had always done these things – but I had lost the ability to do them. My doctor had told me, “Anybody can exercise for ten minutes a day,” and I agreed in principle to that statement. I had gone for much longer periods of heavier exercise before. But I couldn’t do it anymore. I could barely get out of bed, and then I wobbled badly on my weak leg muscles.  

Post-surgery I wasn’t much better for three weeks. I was childlike. I had to master the control of my bladder and my bowels again like a little child in diapers, and I was wearing adult diapers. I was compelled to be humble. I had to learn to eat for myself again. I had to learn to balance and to walk again, at first mastering only a few steps to the bathroom and back using a walker for balance. I couldn’t do any of those things I had always done until my brain fog cleared and the blood clot that occupied the space where the tumor had been in my brain at the incision spot had dissipated. It took about three weeks.

Now our prayers have been fully answered. I have been cured and I have been healed. Humility is now once again a choice for me.

Fifty years is a long time to be married to the same person. It’s a golden time in our lives now. That’s why no one knew me better than Patsy, and why her instincts (impressions of the Spirit) could not be dismissed so easily. She knew me better than I knew myself, and she certainly knew me better than all the doctors and their scientific training. Once they listened to her and responded to her demands for the MRI, the source of our long struggle for answers was finally revealed.

We have been studying together the outlines of the Book of Mormon chapters in Come Follow Me. We are now into the book of Helaman. There is a constant ebb and flow among the Nephites and Lamanites at this point in their history. One year the Lamanites are repenting and receiving great blessings from the Lord, then they become prideful. Another year the Nephites are repenting, and they become more righteous than the Lamanites and they are blessed continually. Then this one verse leaps out as a pattern scripture for us to learn to live by, whether we are “Lamanites” or “Nephites:”

Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts,  which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God. (Helaman 3:34).

My children are old enough now to see some of their friends who were once faithful members of the Church begin leaving and taking their families with them into the wilderness of apostasy because they have “done their research” and learned about “facts” they were never taught in the Church. They often come to me with their stories about their friends who have left, and they are saddened by the stories they read on their friends’ social media pages about their reasons for leaving. I encourage my children to be patient and to try to be like Heavenly Father. Can you imagine Him pacing around His throne wringing His hands over every soul who turns away for a season? Having vouched safe the moral agency of His children from the beginning and put a Redeemer in place to assure the demands of justice are fully satisfied through mercy conditioned upon the repentance of His children, He waits patiently for the fruits of the vineyard to come forth in the glorious harvest He envisions for each of His children. That’s the perspective we must have too – be patient and wait for the harvest that will surely come.

Mormon uses a phrase “thus we see” as an editorial comment in his editorial work of summarizing the records:

Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked – And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers to go no more out. (Helaman 3:29-30).

Let us all “lay hold” upon the word of God, slow down, turn down the noise in our busy lives, take a deep breath, ponder and pray, follow the pattern given to us as cited above, and land our souls at the right hand of God.

 We are in a war for our souls. Believe me I know that as never before. In the varied battles of life Satan takes many prisoners and inflicts many injuries and even deaths. But if we are true and faithful, we will prevail in the final battle of this war, for so it has been written and the scriptures are true. We are building for the eternities, and we are just now beginning to discern the light at the end of the long tunnel of sin and deception.

The End of the World - Keep Your Eyes on Independence and Jerusalem

I learned yesterday that today was supposed to be "the big one" here in Utah. Someone (I'm not certain who because this is the essence of a good rumor) made a prediction that the "great earthquake" prophesied about in the book of Revelation was supposed to happen on September 13th, 2015, presumably triggering the Second Coming.

I'm not sure how many false prophecies I have heard during my lifetime, but they certainly number in the hundreds by now. As world events continue to point to the fulfilling of all the prophecies contained in Holy Writ, speculation continues to abound. This failed prophecy today won't be the last.

World Trade Center, NYC, September 11, 2001

We have just passed the 14th anniversary of the events of 9/11. There were many back then who assailed me with questions about the end of the world. "Is this the beginning of the battle of Armageddon?" they wondered and worried. "Is this the start of World War III?" others asked me. Fourteen years later, given all that has transpired since, can anyone doubt the ongoing reality of war, murder, death and destruction? It goes on without ceasing in the Middle East. The lust for the shedding of blood is continuing unabated.

