ORIGINS OF THE POLYNESIANS - BLOOD OF ISRAEL SCATTERED AMONG THE ISLANDS OF THE SEAS

I believe the fulfilling of times for these people is coming about and I wonder that the truly faithful among them need to fell to America to be gathered against the times of tribulation that are coming. There is little in the way of physical protection in those islands and they will need to find themselves above 2500 feet elevation to be truly protected from the sore future calamities.

Here are some great quotes that have been outlining the origins of the people who have such great faith and devotion that the Lord chose to hide away for a good purpose in Him.... I found Pres. Grant's quote on the Japanese people interesting. The Samurai have an interesting origin story that I will try and document at some later juncture. I truly admire and love the Japanese people and their culture. Besides the Jews of Israel, they are the people (generally speaking) who most capture the millennial spirit of a unified people.

Robert E. Parsons, “Hagoth and the Polynesians,” in The Book of Mormon: Alma, The Testimony of the Word, eds. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr., (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), 249–262.



Chapter 15: Hagoth and the Polynesians

Robert E. Parsons

Robert E. Parsons is emeritus professor of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University.



The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has shown deep interest in the Polynesian people almost from the time the Church was organized in 1830. Just thirteen years later, in 1843, the Prophet Joseph Smith sent the first missionaries to the islands of the Pacific. The interest in the people of the Pacific comes from a brief account in the Book of Mormon of one Hagoth, a Nephite shipbuilder who left the Americas and sailed away and was “never heard of more” (Alma 63:8). This paper will review the traditional beliefs of the Church regarding the Polynesian people, and will thus explain the Prophet Joseph’s early interest in these people of the Pacific Islands. It will not thoroughly examine the current or past theories of the origin of the Polynesians, but concentrate on the Book of Mormon account and supplementary interpretations that have led to the traditional beliefs.

The story of Hagoth is recorded in just six verses (4–9) of Alma 63. Great wars between the Nephites and Lamanites had just concluded and there seemed to be a restlessness among the survivors. At that time thousands (even tens of thousands) migrated to the land northward (Alma 63:4). In 55 BC, Hagoth built an “exceedingly large ship” and launched it into the West Sea by the narrow neck of land and went north with many men, women, children, and provisions (Alma 63:5–6). This ship returned in 54 BC, was provisioned and sailed north again never to be heard from thereafter. An additional ship was launched that year, and it also was never heard from again (Alma 63:7–8). Interest in this one-half page abridgment of two years of Nephite history has led to the interpretations that will follow.

What happened to these lost ships? Only speculation and theories can be advanced, but the most common is that the ships were lost at sea. This is what the Nephites thought happened to them (Alma 63:8).

A second theory is that they went to Japan. The basis of this theory is the prayer Elder Heber J. Grant offered when he dedicated Japan in 1901 to receive the restored gospel.



According to Alma Taylor’s reminiscences of the event, Elder Grant “spoke of those who, because of iniquity, had been cut off from among the Nephites . . . and said we felt that through the lineage of those rebellious Nephites who joined with the Lamanites, that the blood of Lehi and Nephi [and of all Israel] had been transmitted unto the people of this land, many of whom have the features and manners of the American Indians, [and he] asked the Lord that if this were true that He would not forget the integrity of His servants Lehi and Nephi and would verify the promises made unto them concerning their descendants in the last days upon this [the Japanese] people for we felt that they were a worthy nation” (Palmer 91).



A third theory is that they went to Hawaii. In speaking to the Hawaiians at Laie, Elder Matthew Cowley said to them: “Brothers and sisters, you are God’s children—you are Israel. You have in your veins the blood of Nephi” (Cole 384). Expounding this theory, some believe that they went not only to Hawaii, but also to other Polynesian Islands as well; this theory is the emphasis of this paper.

Does the Church have an official position on any connection between Hagoth and the Polynesians? In a letter to the mission president of the Samoan Mission dated September 6, 1972, and signed by N. Eldon Tanner and Marion G. Romney, under the letterhead of the First Presidency, they wrote:



In your letter of September 6, 1972, you ask if the Polynesian people are Lamanites or Nephites. There has been much speculation about the origin of these people. We have, however, no scriptural evidence or revelation from the Lord that would tell us exactly where these people came from or their background.



Teachings of General Authorities

Notwithstanding this 1972 letter from the First Presidency, we have many definite statements from members of the Twelve, and from Presidents of the Church reiterating their firm belief that the Polynesians originated from Lehi’s American colony. Elder Mark E. Petersen, in his conference message of 1962, says:



The Polynesian Saints are characterized by a tremendous faith. Why do they have this great faith? It is because these people are of the blood of Israel. They are heirs to the promises of the Book of Mormon. God is now awakening them to their great destiny. As Latter-day Saints we have always believed that the Polynesians are descendants of Lehi and blood relatives of the American Indians, despite the contrary theories of other men (Petersen 457).



The building of temples among the Polynesian people has been the source of many statements connecting these people with the Book of Mormon. When the cornerstone was laid at the New Zealand Temple, Elder Hugh B. Brown stated in the closing prayer:



We thank Thee, O God, for revealing to us the Book of Mormon, the story of the ancient inhabitants of America. We thank Thee that from among those inhabitants, the ancestors of these whose heads are bowed before Thee here, came from the western shores of America into the South Seas pursuant to Thy plan and now their descendants humbly raise their voices in grateful acknowledgement of Thy kindness, Thy mercy, and Thy love for them and those who went before them.



We humbly thank Thee that this building is erected in this land, so that those faithful Maoris who came here in early days, descendants of Father Lehi, may be remembered by their descendants and saved through the ordinances that will, in this House, be performed in their behalf (Cummings 63; quoted in Cheesman 14).



In the opening sentences of his dedicatory prayer at the New Zealand Temple, April 20, 1958, President David O. McKay stated:



We express gratitude that to these fertile islands thou didst guide descendants of Father Lehi and hast enabled them to prosper (McKay 2).



Later, Elder Gordon B. Hinckley commented upon Europeans being assembled with the Maoris of the Pacific at the dedication of the New Zealand Temple: “Again, there was something prophetic about it. Here were two great strains of the house of Israel the children of Ephraim from the isles of Britain, and the children of Lehi from the isles of the Pacific” (509).

Nearly twenty years later, in a talk to the Samoans in 1976, President Spencer W. Kimball said:



I thought to read to you a sacred scripture which pertains especially to you the islanders of the Pacific. It is in the sixty-third chapter of Alma [He then read the account of Hagoth.]



And so it seems to me rather clear that your ancestors moved northward and crossed a part of the South Pacific. You did not bring your records with you, but you brought much food and provisions. And so we have a great congregation of people in the South seas who came from the Nephites, and who came from the land southward and went to the land northward, which could have been Hawaii. And then the further settlement could have been a move southward again to all of these islands and even to New Zealand. The Lord knows what he is doing when he sends his people from one place to another. That was the scattering of Israel. Some of them remained in America and went from Alaska to the southern point. And others of you came this direction.



