GREAT VIDEO ON THE HEARTLAND MODEL

From David Lindsley:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itlH3cyBzT4 

A ROMAN LIGHTHOUSE IN ENGLAND, CONTEMPORARY WITH JESUS' TIME

Many people cannot believe that Joseph of Arimathea was so wealthy and that his source of wealth was in the trade of stategic metals of the day (tin was an alloy of bronze making). I tell people that Jesus was likely trained in the best schools of the day that were located in England and that one of his wives and the resulting children went back after the crucifixion and resurrection when it was no longer tenable to remain in the Holy Land.

Interesting stuff:

This Roman lighthouse is the oldest surviving lighthouse in England and one of the oldest in the world. It is located on the south-eastern side of Dover, Kent.

It dates from around 46–50 AD, during the reign of Emperor Claudius. In comparison to modern lighthouses, its height of just 25.4 metres is quite short, but in its day, it was a towering landmark.

It was built using flint local to the area and mortar. It was an important feature of the Roman trade routes and military operations; its flickering light was critical in guiding ships safely to shore.

After nearly 2,000 years, the original Roman stonework on the seaward side is weather-worn, and today it stands at just 19 metres high.

WHEN IS THE LORD ON THE HOOK?

 We were all told to receive personal revelation in the matter:

I have posted this quote before, but I think it needs to be posted once again. Something that I’ve learned in my life is that God doesn’t protect you from the consequences of your own choices. This includes when you think you’re following Church counsel that turns out to be harmful like the po I son clo t shot. The following quote from Joseph Smith is interesting.

“Martin Harris having boasted to the brethren that he could handle snakes with perfect safety, while fooling with a black snake with his bare feet, he received a bite on his left foot.  The fact was communicated to me, and I took occasion to reprove him, and exhort the brethren never to trifle with the promises of God.  I told them it was presumption for any one (sic) to provoke a serpent to bite him, but if a man of God was accidentally bitten by a poisonous serpent, he might have faith, or his brethren might have faith for him so that the Lord would hear his prayer and he might be healed; but when a man designedly provokes a serpent to bite him, the principle is the same as when a man drinks deadly poison knowing it to be such.  In that case no man has any claim on the promises of God to be healed.” (HC 2:95-96)

I know many people have wondered how a mistake can be made such as recommending that members get the v@ x shun ation when it was a dangerous chemical. A lot of people have been sickened, mai med, and k ill ed because of it. This next quote from Joseph Smith also explains that. “This morning, I read German, and visited with a brother and sister from Michigan, who thought that ‘a prophet is always a prophet’; but I told them that a prophet was a prophet only when he was acting as such” (HC 5:265). This means that a prophet has his own opinions and feelings that may not necessarily be in harmony with the Spirit. To most LDS, at the least, this is horribly disloyal to suggest it and to many, it’s barely short of blasphemy. However, it’s the truth.

There’s also the belief that a person will be protected from their choices because they were “following the prophet.” That’s also not true. We are supposed to have the Holy Spirit as our guide (D&C 45:56-57) so that we cannot be deceived by anyone. If we do not have that relationship, that is our fault, and we cannot claim we were “following the prophet” to be relieved of responsibility for our own decisions and salvation. Brigham Young had something to say about this type of person:

“These persons do not depend upon themselves for salvation, but upon another of their poor, weak, fellow mortals. ‘I do not depend upon any inherent goodness of my own,’ say they, ‘to introduce me into the kingdom of glory, but I depend upon you, brother Joseph, upon you, brother Brigham, upon you, brother Heber, or upon you, brother James; I believe your judgment is superior to mine, and consequently I let you judge for me; your spirit is better than mine, therefore you can do good for me; I will submit myself wholly to you, and place in you all my confidence for life and salvation; where you go I will go, and where you tarry there I will stay; expecting that you will introduce me through the gates into the heavenly Jerusalem.’… Now those men, or those women, who know no more about the power of God, and the influences of the Holy Spirit, than to be led entirely by another person, suspending their own understanding, and pinning their faith upon another’s sleeve, will never be capable of entering into the celestial glory, to be crowned as they anticipate; they will never be capable of becoming Gods” (JD 1:312).

