CIVIL WAR STARTING IN CHICAGO - WE JUST GOT THE NEW ROBERT E. LEE

CHECK THIS LINK OUT:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1039849853

HERE IS THE ORIGINAL PROPHECY:

This was a letter from Nephi Packard to A. Milton Musser on July 24, 1896:

"... My brother, Noah Packard, says that he heard the Prophet Joseph say that the next great (U.S. civil) war after the war of the rebellion (the Civil War of the 1860's between the North and the South) would commence in a little town now called Chicago but at that time it would have grown to be a very large city. And another brother told me that the Prophet said that the cause of the next great trouble of the United States would be the depreciation of the currency of the United States. I believe I have given you all the facts in as short and concise manner as possible."

Another quote regarding the Civil War itself comes from an interview by Dr. Poulson with David Whitmer, printed in the Deseret News on Friday, August 16, 1878:

Question: When will the temple be built in Independence?

Answer: Right after the great tribulation is over

Question: What do you mean by that?

Answer: A civil war more bloody and cruel than the rebellion. It will be the smashing up of this nation, about which time the second great work has to be done, a work like Joseph did, and the translation of the sealed plates and peace all over.


AND HERE IS THE FUEL THAT THEY ARE THROWING ON THE FIRE - INCOME TAXES INCREASING BY HALF. THAT IS RICH. INSTEAD OF CUTTING SERVICES BY 1/3, THESE JOKERS ARE GOING TO TAX PEOPLE INTO THE GROUND. WHAT A JOKE!!!! WE ARE SETTING OURSELVES UP FOR THE PERFECT STORM OF RIOTING AND GENERAL DISCONTENT THAT LEADS TO SOCIAL CHAOS.

Illinois Income Tax May Jump 50 Percent
Report: Gov. Pat Quinn Wants Tax Hike To Fight Deficit Reporting
Joanie Lum CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Click to enlarge
CBS


(3/10/2009)
State Faces Bigger Budget Crisis Than Realized (2/4/2009)
Income taxes in Illinois could soon be going up by as much as 50 percent to combat deficits in a difficult state budget.

As CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports, Gov. Pat Quinn is reportedly considering raising taxes to deal with a growing budget deficit.

Quinn has been hinting about the problems in the state budget this year for some time. He gives his first address on the subject next Wednesday, and there is word that income taxes will go up as 50 percent.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Quinn wants to raise the state income tax to 4.5 percent from 3 percent.

Illinoisans have had a lower income tax rate than other states for some time. This would be the first increase in 20 years.

In addition, some business tax breaks would be eliminated, and Quinn promises to tighten state government spending.

Quinn will balance the increase by raising the standard tax exemption up to $6,000 per person from $2,000, to help low- and middle-income families.

The income tax increase could bring in nearly $4 billion. The budget deficit is expected to be more than $9 billion by the summer of 2010.

Taxpayers in Chicago weren't surprised, but many said the timing is poor.

"We already can't afford to pay the taxes – people who have homes and what have you now, so it's going to be really rough," said Nadeja Borras.

"Already, the taxes are pretty high, so it could be a disadvantage for the State of Illinois," said Sara Mirarefi.

But some Chicagoans thought a tax increase might be necessary.

"I think it's about time somebody's got the guts to go in there and say, 'Hey, we have to increase taxes,'" said Jim Kauss. "We have to pay for this. it's not free."


State lawmakers are also talking about raising gasoline taxes to pay for road and bridge construction. Fees on driver's licenses and license plate stickers may also go up.

CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery is talking one-on-one with Gov. Quinn later in the day.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

AND THERE IS MORE. INSTEAD OF CUTTING BACK, THE SOCIALIST PIGS ARE RATCHETING UP THE COST OF LIVING THERE WHILE THE ABILITY TO PAY IS GREATLY REDUCED. VERY SMART....
ONCE MORE THAN 50% OF THE PIGS ARE FEEDING AT THE TROUGH, THEY WILL KEEP VOTING IN MORE SLOP FOR THEMSELVES AND THEN IT NOSE-DIVES IN. HERE IS THE LATEST REBELLION:

Parking Meter Revolt: Frustration Over High Costs Reporting
Jay Levine CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Click to enlarge
Chicagoans are so frustrated with broken parking meters and high costs, some are vandalizing the meters.
CBS


They are taking more of your quarters every day. And Chicagoans are in revolt. While some are saying enough by avoiding them, others are taking out their frustrations on the parking meters - literally! CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports with the anger behind the new meter rate increases.

You think eight is enough? How about 12? That's how many quarters buy an hour of parking time in some places now. And its why some people have had enough.

Near Broadway and Addison, meter after meter are broken.

"I called the company and I said I don't want a ticket," one woman said.

LAZ is a Chicago company which collects the money for the New York owner which paid the city $1.2 billion to lease the city's 36,000 meters for 75 years. They've pasted new stickers on them, doubled the rates to as much as a quarter for five minutes in the Loop. That's $3 an hour to $2 an hour in many other neighborhoods. People are angry.

"People come into this neighborhood for entertainment reasons, and you can't anymore because meters are so expensive," said Joe DiSalvo.

And people are frustrated.

"It's jammed," a woman said.

CBS 2 called the company, too; twice to New York, another to Chicago. They didn't call back. We also called the city. They called back but basically said, 'not our meters anymore, not our problem anymore.'

Enter a guy who calls himself 'Mike The Parking Ticket Geek.' He contacted us via Twitter and showed us his website, theexpiredmeter.com, which he used to give people advice on how to beat parking tickets. The site has become a lightning rod for peoples' complaints about the new rates and operators.

Mike says the people who are writing to him have a sense of "anger, frustration, rage in some cases."

To the point where some, it appears, are vandalizing the meters. Pictures on Mike's website show meters deliberately smashed, taken apart, spray-painted, or deliberately jammed.

