Elijah Part 1: Promises made to the Fathers

Part 1: The following posts are some of my learnings and studies on the subject of Elijah and the promises made to the Fathers. I certainly don't fully understand it all but have jotted down some of my thoughts on the subject. Which could change as more understanding is given.

"The spirits of the just are enveloped in flaming fire,...are not far from us, and know and understand our thoughts, feelings, and emotions.. and are often pained therewith." (Joseph Smith, Teachings, p. 326)

Promises Made To Abraham:
Abraham was promised the following.

9 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations;
10 And I will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father;
11 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee(that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is,thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal. (Abraham 2:9-11, See Also Genesis 12:1-3)

Abraham is blessed with "this right" that it shall continue in thee (that is in thy priesthood). What was this right? The right is associated with Abraham's promise. The definition of "rights" is "entitlement".The promise is that all those who receive "this gospel", the same Gospel Abraham received, shall be called after thy name (Abraham), and shall be accounted thy seed (Abraham's seed). Joseph received "This Gospel" therefore became accounted as the seed of Abraham and received "this right" (vs 11) to continue in Joseph and also fulfilling the promises made to Abraham in his generation.

31 This promise is yours also, because ye are of Abraham, and the promise was made unto Abraham; and by this law is the continuation of the works of my Father [The right that Abraham was promised, a continuation of seed or posterity], wherein he glorifieth himself. 22 ...narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives [lives, or thy seed, or thy priesthood, this extends not to yourself only but those of your posterity if they receive it] 19 ...and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever. (D&C 132:19,22,31)

Abrahams receives three promises.

• Land: "A land that I will show you."
• A Kingdom: "A great nation."
• Posterity, Thy Priesthood, or Seed (These are all related): "All the families of the earth shall be blessed."

A Promised Inheritance:
God fulfills this promise through Abraham's seed telling them "that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham" (Gensis 28:4) Also "the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to Jacob" (Genesis 35:12)

“Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made” (Galatians 3:16) and "The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." (Genesis 12:7) Abraham’s son, Isaac, and grandson, Jacob, were “heirs with him of the same promise” (Hebrews 11:9) Abraham “went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8) to the land of inheritance.

The descendants will continue to receive the land or what is also known as the "promised land". The children of Israel were promised it,

And I have also established my covenant with them [Abraham, Issac, and Jacob] , to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the Lord (Exodus 6:4-8)

The Lord covenanted with Abraham and fulfills that promise through his children. God said to Joshua, "after the death of Moses.", "Arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them..." and "Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers  to give them." (Joshua 1:1-6)

These promises extend spiritually as well as all who receive celestial glory will receive an inheritance.

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance... the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession (Ephesians 1:10-14)

A Nation:

I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. (Genesis 17:6-7)

"I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there." (Genesis 46:3)  This is what God said to Abraham's grandson Jacob (called Israel after Gen. 32) and the descendants of Abraham were called Israel, the children of Israel; Israelites - who went down to Egypt as the family of Joseph, but came out - a great nation.

After the family arrived in Egypt and were cared for by Joseph, he died, and the family grew. Exodus 1:7 says: "But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mightily; and the land was filled with them."

By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude-innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. (Hebrews 11:11-12 )

Through the course of one child a multitude-innumerable as the sand of the seashores were born. Through One that is infinite or eternal, the continuation of the works of God can continue.

Promises Made To Abraham's Fathers:
Abraham (Abram new name) was ordained under the hands of Melchezidek. "Melchizedek lifted up his voice and blessed Abram. [The name for Abraham before the Lord had given him a new name]" who "was ordained an high priest after the order of the covenant which God made with Enoch, It being after the order of the Son of God" (JST Genesis 14:25, 27-28)

The Lord gives a description of the people after this order which Enoch himself received. This is the power that is given to them and the signs that follow.

For God having sworn unto Enoch and unto his seed with an oath by himself; that every one being ordained after this order and calling should have power, by faith, to break mountains, to divide the seas, to dry up waters, to turn them out of their course; To put at defiance the armies of nations, to divide the earth, to break every band, to stand in the presence of God; to do all things according to his will, according to his command, subdue principalities and powers; and this by the will of the Son of God which was from before the foundation of the world (Genesis 14:30:31)

The Lord made an everlasting covenant with Enoch. This covenant contains the promises for a future people that bring Zion and connect with the powers of heaven to receive these promises for themselves.

"this is mine everlasting covenant, that when thy posterity shall embrace the truth, and look upward, then shall Zion look downward, and all the heavens shall shake with gladness, and the earth shall tremble with joy; And the general assembly of the church of the firstborn shall come down out of heaven, and possess the earth, and shall have place until the end come. And this is mine everlasting covenant, which I made with thy father Enoch." (JST Genesis 9:22-23)

Zion (Enoch) shall come down while Zion will look upwards. Truth looking upwards because thtey will have possed the knowledge of God and he shall dwell there. Zion looks downwards because they will finally at last see a resemblance of what is in likeness in heaven and will desire to dwell there among them.