Now we are poised on the brink of "a deal" with Iran, an illegitimate regime that has rejected democracy and enthroned the Ayatollahs of Shiite Muslims in a brutal dictatorship. No sooner was the ink dry on the documents than the supreme leader of Iran renewed his vow to wipe Israel off the map and to destroy "the Great Satan, America". Thinking America had "solved" the Iraq problem, what came in the place of the Sunnis in Iraq in now a Muslim caliphate, another rogue state called ISIS or ISIL. The chronicles of the swath of death and destruction wrought by them puts them in the same hall of shame as Stalin, Hitler and others. Refugees now are swarming the borders of the European nations for a safe haven as they flee these horrifying scenes and are compelled to abandon their homelands to preserve their lives and the lives of their children.

In the face of these dreadful realities on the world stage, it is no wonder we would welcome the imminent coming of the Savior to put things right again in the world. It is no wonder speculation about the timing of His return seems so rampant right now. So where can one turn for answers and for peace? Donald Trump would have everyone believe he can accomplish the task, and he certainly does not lack the confidence to take on the world. I submit, however, there is a better source for light and truth.

The Restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opened a new dispensation of the gospel on a spring morning in 1820. Joseph Smith, the boy prophet of 14 years of age, knelt in a grove of trees in upstate New York near Palmyra and declares: "I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other — This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him! My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong) — and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: 'they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.'" (JSH 1:16-19).

And thus began the prophetic calling of Joseph Smith, built upon the sure foundation of a restored knowledge of the true identity of God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. From Them he learned the truth about Christ's return to the earth in a future day as foretold by all the ancient prophets of whom we have written testaments. In subsequent visits with other heavenly messengers, Joseph Smith learned of his role in bringing to pass the fulfillment of events that would precede the Second Coming of the Lord and the ushering in of the Millennium.

It was the angel, Moroni, a resurrected prophet, who first told him about the gold plates that contained the record of ancient American prophets, and provided the means whereby Joseph could translate the record and bring it forth as The Book of Mormon.

Joseph continues his history: "After telling me these things, he commenced quoting the prophecies of the Old Testament. He first quoted part of the third chapter of Malachi; and he quoted also the fourth or last chapter of the same prophecy, though with a little variation from the way it reads in our Bibles. Instead of quoting the first verse as it reads in our books, he quoted it thus: For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall burn as stubble; for they that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. And again, he quoted the fifth verse thus: Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. He also quoted the next verse differently: And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming. In addition to these, he quoted the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, saying that it was about to be fulfilled. He quoted also the third chapter of Acts, twenty-second and twenty-third verses, precisely as they stand in our New Testament. He said that that prophet was Christ; but the day had not yet come when 'they who would not hear his voice should be cut off from among the people,' but soon would come. He also quoted the second chapter of Joel, from the twenty-eighth verse to the last. He also said that this was not yet fulfilled, but was soon to be. And he further stated that the fulness of the Gentiles was soon to come in. He quoted many other passages of scripture, and offered many explanations which cannot be mentioned here." (JSH 1:36-41).

In the revelation given November 1, 1831, we know as Section 1 of The Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord told Joseph: "And again, verily I say unto you, O inhabitants of the earth: I the Lord am willing to make these things known unto all flesh; For I am no respecter of persons, and will that all men shall know that the day speedily cometh; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion. And also the Lord shall have power over his saints, and shall reign in their midst, and shall come down in judgment upon Idumea, or the world. Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled. What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same. For behold, and lo, the Lord is God, and the Spirit beareth record, and the record is true, and the truth abideth forever and ever. Amen. (D&C 1:34-39).

Search high and low in the eschatology of other religions, and nowhere will one find the declarative voice of certainty to the degree it is found in the revelations that came forth originally from the Prophet Joseph Smith or from his interpretations of other ancient texts. All that remains is for honest seekers of truth to examine his writings, his sermons and his teachings.

If you want to know the truth about the end times, look no further than Joseph Smith. Do not be deceived by other voices of prophecy that are not nearly as precise.

Fifteen years ago (and twice again since then), the youth of our ward were invited to submit questions to me, then I presented the answers in a fifth Sunday combined meeting. Whenever I have taught the youth of the Church, there is always an abundant interest in this topic. My guess is they all want to know what I wanted to know when I was in their situation: "Will I have time to get married and have a career, a family and do all the things I want to do before the Second Coming?" Now a grandfather many times over, I can assure all the youth in the Church today the answer is still a resounding "Yes!" Here's a sampling of their questions and my answers from that first meeting:

Is there really going to be a Second Coming?

