Mosiah 18:9 - Yea, and are willing to mourn with those
that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as a witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be
redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection that ye may have eternal life
This is such a fascinating topic! I know Boyd, and so it was fun to watch this video. He and Rod Meldrum talk about theories surrounding the travels of Lehi and his family to the Promised Land. Boyd was fortunate to go on an adventure in which this voyage was sort of recreated to experience what it would have been like for Nephi and his family. I love the part where Boyd talks about the Mulekites and one King Zedkiah's sons (heir to the throne of Judah) surviving and making it to America, and thus the covenant and covenant people being preserved and taken to the Western Hemisphere. Also the Phoenician connections in the Book of Mormon. Enjoy!
While researching another topic I came across this article and wanted to share! It's another breadcrumb for a topic that keep coming across my path. Must be important! The following excerpt from The Holy Temple by President Boyd K. Packer illustrates how we can receive "help from beyond" to do temple work. At the rededication of the Logan Temple in 1979 I recounted an incident in the life of my wife's grandfather, which I include here. The Logan Temple is sacred to our family, for there my wife and I were married, and my wife's grandfather responded to the call and helped to construct that temple. C. O. Law, the superintendent of construction for that temple, wrote on February 25, 1884: "This letter certifies that Brother Julius Smith of Brigham City has worked faithfully and honorably on the Logan Temple for nearly two years, and as the temple nears completion, his branch of the labor being terminated, he is now honorably released and we sincerely trust that Brother Smith may become a participant in the blessings of the House of the Lord which he has assisted to erect." Brother Smith with his wife, Josephina, lived on a few acres of ground in Brigham City. There they raised fourteen children, my wife's father being the youngest. When the call came for workers to assist in the building of the temple, he responded. Each Monday morning he left his family in the care of his wife and hiked up through Flat Bottom Canyon, down Dry Canyon to the south end of Cache Valley, and on to Logan. After his week's work on Saturday, he walked home to spend Sunday with his family. He was not a young man, just over five feet tall, and very slight in build. He was, nevertheless, assigned as a hod carrier. For the younger readers I explain that a hod carrier would fill a V-shaped wooden box full of mortar or plaster. He would lift it to his shoulder and carry it to where the masons were working, often carrying this very heavy weight up long ladders. On the afternoon of August 11, 1883, Brother Smith was supplying two plasterers who were finishing the ceiling a hundred feet above the ground in the northwest tower of the temple. Suddenly the scaffolding gave way, tipped to one side, and fell. The projections for the spiral staircase had been installed. The three men tumbled through these projections and landed at various levels amid the rubble. The record states that they were removed to their homes and soon returned to their work, having sustained only minor injuries. The hope "that Brother Smith would participate in the blessings of the House of the Lord which he had assisted to erect" was amply fulfilled. He went there often. As a young man he had lived among the Indians. In later years when Indian bands would visit Brigham City, one of the Indians would go to the home of Brother Smith. His visits were not welcomed by the rest of the family, for he would peer in every window intently until he determined that Brother Smith was home. And only then would he knock at the door. One night, some years after the completion of the temple, Brother Smith was reading his newspaper. He heard a noise at the window, and he saw his Indian friend peering in with an unusually sad expression. He went to the door and found no one there, and the snow beneath the window had not been disturbed. This incident bothered him greatly, and during the following week he tried to locate and get some information about this Indian friend. He learned that he had died. In due time, he recorded, "Today I have taken care of his work in the temple." That very evening he was looking through the mail and again heard a sound at the window. When he looked up he saw his Indian friend, this time smiling. He counted that a very sacred experience, and in the record of a great amount of work done by this faithful grandfather in this temple is found the name Be-a-go-tia. I have wondered over the years about the meaning of the scripture recorded three times in the Book of Mormon, that "the course of the Lord is one eternal round." (1 Nephi 10:19, Alma 7:20, Alma 37:12.) I can see one meaning as it relates to our work for the dead. Genealogical work, the essential preparation for temple work, puts us to seeking through the records for those who have lived in the past. We look back to the past to find them. We perform temple ordinance work for them and then we look forward to the