"People suggest taking a quarter, putting some super glue on it, and putting it in the coin slot," Mike said.

That jams the meter and everyone parks for free. Or not at all.

All over the city, we saw stretches of meters empty in places where people had been fighting for spots. Having to put in 12 quarters an hour was either too inconvenient or too expensive.

The credit card meters, promised for the entire city within six months, are still rare. And peoples' patience is wearing thin.

"Some people write me and say, 'this is the last straw, my condo is for sale, sales tax, red light cameras.' It's just too much for some people,'" Mike said.

The meter people have said they hope to get things straightened out by April 10th. Some have suggested a moratorium on tickets until they do. But with the city having given up the proceeds from the meters but still getting the revenue for the tickets, the meter revolt may fall on deaf ears.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

SARAH MENET PROPHECY - CLEANSING OF THE CHURCH, THEN THE WORLD

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SARAH MENET PROPHECY - TEOTWAKI/BAD JUJU

JUST READ THE BOOK. EXTREMELY INFORMATIVE ON NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES AS WELL AS THE CRUD HITTING THE FAN. THIS DOES NOT PAINT A GOOD PICTURE AND IT FITS PERFECTLY WITH EXISTING SCRIPTURE AND THE REST OF THE STUFF ON THE BLOG.

As I tried to look away from my black surroundings, a small light started to shine in front of me, and the darkness, sounds and feelings that had so completely oppressed me started to fade into the background. The light grew bigger, and a window opened up much the same as when I had witnessed my life's review. This time however, a panoramic view of the entire earth lay before me. It came closer and closer as if I had been out in space and was flying toward it.

I knew what was happening was intended to help me make my decision about going back to the earth and my terrible life. A part of me wanted to go back to the beautiful spirit world, or paradise, that I had seen, and another part of me felt the need to be reunited with my body so I could change my life. It was a tug-of-war, and what I was about to see was to help me understand what I would be going through if I chose to go back to my 'body of clay.'

Again the view before me played out like a videotape in fast forward motion, and yet I could see the scene in perfect clarity and was able to comprehend everything that transpired. As the earth zoomed up into my view, I first saw the whole world, and then various countries. It was made clear to me that in the future there would be wars and troubles, including nuclear attacks in various places of the world, and a view of how it would start was given.

I am not familiar with the geography of the world, but as I looked a the various lands before my view I instinctively knew what countries they were. Looking at the Middle East, I watched as a missile flew from Libya and hit Israel. The mushroom cloud that resulted from the blast was visible, and I knew that the missile contained a nuclear bomb. I was aware that those responsible for the missile were Iranian, but the missile had been hidden and fired from within the borders of Libya.

Almost immediately after this, other missiles began flying from one country to another, quickly spreading war around the world. I also saw that many nuclear explosions did not come from missiles but from bombs of some kind on the ground.

My focus then changed from the Middle East to the United States, and I understood that I was about to see some of the things that would lead up to the nuclear holocaust that I had just witnessed.

As I looked upon the continent of North America, I zeroed in on the eastern coast and then on New York specifically. I saw New York City with all of its people and buildings. I then saw some tall buildings crashing to the earth surrounded by tremendous amounts of smoke, dust, and debris.

I zoomed in closer into the smoke and dust, and I saw a woman holding a little girl's hand and running from the crashing buildings. The woman had long dark hair, hanging past her shoulders and curled inward slightly. She wore a beige business suit, heels of a slightly darker color, perhaps tan, and she was not wearing glasses. The little girl appeared to be about 6 or 7 years old with short brown hair reaching below the chin and cut in a type of pageboy look. They ran together, holding hands and trying to escape from the falling buildings. As they ran through the heavy smoke and dust, they were forced to let go of their hands and became separated. The child was terrified, and I could hear her screaming, "Mommy, mommy!" over and over again.

I don't know their outcome, if they lived or died, but I can still see the face of the woman clearly and could easily identify her from a photo or describe her to a sketch artist. I asked if an earthquake had caused the buildings to fall and felt impressed that the answer was no. However, I was not given any indication as to the cause of the destruction. (Incidentally, I told this story many, many times before September 11, 2001. When I did see on television the World Trade Center towers collapsing, I knew that this was what I had seen.

The next thing that came to me was more felt than seen. It was the understanding that shortly after the crashing of the buildings in New York City, commerce ceased. Shopping and buying seemed to stop, and the economy failed throughout the world. Few had any money at all, and those who did have it could not buy anything of worth with it. Gold and silver and other commodities had value and could be traded.

I then saw a man walk into a middle of a crowd of people and drop what seemed like a quart jar full of liquid. The jar broke and the liquid spread. I understood that people nearby had become infected with a disease from the liquid, and they didn't even know it. A day or two later the people became sick and started dying. I saw that this would happen in four particular cities: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Salt Lake City. The disease started with white blisters, some the size of a dime, appearing the hands, arms and face of the victims. The blisters quickly developed into white puffy sores. Those with the disease would stumble around and fall over dead. Many died within a short time, perhaps 24 hours.

I also saw other people with a flu-like virus that spread more quickly than the first disease. The victims had blood coming from their nose, mouth, eyes, and ears. These people died even faster of this disease than the ones who had the first sickness. These diseases became wide-spread across the United States with hundreds of thousands infected.

As the people were fleeing the cities in the hope of saving their lives, gangs were attacking them and killing them. In the towns that were struck with disease there was chaos, with looting, rioting and murders involved in a complete breakdown of society. Many people seemed to go crazy. I sensed that the electricity had failed everywhere and that nothing was running throughout the country, including any of the communication systems. I watched people throw rocks through windows to steal TV's that would not work and thought it was very strange.