God continues to fulfill his promises as it says in Joshua "...not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you," (Joshua 23:15).

All The Families of the Earth Shall Be Blessed:
This was fulfilled through Jesus Christ. See Acts 3:25-26.

Part 2: The Fathers In Eternal Glory: Future Coming of Elijah: Records

Re-baptism Revisited: LDS Changes

I have discussed Re-baptism here and how it was commonly and frequently practiced in the early days. Its a practice that went from commonly practiced, to not at all, to being forbidden today and removal of ones temple recommend.

Brigham Young said regarding re-baptism,

At this time came a revelation, that the Saints could be baptized and re-baptized when they chose. (Brigham Young J.D. 18:241) 

Nearly All the church have been Baptized again, for the Remission of their Sins, since they joined the Church, I have also, by the hands of Br. Joseph (as he himself has been,) & I would advise Jan and you Mary, to attend to it as soon as you can have the opportunity of an Elder or Priest of the Church to administer it. (Jacob Scott from Nauvoo in February, 1843)

Re-baptism as a requirement to enter the temple was discontinued in 1893. See Allen and Leonard, Story of the Latter-day Saints. (John Taylor to Angus M. Cannon, Nov 15, 1877) 

In a journal it states regarding re-baptism and the temple,

September 17th 1886–As it was customary to get baptized to prepare for my temple ordinances, before going to the temple so as to be free from all evil and wrong… I arranged with Brother Leatham, who has charge of baptisms on the Temple Block, to be baptized... 

I had already made arrangements to get Ida’s recommend to be baptized and at 2 p.m. ... I took Ida to the Old Endowment House and after a word of prayer and a few remarks by Brother Leatham, he baptized us and confirmed us for the renewal of our covenants. (Diary of John M. Whitaker, Book 3, p. 16.)

BYU has an article on Re-baptism here (screenshot here) states "On some occasions, the Saints were re-baptized as they prepared for marriage or entrance into the temple. Early members also re-baptized some of the sick among them as an act of healing. Because of misuse by some Church members, all such practices of re-baptism were discontinued in 1897," 

Which you'll notice does significantly downplay re-baptism as "on some occasions" when in fact it was a policy pretty standardized however acknowledges that re-baptism was part of the process upon entering the temple. 

The conference report that brought about its discontinued practice states:

We hear a good deal of talk about re-baptism, and the First Presidency and Twelve have felt that so much re-baptism ought to be stopped. (Conf. Rept., Oct. 1897, p. 68)

The prevalence of re-baptism can be seen in the temple recommend questions in that era. Here are the temple recommend questions in 1877:

"Those desiring to receive the benefit of these ordinances must obtain a recommend from the Bishop of the Ward or settlement in which they reside, or in the absence of the Bishop, the recommend may be signed by the President of the Stake. It will be well for persons presenting themselves at the Endowment House to receive the ordinances thereof, to be prepared to reply to the following questions:--" 

"When were you born?"
"Where were you born?"
"When were you first baptized?"
"What is your Father's name?"
"What was your Mother's maiden name?"
"No person will be eligible to receive these blessings except they have been rebaptized."

Today Stake Presidents are being directed to inform bishops to ask , whether inside or outside the recommend questions I don't know, to ask if the members have been "re-baptized" and removing recommends for doing so. If so they are asked by who and if you know who else has.

Babylon: Idols

The following is taken from a paper by Avraham Gileadi that I thought is worth sharing.

9. Babylon

The name Babylon means many things to many people. The Hebrew word (babel) goes back to a kingdom Nimrod founded, where the ancients built the tower of Babel, or Babylon (Genesis 10:9-10; 11:1-9). This kingdom evolved into an idolatrous materialistic civilization that reached a zenith in the powerful neo-Babylonian empire of Nebuchadnezzar (cf. Daniel 2:37-38). The prophet Isaiah identifies Babylon typologically as both a people and a place: the sinners and the wicked; the earth and the world (Isaiah 13:1, 9, 11). He predicts latter-day Babylon will suffer the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, thus likening the world’s desolation to a fiery cataclysm falling upon the wicked (Isaiah 13:4-19).

