Gethsemane seen by ourselves? Lawrence Wortham

speaker: Lawrence Wortham -“our personal garden of Gethsemane” location: 860 N. Fairway Dr., Washington, Sunday, September 27, 2015

hey Bruce Randall, I am at a fireside for 45+ singles in Green Springs. As you know you and I are both single. There is a website called Dixie singles that outlines all the activities for each week/month. I learned about it long ago but it seems too boring to look things up. I needed a real life person to ask and remind me. Rachel Gingell’s does that by means of text messages four or five times a week. So I came tonight because of the reminder today. I signed up for the reminders this last week.@ Wouldn’t it be cool to spend a day or week with Jesus Christ before he turned the age of 30. How could he live a perfect life? I would love to watch it be done even in his/this plain old world. @Jesse Bird in Sunday school today, asked how long we can live perfectly. An hour? @I have a son, Louis, who lost his St. George job in February and started in Las Vegas in July. There are 750 employees at the Hilton. He is in sales. I left him for, four-minute voicemails today. He can’t attend church and he has hours on the road each day. I once traveled two hours a day to work. He tells me he travels four. Since we had a two-year-old birthday yesterday and the baby blessing today there was lots to tell him about. I really only covered one story with a bunch of sidelights. @I have my youngest son Michael’ 92 working at the Centerville Walmart. I wanted to leave him a voice mail as well, but he does not have his voicemail set up yet. I told him about it last month but no luck fixing it yet. I wrote him with text instead. Michael J needed my signature for a loan this summer. I have gotten him to text me once a week if I remind him until he does. He has fallen for his first love. A Samoan girl named Shy (Xi) with two little boys. He loves little kids! @Our speaker at this fireside thinks we can all view Gethsemane. By revelation we can see it and experience it. He says Peter, James and John were the three to accompany him and witness it but Matthew, Mark and Luke are the ones who wrote it and shared it with us. Not the three who were there! Matthew, Mark, Luke experienced it by revelation just like we can. What? (I can’t quite agree, yet.) He also says that Adam came to Jesus Christ in the garden of Gethsemane to strengthen him and showed to Jesus Christ all of us,Us(his seed) looking on, behind Peter, James, and John, with our gratitude for his atoning sacrifice. Isaiah and Abinadi both explained that Christ would see his seed, us, then, during that hour. In my testimony in our ward today I reread two verses we had just sung from page 9 the King of glory speaks to earth again. Same with Angels, verse 2, I asked the kids if they learn that at school? Nope, but isn’t it wonderful! In the past I have wondered if the Bible is true. Why does the whole Christian world love and value the Bible? Answer: because it isn’t fake… It is real! God bless you – Bruce Randall – Vern Jensen PS. This fireside giver had Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer last year. Jerry Buys, in our ward, is the longest lived H Lymphome patient in the world, he tells me. No one lives this long with HL. @ (Lawrence W) He was transferred to the garden of Gethsemane in his prayer/dream. He followed the three apostles and watched. Jesus Christ had to do it alone. “I saw how we gave him strength and there were others[all of you] behind me”. Jesus Christ said, to us, “my brothers and my sisters, not for me but for you.” “We were with him every moment. We strengthened him every step of the way.” I(LW) knew that I alone would have to experience the Hodgkin’s lymphoma pain. But we have company. I had company: Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost.~@~v-So what do you think of that idea? I found it so weird! I made two efforts to visit with him after the meeting/fireside. He had 5 musical numbers mixed in and used a projector for scriptures and pictures, including his radiation treatment glowing in his chest from last year. He was a little guy but the soloist accompanied with violin and piano filled the chapel over and over again with stark beauty. We were silent and captured, except for me writing the above. : ) @ When I captured Lawrence I thanked him and told him how beautiful it was and how thoughtful it had made me. I remember an apostle back at the turn of the 19th century telling of a similar experience and aske who it was. Neither of us could remember his name. 10 minutes later I finally recalled it: Orson F Whitney. I found him and repeated it twice and he nodded. I looked it up when I got home and also found a summary of his life and apostleship. I asked my friend BS if he thought it was possible? He said that if it was LW should not be sharing it. That is something too sacred to share. I asked Elder T Minardi about sharing things like that when he visited me at the FHC, Tuesday. He shared that he had, had some very sacred experiences in his life that he seldom shares but when prompted, when he feels inspired to he occassionally shares them. So now the ultimate question: Is that a revelation I could humble myself for and seek? Lawrence encouraged us to strive for it and when the time is right and we are meek enough we can experience it too. He called