Mormon Bloggers

For years I have prayed for the gift of charity, the pure love of Christ, with what has felt like little success. In my simplistic way of thinking, charity means being able to love others in an open-hearted way, even if that love is not likely to be returned. It’s a gift I think I desperately need, yet can’t learn or practice my way into having. I truly think it has to come as a gift from God, simply because it requires an unselfishness that is beyond my own capacity. Don’t get me wrong, I have a loving heart and try to share it, but mostly with lovable people! Lovable people are so easy to love, while thorny people often sting you when you try, which makes it quite easy to quit trying.

Today a conversation with a friend sparked a thought in me that has hung on all day. We were talking about how the things we try to accumulate in order to prepare for the future are often not meant for us, but end up being needed by someone else. We began by talking about things like money or food, but soon began to see that emotional qualities, like love, work the same way. I thought about how I often sit in meetings at church and look around at all the wonderful ladies surrounding me, and suddenly feel a deep love for them as individuals. In my mind I get really sappy sometimes, wanting to stand up and list these fabulous qualities people have that are flooding through my mind. Or, I make plans to find someone after the meeting’s over to tell them how great they really are. The problem is, I never do. I wrote about this phenomenon in my journal over two years ago, ending with, “Maybe what I am feeling is an expression of the charity I’ve been seeking, and that gives me hope that I am progressing and can obtain a greater portion of it in the future.”

Ah, but what happens if you receive a gift and then reject it? Can you really expect to get even more of that same gift later? I’ve rarely ever expressed out loud what has been in my heart all those times, which now seems painfully like a rejection of the very gift I’ve been seeking. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been blessed to receive far more than my fair share of verbal and written expressions of love from others. What a healing balm has been poured over my heart because I’ve felt loved! And suddenly, I see that I’ve missed countless opportunities to give that same feeling to others. I’ve felt charity for them in my own heart, but I’ve tried to just store it up, when instead I should have been giving it away. 

I’m not saying I’m going to be standing up in a crowd any time soon to wax poetic about someone, but maybe if I catch you alone, I just might tell you what you mean to me for a change.

  Baptists say they were trying to do good in Haiti | US National Headlines | Comcast.net   According to the AP article, written by Frank Bajak and Paisley Dodds, an Idaho Baptist Church group decided that it is in … Continue reading →

Read the rest of this post here: Missionary Dan Email #14 from Choibalsan, Mongolia.

If you cannot see the video click here.

LDS youth in Choibalsan, Mongolia

Love, Elder Willoughby.

Presented have been portions of an email from Elder Daniel Willoughby serving in the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission. If anyone wishes to send Daniel a message, write it in the comments and I will make sure he receives it.

Related posts:

1. Missionary Dan Email #8 from Choibalsan, Mongolia
2. Missionary Dan Email #13 from Choibalsan, Mongolia
3. Missionary Dan Email #4 from Choibalsan, Mongolia

The Lord’s healing of both our physical and our spiritual afflictions is conditioned upon our faith in Him and made possible through His Atonement, in which He took upon Himself the pains and sins of all mankind. Having overcome all, the Lord gained the power to allow us to do the same, if we would but rely on the witness of the Holy Ghost, who testifies of Him.

Faith: A Definition

Faith is a conviction of and firm reliance on the existence, efficacy, and applicability of the saving power of God. It is a gift given by God through the Spirit to His children in order to help them to center their lives in Him (D&C 46:19; 1 Corinthians 12:31). Faith is a gift of the Spirit that bestows the assurance of that which is unseen (Hebrews 11:1). This assurance is intangible but nonetheless real (Alma 32:35). It gives us power borne of certainty and inspires us to action, to experimenting upon the word of God, by which we gain a perfect knowledge of its truthfulness (Alma 32:34).

Faith is a principle of belief, of action, and of power (See Lectures on Faith, 7:2). President Boyd K. Packer described faith, saying:

“There are two kinds of faith. One of them functions ordinarily in the life of every soul. It is the kind of faith born by experience; it gives us certainty that a new day will dawn…It is the kind of faith that relates us with confidence to that which is scheduled to happen… There is another kind of faith, rare indeed. This is the kind of faith that causes things to happen. It is the kind of faith that is worthy and prepared and unyielding, and it calls forth things that otherwise would not be. It is the kind of faith that moves people. It is the kind of faith that sometimes moves things… It is a marvelous, even a transcendent, power, a power as real and as invisible as electricity. Directed and channeled, it has great effect.” (Boyd K. Packer, “What is Faith?” “Faith” [Salt Lake City: Desert Book Co., 1983], p. 42, emphasis added)

Faith to be healed is included in this second type of faith. Such faith draws upon and channels the powers of heaven to restore lost physical and spiritual strength. Faith gives us both the assurance of healing and the means whereby that healing is accomplished.

Faith to be Healed

Throughout Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry, He, through faith, made the afflicted whole, forgave sins and alleviated suffering. He commended the centurion for his great faith that his servant might be healed, proclaiming, “I have not seen so great faith, no, not in Israel” (Matthew 8:10). To the woman with an issue of blood whose faith that “If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole” drove her to experimenting upon that witness of the Spirit, Jesus proclaimed, “Go in peace…thy faith hath made thee whole” (Mark 5:23, 34). Zeezrom, close to death, was healed by the same power, “according to his faith…in Christ” (Alma 15:10).

The healing power of Christ is available on the earth today through the authority of the priesthood. Although the miracles of modern medicine can do much to prolong and improve life, they cannot consistently guarantee healing. The power of man is limited, but the power of God transcends and overcomes all things. President Gordon B. Hinckley testified that, although doctors can do much, “The mighty Creator of the heavens and the earth and all that in them are has given to His servants a divine power that sometimes transcends all the powers and knowledge of men” (Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Healing Power of Christ,” Ensign, Nov. 1988, 52).

The Lord is able to provide relief from physical suffering, even when mortal capabilities are insufficient. During His time in mortality, He “went about doing good,” causing the “dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see” (Acts 10:38, Matthew 15:31). This same power to do good, to heal the sick in the name of Jesus Christ, is available today through the administration of those holding the Melchizedek Priesthood. The faith to be healed and its companion, the faith to heal, are gifts of the Spirit given to those who need and earnestly desire them, according to the power and mercy of God (D&C 46:19-20).