Jeremiah calls Babylon a “destroying mountain” (har hammashît), an expression that in Hebrew also means a “corrupting” or “decadent” kingdom (Jeremiah 51:25). Babylon’s destiny is to become a burned mountain, desolate forever, because Babylon corrupts—and thus ultimately destroys—all the earth (Jeremiah 51:25-26). Babylon’s fall in the last days forms a key event ushering in the Millennium.76

Isaiah and Jeremiah single out something about Babylon that corrupts all, including the Lord’s people. Those who engage in it become “Babylon” themselves and in the end perish with it. This involves the manufacturing, promoting, and selling of idols—the works of men’s hands.
A story I heard in rabbinic school relates how Abraham’s father, Terah, in the land of Ur of the Babylonians, at times put young Abraham in charge of his store. When Terah, who made and sold idols, went into the forest to fetch wood for their manufacture, Abraham was to sell the idols in his father’s place. Typically Abraham would dissuade buyers, reproving the adults for esteeming statues as gods. One day, fed up with his duty, Abraham smashed all his father’s wares except a large idol that stood on a top shelf. When Terah returned from the forest, he flew into a rage, demanding an explanation. Abraham responded, “The big one did it!” implying that these were no gods at all, or they could have saved themselves. After that, Abraham became unpopular in Ur and the people sought his life. A sequel to this story appears in the book of Abraham, which commences with, “I, Abraham, saw that it was needful for me to obtain another place of residence” (Abraham 1:1).

As Hugh Nibley has often pointed out, the essence of this sort of idol worship is not that people really believed the idols to be gods, but that their manufacture, promotion, and sale provided them with a living. It formed a socioeconomic system that afforded urban dwellers a means of sustenance. One problem with this system lay in its false economic base and the instability it bred—it fed on itself.
Economic factors determined social behavior—the law of supply. Manufacturing the works of men’s hands yielded income but constituted idolatry, because what so many people worked at, oriented their lives around, was ultimately nonproductive. The work of idols did not sustain itself, but demanded to be sustained. It enslaved to a false idea not merely those directly involved with it, but also those who produced foodstuffs and raw materials. The latter labored additionally to provide for all the rest.

The reverse of this phenomenon also applied: false spiritual values influenced directions the economy would take—the law of demand. Because of their association with deity, idols represented something socially acceptable into which people might pour time and money. The prestige the idols furnished made people protective of the system. Those who prospered from it had found a niche. Their real source of subsistence—farmers and husbandmen—took second place in people’s minds. Society measured wealth in terms of money and the idols it could buy, rather than by how much food could be produced.

We can thus liken Babylon’s socioeconomic structure to an upside-down pyramid, which, as it grows, ever narrows at its base. In it, the many depend on the few for their support. Babylon’s mass of people, engaged in producing and selling idols, remain out of touch with their life source, rendering them vulnerable to catastrophe. The greatest height to which Babylon attains thus also forms her lowest point of stability. For when, through some unforeseen (divine) intervention, a single stone jars loose from the base, the entire structure collapses.

By way of contrast, Zion’s economy is not so structured. As Israel’s prophets outline, Zion possesses a broad rural base, in which every family works its inheritance of land.77 This makes Zion a stable, self-sustaining structure. In it abide neither poor nor those who appropriate what belongs to others. Zion’s people look to their Head, their cornerstone, to bless them with increase. Old Testament and Book of Mormon examples show that such a structure can weather most storms, endure most attacks, and quickly repair or rebuild itself. The direct means of sustenance— the capacity to produce foodstuffs and raw materials—is ready at hand. Even when a people must flee temporarily into the wilderness, this provides them with the greatest maneuverability.

In short, the works of men’s hands on which people set their hearts, on which they spend natural and human resources are, by definition, “idols” (Isaiah 2:8; Jeremiah 10:1-5). As the prophets describe them, these are idols that people invent, design, sketch, carve, forge, molten, cast, weld, plate, fit, hammer, rivet, and mass produce.78 Manufactured, promoted, and sold for gold and silver (Isaiah 44:9; 46:6), the idols form the fruits of a technology of well-nigh magical dimensions (Isaiah 47:10, 12). They follow trends and engage the whole of society (Isaiah 44:11; 47:13). Depending on the kind of idols, people both carry them about and set them in place in their homes (Isaiah 45:20; 46:7).

The entire production of idols, however, is erroneous and vain (Jeremiah 51:18). It causes people to become like the idols themselves—sightless and mindless to things spiritual, unaware and insensible to impending disaster (Isaiah 42:17-20; 44:9, 18; 45:16). It constitutes a “wine” that makes people drunk and mad—the wine of Babylon (Jeremiah 51:7).

A law unto herself, Babylon tyrannizes and enslaves; yet people do not discern her for what she is (Isaiah 44:20; 47:6-8, 10). In reality, Babylon suffers from gross defects, open wounds that no one can heal (Jeremiah 51:8-9). At her height, she mounts up to heaven, from whence the Lord suddenly and utterly casts her down (Jeremiah 51:8, 53). On her destruction, those intoxicated with her wine do not so much as wake up from their sleep (Jeremiah 51:39). Since their gods, the works of men’s hands, did not save them, they profited them nothing in the end (Isaiah 44:9; 46:7).