it a gift because of his extreme condition and finally wanting to know why? What do you think? I have two friends that have died and come back and shared and remembered some of their experiences with me. I shared Visions of Glory by John Pontius with them last year. A book I wanted to be part of the sealed portion of the BoM! I was so disappointed to find out that proported to be nonfiction, it was really fiction. Fake! Sad! Just another money  making scheme. Ouch! And focussed on Mormon’s. @This is a big old world. If all open-heart surgery patients die and visit heaven and then come back, there are people in every ward who have been there and can testify. Two in my ward that I know of. NDE- near death experiences is what the world calls them. Hugh Nibley had one at 26yo, during an appendectomy, which clinched his testimony for his life! p.115 Hugh Nibley A Consecrated Life .Tuesday, 9/29/15,3:48pm, Hello Brandon, I was getting tired and starting to fall asleep indexing, so I often wake up when I start writing you, so I am going to try it. You are loved, I think you are wonderful. Did you notice how I avoided saying I love You? Lol @ I am flying high. Optimistic, flattered and thoughtful. Last week I felt like I was desperate to go fishing. I spent 10$ on treble hooks, size 16 and about $5 on weights. It seems so silly to me to buy expensive lead weights when I could just tie a rock to my line for free! Who needs to spend money on weights? @ Anyway, I debated with myself each day last week if it would be the day I went. Each night I would tel myself, I can go anytime, there is no urgency. If there are other things I do here all the better because as the water cools the better the fishing. Otter Creek Res. Is at 32% capacity and I am curious about what that looks like. How the shoreline has changed. @ I read that Panguitch is starting to refill slowly. But not Otter Creek yet. Of course the science teacher in me is asking why? @ You have probably heard about Solarlunar cycles. It was proposed as a theory in 1930. Fish bite more at certain times of the day. I have hunted and hunted for an easy to understand chart that just fell into my lap last spring. Day after day I have phrased questions on Google, asking what is the best time of the day to fish, and every other variety related to that but haven't had any luck. Hours and hours! I didn't give up. I knew it was there somewhere and I finally, Finally, FINALLY found Solarlunar cycles last night. I don't like lists and calendars with numbers as much as I like graphs showing the highs and low points of the day. Rather than be dependent on that particular website I decided to study to see how the charts are made. There are other factors such as cloud cover, and wind and rain and temperature all influence a particular locality and might even be more important on certain days and conditions, like a caddis fly hatch etc.. Ok, you get to listen to what I learned: The best hours of the day are when the tied is up and down. That means the moon is a major influence. When the moon is directly above or its opposite, directly below, those are the periods of most feeding activity in trout. (and deer and bass etc.) The full moon at midnight and the new moon at midnight are the best times of the month, out of all the particular days. So am I excited to understand this? Man, am I ever! I heard a number of times that there are more crimes and murders committed on full moon nights and that they increase the police force. But that was just gossip, wive's tails, myth. Scientific studies show that the spikes in crime are unrelated to a full or new moon. Relief! It made me feel unsafe and insecure during that time of the month during the years that I believed it. Don't you hate being caught having believed a superstition!!!? Yuck. That is the ultimate insult to a scientist like me. I got caught in a superstition! Now the cool part. The fish bite best when the moon is directly above and below whether we can see it or not. And it happens twice a day. There are smaller activity peaks at the quarter day points but not as big as the half day points. Sunrise and Sunset with the changing light are also of major influence of course. But I have fished on Otter Creek for 24 hours a day and kept track of when the biting happened and didn't and there were some sunrises and sunsets that had no increase in biting. Until I had a big fish take my 5th pole out to troll with the boats, : (, I had 5 measuring devices for taking readings. If you can't understand what I just said don't worry about it. It was mostly for my own entertainment. Lol. @ I haven't purchased the Powerbait that works the best yet. $4 for 1 ounce just seems so extravagant to me. But it needs to float up off the bottom. Which means it has to have fat or grease or oil in it because oil floats, it is less dense than water. That's why marshmallows are added to the worm hook too. To float it off the bottom. In southern Utah was have crawdads in all the warm waters which steal your bait and pull gently on your line if you do not get it up off the bottom. @ Guess how many flavors of Powerbait there are? 12! Plus now you can get them with glitter for another dollar! Plus they have floating power pellets as well in 10 plus flavors! @So that is about 30 or 40 different bottles you can buy at Walmart! Which one should you buy? The poor