This is always one of my favorite questions. It springs from the fertile minds of some in the Church who think all the references to the Second Coming are simply “figurative” not literal. Like the circumstances surrounding the Savior’s mortal birth, some prefer to shroud the truth in dark and mysterious secrets that aren’t secrets at all. The Lord through his prophets has had a lot to say about the Second Coming in His own words. I plead with all to not be the source of unsubstantiated rumor mongering when there is so much in Holy Writ that has been revealed. Here’s a sampling of what the scriptural record has to say about that, then you make up your own mind:

Old Testament evidences:

The Lord said unto Enoch: “As I live, even so will I come in the last days.” (Moses 7:60). Enoch saw the day of the coming of the Son of Man, in the last days, to dwell on earth for a thousand years (verse 65). Enoch prophesied, saying: “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.” (Jude 14, 15). So did Job: “For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.” (Job 19:25). “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence.” (Psalms 50:3; note that verses 4 and 5 tell of conditions that shall attend the Lord's future coming). “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” (Psalms 72:8; see also verse 17; 82:8). “When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.” (Psalms 102:16). “The Lord of Hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 24:23). “The Lord God will come with strong hand.” (Isaiah 40:10). “The Lord shall reign in mount Zion even forever.” (Micah 4:7; see also Zechariah 14:9, 20, 21). “The Lord to come suddenly; but who may abide the day of his coming?” (Malachi 3:1-4). “Elijah the prophet to be sent before the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” (Malachi 4:5, 6).

New Testament evidences:

“The Son of Man to come in the glory of his Father.” (Matthew 16:27). “The Son of Man to come in glory and to judge the nations. (Matthew 25:31-46). “Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven.” (Matthew 24:30). “Of the day and hour of the Lord's coming no man knoweth.” (Matthew 24:36). “Then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.” (Mark 13:26; see also verses 32, 33, 37). “Of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38). “After many tribulations the people shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” (Luke 21:27; read verse 10 and the verses following; also 17:26-30). “Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when ye think not.” (Luke 12:40). “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night to those not prepared.” (2 Peter 3:10; see also 1 Thessalonians 5:2). “This same Jesus shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11). “And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you.” (Acts 3:20). “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come.” (1 Corinthians 4:5; compare 11:26). “From whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20). “At the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” (1 Thessalonians 3:13; see also 2:19). “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). “When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.” (2 Thessalonians 1:7; see also 2:1; 1 Timothy 6:14; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:28). “Stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh (James 5:8). “That we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” (1 John 2:28; see also 3:2). “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him.” (Revelation 1:7; see also 6:12-17).

Book of Mormon and D&C evidences:

“The Holy One of Israel must reign in dominion, and might and power, and great glory.” (1 Nephi 22:24; see also verse 26). “The bands of death to be broken and the Son to reign.” (Mosiah 15:20). “Elijah to come before the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” (3 Nephi 25:5). “Christ expounded to the Nephites things that should occur until he should come in his glory.” (3 Nephi 26:3). The power of heaven to come down with Christ in the midst (3 Nephi 21:25; compare 20:22; see also 24:1-3). The Three Nephites to remain in the flesh until the Lord shall come in his glory with the powers of heaven. (3 Nephi 28:7). “Ye need not say that the Lord delays his coming.” (3 Nephi 29:2). “Christ to reveal himself from heaven with power and great glory, with all the hosts thereof.” (D&C 29:11; see also 45:44; 65:5). “The time is soon at hand when I shall come in a cloud with power and great glory.” (D&C 34:7, 8, 12). “When he shall come in the clouds of heaven to reign on the earth over his people.” (D&C 76:63). “The Lord to be in the midst of the saints in glory, and to be their king and lawgiver.” (D&C 45:59; see also 1:36). “The Son of Man now reigneth in the heavens, and will reign on the earth.” (D&C 49:6). “The Lord will come down from the presence of the Father to take judgment upon the wicked.” (D&C 63:34). “Preparing the way of the Lord for his second coming.” (D&C 34:6; see also 39:20; 77:12). “The Son of Man to come in an hour you think not.” (D&C 61:38). “The time of the Lord's coming nigh at hand.” (D&C 35:15; 43:17; 133:17). “Hour and day of the Lord's coming no man knoweth, neither the angels.” (D&C 49:7; 39:21; 133:11). “The good and the meek shall be looking for the time of the Lord's coming.” (D&C 35:15). “He that feareth me shall be looking for the great day of the Lord to come.” (D&C 45:39; see also verses 40-56, and verses 74, 75). “Unto some it shall be given to know the signs of the coming of the Son of Man.” (D&C 68:11 – and I can tell you who “some” are – the people who seek shall find). “I come quickly.” (D&C 34:12; 35:27; 39:24; 41:4; 49:28; 51:20; 54:10; 68:35; 87:8; 99:5; 112:34).

The Dome of the Rock,
Temple Mount, Jerusalem

What still must happen before the Second Coming?