Although Jeremiah—at Judah’s exile—advised his people to serve the king of Babylon (Jeremiah 27:6-17; 40:9), Jeremiah did not mean, “When in Babylon, do as Babylon does!” Indeed, both Isaiah and Jeremiah looked forward to the time Israel would exit Babylon before the Lord destroyed her (Isaiah 48:20; Jeremiah 51:6). The time would come, as with Abraham, when it would no longer be advisable to remain in Babylon. The more she ripened in wickedness, the less possible it would be to live in Babylon but not be of Babylon.

Isaiah depicts the coming of the Lord’s people out of Babylon as a new exodus, patterned after the ancient exodus out of Egypt (Isaiah 48:20-21; 52:11-12). He likens the gathering of a repentant remnant of Israel from the ends of the earth to Abraham’s coming out of Babylonia into the wilderness (Isaiah 41:8-9; 51:1-3). The prophets, therefore, speak both of a literal, spontaneous exodus from Babylon on the eve of her destruction, and of a gradual, premeditated exit before that time.79 As Lot’s wife illustrates, those ensconced in Babylon find it hard to leave at a moment’s notice.

Doing “the works of Abraham”—in order to merit an exaltation that compares to his80—thus includes leaving and forsaking Babylon as he did, becoming wholly pure of her abominable idols (cf. Isaiah 51:2; 52:11). Not unexpectedly, the limits of any alternative to Babylon are extremely narrow. In prophetic thought, what is not Zion is Babylon and what is not Babylon is Zion. In effect, only two choices remain for the Lord’s people: either build up Zion or build up Babylon. This requires that we gain a clear idea about Zion and Babylon—how the prophets define them, what they stand for, and how to implement Zion.

Isaiah, for example, defines Zion as both a people and a place: those of the Lord’s people who repent, and the place to which they gather—a safe place in the wilderness during the Lord’s day of judgment.81 According to Isaiah, the Lord’s people must urgently repent of Babylonian idolatry—worshiping the works of men’s hands.82 Scriptural precedents prove the principle that those who leave Babylon under the Lord’s direction inherit a promised land.83 According to Jeremiah, a person leaves Babylon in order to go to Zion, throwing in one’s lot with the Lord by an everlasting covenant (Jeremiah 50:1-5). To leave Babylon means to go out from among the wicked to establish Zion somewhere else (D&C 38:42; 133:4-9). All who remain in Babylon do so at the peril of their lives.84
As for the works of men’s hands in today’s Babylon, we need say little more to recapture the ancient scene. Essentially the same materialistic economy that prevailed then prevails in our day. Like the ancient port city of Tyre, Babylon’s mercantile arm,85 latter-day Babylon encompasses every kind of trade and merchandise—whatever the souls of men lust after by way of material possessions (Revelation 18:1-24). The manufacture and promotion of contemporary works of men’s hands form virtually an unlimited enterprise. Reduplicating the socioeconomic structure of ancient Babylon is the very stuff of modernization.

Technology of almost magical proportions consumes humanity to the point of enslaving us to it. By orienting our lives around their production, sale, and maintenance, we set material things above the glory of God. Taking care of the works of men’s hands and servicing them are terms synonymous with loving and serving idols. And yet, as with her ancient counterpart, men do not discern modern Babylon for what she is. The wine with which all nations of the earth are drunk blinds men to life’s divine charge and to Babylon’s looming collapse (Revelation 17:2; 18:3). As with many other peoples who have grown up in captivity, we ourselves are not cognizant of, or else take for granted, the fact of our bondage.

The question remains, what will Abraham’s children do? Will they continue to imbibe the wine of Babylon, or will they ask the way to Zion?

-http://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1129&index=12

Coming Unto the Lord: My Personal Journey

I haven't written part of my journey in my search for the Lord but wanted to record part of my experiences. While that journey is too long to record I will write a few experiences that have happened that have contributed to where I am today.

Background:
One of the things I have learned is that the Lord has given us all gifts to help, if we will humble ourselves and follow Him, further His work and serving our fellow men. Its only when we learn how weak and how we are less than the dust of the earth that we can become useful to the Lord. Pride is incompatible with Celestial beings. They serve and exalt themselves instead of abasing themselves. Such a being like God will never view themselves better than others or think they are "choosen". The closer to God one gets the "clearer are his views". Not only do you begin to see things as they "are" but you begin to see all people as equals unto God just at different levels of "light" or progression. We are here to become "added upon". This work by God is so comprehensive that even the atheist who entirely rejects God from this probation will be "added upon" because God sees everyone as they are and their potential in becoming like Him. His work includes All people and is not confined by man or any one religion. For they are all corrupt.

