THEY WILL HUNT THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS

 My wife and I were reading in the apocryphal 2 Esdras 16:70 where it spits out one more piece of gloom and doom (at least for those who are in the big cities when the crud hits the oscillator):

71 There will be great uprisings against those who fear the Lord in many places and in neighboring cities. 72 People will be like maniacs on account of their own distress. They will spare no one, seeking to plunder and destroy those who still fear the Lord. 73 They will destroy and rob their possessions and throw them out of their own homes. 74 In that time, the genuine commitment of my chosen ones will be shown, as gold that is tested by fire.

75 Listen, my chosen ones, says the Lord, the days of distress are at hand, and I will deliver you from these. 76 Don’t fear or hesitate, for God is your leader. 77 You who keep my commandments and precepts, says the Lord God, don’t let your sins drag you down, and don’t let wickedness get the upper hand over you. 78 How terrible it will be for those who are choked by their sins and covered over by their iniquities, as a field is choked by overgrowth and its paths are covered over by thorns so that a human being can’t pass through. It is shut off and consigned to destruction by fire.

Very interesting times we will pass through.  We know the persecution of the Saints must exceed that of the persecutions of any previous epoch in history.  Much of it will be at the hands of parents, siblings and SONS and daughters who have become enraged against the things of God, and whose hearts have waxed cold.  This is the Book of Mormon pattern.  This is what happened when the Nephites were hunted by the Lamanites just at the end of their historical run.  It is the natural course of history.