EDWARD J WOOD - MAN OF FAITH, VISION AND PRIESTHOOD POWER

This man is among the greats of the latter-day kingdom and I commend the reading of his life in order that yours will be enriched by it:

SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES OF EDWARD J WOOD - CARDSTON TEMPLE PRESIDENT

One can count on just a few hands, the number of people who have this kind of faith.  Iohanni Wolfgramm is another whom I have blogged about; who had similar faith.

EDWARD J. WOOD COMMENTS ABOUT SOLS GUARDISTO

The vision of Sols Guardisto while attending the Cardston, AB temple has driven quite a bit of traffic to this site.  Here is a copy of a letter that Edward Wood (Cardston Temple President) wrote about her:


Edward Wood, who was president of the Cardston Temple for many years, was a witness to the
manifestations of a woman who saw much of the future and mission of the Latter-day Saints.
Although she was not a member of the Church, it has been rumored that she did join the Church
sometime later. This manifestation occurred in March 1922. President Wood answered many
responses to questions about this manifestation, two of which follow:
N. B. Lundwall, Esq.,
Salt Lake City, Utah
Dear Brother:
Cardston, Alberta
July 29, 1924
I am pleased to hear from you in your letter of July 21st, and note the contents and also
the enclosure, and in reply, can easily tell you about the letter.
The lady who wrote the letter came twice, as she states, to the Temple, and certainly
seemed quite sincere in all questions she asked, and gave very marked respect and attention to the
explanations of the objects for which the Temple was built, and went from room to room-of
course, the interior was then unfinished-and she was evidently deeply interested in what she heard
and saw, and asked many questions both about the Temple proper and also about the principles
leading up to our views on Temple building, and she asked a great many questions about our
views of the life after death, and was much taken up with our belief on divine authority, and Our
missionary activities throughout the world; and before she got through her second visit, she had a
very fair understanding of the “vitality of Mormonism" from many angles.
She had some friends or a relative of some members of the church in Lethbridge by the
name of Brown, and she lived somewhere east of here. After she had been away for some time,
she wrote this article as you have it to Mr. Brown, one of these friends or relatives in Lethbridge,
and he sent a copy to me, and of course we were surprised and pleased with her "impressions"
and her apparent understanding of many of our views.
That is about the history of this article.
Sincerely your brother,
Edw. J. Wood
P.S. As I remember, her second visit was in March, 1922; the article was sent to me sometime
after that month.

A HEARTFELT THANKS

  
  In posting this last entry, I noticed that the next one (this one) would be my 500th entry. I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing my inner-most thoughts with whomever has the time and interest in reading them.  For quite some time, I could not share mission experiences with people including my own family because they could not relate to them.
I married a wonderful woman whom I have been able to relate to fully and who has accepted what I have had to say and think - as unorthodox as it may seem, sometimes.  Where she has had doubts, we have had gone through remarkable things together so that our faith and bonding could be whole, as if to weld us together in the perfect union.
The other outlet I have for sharing this stuff is this blog - and it has been fun.  The thing that got me going on the blog was a visit by a former bishop of mine.  We had them over for dinner and I shared some of the things we had gone through in our lives and mentioned some of the stuff that is found here on the blog.  When I got on the topic of the second Civil War that is coming to the United States (not based on my own feelings, but based on what I had been reading about, back in 2008), I was met with incredulity, disbelief and challenged to produce what I had read.  I could not sift back through the hundreds and thousands of pages of stuff that I had covered and was met with some ridicule and scorn when I could not.  I was more than a little miffed as I knew that I had passed through at least 3 or 4 completely separate quotes about the topic and had been witness to a direct spiritual manifestation as my wife and I read Section 87 of the Doctrine and Covenants together one night about 10 years ago.  It became clear to us of what is coming and we began from that time forth to prepare more earnestly.

It was that pivotal after dinner conversation with our former bishop that inspired me to start keeping track of this stuff - a journal of sorts.  In a "not so flattering way", it is also a way of being able to say, "I told you so" when all of this stuff does go down, as I have been absolutely hammered by people (mostly those who previously held positions of power over me) for giving heed to this stuff.  In migrating to Montana, I find many others who feel as I do (including those who are in positions of power over me there, as well) and I find great comfort and satisfaction in that fact.  I find that I am no longer a "stranger in the land" as I felt on the left coast.