fisherman!! If you buy one bottle of each flavor and variation it would be about $150!! So frustrating! And the ones that look good to humans, might not be the ones that look and smell good to fish! What a scam! What a corner on the market! So sickening. @ Brad Leany got so frustrated with me when he would ask me what I was fishing with and I would answer, worm or worm and marshmallow. “Vern, they don't always bite on worms!” Now I am asking myself if I should even bother taking worms? Guess not. @Now the real reason I told you all of this besides, my being fascinated and absorbed with it, IS that I believe most of my angst about needing to fish last week was an emotional escape from feeling guilty about being reproved by the Bishop the Sunday before. I just wanted to escape and be successful and some how regain my emotional/ spiritual equilibrium. In the past when I am going through those stages I just have to buck up and face life and keep my classes taught and my lessons prepared. But now a little blip in my spirituality really causes havock about how I feel. But as you know I really didn't sin/ transgress knowingly. @ So why am I thanking HF for feeling at equilibrium again this week. Answer: I confessed before the ward. @ I noticed Sunday when I saw Bishop Quincy Adams I felt chagrin again like the week before. I kept close tabs on him as he came in and visited with one family and another, from this side of the chapel to the other side and then up to the pulpit to conduct. I was worried he might look me in the eye. And I sit on the top row on the stand to conduct the music. . .after I asked myself why I was feeling that I tried to form a phrase or sentence that would release the pressure/ tension/ embarrassment I was feeling again. I decided I would say, I went to a baby blessing this morning and I have given up taking pictures in church. Sadly, once I was prepared I didn't get a chance to use it. So I bore my testimony second and repeated the words from his testimony about gratitude for repentance. It was one of the funnest testimonies I have ever shared. There were some little Jesse Bird Family children sitting at the front who were watching me and paying close attention. I switched to little child mode and showed and explained on my fingers how we have 12 apostles right now but next week we will have 15 again. One of the reasons I felt it was good to share with my ward is because there may be others that get lulled into a sense of comfortability taking pictures in church like I did. Plus, it wasn't a sin so odious that I really needed to be feeling the deep shame I had fought all week. @ @bps, I'm not sure how I am going to send these next 3 talks. They came in exactly this order and they each seemed to build in spirit. So I somehow want you to experience what I did as I listened.vj @Behold Your Little Ones @Margaret S. Lifferth @First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency @While I have been serving in this calling, I have made some new friends. Eliza can sing many Primary songs. Lucas is learning the Articles of Faith in Spanish. Caitlyn is shy but curious. I sat by Martha in Primary, and she wrapped her arm through mine. These children reflect the light of the gospel in their faces. @Who are the children in your home or in your neighborhood? Look at them. Think of them. The Savior teaches

us that to enter the kingdom of God, we must become as a child, “submissive, meek, humble, patient, [and] full of love” (Mosiah 3:19). @But however full of faith children come to us, they face the challenges of a fallen world. What does it take to help these children keep the light of faith in their eyes? We know that nothing can replace a righteous family in the life of a child. But in today’s world, children will need not only a devoted mother and father, but they will need each of us to protect, teach, and love them. @Brothers and sisters, protecting children means that we provide an environment that invites the Spirit into their lives and validates it in their hearts. That automatically eliminates any form of indifference, neglect, abuse, violence, or exploitation. @And while conditions of depravity are more serious, we also protect children from other detrimental conditions, such as expectations that are too high or too low, overindulgence, over scheduling, and self-centeredness. Either extreme dulls a child’s ability to identify, trust, and be guided by the Holy Ghost. @Children are open to gospel truths more than at any other time, and protected childhood is literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to teach and strengthen children to choose the right. @It’s easy to know what to teach. The scriptures and our prophets are clear about what to teach our children. Nephi summarizes it in this verse, “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ … that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins” (2 Nephi 25:26). @Knowing that we teach of Christ and His gospel, how do we do it? Begin by following the counsel of our prophets and making time in our homes for family prayer, scripture study, and family home evening. Have we heard that counsel so often that it seems too simple? Or are we so busy that adding one more thing feels too complex? I testify that even when our family worship seems less than effective, obedience alone invites the blessings of the Lord. @In