But the Lord’s healing was, and is, extended to more than physical ailments, for Christ has the power to heal souls, to “make whole,” to reconcile the sinner with God, to make life complete. The Lord speaks to Isaiah of the sinfulness of His people, comparing it to physical illness: “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it, but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment” (Isaiah 1:5-6). In our day, President Hinckley also spoke of this less recognized but more debilitating ailment, saying, “there is much of sickness among us other than that of the body. There is the sickness of sin.…Legion are those who have testified of the healing power of Christ to lift them from the desolation of sin to higher and nobler living” (ibid.). As ancient and modern prophets testify, Christ can heal sicknesses of the body and those of the soul. The Savior taught the Nephites of the consequences of sin, warning them that, “whoso eateth and drinketh my flesh and blood unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to his soul,” but cautioned his people against passing judgment, “for ye know not but what they will return and repent, and come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I shall heal them” (3 Nephi 18:29, 32). If the Lord can heal the repentant who have knowingly partaken of damnation, He will surely extend that healing to those whose transgressions carry less serious consequences.

To the man sick of the palsy, Christ first proclaimed, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee”—and only afterwards did He command him to “rise, take up thy bed, and walk” (Mark 2:5-9). Both healings were performed, however, only after “Jesus saw their faith” (Mark 2:5). The Lord’s coupling of the two healings teaches an important lesson—that healing one’s body from sickness and healing one’s soul from sin are both done by the same power, through faith in the infinite and eternal power of His Atonement. Christ asked the observing scribes to consider “is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?” (Mark 2:9). The unspoken answer is a definitive no, for both proclamations are made possible by the same power, and both are equally easy—or, more precisely, both are equally hard. The forgiveness of sins and the alleviation of sickness were made possible by the Atonement, the most difficult act ever performed, the act that endowed the Son of God with the greatest power in creation. Through that power, “all things are possible,” but only “to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23).

I gave the following talk in my ward today:

photo credit: Linda & Clark

Latter-day calamities

Ask somebody how they feel after reading or watching an hour’s worth of news, and they’re likely to reply that it makes them feel depressed. It seems that the entire world is in a constant state of commotion, whether due to natural or man-made disasters, which perhaps led to Enoch asking the Lord “when shall the earth rest?” How are we, the Latter-day Saints, to view and react to these events?

Brigham Young reminded us that what we now consider to be a barrage of bad news is merely a preface to the clamor of latter-day calamities the Lord will unleash in the future:

Do you think there is calamity abroad now among the people?… All we have yet heard and all we have experienced is scarcely a preface to the sermon that is going to be preached. When the testimony of the Elders ceases to be given, and the Lord says to them, ‘come home; I will now preach My own sermons to the nations of the earth,’ all you now know can scarcely be called a preface to the sermon that will be preached with fire and sword, tempests, earthquakes, hail, rain, thunders, and lightnings and fearful destruction…. You will hear of magnificent cities, now idolized by the people, sinking in the earth, entombing the inhabitants. The sea will heave itself beyond its bounds, engulfing mighty cities. Famine will spread over the nations, and nation will rise up against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and states against states, in our own country and in foreign lands; and they will destroy each other, caring not for the blood and lives of their neighbors, of their families, or for their own lives. … You may think that the little you hear of now is grievous; yet the faithful of God’s people will see days that will cause them to close their eyes because of the sorrow that will come upon the wicked nations. The hearts of the faithful will be filled with pain and anguish for them. (Journal of Discourses, 8:123; see also D&C 88:88–92)

In response to a statement like this, it is not uncommon for us as a people to cling to the verse of scripture where the Lord instructs us that “if ye are prepared ye shall not fear”. What, then, does it take to be sufficiently prepared such that we do not fear the “fearful destruction” that awaits the world?

The false dichotomy

President Benson once remarked that “As a people, we love sweetness and light, especially sweetness.” For this reason, many sacrament meeting talks, sunday school lessons, and other church discussions regarding the subject of preparedness often place a higher emphasis on spiritual preparedness versus temporal preparedness—if the temporal aspect is even mentioned at all. It’s easier to talk about the “sweet” methods of preparing, such as prayer, scripture study, and temple worship, than it is to talk about storing a food supply, becoming trained in basic first aid emergency response, and setting aside money in our budget to purchase needed items. We thus tend to gravitate towards the “sweet” spiritual side of preparedness, little realizing that by shifting our focus in this way, we are actually undermining our spiritual preparedness.

The Lord made clear that the term “temporal preparedness” is in fact a misnomer when used by the Latter-day Saints, since “not at any time [has He] given unto [us] a law which was temporal.” “All things unto me are spiritual”, He further declared, implying that our so-called temporal preparedness efforts are in fact an important subset of our overall spiritual preparedness.

Consider a Latter-day Saint living in Haiti. His spiritual preparedness may have helped him acquire needed strength to make it through the aftermath of the recent earthquake that has killed countless individuals and displaced even more. He may have built up enough faith to see him through these trying times, and small miracles may be unfolding before him. This is all good, and he should be praised for his efforts in this regard.

But consider further whether this individual was temporally prepared for what has happened. To be sure, his economic circumstances may not have permitted him to acquire food storage and other supplies to the extent that all of us are able to obtain. But God’s commandment to prepare knows no geographical bounds. In the aftermath of this quake, if our fictional friend had on hand a reserve of food, water, and fuel, then he will be able to provide for himself, his family, and perhaps some friends. He will have sufficient energy to serve those around him and alleviate the suffering of others who may not have been as prepared. He can administer to the emotional and spiritual needs of his loved ones and others within his sphere of influence. In short, he can build the kingdom of God.

If this person was not temporally prepared, in what condition would he be to serve those around him? Rather than sharing what he has, he would be begging for donations of food and water, or worse, perhaps resorting to the looting that has ravaged the affected areas in Haiti. He would be focusing inward on himself and his loved ones alone, rather than, as Joseph Smith said, “rang[ing] through the world, anxious to bless the whole of the human family.” Instead of being able to build God’s kingdom, he would be entirely focused on his own.

Blunt as always, Brother Brigham had this to say of the relationship between temporal and spiritual preparedness:

How many of you have had wisdom enough to procure and lay up for yourselves produce enough to last until harvest? You may call this a small matter. How many of you have wheat or flour to last you a year? If you are without bread, how much wisdom can you boast, and of what real utility are your talents, if you cannot procure for yourselves and save against a day of scarcity those substances designed to sustain your natural lives?

If you have not attained ability to provide for your natural wants, and for a wife and a few children, what have you to do with heavenly things?

Three years ago, the First Presidency issued a statement that contained the following counsel:

[Our Heavenly Father] has lovingly commanded us to “prepare every needful thing” (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we can care for ourselves and our neighbors and support bishops as they care for others.

We encourage members world-wide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings.

When disaster strikes, will we be in a position to care for ourselves, our families, our neighbors, and, through the bishop, others in our community? Suddenly, having a year supply on hand seems relatively insufficient.