President Spencer W. Kimball continued by quoting former President Joseph F. Smith as saying:



“I would like to say to you brethren and sisters from New Zealand, you are some of Hagoth’s people, and there is No Perhaps about it!” He didn’t want any arguments about it. That was definite. So you are of Israel. You have been scattered. Now you are being gathered (15).



It might be of interest to you to know that when Elder Spencer W. Kimball set me apart for my mission to New Zealand in 1946, he said: “We bless you with power and the ‘gift of tongues’ to learn the language of the Maoris . . . . We set you apart among the Children of Lehi to do good.”

Besides these many statements from the Prophets, we have added insights from patriarchal blessings. Paul Cheesman notes in Early America and the Polynesians that Bruce G. Pitt, a graduate student, “viewed a portion of microfilm #34 in the BYU library” which contained the patriarchal blessings given to these people in regard to the lineage declared in the blessings. The following information was found: “Of 321 total Polynesian lineages viewed, 155 were declared to be of Manasseh, 2 of Manasseh and Ephraim, 68 of Joseph, 62 of Israel, 4 of Jacob, 28 of Ephraim, 1 of Lehi and 1 of Japeth . . . . Another [graduate] researcher, Max Hirschi, recorded that out of 35 patriarchal blessings given to Polynesians, thirteen were from the tribe of Ephraim, fourteen were told they were from Manasseh, and the other eight were of the tribe of Joseph” (15).

During Dr. Paul Cheesman’s visits to the islands, he questioned patriarchs in the various places and found “that nearly three-fourths [of the declared lineages] were from Manasseh and one-fourth were from Ephraim, with some being designated as descendants of the tribe of Joseph” (15). Since Lehi was a descendant of Manasseh (Alma 10:3) and Ishmael was a descendant of Ephraim (Journal of Discourses 23:184), the common lineage of these two descendants of Joseph who was sold into Egypt and the Polynesian Saints gives support to the theory that the Polynesians came from the American Nephites.

Another evidence of a connection between the Nephites and the Isles of the Pacific is the oral traditions among the Latter-day Saint Polynesian people. I asked Elder John Groberg, who has spent years among the Tongans, if they had any traditions concerning their coming to the islands. He said they had nothing as detailed as the Maori, but that Church members among both Tongans and Samoans were adamant in their tradition that they came from the east, not the west as some modern scholars affirm. Elder Groberg is well-qualified to speak concerning these people. He served as a missionary to Tonga, then as mission president, regional representative, and when he was ordained a member of the First Quorum of Seventy, he served as an area supervisor of the Polynesian people.

Returning to the Maoris, my favorite oral tradition, one I learned among the Maoris, is as follows: I haere mai o tatou tipuna, i tawhiti nui, i tawhiti roa, i tawhiti pamamao i te hono i wai rua. English: Our Fathers came from a great distance, an extended distance, an extremely great distance the joining of two waters. It is this last phrase, “the joining of two waters,” that is so interesting to us Latter-day Saints.

Elder Matthew Cowley gave an interesting explanation of this tradition as he introduced one of his Maori friends who was visiting the United States.



Now we have with us here my good Israelite friend (Wi Pere Amaru). I am glad he has come to speak to us Gentiles, to bring to us a message right from the heart and blood of Israel. You know, in the 63rd chapter of Alma, there is a little story which tells of Hagoth who was such an exceedingly curious man that he built a boat, and he went out on the seas, and he came back. He built other boats, and then finally the boats went forth and never returned. We are told in The Book of Mormon the place where those ships were built was near a narrow neck of land.



When I was on my first mission as a young boy, I used to ask the oldtimers out there, “Where did you come from?” They would say in Maori, “We came from the place where the sweet potato grows wild, where it is not planted, does not have to be cultivated.”



There is only one place in all the world where the sweet potato grows wild, and that is within the environs of that narrow neck of land where Hagoth built his ships. They will tell you that they came from several degrees of distance. One degree of distance, a greater degree of distance, and then a far greater degree of distance.



The Maori scholars tell you that “i te hono i te wai rua” means the place where the spirits are joined. But I have a little different interpretation of that. Wairua in the Maori language means “spirit.” It also means “two waters,” wai meaning water, rua meaning two.



In the Hawaiian language Wailua means “two waters”: in the Samoan language VaiJua means “two waters.” The word for spirit in those other languages isn’t Wairua, the same as in the Maori language.



The Maori scholars say that they came from a far distant place, where the spirits are joined, or where the body returns to the spirit. But I say, knowing the story of Hagoth as I do, that they came from the joining of two waters, a narrow neck of land between two bodies of water which joins those two great continents (114–16).



Stuart Meha, a great Maori High Priest, agreed with Matthew Cowley’s interpretation of “wairua” and added the following:



My name is Brother Stuart Meha. While in Salt Lake City in 1957, President David O. McKay asked me to write him an article on the origin of the Maori. This is my humble effort. It is particularly interesting to note that all the students of Maori history and lore have come to the one and same conclusion: namely, that the Maori, in the long dim past have come from India. With due respect to the academic qualifications of these men, we beg to differ and positively aver and maintain, not so with the fleet. We say clearly and unmistakably that the fleet of seven canoes came together from Hawaiki, which name is Hawaii to the Hawaiians, and the striking similarity of these names in the two languages should be good enough proof for the most critical. However, we do say that some other canoes could have come from India. We do not deny the scholars that, but positively not the fleet.



I will now give the tradition just as it was couched in words by our forefathers, also its translation into English. The tradition must be literal in order to retain as near as possible the real meaning which our antecedents wished to pass down to posterity. Here is the tradition: “I haere mai taua i Hawaiki, tawhiti nui, tawhiti roa, tawhiti pamamao i te hono i wai rua.” No more, no less.



Translation: “I haere mai taua i Hawaiki.” English: You and I have come from Hawaiiki. “tawhiti nui, tawhiti roa, tawhiti pamamao.” English: A great distance away, an extended distance away, an extremely remote distance away, “i te hono i wai rua.” English: even from the joining at the two waters. Putting all the English into compact form we have: “You and I have come from Hawaiiki a great distance away, an extended distance away, an extremely remote distance away, even from the joining at the two waters.” The last part, “i te hono i wai rua” is where the students of Maori history fall into error. The last two words, ‘wai rua’ were taken as one word, “wairua,” and regarded in that manner it means “spirit.” Thus, their translation read, “from the joining of the spirit,” presumably with a body. We hold that the view they took is erroneous, and that the old Maori migrant meant just what he had said orally—that he had come from the joining of two great lands at the two waters I will now give the best proof of all because it came from the lips of a prophet of God. In 1913, with five others, I went to the U.S.A.—our objective being to go through the House of the Lord at Salt Lake City. On arrival outside of Vancouver, our boat, the R.M.S. Niagara, stood outside the bay awaiting medical clearance. With the doctor came a letter for me, a letter of welcome from Elder Benjamin Goddard, at that time President of the New Zealand Missionary Association of Zion. We landed and were met by two missionaries who were laboring in Vancouver and who had been requested to meet us and make arrangements for our stay in this British metropolis. They took us to the finest hotel here and made us to feel welcome. They then took me to the telegraph office, and I sent a message to Brother Goddard, thanking the Association for its welcome to our party and for all the arrangements for our stay here.



