He Goes before Us
The Lord is leading the Restoration of His gospel and His Church. He knows the future perfectly. He invites you to the work.
My beloved brothers and sisters, I am grateful to be with you in this general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In his invitation to reflect on the way the Lord’s Restoration of His Church in this last dispensation has blessed us and our loved ones, President Russell M. Nelson promised that our experience would be not only memorable but unforgettable.
My experience has been memorable, as I am sure yours has been. Whether it will be unforgettable depends on each one of us. That matters to me because the experience of preparing for this conference has changed me in a way that I want to last. Let me explain.
My
preparation took me to the record of an event in the Restoration. I had
read about that event many times, but it had always been to me a report
of an important meeting that involved Joseph Smith, the prophet of the
Restoration. But this time I saw
Be prepared to "see things you've never seen before" when you study the scriptures. Elder Bednar said this as well:“We would not choose this present set of circumstances, But
given that they are upon us, it will help us have eyes to see things we
have never seen before and ears to hear things that we have never heard
before.
in the account how the Lord leads us,
His disciples, in His Church.
How the Lord leads His disciples in His church
How the Savior of the world, the Creator-who knows all things past, present and future leads us mortals:
He teaches us step by step
He guides us, never forcing
I saw what it means for us mortals to be led by the Savior of the world, the Creator—who knows all things, past, present, and future. He teaches us step by step and guides us, never forcing.
The
meeting I’m describing was a pivotal moment in the Restoration.
Is this pivotal moment in the Restoration going to parallel our present hingepoint moment in the ongoing Restoration?
It was a
Sabbath-day meeting held on April 3, 1836, in the Kirtland Temple in
Ohio, seven days after it was dedicated.Seven is symbolic of completion or perfection Joseph Smith described this
great moment in the history of the world in a simple way. Much of his
account is recorded in Doctrine and Covenants section 110:
“In the afternoon, I assisted the other Presidents in distributing the Lord’s Supper to the Church, receiving it from the Twelve, whose privilege it was to officiate at the sacred desk this day. After having performed this service to my brethren, I retired to the pulpit, the veils being dropped, and bowed myself, with Oliver Cowdery, in solemn and silent prayer. After rising from prayer, the following vision was opened to both of us.”1
“The veil was taken from our minds, and the eyes of our understanding were opened.
“We saw the Lord standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit, before us; and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold, in color like amber.
“His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying:
“I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father.
“Behold, your sins are forgiven you; you are clean before me; therefore, lift up your heads and rejoice.
“Let the hearts of your brethren rejoice, and let the hearts of all my people rejoice, who have, with their might, built this house to my name.
“For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house.
“Yea, I will appear unto my servants, and speak unto them with mine own voice, if my people will keep my commandments, and do not pollute this holy house.
“Yea the hearts of thousands and tens of thousands shall greatly rejoice in consequence of the blessings which shall be poured out, and the endowment with which my servants have been endowed in this house.
“And the fame of this house shall spread to foreign lands; and this is the beginning of the blessing which shall be poured out upon the heads of my people. Even so. Amen.
“After this vision closed, the heavens were again opened unto us; and Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north.
“After this, Elias appeared, and committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, saying that in us and our seed all generations after us should be blessed.
“After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burst upon us; for Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said:
“Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—
“To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse—
“Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors.”2
Now,
I had read that account many times. The Holy Ghost had confirmed to me
that the account was true. But as I studied and prepared for this
conference, I came to see more clearly the power of the Lord to lead in
detail His disciples in His work.
What are the details of the Lord's leading his disciples in his work with power?
Seven years before Moses committed to Joseph the keys of the gathering of Israel in the Kirtland Temple, “Joseph learned from the title page of the Book of Mormon that its purpose was to ‘show unto the remnant of the house of Israel … that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever.’ In 1831, the Lord told Joseph that the gathering of Israel would commence in Kirtland, ‘And from thence [Kirtland], whosoever I will shall go forth among all nations … for Israel shall be saved, and I will lead them.’”3
Although
missionary work was needed to gather Israel, the Lord inspired His
leaders to teach the Twelve, who became some of our early missionaries,
Are the leaders that taught the Twelve, the First Presidency? or these Resurrected prophets? “Remember you are not to go to other nations, till you receive your
endowment.”4
Missionary work is STILL needed to gather Israel.
Were our modern day Twelve taught so they could be among the 144,000 end-time missionaries while they were in Rome?
It
seems that the Kirtland Temple was important to the Lord’s step-by-step
plan for at least two reasons:
Was the Rome temple important in the Lord's end time step by step plan?
