A REMARKABLE EXPERIENCE ON OUR MONTANA RANCH - REVISITED

Well, I am way too slammed with our Montana move to be able to type this in - and I am desperate enough to take any help I can get if you would like to print these three pages out and type them up for me. Use the comments section to get a hold of me. I would love to see this experience widely distributed (a kind reader was able to complete this for me and it is electronically added below for copying and sharing with others - and I believe the jpg images below of the original type-written letter can be copied/printed, as well!). This has been almost 10 years in the making - since I first laid eyes on it and thought it was worthy of some attention.

So far, we have had many little miracles as we have made the effort to go over there that lets us know this is right. My wife, in talking to the Bishop's wife - over there (mentioned in previous blog post about Kalispell as a gathering spot), said there are 13 families who have suddenly and for no apparent reason other than a feeling to get out of their existing locations, have moved into the ward. That is just one ward in the Stake - and there are a total of nine wards in that general area. Makes me wonder what the other adjacent wards are experiencing. It was this good woman who was pivotal in getting my wife 100% on board with this whole thing. I have always felt God's hand in this plan - my wife just moves more cautiously, I guess. Not a bad combination - me more impulsive and she more cautious. Just sometimes a little unnerving when you have to be yoked together and you feel the urgency to move quickly....

CLICK ON THE PICTURE AND THEN, ONCE IT OPENS, HOVER AGAIN WITH THE LITTLE MAGNIFYING GLASS AND THEN CLICK ONCE MORE TO MAGNIFY IT. CLICK AGAIN TO REDUCE IT. HOPE YOU ENJOY IT AS MUCH AS I DID.








I really feel this is one of the crown jewels of the blog because of its sincerity and simplicity in bearing principle of the basics of life and how God wants us to operate here on this earth - well above our means and striving to our full God-centered potential. God doesn't care what kind of car we drove, the size of the house we lived in, or even the positions we held in the church. He just wants us to recognize Him, our dependence on Him and to show our gratitude to Him by serving our fellow man. Here is that experience typed out (thank you again for doing that kind act of service!):

We were trailing 600 head of cattle from the upper Little Bighorn valley
to our Wolf Mountain ranch, a distance of 65 miles. The drive lasted
four days.

At the outset, I became very despondent. A gloom settled over me like I
had never known before. Try as I would, I could not get relief from it
nor could I determine it's cause. There was no known reason for it. It
seemed that prayer was of little consequence. On the fourth day, we
were neraing our South range where the cattle would enter the ranch. I
was not too well acquainted with the country so I went on ahead of the
herd to scout out the best route. I pondered my feelings all the way
and without hardly knowing it I came to the gate where we would enter
the ranch with the herd. Not feeling inclined to dismount, and to open
the gate, I sat thinking over the situation. I had prayed earnestly
while riding along to get an answer to this problem, when to my
astonishment a voice said to me, "What are you doing with your
Priesthood? Why don't you use your Priesthood and bless your ranch?" I,
therefore, dismounted and obedient to the voice, I blessed by the
authority I held, the grass, the vegetation of all varieties, the air
and sky above, the water resources, the springs, the wells, the
reservoirs; I blessed the cattle and all else pertaining to our
property. Then I rebuked each and every agency of destruction that
would in any way harm the property. Having done this, I mounted and
headed back to the herd.

As I rode along, a peace came over me of such a heavenly nature, and a
happiness that I had scarecely ever felt, causing the tears to run down
my face, and a serge of gratitude to the Lord for his Goodness.

During the subequent days and years things happened on the ranch that
one could scarecely believe. The previous year had been a very dry one.
The neighboring ranchers drilled new wells and deepened existing wells,
and since the years following were very dry, this practice continued,
while my springs increased their flow, likewise my wells. The neighbor
on the North and West lost his springs and his well dried up, leaving
his cattle solid against my line fence bawling their heads off while my
well a hundred yards away pumped large volumes of water, keeping two one
thousand gallon tanks running over into the canyon below. I was getting
ready to build a corridor into my tanks for his cattle when he moved
them.

My neighbor on the Southwest lost his water and watered his stock from
my spring surplus runoff. Rain fell on my property from clouds which
seemed to form without any incoming clouds. For an example, I was in
the meadow one day and a little black cloud began to form just over my
head. It grew blacker until the rain fell in torrents, the cloud not
extending beyond my fence line. I was on my South range one day and the
same thing took place. A neighbor said to me one day, "Jim, we are
going to burn up!" "No, Oscar," I said, "it is going to rain." In a
day or two a long beautiful rain came. I was riding with a neighbor on
our North range one day, I was pasturing some of his cattle, his range
had dried up, when he said to me, "This is a cow heaven." My grain
cut-produced that of my neighbor year after year, even though I believe
he was the best farmer.

The neighbors were constantly telling me that they could see the hand of
Providence in my affairs. I met a neighbor on the road one day and he
startled me with this request, "We want you to go home and do whatever
you have to do to get US some rain." This from a man whom we always
thought to be far from anything Heavenly.

This Saturday night I was coming off the the Bighorn Mountains with a
cattle truck loaded with horses. The Aaronic Priesthood and I had been
on an outing. As we broke out of the mountains into the valley we were
startled with a sight which frightened us. Off to the Northwest
extending for many miles was this ominous black cloud. It was showing a
furry seldom seen in a cloud. We just got into Hardin, a town where we
had a home in town as the storm broke. The hail came in torrents. Over
in the Yellowstone Valley, 32 miles away, the hail piled up until the
cars were pushing it with their bumpers like a bulldozer. Billings had
a hail damage of six million dollars. Everything growing for fifty
miles North and South and one hundred miles East and West was beaten to
a pulp, not a living thing left. Roofs in our vicinity were beaten off
the houses. The hail stones were as large as hen eggs. We went to our
Sunday meetings and then headed for the ranch 40 miles away. We were
only able to get within ten miles of the ranch as Sarpy Creek was out of
it's banks and the bridge flooded. I asked a rancher at this place how
extensive the total destruction was. He said it was many miles in all
directions.

Sister Ferrell and I returned to Haqrdin and waited until Monday morning
when we set out again. We scarcely said a word as we rode the forty
miles, each possessed of the same thoughts and Oh! that question! As we
topped the rise to where we could see our grain fields, we hardly dared
breathe, bubt imagine our feelings when we viewed with tears in our eyes
those precious heads of grain standing erect, waving a welcome to us in
the gentle breeze. Our grass was not damanged, the vegetation on our
ranch was scarcely touched.

We drove down the driveway and I was still with the truck when the
neighbor came roaring in with his jeep. He leaped to the ground and
began to wave his arms in the direction of our grain fields, exlaiming,
"I have seen a miracle! If I had not seen it with my own eyes I would
never have believed it, and seeing it I scarcely believe." He then
said, "There is no question but that your Maker is watching over you."

It was in the spring the last week in April, My son Dick and I had just
finished getting ready for Priesthood meeting. I opened the front door
to leave when a feeling came over me. I turned to Dick and said to him
that I felt impressed that we should leave at once for the ranch. He
said, "Well, Dad, if you feel that way that's what we had better do."
We turned around, told my wife of my feeling in which she concured. I
gave the books and records to my daughter to take to the chapel, and
Dick and I left for the ranch.

By the time we arrived there a fierce northern blizzard was blowing in
with already four inches of snow. We were in the midst of calving out a
large herd of cows. We quickly saddled our horses and began to press
the cattle toward the barns and correls. They were scattered in all
directions within a mile or two of the home place. As is always the
case, a storm will start the calves coming thick and fast, and this was
the case. The blizzard increased in intensity until the cattle could
hardly be seen. Dick and I carried new born calves on the horses,
wrapping our sheepskin coats around them to keep them from instantly
freezing, until after midnight until we had all the stragglers houses.
Dick and I nearly perished from exposure ourselves. The storm raged for
three days and nights until we had thirty six inches of snow on the
level. All gullies and canyons up to 60 to 70 feet deep were filled to
the level. We lost just one calf and that one we bedded down in some
willows with a bale of straw. He was smothered but his mother got out.

Our neighbor, the Scott Land and Livestock, lost 80 head of big fine
heifers smothered in a canyon. One neighbor to the South and East who
could not get to his cattle for a week came back by our ranch and said
almost still in shock, "I'm not going back. I can't stand what I saw up
there."

How wonderfully blessed we have been. How good the Lord has been to us.

Stalk through the land, and if so who may abide the evil day? I think
the challenge is crying in our ears as the people of the Lord. How can
we stand as an ensign to the people, to our neighbors, when the ravages
of an earth in rebellion because of the wickedness upon her face,
ravages the people of the Lord, even as it does the wicked of the earth,
or those that know not the Lord. I am deeply convinced that the Lord of
the harvest would love us more, and smile ever so approvingly upon us if
we would arise from our lethergy, and move and have our being in the
realm in which we are called and to which we are ordained.

I have been show that in these perilous times, now that we have had the
Priesthood in our midst for about a hundred and forty years, in the
which time it ought to have been made such a part of our lives, and so
familiar with it's power and blessing, ought we to have become, that it
now, in this hour of great need the Priesthood could stay the hand of
the destroyer, calm the winds, dispell the frost, provide a spirit of
peace, gladden the earth over which we preside, make our fields blossom
as the rose, and make of our dominion a garden of Eden, and I say I have
seen that this power given us long ago, if by it's use we cannot save
ourselves, because God will not do for us what we have the power to do
for ourselves, or could have had, or ought to have.

I would pray therefore, that while it is called today, we arise with a
mighty will and put into motion these glorious forces, so that Zion may
disperse desolation so that all things over which we have jurisdiction
and control may be a holy place where we may stand and not be moved out
of this place, so that our neighbors and those not of us may be
constrained to acknowledge that the God of the Latter Day Saints is not
dead neither doth he sleep.

There will come a time that our farmers will have to unite as we have
never hitherto done. This ought to be done now, that those less
skilled, and with less machinery may get help from those endowed with
both, so that there may not be a lonliness and discouragement in the
hearts of our brethern who are toiling under heavy loads and cannot help
themselves. Would it not be a glorious thing for those thus afflicted
to know that they do not stand alone but their more able and more
fortunate brethern are instantly at hand to sustain and support them?
This I know will come, for upon this principle will Latter Day Zion be
built.

Said the Lord, this thing will be established in Zion even if it must
needs be by the things which my people suffer. It would be ever so much
better if the brethren would come into their own voluntarily.

President Baker, I have made this too long, but how could I say it
shorter. May the Lord bless and sustain you and your brethern in
happiness and peace.

Kindest personal regards.

Sincerely your brother,

Jas. A. Ferrell

THE OPRAH-IZATION OF GOD'S DEFINITION OF LOVE

There is little more that bothers me in my life as much as hearing a fluffy member of the Church expounding on the saving principles of the "principle" of unconditional love. I cringe - and, if taken to some new extreme of adoration of this "grand concept", I start to get physically ill.

Things are so contorted when it comes to how God operates and how we need to interact with our children that we have an entire generation of screwed up kids in the church because parents do not teach their children the concept of personal accountability and tough love; bad actions = bad consequences. Do the crime - do the time. Simple as that. We get so fluffy and grey in our approach that children that are trying to find their own way never know exactly where the bounds are that the Lord has set and what will be their outcome if they cross those boundaries. Kids hate their parents later in life (and then themselves), because they coddle them and will not do the difficult thing that needs to be done to help the child help themselves.

Here is a great piece on the need for God's boundless, yet conditional love:

CLICK LINK

As I always say, 'There ain't no such thing as a free lunch'...... That's the devil's doctrine and one that will lead someone straight to hell in a heartbeat.

BUILDING ZION - THE SPIRIT AND FAITH OF THE ANCIENTS

For those who plan to survive what is coming, I am going to pass on a key. This key will provide the spirit and the essence of what we have to do and be in order to move to the next level (Millennially speaking). Those who cannot or will not, will be swept from the face of the earth by the destroyer - for God will only bear up a Zion people - and I remind my older kids of this who know the principles of Zion, when they are not sharing or bickering amongst themselves of some petty thing.

When I first read the following account, it made me weep and touched me to the core. If it does not resonate with you, then I am sorry for you if you are a bearer of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood. As I go over to buy my mini Montana ranch which has been had through miracles, I again feel this story resonate with me as I feel God's hand directing my footsteps of faith:

A REMARKABLE EXPERIENCE ON OUR MONTANA RANCH

We were trailing 600 head of cattle from the upper Little Bighorn Valley to our Wolf Mountain ranch, a distance of 65 miles. The drive lasted four days.

At the outset, I became very despondent. A gloom settled over me like I had never known before. Try as I would, I could not get relief from it, nor could I determine it's cause. There was no known reason for it. It seemed that prayer was of little consequence. On the fourth day, we were nearing our south range where the cattle would enter the ranch. I was not too well acquainted with the country, so I went on ahead of the herd to scout the best route. I pondered me feelings all the way and without hardly knowing it, I came to the gate where we would enter the ranch with the herd. Not feeling inclined to dismount, and to open the gate, I sat thinking over the situation. I had prayed earnestly while riding along to get an answer to this problem, when to my astonishment, a voice said to me, "What are you doing with your Priesthood? Why don't you use your Priesthood and bless your ranch?" I, therefore, dismounted and, obedient to the voice, I blessed by the authority I held, the grass, the vegetation of all varieties, the air and sky above, the water resources, the springs, the wells, the reservoirs; I blessed the cattle and all else pertaining to our property. Then I rebuked each and every agency of destruction that would in any way harm the property. Having done this, I mounted and headed back to the herd.

Out of time! Gotta go now and bless my own piece of Montana - do check back in a few days. The rest of the story is astounding and makes me believe that most of use live well below our means.... This will be one of my favorite jewels of this blog.

UNSETTLED FEELING ALL OF A SUDDEN

I had a great day today. Got up early and went to Seattle to participate in the blessing of a child of my college buddy - what a great day even though I have to work the rest of this evening without my family on the Lord's day.

But, all of a sudden I have a very ominous unsettled feeling that is eating away at me. Wish I could put my finger on it. I hope I do not get one of those late night phone calls..... Hope my dad is doing okay.

SOLOMONIC TEMPLE IN HAWAII

Well, there are few unmistakable things as you look around the world for similar cultural threads as common Jewish customs among the peoples of the earth. One that blew my mind was the similarity of a he'iau (temple platform CLICK LINK) found throughout the islands of Hawaii. These are clearly ceremonial places using by the ancient Hawaiian peoples to worship their diety according to a newly-arrived co-worker.

I mentioned something to him about an earlier experience I had blogged about where I found a temple platform out in the middle of a lava field that dropped my jaw. Here is a picture of what one looks like:

CLICK LINK FOR A PICTURE OF A HE'IAU

These have the three levels (courtyards) separating the outer, inner and holy of holies. This pattern is found all over including exact replicas of the foundation patterns of Solomon's Temple from the Gaza area all the way to the Americas. A marker of a people who wanted to leave their calling card to ends of the islands of the seas that they were driven to.