Elder Orson Pratt also had some interesting things to say on the subject of deception. “…It may be inquired, how are the humble, honest souls to discern between truth and falsehood? Must they be condemned with liars, because they are deceived with lies? We answer, that all will be condemned who suffer themselves to be deceived: for there is a way for every person to come to the light of truth; and it is not in the power of the devil to invent lies so plausible as to prevent the really honest person from discovering the truth that pertains to his salvation. The scriptures have expressly declared, that ‘cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm’" (The Seer, Vol. 2 No. 3, p 234).

No one can guarantee our salvation except ourselves. Let me repeat that: no one – not any other person – no matter their calling in the Church, be it bishop or prophet, can guarantee our salvation. It is our choices that determine whether or not we return to God. We - only we - are responsible for creating a relationship with the Holy Spirit that will guarantee that we cannot be deceived by anyone. If you do not do that, no amount of following the prophet will save you. Remember what Brigham said.

THE RISE OF THE AMERICAN INDEPENDENT PARTY IS NOW COMPLETE

 Well, folks!  The numbers do not lie:

https://news.gallup.com/poll/548459/independent-party-tied-high-democratic-new-low.aspx

Now a full 43% of Americans identify as Independents.  With the Dems and Repubs sapping up the remaining 57%, neither party has as big a piece of the pie as the Independents.

Joseph Smith's statement that the Dems and Repubs will go to war and out of that will spring the American Independent Party, is now fulfilled.

Praise to the man!

MORE ACTION AT AOA

Gleaned off the internet from someone who lives in the area of Adam-ondi-Ahman: 

Please, folks, note the correct spelling with capitals and hyphens. The name means something close to 'Adam walked with God.' This is a sacred place and deserves to be spelled correctly as a way of honoring it's sacred history and future. The locals all just say "AoA" to be shorter. This site has been called an outdoor temple, a garden temple, open air temple, etc. Lots of people, when walking the grounds, feel the spirit here deeply. AoA is it's own mission and the mission president is Pres. Nelson! The missionaries are called maintenance missionaries and do not give tours. They maintain the grounds. It is easy for us to see out here that they are making many changes. It already looks different than when we arrived her 2.5 years ago. They are building a new building for the visiting authority who comes once a month. We do not usually see them but all of the missionaries attend our Spring Hill Ward on Sunday. There are 7 couple during the winter and 14 during the summer. A new pavilion has been added along with a second set of restrooms.

WITNESSES TO MORONI

 He was probably as instrumental in the Restoration as Joseph Smith was:

"That talk was a patriotic talk about America. He called Moroni the “guardian angel of America.” He said, “That same angel of God that appeared to Joseph Smith presides over the destiny of the United States of America.” Elder Hyde said that he [Moroni] was in the camp with George Washington. He [Moroni] helped George Washington when he had trouble. He said that same angel was with Christopher Columbus and gave him deep impressions and dreams and visions respecting the new world. He said that same angel was with Columbus on the stormy deep. He guided his frail vessel to the desired haven, and he calmed the troubled elements."

Do you want to post this 

I found this talk and it is fantastic 

Working with the land of promise research team and Wayne May on the location of the Book of Mormon just makes it so much more powerful 

Enjoy

In our #ComeFollowMe studies this week we are learning about Moroni and the witnesses. I love how Elder Rudd explained the role of Moroni in his BYU-I devotional in March 2003. He said:

I want to talk to you now about Moroni. Moroni is one of the great men in all of the history of the world. What a tremendous thing to think about an individual who lived on this earth and did what he did and accomplished all he did. I want to ask you a question, and you ask yourself, How long has it been since anyone came right up to you and said, "What do you know about Moroni?" I don’t suppose anybody has asked you that very much lately. ... 