In the wire, I also said, “Who knows but that some of Hagoth’s people had arrived, pea?” I added the little word “pea” not because of any element of doubt on my part, but I wanted to raise comment, which I succeeded as will be seen later.

At a reception tended [tendered] our party at Wandamere Park, Salt Lake City, President Joseph F. Smith and his counsellors and several of the Twelve and others of the General Authorities of the Church, Governor Spry of Utah and many of the leading citizens of the city were present. President Smith in his welcome said:



“I would like to say to you brethren and sisters from New Zealand, you are some of Hagoth’s people, and there is pea about it!”



This is the word of a prophet of God, and we need go no further to look for proof of the origin of the Maori. (Meha tape, Waipawa, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, July 1962).



Ever since President Smith told that to the Maori visitors, the members of the Church in New Zealand have had no questions in their minds as far as their connection with Hagoth and their origin to that land. Since the Brethren have spoken so plainly about that in the quotations above, and since the Maori’s themselves have that tradition, we might ask ourselves, how did this teaching that the Polynesians came from the Book of Mormon people first begin? When did we first start talking about all of this in the Church?

Back in the 1830s and 40s, during Joseph Smith’s time, there was nothing that was ever said that we are aware of that would tie the Polynesians with the Book of Mormon people. Elder George Q. Cannon is credited with first connecting the Hawaiian people and other Polynesians to the house of Israel.



The doctrine that the Hawaiian people and all other Polynesians are heirs to the blessings promised to the posterity of Abraham had its origin through George Q. Cannon. While he was at Lahaina, he received a knowledge directly from the Lord that the Hawaiians were of the house of Israel. From this time on Elder Cannon and his associates began to teach that the Hawaiian people were an offshoot branch of Israel through the posterity of Lehi, the Book of Mormon prophet (Britsch 97–98).



At a recent Mormon History Association meeting held in Hawaii, the linking together of these people with the people of Hagoth was treated.



The Israelite descent of the Polynesians is more difficult to trace in Mormon doctrine. Indeed, there is no evidence that Joseph Smith or the first Mormon missionaries sent to Polynesia in the 1840s ever made the connection. As far as is known, the doctrine was first preached publicly by Tahitian LDS missionary Louisa Pratt who identified the Nephites as “the ancient fathers of the Tahitians” at a meeting in 1851. The Israelite ancestry of the Hawaiians was also preached by the Mormon missionaries in Hawaii from the following year at least. By the late 1850s, Mormon leader Brigham Young was referring to this doctrine, and an article in a Mormon periodical in 1868 claimed with respect to the “Sandwich Islanders” that “it is well understood by us that these peoples are of the same stock as the Lamanites.” This article also claimed that native New Zealanders “have the same origin.”



A connection between the Maori and the history of the Nephites and Lamanites was firmly established at this time. On April 7,1888, Ezra F. Richards gave the Maori conference attenders “a short account of their forefathers leaving the land of Jerusalem and going to America, and touched briefly upon some of their great battles, some building boats and leaving America.” On the 8 April, Sondra Sanders, Jr., gave the Saints “an account of some of the wars and contentions that arose between the Nephites and Lamanites, also the reason that they became a dark skinned people and the promises that had been made concerning their becoming ‘a white and delightsome people.’“ And on the 9 April, after discussing the scattering of Israel, M. S. Marriot suggested that the time had come for “the gathering of the Maori people.” Thereafter, the Book’s teachings on Israelites became a focus for proselyting work among the Maori. As Francis Kirkham, an LDS missionary to the Maori in the 1890s remembered, “we would go to them, hold up a copy of the Book of Mormon and tell them that we had a book that told the history of their ancestors” (Barber 12–15).



The Coming of the Church to New Zealand

Elder Matthew Cowley tells of a great convention held in 1881 that represented all of the native tribes of New Zealand. They were gathered at a native village near Mastertown, near Wellington. Many who attended that conference were old enough to have seen the first Christian missionaries arrive in New Zealand, and all who attended belonged to a Christian church. They were Catholics, Methodists, or Presbyterians. One of the dominant topics considered was why the Maoris were no longer religiously unified as they had been before Christianity came to them. If Christianity was the higher light—the true religion—why were they divided into many churches? So they began asking themselves which of these Christian churches was the right one for the Maori race and which one they should all belong to so that there would be only one church among them. Not knowing the answer and not being able to decide in their debate, they turned to their wisest sage, Paora Potangaroa, and asked him which church they should all join. He said he would have to think on it and then went to his own residence which was nearby. After three days of fasting and prayer, asking Jehovah which was the right church for the Maori people, he returned to his people and said: “My friends, the church for the Maori people has not yet come among us. You will recognize it when it comes. Its missionaries will travel in pairs. They will come from the rising sun. They will visit with us in our homes. They will learn our language and teach us the gospel in our own tongue. When they pray they will raise their right hands” (Cowley 200–01).

Paora Potangaroa then asked Ranginui Kingi to write down what he was going to say and his words were proclaimed to his people at the “eight-years house” on the 16th day of March 1881. Several things were said of interest to us: First, the year 1881 is the “day of fulness”; that is the year that the missionaries first taught the fulness of the gospel to the Maori people. It is also the year W. M. Bromley arrived to preside over the mission. He was told before leaving Utah “that the time had come to take the gospel to the Maori people.” Potangaroa said the next year, 1882, would be the year of the “sealing.” It was in 1882 when they were first taught about the sealing ordinances performed in the temple. He said the third year, 1883, would be the year of “the honoring,” when they would pay “tribute to whom tribute was due, custom to whom custom . . . honor to whom honor” (See Romans 13:7). Elder Cowley interpreted that as the year when Maoris joined the Church in great numbers and gave “tribute to whom tribute was due [and] custom to whom custom” was due as they began worshiping the Lord (203–04).

The prophecy went on to say that they were the lost sheep of the house of Israel. They would learn of the scepter of Judah, and of “Shiloh, the king of peace.” They would also learn of “the sacred church with a large wall surrounding it.” There would be an “increase of the[ir] race” and of their faith, love, and peace (203). That was at a time when the Maoris were beginning to be exterminated, much as the American Indian was in the United States. There was a great deal of apprehension among them, a fear they would disappear as a people.

This covenant was written down on a piece of paper, and at the top of the piece of paper they drew an “all-seeing eye.” This prophecy was then placed in a cement monument in the eight-years house where the convention was held. It remained there from 1881 until 1929, when a Maori sect known as the Ratana Church, in groping for substantiation that they were the true church of the Maoris as foretold by Potangaroa, broke open the cement monument to get at his prophecy, hoping to find something in it that would establish their claim to be the right church for the Maori (203–04).