Truly fascinating stuff that surely feels at home in the Wood Zone.

ELENIN - OUR BINARY STAR SISTER?

There was not too much in here that I could argue....:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgrh-tIR9Yg&NR=1

Definitely worth the 10 mins to watch it.

THE MOTHERLODE OF PROPHECY

I JUST FOUND MY NEW FAVORITE SITE, "WWW.NAUVOO.COM". CHECK THIS NICE COMPILATION OUT:

This is topic Prophecies about the United States in the latter days in forum General Discussions at Nauvoo Forum.


To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.nauvoo.com/ubb/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=005870
Posted by Melissa (Member # 1762) on November 10, 2008 01:53 AM:

I'm wondering what the prophets have said over the years in regards to what will happen to the United States of America in the last days.

I've heard the phrase, "constitution hanging by a thread" used before. Where does that come from and are there other quotes that are specific in what will happen to this country and its government in these last days?

What got me thinking about this is some things that Glenn Beck said on his radio show on November 6th. They gave me great hope and I'm wondering where he got these ideas. I'm guessing they're in the gospel teachings somewhere, but I don't even know where to look. I figured you guys are a good resource for these kinds of things.

Glenn said: "I have such hope because I know--I just sense that while we’re headed for real trouble and I don’t know how it’s all going to end. No, no no--I don’t know the path that’s going to get there. I do know the end and the end is that the constitution will not fail. I know that the end is we will not fail. I know that we will not end our lives in bondage. One way or another this people will be free. One way or another this land will be restored to what it needs to be. One way or another, one way or another we will stand and our families will be together, and our families will be whole and it will be a great time to raise children. I know these things. I know them. As much as I have told you in the last couple of years, trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble, I tell you today with as much conviction, beauty, peace, freedom."

Maybe he's talking about the millennium after Christ comes again, maybe not. I'm just not sure and want to educate myself better on this topic.
Posted by mirkwood (Member # 1788) on November 10, 2008 05:42 AM:

First I would get a copy of Gerald Lund's The Coming Of The Lord and read the two chapters on America (4 and 5).


I'm about to provide you with a ton of quotes...enjoy.


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Prophecy of Joseph Smith (March 10, 1844):
Even this nation will be on the verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground and when the Constitution is on the brink of ruin this people will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean and they shall bear the Constitution away from the very verge of destruction.
(Source: Joseph Smith Papers, LDS Church Historical Archives, Box 1, March 10, 1844; D. Michael Stewart, Ensign, Vol. 6, No. 6, June 1976, pp. 64-65; See also, W. Cleon Skousen, "Prophecy and the Constitution," Audio Tape, 90 min., Ensign Publishing Company, Distributed by Sounds of Zion, Sandy, Utah.)


Revelation to Joseph Smith (1831):
Verily, Verily, saith the Lord, your Redeemer, even Jesus Christ . . . Verily, I say unto you, that the day of vexation and vengeance is nigh at the doors of this nation, when wicked, ungodly, and daring men will rise up in wrath and might, and go forth in anger, like as the dust is driven by a terrible wind; and they will be the means of the destruction of the government and cause the death and misery of many souls; but the faithful among my people shall be preserved in holy places during all these tribulations.
(Source: Revelation given to Joseph Smith, July 17, 1831, west of Jackson County, Missouri, contained in a letter from W. W. Phelps to Brigham Young, dated August 12, 1861, Joseph Smith Collection, Church Historian's Office.)


Prophecy of Joseph Smith (1833):
And now I am prepared to say by the authority of Jesus Christ, that not many years shall pass away before the United States shall present such a scene of bloodshed as has not a parallel in the history of our nation; pestilence, hail, famine, and earthquake will sweep the wicked of this generation from off the face of the land, to open and prepare the way for the return of the lost tribes of Israel from the north country.
(Source: Documentary History of the Church, Vol.1, p. 315-316, January 4, 1833)


Prophecy of Joseph Smith (February 6, 1840):
I arrived safely at Nauvoo, after a wearisome journey (to Washington D.C.), through alternate snow and mud, having witnessed many vexatious movements in government officers, whose sole object should be the peace and prosperity and happiness of the whole people; but instead of this, I discovered that popular clamor and personal aggrandizement were the ruling principles of those in authority; and my heart faints within me when I see, by the visions of the Almighty, the end of this nation, if she continues to disregard the cries and petitions of her virtuous citizens, as she has done, and is now doing.
(Source: Documentary History of the Church, Vol. 4, p. 89)


Prophecy of Joseph Smith (May 18, 1843):
I prophesy in the name of the Lord God of Israel, unless the United States redress the wrongs committed upon the Saints in the state of Missouri and punish the crimes committed by her officers that in a few years the government will be utterly overthrown and wasted, and there will not be so much as a potsherd left.
(Source: Documentary History of the Church, Vol. 5, p. 394)

Prophecy of Joseph Smith (December 16, 1843):
While discussing the petition to Congress, I prophesied by virtue of the holy Priesthood vested in me, and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that if Congress will not hear our petition and grant us protection, they shall be broken up as a government.
(Source: Documentary History of the Church, Vol 6. p. 116)

Prophecy of Joseph Smith:
They shall have mobbing to their hearts content, if they do not redress the wrongs of the Latter-day Saints. Mobs will not decrease, but will increase until the whole government becomes a mob, and eventually it will be State against State, city against city, neighborhood against neighborhood.
(Source: As quoted by Brigham Young in Deseret News, Vol II. No. 9, May 1, 1861)


Prophecy of Joseph Smith, as recorded by Parley P. Pratt (January 21, 1841):
The government is fallen and needs redeeming. It is guilty of blood and cannot stand as it is now is, but will come so near desolation as to hang as it were by a single hair! Then the servants go to the nations of the earth, and gather the strength of the Lord's house! A mighty army! And this is the redemption of Zion when the saints shall have redeemed that government and reinstated it in all its purity and glory![D&C 101:43]
(Source: George A. Smith Papers, Church Archives, Box 7, Folder 5; D. Michael Stewart, Ensign, vol. 6, No. 6, Jun 1976, pp. 64-65)


Prophecy of Joseph Smith, according to Brigham Young:
The time will come when the destiny of the nation will hang upon a single thread. At that critical juncture, this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction.
(Source: Journal of Discourses, Vol. 7, p. 15, July 4, 1854)


Prophecy of Joseph Smith, according to Orson Hyde:
The time would come when the Constitution and the country would be in danger of an overthrow; and . . . if the Constitution be saved at all, it will be by the Elders of this Church.
(Source: Journal of Discourses, Vol.6, p. 152, January 3, 1858)
Posted by mirkwood (Member # 1788) on November 10, 2008 05:47 AM:

Prophecy of Brigham Young:
The nations will consume each other, and the Lord will suffer them to bring it about. It does not require much talent or tact to get up opposition these days. You see it rife in communities, in meetings, in neighborhoods, and in cities. That is the knife that will cut down this Government. The axe is laid at the root of the tree, and every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit will be hewn down.
(Source: Journal of Discourses, 8:143)


Prophecy of John Taylor (General Conference, 1879):
Were we surprised when the last terrible war (the Civil War) took place here in the United States? No . . . You will see worse things than that, for God will lay his hand upon this nation and they will feel it more terribly than ever they have done before. There will be more bloodshed, more ruin, more devastation than ever they have seen before. Write it down! You will see it come to pass; it is only just starting in . . . There is yet to come a sound of war, trouble and distress, in which brother will be arrayed against brother, father against son, son against father, a scene of desolation and destruction that will permeate our land until it will be a vexation to hear the report thereof.
(Source: Journal of Discourses, 20:318)


Another Prophecy of John Taylor (1879):
We have got this kingdom to build up; and it is not a phantom, but a reality. We have to do it, God expects it at our hands . . . We have got to go on and progress in these things. We have got to establish a government upon the principle of righteousness, justice, truth and equality and not according to the many false notions that exist among men. And then the day is not far distant when this nation will be shaken from centre to circumference. And now, you may write it down, any of you, and I will prophesy it in the name of God. And then will be fulfilled the prediction to be found in one of the revelations given through the prophet Joseph Smith. Those who will not take up their sword to fight against their neighbor must needs flee to Zion for safety. And they will come, saying, we do not know anything of the principles of your religion, but we perceive that you are an honest community; you administer justice and righteousness, and we want to live with you and receive the protection of your laws, but as for your religion we will talk about that some other time. Will we protect such people? Yes, all honorable men. When the people shall have torn to shreds the Constitution of the United States the Elders of Israel will be found holding it up to the nations of earth and proclaiming liberty and equal rights to all men, and extending the hand of fellowship to the oppressed of all nations. This is part of the programme, and as long as we do what is right and fear God, he will help us and stand by us under all circumstances.
(Source: Journal of Discourses, 21:8)


Prophecy of Wilford Woodruff:
The Congress of 1862, and the Supreme Judges of 1879, in their acts and decisions, have taken a dangerous and fearful step; their acts will sap the very foundation of our government, and it will rent asunder, and the God of heaven will hold them responsible for these things, for 'what men sow they will reap, and the measure they mete unto others will be meted unto them', saith the Lord. The Constitution once broken by the rulers of the land, there will be no stopping place until the nation is broken in pieces, and no power beneath the heavens can save this nation from the consequences thereof.
(Source: Millennial Star, 41:243)

Another Prophecy of Wilford Woodruff (1880):
The Lord . . . poured out His spirit upon me and opened the vision of my mind so that I could comprehend in a great measure the mind and will of God concerning the nation and concerning the inhabitants of Zion. I saw the wickedness of the nation, its abominations and corruptions and the judgments of God and the destruction that awaited it . . . On January 18th I was again given in a vision. It concerned the destiny of our nation and of Zion. My pillow was again wet by a fountain of tears as I beheld the judgments of God upon the wicked. I was strongly impressed that the Apostles and elders should warn the inhabitants of the earth.
(Source: Matthias F. Cowley, Wilford Woodruff, p. 393. SLC, Deseret News, 1916)


Prophecy of Moses Thatcher (an early apostle):
I have seen the end of this nation and it is terrible . . . I will tell you in the name of the Lord that a secret band will sap the life of this nation.
(Source: Franklin Ward Historical Record, Franklin, Idaho. June 16, 1882; Crowther, Duane S., Prophecy-- Key to the Future, p. 53, Bookcraft, SLC, 1962)


Statement of Erastus Snow:
We were told by the prophet Joseph Smith, that the United States Government and people would undermine one principle of the Constitution after another, until its whole fabric would be torn away, and that it would become the duty of the Latter-day Saints and those in sympathy with them to rescue it from destruction, and to maintain and sustain the principles of human freedom for which our fathers fought and bled. We look for these things to come in quick succession.
(Source: Journal of Discourses, vol. 26, p. 226, May 31, 1885)


Statement of Charles W. Nibley:
My brethren and sisters, I hope that we will go home from this Conference determined as a great body of people, to stand for law, order, righteousness, justice and peace on earth and good will among all men. I believe as the Prophet Joseph has written, that the day would come when there would be so much of disorder, of secret combinations taking the law into their own hands, tramping upon Constitutional rights and the liberties of the people, that the Constitution would hang as by a thread. Yes, but it will still hang, and there will be enough of good people, many who may not belong to our Church at all, people who have respect for law and for order, and for Constitutional rights, who will rally around with us and save the Constitution. I have never read that that thread would be cut. It will hang; the Constitution will abide and this civilization, that the Lord has caused to be built up, will stand fortified through the power of God, by putting from our hearts all that is evil, or that is wrong in the sight of God, by our living as we should live, acceptable to him.
(Source: Conference Report, October 1922, p.40)


Another statement by Charles W. Nibley:
Brethren and sisters, let me say in closing that we have it of record, that the prophet Joseph Smith said the time would come when through secret organizations taking the law into their own hands, not being governed by law or by due process of law, but becoming a law unto themselves, when, by those disintegrating activities, the Constitution of the United States would be so torn and rent asunder, and life and property and peace and security would he held of so little value, that the Constitution would, as it were, hang by a thread. But he never said, so far as I have heard, that that thread would be cut. I believe, with Elder Richards, that this Constitution will be preserved, but it will be preserved very largely in consequence of what the Lord has revealed and what this people, through listening to the Lord and being obedient, will help to bring about, to stabilize and give permanency and effect to the Constitution itself. That also is our mission. That also is what we are help to bring about, to stabilize and give permanency and effect to the Constitution itself. That also is our mission. That also is what we are here for. I glory in it. I praise God with all my heart and soul that I am a member of it.
(Source: Conference Report, October 1923, p.62)


Statement of Ezra Taft Benson:
America is a choice land. God raised up the Founding Fathers of the United States of America and established an inspired Constitution . . . I testify that wickedness is rapidly expanding in every segment of our society. (See D&C 84:49-53; 1:14-16.) It is more highly organized, more cleverly disguised, and more powerfully promoted than ever before. Secret combinations lusting for power, gain, and glory are flourishing. A secret combination that seeks to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries is increasing its evil influence and control over America and the entire world. (See Ether 8:18-25.)
(Source: "I Testify", General Conference, October 1988)


Prophecy of Heber C. Kimball:
J. Golden Kimball wrote: "Heber C. Kimball said it was revealed to him that the last great destruction of the wicked would be on the lakes near the Hill Cumorah."
(Source: N. B. Lundwall, Inspired prophetic warnings to all inhabitants of the earth, 1940, p. 52).