That is a question with a very long answer, since most of the prophecies that describe the events preceding the Second Coming are as yet unfulfilled. I hope no one ever asks that question in the spirit of, “How much time do I have left?” We should always be repenting and be anxiously engaged in doing good and seeking to bring about Zion in our own sphere of influence.

My short response always favors Joseph Smith’s teachings about the seven seals in Revelation, each seal representing a 1,000-year period of the Earth’s temporal existence. We are living in the very end time of the sixth seal, because we are still waiting for the two major events of the sixth seal to occur: The “great earthquake” (see Revelation 6:12; also study D&C 77 in depth), and the sealing of the 144,000 high priests, 12,000 out of each tribe of Israel (see Revelation 7:4-8). The actual Second Coming does not occur until after all the events described in the sixth and seventh seals have been accomplished. So, those are two significant events yet to occur.

The Prophet Joseph Smith asked this question while in prayer one day. He was shown events in and around Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the Jewish temple yet to occur:

"I was once praying earnestly upon this subject, and a voice said unto me, 'My son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years of age, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man.' I was left to draw my own conclusions concerning this; and I took the liberty to conclude that if I did live to that time, He would make His appearance. But I do not say whether He will make His appearance or I shall go where He is. I prophesy in the name of the Lord God, and let it be written — the Son of Man will not come in the clouds of heaven till I am eighty-five years old. Then read the 14th chapter of Revelation, 6th and 7th verses — 'And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to Him, for the our of His judgment is come.' And Hosea, 6th chapter, After two days, etc., — 2,520 years; which brings it to 1890. The coming of the Son of Man never will be — never can be till the judgments spoken of for this hour are poured out: which judgments are commenced. Paul says, 'Ye are the children of the light, and not of the darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief in the night.' It is not the design of the Almighty to come upon the earth and crush it and grind it to powder, but he will reveal it to His servants the prophets.

"Judah must return, Jerusalem must be rebuilt, and the temple, and water come out from under the temple, and the waters of the Dead Sea be healed. It will take some time to rebuild the walls of the city and the temple, Etc.; and all this must be done before the Son of Man will make his appearance. There will be wars and rumors of wars, signs in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, the sun turned into darkness and the moon to blood, earthquakes in divers places, the seas heaving beyond their bounds; then will appear one grand sign of the Son of Man in heaven. But what will the world do? They will say it is a planet, a comet, etc. But the Son of Man, which will be as the light of the morning cometh out of the east." (April 6, 1843.) DHC 5:336-337. (TPJS, p. 286-7).

Do you think that the Second Coming is closer than people think and are prepared for?

What I think – my opinion – doesn’t really matter. There are two widely held misconceptions in the Church about the Second Coming: 1) That you can somehow estimate the time in days, months or years before the Second Coming will occur; and 2) that it will occur when we are sufficiently righteous and prepared for it.

First, the Second Coming will occur when all the events related to it are fulfilled, and not a moment sooner. So you must measure the nearness of the Second Coming in events, rather than with a calendar or a clock. My counsel is that we all become familiar with those events, then we will not be deceived when false prophets come among us determined to deceive us.

Second, the scriptural record seems replete with references that the Second Coming will happen as a day of vengeance and wrath to cleanse the world. The Second Coming will come in a day of perverse wickedness, not unlike the condition of the world just before the great Flood in Noah’s day, not in a day of righteousness. The righteous saints, many of whom will be prepared and ready and waiting anxiously, will neither hasten nor delay the Lord’s coming one way or the other. The events are clearly delineated (though often “scrambled” rather than arranged topically) in the scriptures. The Lord has not been silent on this point:

“What I the Lord have decreed in them [the published revelations and prophecies] SHALL BE FULFILLED.” Again, “Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them SHALL ALL BE FULFILLED. What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but SHALL ALL BE FULFILLED, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.” (D&C 1:7; 37-38). The time of Christ’s Second Coming has always been known to the Father from the beginning. We have no power either to hasten it or to delay it. (Read Joseph Smith-Matthew 40).

How close do you feel the Second Coming is?

This is a serious question, but my answer is the same as above – it doesn’t really matter how I feel about it. As more gray hair grows in among the black ones on my head, my feelings have changed. I could have my own Second Coming tomorrow if I die. In that context, the Second Coming for me could be very close indeed. I suppose that is true for all of us, because no one I know has yet been able to predict the time of natural or accidental death with any degree of accuracy.