Unfortunately, the storage chamber which contained the prophecy had not been hermetically sealed and the paper had been so damaged by moisture that nothing was legible on it.

That was 1929. In 1944, Matthew Cowley was the New Zealand mission president. He was there during the war years, and the only American missionaries he had were himself, his wife, and their daughter. They held a convention for the Maoris in the same area where Paora Potangaroa gave his prophecy in 1881. Present at the 1944 convention was Eriata Nopera, another great Maori chief. When he rose to speak, he told his people that he had been a little boy there when Paora Potangaroa gave his prophecy and repeated what he remembered of the prophecy. At the end of that day’s convention, one of the women attending the convention had her husband go fetch parcel wrapped in brown paper from a trunk in their house. When he brought her the parcel, she called President Cowley and Eriata Nopera into an adjoining room and gave it to them. They opened the parcel and found a photograph of Potangaroa’s written prophecy wrapped up in it (205).

What had happened was that in 1881, when the prophecy was written down by Ranginui, a photographer in Wellington had heard that a Maori had made a prophecy. He traveled out to that village and asked for permission to photograph it. This was granted and he photographed the prophecy before it was sealed in the cement monument. This woman’s family got a copy of that photograph and had kept it since. She then gave it to Brother Nopera, who in turn gave it to President Matthew Cowley (205). That is the way we know what was in Paora Potangaroa’s prophecy.

In conclusion it seems fair to state that although the Church has no official, published declaration on the origin of the Polynesians, there have been enough semi-official statements by prophets of the Lord to leave little doubt that the Church believes that the Polynesians are direct blood relatives of Lehi’s colony and that Hagoth’s lost ships provide at least one connection between the Americas and Polynesia. This is further supported by patriarchal blessings given to the members of the Church among these people and by oral traditions. The brief account of Hagoth recorded in the book of Alma is important to an understanding of the blessings given to the descendants of Joseph, as the inhabitants of the isles of the sea.





Bibliography

Barber, Ian G. “Mormonism Among the Tangata Whenua.” Paper delivered at the annual Mormon History Association Conference, Hawaii, Jun 1990.

Brrtsch, R. Lanier. Unto the Islands of the Sea: A History of the Latter-day Saints in the Pacific. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1986.

Cheesman, Paul R. and Millie Foster Cheesman. Early America and the Polynesians. Provo, Utah: Promised Lands Publication, Inc., 1975.

Cole, William A., and Edwin W. Jensen. Israel in the Pacific: A Genealogical Text For Polynesia. Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1961.

Cowley, Matthew. Matthew Cowley—Speaks. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1954.

Cummings, David W. Mighty Missionary of the Pacific. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1961.

Hinckley, Gordon B. “Temple in the Pacific.” Improvement Era (July 1958) 61:506–509, 538.

Kimball, Spencer W. “Official Report of the Samoa Area Conference Held in Pago Pago and Apia, Samoa, February 15,16,17,18,1976.”

McKay, David O. “Dedicatory Prayer Delivered By Pres. McKay at New Zealand Temple,” Church News, 10 May 1958, 2, 6.

Meha Tape, Waipawa, Hawkle’s Bay. New Zealand, July 1962. In possession of author.

Palmer, Spencer J., and Roger R. Keller. Religions of the World: A Latter-day Saint View. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1989.

Petersen, Mark E. “New Evidence for the Book of Mormon,” Improvement Era (June 1962) 65:456–59; also in Conference Report (Apr 1962) 111–15.

THINGS OF THE HEART - TELEPATHIC COMMUNICATION OVER EXTREME DISTANCE

So, looking at this blog you might think I am surrounded in a swirl of mysteries and the unexplainable to the point that I am beside myself. I really am not - so much so that it drives my wife nuts at my level of confidence about the world and things of the present and of the future. I just have a deeply held feeling about most things - just a gut feel or confidence that is unshakable once I have had a chance to ponder and arrive at a conclusion. My boss at work just commented that I am opinionated (and alot of people that don't know me well, say the same thing). It is not so much that I am stuck on my own belief set (I just KNOW what I KNOW). This blog is largely a representation of new stuff that I am exploring as I expand my horizons of the physical and spiritual world around me. It actually takes years for me to form an opinion about something - but when I do, I usually do so with great confidence and zeal.

There is one thing, however, that has dogged me - you might say tormented me - for decades now. I cannot entirely shake it and it leaves me constantly wondering about its meaning, precisely because I think the answers are complex and their roots lie in a murky realm we know little of - and even the best minds yet having walked this earth have either little knowledge of or have commented little on due to the general unbelieving nature of this earth's inhabitants....

Sooo, here I go.

When I was around 12 years old, I first laid eyes on what I considered the most beautiful and graceful (young) woman I had ever met. We rode the bus together and I would see her every day - an irresistible thing that would torment me, but that I knew I might never enjoy the company of. We were born in two different worlds. I was a little bit of a hick from a family farm, she from a middle class home - just a mite more proper and refined than my background. She had a younger brother she dearly loved and parents who doted over their two offspring with great care. Not over religious (Protestant) - but good values ringing in the home. I observed her for several years - trying to detect clues to the key to her heart which I helplessly felt I might never obtain. Her heart was carefully hidden; deeply buried and little exposed as to how she really felt. She was more at home in the company of the adults around here than with the immature beings that surrounded her. So my quest became one of finding ways to spend some time with her or to impress her with my maturity and potential. It was in that quest that I accomplished some good things during those formative years. If a lofty goal was met, it was worthy of her possible attention for having reached it. So, in retrospect, she possessed one of the best qualities of woman - the ability to bring out the best in a man. It is a twisted hard-wired thing that all men must endure; the insatiable desire to impress (or please) the woman that captains their heart. God knew what he was doing when he was building the software that drives the two juxtapositioned sexes together to form a fused better whole. Thus, when there is a marriage or welding of two individuals together that will last into the eternities, how strong that weld must be to be unbreakable. Every act in my life (since marriage) that I have felt the Lord's guiding hand in has been to weld my wife and I together into that unit that will endure the eternities together.
Back to my first love.....
I can honestly say I loved Tawny - but did not know it at the time. I just knew that I could not resist my attraction to her. It was more than a physical attraction, there was a little destiny to it, as well. Like I have said before, I just KNOW what I know. To the point, I will say something off the cuff - and it will happen exactly as said 10 years later. So we spent time in each others presence in band, honor society, clubs at high school all the while waiting until I was 16 and could ask her out. I turned sixteen and planned the perfect triple date with one of my best friends (fellow tuba player in our marching band who ended up actually going out for almost a year with Tawny and being her first kiss...which was tortuous beyond words). We planned our Homecoming date for weeks with the flower colors coordinating, the perfect romantic little restaurant in an older part of town, her best friends to accompany us with my other friends so it would actually be fun and we wanted no flaws in the evening. It was the best high school date/dance I ever went to. Perfection - and I ended up giving her a hand full of hersheys kisses on her front step saying something to the effect that I knew the real things weren't possible, but that I wanted to give her the next best thing. BOLD for a 16 year old boy. I was rollin' the dice and going for broke - all the while trying to be casual about how I truly felt about her. I had a perfect school record, straight A's, class valedictorian, Class prez, Band Prez, Honor Society Prez, track team star ranked top three in the state as a sprinter and discus thrower. I had it all and I was gunning for a spot in her heart. I never did know how she felt about me except that one time we were on a bus going to a band competition and she had fallen asleep. She really did alot of talking in her sleep and her best friends in the flag corps asked her questions about who she liked - the only way to get the truth out of her since she kept things of her heart so closely guarded. They asked her about some of the other guys who were vying for her attention and she actually wrinkled her nose in disgust. They then asked about me, and she broke into a nice smile in her sleep and said, "Oh, Eric...." and then drifted back to sleep. So everything I did, was about the capture of her heart. I even was selling myself to her parents about what a great potential future son-in-law I would be - all so laughable looking back. I was only 16 and had fanagled an audience with her folks in their own home just so I could sell myself to them.... I think I knew at that point that my religion was a catch point for them and I began losing hope that something might ever blossom. I knew I was a possessor of the truth - and she somehow would have to see that in order to cross over to my world; compromise the other direction was not possible where a forsaking of my true knowledge of Jesus Christ's plan would have to occur.