So after finishing out 500 entries, some catching more interest than others, and having almost 90,000 individual page views for each of the last two years since I started keeping track, I thank you for listening.  If one person's life is changed for the positive in becoming a better follower of our prophetic counsel to prepare for Christ's second coming, then all the time and effort has been worth it.  If someone's curiosity to seek out the pure, unsullied doctrines of the kingdom of God has been piqued due to what is written here, then I have a deep and abiding satisfaction in having spent time on this.

A LIFE OF FAITH - PIONEER SARAH LEAVITT

I featured a quote on this woman a few posts back when I was talking about polygamy.  I find reading about the early Saints' lives fascinating.  These people just rolled - they were totally amazing people!

This gal used the power of the Priesthood multiple times to heal and obviously had the gift of healing in spades.  She had multiple inspired dreams, many visions and multiple angelic visitors.  What a fantastic life.  What is most troubling about reading her writings is that, if this gal were to exist among the largely faithless members today, she would be horrified at our atrophied state and lack of faith in our day-to-day living.  We are quickly becoming like the Jews of Jesus' day who had the authority but lacked the power and faith to accomplish many mighty miracles in theirs and others' lives.  The day quickly comes when we cast the "Samuels" off the wall who have come to warn us of our awful state just before the impending destruction.

Here is the link to her journal:

SARAH LEAVITT JOURNAL

I hope you find it as inspirational as I did!

NATIONAL SOCIALISM - WELCOME TO FASCISM

This is not a political blog - but on a day when I and millions of other people have lost many fundamental freedoms, I have to post this video made by a guy whom I served with as Zone Leaders in Joao Pessoa, Brazil.  Sums up exactly the state of our union:

SPIRITUAL SOLUTION TO OUR PROBLEMS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KWGzSSCgoo

The concern I have is this: If Obama wins in November, the country will continue down the Marxist path at an alarming rate that will make the first four years look like a picnic.  If Romney wins, our Constitutional freedoms will take a hit, but worse, I fear when the economy plunges off the cliff (see previous posts), the LDS at large will be blamed for it.  I have heard whisperings that Romney was tapped by those who truly control things.  Years ago in 2002, I said that the housing prices would take a 40% plunge.  We are there.  The next plunge is going to be brutal beyond measure - there will be no comparison to what we have gone through and what we call the "Great Depression".  The mind cannot comprehend what is coming.  

May God help us all who are striving for His approbation....

POLYGAMY - A TESTIMONY FROM BEYOND THE VEIL

So, I do not shy away from the controversial on this blog and this topic will prove it....

I just got done reading a thoughtful blog on the topic - I like to read up on this topic that seems to bring out so much human angst and emotion.  In my marriage to my sweetheart, we have shared many a heart-felt hour poring over the topic.  We both are at peace with the doctrine - 18 years later.  BTW - I have no intention of attempting it in this life - way too much difficulty in providing for my small family and meeting all the needs of them and my dear wife.  The challenges of another set of logistics would be daunting - the daily crush of meeting just the basic physical needs of one family unit is just too much.  However, I know it is completely possible to make it happen - especially in a place where temporal matters do not exist.

Clearly, Abraham and most all of the greats of time participated in it and Jesus himself apparently did having at least two, if not three wives that we are aware of.  Jesus put his stamp on it when he declared that he does the works that Abraham did (what else could that mean?) and that Abraham himself was enthroned in heaven as a God.  If Abraham were a vile person, that statement simply would NOT have been made.  So, what does all this mean?

It comes down to personal testimony and a deep and abiding understanding/testimony of the law of consecration and stewardship (simply being asked to take care of something to the full measure of its necessity, and then doing it).  When my wife was struggling with the effects of mental illness tied to the lack of B-12 in her diet and post-partum issues (an earlier post), I was beside myself and wanted to walk away.  It was in my extremity that I had a heavenly intervention and fully learned the concept of consecration and stewardship.  It was at that point that I feel I won the (true) love of my wife and the approbation of God.  I had prayed mightily and asked to be released from that trial - and indeed received permission to walk away, if that were my choice as there is true agency in everything - but I also would have sacrificed ALL blessings tied to enduring to the end and never learned the pivotal lesson of life and Christ-like living.

