Well, I have had a few days to put my thoughts together. And I have some doosies.
First of all, I ran into the Cardston Apostate (said with endearment) just before conference and the word on the street is that I am apostate.... lol. I kind of like that. I have never liked being part of the normal crowd. I do my own thing and march to my own drum. I hold allegiance to God and none else. I have to say for the past few years until Jan 20th 2021, I was guilty of leader worship (holding them in too high of esteem), but our entire LDS culture is built up around that false notion.... So, I told my apostate buddy that my flavor of apostasy is different than his (he is a chocolate apostate, while I lean heavily towards hot-dipped vanilla). To be considered an apostate these days, you have to be a jab denier and at odds with the gadiantons and their agenda. Different dipping flavors depend on the variations of that.... So, the two Cardston Apostates had a good bonding moment together. Maybe I will be the key to his activation in the Church of the Firstborn that the One Mighty and Strong will lay the foundation of here in the coming months/years.... When things are set in order in the Church. I truly feel that some of the best people in the Church are currently not supping at the table with the rest of the Saints because they feel abandoned on multiple fronts. We are so busy trying to cater to the one of LGBT persuasion, for example, that the large part of the 99 are thrown under the bus and are being ground to a bloody pulp along the progressive highway to hell.
On that note, my wife (bless her good heart) was in full gymnastics mode during Conference while I was in my room sleeping off a 5am binge work party and I heard Renlund pushing the "safe and effective" jabberwonky Rona juice.... Sheesh. Of course, I was calling him out from my room. Man, I seriously DESPISE these white coaters all dressed up in the habiliments of the false priesthood.... Pushing their shit poisons and literally gas-lighting those of us that feel this junk is deadly. I will never take another needle into my body. I trust NONE of them. There are some out there (who are not driven by quotas and kickbacks), but they are statistically insignificant to the point that their data points need to be dismissed as "noise in the data".... So sad. Freakin' highly paid pill pushers on the junkies of society who seek the quick fix they offer.
But after all that, I still maintain President Nelson holds the keys until they are wrested from him at Adam-Ondi-Ahman or earlier. As my wife gymnastically points out, he is likely under duress from the gads and is forced to play along to get along. Me, I am more of a traditionalist when it comes to "my Prophet" wherein I like to have them play a true role in the face of danger or coercion and take a stone to the head, a blast to HQ, a lawsuit or two for the team, etc. I like them being the point man in the charge instead of being in the bus at the end of the cortege while we are scraping and bumping along under the first bus we got thrown under at the head of the cortege. And a cortege it really is. It is the death knell of an organization when a person supposedly at the helm quits taking it for the team. When a 737NEO/MAX crashes, it is not the mid-level manager who takes the sword for the team, it is the CEO who steps down because the buck stops there, even though the mid-level manager may have been guilty and complicit as hell in the poor decision making. It sends a message to the average company man that there is loyalty from the top. And, knowing this, he soldiers on as dedicated as ever knowing that he will not indiscriminately get thrown under the bus if things go south for whatever reason. If they do attempt to go after the average company man, morale across the board will suffer and the company may ultimately fail. Just as Bishop Koyle predicted, this would happen, and the Bretheren will be in full damage control mode right before the end with the EQ and the bodies littered in Utah County to the point you could go from Payson to Lehi without touching the ground (stepping on the DBs).
At that point, things will be so dire that little else will matter. Only those who got out to higher ground like Manti and Heber, etc will fare well. This is the transition from Utah to the NJ. A logical step. But there will be many who will deny that anything bad could happen to the Saints - whether in Utah or in places like Cardston - but these things will come to pass. The denial comes from the boiling of the frog that has occurred. Slow erosion of what really matters - instead of the building of good principle. The same thing that afflicted the priests in Christ's day. Very pious - but very off-track. Enough off track to wrongly kill a mildly important historical figure.... But, we could never be guilty of doing that today, now could we?!?!? I think you know what my answer is. I think I knew it back in the days of Ezra Taft Benson as he was acting in his role as Prophet and calling the Church out. My wife is certain that he was silenced for being "too brash". I cannot argue against that possibility.
Anyway, here is a good comment that came in:
Something to consider here: If an imperfect man or even an outright liar who has been given the priesthood baptizes someone who is innocent, is the baptism nullified for the recipient? No. If an unworthy servant enters the temple unworthily and does proxy work for the dead, does it count against the dead? No. Likewise, if a prophet or apostle is imperfect or a liar or deceived, are the keys they hold not still valid? They are at BEST imperfect men. God is leading His church despite imperfect people. Yes, even with many sinners and sometimes deceived leaders. But the keys are here and will not be taken until they are given back to Christ at Adam ondi ahman. The church is God's. It is not corrupt, but literally everyone in it is, you and I included. The answer? Repent, be worthy, and commune with the Spirit. If so, the Spirit will show you all things what you should do.
I will never say never, but I have no modicum of desire to abandon Gospel principle. I would rather be dead. But to leave the mainstream in the Church, I most likely will. The mainstream offers no relative safety anymore like it did in the 1970's and 1980's. Just as with politics, the shift to the left has left the true conservatives with few options. Truly, we are fish out of water. But, just as in the days of Jesus, until the Law of Moses was fulfilled on the cross, it still was synagogue as usual for the average person. And maybe, just maybe, in attending synagogue, one would be blessed enough to hear One declare the "acceptable year of the Lord". Luke 4:18 Indeed the One who would take it to the next level. And so, I await for that moment when I can hear true doctrine (solid quoting of scripture instead of quaint stories, although they do have their place as parables), not the sayings of men mingled with scripture, and no double speak or talking out of both sides of the mouth. Truly, it is okay to have an opinion. I really struggle with folks who, for fear of offending, halt between two points of view. There is only one truth. I am fine with that. In today's twisted world, there should be constant hammering on us by the lefties, commies, libbers, purple-haired alphabet freakazoids, etc etc. It is just part of the deal before God comes to judge and take the trash to the curb that will not repent and align themselves with some semblance of sanity.
Last of all, my wife and I both feel that President Nelson was speaking code when he was talking about the corroded foundation of the SLC temple and how it had developed many cracks over the past hundred plus years. There was metaphor in that. And yes, we will need to Hear Him and develop a strong current of personal revelation to figure it all out going forward. We really have some interesting times to pass through.