fact, personal obedience and example in every part of our lives are the ultimate gospel lessons for children. So study, learn, and apply the gospel. We cannot teach principles that we do not know and that we do not live. Who we are and what is in our heart are discerned by children more quickly than we think. @So love the children. I remember feeling loved as a child, and because of that, it was easy for me to believe that the Savior loved me too. Children thrive in a home where parents understand their “sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness” @But all of us can help. Notice the children around you, and learn their names. And then invite, listen, affirm, guide, build, serve, and share testimony. Your love can help bring a child to the love of the Savior. @Vasily is a child who spends much of his time in the streets and is not supported by his parents in his search for truth. He found a small branch of the Church in his town, and he came to every event held at the church. He also brought his three younger brothers to church, and other friends joined him in Primary. In fact, at one time, the largest Primary in that area was made up of these little boys who are not members of the Church. They were drawn to the truth, and the light of the gospel began to be reflected in their faces. They were welcomed, protected, taught, and loved by all the members of that little branch, including youth, young adults, missionaries, teachers, and priesthood leaders. Think of the children in your neighborhood or Primary class. Who are the children in your branch or ward? Is there one, like Vasily, who needs you? @When I think of these little boys and children like them, I take great hope from the account of the Savior’s visit to the American continent. Remember that before the Savior’s appearance, there were tempests, earthquakes, fires, and three days of profound darkness (see 3 Nephi 8). I have often thought about the children who experienced these events. And I can only imagine the fear and concern in the hearts of the parents. @And then the Savior appeared and commanded the multitude “that their little children should be brought” to Him (3 Nephi 17:11). How eager those parents must have been to bring their children to the Savior. And then they watched as the Savior wept over their children, blessed them one by one, prayed unto the Father for them, and called down angels to minister unto them (see 3 Nephi 17:21, 24). This account reminds us that it is the Savior who is the great protector, the ultimate teacher, and the eternal source of love and healing. @As the darkness of this day surrounds us, we are also commanded to bring our children to the Savior, and as Elder Ballard has reminded us, “we are the ones God has appointed to encircle today’s children with love and the fire of faith and an understanding of who they are” @Brothers and sisters, as a mother and a Primary leader, I know this work with children is not easy. Protecting, teaching, and loving children can be demanding, often discouraging, sometimes exhausting, and occasionally the fruits of our efforts are long delayed. But it is precisely because it is not easy to bring children to the Savior that we must come to Him ourselves. @As we seek Him and His Spirit to help us, we will see a miracle. We will recognize that our own hearts are changing and we too are becoming “submissive, meek, humble, patient, [and] full of love” (Mosiah 3:19). We too will reflect the light of the gospel in our own countenance. We will come to understand these words of the Savior: “And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me” (Matthew 18:5). @I love the Savior and testify of His redeeming power for me and you and for our

children, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. @“The Great and Wonderful Love” @Anthony D. Perkins @Of the First Quorum of the Seventy @Children in pure faith proclaim, “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.” But sometimes youth and adults do not feel the power of this simple declaration. @Satan is the “enemy to all righteousness”; thus he plants doubts about the nature of the Godhead and our relationship with Them. Jesus Christ prophesied that in the last days even the very elect would be deceived. Consider three examples of how Lucifer is “laying traps and snares to catch the holy ones of God.” @The snare of false inadequacy. A faithful young person feels unable to meet the expectations of others. At home and school, she is rarely praised and often criticized. The popular media tells her she is not beautiful enough or smart enough. Every day this righteous sister questions whether she is an individual worthy of Heavenly Father’s love, the Savior’s atoning sacrifice, or the Spirit’s constant guidance. @ The snare of exaggerated imperfection. An outstanding missionary feels incapable of meeting the expectations of God. In his mind, this worthy elder imagines a stern Heavenly Father bound to irrevocable justice, a Savior capable of cleansing others’ transgressions but not this elder’s own, and a Holy Ghost unwilling to accompany an imperfect person. @ The snare of