While I watched all this happening in the United States, my view instantly jumped back to the Middle East, and I saw the same thing taking place in Israel. The same sores and the same types of sickness and disease that were plaguing the U.S. had also been unleashed in Israel.

The switch in view only lasted an instant, and I was back in the United States. There was a tremendously long winter that caught everyone by surprise following the siege of sickness. It started early and lasted into the summer months. A famine had begun over the few years leading up to the long winter because of storms, droughts, floods and other plagues that had taken place; and the abnormally long cold period seemed to cause the famine to suddenly increase to its full measure.

In the period of time following the disease, which was quickly followed by the long winter, things started going down hill very quickly. Events piled up one on top of another without any breaks. My sense of timing was not very clear at this moment; however because I was seeing several things happening all at the same time or very close together.

During and after the long winter, the disease spread everywhere and increased in severity. The economy and the electricity were completely gone. Chaos and anarchy reigned over the entire United States. Without any government there was a total breakdown, and I saw people panicking everywhere. They were trying in vain to find food. There was none. I saw people even digging in the ground for worms to eat because they were so hungry from the lack of food.

Also, during this time I became aware that there was very little drinking water, and the remaining water had become contaminated, so that if a person drank it they would contract the disease and die. Because of their great thirst many people drank the water in spite of the danger of poisoning and died.

I mentioned earlier the gangs that killed people trying to escape the cities. It seemed that some of the people had lost their minds and went around in these gangs killing people just for the sake of killing; others killed for food or to gain some material possessions from their victims. Those that were killing for no reason were like beasts: animals completely out of control, as they raped, looted, burned and butchered people. I saw these gangs go into the homes of those who were hiding. They would drag them out of their hiding places, rape and dismember them.

For many there was an unnatural fear and hatred that came over the people. Family ties that once existed between husbands and wives, parents and children no longer mattered. The only thing that mattered was individual survival. Men would kill their wives and children for food or water. Mothers would kill their children. For me, the events that then lay before me were horrible beyond description and almost unbearable to watch.

The air everywhere was filled with smoke as many buildings and cities burned with no attempt to control the fires. As I looked upon this scene of chaos, smoke and destruction I noticed that there were small pockets of light scattered over the United States. There were, I would guess, about twenty or thirty of them that I saw. I noticed that most of the locations of light were in the western part of the United States, with only three or four of them being in the east. These places of light seemed to shine brightly through the darkness and were such a contrast to the rest of the scene that they caught my attention. I focused on them for a moment and asked, 'What are these things?'

I was then able to see that these points of light were people who had gathered together and were kneeling in prayer. The light was actually coming from the people, and I understood that the light was showing forth their goodness and love. I further understood that they gathered together for safety and that, contrary to what I had witnessed everywhere, the cared more for each other than for themselves. Some of the groups were small with only a hundred people or so, but other groups consisted of what seemed to be thousands.

I realized that many, if not all, of these places of light, or cities of light as I began to think of them, had somehow been established just before the biological attack, and that they were very organized. It was as if they had known what was coming and had prepared for it. I did not see who or what had organized them, but I did see many people struggling to reach them with nothing but what they could carry.

The cities of light had food that others outside of those groups did not have, and within the cities of light food was readily shared with those who joined their groups. In these places there was peace and safety. The inhabitants were living in tents of all kinds, many of which were no more than blankets held up by poles. I noticed that the gangs made no threats on these groups and left them completely alone, choosing to pick on other targets and unprotected people, as many of the people in those cities had guns that they would use for self-defense. The gangs also preyed upon the people who were traveling, trying to reach the cities of light.

As I looked upon them, I realized that these cities of light were temporary and that in a short time the people living within them would go to another place. I do not know where they were to go but seemed to think that they gathered in the mountains, to higher places.

As I was viewing the cities of light, my focus changed, and I became aware of missiles being launched and hitting U.S. cities. I watched as mushroom clouds started forming over many areas of the United States. Some of the clouds came from missiles that I knew were fired from Russia, and others were not from missiles at all, but from bombs that were already in the United States. These latter bombs had been hidden in trucks and in cars driven to certain locations and then detonated.

I specifically saw Los Angeles, Los Vegas, and New York City hit with bombs. New York City was hit with a missile, but I think that Los Angeles was hit by at least one truck bomb, if not several, because I didn't see any missile. I also saw a mushroom cloud from north of Salt Lake City, but without the aid of a missile.

In the darkness I also saw little fireballs. I'm not sure if this happened just before or during the mushroom clouds. The balls fell from the sky, were of different sizes - most being the size of golf balls - and were very hot. There were millions of them. As they fell from the sky they left streaks of flame and smoke behind them. Everything they touched started on fire: people, buildings, trees, or grass. Everything burned. I didn't ask what they were or where they had come from because by this time I was sick because of the scene before me, and so I observed without asking many questions.

At almost the same time and in the same locations as the mushroom clouds, I saw Russian and Chinese troops invading the United States. The Russians were parachuting at many spots along the Eastern Coast; I also saw them parachuting in Utah. Chinese troops were invading from the West Coast near Los Angeles. They were met with resistance from those who had survived the disease and bombs. I did not see any United States military there at that time.

The invasion was part of the nuclear war that I had seen earlier, and I knew that similar events were taking place all over the world as I had seen previously. I did not see much of this war, but was impressed that it was short in duration and the Russian and Chinese armies lost and left. No explanation regarding how or why was received.

Now the smoke became very heavy, dark and thick. Just as things appeared to be as bad as they could get, the earth began to quake. This occurred during a winter, seemingly the winter that followed the very long one I had seen earlier. The chaos had existed for almost a full year by this time. The earthquakes began in the west, around Idaho and Wyoming, and then quickly spread in every direction. I saw a huge earthquake hit Utah, and then California. There were earthquakes all over California, but they were especially devastating in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. San Francisco appeared to turn upside down.