So what does this have to do with polygamy?  My mother passed away six months after my wife and I lost our 9 month old son.  Before she died, I remember her many times telling my father that he was under no circumstances to marry another woman if she were to go first.  Precisely because she would potentially have another to deal with on the other side - and did not want things to be messy.  One thing my mother was - was the stereotypical jealous woman.  If another woman so much as gave my father a sideways glance, my mother was all over it.  I was intrigued by that human characteristic in my mother as I watched it growing up.  So, the night my kid passed away, I was blessed with a particularly poignant dream in which I was shown what would befall my wife and I for the next three years as we passed through the healing process of losing our little treasure from heaven.  The second part of that dream involved knowing that "everything would be alright" given with a distinct sign.  We puzzled over that until my father gave me a call out of the blue a month after my mother died on Christmas day.  He related that my boy and my mother had visited him in the night in an open (waking) vision and had set the record straight and given him other counsel.  My boy was just there as a bonus or priesthood representative (he had been called over to the other side by my G-g-gfather because "he needed more help attending to family business").  Well, Dallin (my boy) was helping out with that kind of thing obviously in a big way.  The one portion of the message my mother gave to my father was that she was wrong in her desire that he not marry another and that he should proceed as soon as possible and be fulfilled and happy in the remaining years of his life.  My boy in his spirit form and according to my father, was slightly taller and broader shouldered than I was when I was in my prime at around 25 years of age.  He described my mother as in her prime - about how she looked like when she and my father were married in their mid-twenties.  So, for all the people who struggle with that doctrine of God - and I am not aware of too many women that don't - here is my little piece of the puzzle.  I know my dad is not making it up (speaking strictly from a logical standpoint) so that he could run off and immediately get re-married without waiting the requisite 2-3 year period, as some of my female siblings have accused....  I know that, simply because he did not know the details of the second portion of my dream I had the night my kid died and could not have known exactly how those details dovetailed into the impeccable timing of his phone call to me.  A complete improbability.  It simply happened, as stated.

So many people will kick against the pricks - many will leave the Church and allow themselves all kinds of excuses based on that doctrine that seems to be even more divisive than even the hellish practice of abortion.  After what my wife and I have passed thru, it is safe to say that we understand the concept of stewardship as God intended it.  When our child was called over to the other side to accomplish God's purposes, our time of nurturing was over and we had to comply with a heavy heart but with an attitude of "Not my will, but thine be done".  Not quite an Abrahamic test by any means; as our son was not handed over, nor did we have to build an altar and gather the sticks for the ultimate test in obedience, but when it was all said and done, we did have to endure with faith and without angry recrimination at God for having allowed us to pass through such a trial as that one. 

Reading some of the early writings of how the wives of polygamous marriages gained a "testimony" of the principle, I am astounded at their faith.  God did not leave them alone to mourn - but gave most all of them fantastic experiences in order to endure their ordeal in faith and long-suffering; just as my wife and I were given our faith-building experience in the face of tragedy.

Here is the quote from the blog topic on plural marriage that got me going down this bunny trail:

My wife’s ancestor, Sarah Levitt, was present during the early Nauvoo period. She asked her husband if she would have to share him. He encouraged her to pray about it. She had a dream. In the dream she was told that she wouldn’t have to share her husband (he died later). She wrote that she had a vision of the heavenly order and the beauty of it. She also wrote that the practice would be the means of “saving thousands and damning thousands. It was too sacred for fools to handle.”

Truly, the most powerful doctrines of the restored gospel are too powerful for fools to handle - precisely why they are so divisive and are used to separate the wise and foolish virgins in preparation for the glory that may come in the following life, if obedience is the outcome and not the rebellion of the "wise and learned" who think to counsel God and his servants.