I am in my late twenties with a family of two kids and grew up LDS, though later I was led to resign. I still believe that Joseph was a man of God and in the Book of Mormon but what Joseph taught has been long forgotten. Some of the gifts the Lord has blessed me with is the gift of knowledge, wisdom, dreams, and others that He has promised to bestow in due time (or I have yet to recognize at this time). I have almost always remembered desiring to learn all I can about God. I have always asked the Lord to reveal the scriptures unto me and in later years I begun to pray that "further light and knowledge" would be revealed to me through the veil knowing that "seeking the mysteries of godliness" was a commandment per the Doctrine & Covenants (D&C).

Journey Through The LDS Church:
As a missionary I was  introduced to a stake patriarch in the Geneva Rochester area. At this time I had been study the teachings of Joseph Smith and had learned a great deal about what Joseph had taught. I had learned this patriarch had a great desire for knowledge and I had the opportunity to ask a few questions. The discussion included how the temple endowment - him being a patron also - was about us. He asked me "Where in the temple does Adam die?" and answered that Adam does not die because its a journey of us - being as Adam or Eve - through the veil. That it portrays us receiving the Lord through the veil while in the flesh, also known as The Doctrine of the Second Comforter by Joseph Smith. He mentioned, without details, how he has been visited by angels and that Peter, James, and John were symbolic of these ministers that would appear to us after we have been proven faithful.

Since that day I returned home and continued to study the words of Joseph Smith. Upon that journey I had an impression that the Gentiles in the Book of Mormon that Moroni writes about were the Latter Day Saints. I asked the Lord for a witness of that, knowing the implications of such an impression. Specifically 2 Nephi 28 and Mormon 8 where its written " their churches have become corrupted... They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up." (vs 12-13). I mean how could it be true that their fine sanctuaries, a temple, could rob the poor?

I was led to a blog where an individual, Daniel Rodgers, shares his experience of being visited by an Angel and was told that the Gentiles included the latterday saints. He also shared his experience of visiting with the Lord. I had asked for a witness and received not just this one witness but multiple since where I no longer doubt. I have always asked myself where are all the witnesses of those testifying of the Rissen Lord like Joseph, Sidney, or Newel K Knight (in the early days) or the New testament apostles? The only answers they had was that it was "too sacred to share" which was inconsistent with scripture.

I continued to study the words of Joseph Smith and the scriptures learning that the Lords servants are those who have been sent by Him being a actual witness of His Resurrection because of what they have both "seen and heard" As Joseph said, "Salvation cannot come without revelation. Men of the present time testify of heaven and hell, and have never seen either; and I will say that no man knows these things without this." (TJS, Chapter 16). As I continued to learn of the doctrine of the second comforter and realizing how it was one of the most talked about doctrines by Joseph Smith I became more familiar with the actual quotes that Joseph had taught.

Being more familiar with what was actually taught I started to notice that Church manuals actually altered many of these statements by Joseph. Specially anything related to seeing the lord and the ability for others, who are not apostles, were altered out of the manuals. I begun to notice other lectures as well including the sermon by Lorenzo Snow on tithing where the term "who has means" is removed out of an entire paragraph unchanged. Today all, even if you don't have means, are required to pay when Lorezno, known for tithing, said differently. I continued my studies and learned Brigham Young had never seen the lord testifying twice at years 11 and 17 as president. Likewise learning Joseph Fielding Smith as an apostle had not either. That the sacrament was changed by changing the word "water" from "wine" (even if water is used the wording shouldn't be changed) nor being allowed to practice it at home among your family (its forbidden). Endowment was changed repeatedly but most knowingly in 1990 when the penalties were removed. There are many other evidences that the Lord led me to as I asked for further witnesses of impressions I received over the course of many years. After all lying spirits are going forth in the Earth to deceive the "very elect" therefore I asked for witnesses.

Wondering why so many doctrines have changed. What was once required for salvation is no longer required. What was once required to be sustained as true (Adam-God, blood Atonement, polygamy (which form under Brigham was derived by Brigham not Joseph) or be exed is now at a point where if you believe in it today you would be excommunicated from the LDS Church. Things started to make more sense as I learned how God works among the chilldren of men and learned why this was all happening. We were the Israelites wandering the dessert for 40 years unworthy of the promised land refusing to come up upon the mount to talk with God. Once I learned the true dilemma this generation was really in, apostasy, I could read the scriptures in the light they were intended. I had learned what Joseph begun has not been completed, is no longer remembered, and that the truth he first taught has only been receding since his death due to the saints failing to build Zion and coming unto the Lord.

I relate this to kind of share what was required to parse through to come to a truth. Having all these questions, but knowing I had a witness of the Book of Mormon and Joseph I begun to ask the Lord for answers to reconcile the contradictions placed before me. As it said in James 1:5, I lacked Wisdom and so I asked of God.

Religion is intended to be between “you” and God, deeply personal and individually redemptive. Christ is as accessible to all as He was to Moses on the mount. And what was Moses' ambition? It was to bring everyone up on the mount to likewise see God.