The multiple earthquakes triggered volcanoes all over the west, and they started spewing a tremendous amount of ash and smoke into the air, causing it to become very dark and dirty and blocking much of what was left of the sunlight.

There were also huge waves of water that swept over the west coast, and as I saw them I realized that this same thing was happening to coastal cities all over the world. The waves were so huge that Los Angeles was nearly swept away.

I saw a wall of water taller than some of the buildings, perhaps as high as fifteen or twenty feet, sweep through Salt Lake City. I thought this was strange because of its location so far from the ocean, and wondered how a wave could travel all the way to Salt Lake City. I was impressed that the wave had not originated at the ocean, but was from under ground. I quickly noticed great cracks in the earth around Salt Lake City opened up and saw water shooting up out of the ground. I felt that deep under the ground was a huge amount of water and that the earthquakes had forced it up to the surface. Most of the buildings were swept away or destroyed when the water swept over the city. In fact there had been tremendous destruction, with only a few buildings left standing. The water coming from underground stretched from Idaho down to near Cedar City, Utah, and was very destructive.

As I looked, I could see that cities all over the country had been devastated, and there was rubble everywhere. Most of the buildings were destroyed. However, I realized that even though there was tremendous destruction from earthquakes, disease, floods, volcanoes, and tidal waves, the majority of the deaths were caused by the gangs of roving marauders that killed for pleasure.

As I studied the scene for a moment, the thought occurred to me that the earth itself had become sickened at the terrible acts of cruelty that were happening upon it and was finally reacting through these natural disasters. The earth was attempting to cleanse itself of the chaos and evil that had engulfed the people. The ash and smoke from the volcanoes had increased, and there was now almost complete darkness everywhere upon the earth.

The diseases also increased in devastation, and I saw people literally dying on their feet. I saw another particular disease that started with red blotches, and then the victims would start to bleed from every opening in their bodies. Then the people literally disintegrated, or melted into unrecognizable masses of flesh and bone. The sight was horrendous, as death and the dead were everywhere.

After this second terrible winter, I saw the survivors pile up the dead into huge piles to burn them. The stench was sickening. Some of the bodies had been burned during the time of chaos, but because people were more concerned with their survival they had mostly ignored the dead around them.

A huge earthquake occurred in the middle of the United States. It was tremendous and seemed to split the United States in half about where the Mississippi River is. The crack in the earth that resulted was huge, miles wide, and as it opened up the earth seemed to swallow everything. Water flowed in from the Gulf of Mexico all the way up to the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes did not exist any longer, however, as they became part of a large inland sea.

Then I saw another series of tremendous earthquakes all over the world. But they were not many, separate earthquakes, rather it was all part of one gigantic earthquake that shook the entire earth. Because of this earthquake waters overflowed their boundaries onto land all over the world. There were again huge walls of water along all of the coastal regions. This earthquake and the walls of water made the earlier ones seem small by comparison. I am not sure if the earthquake that split the United States in two was a part of this worldwide quake or not.

Next I saw a mighty wind come upon wind come upon the earth. As the wind hit, I saw people go into caves and into the cracks of rocks to try to escape its fury. It appeared to be stronger than any hurricane or tornado. It seemed that everything that had been left was now blown away.

I understood, without asking, that the great worldwide earthquake and the mighty wind were somehow caused by a huge planet-like object, that had come very close to the earth and had disrupted everything. It was also made clear to me that it was very near the "end" when this happened.

Now my perspective changed: I once again viewed the entire earth from a distance. I then saw a huge fireball, much larger than the earth, approaching our planet. It was extremely bright red and gold in color, and it engulfed the whole earth. When I witnessed this event I could not help but feel the difference between it and everything else that had occurred, and so I asked what this was that I saw. I was impressed that it was the burning of the earth that is described in the Bible. I understood that just before the fireball's appearance Jesus had appeared, and the good people I had seen earlier had left with Him and were no longer on the earth. The few people left behind were those wicked who had survived the earlier devastations.

The picture of the earth engulfed by this huge ball of red and gold fire slowly faded away into blackness. I was thinking that I have to go down and take care of my children so that they could be protected from the terrible things that were going to happen and then I don't remember any more until I woke up in the hospital."

NOAH, LOT, AND THE 5 OF THE TEN VIRGINS

ANOTHER GEM FROM LDSAVOW.COM:

ANOTHER PRINCIPLE AT WORK....
ONE THAT IS MISUSED AND NOT UNDERSTOOD
THE GREAT FALSE ASSUMPTION #2

Most members of the Church also work under a second false assumption. This is because they are confused about two separate principles of the gospel and how to correctly apply them. These principles are the principles of justice and mercy.
They confuse the mandate/commandment of sharing and taking care of the poor and needy with sharing their food with the rebellious. This false assumption is held not only by the rebellious (who often use it to justify their rebellious ways and minimize the outlined consequences) but by many of the obedient as well.

There is a big difference between the two concepts of taking care of the
truly poor and needy and taking care of the rebellious.

The First Principle, the one concerning taking care of the poor and needy which everyone remembers, is exemplified by the following scripture:

“For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things,
and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves.
“Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart
not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he
shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment.” 14

The second principle, the one that everyone often forgets to apply, (especially when its application produces negative consequences) is outlined here:

“There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated--
“And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon
which it is predicated.” 15

The reverse of this law is the point that the wicked do not like. Those who are disobedient to the law receive the consequences of their disobedient or rebellious actions as well...because this is right and just. The Lord mentions some of the consequences for those who are disobedient and rebellious:

“Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and
obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days.
“And the rebellious shall be cut off out of the land of Zion, and shall be sent away,
and shall not inherit the land.