Statement of Joseph F. Smith:
As I stood upon the summit of the Hill Cumorah, in the midst of a vast multitude, only a few of whom belonged to the Church, I tried to picture the scenes of former days. Here were assembled vast armies filled with bitterness and bent on destruction. I thought of the great promises the Lord had made through his prophets concerning those who should possess this choice land, and how these promises were not fulfilled because the people violated his commandments. Here a people perished because of their extreme wickedness.
There must be something in the destiny of things that would cause a repetition of this terrible scene on the same spot many centuries later. I reflected and wondered if this unhappy time would ever come when another still mightier people would incur the wrath of God because of wickedness and likewise perish. If so, would this same spot witness their destruction?
(Source: Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. III, p. 242)


Prophecy of Heber C. Kimball:
I am very thankful that so many of the brethren have come in with handcarts; my soul rejoiced, my heart was filled and grew as big as a two-bushel basket. Two companies have come through safe and sound. Is this the end of it? No; there will be millions on millions that will come much in the same way, only they will not have handcarts, for they will take their bundles under their arms, and their children on their backs, and under their arms and flee.
(Source: Journal of Discourses, 4:106)


Prophecy of Brigham Young (1868):
By and by there will be a gulf between the righteous and the wicked so that they cannot trade with each other and national intercourse will cease.
(Source: Journal of Discourses, 12:284)


Prophecy of Heber C. Kimball:
Lay up your stores, and take your silks and fine things, and exchange them for grain and such things as you need, and the time will come when we will be obliged to depend upon our own resources; for the time is not far distant when the curtain will be dropped between us and the United States. When that time comes, brethren and sisters, you will wish you had commenced sooner to make your own clothing. I tell you, God requires us to go into home manufacture; and prolong it as much as you like, you have got to do it.
(Source: Journal of Discourses, 5:10)


Statement of Heber C. Kimball:
I will tell you a dream which Brother Kesler had lately. He dreamed that there was a sack of gold and a cat placed before him, and that he had the privilege of taking which he pleased, whereupon he took the cat, and walked off with her. Why did he take the cat in preference to the gold? Because he could eat the cat, but not eat the gold. You may see about such times before you die.
(Source: Journal of Discourses, 3:262)


Statement of David Whitmer:
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.
(Source: Interview by Dr. Poulson with David Whitmer, Deseret News, Friday, August 16, 1878)


Statement of Rex E. Lee:
A final area of constitutional interest unique to Latter-day Saints finds its source in the well-known "hanging by a thread" statements by the Prophet Joseph Smith. Similar statements have been reiterated by no fewer than six of his successors, including the current prophet . . . But in none of those quotations . . . has any Church leader ever been very specific as to the metaphor's meaning.
Unfortunately, some members of the Church have been all too ready to offer their own explanations. The only thing consistent about these explanations is that in each instance, it was the Church member's own unresolved, often very private, grievance that supplied evidence that the thread was beginning to fray, sometimes beyond repair . . .
In my view, this is another instance in which going beyond what our leaders have said can be misleading at best, and potentially fraught with mischief. Even though we have not been given the exact meaning of the prophets' statements about the Constitution hanging by a thread, the scriptures do define the conditions on which freedom in the land of America ultimately depends. I am satisfied that whatever else may eventually hang in the constitutional balance, this much is clear: The continuation of the blessings of liberty depends finally on our spiritual righteousness. As the Lord told the Jaredites in the Book of Ether, this is a "land of promise." And "whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, . . . if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ." If the people fail to keep this covenant, they "shall be swept off when the fullness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fullness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity" (Ether 2:9-12).
(Source: Rex E. Lee, The Constitution and the Restoration, BYU Speeches, 1991.)


Statement of Eliza R. Snow, Ogden, Utah, 1871:
I heard the prophet say, ‘The time will come when the government of these United States will be so nearly overthrown through its corruption, that the Constitution will hang as it were by a single hair, and the Latter-day Saints—the Elders of Israel—will step forward to its rescue and save it. (Journal History, MSF 143 #28, July 24, 1871; D. Michael Stewart, Ensign, June 1976.)


Statement of Boyd K. Packer (2004):
When Moroni was translating the twenty-four gold plates, he interrupted his narrative to speak directly to us in our day. He told of the Gadiantons and their bands (in our day we would call them gangs):
Wherefore, O ye Gentiles [that is us], it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, ...
[He then warned us in unmistakable plainness]: Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you; ...
Wherefore, I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all righteousness and be saved (Ether 8:23–24, 26).
When the Saints in Missouri were suffering great persecutions, the Lord said that the Constitution of the United States was given
that every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him. [Notice that it does not say free agency, it says moral agency. The agency we have is a moral agency.] ...
For this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood (D&C 101:78, 80; emphasis added).
The present major political debate centers on values and morals and the Constitution.
There occurs from time to time reference to the Constitution hanging by a thread. President Brigham Young said:
The general Constitution of our country is good, and a wholesome government could be framed upon it; for it was dictated by the invisible operations of the Almighty. ...
Will the Constitution be destroyed? No. It will be held inviolate by this people; and as Joseph Smith said "the time will come when the destiny of this nation will hang upon a single thread, and at this critical juncture, this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction." It will be so.23
I do not know when that day will come or how it will come to pass. I feel sure that when it does come to pass, among those who will step forward from among this people will be men who hold the Holy Priesthood and who carry as credentials a bachelor or doctor of law degree. And women, also, of honor. And there will be judges as well.
Others from the world outside the Church will come, as Colonel Thomas Kane did, and bring with them their knowledge of the law to protect this people.
We may one day stand alone, but we will not change or lower our standards or change our course.
(Source: "On the Shoulders of Giants", Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law Society Devotional, Saturday, 28 February 2004, 6:00 p.m., http://lds.org/newsroom/voice/display/0,18255,5004-1-61,00.html)
Posted by mirkwood (Member # 1788) on November 10, 2008 05:54 AM:

Nephi
Christ shall minister to the Nephites--Nephi foresees the destruction of his people--They shall speak from the dust--The gentiles shall build up false churches and secret combinations--The Lord forbids men to practice priestcrafts.1

14 But behold, I prophesy unto you concerning the last days; concerning the days when the Lord God shall bring these things forth unto the children of men.
15 After my seed and the seed of my brethren shall have dwindled in unbelief, and shall have been smitten by the Gentiles; yea, after the Lord God shall have camped against them round about, and shall have laid siege against them with a mount, and raised forts against them; and after they shall have been brought down low in the dust, even that they are not, yet the words of the righteous shall be written, and the prayers of the faithful shall be heard, and all those who have dwindled in unbelief shall not be forgotten.
16 For those who shall be destroyed shall speak unto them out of the ground, and their speech shall be low out of the dust, and their voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit; for the Lord God will give unto him power, that he may whisper concerning them, even as it were out of the ground; and their speech shall whisper out of the dust.
17 For thus saith the Lord God: They shall write the things which shall be done among them, and they shall be written and sealed up in a book, and those who have dwindled in unbelief shall not have them, for they seek to destroy the things of God.
18 Wherefore, as those who have been destroyed have been destroyed speedily; and the multitude of their terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away--yea, thus saith the Lord God: It shall be at an instant, suddenly--
19 And it shall come to pass, that those who have dwindled in unbelief shall be smitten by the hand of the Gentiles.
20 And the Gentiles are lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and have stumbled, because of the greatness of their stumbling block, that they have built up many churches; nevertheless, they put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain and grind upon the face of the poor.
21 And there are many churches built up which cause envyings, and strife's, and malice.
22 And there are also secret combinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the devil, for he is the founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and works of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever. 2
Posted by mirkwood (Member # 1788) on November 10, 2008 05:55 AM:

Moroni
Secret combinations are of the devil and result in the destruction of nations--Modern Gentiles are warned against the secret combination which shall seek to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries. 3
16 And they were kept up by the power of the devil to administer these oaths unto the people, to keep them in darkness, to help such as sought power to gain power, and to murder, and to plunder, and to lie, and to commit all manner of wickedness and whoredoms.
17 And it was the daughter of Jared who put it into his heart to search up these things of old; and Jared put it into the heart of Akish; wherefore, Akish administered it unto his kindred and friends, leading them away by fair promises to do whatsoever thing he desired.
18 And it came to pass that they formed a secret combination, even as they of old; which combination is most abominable and wicked above all, in the sight of God;
19 For the Lord worketh not in secret combinations, neither doth he will that man should shed blood, but in all things hath forbidden it, from the beginning of man.
20 And now I, Moroni, do not write the manner of their oaths and combinations, for it hath been made known unto me that they are had among all people, and they are had among the Lamanites.
21 And they have caused the destruction of this people of whom I am now speaking, and also the destruction of the people of Nephi.
22 And whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until they shall spread over the nation, behold, they shall be destroyed; for the Lord will not suffer that the blood of his saints, which shall be shed by them, shall always cry unto him from the ground for vengeance upon them and yet he avenge them not.
23 Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain--and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be.
24 Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you; or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who built it up.
25 For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies; even that same liar who beguiled our first parents, yea, even that same liar who hath caused man to commit murder from the beginning; who hath hardened the hearts of men that they have murdered the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from the beginning.
26 Wherefore, I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all righteousness and be saved. 4
Posted by mirkwood (Member # 1788) on November 10, 2008 05:58 AM:

Joseph Smith Jr.
64 And even now, let him that goeth to the east teach them that shall be converted to flee to the west, and this in consequence of that which is coming on the earth, and of secret combinations. 5
"I prophecy in the name of the Lord God of Israel, unless the United States redress the wrongs committed upon the Saints in the State of Missouri and punish the crimes committed by her officers that in a few years the government will be utterly overthrown and wasted, and there will not be so much as a potsherd left." 6
"While discussing the petition to Congress, I prophesied, by virtue of the Holy Priesthood vested in me, and in the name of Jesus Christ, that, if Congress will not hear our petition and grant us protection, they shall be broken up as a government." 7
"...the end of this nation, if she continues to disregard the cries and petitions of her virtuous citizens, as she has done and is now doing." 8
"...Some may have cried peace, but the Saints and the world will have little peace from henceforth.... I saw men hunting the lives of their own sons, and brother murdering brother, women killing their own daughters, and daughters seeking the lives of their mothers. I saw armies arrayed against armies. I saw blood, desolation, fires. The Son of Man has said that the mother shall be against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother. These things are at our doors. They will follow the Saints of God from city to city. Satan will rage, and the spirit of the devil is now enraged." 9
"...My heart faints within me when I see, by the visions of the Almighty, the end of this nation, if she continues to disregard the cries and petitions of her virtuous citizens, as she has done, and is now doing." 10
27 Behold, this I have given unto you as a parable, and it is even as I am. I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine.
28 And again, I say unto you that the enemy in the secret chambers seeketh your lives.
29 Ye hear of wars in far countries, and you say that there will soon be great wars in far countries, but ye know not the hearts of men in your own land.
30 I tell you these things because of your prayers; wherefore, treasure up wisdom in your bosoms, lest the wickedness of men reveal these things unto you by their wickedness, in a manner which shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the earth; but if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.
31 And that ye might escape the power of the enemy, and be gathered unto me a righteous people, without spot and blameless-- 11


Brigham Young
"I am for the Kingdom of God. I like a good government, and then I like to have it wisely and justly administered. The government of heaven, if wickedly administered, would become one of the worst governments upon the face of the earth. No matter how good a government is, unless it is administered by righteous men, an evil government will be made of it." 12
"It is a pretty bold stand for this people to take, to say that they will not be controlled by the corrupt administrators of our general Government. We will be controlled by them, if they will be controlled by the Constitution and laws; but they will not. Many of them do not care any more about the Constitution and the laws that they make than they do about the laws of another nation. That class trample the rights of the people under their feet, while there are many who would like to honor them. All we have ever asked for is our Constitutional rights. We wish the laws of our Government honored, and we have ever honored them; but they are trampled under foot by administrators." 13
"I heard Joseph Smith say, nearly thirty years ago, 'They shall have mobbing to their hearts content, if they do not redress the wrongs of the Latter-day Saints. Mobs will not decrease, but will increase until the whole government becomes a mob, and eventually it will be State against State, city against city, neighborhood against neighborhood.'...it will be Christian against Christian, and man against man, and those who will not take up the sword against their neighbors, must flee to Zion.
We are blessed in these mountains; this is the best place on earth for the Latter-day Saints. Search for the history of all nations and ever geographical position on the face of the earth, and you cannot find another situation so well adapted for the Saints as are these Mountains. Here is the place in which the Lord designed to hide His people...It has been designed, for many generations, to hide up the Saints in the Last days, until the indignation of the Almighty is over. His wrath will be poured out upon the nations of the earth." 14
"The nations will consume each other, and the Lord will suffer them to bring it about. It does not require much talent or tact to get up opposition in these days. You see rife in communities, in meetings, in neighborhoods, and in cities. That is the knife that will cut down this government. The axe is laid at the root of the tree, and every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit will be hewn down." 15
"By and by there will be a gulf between the righteous and the wicked so that they cannot trade with each other and national intercourse will cease." 16
"All we have yet heard and we have experienced is scarcely a preface to the sermon that is going to be preached. When the testimony of the Elders ceases to be given, and the Lord says to them, "Come home; I will preach my own sermons to the nations of the earth," all you now know can scarcely be called a preface to the sermon that will be preached....You will hear of magnificent cities, now idolized by the people, sinking in the earth, entombing the inhabitants. The sea will heave itself beyond its bounds, engulfing mighty cities. Famine will spread over the nations and nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom and states against states, in our own country and in foreign lands; and they will destroy each other, caring not for the blood and lives of their neighbors, of their families, or for their own lives." 17
Posted by mirkwood (Member # 1788) on November 10, 2008 06:02 AM:

John Taylor
DESTRUCTION OF THE NATIONS.--This nation and other nations will be overthrown, not because of their virtue but because of their corruption and iniquity. The time will come, for the prophecies will be fulfilled, when kingdoms will be destroyed, thrones cast down, and the powers of the earth shaken, and God's wrath will be kindled against the nations of the earth, and it is for us to maintain correct principles, political, religious, and social, and to feel towards all men as God feels.-- 18
THE PATTERN OF WORLD POLITICS.--When nations and rulers set the pattern, they generally find plenty to follow their example; hence, covetousness, fraud, rapine, bloodshed, and murder prevail to an alarming extent. If a nation is covetous, an individual thinks he may be also; if a nation commits a fraud, it sanctions his acts in a small way; and if a nation engages in wholesale robbery, an individual does not see the impropriety of doing it in retail; if a strong nation oppresses a weak one, he does not see why he may not have the same privilege. Corruption follows corruption, fraud treads on the heels of fraud, and all those noble, honorable, virtuous principles that ought to govern men are lost sight of and chicanery and deception ride rampant through the world. The welfare, happiness, exaltation, and glory of man are sacrificed at the shrine of ambition, pride, covetousness, and lasciviousness. By these means nations are overthrown, kingdoms destroyed, communities broken up, families rendered miserable, and individuals ruined.-- 19
THE KINGDOM IS ONWARD.--God is with us and will be with us, and will sustain us, and no power on earth or in hell can stop the progress of this work; for it is onward according to the decree of Almighty God, and will be from this time henceforth and forever. And as the prophets have said, so say I, woe to those men and woe to that nation or to those nations that lift up their hands against Zion, for God will destroy them. I prophesy that in the name of the Lord God of hosts. And he will be with his Israel, and will sustain his people and bring them off victorious; and if faithful, to the end, we shall obtain thrones, principalities, powers, dominions, exaltations, and eternal lives in the kingdom of our God.-- 20
"Were we surprised when the last terrible war [Civil War] took place here in the United states? No;... You will see worse things than that, for God will lay his hand upon this nation, and they will feel it more terribly than ever they have done before. There will be more bloodshed, more ruin, more devastation than ever they have seen before. Write it down! You will see it come to pass; it is only just starting in....there is yet to come a sound of war, trouble and distress, in which brother will be arrayed against brother, father against son, son against father, a scene of desolation and destruction that will permeate our land until it will be a vexation to hear the report thereof" 21
"A terrible day of reckoning is approaching the nations of the earth; the Lord is coming out of his hiding place to vex the inhabitants thereof; and the destroyer of the gentiles, as prophesied of, is already on his way. Already monarchs of the earth are trembling from conspiracies among their own people....Already have two of the presidents of this republic been laid low by the hands of the assassin; and the spirit of insubordination, misrule, lynching, and mobocracy of every kind is beginning to ride rampant through the land. Already combinations are being entered into which are very ominous for the future prosperity, welfare, and happiness of this great republic. The volcanic fires of disordered and anarchical elements are beginning to manifest themselves and exhibit the internal forces that are at work among the turbulent and unthinking masses of people." 22
"As far as constitutional liberty is concerned, I will say, the God of heaven has raised up our nation....and it is through the intervention of his providence that we enjoy today the freest and most independent government the world ever saw. And what was the object of this? It was to prepare the way for the building up of the kingdom of God in this the last dispensation of the fulness of times; and as long as the principles of constitutional liberty shall be maintained upon this land, blessings will attend the nation." 23
"But what I want to say is: we live in a government raised up by the God of heaven. We have a Constitution that was given by inspiration from God to man. I believe it is the best human form of government that was ever given to the human family. Now, I say if our rulers and governors become corrupt and attempt to trample those principles under their feet; though the nation itself might go to pieces, yet it is beyond the power of man to destroy the principles of the Constitution. They may destroy one another, yet the principles contained in that instrument will live, and the God of heaven will maintain them until Jesus Christ comes in the clouds of heaven to set up his throne in Jerusalem, and to reign on the earth a thousand years." 24
"The judgments of God will now begin to rest more fully upon this nation and will be increased upon it, year by year. Calamities will come speedily upon it and it will be visited with thunder, lightning, storms, whirlwinds, floods, pestilence, plagues, war and devouring fire; the wicked will slay the wicked until the wicked are wasted away." 25
"The American nation will be broken in pieces like a potters 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." 26
"...I will say, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, that "Mormonism" will live and prosper, Zion will flourish, and the Kingdom of God will stand in power and glory and dominion as Daniel saw it, when this nation is broken to pieces as a potter's vessel and laid in the dust, and brought to judgment, or God never spoke by my mouth." 27
"The Lord then poured out His spirit upon me and opened the vision of my mind so that I could comprehend in a great measure the mind and will of God concerning the nation and concerning the inhabitants of Zion. I saw the wickedness of the nation, its abominations and corruptions and the judgments of God and the destruction that awaited it.... On January 28th I was again given a vision. It concerned the destiny of our nation and of Zion. My pillow was again wet by a fountain of tears as I beheld the judgments of God upon the wicked. I was strongly impressed that the Apostles and elders should warn the inhabitants of the Earth." 28
"When I contemplate the condition of our nation, and see that wickedness and abominations are increasing, so much so that the whole heavens groan and weep over the abominations of this nation and the nations of the earth, I ask myself the question, can the American nation escape? The answer comes, No; its destruction, as well as the destruction of the world is sure; just as sure as the Lord cut off and destroyed the two great and prosperous nations that once inhabited this continent of North and South America, because of their wickedness, so will he them destroy, and sooner or later they will reap the fruits of their own wicked acts, and be numbered among the past." 29

Lorenzo Snow
"The wicked will destroy themselves. Our object is the temporal salvation of the people as much as it is for their spiritual salvation. By and by the nations will be broken up on account of their wickedness. The Latter-day Saints are not going to move upon them with their little army; they will destroy themselves with their wickedness and immorality. They will contend and quarrel one with another, state after state and nation after nation, until they are broken up, and thousands, tens of thousands, and hundreds of thousands will undoubtedly come and seek protection at the hands of the servants of God, as much so as in the days of Joseph when he was called upon to lay a plan for the salvation of the house of Israel." 31
Posted by mirkwood (Member # 1788) on November 10, 2008 06:33 AM:

George Albert Smith
Then President Smith said, "I have had a troublesome vision of another great and terrible war that made the war just ended look like a training exercise, and people died like flies. It began at a time when the Soviet Union's military might dwarfed that of the United States, and we, that is the United States, would have missiles that carried an atomic bomb in Europe. I saw the United States, withdraw its missiles to appease the Soviet Union, and then the war began."
He also said that we would have big missiles in deep holes he described like grain silos which the Soviets would try to destroy by their own missiles. They would hit military installations and certain cities also. He said that the President at that time would be of Greek extraction. Until then all the presidents would be of British or Northern European ancestry. He continued that the U.S. would be bound by numerous entangling alliances and would take away weapons owned by the people. He talked some about the initial attack and the ground warfare, but I can't remember enough to document all their tactics and in which countries various things occurred. One tactic, especially in Europe, was to transport thousands of tanks in big trucks like semi trailers on the super highways to have them located where they wanted them when the war was to begin. During that explanation I asked, "What about the Atomic Cannon?" to which he answered, "I didn't see anything like that." Then he said, "The aftermath was dreadful. Think of the worst, most difficult times of the depression." He turned to us children and said "You won't remember the depression," which was true. I didn't know there was a depression as I was growing up; the sun came up every morning, flowers bloomed, we went to school, and there was church every Sunday. But he repeated to our parents, "Think of the worst condition of the depression. Can you think of something?" to which our father answered, "Oh yes!" Then President Smith continued, "You know how Sunday School picnics are complete with salad, chicken, root beer, and dessert, and everyone has a wonderful time. That worst time of the depression will seem like a Sunday School picnic when compared with how conditions will be after that great war." 32
"It was a simple thing for the prophet of God, Moses, to bring those Ten Commandments among the people, but it seems to have been most difficult for the men and women to have lived upon the earth to observe them. I fear that the time is coming, unless we can find some way not only to prevent the destruction of human life by careless accidents, but also unless we can call the people of this world to repent of their sins and turn from the error of their ways, that the great war that has just passed will be an insignificant thing, as far as calamity is concerned, compared to that which is before us. And we can avoid it if we will; if we will each do our part, it can be prevented...." 33
"In conclusion let me say: We are not out of the woods. This world is in for a housecleaning unless the sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father repent of their sins and turn to him. And that means the Latter-day Saints, along with all the rest, but we, first of all, ought to be setting the example. 34
"Brethren and Sisters, let us go to our homes. If our houses are not in order, let us set them in order. Let us renew our determination to honor God and keep His commandments, to love one another, to make our homes the abiding place of peace. Each of us can contribute to that in the homes in which we live. It will not be long until calamities will overtake the human family unless there is speedy repentance. It will not be long before those who are scattered over the face of the earth by millions will die like flies because of what will come. Our Heavenly Father has told us how it can be avoided, and that it is our mission, in part, to go into the world and explain to people how it may be avoided, and that people need not be unhappy as they are everywhere but that happiness may be in their lives - because when the Spirit of God burns in your souls, you cannot be otherwise than happy." 35
"Experiences of Noah and Abraham - Remember that in the days of Noah, he preached the Gospel for approximately a hundred years and the people would not repent, but by and by, the warning that had been given to them was realized and they were all wiped out except the few that were in the ark. You remember the experience of Abraham when he was visited by a holy being on the way to Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy the people, and he began to plead for them. He knew there were some good people there. He had relatives there. And so finally he asked: 'Are you going to destroy the good people?'
'No, if there are good people there, enough of them, they can save the whole situation' And then Abraham began: 'Well, if there are fifty, will you save the cities?' 'Yes, if there are fifty.' 'If there are forty?' 'Yes, if there are forty.' And Abraham kept going until he got down as far as he thought he could go, I guess, and was told, that if ten righteous people could be found there in those two great cities that the cities would be spared. But he could not find them.
"Condition of America - Now I wonder what about America. What portion of the population of the land we live in is a righteous portion. It is righteousness that will preserve us. The Lord's promise to be our king and our law-giver is on the condition of righteousness, and my, what a wonderful opportunity He gives to us and how happy we ought to be to take advantage of it and bless our fellows by carrying the message to them.
"Disbelief of World - The people of the world may not believe it. They did not believe it when the savior came to John at the waters of Jordan. They did not believe He was the Savior of the world. When He came unto John and asked for baptism, John said, 'I have need to be baptized of Thee and comest Thou to me?' Jesus replied, 'Sufferit to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.' 'And he suffered him.' Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Mary, went down into the water, and when He came up out of the water, the Holy Ghost descended upon Him in the form of a dove. If John had had any doubt about what he had accomplished surely that would have brought him to a realization, and then a voice from heaven said: 'This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.' John did not find fault with Jesus for letting him baptize Him. John then went his way and tried to save his own people, his own race. And they finally took his life, and that has been the history of the world all the way down. There have been war and destruction and now we are faced not with any ordinary situation, but we are faced with a war by Anti-Christ against the people who believe in the divine mission of the Savior.
"Set Homes in Order - What are we going to do? We have our responsibility, and I am sure we will not disappoint those who have depended upon us to do our part. But the most important thing that we can do is set our own homes in order, to see if there is carelessness or indifference in them, teach our families, and unite them, and make them happy in keeping the commandments of our Heavenly Father, because only on the condition of righteousness can even this great Church continue and endure to do the work that it has to do." 36

Heber J. Grant
I am sure we all love America. I am sure there are no more patriotic people on the face of the earth than the Latter-day Saints; in fact, our belief is that the men who established this country were blessed of God, that they were inspired of God, and as we depart from those things we are not doing that which is pleasing to our Heavenly Father. I think that without doubt we are getting just about as far away as we can at the present time--shall I say, politically. I do not care how you put it. We are starting on the broad path that leads to destruction, and had we stayed in the straight and narrow path we would not need to be arranging to be in a war. The Lord points out the way, and if we walk in it all will be well. Gospel Standards, Pg.130

Joseph Fielding Smith
"Abuse of Marriage Brings Destruction - The abuse of this ordinance has been the primary cause of the downfall of nations. When the sacredness of the marriage covenant is lost, and the vows are broken, destruction is inevitable. This principle cannot be received in the spirit of contempt and indifference. It is ordained to be more, far more, than a civil contract. No nation can survive the abuse of this principle. Rome, Greece, Babylon, Egypt, and many other nations owe their downfall to the breaking of the sacred covenant of marriage. The anger of a just God was kindled against them for their immorality. The bones of dead civilizations of this American continent bear silent but convincing evidence that it was unchastity and the disregard of this sacred covenant which brought them to their final judgment." 37


Harold B. Lee
As I think back over my life, I remember that these philosophies did not begin with the last few years. When I think of the first political campaigns that I, as a young boy, heard about--and fortunately we did not hear as much about them in those days as we hear about them today--I remember that some of the slogans of those days sounded very much like the kinds of philosophy we have today. I remember in one campaign there was one something like this: "We stand for a full dinner pail," and on another occasion, "We stand for a chicken in every pot," and still later, "Two cars in every garage." I remember picking up a magazine and seeing a picture of a family in a beautiful convertible, off to the movies, and underneath it said: "This is the American way of life." And more recently, we have had a philosophy, or slogan: "Full employment for everybody in America and a pint of milk for everybody in the world."
Now, I call these sayings to your attention-and you who are older than I can add other slogans along the same line-not to ridicule, but to call your attention to the fact that in this land, and perhaps other lands, we have been choosing as ideals these material benefits and we have called them the way to an abundant life.
In commenting about these things that seemingly have existed in America, the president of one of our great American universities said this: "But the ideal of comfort which is the best we have been able to think of for ourselves will never do as an aim for a world order. Men can never be comfortable enough: we can never have enough material goods, if material goods are what we want. Any world order with this ideal will be torn to pieces by the divisions to which it leads."
As long as it is assumed, then, that it is the duty of all of us to get all we can and make the ideal of comfort our goal in life, then we may expect a similar fate to that nation, or community, or that family which builds on such an ideal. They will certainly be torn to pieces by the divisions to which such an ideal will lead. Stand Ye in Holy Places, Pg.96-97

Where else can you go for guidance? Where is there safety in the world today? Safety can't be won by tanks and guns and the airplanes and atomic bombs. There is only one place of safety and that is within the realm of the power of Almighty God that He gives to those who keep His commandments and listen to His voice, as He speaks through the channels that He has ordained for that purpose.
In the answer that He gave to His disciples, when He told them that He was coming again, He explained some important things to them. The disciples asked Him, Tell us, when shall these things be and the end of the world or the destruction of the wicked, which is the end of the world?" (See Matthew 24:3.) In their question, you have the definition of what it means to say "the end of the world."
And then He gave to His disciples what we read in the twenty-fourth chapter of the Book of Matthew, what may be better understood from the Inspired Version, which is found in the Pearl of Great Price. He said, when the fig tree "begins to put forth leaves, you know that summer is nigh at hand." (Joseph Smith 1:39.)
He gave them certain signs by which they might know that His coming was nigh, even at their very doors. There will be great tribulation upon the Jews and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, "such as was not before sent upon Israel, of God, since the beginning of their kingdom until this time; no, nor ever shall be sent again upon Israel." (Joseph Smith 1:18.)
And except those days should be shortened, there should none of their flesh he saved; but for the elect's sake, according to the covenant, those days shall he shortened. Behold, these things I have spoken unto you concerning the Jews; and again, after the tribulations of those days which shall come upon Jerusalem, if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe him not; For in those days there shall also arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch, that, if possible, they shall deceive the very elect, who are the elect according to the covenant. [That means the members of this Church.] Wherefore, if they shall say unto you: Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth; Behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not; For as the light of the morning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Joseph Smith 1:20-22, 25-26.)
Then He speaks of the wars that shall come: . . . for nations shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. And again, because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold; but he that shall not be overcome, the same shall be saved. And, again, this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come, or the destruction of the wicked. And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall he darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken. Verily, I say unto you, this generation, in which these things shall he shown forth, shall not pass away until all I have told you shall be fulfilled.
But of that day, and hour, no one knoweth; no, not the angels of God in heaven, but my Father only.
But as it was in the days of Noah, so it shall be also at the coming of the Son of Man;
For it shall he with them, as it was in the days which were before the flood; for until the day that Noah entered into the ark they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage;
And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.
Then shall he fulfilled that which is written, that in the last days, two shall he in the field, the one shall be taken, and the other left;
Two shall he grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken, and the other left;
And what I say unto one, I say unto all men; watch, therefore, for you know not at what hour your Lord doth come.
Therefore he ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. (Joseph Smith 1:29-31, 33-34, 40-46.)
Brothers and sisters, this is the day the Lord is speaking of. You see the signs are here. Be ye therefore ready.
Let us not turn a deaf ear now, but listen to the Brethren as the words that have come from the Lord, inspired of Him, and we will be safe on Zion's hill, until all that the Lord has for His children shall have been accomplished.
Stand Ye in Holy Places, Pg.383-385
Posted by mirkwood (Member # 1788) on November 10, 2008 06:35 AM:

Spencer W. Kimball
"Judgment Upon Nations
Just as blessings for the righteous are promised for this life, so are judgments for the wicked, and this is true of nations as well as individuals. Our world is in turmoil. Its ills have frequently been diagnosed, and complex diseases catalogues. But any remedies applied have been ineffective, infection has set in, and the patient's suffering intensifies.
In an ancient situation somewhat comparable to our own there was a great destruction, and when the quiet came, those who were spared were wailing:
O that we had repented before this great and terrible day, and then would our brethren have been spared...[and] our mothers and our fair daughters, and our children... not have been buried....(3 Ne. 8:24-25.)
Today is another day it is true, but history repeats itself. Men have "been destroyed from generation according to their iniquities; and never hath any of them been destroyed save it were foretold them by the prophets of the Lord." (2 Ne. 25:9) And modern prophets are warning frequently and constantly that people are being destroyed by their own acts.
The Plight of America
America is a great and glorious land. It is "choice above all other lands." It has a tragic and bloody past, but could have a glorious and peaceful future, if the inhabitants would really learn to serve their God. It was consecrated as a land of promise to the people of the Americas, to whom God gave these conditional promises:
It will be a land of liberty to its people. They shall never be brought down into captivity. There shall be none to molest them. It is a land of promise. It shall be free from bondage. It shall be free from all nations under heaven. There shall be no enemies come into this land. There shall be no kings upon the land. This land shall be fortified against all other nations. He that fighteth against Zion shall perish.
The Lord made these conditional promises. But generous though they may be, desirable as they are, they can come to pass only "if they [the inhabitants] will but serve the God of this land, who is Jesus Christ."
Jesus Christ our Lord is under no obligation to save us, except insofar as we repent. We have ignored him, disbelieved him, and failed to follow him. We have changed the laws and broken the everlasting covenant. We stand at his mercy, which will be extended only if we repent. But to what extent have we repented? Another prophet said, "We call evil good and good evil." We have rationalized ourselves into thinking we are "not so bad." We see evil in our enemies, but none in ourselves. Are we fully ripe? Has the rot of age and flabbiness set in? Will we change?
Apparently we would rather do things the devil's way than the Lord's way. It seems, for instance, that we would rather tax ourselves into slavery than pay our tithing; rather build shelters and missiles and bombs than drop to our knees with our families in solemn prayer, night and morning, to our God who would give us protection.
It seems that, rather than fast and pray, we prefer to gorge ourselves at the banquet tables and drink cocktails. Instead of disciplining ourselves, we yield to physical urges and carnal desires. Instead of investing in building our bodies and beautifying our souls, we spend billions of dollars on liquor and tobacco, and other body-destroying, soul-stultifying concoctions.
Too many of our wives and mothers prefer the added luxuries of two incomes to the satisfactions of seeing children grow up in the fear and love of God. We golf and boat and hunt and fish and watch sports rather than solemnize the Sabbath. Total morality is found neither among the people nor among the leaders of the state and nation. Personal interests and ulterior motives block the way. Old Man "Rationalization" with his long beard is ever present to tell us that we are justified in these deviations, and because we are not vicious enough to be confined in penitentiaries we rationalize that we are not failing to measure up. The masses of the people are perhaps much like those who escaped destruction in the ancient days of this continent. The Lord said to them:
O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they [the slain ones], will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you? (3 Ne. 9:13.)
"Experience keeps a dear school," said Benjamin Franklin, "but fools will learn in no other." Thus, as a nation we continue in our godlessness. While the iron curtains fall and thicken we eat, drink, and make merry. While armies are marshaled and march and drill and officers teach men how to kill, we continue to drink and carouse as usual. While bombs are detonated and tested, and fallout settles on the already sick world, we continue in idolatry and adultery.
While corridors are threatened and concessions are made, we live riotously, and divorce and marry in cycles, like the seasons. While leaders quarrel and editors write and authorities analyze and prognosticate, we break all the laws in God's catalog. While enemies filter into our nation to subvert and intimidate and soften us, we continue on with our destructive thinking - "It can't happen here."
If we would but believe the prophets! For they have warned that if the inhabitants of this land are ever brought down into captivity and enslaved, "it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land..." (2 Ne. 1:7.) This land which the Lord has preserved "...for a righteous people..." (Ether 2:7.)
And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fullness of his wrath shall come upon them. And the fullness of his wrath shall come upon them when they are ripened in iniquity. (Eth. 2:9.)
God the True Protector
Oh that men would listen! Why should there be spiritual blindness in the day of brightest scientific and technological vision? Why must men rely on physical fortifications and armaments when the God of heaven yearns to bless them? One stroke of his omnipotent hand could make powerless all nations who oppose, and save a world even when in its death throes. Yet men shun God and put their trust in weapons of war, in the "arm of flesh."
All this continues despite the lessons of history. The great wall of China, with its 1,500 miles of impenetrable walls, its 25 foot high impregnableness, its innumerable watchtowers, was breached by the treachery of man. The Maginot Line in France, those forts thought to be so strong and impassable, were bypassed as though they were not there.
The walls of Babylon were too high to be scaled, too thick to be broken, too strong to be crumbled, but not too deep to be undermined when the human element failed. When the protectors sleep and the leaders are incapacitated with banqueting and drunkenness and immorality, an invading enemy can turn a river out of its course and enter through a river bed.
The precipitous walls on the high hills of Jerusalem deflected for a time the arrows and spears of enemies, the catapults and firebrands of besieging armies. But even then the wickedness did not lessen; men did not learn lessons. Hunger scaled the walls; thirst broke down the gates; immorality, idolatry, godlessness, even cannibalism stalked about till destruction came.
Will we ever turn wholly to God? Fear envelopes the world which could be at ease and peace. In God is protection, peace, safety. He has said, "I will fight your battles." But his commitment is on condition of our faithfulness. He promised to the children of Israel:
I will give you rain in due season. The land shall yield her increase and trees their fruit. Granaries and barns will bulge in seed-time and harvest. Ye shall eat your bread in abundance. Ye shall dwell in your land safely and none shall make you afraid. Neither shall the sword go through your land. And five of you shall chase an hundred and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight.
In view of the promises God has given respecting America, who can doubt that he would be willing to do the same for us as for ancient Israel? Conversely, should we not expect the same punishments if we fail to serve him? To ancient Israel these were listed.
The land will be barren (perhaps radioactive or dry from drought). The trees will be without fruit and the fields without verdure. There will be rationing and scarcity of food, and sore hunger. No traffic will jam your desolate highways. Famine will stalk rudely through your doors and the ogre of cannibalism will rob you of your children and your remaining virtues will disintegrate. There will be pestilence uncontrollable. Your dead bodies will be piled upon the materialistic things you sought so hard to accumulate and save. I will give no protection against enemies. They that hate you shall reign over you. There will be faintness of heart, "and the sound of a shaken leaf" shall chase you into flight, and you will flee when none pursue. Your power - your supremacy - your pride in superiority - will be broken. Your heaven shall be as iron and your earth as brass. Heaven will not hear your pleadings nor earth bring forth its harvest. Your strength will be spent in vain as you plow and plant and cultivate. Your cities will be shambles; your churches in ruin. Your enemies will be astonished at the barrenness, sterility, desolation of the land they had been told was so choice, so beautiful, so fruitful. Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths under compulsion. You shall have no power to stand before your enemies. Your people will be scattered among the nations as slaves and bondsmen. You will pay tribute and bondage, and fetters shall bind you.
What a bleak prediction! Yet "these are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the Lord made between him and the children of Israel in Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses." (Lev. 26:46.) The Israelites failed to heed the warning. They ignored the prophets. They suffered the fulfillment of every dire prophecy.
Do we twentieth-century people have reason to think that we can be immune from the same tragic consequences of sin and debauchery if we ignore the same divine laws?
The outlook is bleak, but the impending tragedy can be averted. Nations, like individuals, must "repent or suffer." There is only one cure for the earth's sick condition. That infallible cure is simply righteousness, obedience, godliness, honor, integrity. Nothing else will suffice.
Time of Reckoning for All - To the unrighteous nation there comes a day of reckoning."38
"First we make ourselves humble. We change our own lives; that is the beginning. We all want to change the nation in a day. A nation is made up of individuals. We start and change our own lives, and then we help another life to get the same ideals--and then there are two lives. And all the other individuals around us do the same thing; and here we have a community, and there another community; and several communities make a state and several states make a nation. And we can do it. The Lord will protect us. He is not going to save a nation for one individual or community. But when the majority of the nation begins to get righteous there will not be wholesale destruction-- make certain of that. And one reason why we haven't been destroyed in these two last great wars which we have suffered, is because there were some that the Lord was willing to save." 39
Posted by mirkwood (Member # 1788) on November 10, 2008 06:35 AM:

It's not all doom and gloom. I'll get to the stuff that happens after all this later...
Posted by mirkwood (Member # 1788) on November 10, 2008 07:25 AM:

Ezra Taft Benson
"President Ezra Taft Benson is the thirteenth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, his inspired words are considered by members of the church to be the word of God.... For those who would like more of his civic messages, these can be found in his books "The Red Carpet" (1962), "Title of Liberty" (1964), An Enemy Hath Done This" (1969), "This Nation Shall Endure" (1977)." 40
"The scriptures also tell us about our inspired Constitution. If you accept these scriptures, you will automatically reject the counsel of men who depreciate our Constitution. If you use the scriptures as a guide, you know the Book of Mormon has to say regarding murderous conspiracies in the last day and how we are to awake to our awful situation today (see Ether 8:18- 25). I find certain elements in the church do not like to read the Book of Mormon and Doctrine & Covenants so much - they have too much to say about freedom." 41
"We live in difficult days - very difficult days. They are not improving. However, I do feel that there is some increase in awakening to the dangers that face us. I am not sure the awakening is going to be fast enough to avoid the disaster which could very seriously result in bloodshed, hardship, and much sorrow in this beloved country." 42
"The Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith there would be an attempt to overthrow the country by destroying the Constitution. Joseph Smith predicted that the time would come when the Constitution would hang, as it were, by a thread, and at that time "this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction"(Journal of Discourses 7:15). It is my conviction that the elders of Israel, widely spread over the nation, will at a crucial time successfully rally the righteous of our country and provide the necessary balance of strength to save the institutions of constitutional government." 43
"We are fast approaching that moment prophesied by Joseph Smith when he said: 'Even this nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground, and when the Constitution is upon the brink of ruin, this people will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean, and they shall bear the Constitution away from the very verge of destruction.'" 44
"For years we have heard of the role the elders could play in saving the Constitution from total destruction. But how can the elders be expected to save it if they have not studied it and are not sure if it is being destroyed or what is destroying it?" 45
"Part of the reason we may not have sufficient priesthood bearers to save the constitution... is because unlike Moroni, I fear, our souls do not joy in keeping our country free, and we are not firm in the faith of Christ, nor have we sworn with an oath to defend our rights and the liberty of our country." 46
"Momentum is gathering for another conflict - a repetition of the crisis two hundred years ago. This collision of ideas is worldwide. The issue is the same that precipitated the great premortal conflict - will men be free to determine their own course of action or must they be coerced." 47
"If America is destroyed, it may be by Americans who salute the flag, sing the national anthem, march in patriotic parades, cheer Fourth of July speakers - normally "good" Americans, but Americans who fail to comprehend what is required to keep our country strong and free, Americans who have been lulled away into false security. Great nations are never conquered from outside unless they are rotten inside." 48
"This nation will be preserved so long as we retain the same quality of faith in God that our founders manifested." 49
"All nations who inhabit this land are bound by an everlasting decree from God, a decree that the inhabitants of this land shall serve God or they shall be swept off(Ether 2:10-12). The Book of Mormon chronicles the rise and fall of two mighty civilizations in America that failed to give heed to this decree, and thus met with destruction." 50
"We do not worry about history. We seem oblivious to the causes of the rise and fall of nations. We are blind to the fact that nations usually sow the seeds of their own destruction while enjoying unprecedented prosperity.
I say to you with all the fervor of my soul: We are sowing the seeds of our own destruction in America and much of the free world today. It is my sober warning to you today that if the trends of the past continue, we will lose that which is as priceless as life itself - our freedom, our liberty, our right to act as free men. It can happen here. It is happening here.
The sad and shocking story of what has happened in America in recent years must be told. Our people must have the facts. There is safety in an informed public. There is real danger today. Yes, the truth must be told even at the risk of destroying, in large measure, the influence of men who are widely respected and loved by the American people. The stakes are high. Freedom and survival is the issue." 51
"And now as the last neutralizer that the devil uses most effectively - is simply this; "Don't do anything in the fight for freedom until the church sets up its own specific program to save the Constitution. This brings us right back to the scripture I opened with today - to those slothful servants who will not do anything until they are "compelled in all things." Maybe the Lord will never set up a specific Church program for the purpose of saving the Constitution. Perhaps if he did it would split the church asunder, and perhaps He does not want this to happen yet, for not all the wheat and tares are fully ripe." 52