The Boundaries of the City of Zion, Independence, MO,
"the center place" (Revelation 21:16-27; D&C 57:1-5)

So you want my feelings anyway? There are many, many events that must yet occur on this Earth before the Second Coming. You could all be grandparents bouncing grandchildren on your knees before the events are all fulfilled. But I believe that one of the key elements of prophecy relating to the Second Coming is what happens to the two sites of the Millennial temples that must be built before the Second Coming: One in Independence, Missouri (see D&C 84:2-5), and one on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. All the ancient prophets, David, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Micah, Zechariah, to name a few, saw that future Jerusalem temple in vision. Keep your eye on Independence and Jerusalem if you want a gauge to measure nearness. Then ask yourselves, "Which Church on the earth today holds the authoritative priesthood keys that govern temple building?" When the Jews and the Mormons finally build their Millennial temples in preparation for the Lord’s return, you will know that the day of the Second Coming is not far off. Until then, do as President Wilford W. Woodruff did -- keep planting your cherry trees.

One final thought to younger folks than I. When you live a long time, you outlive your fears of all the things you thought were going to happen because the things you once feared never happened. So I no longer fear the future because I've seen the past and I love today. It's really all I have and I'm going to make the very best of it I can.

The Gathering of Israel and the "Immigration Crisis"

This morning in the pervasive quietude that prevails in Pine Valley, I have been pondering the latest chapter in our American border "crisis." The irrepressible Ann Coulter wrote last week about the "30th anniversary" of that crisis. The political class in Washington seems to be vying for the affection of the immigrants, and some even assert that somehow Barack Obama has "manufactured" and "masterminded" this dramatic infusion of children whose parents have aided and abetted their flight to America, knowing if they could successfully navigate the border there would be ultimate amnesty and citizenship at the end of their journey. Most of what you are reading about the immigration crisis is pure political propaganda, little more.

We can debate the morality, the legality and the political merits until we are exhausted, but I have been pondering what the gospel perspective on all this might be, absent the political calculations.

Many years ago, beginning in 1982, I started a compilation from the scriptures on the topic of Zion, because I was curious to know how the revealed word described it. At the end of that compilation I offered a summary, little realizing how it would play out in future events. Here's what I said then:

"Ephraim's descendants will figure prominently in the leadership of the House of Israel in the development of Zion, but it would be a gross error to assume that Zion is the private domain of Ephraim. The scriptures speak plainly of all the tribes coming to their inheritances in their various lands. We are witnessing the emergence of all these long-lost cousins in Israel in our day, as adversity, lawlessness, and political upheavals continue to drive them to our borders of freedom. They come because of wars, famines, diseases, natural disasters, and the love of freedom, but whatever the reasons they are coming to claim their promised blessings at the hands of Ephraim. Let us never be so surfeited by the things of this world that we cannot embrace them, when they come with little more than the clothes on their backs."

In the gospel context, the gathering of Israel is accelerating. Some will fail to recognize this for what it is, but the descendants of Lehi, the blood of Manasseh coursing in their veins, are coming to claim their long-promised blessings at the hands of Ephraim, the older birthright brother of Manasseh.

On the political front we can argue, as many conservative elements in our society do today, that securing the borders and enforcing our immigration laws is essential to our survival. We currently have a POTUS, however, who has willfully chosen NOT to enforce the immigration laws that are already on the books and routinely blames Congress for its failure to give him enough money. Last week, Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) declared he would protect his own border. The voices from the states against the federal government become more strident with every passing day. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's (R) bitter indictments of Barack Obama are well-known on this issue.

I understand all the political arguments quite well, so thanks in advance for not reminding me about all that. However, these circumstances are foretold in scripture and should not alarm us when we put it in the larger picture frame of latter-day prophecy. The events leading to the eventual establishment of Zion are well-documented in scripture.

I find it ironic that it is the more conservative elements of society who are beating the drum for tougher border security and are taking such a vehement stand against illegal immigration. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, along with the Catholic Church and many other religious organizations (and what could be more conservative than these?) has maintained a humanitarian position for many years. Without discrimination about how they got here the churches have taken the position they will succor the weak, lift up the weary arms of the immigrants, and do all they can to provide the care and nurturing the immigrants need.

Political calculations in the give and take of the debate are on constantly shifting sands. People forget under George W. Bush statements and policies were put forward promoting an open border policy. This empty rhetoric didn't start with Barack Obama, as much as I am inclined to blame him for everything wrong with America today. On both sides of the political divide the lust for ever more voters picking them is what has driven the response to immigration. Make no mistake, the dirty little secret is neither side wants to turn away potential voters in such large blocks, notwithstanding the downside of perhaps a few terrorists leaking through the border with the legitimate "Dreamers" seeking a better life in America.