needless guilt. A middle-aged woman is a devoted mother, a loving friend, a faithful Church servant, and a frequent temple patron. But in her heart, this sister cannot forgive herself of sins committed years ago that she has repented of and fully resolved with priesthood leaders. She doubts that her life will ever be acceptable to the Lord and has lost hope of eternal life in Heavenly Father’s presence. @If you have any thoughts and feelings similar to these good Saints, I invite you to become as a little child and feel again “the great and wonderful love made manifest by the Father and the Son in the coming of the Redeemer into the world.” Childlike faith in the perfect love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will “divide asunder” Satan’s snares of inadequacy, imperfection, and guilt. @Proverbs teaches, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” May I suggest—in addition to consistent prayers, scripture study, and Church and temple attendance—five changes to your thoughts and heart to more fully feel the tender love of God. @ First, see yourself as a precious child of a loving Father in Heaven. Our children with confidence sing, “I am a child of God, and he has sent me here.” Little children feel and know what perhaps you have forgotten. You are the beloved son or daughter of Heavenly Father, created “in his own image,” and

of immense value—so much so that Jesus Christ gave His life for you. @God the Father is merciful and has infinite love for you despite your faults. Only the voice of Satan will cause you to feel of no value. In contrast, the Holy Ghost will cause you to feel “godly sorrow” unto repentance in a manner that fills you with hope of positive change. @When you feel worthless, “remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.” Refrain from repeatedly thinking or saying negative words about yourself—there is a clear difference between humility and humiliation. Identify and use your unique talents rather than dwelling on your weaknesses. @ Second, place your burdens on Jesus Christ. When you feel overwhelmed by expectations and challenges, do not fight the battle alone. Follow the example of small children, and drop to your knees in prayer. @Jesus Christ has commanded us, “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.” Doubt, fear, and worry indicate we have taken all of life’s burdens and anxieties on ourselves. When plagued by thoughts that you are inadequate, confidently say, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Then as you “cheerfully do all things that lie in [your] power,” you can rest assured that the Lord will do the remainder and things will work out all right. @The Savior promised, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” As you “cast [your] burden upon the Lord,” you will feel the peace of the Spirit. @ Third, forgive yourself of sins and imperfections. Heavenly Father is not expecting you to become completely perfect in this life. He knew His children would make mistakes as they learned from experience in mortality. But “God so loved the world” that His plan of happiness provided a merciful Savior. @Jesus said, “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.” Start with yourself, and forgive others as well. If God will not remember our repented-of sins, then why should we? Avoid wasting time and energy reliving the past. @To forgive yourself and others, you must trust the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The prophet Zenock prayed, “Thou art angry, O Lord, with this people, because they will not understand thy mercies which thou hast bestowed upon them because of thy Son.” Our Father in Heaven is saddened when we limit the power of His Son’s atoning sacrifice. As you exercise faith in Jesus Christ, you can have your guilt “swept away.” If guilt remains after sincere repentance, believe your priesthood leaders when they declare you to be worthy. @ Fourth, sustain hope of eternal life. If you imagine that your prior sins, character flaws, and poor decisions prevent you from receiving all of God’s blessings, consider the experience of Alma the Elder. Referring to his younger years as an immoral priest for the wicked King Noah, Alma admitted, “I myself was caught in a snare, and did many things which were abominable in the sight of the Lord, which caused me sore repentance.” Yet Alma’s repentance was so complete and Christ’s Atonement so infinite that Alma became a prophet and was promised eternal life. As you do your best to be obedient and repentant, you too can receive a place in the celestial kingdom through the Atonement and grace of Jesus Christ. @ Fifth, find joy each day. One source of joy is service, for when you are busy helping others, you will have less capacity to agonize over your own shortcomings. The Savior wisely taught, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.” @You will experience greater joy in life as you eradicate adult-onset pessimism and substitute childlike optimism. Optimism is a virtue that allows us to see God’s loving hand in the details of our life. A favorite hymn counsels, “Count your many blessings; see what God hath done.” @I testify of Heavenly Father, who in great and wonderful love reaches out to each of His children. I bear witness of Jesus Christ, who is “mighty to save” us from our inadequacies, imperfections, and sins. I bear testimony of the Holy Ghost, who will accompany the imperfect yet penitent soul. To you faithful and worthy Saints who struggle with latter-day snares of the devil, 30 “may God grant unto you that your burdens may be light, through the joy of his