What is all this leading to?

As I was laying in bed last night I picked up my i-pod touch to read my scriptures for a while. As soon as the app was running I had a very distinct impression to read D&C 45. I quickly navigated there because I know this is a section with a great amount of prophecy regarding the second coming.

Initially my thoughts were that there is as much prophecy concerning the Jews and Palestine as there is regarding America. Additionally and without surprise to me, there was another warning that Christ will come as a thief in the night, and that those who have the spirit with them will learn the signs of his coming and will be looking for the signs, and see them.

There were several major signs noted in this section that are for those in the American continent. First, there is the prophecy of the restoration. Second there is the prophecy that the gentiles will not accept the gospel because of the precepts of men. Third, there would be a great and "overflowing" scourge, a desolating sickness. Following the sickness there will be earthquakes in diverse places and many desolation's. Fourth, men will not soften their hearts because of all these things, in fact the Lord says that "yet men will harden their hearts against me, and they will take up the sword, one against another, and they will kill one another."

Christ steps out of the prophecy in vs 34 and says that when his disciples heard these things they were troubled. I would be too! This is some heavy information. So Christ does something that he has done many times before, he follows an intense, sad, or scary prophecy with some good and happy news.

He gives them a parable of the fig tree. In summary it speaks of a fig tree and when you see a fig tree begin to shoot forth and have those fresh little leaves then you know that summer is here. Then he says that it is the same when you see all these prophecies happening, that you will know the hour is nigh. He continues and I will just quote in his words for they are far more powerful than mine could ever be,

"And it shall come to pass that he that feareth me shall be looking forth for the great day of the Lord to come, even for the signs of the coming of the Son of Man.

And they shall see signs and wonders, for they shall be shown forth in the heavens above and the earth beneath.

And they shall behold blood, and fire, and vapors of smoke.

And before the day of the Lord shall come, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall be turned into blood, and the stars fall from heaven.

And then they shall look for me, and behold, I will come; and they shall see me in the clouds of heaven clothed with power and great glory; with all the holy angels; and he that watches not for me shall be cut off."

D&C 45: 39-44

Few things are left to have happen. Even more so, these prophecies actually end up tying into when the Lord touches his foot on the mount of olives and saves the Jews (read on in D&C 45 to see). At that point they will ask why he has the marks in his hands and his feet and he will say he received them in the house of his friends. The Jews will realize they crucified their Savior.

So what will be happening to those in America? If Christ comes and saves the Jews, why aren't we helping save them too? Why does he go to them and not us? We in America have a different route to take in the second coming. Because a great deal of members of the Church are Ephriamites this endows us with the calling to gather in the ten tribes, so what do you think will be happening? If you guessed that we will be on the American continent building the New Jerusalem and preparing to receive the lost tribes then you were exactly right! The Lord will be leading his church from his temple. The great meeting will of already happened where all who have held and do hold keys of administration will give those keys back to the Savior and we will begin the great calling of building the New Jerusalem, again with Christ as our King and leader. It is no wonder to me that it is said the righteous saints will cry to heaven day and night for this event.

Daily Study June 18th

Today I remembered a topic that has come and gone to my mind many times in the past. It is forgiveness. I mean to speak of it as my teacher in the MTC, Brother Burnell, spoke of it. He told a story of his little brother who had gone through some hard times. He finally turned his life around when not many people thought he would. Brother Burnell tenderly spoke of a conversation he had with his father about the whole situation. His father told him that our Savior does not care about where we have been, but where we are going. He will forgive us our past if we will leave it behind and follow him.

I have tried to remember this in times of my life when people I have known do something that upsets me or wrongs me. I try to remember what the Savior would do, and have me do. Today it came to my mind and I remembered the story of our Savior in Jerusalem. The Scribes and Pharisees were trying to find a way to condemn Christ and brought a women to him who had been caught in the act of adultery. When they asked what to do with her he informed them that he who was among them without sin should cast the first stone. He was the only without sin, yet he cast no stone while the others turned and walked away. When all were gone the Savior said,

“Woman, where are thine accusers, hath no man condemned thee?”.

Her response was simple

“no man Lord.” (John 8:10-11)

What Christ said next shows to me that he truly cares where we are going, not where we have been.

“ Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”

Oh how we as people hold on to our past. One would think that the past is as valuable as gold. Now the lessons from our past are, but our sin is not. Why can we not let our sins go, or as our Savior said, “go and sin no more.”? Why can we not let the sins of others go?

I am drawn to my experience in raising my dog, Sophie. I studied before getting her so I could train her and be a good owner. One trainer I watched would always tell people that dogs let go of what has happened in the past, we just need to let them let go of it, and to do this we need to let go of it. He especially expressed this when he worked with dogs people had rescued. The new owners would allow bad habits to fester because they felt bad for what had happened in the past to the dog. This only made things worse! Once the trainer arrived and treated the dog normally, as a dog needs to be treated, the dog would immediately begin to act better because it let go of the past and moved forward, just as it’s owners would let go of the past”

Now that I have my dog there have been times she has made me very angry. I cannot reason with her, and if my training fails us both I have caught myself yelling at her for a mistake that roots to me. I can go apologize to her (for my own consciences sake) and she will never hold it against me, we move on and do not live in the past.

Why cannot we move on, like our dogs will, or even better, let us move on because our Savior is waiting for us to do so! Originally I started this thought on forgiveness, we should look at others and say “go, and sin no more”. We should be caring about where others are going, not where they have been. Like my dog does not hold a wrong against me neither should we hold on to the wrongs of others against us. May we be like our Savior by showing no greater love by caring where others are going by thinking “go, and sin no more”.