Our spiritual preparedness is woefully inadequate if we lack the supplies and knowledge that are often classified as being part of our temporal preparedness. Father Lehi spoke of “things to act and things to be acted upon”; by using our agency and choosing to obey the commandment to prepared, we will be in a position to freely act and serve God and His children if and when disaster strikes. In contrast, if we exercise our agency in choosing not to prepare, we will be acted upon during such circumstances as our very lives become dependent on the actions and charitable service of others.

Counsel repeated and ignored

Several studies and surveys conducted in the past few decades suggest that the percentage of Saints who have fulfilled the commandment to prepare lies somewhere in the upper single digits. Those of you who have been in this ward for over a year may recall two stake-wide emergency preparedness drills that were conducted in September 2008 and January 2009. Based on the data we received after the second drill, we learned that our stake has on hand roughly three months of food per family, and roughly two-thirds of families have 72-hour kits.

While that three months of food per family on average may sound good, a couple qualifiers should be noted. First, that average was inflated by a few families who had a full year or more of food storage on hand, thus “compensating” for the far higher number of families who had nothing, or only a couple days or weeks worth of food. Second, during the most recent drill we asked residents of our neighborhood about their water storage as well, and the results were shockingly low. The number of families who had any type of water storage system in place could probably be counted on two hands. Finally, we did not ask about fuel, clothing, money, or other basic necessities that are crucial items in a well-rounded preparedness plan.

Some might feel justified in ignoring the commandment to prepare since they perceive that the subject has received less attention over the pulpit in recent years. Does this mean that the countless instances of counsel previously given do not have any validity or application to us today? Or does it simply mean that our leaders have decided to focus on other topics since we have collectively failed to heed the instructions we’ve been given for decades and decades? President Benson noted one element of our apathy towards preparedness as follows:

Too often we bask in our comfortable complacency and rationalize that the ravages of war, economic disaster, famine, and earthquake cannot happen here. Those who believe this are either not acquainted with the revelations of the Lord, or they do not believe them. Those who smugly think these calamities will not happen, that they somehow will be set aside because of the righteousness of the Saints, are deceived and will rue the day they harbored such a delusion.

President Spencer W. Kimball offered this comment:

Do we lose faith, do we lose patience, do we lose hope, do we get weary in waiting, because the day is long and the event delayed? It is difficult to be prepared for an event so long delayed. Many have found it too difficult and they slumber without due preparation. Hundreds of thousands of us today are in this position. Confidence has been dulled and patience worn thin. It is so hard to wait and be prepared always. But we cannot allow ourselves to slumber.

In the October 1998 General Conference and later published in the January 2009 Ensign, Elder Eyring said:

Because the Lord is kind, He calls servants to warn people of danger. That call to warn is made harder and more important by the fact that the warnings of most worth are about dangers that people don’t yet think are real… It’s easy to say, “The time isn’t right.” But there is danger in procrastination.

A common thread of these quotes is that since we often feel that calamities are in a far distant future, we easily procrastinate our preparedness and turn into slothful Saints who need to be commanded in all things since we will not be anxiously engaged in this cause of our own accord. The Lord’s servants have warned us time and time again to set our houses in order. Contrary to what some believe, these servants have continued talking about self-reliance, emergency preparedness, food storage, and other related principles. Have we listened, or do we feel that these commandments and teachings do not apply to us for some reason? As President J. Reuben Clark once said, “What we need today is not more prophets. We have the prophets. But what we need is more people with listening ears. This is the great need of our generation.”

Elder James E. Talmage described it this way:

In mercy the Lord warns and forewarns. He sees the coming storm, knows the forces operating to produce it, and calls aloud through His prophets, advises, counsels, exhorts, even commands—that we prepare for what is about to befall and take shelter while yet there is time. But we go our several ways, feasting and making merry, consoling conscience with the easy fancy of “time enough” and in idle hope that the tempest will pass us by, or that, when it begins to gather thick and black about us we can turn back and find shelter.

The Lord continues to warn us, as Elder Talmage notes, and yet we collectively are eating, drinking, and being merry with little serious regard for the future. Why is this so? The true test of one’s testimony of a prophet occurs when the counsel given is either difficult to obey or seems irrational. Elder Maxwell remarked on this as follows:

It has been asked, and well it might be, how many of us would have jeered, or at least been privately amused, by the sight of Noah building his ark: Presumably, the laughter and heedlessness continued until it began to rain—and kept raining! How wet some people must have been before Noah’s ark suddenly seemed the only sane act in an insane, bewildering situation! To ponder signs without becoming paranoid, to be aware without frantically matching current events with expectations, using energy that should be spent in other ways, these are our tasks.

As Elder Eyring has said, “The best time to have decided to help Noah build the ark was the first time he asked.”

A case study

As for pondering signs, as Elder Maxwell suggests, one instance of the Lord possibly warning and forewarning deserves our attention. Many of you will recall the story of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dream regarding seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. In the October 1998 General Conference, President Hinckley reminded us of the story by reading the historical account from Genesis 41. Then, adding a disclaimer that he was not prophesying nor predicting any future famine, he stated:

But I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order.
…
There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed.

What’s interesting is that exactly seven years later, President Hinckley again referenced this story, stating:

Let us never lose sight of the dream of Pharaoh concerning the fat cattle and the lean, the full ears of corn, and the blasted ears; the meaning of which was interpreted by Joseph to indicate years of plenty and years of scarcity.

Except for another brief reference made in the conference following 9/11, these are the only instances in which President Hinckley spoke in a General Conference regarding Pharaoh’s dream, and these two references stand seven years apart. Despite his disclaimer that he was not prophesying, one is left to wonder whether the Lord was speaking through His prophet to give us our own seven year pattern of plenty and famine.

Those who are still employed, well-fed, and living comfortably may scoff at the assertion that we are living in times of famine, but a significant portion of the world’s population likely thinks differently. For example, the true unemployment rate in this country currently stands at 22%; worldwide, the situation looks fairly similar in wealthier countries, while third world countries would welcome a percentage like this with eager, open arms. Global food prices have been on the rise, spurred only in part by freezes, disasters, droughts, crop disease, and other issues. These and a host of other problems have created a turbulent economic environment in which many people are starving, homeless, and hopeless.

Hitting close to home

Being prepared, though, is not simply to be able to better weather the global storms of economic uncertainty. As the saying goes, “when your neighbor loses his job, it’s a recession, and when you lose your job, it’s a depression.” We may very well not be in a symbolic seven years of famine, but this does not mean that we won’t individually face trying circumstances. As evidenced by the Bishop’s recent invitation to increase our fast offerings, there are likely several within our own congregation who have been enduring their own economic depression.