When you pass through all the rites of the LDS Church it begins and ends at almost the same point. The starting point is believing Joseph Smith, inspired by James 1:5, asked God and received an answer--and you can too. The ending point involves an ordinance which promises you further light and knowledge by conversing with the Lord through the veil. Both at the beginning and the end of the LDS journey you are told to speak with God and expect an answer.

My Search For Truth:
My ability to talk to the Lord and hear His voice had grown immensely over the few years. I came to the writings of Denver Snuffer during this time who also shares his witness of Christ (He records his vision of Gethsemane) which is recorded in Come Let Us Adore Him. From that book I learned more about Christs atonement than I have my entire lifetime. I knew the messages he wrote were from God -- including his 10 lectures he was asked by the Lord to give over a course of a year which anyone can read. The Lord had told me I needed to listen to what he was teaching as the Lord had sent him as a "messenger" to the Gentiles.

As I begun to study that Book and his other writings, along with the scriptures in a found light, I begun to see the fruits as Joseph declared were the fruits of the Holy Ghost. Joseph said "The Holy Ghost has no other effect than pure intelligence. It is more powerful in expanding the mind, enlightening the understanding, and storing the intellect with present knowledge," (T. 149-150) The Holy Ghost communicates intelligence or light and truth or knowledge. Only by bestowing "intelligence" so its responsibility is that of a teacher. It bestows knowledge.

I "began to have the scriptures laid open to our[my] understandings, and the true meaning and intention of their more mysterious passages revealed unto us in a manner which we never could attain to previously, nor ever before had thought of." (JSH 1:74) I had "intelligence" communicated to me in ways I have never dreamed or could conceive of on my own. The Lord has said "By their fruit you will recognize them" (NIV Matt. 7:16) and that if you "experiment upon the word" (Alma 32) you shall know of a surety of whether its of God. I experimented for many years and came to know for myself. I had greater love, greater devotion, and greater understanding than I had ever had. I begun to care more about the things of heaven than the ways of the World. The most important truth I have learned as Moses explained is that "man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed." (Moses 1:10) and acknowledged my "worthless and fallen state" (Mosiah 4:5) But in God I rejoice because he can make weak things strong and they are a given as a gift from God to humble us.

I was led to learn about the idea of Re-baptism and that the early saints like Joseph not only were re-baptized but that the Book of Mormon taught that re-baptism was necessary anytime the Lord makes known again the Gospel in its purity after being corrupted. (3 Nephi 7, 3 Nephi 11-12) On December 24, 2014 I was baptized the day after Winter Equinox and the day before Christmas unto the Lord (not into any religion or church). There is only a few times in my life I have felt the spirit to such a degree and the "peace and joy" (Galatians 5:22:23) that accompanied that moment. The love I felt for my fellow men cannot be described with words but it was felt. I knew the Lord had accepted my sacrifice in His behalf as a sign of what He is now performing among the children of Men.

Heaven Requires Sacrifice:
My search for truth has taught me that the things of Heaven cannot be gained through casual means. The lectures on Faith teaches "A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary [to lead] unto life and salvation." (Lectures on Faith, p. 58.). Any religion that puts requirements on how one must worship cannot obtain salvation for an individual. They must be free to do what God asks of Him without restraint. It was a daunting task ahead of me if I wanted to pursue God. The Lord taught me through a dream this same principle along with the requirement for patience. I will share the interpretation of it:

How can you expect to do in 3 years what it took Isaiah 33 years to do in this lifetime? The answer to the parable [in my dream] is that if it took Joseph smith to do something in 30 years how can you expect to be able to do it in 3 years? It requires great sacrifice to attain the things of heaven. Will you sacrifice carnal securities (different items were shown before me) in place of things that we need (other items were shown before me in comparison to the previous ones). The more we sacrifice the greater the blessing we are able to have in the heavens. Will you set your things on the items of the carnal mind related to temporal items or buy the items that will last you a lifetime (food, things of spiritual worth). If you expect to do something in the 3 years it will require that much more sacrifice to be able to achieve all the things Isaiah achieved in his 33 years. That is the meaning of the things shown to me. -Feb 21, 2013, A Dream's Interpretation

The Lord directed me to begin having His sacrament at Home, being a commandment to partake, so that I may worship Him in privacy not to be seen of men. I was able to also fellowship with others who the Lord had led me to as a group "to bear one another’s burdens" and "to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places" (Mosiah 18:8-10) Most importantly to take care of the poor among us as the prior institutions I was engaged with refused to do so as the scriptures testified would happen in our day.