What do you know about Moroni, is a magnificent question. When you are going out into the mission field or when you just meet people, this is a good question to ask them. And then tell them about him. You know, he is one of the most influential men that the world has ever known. He was a prophet, a warrior, a scribe, and many other things. He was the son of a great man named Mormon.

Mormon was also a prophet, a leader, and the person who translated much of the Book of Mormon. Both Moroni and Mormon wrote that they had been visited by the Savior of the world and the three Nephites who were still living on the earth.

We know that Moroni lived a long time after the Nephites were killed off, by the unrighteous Laminates. He lived alone for about 36 or 37 years, all by himself. He finished writing what he had to write; then he hid up the plates. We know nothing about the loneliness of this great soul except that he did die. We don’t know when or how or how old he was. Some of the Brethren have felt that he was 80 years of age. Some say he was over 70. So he was pretty well up in years when he passed away. But, he was a resurrected being who after 1400 years appeared at the bedside of the Prophet Joseph Smith on the 21st day of September in 1823. That was three years after Joseph had the original first vision. Moroni lived in the fifth century of time. He was the last witness of the people who lived in that area of time. He testified that he had seen the resurrected Christ. He is also the most recent person who has lived and died on this earth who we know has been resurrected. This great man I’m talking about, I see him in my mind; a great soul. I’ll bet he was about 6’3" or 6'4" and had muscles bigger than mine and was really handsome and wonderful; but you wonder what happened during those years of loneliness. You wonder how many times he might have been nursed in sickness or in accident or warned of danger by the three Nephites who did appear to him. (They had the privilege of living on the earth and doing whatever they were allowed to do.) And he testified, “But behold, my father [Mormon] and I have seen them, and they have ministered unto us.” He tells us that we shall know that, “I have seen Jesus." That you should know, and that is the testimony for each of you. This is a man who had seen the Savior. He bore his testimony, and he said, “that he talked with me face to face, and that he told me in plain humility, even as a man telleth another in [his] own language, concerning these things [that he wanted to tell him].”

Now let me tell you a little something, an interesting story, that some of you may not have heard. In the early days of the Church, Orson Hyde was called to be one of the original Twelve Apostles by the Prophet Joseph. He served under three presidents of the Church–the Prophet Joseph, Brigham Young, and John Taylor. He was one of the great Apostles of this dispensation of time. He gave a talk in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on July 4, 1854. That’s only seven years after they came into the valley. (Now, it’s not the Tabernacle we know now, but the one they originally built.) That talk was a patriotic talk about America. He called Moroni the “guardian angel of America.” He said, “That same angel of God that appeared to Joseph Smith presides over the destiny of the United States of America.” Elder Hyde said that he [Moroni] was in the camp with George Washington. He [Moroni] helped George Washington when he had trouble. He said that same angel was with Christopher Columbus and gave him deep impressions and dreams and visions respecting the new world. He said that same angel was with Columbus on the stormy deep. He guided his frail vessel to the desired haven, and he calmed the troubled elements.

Most people never think much about him; but Moroni is still active and busy and doing all those necessary things to help bring about the full restoration of the gospel. We honor Moroni. There are 14 Latter-day Saint hymns that we sing like, "The Morning Breaks," that’s about Moroni; and “What Was Witnessed in the Heavens?”; “An Angel from on High"; “I Saw a Mighty Angel Fly”; and ten others. These beautiful hymns that we sing in the Church are all because of the angel Moroni.

Moroni had the great privilege, as he walked across this American Continent, of finding a place and designating the place where the St. George temple was to be built. He also designated where the Manti Temple was to be. And it’s been written that he designated Kirtland and Nauvoo and probably others. Moroni appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith 22 different times during the life of the Prophet Joseph that we know of.

Now, I want to tell you the names of some of the people that saw Moroni. We all know he talked to Joseph Smith who saw him. We know that Oliver Cowdery saw him as did David Whitmer and Martin Harris.