Speaking about all of us, President Monson noted the imbalance many of us have in regards to our financial priorities and level of preparedness:

Many more people could ride out the storm-tossed waves in their economic lives if they had their year’s supply of food and clothing and were debt-free. Today we find that many have followed this counsel in reverse: they have at least a year’s supply of debt and are food-free.

My parents have on three separate occasions been able to ride out those storm-tossed waves in their economic lives by relying on the food storage they had obediently acquired. Despite these three periods of unemployment, each running for around nine months, my parents enjoyed a sense of peace and satisfaction that can only come when one’s previous actions and obedience have prepared them for such times. Their modest savings allowed them to meet their financial obligations during that time, and this result of their efforts to prepare meant that they did not need the assistance of Church funds.

During the 1980 recession, then-Presiding Bishop Victor L. Brown spoke frankly in General Conference regarding the tendency that many Saints had, and no doubt still have, to rely upon the Church while disobeying the commandment to prepare:

Within the last twelve months, the distribution of fast offerings and commodities by the bishops has been alarming. At the present rate of demand, the Church resources will be almost expended in a short time…. It would appear that in altogether too many cases the teachings about preparedness have been either misunderstood or knowingly rejected. Many of our members appear to feel that when difficulty comes, the Church will come to their aid, even when they could have prepared themselves had their priorities been appropriate.

Bishop Brown then shared the following experience he had that demonstrated to him the importance of individual preparedness:

Some time ago while visiting two stakes, I saw the evidence of the point I am trying to make. Both stakes were in predominantly Latter-day Saint communities. Both were affected seriously by the same severe but temporary disruption of employment. Generally, when I arrive in a new community for stake conference, I drive around the neighborhood or countryside to get a feel for the kind of people who live there. For example: Are their yards well taken care of? Are their homes well cared for? Are there old dilapidated barns and outbuildings, or are the properties neatly maintained and fenced? In other words, how much pride do the people have in themselves and their community?

In the first stake I refer to, I saw well-cared-for homes and yards. It seemed that this was a prosperous, so-called middle-class area. Some would have thought it an affluent area from the number of recreation vehicles in the driveways—boats, campers, and motor homes. As I met with the stake presidency, I commented on the apparent prosperity of the people. However, when reviewing the welfare needs of the people, I was shocked to see the demands made on the fast-offering funds and the bishops’ storehouse.

The stake president informed me that within a week or two of the closing down of the major employer, many families came to their bishops for assistance. They had very limited reserves from which to take care of themselves. He also mentioned there were some faithful members in his stake who from their reserves had taken care of their own needs as well as assisting some of their neighbors.

In the second stake, which was some distance from the first but which was impacted heavily by the same employment problem, I saw few recreation vehicles. As a matter of fact, I saw little evidence of affluence, although the properties were neat and tidy. Here I was surprised to see practically no fast offerings or bishop’s orders being used.

I asked the stake president if his bishops understood and were discharging their responsibilities for the poor and those in need. He indicated that, while some families had needed to seek assistance from their bishops, most of the members recognized their responsibility for their own welfare and were prepared to take care of themselves.

You see, the priorities of the members of these two stakes were very different. Many in the first stake were not prepared and expected the Church to take care of them, while in the second stake the situation was reversed—the majority of the people had prepared to meet their own needs.

Brothers and Sisters, how would Bishop Brown classify our stake? Are our families ready to weather the economic storms of life, whether generally or individually felt, or will we be a drain on resources and dependent upon others’ charity? Are we like the foolish virgins who clearly knew they needed to prepare and yet did not, or are we like the wise ones who remained alert and ready for future events?

Bishop Brown closed his remarks as follows:

…the welfare program rests on the basic principle of personal and family preparedness, not on Church preparedness. We are concerned that because the Church program includes production projects, canneries, bishops’ storehouses, Deseret Industries, and other visible activities, our people are mistakenly led to believe these things replace the need for them to provide for themselves. This simply is not so. The evidence that this illusion exists is seen in the experience of the last few months as the draw on fast offerings and storehouse commodities has spiraled.

We are very much aware that we live in difficult times, perhaps as difficult as any recent period in history. The economy in general seems to be out of control; there is high unemployment in many areas. Inflation is running rampant in most countries of the world. Personal debt is staggering… Many who have purchased a home have monthly payments which leave no room to handle the slightest emergency.

We have been taught that we should build our reserves over a period of time, that we should not go into debt to do so, that we should buy those things we use and use them on a rotation basis, that we should use common sense in preparing ourselves to be independent and self-reliant. There has never been extremism or fanaticism associated with these teachings.
…
It is the opinion of many that more difficult times lie ahead. We are deeply concerned about the welfare of our people and recognize the potential privation and suffering that will exist if each person and family does not accept the word of the Lord when he says, “Prepare every needful thing” (D&C 88:119), and “It must needs be done in mine own way” (D&C 104:16).

We need not endure privation and suffering, if only we will prepare now for what lies ahead. As Presiding Bishop H. Burke Peterson said in 1975, “Let’s not forget one of the most important lessons learned through the year’s supply program is the lesson of obedience.” When we obey, we are entitled to receive the blessings promised by the Lord. Can we claim those blessings if we are not faithful? President Benson answered this when he said:

Should the Lord decide at this time to cleanse the Church—and the need for that cleansing seems to be increasing—a famine in this land of one year’s duration could wipe out a large percentage of slothful members, including some ward and stake officers. Yet we cannot say we have not been warned.

It is important that we remember the Lord’s declaration that “I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.” We cannot expect God’s help when we have chosen to ignore the counsel of His servants time and time again. God will protect and bless those who have been heeding His voice.

Conclusion

So, how do we prepare? This large task, like any other goal, must be broken down into smaller, more manageable steps. Elder L. Tom Perry gave us the following guidelines in 1995 as a model to follow:

Just as it is important to prepare ourselves spiritually, we must also prepare ourselves for our temporal needs. … We have been instructed for years to follow at least four requirements in preparing for that which is to come.

First, gain an adequate education. Learn a trade or a profession to enable you to obtain steady employment that will provide remuneration sufficient to care for yourself and your family. …  

Second, live strictly within your income and save something for a rainy day. Incorporate in your lives the discipline of budgeting that which the Lord has blessed you with. As regularly as you pay your tithing, set aside an amount needed for future family requirements. …  

Third, avoid excessive debt. Necessary debt should be incurred only after careful, thoughtful prayer and after obtaining the best possible advice. We need the discipline to stay well within our ability to pay. …  

Fourth, acquire and store a reserve of food and supplies that will sustain life. Obtain clothing and build a savings account on a sensible, well-planned basis that can serve well in times of emergency. As long as I can remember, we have been taught to prepare for the future and to obtain a year’s supply of necessities. I would guess that the years of plenty have almost universally caused us to set aside this counsel. I believe the time to disregard this counsel is over. With events in the world today, it must be considered with all seriousness.