Signs Follow Those that Believe
In just two years I have seen many miracles among these believers. They have no restraints to join or creeds you must accept. If you believe in the Doctrine of Christ all are welcome. There are many groups that spread across the US. I have seen the gift of prophecy, seen another healed of lyme disease, and another healed of cushings disease. I have seen single mothers with children be taken care of so they can tender to their children and widows. For over two years now they have been able to succor to their family instead of being forced by corrupt government and organizations to work to provide for their families as the women in Les Miserables was forced into prostitution to provide for her family. Over the course of almost 3 years just a small group of believers have donated hundred of thousands of dollars to relieve the poor among them providing food, housing, medical, and car repairs to name a few. Another family provides a house for those who cannot provide one for themselves until they can provide for themselves. And this comes from those who are for the most part living paycheck to paycheck. Miracles can happen when men "organize themselves" and actively try to do the things the Lord would have them do without the Gentiles, which they love so deeply, having "high officials exercise authority over them". (See Matt. 20:25)

I don't say these things to boast but rather to testify that signs do follow those that believe and that I had begun to realize how awful is the state of man. We are meant to experience so much more. But man is amazed with the internet, great and magnificent buildings, and his own making rather than the things of God. The occasional "healing" or yearly experience of heaven is never what the Gospel was meant to bring. It was meant to bring us with daily contact with heaven. Nephi faith was so great on the Lord Jesus Christ "that angels did minister unto him daily" (3 Nephi 7:18) Ether had great faith where he was continually before the Lord and had seen the Lord and the glory of God. The Lord promised through him:

In that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are. (Ether 4:7)

God Works According To Our Faith 
God works according to our faith. This is why you can see His presence among all people and all religions. Wherever an individual exercises just a particle of faith God will work through them or in-behalf of them. The Lord told Enos -- who prayed all night to wrestle a promise from God of eternal life (Calling and Election) -- that God works among the children of men "according to their faith" (Enos 1:18). Or as the Book of Jarom writes "the Holy Spirit, which maketh manifest unto the children of men, according to their faith. " (Jarom 1:4). Or  "the Lord Jesus Christ grant that their prayers may be answered according to their faith" (Mormon 9:37). Finally,

And that he manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him, by the power of the Holy Ghost; yea, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, working mighty miracles, signs, and wonders, among the children of men according to their faith. (2 Nephi 26:13)

These things are happening but they cannot happen when "restraints" are imposed upon men of how or where one must worship because we are all so different. What is right for one may not be right for another.

As Joseph declared,

“I cannot believe in any of the creeds of the different denominations, because they all have some things in them I cannot subscribe to, though all of them have some truth. I want to come up into the presence of God, and learn all things; but the creeds set up stakes [limits], and say, ‘Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further’ [Job 38:11]; which I cannot subscribe to. (TJS, Ch. 22)

Conclusion
The Lord is so anxiously engaged in all our lives and desires, more than we know, to talk to us as one man talks to another. His love was so great that "he suffered in the flesh" (1 Peter 4:1) in our behalf. Which caused God the greatest of all to suffer and tremble from every Poor (D&C 45). He descended below it all so that he knew how to walk back into the presence of God and learn what was required to succor us and walk us back into His presence.

I write these things to show Gods hand in my life. A testimony if you will. I am continually seeking Him and desire more than anything to obtain a promise from Him as those who have gone before have. He has ministered through me in many ways and given many evidences of His goodness and mercy. This is only a small fragment of Gods dealings in my life but with so many evidences how can I doubt? Most probably goes unnoticed by me. But my daily breath is a gift by Him.

I have not seen the Lord but believe in His promises that "in the due time of the Lord" he shall manifest himself unto us according to our faith. In that day I will have Knowledge which "saves a man". I have "felt" his presence near me and have heard His voice. The joy that He radiates cannot be described with words but have had such an changing effect upon me I have not forgotten it. There ARE many who testify of entering His presence. It IS happening as the scriptures promised. I have obtained much from the Lord. He has told me my worth, my importance to him in this Great work (at least partially) as He prepares the World for His return in Glory, and I know He will continually guide me in my endeavor to serve Him. If others wonder what it is the Lord has planned for them than all they need to do is "ask and they shall receive" (See James 1:5). If they doubt in his existence ask Him to convince you and believe in the signs he will send your way. Just remain humble enough to accept the answer. It requires great sacrifice to know God which can be both daunting and frightening but the Knowledge of God is worth the loss of all things.

By the power of the Holy Ghost in me I know He lives. He truly loves all of His children and has His arm stretched out still.

-Tyson H.

Terrestrial Kingdom: Zion

In Zion you will not be able to endure a Terrestrial glory in a Telestial state. Lying,
stealing, deceiving, adultery, and whoremongering are all abominations that people prize in this
generation. Lusts, ambitions, desires to lord over one another are common afflictions of the Gentile.
All of those things are only tolerated a level below what Zion requires. The last Zion will also
occupy a location. That place will likewise be under the covenant with God. Therefore, the location
itself can only be occupied by those who will live a Terrestrial law.”

Joy In Our Works

I have come to realize the reality of the verse below.

Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. (2 Nephi 2:25)

In April 1829 Joseph and Oliver inquired of the Lord pertaining to whether John The Beloved had died or tarried in the flesh. In part of this revelation the Lord addressed John stating.