future to meet them. Something sacred is consummated when we have safely recorded, in the list of ordinances completed, the names of those who lived in our past and who yet live in our future. This ordinance work is crucial to us and to the Church. In President Packer’s characteristic warmth and authoritative manner, he examines in appropriate detail the doctrines and practices surrounding the holy temples that dot the world. A timely and valuable book, The Holy Temple will help members at every stage of life as it focuses on a temple’s purpose, beauty, and the blessings it offers. Part one offers the Lord’s invitation: “Come to the temple.” It sets forth the requirements for attendance and the attitude and behavior appropriate for those attending that holy place on the first and all subsequent occasions. Part two deals in brief fashion with the ancient temples, then turns to the central human figure in the work of the temple—Elijah the Prophet, who anciently held the keys relative to the sealing power of the priesthood. Malachi’s prophecy and the human tradition about Elijah’s return in the latter days are impressively set forth. Elijah’s return and all that it means for the happiness and salvation of man-kind are the themes of parts three and four. Following early Restoration scenes, the Kirtland Temple is built at great personal sacrifice. Dedicated, it fulfills a major purpose in the glorious visions of April 3, 1836, the Savior himself introducing three heavenly beings who then convey priesthood keys. One of these is Elijah. Thereafter the revelations progressively develop the doctrine of temple work for both the living and the dead; under divine direction temple ceremonies are introduced, and participants eagerly flock to the Nauvoo Temple; through President Wilford Woodruff the supporting work of lineage linking is clarified by revelation; and the spirit of Elijah is manifest both in and out of the Church as genealogical research and temple work blossom, temples multiply, and those beyond the veil assist those involved in the work here.
I completely forgot to share something in the video that was in my notes. I had wanted to mention that on Sunday we watched an episode of Little House on the Prarie that was titled "Injun" and was about a Native American boy who was trying to assimilate into the white man culture and the local kids were making it very hard on him and being cruel. The underlying theme was that instead of forcing someone to conform to the norm, allow them to be who they really are. At the end of the episode the teacher agreed to call him by his Sioux name "Spotted Eagle" instead of his new white name "Joseph". Then when I heard that the Chiefs had won the Super Bowl after we watched this episode, I began to feel that we are entering the time spoken of in Doctrine and Covenants 49:24 -25
25 But before the great day of the Lord shall come, Jacob shall flourish in the wilderness, and the Lamanites shall blossom as the rose."
25 Zion shall flourish upon the hills and rejoice upon the mountains, and shall be assembled together unto the place which I have appointed.
The prophets of the BOM foretold of the European exploration of America (1 Ne. 13:12-15), the American Revolution (1 Ne. 13:16-19), and the gathering of Israel (1 Ne. 22; 3 Ne. 20-22). They warned of deceptive practices among religionists, including priestcraft, and secret combinations here in America in our day.
In the Journal of Discourses Orson Pratt 3:3 he says,"
"Zion must be redeemed before that day; the temple must be built upon the consecrated spot, the cloud and glory of the Lord rest upon it, and the Lamanites, many of them, brought in, and they must build up the NEW JERUSALEM! It is true, so says the Book of Mormon, that inasmuch as the Gentiles receive the Gospel, they shall assist my people the remnant of Jacob, saith the Lord, to build the New Jerusalem. And when they have got it built, then we are told that they shall assist my people who are of Jacob to be gathered in unto the New Jerusalem."
And lastly regarding prophecy of the "Chiefs", in the Journal of Discourses Wilford Woodruff 15:35 he said,
"The Lamanites will blossom as the rose on the mountains. I am willing to say here that, though I believe this, when I see the power of the nation destroying them from the face of the earth, the fulfillment of that prophecy is perhaps harder for me to believe than any revelation of God that I ever read. It looks as though there would not be enough left to receive the Gospel; but notwithstanding this dark picture, every word that God has ever said of them will have its fulfillment, and they, by and by, will receive the Gospel. It will be a day of God’s power among them, and a nation will be born in a day. Their CHIEFS WILL BE FILLED WITH THE POWER OF GOD AND RECEIVE THE GOSPEL, and they will go forth and build the new Jerusalem, and we shall help them. They are branches of the house of Israel, and when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and the work ceases among them, then it will go in power to the seed of Abraham."
WE ARE LIVING IN EXCITING AND REMARKABLE TIMES! ❤️
(Side note: I had read an article that this was Super Bowl 33 and I quoted that in the video. Clearly that is incorrect. It was not Super Bowl 33).