Brothers and Sisters, my invitation to each of us today is to consider the counsel I have shared with seriousness. Make a firm resolve to repent where necessary, and strive diligently to obey these commandments. Take seriously the prophecies for the future and the divine responsibility we have to care for ourselves and our families, both now and in the future. I invite you to prepare so that you shall not fear. I testify of the peace of mind that comes from obeying this counsel and laying up in store the supplies that can help us weather the storms of life.

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Related Posts (automatically generated)

• A Snapshot of a Community’s Preparedness
• A Second Snapshot of a Community’s Preparedness
• The Importance of Provident Providers

There’s nothing like a little light reading to take one’s mind off a stressful job search (ongoing) or the writing of a dissertation (now completed!), so for the past month I’ve been enjoying Salt, by Mark Kurlansky:

I’ve highly enjoyed this entertaining and informative read, not least because it has brought me new appreciation for the Savior’s words: “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men” (Matt. 5:13). We (his disicples) are the salt of the earth. What is salt?

Kurlansky explains that salt, or sodium chloride (NaCl), is “essential for digestion and in respiration. Without sodium, which the body cannot manufacture, the body would be unable to transport nutrients or oxygen, transmit nerve impulses, or move muscles, including the heart. An adult human being contains about 250 grams of salt, which would fill three or four salt-shakers, but is constantly losing it through bodily functions. It is essential to replace this lost salt.

“A French folktale relates the story of a princess who declares to her father, ‘I love you like salt,’ and he, angered by the slight, banishes her from the kingdom. Only later when he is denied salt does he realize its value and therefore learn the depth of his daughter’s love. Salt is so common, so easy to obtain, and so inexpensive that we have forgotten that from the beginning of civilization until about 100 years ago, salt was one of the most sought-after commodities in human history.” (6)

Disciples of Christ are indispensable to the spiritual health of this world. “Salt deficiency causes headaches and weakness, then light-headedness, then nausea. If deprived long enough, the victim will die” (9); a deficiency of disciples causes spiritual ache and weakness, then an attitude of light-mindedness about serious and holy things, and eventually spiritual death. In this sense the punishment of Lot’s wife was appropriate. Lot’s family was the living, spiritual salt of Sodom and Gomorrah–the individuals who preserved their neighbors from spiritual death. When they left, the cities experienced spiritual and physical death; when Lot’s wife looked back and desired to return, she ceased to be living salt and became “a pillar of [dead] salt” instead (Gen. 19:26).

Salt has many functions: it heals (killing bacteria in infected wounds), preserves food (preventing the onset of bacteria), enhances flavor, and is essential to the preservation of life. So too do disciples of Christ, who can help others find the healing power of the Atonement, preserve them from spiritual mistakes, and enhance or promote their inherent goodness. Until the 20th century, salt was tremendously valuable–it shares the same Latin root as the word salary–even though it was, literally, everywhere. Salt saturates the ocean, and beds of rock salt lie beneath most of the earth’s surface. Salt has never been rare; it has only been hidden and required serious work to produce. So too are potential disciples relatively common–but they take a lot of work to produce and are tremendously valuable once made.

Because salt is more or less indestructible–and because it is used to preserve other things for the eternities (including Egyptian mummies)–the Lord used it as a symbol of his covenant with us: “it is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee” (Num. 18:19). To help his people remember the nature of this healing, preserving, enriching, and life-giving covenant, God commanded Moses that “with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt” (Lev. 2:13). Kurlansky points out that the Jews still preserve a reminder of this covenant in their symbolic Sabbath meal: “On Friday nights Jews dip the Sabbath bread in salt. In Judaism, bread is a symbol of food, which is a gift from God, and dipping the bread in salt preserves it–keeps the agreement between God and his people” (7). So when you pass the salt for your Sunday dinner tonight, remember that the white stuff hasn’t always been cheap or readily available–and that it’s a reminder of your covenants.

A few of the other highlights from this book:

• Did you know that ketchup was originally a sauce made from juices crushed out of salted anchovies? Only around the time of the American Revolution did people in the United States begin extracting a sauce from salted “love-apples” (tomatoes).
• Did you know that Gandhi’s signature act of rebellion against the British government in India was picking up a piece of crusty ocean salt? Salt (and taxes on salt) was at least partly responsible for rebellions in India, China, and France.
• Did you know that there are multiple underground salt mines in which huge ballrooms, chandeliers, and statues have been carved out of rock salt that were once used to hold magnificent balls for royalty? Seriously, check out this picture of the Wieliczka salt mine:

• Did you know that the Onondaga Indians traded away almost half of New York state in return for the annual delivery of 150 bushels of salt? And that they’re STILL receiving the payment every year?

I’m telling you: salt is interesting stuff.

As mentioned in our last post, every Barbie that joins our ranks here at Modest Barbie Style is given a name, chosen by my 6-year old daughter, Avalon. These two new Barbies are in need of names, and she and I have decided that we are going to let you all in on the naming process.

–Leave a comment on this post with ONE suggested name for each Barbie. One for the dark-haired, and one for the blonde.

–Check all previous posts to make sure that you are not entering a name that has already been suggested.

–If I do not know you, leave either an e-mail or blog address so I can contact you if you win.

–On Sunday, February 7th, Avalon will choose the Barbies’ names from the ones suggested (the entrants will be unknown to her) and the people who suggested the winning names will be the winners!

–The winners will be contacted, and announced on this blog Monday February 8th, and will be able to custom order one Barbie outfit to their liking, free of charge! If you suggest both the winning names, you guessed it! You get TWO outfits!

So, turn up those creative juices, and try to imagine what a 6-year-old Barbie fanatic might name her Barbies!

A bit about the judge:

Avalon is 6 and 3/4 years old. She is exuberant, intelligent, and brighter than a summer day. She loves ruffles and sprinkles and glitter. She adores anything girly, but doesn’t think twice about getting good and dirty. She likes cowgirls and boots, as well as running, swimming, and riding her bike. Her favorite thing in the world is art, and she spends hours a day drawing, painting, and planning elaborate creations. She is so excited to be a part of this contest, and can’t wait to pick the winning names.

Good luck everyone!

On the Church Web site, at the bottom of the home page and on the right sidebar, are featured videos called Mormon Messages. They are short clips from General Conference talks with music, photos, and background videos added to them. My favorite is the one entitled “Prayer.”