Verily I say unto you, ye shall both [John and Peter] have according to your desires, for ye both joy in that which ye have desired. (D&C 7:8)

The Lord gave them according to their desires and than states "for ye both joy in that which ye have desired". A consistent theme in the scriptures is the Lord gives us what we desire. "What desirest thou"? (1 Nephi 11:2) By desiring we bring it into reality from the spiritual. 

Men are created to have joy. I wonder if part of the reason God always (almost) gives us according to our desires is because we have joy in which we desire. And we were created to have joy. Even when that joy is misplaced the Lord honors our agency.

When the Lord appeared to the Nephites he stated

And if it so be that the church is built upon my gospel then will the Father show forth his own works in it. 

But if it be not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the works of men, or upon the works of the devil, verily I say unto you they have joy in their works for a season, and by and by the end cometh, and they are hewndown and cast into the fire, from whence there is no return. (3 Nephi 27:10-11)

Whether the works be of man or of God, the people find joy in that which they desire. I guess we should seek to have joy in the works of God rather than our own.

Beginning Something New: Wine In New Bottles

In January 1841 there was a revelation reminding the LDS church it had forfeited the "fulness of the priesthood" (D&C 124:28), the Lord confirmed upon Hyrum "the office of Priesthood and Patriarch" (D&C 124:91). In Hyrum, like the prophets of old, God gave us a "prophet, and a seer, and a revelator unto [God's] church" (D&C 124:94). Hyrum was a man who could "bind on earth, bind in heaven, loose on earth, and loose in heaven" (D&C 124:93). He was the means to preserve the restoration, had he lived. By June 1844, it appears to me only Joseph and Hyrum were equal to fulfilling the Lord's requirements.

But Joseph and Hyrum were brothers, and therefore both "pure blooded Ephriamites" (JD 2:269; see also Ensign, January 1991, Of the House of Israel). The ancient covenants required this bloodline to bring forth the Book of Mormon and commence the restoration. However, they, and the priesthood line through them, needed to end before other covenants could be fulfilled. Zion will come through both Judah (king) and Joseph (priest), to fulfill the promises of our Lord (D&C 113:5-6; Isa. 11:10). Accordingly, both Joseph and Hyrum were taken, Hyrum the first to fall.

Hyrum's line was to be kept "in honorable remembrance from generation to generation, forever and ever" (D&C 124:96). Even after the Patriarch's office, held by Hyrum's descendants, was discontinued in 1979, the church still held some tenuous claims. In 1979 Eldred G. Smith was released and never replaced, but he lived on for decades. The office has now altogether ended according to church publications.

Upon his death in April 2013 at 104 years of age, the sign of the passing of the fourth generation was given. By April of the next year the Lord concluded His work through the LDS Church and set His hand to begin something new, now underway. You don't put wine into old bottles.  Joseph Smith declared 

"It is in the order of heavenly things that God should always send a new dispensation into the world when men have apostatized from the truth and lost the priesthood; but when men come out and build upon other men's foundations, they do it on their own responsibility, without: authority from God; and when the floods come and the winds blow, their foundations will be found to be sand, and their whole fabric will crumble to dust." (TJS Chapter 44, Or History of the Church, 6:478–79; from a discourse given by Joseph Smith on June 16, 1844)

Further Joseph stated, "If there is no change of ordinances, there is no change of Priesthood." (TJS Chapter 8). The fulness of the priesthood being forfeited meant there was a "change of ordinances". Isaiah told us in the last days they would have "changed the ordinance, [and] broken the everlasting covenant". (Isaiah 24:5) Therefore a new dispensation is required to usher in a renewal of the everlasting covenant (given as part of the fullness of the priesthood) and a new offer for Zion having fallen into apostasy. If Zion was successful, the fullness of the priesthood would have remained. "Without the ordinances thereof [pertaining to the fullness of the priesthood], and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh" and "no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live." (D&C 84:21-26). This priesthood is required to see God the Father and live.

All the prophets seek to bring men into the presence of god as did Moses (vs 24). When the fullness is rejected they are left in the wilderness to wander for "40 years", being unworthy to live in the Lords presence or the promised land. Consequently the Lord "took Moses [and Joseph] out of their midst, and the Holy Priesthood [Fullness of the Priesthood] also". When a group rises up to be worthy of his presence (Second Comforter) and successfully teaches their children to do likewise they have Zion.

Despite these failures, it never prevents individuals from rising up and receiving what was collectively rejected.

The first process of fellowshipping in local groups today is saving souls. It is a required first step, and therefore anyone who claims to have faith in Christ must now come and receive their baptism as a sign of faith in Christ through this required manner. Even if the recipient chooses to continue activity in the LDS Church, or any other church or group, all people of faith must receive the baptism now being offered.