Gordon B. Hinckley
Now, brethren, I should like to talk to the older men, hoping that there will be some lesson for the younger men as well.
I wish to speak to you about temporal matters.
As a backdrop for what I wish to say, I read to you a few verses from the 41st chapter of Genesis.
Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, dreamed dreams which greatly troubled him. The wise men of his court could not give an interpretation. Joseph was then brought before him: "Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:
"And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:
"And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed. . . .
"And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: . . .
"And I saw in my dream . . . seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:
"And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:
"And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: . . .
"And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, . . . God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.
"The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one. . . .
". . . What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.
"Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
"And there shall arise after them seven years of famine.
". . . And God will shortly bring it to pass" (Gen. 41:17¬20, 22¬26, 28¬30, 32).
Now, brethren, I want to make it very clear that I am not prophesying, that I am not predicting years of famine in the future. But I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order.
So many of our people are living on the very edge of their incomes. In fact, some are living on borrowings.
We have witnessed in recent weeks wide and fearsome swings in the markets of the world. The economy is a fragile thing. A stumble in the economy in Jakarta or Moscow can immediately affect the entire world. It can eventually reach down to each of us as individuals. There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed.
I hope with all my heart that we shall never slip into a depression. I am a child of the Great Depression of the thirties. I finished the university in 1932, when unemployment in this area exceeded 33 percent.
My father was then president of the largest stake in the Church in this valley. It was before our present welfare program was established. He walked the floor worrying about his people. He and his associates established a great wood-chopping project designed to keep the home furnaces and stoves going and the people warm in the winter. They had no money with which to buy coal. Men who had been affluent were among those who chopped wood.
I repeat, I hope we will never again see such a depression. But I am troubled by the huge consumer installment debt which hangs over the people of the nation, including our own people. In March 1997 that debt totaled $1.2 trillion, which represented a 7 percent increase over the previous year.
In December of 1997, 55 to 60 million households in the United States carried credit card balances. These balances averaged more than $7,000 and cost $1,000 per year in interest and fees. Consumer debt as a percentage of disposable income rose from 16.3 percent in 1993 to 19.3 percent in 1996.
Everyone knows that every dollar borrowed carries with it the penalty of paying interest. When money cannot be repaid, then bankruptcy follows. There were 1,350,118 bankruptcies in the United States last year. This represented a 50 percent increase from 1992. In the second quarter of this year, nearly 362,000 persons filed for bankruptcy, a record number for a three-month period.
We are beguiled by seductive advertising. Television carries the enticing invitation to borrow up to 125 percent of the value of one's home. But no mention is made of interest.
President J. Reuben Clark Jr., in the priesthood meeting of the conference in 1938, said from this pulpit: "Once in debt, interest is your companion every minute of the day and night; you cannot shun it or slip away from it; you cannot dismiss it; it yields neither to entreaties, demands, or orders; and whenever you get in its way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1938, 103).
I recognize that it may be necessary to borrow to get a home, of course. But let us buy a home that we can afford and thus ease the payments which will constantly hang over our heads without mercy or respite for as long as 30 years.
No one knows when emergencies will strike. I am somewhat familiar with the case of a man who was highly successful in his profession. He lived in comfort. He built a large home. Then one day he was suddenly involved in a serious accident. Instantly, without warning, he almost lost his life. He was left a cripple. Destroyed was his earning power. He faced huge medical bills. He had other payments to make. He was helpless before his creditors. One moment he was rich, the next he was broke.
Since the beginnings of the Church, the Lord has spoken on this matter of debt. To Martin Harris through revelation, He said: "Pay the debt thou hast contracted with the printer. Release thyself from bondage" (D&C 19:35).
President Heber J. Grant spoke repeatedly on this matter from this pulpit. He said: "If there is any one thing that will bring peace and contentment into the human heart, and into the family, it is to live within our means. And if there is any one thing that is grinding and discouraging and disheartening, it is to have debts and obligations that one cannot meet" (Gospel Standards, comp. G. Homer Durham [1941], 111).
We are carrying a message of self-reliance throughout the Church. Self-reliance cannot obtain when there is serious debt hanging over a household. One has neither independence nor freedom from bondage when he is obligated to others.
In managing the affairs of the Church, we have tried to set an example. We have, as a matter of policy, stringently followed the practice of setting aside each year a percentage of the income of the Church against a possible day of need.
I am grateful to be able to say that the Church in all its operations, in all its undertakings, in all of its departments, is able to function without borrowed money. If we cannot get along, we will curtail our programs. We will shrink expenditures to fit the income. We will not borrow.
One of the happiest days in the life of President Joseph F. Smith was the day the Church paid off its long-standing indebtedness.
What a wonderful feeling it is to be free of debt, to have a little money against a day of emergency put away where it can be retrieved when necessary.
President Faust would not tell you this himself. Perhaps I can tell it, and he can take it out on me afterward. He had a mortgage on his home drawing 4 percent interest. Many people would have told him he was foolish to pay off that mortgage when it carried so low a rate of interest. But the first opportunity he had to acquire some means, he and his wife determined they would pay off their mortgage. He has been free of debt since that day. That's why he wears a smile on his face, and that's why he whistles while he works.
I urge you, brethren, to look to the condition of your finances. I urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt to the extent possible. Pay off debt as quickly as you can, and free yourselves from bondage.
This is a part of the temporal gospel in which we believe. May the Lord bless you, my beloved brethren, to set your houses in order. If you have paid your debts, if you have a reserve, even though it be small, then should storms howl about your head, you will have shelter for your wives and children and peace in your hearts. That's all I have to say about it, but I wish to say it with all the emphasis of which I am capable. 53
Posted by mirkwood (Member # 1788) on November 10, 2008 07:26 AM:

Foot Notes
1 2 Nephi 26:Heading
2 2 Nephi 26:14-22
3 Ether 8:Heading
4 Ether 8:16-26
5 Doctrine & Covenants 42:64
6 President Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 5:394
7 ibid, 6:116 8 ibid, 4:89 9 ibid, 3:390-391 10 ibid, 4:89, March 4, 1840
11 Doctrine & Covenants 38:27-31
12 ibid, 110:177 13 ibid, 5:231
14 President Brigham Young, Deseret News, Vol. 11, No. 9, May 1, 1861
15 President Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 8:143
16 ibid, 12:284 17 ibid, 8:123
18 JD, 174, February 1, 1874. GK, Pg.298
19 GK, Pg.300
20 JD, 23:179-180, July 24, 1882. GK, Pg.346
21 President John Taylor, Journal of Discourses, 20:318
22 President John Taylor, April 9, 1882, Gospel Kingdom, p.345-346
23 MS 51:801-802 (1889). DWW, Pg.188-189
24 JD 22:346, October 23, 1881. DWW, Pg.187
25 President Wilford Woodruff, by Mathhias F. Cowley, Deseret News, 1916, p.393
26 ibid, p.500, Summer 1877 27 ibid, p.500, Summer 1877 28 ibid, p.530-531
29 President Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses, 21:301
30 Inspired Prophetic Warnings, p.194-196. Apostle Mattias F. Cowley, who prepared a biography of President Wilford Woodruff, based on his journals and other personal papers, cited the last portion of the vision in his book "Wilford Woodruff-History of His Life and Labors(Salt Lake City, Utajh: Bookcraft, 1964),p.505. It is noted that the account published in Wilford Woodruff differs slightly in wording, though not in message, from the account printed herein, a possible indication that various copies, or "versions," of this manifestation now exist.
31 14 January 1872, JD, 14:309. TLS, Pg.150
32 David Hughes Horne, 2229 Laird Way, SLC, Ut, Unpublished, Copyrighted, and signed statement dated 26 March 1989. From his signed statement David Hughes Horne explains "I am the son of Dr. Lyman Merrill Horne and Myrtle Swainston Horne. His father was a g-grandson of George A. Smith, cousin of the Prophet Joseph and Counselor to Brigham Young. His grandson President George Albert Smith was my dad's mother's first cousin. From 1944 until March 1947 we lived on the same block in the Yale Ward as George Albert Smith and frequently had contact with him. Many times he paused at our home while on his evening walk and talked with me as I worked in our front yard. My family visited him a few times at his home, and he visited my family at our home several times....One day our father arranged for George Albert Smith to speak to us in a family time. The Prophet told us of a vision he had had. At least 11 elements of it have occured, and the rest may occure soon. My record of his prophecy may be important, because it may not be officially recorded." Attached to his statement is a letter from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Office of the First Presidency dated December 9, 1988. This letter addressed to David Hughes Horne stated impart, "Reference is made to your copyrighted letter dated October 20, 1988, which you describe as a papper documenting your recollections of a visit by George Albert Smith to your home....We are advised by the Historical Department thst in conference talks there are found references by President Smith to atomic bombs, wickedness, and great destruction. The repeated message in these talks is that the people should repent in order to avoid these problems."
33 George Albert Smith, Sunday 9 October 1946, General Conference Report, p.149 "Disobedience Brings Distress"
34 George Albert Smith, Sunday 9 October 1946, General Conference Report, p.153 "Warning and Testimony"
35 George Albert Smith, Sunday 9 April 1950, General Conference Report, p.149 "Set Homes in Order"
36 George Albert Smith, 30 September 1950, General Conference Report, p.180-181 Note: Elder Harold B. Lee's conference talk in October 1951 "Shortly after the general conference a year ago last April I met a man on the street who was inclined to be critical of the fact, he said, that the church was not receiving revelations, and why was it that the Lord wasn't revealing his mind and will to his leaders. I happened to have in my pocket a clipping from President George Albert Smith's last address, and I took it out and read this to him: Said President Smith at the April conference just one year before his death: (quoted the April 1950 statement quoted above). President Smith could not have made that statement except as the Lord revealed it to him."
37 WTP, Pg.233
38 "The Miracle of Forgiveness" Salt Lake City, Utah Bookcraft 1969, p.315-321
39 TSWK, Pg.415
40 President Ezra Taft Benson, TETB, preface
A complete foundation concerning the "Secret Combinations" in our government and their current power and control can be had by reading any of the above. His "The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson" is by far the most abbreviated though it is still very clear as to our precarious position in our nation today. The only one I have read in its entirety is "An Enemy Hath Done This", which leaves no possible room for doubt that these "Secret Combinations" have a substantial if not total control of our current government. All of the following are from his "The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson".
41 ibid, p.81 42 ibid, p.106 43 ibid p.618-19
44 President Ezra Taft Benson, The Constitution A Heavenly Banner, 1986, p.28
45 President Ezra Taft Benson, TETB, p.619-20 46 ibid, p.623 47 ibid, p.623 48 ibid, p.574 49 ibid, p.574 50 ibid, p.576
51 ibid, p.582
52 President Ezra Taft Benson, TETB, p.660
53 President Gordon B. Hinkley, October Conference Priesthood Mtg.
Posted by mirkwood (Member # 1788) on November 10, 2008 07:32 AM:

THE NEW JERUSALEM & JACKSON COUNTY

“What will become of the Latter-day Saints? When the judgments shall have ceased, which will be visited first on the house of the Lord, they who remain will spread forth, increase and multiply; and they will build upon this continent a great and magnificent city, called Zion, or the New Jerusalem. And they will build a Temple within that city, upon which a cloud will rest by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; and upon all the assemblies of the people of Zion the Lord will create this glorious appendage, and will shed forth his loving kindness. This is the destiny of Zion, as foreseen by Isaiah and David, and many of the Prophets who have predicted concerning her.”
(Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol.18, p. 227-228, August 26, 1876.)



Joseph Smith, History of the Church Vol. 3, Introduction, p. 34.
“The Lord said again concerning Zion: ‘Wherefore I, the Lord, have said, gather ye out from the eastern lands, assemble yourselves together ye elders of my Church; go ye forth into the western countries, call upon the inhabitants to repent, and inasmuch as they do repent, build up churches unto me; and with one heart and with one mind, gather up your riches that ye may purchase an inheritance which shall hereafter be appointed unto you, and it shall be called the New Jerusalem, a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety for the Saints of the Most High God; and the glory of the Lord shall be there, insomuch that the wicked will not come unto it, and it shall be called Zion. And it shall come to pass, among the wicked, that every man that will not take his sword against his neighbor, must needs flee unto Zion for safety. And there shall be gathered unto it out of every nation under heaven; and it shall be the only people that shall not be at war one with another. And it shall be said among the wicked, Let us not go up to battle against Zion, for the inhabitants of Zion are terrible; wherefore we cannot stand.’”


Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 18, p. 355-356, April 6, 1877.
“Are we going back to Jackson County? Yes. When? As soon as the way opens up. Are we all going? O no! of course not. The country is not large enough to hold our present numbers. When we do return there, will there be any less remaining in these mountains than we number today? No, there may be a hundred then for every single one that there is now. It is folly in men to suppose that we are going to break up these our hard earned homes to make others in a new country. We intend to hold our own here, and also penetrate the north and south, the east and the west, there to make others and to raise the ensign of truth.”


Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, p. 75-76.
“These things achieved, even the most incredulous in regard to the truth of Scripture prophecy will be constrained to acknowledge that, physically and politically speaking, there is nothing impossible, or even improbable in the belief, that the twelve tribes of Israel will be concentrated from all nations in their own land, that Jerusalem will become the capital of political government, the seat of knowledge, and the shrine of worship for the yearly resort of all the nations and countries included in the world known to the Prophets of old; while the Western Hemisphere, separated, as it is, by two great oceans from the Old World, will naturally form its own central capital, its Zion, or New Jerusalem, to which all tribes and nations may perform their annual visits for instruction, devotion and mutual interchange of thought, of fellowship and affection.”


Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, p. 18-19, May 20, 1855.
“The coming of Christ seems to be near at hand, yet Zion must be redeemed before that day; the temple must be built upon the consecrated spot, the cloud and glory of the Lord rest upon it, and the Lamanites, many of them, brought in, and they must build up the NEW JERUSALEM! It is true, so says the Book of Mormon, that inasmuch as the Gentiles receive the Gospel, they shall assist my people the remnant of Jacob, saith the Lord, to build the New Jerusalem. And when they have got it built, then we are told that they shall assist my people who are of Jacob to be gathered in unto the New Jerusalem.”


Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 14, p. 334, February 11, 1872.
“Jesus is coming here as well as to many other places. When the New Jerusalem is built on this land, Jesus will visit that city, his glory will be upon its dwelling places. Isaiah the Prophet has declared that upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion there shall be a cloud and smoke by day, and a shining, flaming fire by night. This will not only be on the New Jerusalem, but on the Holy City that is built up on the land of Palestine; and when the people have repented and become sufficiently righteous, and made preparation for the coming of the Lord Jesus, he will come, and they will behold the Shepherd that is promised to them.”


Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 16, p. 158, August 16, 1873.
“There will be a great preparation before the redemption of Zion. Supposing we should all be returned, say this fall, or next year, to Jackson County. Say a large majority should be returned to the land of our inheritances, in Missouri, and in the regions round about, and it should be said to us, ‘Go ye my sons and build up Zion according to the celestial law, through the consecration of the property of my Church, as I have commanded,’ would you be prepared to do this work? Have you an experience in it? Have you learned the lesson by experience? No, no; years after years have passed away since that law was given, the then middle-aged are now tottering to their graves; the youth have grown to be men, and the law has not been practiced in our midst. We have the mere letter of the law. The theory has been in existence, but who has practiced upon it? Will you take us in our ignorant state? While we have been every man for himself, and accumulating all that he could grasp, and almost neglecting the lesser law of Tithing, could it be expected that the Lord would say to a people thus situated, and without experience in these things, go back to Jackson County? There must be a preparation here; and it would not surprise me, if the Spirit of the Lord should come upon the Presidency of this people, and we should be told to enter into the higher law pertaining to our property. The Lord wishes to put it out of the power of every man to be lifted up above his brother or his sister, so far as wealth or property is concerned, by making his people equal, keeping them equal; not by a division of property, but upon the principle of stewardships. That keeps them equal. There is no chance of their becoming unequal. It is out of their power to be unequal. If a man loses all that he has by fire, and all his stock should die, the fact is, he is just as rich as all the others, because he is a steward. He owns nothing, neither do they. ‘But,’ inquires one, ‘shall we never become bona fide possessors?’ Yes. As we now see, children may be acting for their father, but still they are considered in the mind of the father as being the inheritors of his property at certain time; so with the Latter-day Saints. They may be made stewards, but the time will come when they shall be bona fide inheritors. The revelation tells us when that time shall come. That when the seventh angel sounds his trumpet, and after the people have proved themselves in the stewardships, and when Jesus comes in his glory, they shall be made possessors, and be made equal with him. Consequently, when the Lord promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the land of Canaan, it was no testimony that they should enter in possession of that land the next day after the promise was made. They had to wander about in it, and prove their worthiness until the time should come when they should come forth from their graves, and the earth should be transfigured and cleansed from the curse, then they should be made possessors. So with the Latter-day Saints. The Lord said on the 2nd of January, 1831, ‘I design to give to you a land of promise upon which there shall be no curse, when the Lord shall come: behold this is my covenant with you, that you shall receive it for an inheritance, while the earth shall stand, and possess it again in eternity, no more to pass away.’ This did not mean that we should come in possession at that time, or in 1831; but when we had proved ourselves as wise stewards, and had rendered up the account of our stewardship, and had been accepted, then we should receive an inheritance, not only in time, but while eternity should endure.”
Posted by mirkwood (Member # 1788) on November 10, 2008 07:35 AM:

Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 21, p. 135-136, September 7, 1879.
“Thus you see that for some time to come, our future destiny is not to build up this kingdom upon any of the islands of the sea, but to be located where God has decreed, by his own power that his people shall dwell. ‘Oh, but,’ says one, ‘you have to get the land first.’ But I would ask is there any breaking of the Constitution—is there anything calculated to take away the rights of American citizenship by emigrants going from one part of this nation to another, peacefully and quietly, purchasing the land and locating upon it? I think not. ‘But,’ says one, ‘perhaps they will not allow you to purchase the land.’ The Lord will take care of that; that is in the hands of the Lord. That same being who will assist in the building of a great city on the western boundaries of the State of Missouri, has all power; and when we purchase the land, and go and take possession of it, I do not think we will be driven from our own lands, if we mind our own business and do not meddle with our neighbors' business, and do not undertake to injure them in their rights and privileges, guaranteed to them by the Constitution of our country. If we conduct ourselves in a peaceable manner, I do not see why we may not dwell there as well as other citizens. We have the strongest assurance that such will be the case. These were promises made to us, before there were a hundred persons in this Church. It was promised that we should have a land as an inheritage; but we were commanded of God, to purchase the land. Now, when the time comes for purchasing this land, we will have means. How this means will be brought about it is not for me to say. Perhaps the Lord will open up mines containing gold and silver, or in some other way as seemeth to him best, wealth will be poured into the laps of the Latter-day Saints till they will scarcely know what to do with it. I will here again prophesy on the strength of former revelation that there are no people on the face of the whole globe, not even excepting London, Paris, New York, or any of the great mercantile cities of the globe—there are no people now upon the face of the earth, so rich as the Latter-day Saints will be in a few years to come. Having their millions; therefore they will purchase the land, build up cities, towns and villages, build a great capital city, at headquarters, in Jackson County, Missouri. Will we have a temple there? Yes; will we have a beautiful city? Yes, one of the most beautiful cities that will ever be erected on the continent of America will be built up by the Latter-day Saints in Jackson County, Missouri. Consequently, when congressmen and statesmen, and the great men of our nation, want to know what the future destiny of the Latter-day Saints will be, let them remember the words of your humble servant, who has addressed you this afternoon; for they will come to pass—they will be fulfilled. We have see too many revelations fulfilled, already, to be mistaken in regard to these matters.”


Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 21, p. 329-331, August 1, 1880.
“We will build a great city in Missouri. We will also build a great temple unto the Lord our God, in that city, and the temple block and place where it is to stand is already known. It was laid out in the year 1831, and the corner stone laid, and we will build a temple there, and build it after the pattern that the Lord gave to his servant Joseph, the Prophet, and also according to the pattern that he shall hereafter show, if the pattern is not already given in full. I will tell you another thing that will happen in our promised land, after that temple is built: there will a cloud of glory rest upon that temple by day, the same as the cloud rested upon the tabernacle of Moses, that was carried in the wilderness. Not only that, but also a flaming fire will rest upon the temple by night, covering the whole temple; and if you go inside of the temple, the glory of God will be seen there as it was anciently; for the Lord will not only be a glory and a defense on the outside of that wonderful building, but he will also be a glory and a power in the inside thereof, and it shall come to pass that every man and every woman who is pure in heart, who shall go inside of that temple, will see the Lord. Now, how great a blessing it will be to see the Lord of Hosts as we see one another in the flesh. That will take place, but not till after the temple is built. Moreover, you will not only be favored with this great privilege, but Isaiah tells us that ‘the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night.’ When you hold your meeting in the day time, you shall be sheltered by a cloud, and when you hold your meetings in the night time, instead of lighting up your lamps with common oil, or with gas, or anything of this kind, you will have no need of any artificial light, for the Lord God will be the light thereof, and his glory will be there, and you will see it and you will hear his voice. Have you not read in this book called the Bible, about the Lord suddenly coming to his temple? Read the 3rd chapter of Malachi: ‘Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple. * * * And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.’ That same fire will rest upon the abodes of those that come into that temple, and they will be filled with fire and the Holy Ghost. They will be purged of all iniquity, and every ordinance that will be administered in that temple (New Jerusalem) will be administered by holy hands, and you will understand and know the meaning thereof. The Lord will reveal these things in their day; he will reveal everything that is needful, so that the knowledge of God may rest upon you, and that there may be no darkness with you.”


Joseph F. Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 24, p. 156-157, December 3, 1882.
“Now, it is quite possible that the Lord will raise up somebody in the future who will be powerful and mighty to lead the people to rebuild the waste places of Zion, but when He does, the power of God which has been manifested in the leading of this people in the past will not be forgotten nor despised, but will be more apparent to future generations than to this, and will be regarded quite as remarkable and as wonderful as anything that will occur in the future to them that participate in the scene. When God leads the people back to Jackson County, how will he do it? Let me picture to you how some of us may be gathered and led to Jackson County. I think I see two or three hundred thousand people wending their way across the great plain enduring the nameless hardships of the journey, herding and guarding their cattle by day and by night, and defending themselves and little ones from foes on the right hand and on the left, as when they came here. They will find the journey back to Jackson County will be as real as when they came out here. Now, mark it. And though you may be led by the power of God `with a stretched out arm,' it will not be more manifest than the leading the people out here to those that participate in it. They will think there are a great many hardships to endure in this manifestation of the power of God, and it will be left, perhaps to their children to see the glory of their deliverance, just as it is left for us to see the glory of our former deliverance from the hands of those that sought to destroy us.”
Posted by mirkwood (Member # 1788) on November 10, 2008 07:37 AM:

Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection, p. 267-269.
“That the New Jerusalem, or City of Zion, was to be built at once and the temple erected also, was naturally the thought of the assembled brethren. The Lord had previously given them a commandment respecting their duties and had instructed them in relation to his law to be observed in Zion. He indicated, also, that the city was not to be built at that time. ‘Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand.’ (D.C. 58:3-4).
It is true that the Lord would have blessed the saints and would have commenced the establishment of the Holy City at that time, had they hearkened faithfully to his commandments, but from these words of the Lord it is plain to see that the glory of Zion was future, although in the spiritual sense ‘near at hand.’ In other revelations it was made plain that the elders would have to be endowed with power from on high, and go forth to declare the Gospel to the nations, and ‘push the people together from the ends of the earth,’ before Zion could be built. So the Lord in the very beginning instructed the saints that the building of the New Jerusalem and its sacred temple would be deferred until many other things were accomplished and they had passed through much tribulation.
Over one hundred years have passed since the site of Zion was dedicated and the spot for the temple was chosen, and some of the members of the Church seem to be fearful lest the word of the Lord should fail. Others have tried to convince themselves that the original plan has been changed, and that the Lord does not require at our hands this mighty work which has been predicted by the prophets of ancient times. We have not been released from this responsibility, nor shall we be. The word of the Lord will not fail. If we look back and examine his word carefully we will discover that nothing has failed of all that he has predicted, neither shall one jot or tittle pass away unfulfilled. It is true that the Lord commanded the saints to build to his name a temple in Zion. This they attempted to do, but were prevented by their enemies, so the Lord did not require the work at their hands at that time. The release from the building of the temple in 1833, did not, however, cancel the responsibility of building the city and the house of the Lord, at some future time. When the Lord is ready for it to be accomplished, he will command his people, and the work will be done.”


John A. Widtsoe, Evidences and Reconciliations, p. 395.
“In 1831, the Prophet Joseph Smith received a revelation designating the place called Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, as the center place of the kingdom of God on the western hemisphere. A city called Zion or the New Jerusalem would there be built. There also, the foremost temple to the Lord should be erected. From the temple in Zion the law of the Lord would issue, as the word of the Lord would come from Jerusalem. (D&C 57:1-3; Isaiah 2:3; Micah 4:2; History of the Church, 1:188)”


The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 620.
“Together you (Lamanites) and we shall build in the spectacular city of New Jerusalem the temple to which our Redeemer will come. Your hands with ours, also those of Jacob, will place the foundation stones, raise the walls, and roof the magnificent structure.”

Marion G. Romney, Conference Report, April 1966, p. 100.
“Here Zion means Jackson County, Missouri. When Zion is redeemed, as it most certainly shall be, it will be redeemed under a government and by a people strictly observing those ‘just and holy principles’ of the Constitution that accord to men their God-given moral agency, including the right to private property.”

Bruce R. McConkie , The Mortal Messiah, Vol. 1, p. 95-96.
“In the great day of restoration . . . there will finally be two world capitals, both called Zion, both called Jerusalem. One shall be the seat of government, the other the spiritual capital of the world, for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.’ (Isa. 2:1-5.) That is to say, Jerusalem of old shall be restored, built up anew in glory and beauty, according to the promises, and also, another Jerusalem, a New Jerusalem, shall be established.”
Posted by mirkwood (Member # 1788) on November 10, 2008 07:38 AM:

more later....
Posted by T2 (Member # 3078) on November 10, 2008 10:42 AM:

Gee mirk,

Have you studied this or something?

My wife is gonna love this.
Posted by rayb (Member # 122) on November 10, 2008 11:57 AM:

You rock, Mirk... we were planning on having a family home evening on this topic, tonight... due to the confusion that has gone on in our public schools about the elections. You just gave us more than enough stuff to review. [Smile]

Thanks,

--Ray
Posted by Curelom (Member # 1439) on November 10, 2008 12:51 PM:

Mirkwood is an eschatology hobbyist. [Big laugh]

Meanwhile, as we either worry about or look forward to the end, we still have to live in the present day.
Posted by JonB (Member # 375) on November 10, 2008 01:12 PM:

Here's a good summary of the whole "hanging by a thread" deal:

On Hanging By a Thread (the Aol webpages were taken down, so that's a cached copy.)


Here's a good article from the Ensign about popular misconceptions church members have about Missouri:

Missouri Myths

Myth #1: We’re going to walk to Missouri to prepare for the Second Coming.

Myth #2: The entire Church will be gathered to Missouri.

Myth #3: But won’t there be immense destructions in Missouri preceding the Second Coming, so extensive that “not a yellow dog will be left to wag his tail”?

[ November 12, 2008, 01:33 PM: Message edited by: JonB ]
Posted by Mertz (Member # 9970) on November 10, 2008 01:25 PM:

It's all rather gloomy and depressing. Sometimes I have a difficult time understanding how living in these "last days" is such a great thing. I think the better times would have been post-depression and WWII, living with the Cleavers (June and Ward).
Posted by Jeffery_LQ1W (Member # 338) on November 10, 2008 02:16 PM:

I keep my powder dry and my emergency supplies intact. The rest of the prophecies will have to take care of themselves.

[ November 10, 2008, 02:17 PM: Message edited by: Jeffery_LQ1W ]
Posted by Shane (Member # 2160) on November 10, 2008 03:56 PM:


quote:I think the better times would have been post-depression and WWII, living with the Cleavers (June and Ward).

I know what you mean. When Sweet William told me I had a 50s mentality--or something like that--I said to myself, "what's wrong with that?" One of the only things that wasn't better in the '50s was civil rights/racism.
Posted by BatmanBeatles (Member # 10548) on November 10, 2008 04:00 PM:

I don't think I want to live in the 50's. The Beatles weren't around yet. [Cool]
Posted by JonB (Member # 375) on November 10, 2008 04:28 PM:


quote:I know what you mean. When Sweet William told me I had a 50s mentality--or something like that--I said to myself, "what's wrong with that?" One of the only things that wasn't better in the '50s was civil rights/racism.

Don't forget medicine.
Posted by Vader (Member # 10551) on November 10, 2008 04:38 PM:

50s was also the height of the Cold War. The threat of being abruptly vaporized by the tens of thousands, with millions of others killed or injured, hasn't disappeared, but it is significantly less today.
Posted by fregramis (Member # 2104) on November 10, 2008 04:39 PM:

Gee wiz, I think I'm moving to North Dakota after reading all that.
Posted by Pink Floyd (Member # 275) on November 10, 2008 05:33 PM:

I think I would wait until Spring to move there. Spring comes in about July.
Posted by Sweet William (Member # 615) on November 10, 2008 05:55 PM:


quote:One of the only things that wasn't better in the '50s was civil rights/racism.

ABS? Computers? Internet genealogy? Amy Lee? Seether? Desperate Housewives? Sbarro? Travelocity? Southwest Airlines? Burn Notice? BOTH Battlestars Galactica? ADA entrances?

NOTHING was better in the 50's, IMHO. Well, except kids could ride around all day on their bikes and not be worried.

[ November 10, 2008, 05:59 PM: Message edited by: Sweet William ]
Posted by BatmanBeatles (Member # 10548) on November 10, 2008 06:15 PM:


quote: ABS? Computers? Internet genealogy? Amy Lee? Seether? Desperate Housewives? Sbarro? Travelocity? Southwest Airlines? Burn Notice? BOTH Battlestars Galactica? ADA entrances?

Ugly Betty? Mystery Science Theater 3000?



I think music was bad in the early 50's.
Posted by mirkwood (Member # 1788) on November 11, 2008 12:00 AM:

Adam-Ondi-Ahman


The great council at Adam-Ondi-Ahman is either part of or after the return to Jackson County.


Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Section Four, 1839-42, p. 157.
“Daniel in his seventh chapter speaks of the Ancient of Days; he means the oldest man, our Father Adam, Michael, he will call his children together and hold a council with them to prepare them for the coming of the Son of Man. He (Adam) is the father of the human family, and presides over the spirits of all men, and all that have had the keys must stand before him in this grand council. This may take place before some of us leave this stage of action. The Son of Man stands before him, and there is given him glory and dominion. Adam delivers up his stewardship to Christ, that which was delivered to him as holding the keys of the universe, but retains his standing as head of the human family.”


Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Section Four, 1839-42, p. 160.
“When wars come, we shall have to flee to Zion. The cry is to make haste. The last revelation says, Ye shall not have time to have gone over the earth, until these things come. It will come as did the cholera, war, fires, and earthquakes; one pestilence after another, until the Ancient of Days comes, then judgment will be given to the Saints.”


Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 10, p. 235, June 27, 1863.
“We have been taught that our Father and God, from whom we sprang, called and appointed his servants to go and organize an earth, and, among the rest, he said to Adam, ‘You go along also and help all you can; you are going to inhabit it when it is organized, therefore go and assist in the good work.’ It reads in the Scriptures that the Lord did it, but the true rendering is, that the Almighty sent Jehovah and Michael to do the work. They were also instructed to plant every kind of vegetable, likewise the forest and the fruit trees, and they actually brought from heaven every variety of fruit, of the seeds of vegetables, the seeds of flowers, and planted them in this earth on which we dwell. And I will say more, the spot chosen for the garden of Eden was Jackson County, in the State of Missouri, where Independence now stands; it was occupied in the morn of creation by Adam and his associates who came with him for the express purpose of peopling this earth.”

Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 17, p. 186-188, October 11, 1874.
“How many are ten thousand times ten thousand. One hundred millions. That would be a larger congregation than you or I ever saw, and larger, probably, than any congregation that has ever been collected together upon this earth at any one time. They would occupy a vast region of country, even for a foothold. A hundred million people stood before this personage—the Ancient of Days. Who was this personage called the Ancient of Days? We are told by the Prophet Joseph Smith—the great Prophet of the last days, whom God raised up by his own voice and by the ministration of angels to introduce the great and last dispensation of the fullness of times—the last dispensation on the earth so far as the proclamation of the mercy is concerned; I say we are told by this Prophet that the Ancient of Days is the most ancient personage that ever had an existence in days here on the earth. And who was he? Why, of course, old father Adam, he was the most ancient man that ever lived in days that we have any knowledge of. He comes, then, as a great judge, to assemble this innumerable host of which Daniel speaks. He comes in flaming fire. The glory and blessing and greatness of his personage it would be impossible even for a man as great as Daniel fully to describe. He comes as a man inspired from the eternal throne of Jehovah himself. He comes to set in order the councils of the Priesthood pertaining to all dispensations, to arrange the Priesthood and the councils of the Saints of all former dispensations in one grand family and household.
What is all this for? Why all this arrangement? Why all this organization? Why all this judgment and the opening of the books? It is to prepare the way for another august personage whom Daniel saw coming with the clouds of heaven, namely the Son of Man, and these clouds of heaven brought the Son of Man near before the Ancient of Days. And when the Son of Man came to the Ancient of Days, behold a kingdom was given to the Son of Man, and greatness and glory, that all people, nations and languages should serve him, and his kingdom should be an everlasting kingdom, a kingdom that should never be done away.
This explains the reason why our father Adam comes as the Ancient of Days with all these numerous hosts, and organizes them according to the records of the book, every man in his place, preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man to receive the kingdom. Then every family that is in the order of the Priesthood, and every man and every woman, and every son or daughter whatever their kindred, descent or Priesthood, will know their place. . . .
It will be on one of the last places of residence of our father Adam here on the earth, and it is called by revelation Adam-Ondi-Ahman, which, being interpreted, means the valley of God where Adam dwelt, the words belonging to the language which was spoken by the children of men before the confusion took place at Babel. In that valley Adam called together Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, Methusaleh and all the high Priests and righteous of his descendants for some seven or eight generations. Three years before his death he there stood up, being bowed with age, and preached to that vast assembly of people, and pronounced upon them his great and last patriarchal blessing, and they rose up by the authority and power and revelation of the holy Priesthood which they held, and pronounced their blessing upon their great common progenitor Adam, and he was called the Prince of Peace, and the Father of many nations, and it was said that he should stand at the head of and rule over his people of all generations, notwithstanding he was so aged. That was the blessing pronounced, three years before his death, upon the great head, Patriarch and Prophet of this creation, the man whom God choose to begin the works of this creation, in other words to begin the peopling of this earth.
Where was that valley in which that grand patriarchal gathering was held? It was about fifty, sixty or seventy miles north of Jackson County, Missouri, where the Zion of the latter days will be built. Where the garden of Eden was is not fully revealed; where Adam eat the forbidden fruit is not revealed so far as I know, that is, the particular location on the earth, no revelation informs us where he passed the first few centuries of his life; but suffice it to say that, when Adam was about six or seven hundred years old there was a great gathering of the people. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, who lived contemporary with his old ancestor, and others who were called by him, went forth and gathered out the righteous from all the nations, and as there was not Atlantic Ocean in those days rolling between the eastern and western continents, they could gather together by land from Asia, Africa and Europe. In those days the earth was not divided as it was after the flood, in the days of Peleg. In that gathering many came from the ends of the earth. Adam might have been among the emigrating companies, if not, then, he most probably had his residence at the central place of gathering. Let this be as it may, it is not revealed. There is a place, however where this great Conference took place in ancient times, where the Lord revealed himself to the vast assembly, and stood in their midst, and instructed them with his own mouth, and they saw his face. There is the place where it was ordained that Adam should have the power, as the Ancient of Days, after a certain period and dispensations had rolled away, to come in his glory accompanied by the ancient Saints, the generations that should live after him and should take up their abode upon that land where they received their last blessing, there in the valley of Adam-Ondi-Ahman.
This man, will sit upon his throne, and ten thousand times then thousand immortal beings—his children—will stand before him, with all their different grades of Priesthood, according to the order which God has appointed and ordained. Then every quorum of the Priesthood in this Latter-day Saints Church will find its place, and never until then. If we go behind the vail we will not see this perfect organization of the Saints of all generations until that period shall arrive. That will be before Jesus comes in his glory. Then we will find that there is a place for the First Presidency of this Church; for the Twelve Apostles called in this dispensation; for the twelve disciples that were called among the remnants of Joseph on this land in ancient times; for the twelve that were called among the ten tribes of Israel in the north country; for the Twelve that were called in Palestine, who administered in the presence of our Savior; all the various quorums and councils of the Priesthood in every dispensation that has transpired since the days of Adam until the present time will find their places, according to the callings, gifts, blessings, ordinations and keys of Priesthood which the Lord Almighty has conferred upon them in their several generations. This, then, will be one of the grandest meetings that have ever transpired upon the face of our globe. What manner of persons ought you and I, my brethren and sisters, and all the people of God in the latter days to be, that we may be counted worthy to participate in the august assemblies that are to come from the eternal worlds, whose bodies have burst the tomb and come forth immortalized and eternal in their nature.”

John Taylor, The Government of God, Chapter 11.
“A great council will then be held to adjust the affairs of the world, from the commencement, over which Father Adam will preside as head and representative of the human family. . .
Then they will assemble to regulate all these affairs, and all that held keys of authority to administer, will then represent their earthly course. And, as this authority has been handed down from one to another in different ages, and in different dispensations, a full reckoning will have to be made by all. All who have held keys of Priesthood, will then have to give an account to those from whom they received them. Those that were in the heavens, have been assisting those that were upon the earth; but then, they will unite together in a general council to give an account of their stewardships; and as in the various ages men have received their power to administer, from those who had previously held the keys thereof, there will be a general account. Those, under the authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, have to give an account of their transactions of those who direct them in the Priesthood; hence the Elders give an account to Presidents of Conferences; and Presidents of Conferences to Presidents of Nations. Those Presidents and the Seventies give an account to the Twelve Apostles; the Twelve to the First Presidency; and they to Joseph, from whom they, and the Twelve, received their Priesthood. This will include the arrangements of the last dispensation. Joseph delivers his authority to Peter, who held the keys before him, and delivered them to him; and Peter to Moses and Elias, who endued him with this authority on the Mount; and they to those from whom they received them. And thus the world's affairs will be regulated and put right, the restitution of all things be accomplished, and the Kingdom of God be ushered in. The earth will be delivered from under the curse, resume its paradisiacal glory, and all things pertaining to its restoration be fulfilled.”

Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, Vol 4, p. 44.
“Daniel and John each saw the opposition the little horn made against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This opposition will continue until the grand council is held at Adam-Ondi-Ahman. This ‘little horn’ (Dan. 7:20-22; Rev. 13) is making a renewed and determined effort today to destroy the Church. The Lord has decreed otherwise and while its power will last until Michael comes and the Son of Man receives his rightful place, this great power will endure. It must, however, fall, and according to the scriptures its end will come rather suddenly. (D&C 29:21; 1 Nephi 13:1-9; Rev. Chapters 17-18.)”

Bruce R. McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p. 610-611.
“There will be another great gathering of saints at Adam-Ondi-Ahman. Once again the Lord will be there, this time to receive from Adam, the Ancient of Days, an accounting of his stewardship. This gathering, at which the Lord will be given ‘dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him,’ will usher in the millennial reign. Those in attendance will be the righteous of all ages, each of whom in turn will give an accounting of his own stewardship. We suppose it will be those of all ages who shall partake of the sacrament with their risen Lord. (D&C 27:4-14.) As to their number, Daniel's account speaks of ten thousand times ten thousand and of thousands of thousands, which is to say an innumerable host. (Dan. 7:9-14.)”

Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah, p. 578-579.
“Before all flesh shall see him together; before any of his appearances, which taken together comprise the second coming of the Son of God—before all these, there is to be a secret appearance to selected members of his Church. . . .All the faithful members of the Church then living and all the faithful saints of all the ages past will be present. . . .It will be a day of judgment for the faithful of all the ages. And it will take place in Davies County, Missouri, at a place called Adam-Ondi-Ahman.”

Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah, p. 580.
“All that happened at Adam-Ondi-Ahman in those early days was but a type and a shadow— a similitude, if you will—of what shall happen at the same blessed place in the last days when Adam and Christ and the residue of men who are righteous assemble again in solemn worship.”
Posted by mirkwood (Member # 1788) on November 11, 2008 12:06 AM:

The Lost Ten Tribes Return


Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Vol. 1, p. 315.
“And now I am prepared to say by the authority of Jesus Christ, that not many years shall pass away before the United States shall present such a scene of bloodshed as has not a parallel in the history of our nation; pestilence, hail, famine, and earthquake will sweep the wicked of this generation from off the face of the land, to open and prepare the way for the return of the lost tribes of Israel from the north country.”


Orson Pratt, Millennial Star, Vol. 11, p. 323, November 1, 1849.
“The ten tribes will not return to Jerusalem and permanently inherit the land until the house of Judah has been gathered, and well scourged by the nations who will gather against them. But, instead of going to Jerusalem to be scourged and chastened with the Jews, they will first come to Zion. . . . ‘Therefore, they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock, and of the herd; and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.’ (See Jeremiah 31:7-14.)
Here it will be seen that the house of Israel will be in a very different condition from the Jews.The ten tribes will believe in Christ, so much so, that he will lead them, while on their return from the north country, and they will come and ‘sing in the height of Zion,’ and ‘they will not sorrow any more at all:’ whereas the Jews will have no such favours shown unto them on their return from the nations, but will have great distress and sorrow, and mourning, after they get back to Jerusalem. The ten tribes are redeemed from their afflictions before the Jews, consequently they first come to Zion among the redeemed saints, and partake with them in all the glory of Zion, until the Jews and Jerusalem shall also be redeemed, when they shall return to Jerusalem, and receive their inheritance in the land of Palestine, according to the divisions of that land in Ezekiel’s prophecy, and become one nation with the Jews, ‘in the land upon the mountains of Israel’.”

Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 18, p. 67-69, July 25, 1875.
“I do not know how much before the ten tribes will come from the north; but after Zion is built in Jackson County, and after the Temple is built upon that spot of ground where the corner stone was laid in 1831; after the glory of God in the form of a cloud by day shall rest upon that Temple, and by night the shining of a flaming fire will fill the whole heavens round about; after every dwelling place upon Mount Zion shall be clothed upon as with a pillar of fire by night, and a cloud by day, about that period of time, the ten tribes will be heard of, away in the north, a great company, as Jeremiah says, coming down from the northern regions, coming to sing in the height of the latter-day Zion. Their souls will be as a watered garden, and they will not sorrow any more at all, as they have been doing during the twenty-five hundred long years they have dwelt in the Arctic regions. They will come, and the Lord will be before their camp, he will utter his voice before that great army, and he will lead them forth as he led Israel in ancient days. This long chain of Rocky Mountains, that extends from the cold regions of the north away into South America, will feel the power of God, and will tremble before the hosts of Israel as they come to sing on the heights of Zion. In that day the trees of the field will clap like hands, says the Prophet, and in that day the Lord will open waters in the wilderness, and streams in the desert, to give drink to his chosen, his people Israel. And when they come to the height of Zion they shall be crowned with glory under the hands of the servants of God living in those days, the children of Ephraim, crowned with certain blessings that pertain to the Priesthood, that they could not receive in their own lands. In that day will be set apart twelve thousand out of each of these ten tribes—one hundred and twenty thousands persons ordained to the High Priesthood, after the order of the son of God, to go forth to all people, nations, kindreds and tongues, for the salvation of the remnants of Israel in the four quarters of the earth, to bring as many as will come unto the Church of the firstborn. Thus God will have twelve thousand out of all the tribes of Israel to fulfill his purposes; and when they have completed his work here on earth, they will be called home to Zion, be crowned with glory and stand upon Mount Zion and sing the song of the redeemed, the song of the hundred and forty-four thousand, and the Father's name will be written in their foreheads.
By and by, when all things are prepared—when the Jews have received their scourging, and Jesus has descended upon the Mount of Olives, the ten tribes will leave Zion, and will go to Palestine, to inherit the land that was given to their ancient fathers, and it will be divided amongst the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. They will go there to dwell in peace in their own land from that time, until the earth shall pass away. But Zion, after their departure, will still remain upon the western hemisphere, and she will be crowned with glory as well as old Jerusalem, and, as the Psalmist David says, she will become the joy of the whole earth.”

James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith, p. 18-21.
“The ancient scriptures teem with prophecies concerning the restoration of Israel in the last days, and the gathering of the people from among the nations and from the lands into which they have been led or driven as a penalty for their waywardness. In the predictions of olden times such prominence and importance are attached to this work of gathering that, from the days of Israel's exodus, the last days have been characterized in sacred writ as distinctively a gathering dispensation. The return of the tribes after their long and wide dispersion is made a preliminary work to the establishment of the predicted reign of righteousness with Christ upon the earth as Lord and King; and its accomplishment is given as a sure precursor of the Millennium. Jerusalem is to be reestablished as the City of the Great King on the eastern hemisphere; and Zion, or the New Jerusalem, is to be built on the western continent; the Lost Tribes are to be brought from their place of exile in the north; and the curse is to be removed from Israel.”