Later, I was blown away at the parallels between the situation I felt and the looks of the actors Natalie Portman and 'Anakin' and Tawny and I as well as the issues that they wrestled with in the Star Wars movie where there were such intense feelings - but nothing could be done about it.



So, enough history and to the point of this blog piece that has caused so much consternation for me through the years.

We, of course, parted but I thought of her every day (possibly) for several years. I compared every girl to her and only found one other that could measure that I ended up smooching - my first heavenly kiss (she later joined the church and I actually ended up going to a different university my first year just so I could focus and not end up being tormented by her in the same way Tawny had tormented me earlier). So finally, I left to go on my mission to Brazil and that intense feeling began to fade as I focused on serving the wonderful people of Brazil and my Savior. Amazing how losing yourself for others makes your own torment go away - whatever the source of it may be. One night just three or four short months after I had been in Brazil I began having intense agonizing dreams about Tawny. I couldn't shake the feeling of despair I had all day during the waking hours. Back to sleep and tormenting feelings of despair again. I was in a funk and really worried about Tawny. Remember, I had barely even held her hand and we had no professed love for each other. I was actually never sure if she even cared if I lived or died.... but I suddenly had an overpowering and relentless feeling of grief for/about her that I could not shake. Two weeks later when letters arrived that caught me up with events of the same time period back home - her brother that she loved dearly had died in a horrific high speed car crash. The whisperings being that he hit the tree so hard the hood came back and decapitated he and the other front seat passenger. I was floored by the news - and almost as much that I had "felt" her pain from 3000 miles away. Someone I was not related to and had no intimate connection to - except for what I had hoped might be, in my mind.

So, for years, I have puzzled over that mechanism of communication of souls between two people - and maybe a deeper connection that may have existed between her and I in the pre-existence. Had we made commitments to each other that could not be fulfilled due to disapproval between her parents and her, of myself in spite of my sterling qualifications otherwise. I cannot be certain as those things are left on the faded path of ( what might have been CLICK  LINK). Each choice we make for good or bad, forges the next step in our reality. In a world where agency is the governing principle, we must be allowed to make mistakes, to fall or rise on our own so that we can say our works were our own and therefore the judgements of God, truly just and fitting. Christ making up the shortfall where we cannot. God has a plan for Tawny and her family - one certainly (I feel) different had her folks responded differently to a mild exposure to the true gospel as God gently nudged them and continues to work miracles in their lives.

My mother had this gift with her own children - the best example I can think of was sitting in the TV room watching the tube one Sunday afternoon and my mother getting restless and then saying something bad had happened with my older sister. Within a few minutes, the phone rang and it was my sister letting us know that she had just gotten in a car wreck. My mom always knew - and it always just freaked me out. So maybe I inherited that intuition from my mother - but that gift she had was related to her own flesh and blood - not someone apparently disconnected from the situation. Not like the situation with Tawny.....

I have several more poignant examples of this very phenomenon from my own (later) life that prove it is not just a fluke that I can deny or simply dismiss. A topic for later on how I know I was supposed to marry into the Ephraim Moulton line.

Definitely more material for the sensational Wood Zone.

SOME NEW READING MATERIAL FOR ME - BABYLONIAN TALMUD ONLINE......WOOHOO!!!

Finally found this. Lets see if it is all I was hoping it would be......

BABYLONIAN TALMUD

Enjoy!!

INTERESTING - ORIGIN OF WORD KING AND ENGLISH

Darren is an expert in Germanic languages (of which English is one). I thought his explanation of this was worth repeating:

Re: Will The British Monarchy Rule in America Once More?

Postby Darren » Tue Jan 04, 2011 7:53 am
When our Church was set up we had the Patriarch and the President.

Israelite and Saxon Culture operates by both of these offices. Ancient Israel's culture continuing through to today.

King is an ancient Germanic word which means the Kin-ing, According to the Sagas Njörd had his name changed to Ing, who was the first King of Sweden, or the first Ing of the Kin, or said another way, the patriarch of the kin. King is a Germanic word for Patriarch. The information I have studied helps me to understand that Ing is of the Patriarchal linage in the Church, Ing moved with the Church into the North Country sometime around 40 A.D. The kings of Northern Europe trace their linage to Ing and to Odin. Ing is the ancestor of the Inglish/English people. To be a King/Patriarch is to be of the patriarchal line of Odin and Ing.

Who is the Lord's anointed Patriarch of the Inglish or Nordic people today. Joseph Smith said that the Patriarch at his time was Joseph Smith, Sr. and as the Church fills the earth, it is well to understand that the Patriarch of the world is the Church Patriarch standing in the king until Jesus Christ returns.

Today the Church has both a King/Patriarch and a President.

The President put the King on emeritus status in 1979, but that office will continue.

Throughout time the King/Patriarch is used when the Church is not in the position to operate by a President.

America has a king/patriarch, and in the millennium the king will be Jesus Christ.

God Bless,
Darren

A VISION FOR OUR FUTURE - EXPAND YOUR MIND

Living on the West coast, I share an affinity for Asian culture and my best friend in life helped open that world up for me as well as some cute Japanese exchange students back in the post-high school days that my parents invited over. I love their order and preciseness in everything they do and am convinced that they, of all people, would live the gospel and excel at it where we in the West are stereotypically less prone to excel at it due to our slothfulness in general (relatively speaking).