Seeking to set an example before the whole nation for thoughtful consideration of the immigrant crisis back in 2010, a group of citizens, churches and government leaders put forward what came to be called "The Utah Compact" to give some guidance to the debate:

THE UTAH COMPACT
A DECLARATION OF FIVE PRINCIPLES TO GUIDE UTAH’S IMMIGRATION DISCUSSION

FEDERAL SOLUTIONS  Immigration is a federal policy issue between the U.S. government and other countries — not Utah and other countries. We urge Utah’s congressional delegation, and others, to lead efforts to strengthen federal laws and protect our national borders. We urge state leaders to adopt reasonable policies addressing immigrants in Utah.

LAW ENFORCEMENT  We respect the rule of law and support law enforcement’s professional judgment and discretion. Local law enforcement resources should focus on criminal activities, not civil violations of federal code.

FAMILIES  Strong families are the foundation of successful communities. We oppose policies that unnecessarily separate families. We champion policies that support families and improve the health, education and well-being of all Utah children.

ECONOMY  Utah is best served by a free-market philosophy that maximizes individual freedom and opportunity. We acknowledge the economic role immigrants play as workers and taxpayers. Utah’s immigration policies must reaffirm our global reputation as a welcoming and business-friendly state.

A FREE SOCIETY  Immigrants are integrated into communities across Utah. We must adopt a humane approach to this reality, reflecting our unique culture, history and spirit of inclusion. The way we treat immigrants will say more about us as a free society and less about our immigrant neighbors. Utah should always be a place that welcomes people of goodwill. (Emphasis is mine).

That's as good a summary as I can think of to help us think through what we are saying in our political debates. We are being told there will be no comprehensive immigration reform legislation this year. The politicians simply don't want to handle the hot potato. But keeping in mind the principles cited here will help us think through the reasons so many are flocking to our borders.

Joseph Smith

On Christmas Day in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1832, a "revelation and prophecy on war" was given through Joseph Smith. These wintry words describe the times in which we live: "And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations. (D&C 87:6, emphasis mine).

The prophetic Book of Mormon offers additional insights:

And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them. [Read that verse again, could there be a more apt description of elements of American society today?]
And then will I remember my covenant which I have made unto my people, O house of Israel, and I will bring my gospel unto them.
And I will show unto thee, O house of Israel, that the Gentiles shall not have power over you; but I will remember my covenant unto you, O house of Israel, and ye shall come unto the knowledge of the fulness of my gospel.
But if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel.
And I will not suffer my people, who are of the house of Israel, to go through among them, and tread them down, saith the Father.
But if they will not turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, I will suffer them, yea, I will suffer my people, O house of Israel, that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them down, and they shall be as salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of my people, O house of Israel.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, thus hath the Father commanded me — that I should give unto this people this land for their inheritance. (3 Nephi 16:10-16, emphasis mine).

Please note that always and forever, if Israel covenants to repent and obey, the doors of forgiveness are perpetually and eternally open to all who will walk through them.

The events swirling today in Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Gaza, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Syria and Afghanistan, added to those in South and Central America only serve to remind us of the upheaval and lawlessness spoken of in the prophecy on war. It seems there will never be peace on earth, for so it has been decreed. Nation against nation, brother against brother, family against family. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ offers true brotherhood and unity. Our political institutions no longer seem capable of offering true asylum from the chaos. Indeed, the government solutions seem worse than the problems government creates. There's now a $3.7 billion solution being proposed to house the immigrants. Um, good luck with that. Until Christ comes again to rule and reign, there will be no peace on earth.

We are blessed in our ward to have a new member, President Ronald A. Rasband, the senior president of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy. He just returned from visiting congregations of the saints in Russia and Turkey. He reports there are three thriving branches of the Church in Turkey, a nation of 74 million, 98% of whom are Muslim. There are only twelve full-time missionaries serving in Turkey. Those three branches represent the hope of that region of the world. They are a melting pot of every faction of Islam from all the surrounding countries. There are no government-sponsored reparations against those who have fled to Turkey for asylum and converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Those who have become Christians are left alone in peace to practice their religion as they choose. They have embraced truth and light and chosen unity and peace. It is a model for the other nations in that region of the world to follow.

Only in the gospel of Jesus Christ is there sufficient light to extinguish the gathering darkness around us. All other government solutions will fail.

Without Joseph Smith

This afternoon I was searching in my e-mail history for something else, and I stumbled over an e-mail I sent to a dear friend summarizing my appreciation for the Prophet Joseph Smith. It's worth sharing again:

Joseph Smith (1805 - 1844)

April 16, 2005

Tomorrow, I’m speaking in Francis 1st Ward.   The topic they assigned me was the Prophet Joseph Smith.   The bishop had heard me speak in the stake fireside in January to kick off the year of celebration [2005 was the 200th anniversary of Joseph's birth in 1805] and wanted me to reprise what I had done before.   While it's impossible to do that, because it all came by the Spirit while I was on my feet, my mind took me in this direction.