AND NONE CAN DELIVER

My favorite female in this entire dispensation would have to be Eliza R. Snow.  I named two daughters in honor of her great life.  Not sure how she would rank against the "all-time greats" list.  There was little written of the three Mary's of Jesus' life, nor of Eve; God's pick to initiate the human race - but these gals had to be exceptional; the best of the best in order to float to those lofty positions.  But, I can read Eliza's poetry, much about her life in general and know she was one sharp gal!  What she says has weight with me as I know she lived a difficult, yet righteous life and exercised her priesthood and prophetic gift to the utmost of any early male or female.  Here is what she had to say about the future of our nation:

June 1, 1847, Emmeline Wells: "Brother Leonard spoke in tongues in an Indian language, and prophesied of the destruction of this nation before the coming of the Savior. The power that rested upon him was so great as to produce such an intense sympathy with those in the room, that they were all wonderfully affected. Sister Eliza R. Snow walked the floor to keep her breath. All felt the distress and agony that awaited the nation, more particularly the priests and harlots being destroyed in their wickedness. Sister Eliza Snow spoke afterwards in the pure language of Adam, with great power, and the interpretation was given."

June 1, 1847, Eliza R. Snow: "Spent the eve. at br. Leonard's with Priscinda, Zina & Sarah--Great instruction was brought forth--br. L. spoke of the American government--its fall &c. after which the Lord manifested the contrast of the happiness of the saints and the suff'ring of the gentiles when the Lamanites go forth. Language cannot describe the scene."

Interesting times to come.  As per scripture, the Lamanites in their vengeance, will be the means of delivering the chastisement.  The more righteous among them will have the privilege of building up the temple at the New Jerusalem under the direction of the few righteous Ephraimites (or Gentiles as the Book of Mormon calls us) that remain.

FINANCIAL COLLAPSE - THE WAY OUT OF THE MESS

Folks - this is the single-most excellent film I have watched on what is wrong with our money system.   Note that anyone who has tried to challenge the international banking system, was either assassinated or were attempted to assassinate from Andrew Jackson to Lincoln (greenbacks) to JFK with his silver certificates.  I absolutely HATE corruption and those who purvey it.  They WILL be destroyed - and I intend to be a part of the solution.   We must embrace this and preach it to all we know:

DECIPHERING OUR MONEY SYSTEM


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swkq2E8mswI&feature=related

CALL TO DESTROY THE SECRET COMBINATIONS AMONG US

The secret combinations among us must be destroyed - or it will bring down this entire nation.  While this is not a political blog - the line between politics and spiritual matters is often blurred because nothing that is temporal was not first created or conceived spiritually.  They are intertwined - one cannot be touched on without touching the other one.  This is from a Facebook post from a group called "Latter Day Saints for Ron Paul" and this commenter relies heavily on quotes from President Ezra Taft Benson - which I heavily endorse!

Great commentary Connor. Always fun to read your posts and see your grounded stances in principle.

I too, have to plead guilty of being a bit of a "conspiracy" kook on this one, as a prior poster has said they are. There is a malignant thing behind the scenes, and we have good history documenting just such evil.

Congressman Larry McDonald, a John Birch Society guy, super well informed, was murdered by the Establishment Moneychangers (who bankroll[ed] Communism all over the globe---with US Taxpayer support, of course. His message was much too potent for it to be tolerated. He pulled the curtain back on the FED for all to see how wrong it was, and that it was private. Yes, they "disappeared" him into oblivion, along with the rest of that flight from South Korea on a Boeing 747 in the early 1980's. Amazingly, the media just couldn't report who it was that was aboard that flight---a Congressman deeply hated by the CFR Moneychangers. The report was that it was shot down by the Russians for going into their airspace, but indeed that was the cover for something even more sinister. It was forced to land on an island, according to John Birch Society people who have sent and shared articles, and it's crew and passengers were never heard or seen again, for they had been "shot down." The plane however was never found, nor it's wreckage, nor bodies, nor anything whatsoever. (I should go find links and articles, but I won't now, people can go look themselves for the info.)

Then there was a congressman from idaho, I've heard people talk of how they set him up, he was a vocal opponent to the fed, and they destroyed his life and he spent most of his last years in Prison and they tortured him there brutally, destroying his ability to walk correctly and his health was a shambles as a result of the brutality and abuse. I'll have to go re-read and freshen up on details. Congressman Hansen, I think it was?