I am a huge fan of their engineering, their devotion to ancestors is unique and intriguing (the only thing more intriguing is the Mormons' baptizin' dead folk....). The only stereotypically bad thing is what I perceive is their marriages - the men are more devoted to their work and post-work social life than to their women and it leaves a huge hole. Mistresses are often the norm, and in various Asian cultures, an accepted fact. This is true even among some that have emigrated here to our austere Victorian-veneered culture where none of that ever occurs......
So excepting a few footnotes, I think highly of and respect the Japanese people and feel to say (as I believe about just about every culture), that some of the best blood of Israel was hidden away there. I am in awe and extremely saddened for the losses (materially and of life) that they are experiencing.

Here is a link: RAW FOOTAGE OF JAPANESE TSUNAMI

Why do I include this stuff on my blog?? Because we will experience the same on our coasts - but on a scale and order of magnitude none dare imagine in its horrifying scope. I have people I care for all along the coast of the US - and I pray that their eyes are opened and that they consider carefully what they would do if something up to 100x higher were to come ashore. Of course, when it does, it will be a blessed relief to the people of this land who will have been oppressed (for around one year) by the Chinese and other nations (aided by our own who do not believe in principles of self-determination and Godly living) who do not value freedom.

Those who have eyes to see and ears to hear will be gathered in their tribulation and will generally be safe from the worst of it. For those who fight against truth, I pity you, for your road is a hard road to tread.

JOSEPH SMITH AND RADICAL PLANETARY CONFIGURATIONS

Well, most of the stuff on this blog is just quotations and thinking from other people who are way ahead of me on certain topics. Here is yet another person that I think very highly of, Brother Anthony E. Larson. He is a follower of Velikovsky's thinking (and so am I) and I think Larson's work is 99% on and quite brilliant. I read the following blog article and have always wanted to put it together - but there is little else that I could add - and only half as eloquently....

Hope you enjoy:

http://mormonprophecy.blogspot.com/2008/11/gospel-connection.html

All of this goes along with my thinking of how diamond plumes are formed in the earth. Our geologists and scientists have done a pathetic job of explaining how they are formed - quite disappointing really. One more example of the wise and the learned rejecting the simple, plain and precious things. But that is another blog topic for another time.

INTERESTING VISION OF ALMA ERICKSON - STRANGE THINGS AFOOT??

Well, this stuff is at my limit of understanding - but then, most of the stuff on this blog is. You be the judge - I am just putting it out there for your perusal:

Vision of Alma D. Erickson - Early 1930s PDF Print E-mail
Sunday, 09 March 2008 17:13

The voice of warning crying unto me, concerning the great and dreadful day of the Lord and the destruction of the wicked, which shall shortly come to pass.



The voice of the Great Spirit does reveal these things unto me, even the Holy Ghost that does bear witness of the Father and the Son. Therefore, I call unto all to repent of their wrong doings and their wickedness, and join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.



It is essential that ye be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, that ye may receive instructions and be taught the truth by the Spirits which are in Heaven.



Thus declareth the voice of the Great Spirit which is within me, even the Holy Ghost. For thus saith the Spirit unto me, it is your burden and responsibility that these things made manifest unto you shall be made known unto the world.



Prophesy unto this people, for their sins have come up unto me, and they are not of me. He who will not hearken unto the Law of My Word, shall sink into unquenchable fire. Therefore, I extend a warning unto all who will hear the word of their Great Creator, to repent of their sins and evil doings, lest God's judgment come upon them and destruction overtake them.



All these things I make known unto you concerning the Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord, and the destruction of the wicked, which shall shortly come to pass, and is even now at our doors.



Behold, this people, they esteem one another according to their possession of wealth, and not according to the value of the soul. They look upon the wonders of the earth and marvel, but fail to see the poor people who suffer in want around them and among them.



The whole earth is now ripe for destruction, and it shall shortly and speedily come upon the inhabitants of the earth, for God shall hasten His work, and great destruction shall quickly overtake the evildoers, and who is there among them that can escape God's holy law and His chastening hand?



I see our church represented by a high building, and we are in the top thereof, or the most recently constructed portion, which is very shakey; and I perceive that this last constructed portion is going to fall, and we must get down to the lower part of this great structure, which rests solidly upon its foundations. And while I am thus viewing it, the top, or last part built, does crash with a loud and fearful crash.



I see sheep grazing in the valley and on the mountain side. My Master tells me to watch them and not let them graze too far away from camp, because the sky gathers blackness and a bad storm is drawing near. I call three times, and the last time they hear me and come swiftly toward camp.



And thus does declare the Holy Ghost unto me: Beware, lest ye be destroyed with the wicked, for these things shall shortly come to pass.



Poverty and starvation shall sweep the land, and there shall be large masses of destitute people, masses of humanity starving. And as a witness to this truth, you shall see large headlines in the newspapers declaring starvation and hunger; and pictures of masses of humanity but a short way off who are starving. I warn you all to look to God; call on the Mighty One, even your Heavenly Father. Keep His commandments and lay up supplies against this time.



Starvation shall sweep the country, and in certain places, people will even harvest cactus and prickly pears, and prepare food for themselves and to sell. And I see that food becomes so scarce that soldiers are stationed to guard the plates of those who are eating, that the hungry may not steal their food.



Because of the wickedness of this people, they are brought down into bondage, and their money which they have prized so highly, becomes increasingly worthless. I see the time when a cheap room in a hotel will cost $9.00. Then I see a law passed declaring U.S. money is of no value; and the rich bemoan the loss of their great piles of money. I see silver coins lying around in the dirt, and I look around and see still more of them, and in certain places, they are in piles on the dirt. Greenback bills become worthless scraps of paper, and have no value. And thus it shall be that U.S. money becomes worthless.



I see industries collapse. The gasoline and oil industry is symbolized to me by a great pipeline that extends out of the earth a mile or so into the sky, thence a mile to the north, and thence down to the earth. Then I see this great man-made structure is leaking badly at the south, and then it springs a leak at the north, and then it falls northward with a mighty crash.



Thus it shall come to pass that the gasoline and oil business shall first fail in the south, and it shall spread to the north, until there is a complete oil and gasoline failure. And none shall be hauled over the rails because of the great failure. Traffic and industries shall cease because of the want of oil and gas, and great consternation shall seize upon man.



And it shall come to pass that wickedness shall increase, and many women in general shall partake of whoredoms for hire, for women shall exceed the men in number. And I see many men turning to robbery, and to liquors and strong drink, and their children are deprived of the teachings of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.



The Lord God shall send forth flies extra early, and they shall attack the evil doers, the children of the devil, and fear shall fall upon the wicked, insomuch that they shall not move out of their places.



But the more righteous shall flee unto Zion. And I see large crowds coming to Utah in such great numbers that they have to be handled in masses, or in herds like cattle.



