Our new scriptures have many things that are uniquely ours and do not inform any other Christian believer’s understanding. The differences are important to note.

We have the most complete and accurate version of the Joseph Smith Translation. We have the most complete and accurate version of the Book of Mormon. We have the most complete and accurate version of Joseph’s “Doctrine and Covenants” including revelations never canonized and Lectures on Faith, that were never decanonized, but nevertheless removed from scripture. But we also have new revelations and instructions given by God to us and exclusively for us.

Here is one insight into Christ’s love for us that can only be found in our scriptures: “God wants for us to understand Him. He is eager to meet with and touch us, as we should be to know and touch Him. God loves His children equally, but we love Him unequally in return. If we would love Him as he loves us, we would leap into His open arms and rejoice in the touch of our Lord.” T&C 159:8-9 These words are humbling to contemplate.

It cannot be overstated how important scriptures are to understanding Christ’s gospel. We have an advantage to understanding His gospel through our unique scriptures, if we are willing to study them.

A few words of instruction on the “Hosanna Shout” appear to be needed:

A languid repetition in unison of:

“Hosanna …hosanna… hosanna”

is not good form. The “shout” ought to be shouted! And doing so in unison always detracts, and forces into order what ought to be individual enthusiasm, uncontrolled, unregulated, and motivated by each person’s heartfelt emotion.

Here is a description of such an event in an authentic outburst at the laying of the foundation of the Second Temple: “And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites, and chief of the fathers who were old men that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice. And many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.” (OC Ezra 1:17)

This outburst was loud shouting, weeping, and the words “could not be discerned” because of the outcry.

Should there ever be an occasion for an authentic “Hosanna Shout!” among people of God, it should be rousing, loud, enthusiastic and uncontrolled. It should attract the attention of Heaven itself by the purity of the outburst from the hearts of the participants.

There is a critic who has written to me from time to time in the past. He actively posts on line under a pseudonym and I think even has a website blog somewhere. In any event I heard from him again and responded to him. He linked to a number of websites that are critical of Mormonism generally and of Joseph Smith. I responded to his email and have copied my response below:

I will take the time to review the links. Although I am busy, I do have a little more time because of the virus slowing down everything.

Thank you for caring enough to provide input. It is apparent to me that you do value the search for truth and are sincerely committed to principle.

Many times disagreements are not the result of a person’s failure to study matters through. They are the result of studying different materials and becoming persuaded by one viewpoint because of the lengthy investment of time and effort to understand that viewpoint. The disagreement flows from two different libraries being in conflict, not the ignorance or lack of diligence of either party.

I did not come to Mormonism as an eager, willing convert looking to make a change. I was quite content to leave Mormonism neglected. But once I was persuaded to at least consider it seriously, I began to study carefully what the religion taught, its historical bases, and the opposing literature. That examination has never stopped. I have read more material that challenges or criticizes Mormonism than the supporting materials. I did that primarily because there is more available material criticizing Mormonism than there is supporting it in sheer volume.

I’m actually interested in the materials you linked and sincerely will consider it. I did a quick review and saw that many of the arguments or points are familiar and often repeated. But hopefully there will be some new stuff as well.

As you know, the LDS form of Mormonism is its own worst enemy. They have oversold some things and neglected others, and in the process have distorted both the restoration and Joseph Smith. He has become a caricature and not a real person in both LDS Mormonism and in the hands of the critics. One of the reasons for writing the book A Man Without Doubt was to let Joseph step out from behind the many portrayals offered of him and let him speak for himself. He was not at all the person most people think him to be.

The Joseph Smith Papers project is also disappointing. But at least it contains original material, some of which has not been previously released. It helps somewhat. But the editors have mangled the content with their footnotes and commentary trying to force a viewpoint on the reader.

I’ve said that all history is fiction. Nothing is lived in the way it is later explained in hindsight. I have a lot of original journal, diary and correspondence materials involved in the relevant time period from 1820 to 1900. These “lived experiences” are more authentic than what the historians interpret and retell. Their lives are like yours and mine. We have our hopes, plans and expectations that are invariably frustrated, changed, abandoned and we adapt to the new circumstances. Reading through the daily struggles of those involved lets me identify with them because everyone shares the “life experience” of how this world tosses us back and forth. But historians tell the events as if they were God, with purpose and destiny always informing the storyline. But God doesn’t tell the story. He may inform a person’s life with insight, or inspire hope, or speak from time to time (almost always to correct and challenge the humble soul). But the “story” of life for everyman is the story of surprise, frustration, disappointment, sorrow, relief, appreciation, humiliation leading to humility, and challenge. But acceptance of these circumstances can lead to happiness and even satisfaction as we trouble through it all. In Liberty Jail the inspired inquiry was posited: “The Son of Man hath descended below it all; art thou greater than He?” Knowing of the Lord’s condescension helps us all bear up a little more bravely, with a little more determination, and with a little more humility.