Oliver Cowdery was excommunicated from the Church and was out of the Church for ten years, and then he was rebaptized and brought back into the Church and had a strong testimony of the great vision, the great experience that he had with the angel Moroni where he had seen those plates. Oliver Cowdery incidentally died in the Church. He was hoping to come across the country out to the valley, but he got sick and died. He was only 43 years of age and one of the greatest men in the history of our Church.

David Whitmer, one of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, was also excommunicated. He lived until he was past 80 years of age. He never came back into the Church, but he never denied that he had seen the angel Moroni and had seen the plates.

Martin Harris was excommunicated, and was out of harmony with the Church but finally came out West. He was invited to speak in the Tabernacle. He was re-baptized into the Church and lived out his life in the northern part of the state of Utah.

Now, those four men saw him. But so did Emma Smith, the wife of the Prophet Joseph, and Mary Whitmer. Mary Whitmer was the mother of David Whitmer and the four other Whitmers who were all witnesses of the Book of Mormon. It was in her home that the Brethren organized the Church; and while they were there holding the meetings of organization, she was doing the cooking and all the hard work for the men. She went out into the barn to milk a cow; and while she was out in that barn, Moroni appeared to her and showed her the plates and gave to her a testimony that she never forgot.

Moroni appeared to a man by the name of Luke Johnson. I don’t know why, but I’ve always had a warm feeling toward Luke. I guess I like the name Johnson. I guess I like the name Luke. Anyway, he saw the angel Moroni. He handled the plates. He was one of the original Apostles, but he was excommunicated from the Church. However, he saw the error of his ways and came back and was rebaptized into the Church. Luke came out West with Brigham Young and the others and went down into the west part of Utah out south of Tooele, Utah. There he was ordained a bishop and served as a bishop in the Church. He had been one of the original Apostles and was a humble wonderful man and one who had seen Moroni.

Lucy Harris, the wife of Martin Harris, was a problem. If my wife wasn’t here, I’d say she was a pain in the rear end as far as the Brethren all went because she was constantly causing trouble to Joseph Smith. She wanted to see those plates so bad. She went out digging out in the field. And one day she was digging out there trying to find where the plates had been hidden and a big snake came up and scared her half to death, and she quit digging. For some reason I don’t know, she had some kind of a dream where Moroni bore his testimony to her.

The ninth man to see Moroni was a man named Zera Pulsipher. He was a minister of another church. He had a vision in his barn. While he was out in the barn one day, a light descended upon him in the middle of this barn, and he looked up and saw Moroni. And Moroni blessed his life and showed him the plates. He became a Seventy in the Church. He became a high priest and became a patriarch. He’s the man who converted and baptized Wilford Woodruff into the Church in 1833.

I tell you W. W. Phelps saw Moroni. He was cut off from the Church twice; but he kept coming back. He died in full fellowship. He wrote "Praise to the Man" and some of the other wonderful hymns that we sing.

John P. Green saw Moroni. He was a brother-in-law of Brigham Young, and he gave the book to Brigham Young. Rhoda Young, his wife, who was the sister of Brigham Young, also had the privilege of seeing Moroni.

John Taylor, who became one of the Apostles and later the President of the Church, as a young man had a vision. Long before he joined the church, he had a vision and he saw an angel of heaven holding a trumpet in his mouth sending a message out to the nations of the world. He didn’t understand what it was until he joined the Church, and then he understood the great mission of this man Moroni.

Oliver Granger was met by Moroni. Moroni actually knelt down and prayed with him and put his arm on the back of this man so the man could feel him as he talked with him.

Just before Heber C. Kimball died (Heber C. Kimball was one of the original Apostles who became a counselor to Brigham Young for many, many years), 21 years after they entered into the Salt Lake Valley, Heber C. Kimball had a visit from Moroni. Moroni explained to him that his work on earth was concluded and that he would soon die. I think if I remember right, it was just the night before he passed away.