Gary North speaks of a conversation with W. Cleon Skousen talking about Reagan having the CFR Moneychangers bringing him to heel, letting him know that if he did not choose G. H. W. Bush as his running mate, he would never see the White House as President. And what happened at the RNC in 1980 when Reagan announced CFR Bush as VP? People were stunned. Bush had been a vicious opponent to Reagan, a very harsh critic, and then at the last minute, Reagan would be stupid enough to choose this monstrous man as his VP? This was the "voodoo economics" guy who trashed Reagan constantly, a man who was CIA director, and we even have evidence was part of the nasty operation in the Kennedy assassination. (I hope I'm not opening up too many cans of worms here, there are books and documentaries on all these topics.)

Gary North gives his account here of that mess at the RNC in 1980:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north552.html

Then, the globalists shot Reagan and miraculously he survived. With that bullet, they had given him warning and put him on alert, he was not in the driver seat. It was the CFR who surrounded him along with his VP who were running the show, along with the shadow government behind the scenes.

And who runs the shadow government of the Moneychangers? Well, here we have the real statement---a statement that a friend shared in his Highland, Utah ward back in the Bush years which upset many in the combined Priesthood and Relief Society meeting where he, as High Preist Groupleader gave the lesson:

“The United States is not the kingdom of God, neither is England, Germany, or France….Satan has control now. No matter where you look, he is in control, even in our own land. He is guiding the governments as far as the Lord will permit him. That is why there is so much strife, turmoil, and confusion all over the earth. One master mind is governing the nations….it is Satan himself.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 3, pp 314–15)

Today, this "secret combination" that seeks the overthrow of all nations, lands and countries has had over 25 years of strengthening since Ezra Taft Benson in 1988 stated it was/is "increasing its evil influence and control upon America and the entire world."

Why are we to "awake to a sense of our awful situation" as commanded in Ether 8 of the Book of Mormon? Because, we have indeed permitted and suffered this secret combination to be built above us, and it will not tolerate a Ron Paul for president, as it would not tolerate a Ronald Reagan implementing his campaign promises. It will not sit back with all the murders and devastation it has done to date, and let the Paul's continue to be the focal point of a mass movement running against their control grid and rising tyranny. No. There has been a private conversation and/or meeting of some sort with the Paul's. They've surely been spoken to and given the terms laid out in how the game is played. Perhaps they've been threatened with the murder of family members? Perhaps they've been given threats of a myriad types that one can speculate on? Something has happened, there is something that has occurred of malignity and threat. Rand Paul now flees interviewers that hitherto he was most gracious with. (Luke Rodowsky.)

Truly, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against evil wickedness in high places, and until the vast majority repent and change their upholding of these moneychanger backed, CFR politicians, this secret combination will grow and strengthen until it unleash a blood bath, and surely, the blood bath will ultimately be turned upon the heads of all those who have sworn allegiance to it, for God has decreed that all who suffer this secret combination to be built up above us, will be overthrown to their own destruction when it is fully accepted and spreads into the whole country. When this country begins to murder those resisting this secret combination, then will surely the judgements of God fall in righteous wrath upon this nation and break it to pieces like a "potters vessel" as has been prophesied by Wilford Woodruff, unless this nation of people repent of their political sins and otherwise.

Thank goodness that despite all of the evil, all of the sophistry and lies, there has been enough of support of right by enough citizens to have actually sparked the "Ron Paul Revolution" and the remarkable way it has spread. There is a “remnant in the land” who value freedom and liberty, who are versed in the principles of the US Constitution, and they do not accept, but resoundly reject the sophistry of “ambitious and scheming leaders” who bring us the Warfare/Welfare statism and its growing oppression and tyranny, taxes from which there is little or no relief.

For this freedom movement it to succeed, however, and the US Constitution to be once again enthroned as "inviolate," the "more part of the righteous" need to awake from the sleep of hell and cease upholding evil and wickedness---cease upholding evil schemers and incumbent traitors to the US Constitution, such as Orrin Hatch, Mitt Romney and others who uphold ghastly abominations like the NDAA with its provisions to murder US Citizens and strip them of their due process. These men indeed, "wear the mask of honesty" and deceive many good intentioned people to surrender principle for sophistry.