I thought about, “What would my life be like without Joseph Smith?”   It reduces to truth, defined by the Lord as "knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come."   (D&C 93:24)   It's the knowledge from God through Joseph that I can't live without.

Without Joseph, we would never understand the true nature of the Godhead.   The concept of God would be a nebulous spirit essence whose center is nowhere and whose circumference is everywhere.   Just read the Nicean Creed sometime for an example of what man, left to his own wisdom, comes up with when trying to describe God.   With Joseph, however, we have this simple declaration:   “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. . .”   (D&C 130:22).   Either Joseph saw them and spoke with them, or he didn’t.   Everything this Church teaches and represents stands on that simple declaration based upon an early Spring morning’s encounter with Diety in 1820.   I would never know, without Joseph, that my Father in Heaven once lived on an earth like I do, and that I may someday become just like him.   (See King Follett funeral address, TPJS, 342).   Read it again to remind yourself just how stunning his knowledge at the pinnacle of his life really was.

Without Joseph, we would never have received the true priesthood.   It came to him from those ancient prophet worthies who held the power and authority they held during their mortal lives, namely John the Baptist and Peter, James and John.   Authority came from heaven itself in the form of resurrected beings.   Recently, Pope John Paul II was laid to rest, they claim, only feet away from the “first Pope,” Peter the ancient Apostle.   Imagine this most recent Pope’s surprise upon entering the spirit world to be greeted by a resurrected Peter whose body long ago arose from the earthly tomb that held it bound.   I wonder how long it will take the last Pope to accept the fullness of the gospel from the "first Pope" upon hearing it for the first time.  Imagine the conversation when Peter explains his bones were never buried under St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, Rome.

Without Joseph, we would have no knowledge of the organization of the only true Church authorized by our Father in Heaven and named for his Son Jesus Christ.   Imagine an organization revealed from heaven to living prophets that is able to accommodate rapid growth and constant change without missing a beat.   It is a constant source of amazement to me that changes in leadership every week across the world happen seamlessly without conflict or rebellion.   Its ability to expand its leadership infinitely as needed is equally amazing.   Beginning in 1975, the 1st Quorum of the Seventy was established, followed soon thereafter by the 2nd Quorum.   Members of these two quorums were designated as full-time General Authorities.   In April 1997, there came part-time Area Authority Seventies comprising the 3rd, 4th and 5th Quorums of Seventy.   In July 2004, the 6th Quorum was established.   All this is in fulfillment of a stunning pronouncement by Joseph in 1835:   “If the first Seventy are all employed, and there is a call for more laborers, it will be the duty of the seven presidents of the first Seventy to call and ordain other Seventy and send them forth to labor in the vineyard, until, if needs be, they set apart seven times seventy, and even until there are one hundred and forty-four thousand thus set apart for the ministry.”   (TPJS, 75).   Read about the 144,000 high priests (all today’s Seventies are ordained high priests) in Revelation 6-7, and D&C 77:11, then ask yourself how Joseph knew so much about organizing a worldwide Church when all the ordained priesthood brethren in Kirtland could fit in a little room.   Reported by Wilford Woodruff who was there, Joseph said:   “You know no more concerning the destinies of this Church and kingdom than a babe upon its mother’s lap.   You don’t comprehend it. . . It is only a little handfull [sic] of Priesthood you see here tonight, but this Church will fill North and South America –  it will fill the world” (as quoted by Wilford Woodruff, in Conference Report, April 1898, 57).

Without Joseph, we would know nothing about the establishment of Zion, pointing to the day when the earthly priesthood would unite with the heavenly priesthood.   Joseph taught that those who make their calling and election sure have the privilege of communing with "an innumerable company of angels." (HC 1:283).   He observed that "Paul [the Apostle] speaks of the Church coming to an innumerable company of angels."   (HC 3:388; 4:51; Hebrews 12:23).   The Prophet also explained: The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed.   The mustard seed is small, but brings forth a large tree, and the fowls lodge in the branches.   The fowls are the angels. . .   We may come to an innumerable company of angels, have communion with and receive instruction from them. . .   Paul had these things, and we may have the fowls of heaven lodge in the branches, etc.   (HC 3:389).   All that describes a condition of the heart, and is expanded in Joseph’s revelation and subsequent teachings about the church of the Firstborn (D&C 76:50-70).   But the thing that always amazes me is that the Lord revealed to Joseph that Independence, Missouri, was the geographical center of the United States in 1831, and the exact location of the New Jerusalem that would come down out of heaven to be joined to the earthly Zion.   He called it the “center place” and the “center stake of Zion.”   (D&C 57:1-5; 84:1-5; and this stunning promise in 101:16-18).   We know all of that because of Joseph.   I seem to use that word "stunning" a lot when I speak of Joseph.