Son.” In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen. @The Gathering of Scattered Israel @Russell M. Nelson @Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles @My beloved brothers and sisters, thank you for your faith, your devotion, and your love. We share an enormous responsibility to be who the Lord wants us to be and to do what He wants us to do. We are part of a great movement—the gathering of scattered Israel. I speak of this doctrine today because of its unique importance in God’s eternal plan. @Abrahamic Covenant @Anciently, the Lord blessed Father Abraham with a promise to make his posterity a chosen people. References to this covenant occur throughout the scriptures. Included were promises that the Son of God would come through Abraham’s lineage, that certain lands would be inherited, that nations and kindreds of the earth would be blessed through his seed, and more. While some aspects of that covenant have already been fulfilled, the Book of Mormon teaches that this Abrahamic covenant will be fulfilled only in these latter days! It also emphasizes that we are among the covenant people of the Lord. Ours is the privilege to participate personally in the fulfillment of these promises. What an exciting time to live! @Israel Became Scattered @As descendants of Abraham, the tribes of ancient Israel had access to priesthood authority and blessings of the gospel, but eventually the people rebelled. They killed the prophets and were punished by the Lord. Ten tribes were carried captive into Assyria. From there they became lost to the records of mankind. (Obviously, the ten tribes are not lost to the Lord.) Two remaining tribes continued a short time and then, because of their rebellion, were taken captive into Babylon. When they returned, they were favored of the Lord, but again they honored Him not. They rejected and vilified Him. A loving but grieving Father vowed, “I will scatter you among the heathen,” and that He did—into all nations. @Israel to Be Gathered @God’s promise for the gathering of scattered Israel was equally emphatic. Isaiah, for example, foresaw that in the latter days the Lord would send “swift messengers” to these people who were so “scattered and peeled.” @This promise of the gathering, woven all through the fabric of the scriptures, will be fulfilled just as surely as were the prophecies of the scattering of Israel. @The Church of Jesus Christ in the Meridian of Time and the Apostasy @Prior to His Crucifixion, the Lord Jesus Christ had established His Church. It included apostles, prophets, seventies, teachers, and so forth. And the Master sent His disciples into the world to preach His gospel. @After a time the Church as established by the Lord fell into spiritual decay. His teachings were altered; His ordinances were changed. The Great Apostasy came as had been foretold by Paul, who knew that the Lord would not come again “except there come a falling away first.” @This Great Apostasy followed the pattern that had ended each previous dispensation. The very first was in the time of Adam. Then came dispensations of Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and others. Each prophet had a divine commission to teach of the divinity and the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ. In each age these teachings were meant to help the people. But their disobedience resulted in apostasy. Thus, all previous dispensations were limited in time and location. They were limited in time because each ended in apostasy. They were limited in location to a relatively small segment of planet earth. @The Restoration of All Things @Thus a complete restoration was required. God the Father and Jesus Christ called upon the Prophet Joseph Smith to be the prophet of this dispensation. All divine powers of previous dispensations were to be restored through him. This dispensation of the fulness of times would not be limited in time or in location. It would not end in apostasy, and it would fill the world. @The Gathering of Israel—an Integral Part of the Restoration of All Things @As prophesied by Peter and Paul, all things were to be restored in this dispensation. Therefore, there must come, as part of that restoration, the long-awaited gathering of scattered Israel. It is a necessary prelude to the Second Coming of the Lord. @This doctrine of the gathering is one of the important teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Lord has

declared: “I give unto you a sign … that I shall gather in, from their long dispersion, my people, O house of Israel, and shall establish again among them my Zion.” The coming forth of the Book of Mormon is a sign to the entire world that the Lord has commenced to gather Israel and fulfill covenants He made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We not only teach this doctrine, but we participate in it. We do so as we help to gather the elect of the Lord on both sides of the veil. @The Book of Mormon is central to this work. It declares the doctrine of the gathering. It causes people to learn about Jesus Christ, to believe His gospel, and to join His Church. In fact, if there were no Book of Mormon, the promised gathering of Israel would not occur. @To us the honored name of Abraham is important. It is mentioned in more verses of scriptures of the Restoration than in all verses of the Bible. Abraham is linked to