“For, verily I say that the rebellious are not of the blood of Ephraim, wherefore
they shall be plucked out.” 16

A few other verses help us to recognize this principle even further:

“Hearken, O ye people who profess my name, saith the Lord your God; for behold, mine anger is kindled against the rebellious, and they shall know mine arm and mine indignation, in the day of visitation and of wrath upon the nations.
“And he that will not take up his cross and follow me, and keep my commandments,
the same shall not be saved.
“Behold, I, the Lord, command; and he that will not obey shall be cut off in mine
own due time, after I have commanded and the commandment is broken.” 17

It is important to recognize the difference between the wicked and the rebellious. The two groups are mentioned :

“Wherefore I, the Lord, command and revoke, as it seemeth me good; and all this to be answered upon the heads of the rebellious, saith the Lord.
“Wherefore, verily I say, let the wicked take heed, and let the rebellious fear and
tremble; and let the unbelieving hold their lips, for the day of wrath shall come upon them as a whirlwind, and all flesh shall know that I am God.” 18

President Joseph Fielding Smith hit the proverbial nail on the head when he wrote:

“One of the great failings of mankind is to ignore warnings of punishment for sin.”19

For good or for bad....It is actually all part of the law of consequences.
15
And now the heart of the question.... “Is it right and just for the obedient who have sacrificed their means to be obedient and laid up in store for their families...to give to those who had the same opportunity...but who refused to obey the commandment and laid up nothing?” Wouldn’t that be rewarding the rebellious for their rebelliousness? How are the disobedient going to suffer the consequences of their actions or inactions? How will the obedient gain from being obedient... if they
have given all their food away during a time of famine?
It is one thing to share with those who either did not know the commandment or were prevented from complying (the truly needy and poor)...and something completely different to share with those who willfully rebelled against the commandment and were disobedient.

How many times have you heard the phrase (or something like it)....oh, I don’t have any food storage...I will just share from my neighbor who has food storage. (Unfortunately, most of the neighborhood thinks the same...and so if it was allowed to come to pass, the family who had sacrificed and gathered the one year food storage would have nothing left after a few days.)

And yet... because of the nature of the true disciple...they would share with the disobedient, because they would share with any and all. What is the answer to this dilemma? Luckily, the Lord takes the problem and the decision away from us. Again, we go to the scriptures to see what the Lord has done in a similar type situation.

A Key Message For Us In The Parable of the Ten Virgins

First let us look at the parable of the Ten Virgins, a parable given by the Savior himself, that we have been told specifically refers to events in the last days. President Kimball indicated that the parable is specifically about and directed towards the members of the Lord’s Church. There are several important lessons presented in this short parable but the key one is concerning the preparedness
issue. In the parable, the preparedness issue is presented concerning physical preparedness. However, President Kimball indicated that it can be applied to spiritual preparedness as well.

Two groups of Church members are waiting for the coming of the Savior. Both are dressed in white, meaning that in all outward appearances they are the Lord’s true disciples, but there is one difference between the two groups. What is it?
1) Both groups appear the same.
2) They both are standing or waiting in the proper place and are doing what they are supposed to be doing.
3) Both groups have received the same instructions.

The only difference between the two groups is that concerning the preparedness issue...and in the parable, it makes all the difference in the world. In fact
it is the one single difference between the one group being welcomed in by the Savior and the other group being rejected. One group has fully prepared and the other group has only partially prepared. In other words, one group has taken the Lord’s commandments and directions to heart and have followed them explicitly and completely...while the other group, though righteous in every appearance, has only followed those same instructions partially.

When the Savior does come and the importance of the issue of preparedness becomes critical, what do the ones who have prepared fully do? They don’t share with the unprepared!!! The unprepared are left to suffer the consequences of their own inactions, and the consequences are extremely severe.

Wow!! What a hard, difficult and brutal lesson/message is presented here. The
justice of the consequences are apparent...but where is the mercy? Justice, ie receiving the consequences of ones actions, is an eternal principle and it is often hard.

Mercy is an eternal principle as well. However, it must be remembered that in the eternal law of mercy...mercy is only
extended to those who accept and abide by the conditions attached to it...ie. by doing fully what the Lord has commanded them to do.

Is there any past experience where this hard lesson concerning preparation has been applied? The answer is yes....Noah and the Ark.


NOAH AND THE ARK, A TYPE AND A SHADOW OF OUR DILEMMA

Here we have the quintessential application of the principal of preparedness as taught by the Savior in the parable of the Ten Virgins. We do not need to belabor the story of Noah and the Ark. Those who listened to the counsel of the prophet, which had been given for several hundred years, to prepare by boarding the ark were saved. Those who didn’t listen to the counsel of the living prophet
and didn’t board the ark...died. The lesson is very brutal and hard.

There are, however a few interesting points to be presented.
Noah was a just and a perfect man in his generation and he, along with his three sons, walked with God. Noah’s daughters, who had married wicked husbands, did not heed their father’s counsel and died along with the other wicked. How hard it must have been for Noah and his wife and sons to not extend mercy to their family members, especially when it started to rain.

The question might be asked...why didn’t they open the doors of the ark and let them in, or perhaps others in? The answer
is because the Lord wouldn’t let them. The Lord had foreseen the problem and had taken care of it by taking it out of the hands of Noah.

We read that the Lord shut the door or shut Noah and his family into the ark.

“And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had
commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.”

I am sure that when the rain started and the floods started coming up that there were a lot of people who were suddenly very repentant and asked to be let into the ark. Could you imagine what it sounded like for those inside the ark to hear the screams, pleas and pounding of those, including children, outside of the ark?

And yet the Lord in his wisdom did not give Noah the difficult choice of whether to show mercy and open the door and save them also or not. The Lord took Noah out
of the decision making process on the issue. Instead we find that the Lord suffered them to receive the just consequences (death by drowning) of their non-action to heed the counsel of preparedness.