THE NEW TESTAMENT (Matthew to Revelation)

It is worthy of note that in all the books of the New Testament we have a total of only seven references to the word Zion. Two of those are quotations of Isaiah’s and Zechariah’s prophecies about the Messiah who will come sitting on an ass. (See Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah 9:9).  As we have mentioned already, when the word appears in the text it is rendered “Sion,” the Greek translation of Zion.

JST Matthew 21:3-5

These verses are the fulfillment of the aforementioned prophecies about the Messiah. Think of its significance. Jehovah, the unembodied spirit of Christ in his role as the God of the Old Testament, inspires his prophets to write the prophecy, then he fulfills it when he comes in mortality. The multitudes turned out during the Passover celebration to hail Jesus Christ as the Messiah, to literally fulfill Zechariah’s prophecy. His triumphal entry into Jerusalem was an honor accorded only to kings and conquerors, yet less than a week later he was crucified by evil conspirators then resurrected as he had prophesied to complete the atonement.

All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy king cometh unto thee, and he is meek, and he is sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass.
And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them; and brought the colt, and put on it their clothes; and Jesus took the colt and sat thereon; and they followed him.

John 12:15

This is John’s account of the same fulfillment:

Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass’s colt.

Romans 9:31-33

Much could be said by way of commentary concerning the central message of Paul’s letter to the Romans. (See the author’s earlier post, “The Impossible Gospel of Jesus Christ,” for example). Let this much suffice —  Paul was writing to members of the church at Rome, hoping to persuade them that their dead works of righteousness were not sufficient for salvation. He was pointing out the necessity of faith in their Savior’s redemptive grace. Uninformed but sincere “born again Christians” today contend they are saved by grace only, based upon Paul’s assertions that works are not sufficient to save. Properly understood, the doctrine of grace and works is a companionship that works together like opposing blades of a pair of scissors, not a debate between conflicting doctrines. Good works are the natural outgrowth of the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. Good works without the Spirit to guide and direct cannot save, neither can empty professions of faith that do not grow into good works. Both are essential, and one without the other voids salvation. Faith comes first, “lest any man should boast” of his good works, then come the works growing out of companionship with the Holy Ghost.

Many members of the Church today think that their multitudinous good works as set forth in endless checklists and goals (real or imagined) will save them, forgetting the necessity of demonstrating their faith by walking by the light of the Holy Ghost. Some well-meaning leaders in the Church at the local levels seem to be trying to take the place of the Holy Ghost in our lives by prescribing a cradle-to-grave formula for salvation that is really only a contemporary hedging up of the path of salvation similar to the Pharisaical tradition Christ so openly condemned. Some modern-day saints by putting their works first, hoping thereby to somehow prove themselves worthy of the grace of God or the Spirit of the Holy Ghost, may be even more offensive than the smooth-faced hypocrites who assert they are saved by grace alone. Thinking we must first prove to be worthy of Christ’s grace is a little bit like trying to cure yourself of cancer before you go to see the doctor. It’s silly and Christ as the Great Physician is the only one who has the cure.

The message of Paul in Romans, like all timeless scripture, is a valuable record for us today. If we could only come to agreement on this fundamental doctrine with the rest of the Christian world, the Church would reap an incredible harvest of converts. Nominal “Christians” are offended by our emphasis on works, and we are so uncertain of the doctrine of grace that it is seldom even mentioned in our meetings.

Lest we digress too far, this passage is Paul’s caution to those who had joined the church at Rome, having accepted baptism after living the law of Moses. He warns that living the law is always a stumblingblock for faith in Christ if the law becomes the object of faith. Faith in the institution of Judaism, rather than faith in the Messiah, is precisely the reason the Jews were the instrument of Christ’s death on Calvary’s cross. Let us beware and take care, lest the same folly overtake us in our day.

But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. (See Isaiah 8:14).

JST Romans 11:25-27

Paul explains that the blindness and callousness of the Jews because of their steadfastness in holding to the law of Moses will prevail until the fullness of the Gentiles is come. That we are living at the end of the times of the Gentiles should be obvious now that the fullness of priesthood blessings is available to all God’s children without restriction. The JST makes a slight change in verse 26 – then replaces so.

For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.
And then all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

Hebrews 12:22-29

Paul unfolds to our view in these verses the glories of the exalted saints who comprise the church of the Firstborn. (See D&C 76:50-70; 92-95).  In preceding verses he speaks of Moses as the type and shadow for all those who seek to see God, and cautions against being an “Esau,” one who for a morsel of meat fornicates with false gods and sells his birthright as a son of God eternally. He also speaks of the Lord shaking down Babylon, removing those things which are shaken so the things that cannot be shaken will remain. Again, the theme of Babylon’s ultimate demise is a common one with all the prophets. Despite the warnings, however, it’s so hard not to love Babylon’s carnal comforts.

But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect (see TPJS, 325, where Joseph Smith teaches that the spirits of just men are made ministering servants to those who are sealed up unto eternal life. He says these matters of revelation may be known only by answer to prayer),
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
For our God is a consuming fire.

JST 1 Peter 2:6-9

Peter explains that Christ is the chief cornerstone in Zion, and he is the stone the unbelievers always reject in building their eternal soul while here in mortality. We who have the fullness of the gospel must accept him as our Redeemer, and build upon the rock of our salvation. Joseph Smith made alterations in these verses in the JST.

Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
Unto you therefore who believe, he is precious; but unto them who are disobedient, who stumble at the word, through disobedience, whereunto they were appointed, a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.
For the stone which the builders disallowed, is become the head of the corner.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. (See also Exodus 19:1-6 and Deuteronomy 7:6).

Revelation 14:1

John sees the culmination of events leading to the Savior’s appearance on mount Zion with the 144,000 to whom he makes earlier reference in Revelation 7.

And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.  (For more detail on the 144,000 see D&C 77:10-11).

It is satisfying to conclude our scriptural tour of Zion through the Bible on this significant and timely subject, but we need to expand the topic further to expand and deepen our awareness of how these high priests relate to our subject matter of Zion.

The writings and sermons of the Prophet Joseph Smith are replete with his admonitions and encouragement for us to be included among that great priesthood host of 144,000, and he links the admonition to become one of this vast priesthood host to “making our calling and election sure.” He said:

There will be 144,000 saviors on Mount Zion, and with them an innumerable host that no man can number. Oh! I beseech you to go forward, go forward and make your calling and your election sure. . . (TPJS, 366).

Let us now enquire as to our current understanding about the one hundred forty-four thousand high priests, twelve thousand from each tribe of Israel. There is a symbol here of completeness, since 144,000 is a multiple of 12, a symbol as a number that represents complete, whole or finished.  Which tribes will literally be involved? What does it mean that they are “sealed?” What does it mean to have “his Father’s named written in their forehead?” How are these high priests related to the inheritance of lands promised to Abraham? What is the timing of this event in relation to their initial sealing as revealed in Revelation 7? The answers to these and other questions will be considered before moving on.

