Do Mormons Believe in the Rapture?

I remember first hearing the term "rapture" in regards to being taken up into heaven, about four years ago. Though a common term and topic in mainstream Christianity it's foreign to most members of the LDS church. Though we don't use that term or theology, we know very clearly how it will play out here on Earth when Christ returns.

 Here is an online Q&A response that I thought offered a great explanation. I pasted it below:

If you asked a Mormon about the rapture, you might not get a clear answer.  The word, “rapture” isn’t part of our vocabulary in this context, and you won’t hear a lesson about it on Sunday.  As far as my research goes, there isn’t a consensus among other Christians concerning what the rapture is either, but the basic idea is that righteous individuals will experience Heavenly glory at an event where they encounter Christ.  And yes, we believe that will happen.

Do we believe in the popular idea that all or even some of the righteous souls on this earth will all be taken away permanently, leaving the rest behind?  No, this earth is God’s creation and He will not abandon it.  In fact, quite the opposite will occur, and the earth will be burned at His coming (Nahum 1:3-5).  This is a crucial part in returning the earth to a state like the Garden of Eden which is described by John as a “new heaven, and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1) and is symbolic of our personal conversion (Noah’s flood = Baptism.  Renewal of the earth by fire = Baptism by fire and spirit. John 3:5).  The righteous will be spared during this period and will live on the newly cleansed earth during the Millennium of Christ’s reign.  The righteous that will be spared will be the honest and just people of the earth, not members of any specific church.  This includes all people who are honest, chaste, and live according to their own level of light.

Prior to this renewal, God will be pouring as much light, truth and spirit onto the earth for our benefit.  This is to help all to endure what may be termed the “tribulation,” another word not found in our vocabulary in this context.  This coincides with our belief concerning the increasing wickedness and suffering that will exist before Second Coming of Christ.  With God’s help, it is and will continue to be possible to be happy in spite of what is happening around us.  And also because of God’s help, it is our responsibility to search out those in need of a caring heart.

The subject of the Second Coming is extremely complex in its details and yet very simple by nature.  One could focus intently on every sign, every prophecy and every scripture and still miss the very point of the matter, that is, that Christ is returning and we must be ready to receive Him.  Study the scriptures and the words of the prophets for yourself to learn about His gospel.

Here is another great response to this question: http://en.fairmormon.org/Mormonism_and_doctrine/Rapture_and_LDS_theology

A Modern Day Lehi

Here is a very inspiring story of a modern day Lehi. I came across this link on the woodzone blog and couldn't resist sharing. Hope you enjoy it!

http://thundervoiceeagle.weebly.com/painting.html

Priestcraft in Our Day

It seems as of lately I have been hearing more and more about members of the church getting excommunicated for priestcraft. This seems to be happening more often and really concerned me. I was reminded of my favorite post on my blog - a talk from Elder Oaks cautioning us about how our strengths can become our downfall. Elder Oaks warns that those who have an amazing ability to write, speak and teach and who gather a large following because of their gifts, are at greatest risk for being tempted into priestcraft. From what I have seen - most who go down that road do not give up their "profession" (that they turned their gift into) in order to come back to the gospel. Here is a link to that post:

 http://allstandtall.blogspot.com/2012/07/life-changing-article.html

I am an author and a speaker and it's a humble reminder to me that when sharing my testimony about the gospel to others in hopes of uplifting and edifying them, I need to always do so without payment.  One of my books How to Date Your Spouse, is sold at Deseret Book but is not at all connected to the gospel. It's a fun book full of date ideas. I had never felt bad in the past for paid public speaking on the topic of dating your spouse - HOWEVER when I have been asked to speak in a church setting in which I knew I would bare my testimony about the importance of marriage and tie in gospel principles, I never felt good about accepting money and therefore spoke for free.

I think if you offer services of a spiritual nature and you advertise them to gain followers, customers, or fans of your work, you are on the slippery path to priestcraft. If it's your desire to edify and uplift others through Christ - do it on the down low. Prayerfully seek to be led to those you can help rather than advertising your name in lights so they will be led to you. Serving the Lord's sheep should never be about you. Remembering this will help you steer clear of being lured into the danger of priestcraft.

Also, it's important to not be a part of lifting others onto that pedestal of falling into priestcraft. Be careful with praise and becoming a follower of members who have special gifts. I think all too often when these members are excommunicated, they take a large number with them whether they mean to or not. People rely on their loyalty towards these members rather than loyalty to the Lord and his gospel. In the end, it's the saving ordinances that hold your salvation, not your loyalty to members of the church.

Satan is working hard to find these church members who have an amazing spirit and who are great leaders and teachers and he is tempting them into these positions. He knows that by doing so he can lead others away - even the very elect.

The Lord needs us to help build his kingdom. He has blessed us with gifts to do so. When serving on the earth in his ministry - the Lord never accepted payment. Let us strive to be more like him. Let us be charitable and help others for nothing other than the love of our fellow men.

I say this in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

An Even Six

I found out a week ago that I am expecting a baby! We'll now have an even number in our family. I knew over the last year that another little baby needed to come and spent many months convincing my husband to try for another. Once he was on board it happened very quickly. In fact, in regards to my last post when I was in Germany I knew that I was expecting before I officially found out. The child's voice that I heard speaking to me from far away in the middle of the night, I knew was my next baby. It was such a tender and sweet moment that I will never forget. I'm so excited to see who this special little spirit is and how he/she will bless our family! I'm so grateful for forever families.

Voices From Beyond

While visiting my inlaws this week, I had an interesting experience in the middle of the night.