Of course the important lesson of Noah’s Ark is applied to us specifically by a prophet of God concerning following the prophets counsel regarding food storage.

“The Revelation to produce and store food may be as essential to our temporal
welfare today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah.”

21

So how might the Lord take such difficult decision making away from those in the last days who have kept the commandment to have food storage...and not share with those who have not stored anything?

The answer is to remove the faithful people (the wise virgins) from among the foolish. This allows the faithful to reap the benefits of their obedience...while at the same time allowing the foolish to suffer the consequences of their disobedience.

In other words...gather/invite out the faithful/obedient to places of relative safety...which is usually to live in tents.

Examples of this abound in the scriptures and have been mentioned previously. Again, it would make sense that the Lord would so do again in the last days. In fact, Joseph Smith said it was the only way in the last days to be saved temporally:

“In addition to all temporal blessings, there is no other way for the Saints to be saved in these last days, than by gathering...”

An invitation to gather out from among the wicked, including away from those Church members who have not prepared (but who should have) to a separate place...will do so many things. Such a gathering would only include those with true faith in a living prophet. It automatically separates the wheat from the chaff...and gathers the wheat (who have prepared themselves for this time by collecting food storage) into places of relative safety. It takes away from them the problem of having to make the decision to sacrifice the fruits of their obedience with those who were disobedient and rebellious. It then allows the Lord to deal with those same disobedient and wicked people in a manner that will not harm the righteous...because they are not there.

As Lot and his family were gathered out from Sodom and Gomorah so that they would not suffer with the Sodomites their just consequences of their choices...so likewise, those who follow the counsel of the Prophet and Church leaders to flee from Babylon... will avoid the prophesied catastrophes.

THERE IS NO MINCING OF WORDS HERE. I BELIEVE ALL OF THIS TO BE GOOD PRINCIPLE AND COMPLETELY IN HARMONY WITH THE LORD'S TEACHINGS OF PREPAREDNESS, JUSTICE, MERCY, AND THE SIFTING OF THE WHEAT AND THE TARES.

WORDS TO LIVE BY - CHARACTER

TOO GOOD NOT TO SHARE - FROM ONE OF MY FAVORITE BLOGS I FOLLOW:

"Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Choose your words, for they become actions.
Understand your actions, for they become habits.
Study your habits, for the will become your character.
Develop your character, for it becomes your destiny."
author unknown

EXTREME ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL STRESS IN THE U.S.

Joseph Smith talking to Elder John J. Roberts, of Paradise, Utah.

"I want to tell you something of the future. I will speak in a parable like unto John the Revelator. You will go to the Rocky Mountains and you will be a great and mighty people established there, which I will call the White Horse of peace and safety." When the Prophet said, "You will see it," I said, "Where will you be at that time?" He said, "I shall never go there. Your enemies will continue to follow you with persecutions and they will make obnoxious laws against you in Congress to destroy the White Horse, but you will have a friend or two to defend you and throw out the worst parts of the law so they will not hurt you so much. You must continue to petition Congress all the time, but they will treat you like strangers and aliens and they will not give you your rights, but will govern you with strangers and commissioners.

"You will see the Constitution of the United States almost destroyed. It will hang like a thread as fine as as a silk fiber." At that time the Prophet's countenance became sad, because as he said, "I love the Constitution; it was made by the inspiration of God; and it will be preserved and saved by the efforts of the White Horse, and by the Red Horse who will combine in its defense.

"The White Horse will find the mountains full of minerals and they will become rich (at this time, it must be remembered, the precious metals were not known to exist in either the Rocky Mountains or California). You will see silver piled up in the streets. You will see the gold shoveled up like sand. Gold will be of little value then, even in a mercantile capacity; for the people of the world will have something else to do in seeking for salvation.

"The time will come when the banks of every nation will fall and only two places will be safe where people can deposit their gold and treasure. This place will be the White Horse and England's vaults. A terrible revolution will take place in the land of America, such as has never been seen before; for the land will be left without a Supreme Government, and every specie of wickedness will be practiced rampantly in the land. Father will be against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother. The most terrible scenes of bloodshed, murder and rape that have ever been imagined or looked upon will take place. People will be taken from the earth and there will be peace and love only in the Rocky Mountains. This will cause many hundreds of thousands of the honest in heart of the world to gather there, not because they would be Saints, but for safety and because they will be so numerous that you will be in danger of famine, but not for want of seed, time and harvest, but because of so many to be fed. Many will come with bundles under their arms to escape the calamities for there will be no escape except only by escaping and fleeing to Zion. Those that come to you will try to keep the laws and be one with you for they will see your unity and the greatness of your organization.

"The Turkish Empire of the Crescent will be the first power to be disputed, for freedom must be given for the Gospel to be preached in the Holy Land. The Lord took of the best blood of the nations and planted them on the small islands now called England and Great Britain and gave them power in the nations for a thousand years and their power will continue with them that they may keep the balance of power; and they will keep Russia from sweeping her power over the world. England and France are now bitter enemies but they will be allied together and be united to keep Russia from conquering the world. The two popes, Greek and Catholic, will eventually come together in their decline and be united. The Protestant Religions do not know how much they are indebted to Henry VIII for throwing off the Pope's bill and establishing the Protestant faith. He was the only monarch who could do so at that time and he did it because the nation was at his back to sustain him. One of the peculiar features in England is the established Red-coat; a uniform making so remarkable a target to shoot at, and yet they have conquered wherever they have gone. The reason for this will be known to them some day as red is seen in a different color threading through under all history. The lion and the unicorn of England comes from there being so much blood of Israel in the nation. While the terrible things of which I have mentioned are going on, England will be neutral until it becomes so inhuman that she will interfere to stop the shedding of blood and history will be more properly understood. England and France will unite together to make peace, not to subdue the nations. She will find this nation so broken up and so many claiming government, till there will be no reasonable government. Then it will appear to the other nations, or powers, as though England had taken possession of the country. The Black Horse will flee to the invaders and will join them for they have fear of becoming slaves again; knowing that England did not believe in slavery, they will flee to them that they believe will make them safe. Armed with British bayonets, the doings of the Black Horse will be terrible." Here the Prophet said that he could not bear to look longer upon the scenes as shown to him in vision and he asked the Lord to close the scenes.
"Our nation ... is rent, from center to circumference, with party strife, political intrigues, and sectional interest; ... our merchants are paralyzed, our tradesmen are disheartened, our ... credit ruined, and our states overwhelmed in debt," --Joseph Smith