Let it be remembered that Jacob, whose name was later changed to Israel, had four wives and twelve sons. (See Genesis 29:28-35; 30:1-24). He was the covenant son of Isaac, who was the covenant son of Abraham. The family also had a daughter (a fact seldom referred to) whose name was Dinah. The wives of Jacob are listed in their marriage order below, along with each of the children and their respective birth orders. The two bolded sons listed in red, Reuben and Joseph represent the transfer of  the birthright covenant blessings:

#1 Leah
1. Reuben
2. Simeon
3. Levi
4. Judah
9. Issachar
10. Zebulun
13. Dinah (girl)

#2 Rachel
11. Joseph
12. Benjamin

#3 Bilhah (Rachel’s handmaid)
5. Dan
6. Naphtali

#4 Zilpah (Leah’s handmaid)
7. Gad
8. Asher

With respect to the Abrahamic Covenant and the natural heir to their father, Reuben the firstborn was the covenant son. However, Reuben forfeited his inheritance by committing adultery with Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid. Jacob referred to the incident in the patriarchal blessing he gave to Reuben. (See Genesis 49:3-4).  By virtue of the ancient law of “primogeniture” the birthright then passed to the firstborn son of the second wife, Joseph (even though Joseph was eleventh in birth order) rather than to Simeon the second born son of the first wife as one might suppose. Once again, this fact is clearly spelled out in Joseph’s blessing from his father. (See Genesis 49:22-26).

When Ezekiel sees the eventual inheritance of the sons of Israel in and around Jerusalem in that forthcoming millennial day (see Ezekiel 48), we discover that Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph’s sons, have received their father’s double portion. The double blessing seems to have come as a result of Joseph’s having saved his father’s entire family when the famine in Canaan drove them to Egypt. Joseph Smith explains how Jacob conveyed this double portion to Joseph in these verses from the Inspired Version:

And now, of thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt, before I came unto thee into Egypt; behold, they are mine, and the God of my fathers shall bless them; even as Reuben and Simeon they shall be blessed, for they are mine; wherefore they shall be called after my name. (Therefore they were called Israel.)
And thy issue which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance, in the tribes; therefore they were called the tribes of Manasseh and of Ephraim.
And Jacob said unto Joseph when the God of my fathers appeared unto me in Luz, in the land of Canaan; he sware unto me, that he would give unto me, and unto my seed, the land for an everlasting possession.
Therefore, O my son, he hath blessed me in raising thee up to be a servant unto me, in saving my house from death;
In delivering my people, thy brethren, from famine which was sore in the land; wherefore the of thy fathers shall bless thee, and the fruit of thy loins, that they shall be blessed above thy brethren, and above thy father’s house;
For thou hast prevailed, and thy father’s house hath bowed down unto thee, even as it was shown unto thee, before thou wast sold into Egypt by the hands of thy brethren; wherefore thy brethren shall bow down unto thee, from generation to generation, unto the fruit of thy loins for ever;
For thou shalt be a light unto my people, to deliver them in the days of their captivity, from bondage; and to bring salvation unto them, when they are altogether bowed down under sin. (See JST Genesis 48:7-12).

So the list of the future family land distribution is adjusted somewhat in Ezekiel’s vision to include the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh in place of Joseph, and looks like this:

1. Dan
2. Asher
3. Nahtali
4. Manasseh
5. Ephraim
6. Reuben
7. Judah
8. Levi (Levites are intermingled with all tribes)
9. Benjamin
10. Simeon
11. Issachar
12. Zebulun
13. Gad

It is this proposed distribution of land inheritances, of course, that gives rise to the modern disputes between the Jews living in the State of Israel and their Muslim neighbors. The Jews claim the land in and around Jerusalem by inheritance, while the Muslims contend the Jews have only taken it away from them through conquest. To this day the Muslims, also descendents of Father Abraham, view the Holy Land merely as occupied territory that is rightfully theirs. Nevertheless, Ezekiel saw the latter-day vision of the land, “and the sanctuary of the Lord shall be in the midst thereof,” he said. (Ezekiel 48:10). In the preceding chapter Ezekiel is shown the latter-day temple in Jerusalem and the water that will issue there from to heal the Dead Sea. Joseph Smith described this event as one that would have to occur before the Second Coming of the Lord. (See TPJS, 286).

Although Dan is the first tribe mentioned in the allocation of the lands by Ezekiel, his name is missing altogether from John the Revelator’s list of tribes in Revelation 7:5-8. John names the twelve tribes from which the one hundred forty-four thousand high priests will come, twelve thousand from each. These are the ultimate spiritual blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant, whereas Ezekiel’s vision was focused on the temporal inheritance involving the land. Here is John’s list:

1. Juda (Judah)
2. Reuben
3. Gad
4. Aser (Asher)
5. Nephthalim (Naphtali)
6. Manasses (Manasseh)
7. Simeon
8. Levi
9. Issachar
10. Zabulon (Zebulun)
11. Joseph (Ephraim)
12. Benjamin

Speculation abounds as to why Dan would not be included in the spiritual blessings, some suggesting that a clue may be found in his patriarchal blessing. (See Genesis 49:16-18). At least one Bible scholar (Dummelow) suggests that a probable reason is that Jewish tradition says the Antichrist mentioned in Daniel will come from the tribe of Dan. (See Dummelow’s, The One Volume Bible Commentary, 1079).

But let us turn now to what comprises these supernal spiritual blessings in connection with the one hundred forty-four thousand high priests. In his vision John sees a remarkable host of priesthood bearers, and is given to understand that many of the judgments awaiting the wicked living on the earth in the last days are being forestalled until the servants of God are “sealed in their foreheads.” It is noteworthy that the opening sentence of this chapter begins with the words, “And after these things,” referring to the things that have just preceded this chapter, specifically, the “great earthquake.” The events described in Revelation 7 correlate with the events of the sixth seal, as we learn from the Prophet Joseph in the following revelation:

Q. What time are the things spoken of in this chapter to be accomplished?
A. They are to be accomplished in the sixth thousand years, or the opening of the sixth seal. (D&C 77:10).