LDS Church President, Ezra Taft Benson, plead with the church to re-read once again the account of 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon---or rather, it was the Lord ultimately making the plea---then likening and paralleling that book to our time with this critical point of many points made:

“Secret combinations flourished because, as Helaman tells us, the Gadianton robbers ‘had seduced the more part of the righteous until they had come down to believe in their works and partake of their spoils’ (Helaman 6:38). . . even as today.” (Conference Report, April 1987, Ensign, May 1987, p. 4.)

Benson, like Gordon B. Hinckley years later, tried to wake the people, for the Book of Mormon, they both asserted, is “as current as the morning newspaper.”

Sadly, not enough in the LDS church "know and love" the Book of Mormon. But a Seer, standing before the church, clearly stated the consequence between those who did know and love the book, versus those who do not. This he did in the First Presidency Christmas Devotional of 1986:

"I have noted within the Church a difference in discernment, insight, conviction, and spirit between those who know and love the Book of Mormon and those who do not. That book is a great sifter." (Ezra Taft Benson, "Jesus Christ—Gifts and Expectations," Christmas Devotional, Salt Lake City, Utah, 7 December 1986;Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, pp. 60-61.)

CLASSED AMONG THE WICKED CITIES OF THE WORLD

Well, two Christmases ago, I was contacted through facebook about the first family that I had the privilege of teaching and baptizing in Brazil.  The oldest girl, who at the time of the parents' baptism, was just three years old and who used to climb on me like a jungle jim, was now a beautiful young woman and a recent new mother who had married a BYU law student, finishing up their last few years at school.  The mother, whom I had baptized years ago was in town to visit her new grand child.  So - not wanting to miss this opportunity for the world - I asked my kids who was up for a winter Christmas break adventure and we started off into some very bad weather the day after Christmas.  We eventually made it to Provo, UT after some harrowing driving and had a wonderful reunion - although I have to admit, my Portuguese was definitely in need of some shoring up.....

While driving from Ogden to SLC and further down into Provo, my 15 year old daughter could not help but notice the number of billboards involving plastic surgery and "body alterations".  I had to say she was onto something - and I could not dismiss it as a bunch of plastic surgeons who were really hurting at the time (we were in a recession - and that kind of thing is typically funded by discretionary income....).  It really left an impression on me - I am married to a gal who has tons of natural beauty and that may put makeup on just a couple of times a week on average - and not much at that.  So this phenomenon left an impression on me and reminded me of the prophecy of how SLC would be classed among the wicked (vain/homosexual) cities of the world.  According to Wikipedia, this is actually the case:

Less than 50% of Salt Lake City's residents are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is a much lower proportion than in Utah's more rural municipalities; altogether, LDS members make up about 62% of Utah's population.^[59]

Salt Lake City has been considered one of the top 51 "gay-friendly places to live" in the U.S.^[64] The city is home to a large, business savvy, organized, and politically supported homosexual community. Leaders of the Episcopal Church's Diocese of Utah,^[65][66] as well as leaders of Utah's largest Jewish congregation, the Salt Lake Kol Ami,^[67] along with three elected representatives of the city identify themselves as gay. These developments have attracted controversy from socially conservative officials representing other regions of the state. A 2006 study by UCLA estimates that approximately 7.6% of the city's population, or almost 14,000 people, are openly homosexual or bisexual, compared to just 3.7%, or just over 60,000 people, for the metropolitan area as a whole.^[68]
In 2007 Salt Lake City was ranked by Forbes Magazine as the most vain city in America based on the number of plastic surgeons per 100,000 and their spending habits on cosmetics, which exceed that of cities of similar size.^[69] However, this likely reflects a concentration of plastic surgeons within the city limits but whose client base includes the entire metropolitan area. Forbes Magazine also found the city to be the 8th most stressful. In contrast to the 2007 ranking by Forbes, a 2010 study conducted by Portfolio.com and bizjournals concluded Salt Lake City was the least stressful city in the United States.^[70]

Now, I have nothing against anyone who is homosexual - they should be loved with an extra measure in order to ensure that they know where they can find a haven when they are ready to repent - but the practice and creeping/slide of morality should not be tolerated in the least.  I just saw a  great (wholesome) movie called Shunned and it illustrated the example of how a lack of love can lead to unwanted consequences in someone who has gone astray.