And what about this letter written to someone regarding the topic they discussed with Joseph Smith
Second Great Rebellion (Chicago) Quote

A. Milton Musser papers, LDS Church Archives. It is a letter from
Nephi Packard to A. Milton Musser on July 24, 1896:

"... My brother, Noah Packard, says that he heard the Prophet Joseph
say that the next great (U.S. civil) war after the war of the
rebellion (the Civil War of the 1860's between the North and the
South) would commence in a little town now called Chicago but at that
time it would have grown to be a very large city. And another brother
told me that the Prophet said that the cause of the next great trouble
of the United States would be the depreciation of the currency of the
United States. I believe I have given you all the facts in as short
and concise manner as possible."

Another quote regarding the Civil War itself comes from an interview
by Dr. Poulson with David Whitmer, printed in the Deseret News on
Friday, August 16, 1878:

Question: When will the temple be built in Independence?

Answer: Right after the great tribulation is over

Question: What do you mean by that?

Answer: A civil war more bloody and cruel than the rebellion. It will
be the smashing up of this nation, about which time the second great
work has to be done, a work like Joseph did, and the translation of
the sealed plates and peace all over

WHAT!!! "the next great trouble
of the United States would be the depreciation of the currency of the
United States." How would somebody just think of something like that a put it in their journal? This is happening right now, or in the next couple yrs.


And yet another Prophecy:

The Hancock Prophecy

There will be two great political parties in this country. One will be
called the Republican, and the other the Democrat
party. These two parties will go to war and out of these two parties
will spring another party which will be the
Independent American [sic] Party. The United States will spend her
strength and means warring in foreign lands until other nations will
say, "Let's divide up the lands of the United States," then the people
of the U.S. will unite and swear by the blood of their fore-fathers
that the land shall not be divided. Then the country will go to war,
and they will fight until one half of the U.S. Army will give up, and
the rest will continue to struggle. They will keep on until they are
very ragged and discouraged, and almost ready to give up - when the
boys from the mountains will rush forth in time to save the American
Army from defeat and ruin. And they will say, "Brethren, we are glad
you have come; give us men, henceforth, who can talk with God." Then
you will have friends, but you will save the country when it's [sic]
liberty hangs by a hair, as it were.

- Prophet and presidential candidate Joseph Smith, 19 June 1844, as
recorded in the autobiography of Mosiah Lyman Hancock. See Duane S.
Crowther, Prophecy - Key to the Future, p. 10.

Personal note here: It appears that the above prophecy states extreme financial pressure on the US followed by collapse and then disunity. This will precipitate others coming in for their various reasons (probably to collect on the debts we have incurred to them with our useless Treasury paper that we pawn off to offset trade imbalances). We then unite as a country and stave off the external forces - but just barely and only with the help of a heavenly host (according to several other prophecies). Thus this nation will be smitten, driven and purged of those elements that have weakened us spiritually.

NEED FOR/USES OF SOLAR OVEN IN TOUGH TIMES

When the going gets tough, there is a quick and easy way to take care of meal preparation. I have always wanted a good solar oven as part of my long-term preparedness plan, but at around $300, it seemed a little over the top. The need for them in Darfur relates to my last blog topic about radical Islam and refugees fleeing violence. This may come in handy one day for the exact same reason in the U.S. if OBL and like-minded people make good on their threats:

Rays of hope for Darfur refugees

Tuesday May 6th 2008
Rachel Andres is the director of a solar cooking project that has transformed the lives of women in the refugee camps of Chad and Darfur. Female refugees have been at high risk of rape and sexual violence as they foraged for firewood outside the camps, but the introduction of sun-powered cookers has reduced their need to burn traditional fires. Rachel is being awarded this year's Charles Bronfman prize for her humanitarian work

Tuesday May 6th 2008

Lead article photo

Rachel with Zanuba, a woman from one of the refugee camps in Chad. Photograph: Toby Dershowitz
The solar cooking project began with Jewish World Watch (JWW), an organisation that was formed almost four years ago in Los Angeles with the aim of ensuring that no group anywhere in the world is ever again targeted for extinction without people of conscience rising up in protest.

Perhaps one of the reasons this resonates with me is because my grandmother's family – 22 of them – were killed in Europe in the Holocaust. She survived – she had left Poland in 1919 to escape an arranged marriage and was in America when the war broke out. Being a strong-willed woman who didn’t want to marry who her parents had chosen for her actually saved her life.

I went to my synagogue to hear the co-founder and president of JWW speak about the situation in Darfur. And when I heard her speak I thought: "I've got to do something about this."

In Darfur and neighbouring Chad, women and girls from the refugee camps are being attacked and raped as they go to forage for firewood. But without wood they can't cook for their families. Out of all the refugees in the Darfur camps 80% are women and children. Most of the men have been killed.

JWW's women's committee discussed a variety of options, like providing rape crisis centres in the camps and sending over trauma and grief counsellors – very western ideas really. But we felt we had to something to help these women, who had little choice but to send their daughters off to find wood, risking assault and rape.