First, Moses waited until the temple was
completed to restore the keys of the gathering of Israel. And
Were they given authority to exercise the keys of the gathering?
second,
President Joseph Fielding Smith taught that “the Lord commanded the
Saints to build a temple [the Kirtland Temple] in which he could reveal
the keys of authority and where the apostles could be endowed and
prepared to prune his vineyard for the last time.”5
Were they further prepared in the temple there?
Although the temple endowment as we know it today wasn’t administered
in the Kirtland Temple, in fulfillment of prophecy, preparatory temple
ordinances began to be introduced there, along with an outpouring of
spiritual manifestations which armed those called on missions with the
promised endowment of “power from on high”6 that led to a great gathering through missionary service.
We may soon seen an outpouring of spiritual manifestations to arm us with "power from on high" in preparation for the great gathering that is coming.
After
the keys of the gathering of Israel were committed to Joseph, the Lord
inspired the Prophet to send out members of the Twelve on missions. As I
studied, it became clear to me that the Lord had prepared in detail the
way for the Twelve to go on missions abroad where people had been
prepared to believe and sustain them. In time, thousands would, through
them, be brought into the Lord’s restored Church.
The Lord has prepared in detail the way for his disciples to teach those that have been prepared to believe from this pandemic. Thousands will be coming in to the church!
According
to our records, it is estimated that between 7,500 and 8,000 were
baptized during the two missions of the Twelve to the British Isles.
This laid the foundation for missionary work in Europe.
Elder Cook said that “This time (of pandemic)is foundational and will allow the Church to grow
in the future and touch more lives and do more of the work of salvation
than ever before. We will look back on this as a foundational time of
preparation, and not just something we had to endure.”
By the end of
the 19th century, some 90,000 had gathered to America, with the most of
these coming from the British Isles and Scandinavia.7
The Lord had inspired Joseph and those faithful missionaries who went
to work to achieve a harvest that must have, at the time, seemed beyond
them. But the Lord, with His perfect foresight and preparation, made it
possible.
The coming harvest will be beyond what we can imagine. The Lord has perfect foresight and preparation. He is going to make it possible!
You remember the apparently simple and almost poetic language from section 110 of the Doctrine and Covenants:
“Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—
“To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse—
“Therefore,
the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by
this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near,
even at the doors.”8
Has the time "fully come" for the great gathering? Isn't this the ultimate expression of the hearts of the fathers turning towards their children? The Fathers have waited and waited for this great gathering. As the children respond, their hearts will turn in gratitude to their fathers whose faith and righteousness is the cause of them receiving this great blessing of having their eyes opened. It was the promise made to the Fathers that brought about their redemption.
And will this come just in time to prevent the whole earth from being smitten with a curse - the curse of unbelief and deception and tyranny of the adversary.
2 Nephi 27:28 But behold, saith the Lord of Hosts: I will show unto the children of men that it is yet a very little while and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field; and the afruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest.
29 aAnd in that day shall the bdeaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
I testify that the Lord saw far into the future and how He would lead us to help Him accomplish His purposes in the last days.
Who's "future" is he talking about here? Malachi's? Josephs? Whoever is being referenced, the Lord saw OUR day, and how He would lead us to help Him accomplish His purposes. Notice the LORD does it. It's HIS work. We just assist Him.
While
I was serving in the Presiding Bishopric many years ago, I was charged
with overseeing the design and development group that created what we
named FamilySearch. I am careful to say that I “oversaw” its creation
rather than saying I “directed” it. Many brilliant people left careers
and came to build what the Lord wanted.
The First Presidency will be the overseers of the creation of Zion. Are you brilliant enough to choose to leave your career to help build what the Lord wants?
The
First Presidency had set a goal of reducing the duplication of
ordinances. Their major concern was our being unable to know whether a
person’s ordinances had already been performed. For years—or what
seemed like years—the First Presidency asked me, “When will you have it
done?”
Joseph Smith was charged with building up Zion. It's been 200 years. Are there not angels in heaven saying, "when will you have it done?"
With
prayer, diligence, and the personal sacrifice of people of great
ability, the task was accomplished. It came step by step.
Prayer
Diligence
Personal Sacrifice
Great Ability
Step by Step:
The
first task
was to make FamilySearch
user-friendly for those who were not
comfortable with computers. This last 'period' of preparation has been to make the church 'user-friendly'. Don't be too harsh. Speak softly. Praise. Encourage. Invite. Make use of technology so everything is within easy reach. Comfortable. Accessible.
More changes came,
Since Pres. Nelson has been prophet their have been lots of changes
and I know they will
continue to come,We are not done getting announcements.
for whenever we proceed to resolve one inspired
problem, What was the 'inspired problem' that making the church user-friendly solved? Prosperity? A distracted world? Generational deception and false traditions?
we open the door for further revelation for advancements at
least equally important but not yet seen.What are these revelations for advancement?