Thoughts from my study part 2

After writing the previous section I was not finished reading. As I read further Cleon Skousen referred to the Lamanites coming and sweeping through the America’s if the gentiles did not repent. In whatever this is to occur, there is no question that is it prophesied in the Book of Mormon. The references were continually reverting to 3 Nephi. I turned to chapter 16 to read verse 10, but my curiosity led me to read the whole chapter. The Savior is telling the people of the America’s that the gentiles are going to have their chance to accept the gospel and if they do not then it will be they (the posterity of Lehi) who will be their destruction. Verse ten speaks most clearly of what the “gentiles” will be like in bringing such destruction upon themselves, stating;

“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 other 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 whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they reject the fullness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fullness of my gospel from among them.”

That is right in line with President Kimball’s prophecy. When the gentiles of America reach these points of wickedness then the gospel will be taken from them, and then will they be destroyed.

“if the Gentiles do not repent after the blessing which they shall receive, after they have scattered my people- Then shall ye, who are a remnant of the house of Jacob, go forth among them; and ye shall be in the midst of them who shall be many; and ye shall be among them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, and as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he goeth through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and non can deliver.”

3 Nephi 20:15-16

So our country is receiving great chances to accept the gospel but if they are wicked then they will lose the chance and be destroyed as previously shown. The saints are going to be persecuted and will suffer a great deal in all of this. President Wilford Woddruff’s testimony seals what I have read and written today;

"I warn future historians to give credence to my history; for my tersitmony is true, and the truth of its record will be manifest in the world to come. All the words of the Lord will be fulfilled upon the nations, which are written in this book. The American nation will be broken in pieces like a potter’s vessel, and will be cast down to hell if it does not repent-and this, because of murders, whoredoms, wickedness and all manner of abominations, for the Lord has spoken it.”

President Wilford Woodruff

Cowley, p. 500

From my own personal studies of the scriptures I have come to see that the Lord will destroy cities and nations when they are fully ripe with iniquity. Traditionally this is not only when they are full of sin but when they are making a point to hinder, stop, and otherwise destroy the work of the Lord. To date I do not see that to be the case in the united states of america (thankfully), but according to the above prophecies the persecution of the saints and church comes next (following our financial bondage), and from a historical view that will be the last straw. We will be persecuted and tried beyond what we can or want to fathom and then comes the end of this nation, they will be ripe and their purpose fulfilled.

In an attempt to make this not so gloomy, I would state that this should bring great joy to our hearts. We are given the chance to know what is going to happen and how to prepare. We know that we should be attempting to stabilize our finances and prepare for difficult times so we can stand ready for our callings and preparing the earth for the second coming of our Savior.

Thoughts from my study

Today I was listening to the radio while I was doing my thing. Glenn Beck was on and his comments spurred my mind to wander. Often he is accused of an extremist or on "the fringe" due to the things he talks about. As I have listened I have heard more deep connections with prophecies concerning our time before the second coming than anything else. He sounds to me like an lds guy who knows his scriptures and is watching for the prophecies. As he see's things coming to pass he is tying it into his show and views of what is happening.

My mind's adventure led me to a book I greatly enjoy regarding the second coming, "prophecy and modern times" by W. Cleon Skousen. I wanted to review what is supposed to happen on the American continent as prophesied in the scriptures. It was not long before I stumbled across a most interesting prophecy. I will enter it below so you can read along. Please notice that these prophesies are not occurring over night, but rather they are gradual (much like the story of boiling a frog in a pot of water, its best when it's slow). Look for the following...
1: What things have happened.
2: Look for what is happening right now, I refer specifically to the section on financial bondage. This has been occurring and the first presidency has been trying to advise us to be safe and smart with our money but it has only gotten worse and economic indicators are not showing any signs of solid improvement
3. What is going to follow the financial bondage. What struck me is the immediately following prophecy and how things are going to unfold?

"An army of elders will be sent to the four quarters of the earth to search out the righteous and warn the wicked of what is coming. All kinds of religions will be started and miracles performed that will deceive the very elect were it possible. Our sons and daughters must live pure lives so as to be prepared for what is coming.

After a while the gentiles will gather by the thousands to this place, and Salt Lake City will be classed among the wicked cities of the world. A spirit of speculation and extravagance will take possession of the saints, and the results will be financial bondage.

Persecution comes next and all true Later day Saints will be tested to the limit. Many will apostatize and others will be still not knowing what to do. Darkness will cover the extent and gross darkness the minds of the people. The judgements of God will be poured out on the wicked to the extent that our Elders from far and near will be called home, or in other words the gospel will be taken from the gentiles and later on carried to the Jews.

The western boundary of the stat of Missouri will be swept so clean of it's inhabitants that as President Young tells us, when you return to that place there will not be left so much as a yellow dog to wag his tail. Before that day comes, however, the Saints will be put to tests that will try the integrity of the best of them. The pressure will become so great that the more righteous among them will cry unto the Lord day and night until deliverance comes.

Then the prophet and others will make their appearance and those who have remained faithful will be selected to return to Jackson County, Missouri, and take part in the upbuilding of that beautiful city, the New Jerusalem."

President Heber C. Kimball
Deseret News, May 23 1931

Day 1

Today is the first time I have ever written on any blog, so how better than to start out with my own. There really isn't much I could think to write about since all I do is work and then mess around with adobe programs if I am not doing something with Ter and Sophie. Hence my life right now.

For future reference I will put more relevant posts on this blog, but I will not use this blog as a personal journal. When I see other's post very personal thoughts and emotions on their sights I feel as though that becomes too much, so you don't need to worry about intimate blather seeping from my life into these posts.