Then I heard about a small pilot project in one of the refugee camps, which used the sun’s rays to cook food. It meant that women wouldn’t have to leave the camp so often to find firewood. I hunted around and found the KoZon Foundation, a Dutch organisation that was to become our partner on the ground. Together we joined forces with Solar Cookers International, a US-based non-profit organisation that raises money for solar cookers.

The Iridimi camp in Chad has 17,000 refugees living in it, and we set a goal of giving everyone a solar cooker – two for each family, one to cook their rice or macaroni and the other to cook their sauce or make tea.

In the beginning it seemed like a lofty goal, but we were determined to achieve it. We have recently begun to expand the project to a second camp that houses 22,000 refugees. We have a small manufacturing plant there, where we employ women to manufacture cookers and train other women. The hope is that we'll go into a third camp soon and then expand the project to many more camps housing the Darfur refugees. The scale of their need is massive.

The project has been funded by private donations. We figured out that it would only cost $30 to provide one family with two solar cookers, pot holders and training. The fundraising took on a life of its own. Once people started to hear about it they realised they could do something to help, that giving just $30 dollars could help a family survive.

We've raised over a $1m, but the majority of our donations have come in $30 increments. We had people all over the US raising money through car washes and bake sales. One girl started to paint rocks and sell them for a dollar each, and she has raised over $3,500.

Because the tragedy is so enormous in Darfur and Chad, people often feel powerless. They ask: "What can we really do?" But this project has shown them that there is something we can do. We may not be able to find the overall solution to the Darfur problem, but we can help protect the lives of women and girls until the world addresses the genocide going on there.

The solar cookers aren’t just about safety, they’re also better for the health of the refugees – women were suffering from lung and eye problems from bending over smokey fires for long periods of time. There's an environmental advantage too. If Chad’s 250,000 refugees keep cutting down trees for firewood, estimates are that in two years there will be no wood left. The solar cookers decrease that need for wood.

When we visited Chad in October the women told us that they now have time to do things like attend to their children and take care of elderly relatives. Previously, they had had to trek for miles in the burning 100-degree sun to find firewood. As you can imagine, in a refugee camp with 17,000 people, they would have to go further away from the camp each time.

The cooker itself is very simple – it's a piece of cardboard covered with foil, cut so that the angle of the sun's rays can hit the foil and then hit a black pot underneath. The cooker is generally ready to within two hours – within 10 minutes the pot is hot to the touch.

It's an odd process – every time I use the cooker I'm shocked it works. I think this was one of the reasons why other humanitarian groups didn’t get involved with solar cooking, because they thought the refugee women wouldn't buy into it. This is a culture that for thousands of years has cooked on a three-stone fire. But the women couldn't be more appreciative of the device.

When I found out I was being awarded the Charles Bronfman prize this year I was completely overwhelmed. The Bronfman family is a model of philanthropy and generosity for so many people around the world. Already, receiving the award has affected our work with the refugees; I've had so many calls from organisations interested in partnering with us. It has opened new doors and hopefully will enable us to expand to other camps faster. As the JWW tradition teaches us, "do not stand idly by".

Just as I promised my grandmother I would bear witness and tell our family's story, I promised the women of the Iridimi camp that I would bear witness to the stories of the 4669 refugee families. Nobody was there to save my grandmother's family, but I hope I can help to ensure the safety of the families from Darfur.

• Rachel Andres was speaking to Anna Bruce-Lockhart.

I am thinking here that it is pretty cool that Jews who lost loved ones in the previous holocaust are doing their part to mitigate the ongoing persecution of people for religious reasons. That is putting your money where your mouth is!!

Also, a fellow that I go to church with came over last night and mentioned the number of people that he ran into from his mission in Toronto, ONT who were formerly from Islamic states (Iraq, etc.) who wanted to convert to Christianity but could not because they would end up threatened or worse, missing their heads. He said they were better off here in the Americas in complete and total poverty but with a hope for their future and with the ability to live their lives according to their conscience. God Bless America!!

A RELIGIOUS FUTURE FOR/OF THE WORLD?

My intent is not to make this blog political or to bash any other religion unless they are a direct threat to my own or my ability to practice my principles and beliefs freely. In case someone tries to make me out for a religious bigot, please do research and discover what the LDS "Articles of Faith" say about religious tolerance - I pretty much completely live by those basic principles in my personal life.

This video piece seems to indicate that the most direct potential future threat to worshipping according to the dictates of my own conscience is Islam. If I were a Christian in Lebanon, Iraq, Somalia or Sudan, for example (and I have met many Christian refugees from those countries), the numbers show that once the numbers from Islam reach critical mass, you end up on the business end of a gun or a sharp blade is aligned with the four inches between your head and your shoulders..... If you think I am off base, research what the religious/Western demographic in Lebanon was like in the 1950's and find out the current stats - you will not be pleased. We attempted militarily to get in the middle and got spanked. Remember Beruit 1984 with the attacks on the Marines' barracks?

Here is the video:

http://perfectlyhuman.multiply.com/video/item/8

I will open this blog entry up for debate/stories that would try and argue against what is shown in this video. It appears to be accurate - but I have an open mind and would like to hear how this is an inaccurate hit piece on the Muslim way of life.

PS - I have a co-worker who was a pretty much rabid anti-semite (yes, from Amenijab's Iran) who has been very clear that the world will be dominated by Islam one day. In other words, get on my side now while the getting is good..... I did not like that attitude and I publicly had a show down with him to attempt to tone down the arrogant rhetoric I was getting from him about his "no holocaust ever happened" belief, etc.

Here is an update from a guy who is reporting the simple facts (trying not to be biased) that shows the raw acts of violence against people who do not think the way they do. There is no moral agency in this kind of action - especially when you are sent a picture of what you will look like if you don't stop reporting the truth.