Without Joseph, what hope do we have for salvation, meaning exaltation in the highest degree of celestial glory?   Through Joseph came the marvelous flood of light that shines brightly on the Father’s plan of happiness for his children.   We, who have suffered the loss of loved ones through death, have the hope of a glorious reunion with them.   We know we will be resurrected with them.   We know we may be exalted if we are faithful.   We know the sting of death is temporary, only swallowed up in the eternal life that awaits the sanctified.

Without Joseph, we would never know what we do about the atonement of Jesus Christ, and how to apply its purifying power to our lives.   Think what your life would be like to never have the knowledge that you could find peace in this life through the cleansing power of repentance.   Think what your life would be like without the knowledge that your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, if acted upon the way Joseph Smith outlines in the Restoration, could become the dominating force for good in your life.   Imagine not knowing that the old man of sin could be laid away in that watery grave of baptism, and rise renewed in the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost who will walk with us daily in our mortal journey.   Imagine not having the Articles of Faith to shed light on the atonement's power in our individual lives.   Said Joseph:   "The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things [I take that to mean "programs of the Church," sorry just couldn't resist] which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it."   (TPJS, 121).   Joseph said, commenting upon this statement, "I published the foregoing answers to save myself the trouble of repeating the same a thousand times over and over again."

Without Joseph, we have no modern scripture to be added to the canon of the Bible.   Without Joseph, there is no Book of Mormon, no Pearl of Great Price, no Doctrine and Covenants, no Lectures on Faith, no Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith.   Without Joseph we are left to interpret and debate the meanings of doctrine endlessly with our Christian neighbors.   We are shrouded without Joseph in the darkness of uncertainty and doubt about the meaning of our existence here in mortality.

Without Joseph, we have no knowledge about the role of prophets, ancient and modern.   Chosen by the God of heaven, they are appointed in a completely foreign way to the ways of men –  God chooses them, rather than a body of believers who elect them to lead.   I was interested recently to hear Susan Easton Black recount the history of how the Reorganized Church approached Joseph Smith III repeatedly and begged him to assume what they determined to be his rightful position in succession to his father.   After many attempts and many years later, he finally relented to their persistent pleas.   He was never sure that he was called of God thereafter, and made no such claim.   Contrast that with revelation from God to living prophets who exercise sacred priesthood keys.

Without Joseph, we know nothing of how to prepare ourselves spiritually for the Second Coming of Christ.   The Book of Mormon supplies us with a handbook, written through the spirit of prophecy by prophets who witnessed our day in vision.   It is remarkable that the bulk of its pages centers on conditions immediately preceding the Savior’s ministry among the Nephites and the aftermath of his ministry.   Said President Ezra Taft Benson: “The record of the Nephite history just prior to the Savior's visit reveals many parallels to our own day as we anticipate the Savior's second coming.   The Nephite civilization had reached great heights.   They were prosperous and industrious.   They had built many cities with great highways connecting them.   They engaged in shipping and trade.   They built temples and palaces.   But, as so often happens, the people rejected the Lord.   Pride became commonplace.   Dishonesty and immorality were widespread.   Secret combinations flourished because, as Helaman tells us, the Gadianton robbers ‘had seduced the more part of the righteous until they had come down to believe in their works and partake of their spoils.’   (Helaman 6:38).   ‘The people began to be distinguished by ranks, according to their riches and their chances for learning.’   (3 Nephi 6:12).   And ‘Satan had great power, unto the stirring up of the people to do all manner of iniquity, and to the puffing them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the world,’ even as today.”   (3 Nephi 6:15).   (See Ensign, May 1987, 4).

Without Joseph, we know nothing about the purpose of temples.   We would never know about sealing families together forever, nothing of the ritual cleansing ordinances that symbolize spiritual realities for the pure in heart.   We would never know how to link our ancestors and our posterity together in an unbroken chain forged back to Father Adam and Mother Eve.   We would never have the 119 sanctuaries we do dotting the globe today, where the faithful may go to find peace in a chaotic world and may commune directly with their Father in Heaven.   Those temples with the words "Holiness to the Lord" written upon them only symbolize our temples.   God will put his seal upon our temple someday if we are faithful to our temple covenants.   In the temple we learn of the path to celestial life, and we must choose here and now to get on that path:   Obedience, sacrifice, gospel, chastity and consecration.   Five laws, five covenants, five stepping stones to eternal life.   Without Joseph, how would we ever know?

With Joseph, we have it all.   How grateful I am to him for his generosity of spirit!