And again, I see this same fly as it is revealed to me by the Great Spirit. It is quite a large and fiery red or brass colored fly sent to attack the wicked. Pestilence shall spread from its bite, insomuch that the flesh shall fall from off the bones, and the eyes from the sockets, and the tongue shall not speak. I also saw a dog and a gray bitch wolf, and the wolf is exceedingly heavy with pups to be born. They shall increase in numbers, and shall be ravenously hungry, and they shall not hesitate to attack man; and because of their great numbers, they shall overpower and devour him. Man shall try to tame these beasts, but to no avail. Their purpose is to destroy.



And tornadoes shall come right here in our own west; and I see a dark colored rainbow appear in the Southern sky, followed by another great sign across the whole sky like a checkerboard, and the Lord God shall speak with a mighty voice of fierce and sweeping winds, and buildings, automobiles and people shall be swept away. And I see also that written words shall appear in the sky as a sign and a warning of great destruction.



High winds shall spread over the country with tornadoes and cyclones in various places. Houses shall be blown to pieces and some carried up into the air. The government will issue tents to the homeless. I see a great storm that shall come suddenly, sweeping up glass and causing it to rain down on many, causing much bloodshed. Fire and smoke shall spread over the land and many strange sights shall be seen.



The ocean shall become exceedingly rough in the winter months, and a fear shall arise in the hearts of the people for the safe return of their relatives and friends and those who must go to sea; for it becomes impossible to cross in the winter months, and all must cross by or before the last ship of the season, or wait until the next season when the ocean calms. And at this time, the ocean shall be out of its bounds, or regular water levels, and shall rise up and wash away many towns along the seashores. And afterwards, other people will come in and reinhabit these towns, bringing with them food that is not produced in the ocean-swept country. And I see the water mark on the side hills, high above the towns.



I look up above the eastern horizon and see a woman dressed in a white robe, which also encloses her head, excepting her face; and she is sitting at the foot of a great white cross, which has golden stars in it. As I look upon this scene, it moves toward the north, and I am told to write of great and bloody wars to come.



Again the vision of my mind is opened and I see two emblems through dark clouds; they are the emblem of the American Legion and the American flag. And as I look at them, they appear to be on a government building. They begin to fade away until they have completely vanished from my sight. I see only the government building without either of these emblems.



And I see a crowd of people looking at this great wonder in the sky, and they are somewhat afraid, but not enough that they repent of their wickedness. And I see one man make an effort to pray to the Lord when he sees this great sign, but he makes a failure or mockery out of it, and everyone at the gathering breaks up and leaves in confusion.



I see that the judgments of the Lord are poured out upon all flesh, and it is shown to me that this great sign and wonder marks the time when great signs and wonders shall appear in the sky; and this is the time when the wicked shall be destroyed.



Then I see the U.S. flag with all its bright colors in the northwestern sky; and then it disappears and another flag appears in its stead, which is plain and without colors; but made up of many different parts. And the meaning of it is made clear, that the people of the U.S. will disagree and divide up and split up, forming many separate organizations, until the central government is completely overthrown, and the nation is in civil chaos--without civil administration or leadership.



And it shall come to pass, that the French nation shall bomb the eastern seacoast of the U.S. with a deadly poison gas, and it shall spread over the land like a blanket of thick heavy smoke of a dirty white or a light yellow color; and it does spread over the land with wind and carries with it to all it touches.



A war shall come in this land, for I see a war in the west. I see a mighty gun that shoots from the mountains of the Lord toward the east, drops of rain, as it were, each drop carrying death wherever it hits. First a beam of light comes out of the west and extends across the sky towards the east, and then I see two lines of clouds come out of the west following along each side of the beam of light. And I see them in the east fortifying themselves against these raindrops of death.



Salt Lake County shall be colored red with many light snows, and northern lights shall come in these times, and be seen out of their regular bounds, and shall show in regions where they have never been seen before. And in that day, the sun shall lose its brightness, and darkness shall fall upon the face of the earth; but it shall come to pass that in certain places of the more righteous, the countryside shall be lighted by a miracle line unto a beautiful lamp in the sky, for it is the will of the Lord that certain crops of the righteous shall not fail, and the interior of rooms shall be lighted by a miracle, and even the inside of buildings and mines.



I see hay come down out of the sky like manna from heaven to feed hay-eating animals, and many haystacks of the righteous increase of themselves by the power of God.



But upon dense populations of the wicked, smoke and vapor and dampness and a dark cloud shall settle down and encompass their houses, and shall not rise. When these low clouds appear, there shall be lightning and explosions in the air, the worst that have ever been heard. I see these rapid swirling clouds moving swiftly close to the ground, causing great friction and noise; but to the west, they play out, and toward Utah the sky remains clear.



And thus it shall be when the Lord begins to hasten His work in the destruction of the wicked. There shall be a great sign and all shall see it, for low clouds shall be seen floating low to the ground.



And the Great Spirit or the Holy Ghost declared unto me, Alma Erickson, that the very time of these low clouds is the time appointed by the Lord when the wicked shall not stand. Therefore, know ye that when these low clouds shall come, the wicked of the earth shall be destroyed; and the sun shall lose its brightness, and the earth shall become cooler as a result; causing more clouds to form and come low to the ground, indicating the beginning of the Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord.



And I see these low clouds coming down over the hills and moving with the wind, causing intervals of dimmer sunshine and cooler temperatures. And I begin to hear thunderings and see tornadoes coming over the hills and across the valleys.



And when the temperatures of the earth have fallen because of the low clouds, people will be obliged to go into one room of their houses, and to huddle about their heater to keep warm, and cold and hunger shall come upon man, for this is the time when the wicked shall be destroyed from off the face of the earth.



The word of the Lord came to me, saying that books containing the word of our Heavenly Father and Savior and the Holy Ghost, shall be speedily transferred to Zion, just before the great and dreadful day of the Lord.



It is revealed to me by the Holy Ghost that in a deep narrow gorge, in a southeasterly direction from Salt Lake, hidden records are concealed. This gorge is newly made, geologically. (Relief Mine after the earthquake?)



And it shall come to pass that the climate will not follow its proper seasons, and the leaves shall fall from the trees in the spring. I see a mighty hail storm coming, and it shall come upon the ungodly and destroy the crops of the earth. A frozen hail stone is shown to me of enormous size, it being several feet thick.



And in that time, rain shall beat against houses with fierce and sweeping winds. Thunder will roar continually, and lightning shall flash with blinding streaks. Quick moving clouds shall appear, and giant hail stones raining down from the sky shall pierce big holes through buildings and automobiles; and the hearts of men shall be filled with fear.



People's bodies are now charged with downward flows of electricity instead of upward flows. The downward flows have a destructive influence upon their bodies, while the upward flows have a good influence. For this reason shall great distress be caused among the people.



I see carrots brought in out of the field freshly dug, yet they are wilted and become soft, having lost their freshness and good flavor, because of the wrong charge of electricity.