Even today, FamilySearch is
becoming what the Lord needs for part of His Restoration—and not just
for avoiding duplication of ordinances.Family Search is part of the ongoing Restoration. As thousands come in to the church (even millions) they will use Family Search to connect and seal their families as their hearts turn towards their fathers.
The Lord let us make improvements to help people gain feelings of familiarity and even love for their ancestors and complete their temple ordinances. This will spread!Now, as the Lord surely knew would happen, young people are becoming computer mentors to their parents and ward members. All have found great joy in this service.
The
spirit of Elijah is changing the hearts of young and old, children and
parents, grandchildren and grandparents.
Temples will soon again be
happily scheduling baptismal opportunities and other sacred ordinances.
The desire to serve our ancestors and the bonding of parents and
children are growing.
The
Lord saw it all coming.Yes, even this pandemic and the evil agendas to take away our freedoms. He has planned for a way out of it as well. Wait. Watch. Be ready.
He planned for it, step by step, as He has done
with other changes in His Church. We can easily see how Home Church was rolled out in preparation for this pandemic. We must trust the other changes were planned for as well.
He has raised up and prepared
faithful people who choose to do hard things well.What do you consider a "hard thing"? and are you doing it well? I have pondered the "silence" of my local ward and stake leaders, and have decided that the Lord wants me to be more self-reliant. I know the organization is in place if I am in need. And if I'm not, then I'm to use my agency to reach out to others and learn how to truly minister.
He has always been
lovingly patient in helping us learn “line upon line, precept upon
precept, here a little and there a little.”9
This is perhaps why we haven't heard "repent or be destroyed" yet.
He is firm in the timing and the sequence of His intentions, yet He
ensures that sacrifice often brings continuing blessings that we did not
foresee.
Be still and know that He is God. It will all happen as he's planned. There is timing to His work and sequence as well. We may have to sacrifice as we wait and endure the crosses of the world until we are delivered. But He promises blessing we do not foresee. Trust. Trust. Trust.
I
close by expressing my gratitude to the Lord—He who inspired President
Nelson to invite me to make a sacrifice to prepare for this conference. Pres. Eyring's sacrifice was time and study and pondering and prayer. For many, this pandemic has carved out time for this kind of sacrifice. That's just how merciful and loving God is.
Every hour and every prayer during my preparation brought a blessing.When we sacrifice, every hour and every prayer brings a blessing. Express gratitude for it, even if you can't see it. God may be "preparing" another step in your own future realized blessing.
I
invite all who hear this message or read these words to
have faith that
the Lord is leading the
Restoration of His gospel and
His Church. Faith is sooooo important! Leading means He is out front!
He
goes before us.
He knows the future perfectly. He is not surprised by any of this
He invites you to the
work. We were asked by our prophet to prepare
President Nelson extended a special invitation to Latter-day Saints: “We invite you to be a major part of sharing the message of the ongoing restoration of the Savior’s gospel. We will share more about this soon, but you can start today by acting on the invitations I extended to you at last general conference to immerse yourself in the glorious light of the Restoration.
“You may wish to begin your preparation by reading afresh Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision as recorded in the Pearl of Great Price. Or ponder important questions such as, “How would my life be different if my knowledge gained from the Book of Mormon were suddenly taken away?” or “How have the events that followed the First Vision made a difference for me and my loved ones?”
“Select your own questions. Design your own plan. Act on any of these invitations to prepare yourself for sharing the important messages of the ongoing Restoration. It is your personal preparation that will help April’s general conference become for you not only memorable but also unforgettable. The time to act is now. This is a hinge point in the history of the Church, and your part is vital.”
Can you see it? The Lord is going to set His hand to recover His people! Millions will be asking YOU about the gospel. Will you be prepared to answer? The missionaries will be overwhelmed. Why will General Conference be unforgettable? Are you reading the talks to help you prepare to share the gospel? Will you look back and say "that was the Conference where it all began- The 200th Anniversary of the First Vision!" What is coming is going to be unforgettable!
He joins you in it.
He has in place a plan for your service.
And
even as you sacrifice,
you will feel joy as you help others rise All these new converts. What if there are so many we can only have sacrament meeting and then we'll have to have the rest of church in our homes, inviting people in to share the gospel with them and teach them. Is this the "great day of unity" that Pres. Eyring saw?
to be
ready for His coming.To be ready for His coming, we have to 'become His children, like the people of Alma, through unity.
I
testify to you that
God the Father lives.
Jesus is the Christ.
This is
His Church.
He knows and loves you.
He guides you.
He has prepared the
way for you.Do you know what that 'way' is?
In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