I don't know what time it was but I'm guessing around 3:30 A.M. I heard children's voices possibly even just one child. It was very happy and almost laughing and joyous. It sounded muffled so I couldn't make out what it was saying but at the same time it was so loud I could hear it in my room and it woke me up. There was an echo to each word said. All the kids were fast asleep and it lasted a good half hour or so. It was very interesting and made me happy. 

I  felt as though it was a voice of someone beyond the veil who loved me and was trying to say something to me. Maybe a child? It sounded far away as though it were coming from heaven but yet was so loud I could hear it in my room. I could hear it inside of me. It was the strangest thing.

The last time I visited four years ago, I had seen an appraition in the middle of the night go down the hallway. When I described what it looked like to my mother in law her eyes grew big and she believed it to be her father. What I described him wearing was what he had worn the day he passed away. She had always beleived that each night he visited her in her room to check on her and then made his way down the hall to tilt my son's picture on the wall to let her know he was there. Each morning the picture would be crooked and she would fix it. I saw him come through her bedroom door and down the hall towards my son's picture. She couldn't believe it.

We have always felt as though my husband's grandpa was a guardian angel to my son. When he was two years old he would tell us about a friend that visited him often who wore all white clothing. He said his name was Mykin. One day he saw a picture of Manuel's grandpa and said that was him. Manuel's grandpa is German and in German "Mein Kind" means "My child". I beleive that's what his "friend" probably said each time he greeted him and so Gabe called him "Mykin".One day this friend of his stopped visitng and we asked him why? He responded that his friend had to go back to work.

One day when Manuel's grandpa was slowly dying we visitied him at his home. He was lying in a hospital bed. Manuel and I were newly married and I didn't know his family too well yet. His grandpa was blind at that point and they said he was out of his mind. He heard my voice and asked for me. I thought that strange since he didn't speak any English and he didn't know me. Plus there were people he didn't remeber anymore. He took my hand, squoze it as hard as he could and wept like a baby. He was saying things in German and he kissed my hand. No one told me what he said, but I felt like he had seen beyond this world and he knew things. The rest of the family thought he had gone crazy, but I believe he prbably was visiting beyond the veil. He probably met our first born son who wouldn't be born until six years later. He knew things we didn't.

When I was pregnant with Gabe I remember one night feeling Manuel's grandpa's presence next to my bed and it was a very calm and loving feeling. I felt safe. I beleive he has always had a special stewardship over my son.

Miracles - Reminders from God

Just wanted to share a great experience I had earlier this month. Click below to read the story.

http://lindseyunedited.blogspot.com/2013/07/somewhere-over-rainbow.html

When the Spirit Speaks

Last week I had a certain friend on my mind  for quite a few days. I hadn't talked to her in a while but for some reason I couldn't stop thinking about her.

I happened to talk to her sister a few days later and during our small talk I asked her how her sister (my friend) was doing. She said she was doing great. That was good to hear but for some reason I still couldn't get her off of my mind. I didn't know why.

The very next day I woke up in the morning and pulled up my author blog. I was very shocked, confused and a bit embarrassed at the nameless post I found. I thought it was a prank. I had just spent the day before heavily promoting my author blog and this post was going to taint my professional reputation. A very personal post about someone's frustration with her husband and marriage was starring back at me. Whomever it was, was clearly in a state of depression and she spoke of unkind things about herself. It was very sad to read and I didn't know who had written it. At first I thought it was my friend who shares the blog with me. I reached out to her and she had no clue who had written it. Then I thought it was some kind of joke or that someone had hacked into our blog. I hurried and changed the password.

As the day wore on, I read through it again and noticed that this person stated the names of her children and their ages. As I thought about the names it finally clicked that this cry for help was from the very friend I had been thinking about all week - it was a match. She had posted this the night before - the day I was most concerned about her. But how did this post end up on my blog?

I realized instantly that it was the spirit who had sent her very words to me. The spirit wanted me to reach out to her but I wasn't putting any urgency into it as everything appeared to be okay. So, the spirit needed to show me exactly what was going on so that I would make it a priority and know how to help. I remembered that a week prior I had written her on facebook and asked her to troubleshoot a bug on my blog. She needed my username and password so she could take a look - she must have forgotten to log out.

Right away I went to go visit my friend and bring her a treat to cheer her up. I struggled about how I was going to share with her what had happened without making it awkward for her. She didn't answer the door so I left the treat on her porch and called her. She didn't answer the phone so I left her a message. Later she called me to thank me for the treat - I asked her how she was doing and she said she was fine. It was then I told her what had happened and that I knew.

My friend began to profusely apologize and said that it was an accident. She kept a private online journal and didn't realize she was still logged into my blog. Realizing that her private plea for help had been so very public really worried her. I assured her that I had taken it down early in the morning and I doubted anyone had seen it. I then told her it was a good thing because the spirit had been trying to tell me all week but I wasn't understanding - so this needed to happen. I told her that my heart ached for her and I wanted to help. She became emotional and in her tear filled voice told me that she had been suffering from depression and was having a very hard day that day (the day I asked her sister how she was doing). She thanked me for asking and being so willing to help - and though there was nothing she felt I could do for her at the moment at least she knew that I was aware and that her Heavenly Father was aware and that we both cared.

This was an amazing testimony builder for me that the spirit speaks to us often even when we think it's just our own thoughts and we brush them off.  I don't believe in coincidences and I believe that our thoughts are not always our own. When the spirit speaks we need to act and if we don't we might be missing out on a very important opportunity to help someone. If we are trying to act on a thought or prompting but we don't know how or we don't understand it, we can pray to know what to do. In my case the spirit needed to speak in a very loud way to get my attention. When the spirit speaks - heed the prompting. You may never know what resulted from your efforts or in my case you may have some intense revelation - either way you will be blessed and you will be blessing others.

I say this in the name of Jesus Christ amen.