The sun shall be seen to fail to follow its true course, and the earth shall be thrown out of its regular way, and the hills shall crumble down and rocks shall fall from their places, and the whole earth shall tremble and shake. I see the sun, and it is sinking low in the northeast, and I see two kinds of clouds, those that are split up by conflicting currents of air, and those that travel with the wind. I see bright sunshine and then dust comes in whirlwinds over the ground. Then darkness suddenly comes and I see the stars, and some appear like they are falling. Thus a great darkness shall come in the daytime, and it shall cause great confusion to many. Cities will be without light, and so great shall be the darkness that many caught away from home shall not be able to find their way back.



Water shall spring forth out of the ground with much pressure, and shall rush down over cliffs and down canyons in increasing volume until it floods the lower lands. And the ground shall cave in with deep and wide cavings, and water shall rush into them; and fire and smoke shall be seen.



I am shown, and I look up into the sky and see another planet slightly towards the north or in a northerly direction; and I see that it is similar to our own earth. I see that it is a land of green vegetation, and streams, and creeks of water like unto our own planet. As I look upon it, I see that it is close enough to our earth that its clouds and the clouds of our earth come together and mix and pass by one another. I see a dark strange cloud with whitish smaller clouds around it, and it comes down low over the hills leaving a white snow covered strip of country underneath it and behind it.



And now after this time, I see a lowland country in the region of the North Pole, and it is overshadowed and surrounded by mountains of ice, excepting one outlet where the ice is melted away. I see that this land is warm, that it is cultivated and its vegetation is abundant, and that it is inhabited by many of the Lost Tribes. See http://www.ourhollowearth.com/



I see the last of many dwellings finished in Salt Lake Valley, and I see the water rising up until the buildings are submerged and the people are forced to leave. I even see the great Temple of the Lord half under water, and the water still rising. Later on, the water subsides, and the valley is reoccupied.



After the time of desolation, the same land that was desolate shall now become rich in vegetation, and I see the whole land luxuriant with vegetation, trees and undergrowth, which before was desert wasteland.



I see Salt Lake in the near future with her habitation numbered by the mile, or miles, instead of blocks. I also see around about a new beautiful country of choice vegetation, especially of fruits and food stuffs, growing rank, large and rich, with no noxious weeds.



I suddenly see the Lord Jesus Christ come in a cloud out of the Eastern Heaven with great brightness. I am taken up suddenly from those around me to meet Him, not even having time to tell them that the Lord is coming to redeem the earth. I see that He has come surprisingly quick, and that this time is shortly before us. I see that He is wearing about a four-inch red stripe over His shoulder and down across His breast, and that the rest of His robe is very white. I see that His coming is very soon, and that because of the suddenness of His coming, many of us will not have the time to properly dress ourselves to meet Him. Thus is the glorious coming of Christ to rule and reign on the earth for a thousand years as King of Kings, Lord of Lords.



I see immortal people walking forth from low clouds. I shake hands with them and recognize them as of many nationalities. I see many resurrected women, some with babies in their arms who were taken from them by death, but now are theirs again to raise to maturity.



The Indians or Lamanites shall become a white and delightsome people. They will move north into Canada where they will have more range for their cattle. I see three generations; a grandmother who is quite dark, a mother who is not quite so dark, and a daughter who is white.



A new and different kind of airship shall come that shall have no wings and no gasoline motors, nor carry fuel of any kind; its shape being something like a ball which carries within itself the necessary electrical instruments which control the power of gravity over it so that the ship may be maneuvered through the air at a snail's pace or very swiftly as preferred. And I see many finer ships come after it with many new improvements, but of the same flying principles. These are heavier than air machines and very commonplace.



God has given some men double the brains of others, to develop and increase in knowledge. To some He has given seven-fold, with sufficient periods of time for development; and unto others He has given more, and unto others less. And this He has given unto them before they were born into the world.



I see ancient men compared with our present-day men, and the ancient man is far superior to our present-day man in faith, in truth, and in the ways of God.



I see an old gray headed man who has the mind of a 16-year-old; he has patterned his life after his own ignorant desires. I also see another man who is around 90 years old, or a hundred, who is not gray, but looks young. He has kept the commandments of God and obeyed the word of wisdom in all things.



And now I, Alma, do declare unto you my brothers and sisters, that these things are all true, and shall shortly come to pass according to the Word of God, for they are made known unto me through the Holy Ghost, which does bear witness of the Father and the Son. And now, do not thank me for these things, but thank God, your Father in Heaven. Even so, Amen.


(Visions of the Latter Days, pp. 121-134)

HOW TO OVERCOME INSANITY - LEARNING FROM YOUR PAST MISTAKES

I spend my days with some great folks - and some not so great folks. Some people catch on quickly. Some people not so quickly. What kind of a person are you? The definition of insanity is making the same mistake over and over again.

I like this short story:

Chapter One

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost .... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.


Chapter Two

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend that I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in this same place.
But, it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.


Chapter Three

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in ... it's a habit ... but, my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.


Chapter Four

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.


Chapter Five

I walk down another street.

UTAH GOING BACK TO GOLD/SILVER STANDARD A FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY?

I love to scan the news and go "check!" when something happens (or is in process) on the prophetic timeline laid down by those with the gift..... Here is the article on Utah's possible move to the gold standard (click colored text).

Here is something purported to be from Joseph Smith first recorded over 130 years ago - and I do have to say we are in it right now:

"The time will come when the banks of every nation will fall and only two places will be safe where people can deposit their gold and treasure. This place will be the White Horse and England's vaults. A terrible revolution will take place in the land of America, such as has never been seen before; for the land will be left without a Supreme Government, and every specie of wickedness will be practiced rampantly in the land. Father will be against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother. The most terrible scenes of bloodshed, murder and rape that have ever been imagined or looked upon will take place. People will be taken from the earth and there will be peace and love only in the Rocky Mountains. This will cause many hundreds of thousands of the honest in heart of the world to gather there, not because they would be Saints, but for safety and because they will be so numerous that you will be in danger of famine, but not for want of seed, time and harvest, but because of so many to be fed. Many will come with bundles under their arms to escape the calamities for there will be no escape except only by escaping and fleeing to Zion. Those that come to you will try to keep the laws and be one with you for they will see your unity and the greatness of your organization.

HOW WAS THE STONE OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE CUT WITHOUT HANDS??

Okay - I have to admit that I got blind-sided tonight by my Jewish friend that I work with. I have always marveled at the concept of the corner stone of the temple of Solomon being built of a stone cut without tools/hands and have always been satisfied with some sort of metaphorical reference to Messiach. So my Jewish friend (Elkanah) and I were talking about random subjects and he mentioned that Solomon's Temple was built aided by a "worm". I thought he was just talking gibberish and he challenged me to look this up:

Solomon's Shamir

and this: Legend of Shamir

and this: http://www.varchive.org/ce/shamir/shamir.html

I couldn't believe it. I am not sure how to interpret this - it is about as off the charts unusual as our concept of the Liahona and the Urim and Thummim.

Truly God has been party to some very unusual things that - I feel - belong perfectly at home in this blog for the sensational......

Wood you believe it??? And I thought I had heard it all......