The first four verses of the JST version of Revelation 7 tell us the following:

And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God; and I heard him cry with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
And the number of them who were sealed, were an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

The Prophet gave direct answers to several questions concerning these verses as recorded in modern scripture:

Q. What are we to understand by the four angels, spoken of in the 7th chapter and 1st verse of Revelation?
A. We are to understand that they are four angels sent forth from God, to whom is given power over the four parts of the earth, to save life and to destroy; these are they who have the everlasting gospel to commit to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people; having power to shut up the heavens, to seal up unto life, or to cast down to the regions of darkness.
Q. What are we to understand by the angel ascending from the east, Revelation 7th chapter and 2nd verse?
A. We are to understand that the angel ascending from the east is he to whom is given the seal of the living God over the twelve tribes of Israel; wherefore, he crieth unto the four angels having the everlasting gospel, saying: Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And, if you will receive it, this is Elias which was to come to gather together the tribes of Israel and restore all things. . .
Q. What are we to understand by sealing the one hundred and forty-four thousand, out of all the tribes of Israel — twelve thousand out of every tribe?
A. We are to understand that those who are sealed are high priests, ordained unto the holy order of God, to administer the everlasting gospel; for they are they who are ordained out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, by the angels to whom is given power over the nations of the earth, to bring as many as will come to the church of the Firstborn. (D&C 77:8-9, 11).

The grand key to understanding this chapter of holy writ lies in a funeral sermon delivered by the Prophet Joseph at the services for Judge Elias Higbee. In part, the Prophet said:

The world is reserved unto burning in the last days. He shall send Elijah the prophet, and he shall reveal the covenants of the fathers in relation to the children, and the covenants of the children in relation to the fathers.
Four destroying angels holding power over the four quarters of the earth until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads, which signifies sealing the blessing upon their heads, meaning the everlasting covenant, thereby making their calling and election made sure. (TPJS, 319-21).

It was Joseph’s explicit instruction on this matter that an angel with a seal importunes on behalf of the twelve tribes of Israel, and commands that the four destroying angels be stayed on their missions of destruction until the servants of God (144,000 in number) were sealed. This sealing ordinance is equivalent in Joseph’s teachings to “making their calling and election sure.” The Prophet further elaborates that this angel is “Elias.”  (We know that Elias is not only an ancient prophet, but also the symbolic title of the office of the forerunner in some dispensations. The scriptural record confirms that many prophets have held this office, and as a result confusion as to the identity of Elias is often a problem. Time and space do not permit an extensive treatment of that topic here, but the reader is referred to excellent notes in the concordance of the new LDS edition of the Bible [see “Elias” in the Bible Dictionary], or to Elder McConkie’s Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, Vol. 3, 491-2). While there can be no dispute that Elias can be many individuals, it was Elijah who conferred the sealing power upon the Prophet Joseph Smith. (See D&C 110:13-16; D&C 2:1-3; JS-H 1:38-39).  Joseph further taught that it was Elijah who would come before the great and dreadful day of the Lord to turn the hearts of children to their fathers and the hearts of fathers to their children. He stated that the word “turn” should have been translated “bind” or “seal.” (See TPJS, 330).

Elder Bruce R. McConkie gives this further explanation:

And now we learn that after the converts are made [out of all the] kindreds of the earth, there will be those among them who advance and progress until they become kings and priests. See Rev. 1:1-6; 5:1-14; 20:4-6. John here sees 144,000 of these kings and priests, 12,000 from each tribe, converted, baptized, endowed, married for eternity, and finally sealed up unto eternal life, having their calling and election made sure. See 2 Pet. 1:1-19. (DNTC, Vol. 3, 491. See also McConkie’s treatment of the doctrine of having one’s calling and election made sure in DNTC, Vol. 3, 323-350).

Let us conclude this topic with one further insight from Joseph Smith, as he elaborated on the organization within the Church that would become the instrument of the fulfillment of this remarkable prophecy associated with setting up the kingdom for the Second Coming of our Lord:

If the first Seventy are all employed, and there is a call for more laborers, it will be the duty of the seven presidents of the first Seventy to call and ordain other Seventy and send them forth to labor in the vineyard, until, if needs be, they set apart seven times seventy, and even until there are one hundred and forty-four thousand thus set apart for the ministry. (TPJS, 75).

At this writing (December, 2007) there are now eight Quorums of the Seventy (and by the way, they are all ordained High Priests though we still call them “Seventies”). We appear to be well on our way toward organizing ourselves as a Church in fulfillment of that glorious day when there are 144,000 of these high priests whom John envisioned.

Elder A. Theodore Tuttle further underscored the topic when he said, “The work performed in the temples [the sealing ordinances associated with the blessings of having one’s calling and election made sure] stays the judgments of God from smiting the earth with a curse.” (Ensign, May, 1980, 40).

Before leaving this discussion of the composition of the tribes of Israel, please refer to Appendix C for a “family group sheet” illustrating their relative position in the expansive family of Abraham. It is estimated between ninety and ninety-five percent of people living on the earth today are descended from this noble patriarch and his wives. Our role in the family as descendants of Ephraim, the son with the birthright blessing, is to deliver the fulness of the restored gospel message with its attendant temple ordinances and covenants to the rest of our Abrahamic cousins worldwide. Under an inspired latter-day prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, the Church is dotting the globe with missionaries and temples in fulfillment of that divine mandate to us. We are the messengers with the invitation to the wedding feast.

Consider the inspired and optimistic counsel to us from President Monson’s predecessor, even in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks:

Now, I do not wish to be an alarmist. I do not wish to be a prophet of doom. I am optimistic. I do not believe the time is here when an all-consuming calamity will overtake us. I earnestly pray that it may not. There is so much of the Lord’s work yet to be done. We, and our children after us, must do it. (President Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Times in Which We Live,” Ensign, November, 2001, 72).

The work of gathering Israel and preparing them for their temple covenants continues unabated, despite the worldwide economic meltdown described by some as the worst recession since the Great Depression.  Just this week the Church announced the Payson Utah Temple, the fifteenth temple in Utah, and the 152nd temple either announced or operating worldwide.

President Spencer W. Kimball, a prophet among prophets, said this in 1980:

I have lived for more than half the 150 years the restored Church has been upon the earth in this last dispensation. I have witnessed its marvelous growth until it now is established in the four corners of the earth. As the Prophet Joseph said:

“Our missionaries are going forth to different nations, and in Germany, Palestine, New Holland, Australia, the East Indies, and other places, the Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done” (History of the Church, 4:540).

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Sin keeps man from prayer, but prayer keeps man from sin.

Thanks for your support at the “Niblet awards.” The week of voting
comes to an end today and my fear of coming in last has dissipated
– and it appears that “Mormon Church History” and the “Patriarch
Series” will end up somewhere in the middle with a cluster of others.
I’m very happy to have been in the running for this.

To see some nice Mormon articles/blogs, it’s worth browsing through
“the best of the bloggernacle,” 2009.

http://mormonmatters.org/2010/01/25/vote-here-2009-niblets-awards/#more-9348