all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Lord reaffirmed the Abrahamic covenant in our day through the Prophet Joseph Smith. In the temple we receive our ultimate blessings, as the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. @The Dispensation of the Fulness of Times @This dispensation of the fulness of times was foreseen by God as the time to gather, both in heaven and on earth. Peter knew that after a period of apostasy, a restoration would come. He, who had been with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration, declared: @“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; … @“Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” @In modern times the Apostles Peter, James, and John were sent by the Lord with “the keys of [His] kingdom, and a dispensation of the gospel for the last times; and for the fulness of times,” in which He would “gather together in one all things, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth.” @In the year 1830 the Prophet Joseph Smith learned of a heavenly messenger named Elias, who possessed keys to bring to pass “the restoration of all things.” @Six years later the Kirtland Temple was dedicated. After the Lord accepted that holy house, heavenly messengers came with priesthood keys. Moses appeared 2 “and committed … the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north. @“After this, Elias appeared, and committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, saying that in us and our seed all generations after us should be blessed.” @Then Elijah the prophet came and proclaimed, “Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse.” @These events occurred on April 3, 1836, and thus fulfilled Malachi’s prophecy. Sacred keys of this dispensation were restored. @Gathering of Souls on the Other Side of the Veil @Mercifully, the invitation to “come unto Christ” can also be extended to those who died without a knowledge of the gospel. Part of their preparation requires earthly efforts of others. We gather pedigree charts, create family group sheets, and do temple work vicariously to gather individuals unto the Lord and into their families. @To Participate in the Gathering: A Commitment by Covenant @Here on earth, missionary work is crucial to the gathering of Israel. The gospel was to be taken first to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Consequently, servants of the Lord have gone forth proclaiming the Restoration. In many nations our missionaries have searched for those of scattered Israel; they have hunted for them “out of the holes of the rocks”; and they have fished for them as in ancient days. @The choice to come unto Christ is not a matter of physical location; it is a matter of individual commitment.

People can be “brought to the knowledge of the Lord” without leaving their homelands. True, in the early days of the Church, conversion often meant emigration as well. But now the gathering takes place in each nation. The Lord has decreed the establishment of Zion in each realm where He has given His Saints their birth and nationality. Scripture foretells that the people “shall be gathered home to the lands of their inheritance, and shall be established in all their lands of promise.” “Every nation is the gathering place for its own people.” The place of gathering for Brazilian Saints is in Brazil; the place of gathering for Nigerian Saints is in Nigeria; the place of gathering for Korean Saints is in Korea; and so forth. Zion is “the pure in heart.” Zion is wherever righteous Saints are. Publications, communications, and congregations are now such that nearly all members have access to the doctrines, keys, ordinances, and blessings of the gospel, regardless of their location. @Spiritual security will always depend upon how one lives, not where one lives. Saints in every land have equal claim upon the blessings of the Lord. @This work of Almighty God is true. He lives. Jesus is the Christ. This is His Church, restored to accomplish its divine destiny, including the promised gathering of Israel. President Gordon B. Hinckley is God’s prophet today. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Oct'06@~@ ~ Thursday, 10/1/15,6:44pm How patient are you Brandon? Can you face your frustration and try anyway? Can you face your frustration and write me? Write down your beginning time and end time each time you begin and end writing and give yourself credit for that many minutes of facing your frustration but denying your captors success! @ I just had to get these three wonderful talks off my chest. They seemed to build and build and climax with RMN. I don't usually send you anything that is not from an apostle. I trust them the most. The rest of us just try to do the best we can without the sure witness! Lawrence Wortham looked comfortably into my eyes and that steadiness seemed to say, I know the Saviour's love and I give it to you. He was solid. I really wouldn't be to surprised if he had had his calling and election made sure. But he was only 30 or less so I can't imagine he having to live with that stress and pressure for the rest of his life. Could his habits and patterns and longings and desires be so set upon the Lord that his end is known? I doubt it. Chances are he will be passing through a long life of trials and challenges and pain. I take it back. I don't think he has received the second witness yet.