Now, I have given you the names of sixteen people who had the privilege of seeing the angel Moroni. There’s one other; I can’t find the truth on this one, but I am positive in my own mind that Hyrum Smith, the Prophet's brother, also had a chance to see Moroni.

Now, you’ve got a chance to see a statue of him on the temples, not all of them, but on most all of the temples there is an angel Moroni sculpture. It’s there to remind us of the Book of Mormon. It is there to remind us of what a tremendous thing it is to have lived, and died, and to have been resurrected.

I hope with all my heart that you wonderful young people will fall in love with the Book of Mormon, that when you read about these great men in the Book of Mormon, that they will come off of the pages to you not only as a name but as an individual. They were all different. Some were tall, some were quiet, and some were short. I don’t know what they all were; but I have kind of fallen in love with them. And some day, if the Lord let’s me in the next world, I want to go to conference and hear them preach.

May God bless you now. May he bless you to be strong in the faith. May he bless you to live the way the Book of Mormon teaches us to live. May he bless you to be worthy of the prayers of your mothers and your fathers, especially you girls. Remember they pray. They do more than just worry. May God bless you all. And may he bless this great school and all who have to do with it. May he be close to us and aid and strengthen you as you journey through life. God is good to us. I hope that you let Him give you every blessing He wants to give you. And this I do as I bear testimony to you that the gospel is true, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, amen.

The Angel Moroni by Elder Glen L. Rudd

Brigham Young University–Idaho Devotional

March 11, 2003

SATAN'S DECEPTIONS - ARGUING OVER A LIE OF A LIE

 My wife and I are HUGE fans of the Heartland Model for the BoM.  In my mind, there is NO other alternative when reading what Joseph had to say on the matter.  Yet, some schmuck injected an opinion into the mix back in the late 1800's and had some godless apostle (a Judas - I will not name names...) give his opinion on things happening in Central America along with his opinions on Darwinism and it took off; and here we are today.  So many opinions.  A lie took us away from the truth - and now we argue over a lie of a lie.  We no longer debate the words of Joseph Smith and how to interpret them in relation to the mounds they wandered among, but we debate and machinate over whether it happened in Guatemala or in Chile and thus we are literally dealing with lies and contention that originate far from the source of truth.

Same thing with marriage.  The lie is that a man can marry a man, nullifying the truth of the first commandment that a man and a woman should cleave to each other and twain become one flesh and then multiply and replenish the earth.  Now we are arguing over it is normal for a bearded man to become artificially pregnant and use the women's bathroom, while lowering the age of consent to six years old, so it is normal for them to prey on victims within a sacrosanct space, leaving women particularly traumatized by the freak show out there.  It is a form of institution-wide gas-lighting (making you out for the bigot if you do not accept the bizarre social constructs they are attempting to assemble and then foist on the public).  And the devil laughs at our stupidity - knowing full well we generally fall into a trap that encompasses all of mankind.  Truly, some brilliant work that only a genius could put together.  But a fool all in the same (in that he thinks that he and his malcreant minions will actually win this contest).

The same thing with the fight for the heart and soul of the Brighamite church, which happens to be a belief in Plural Marriage.  The arguments against it never deal with affirming statements by all of those of the inner circle that Joseph Smith taught it to and painted it in the proper light.  Usually, they take a disparaging point of view, far removed from the source and then run with it in hopes that naive people who have not paid the price to read extensively, will take their flimsy arguments hook line and sinker.  Thus the d'evil wins their souls.  Many are falling for the silken arguments these days instead of paying the price to know for themselves.  Personal revelation takes work!

The thing to be pointed out here is that the enemy of righteousness will seek to move the argument from solid ground to shaky ground where it can be manipulated at a whole new level and a fallacious set of accusations made so that contention will abound.  This is what tore up the 4th Nephi Saints.  It is what is tearing us up as Latter-day Saints, as prophesied.  Mostly, it is laziness and wickedness brought on by prosperity and too much time on ones' hands.  God is about to remedy that "problem" once again...