Joseph certainly was not without his limitations and shortcomings. But, then again, so was Peter, and Moses, and Isaiah, and Elijah. Can we learn from Joseph’s life something good to take us closer to God? I leave it to you to answer that question.

All my best to you and your family;

The restrictions in place and proposed to respond to the Coronavirus do not restrict hiking. So the daily hiking my wife and I do will not be interrupted.

Today we saw two bluebirds flying together across the trail. Robins are returning by the dozens. There are hundreds of geese in the area. There is a herd of 16 deer that graze on the east hillside above Draper City.

Winter ended and Spring began on the Equinox a few days ago. Nature is reawakening after months of slumber. Hiking puts you into Nature’s cycles and lets you observe first hand Christ’s management of this creation: “through Jesus Christ his Son, he that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth, which truth shines. This is the light of Christ, as also he is in the sun and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made; as also he is in the moon and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made; as also the light of the stars and the power thereof by which they were made; and the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand. And the light which now shines, which gives you light, is through him who enlightens your eyes, which is the same light that quickens your understandings, which light proceeds forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space: the light which is in all things, which gives life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sits upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.” T&C 86:1

If you get tired of home confinement, consider hiking in nature as an alternative way to spend time. An hour with God’s handiwork can give you insight into our Creator. (and it’s fun)

On October 5, 1840 in a conference at Nauvoo, Joseph Smith had Robert B. Thompson read the instructions on “priesthood” Joseph wrote for the conference. It is significant Joseph wrote the talk before the conference. His talks were almost always spontaneous, and our record relies on note-takers in the audience. Joseph thought his priesthood instruction was important enough to organize and write in advance.

He mentioned a high priesthood that “is the Grand head and holds the hig[h]est Authority which pertains to the priesthood–the keys of the Kingdom of God in all ages of the world to the latest posterity on the earth–and is the channel through which all knowledge, doctrine, the plan of salvation and every important matter truth is revealed from heaven.”

This channel that reveals knowledge commenced with Adam and “he was the first to hold the spiritual blessings.” “Adam holds the keys of the dispensation of the fulness of times, i.e., the dispensation of all the times that have been and will be revealed through him from the beginning to Christ and from Christ to the end of ^^ all world the dispensations that have to be revealed.”

Joseph explained the dispensations are to gather together everything in Christ. The purpose of “the last dispensation is, that all things pertaining to that dispensation should be conducted precisely in accordance with the preceeding dispensations.”

Christ “set the ordinances to be the same for Ever and ever and set Adam to watch over them to reveal them from heaven to man or to send Angels to reveal them[.]” When angels do come to minister, “These angels are under the direction of Michael or Adam who acts under the direction of Christ.”

Joseph explained there was an order that heaven follows, and mankind is required to also conform to the pattern established by heaven. “Adam received commandments and instruction from God, this was the order from the beginning: that he received revelations, Commandments, and ordinances at the beginning[.]” And it was necessary to follow that pattern to be saved.

Dispensation after dispensation it has been Adam who has either ministered or sent angels to minister the conditions for salvation. Each dispensation is required to conform to the pattern ordained by Adam if people in the dispensation are to be saved.

“This then is the nature of the priesthood, every man holding the presidency of his dispensation and one man holding the presidency of them all even Adam.” Further, “the ordinances must be kept in the very way God has appointed, otherwise their priesthood will prove a cursing instead of a blessing.”

The “keys of this [patriarchal or presidency] priesthood consisted in obtaining the voice of Jehovah that he talked with him in a familiare and friendly manner, that he continued to him the keys, the covenants, the power and the glory with which he blessed Adam at the beginning and the offring of sacrifice which also shall be continued at the last time. for all the ordinances and duties that ever have been required by the priesthood under the directions and commandments of the Almighty in the last dispensation at the end thereof in any of the dispensations, shall all be had in the last dispensations[.]”

Animal sacrifice is most notably associated with the Law of Moses. However, Joseph clarified that, “It is not to be understood that, the law of Moses will be fully established again with all its rights and (variety of ceremonies) ceremonies this has never been spoken off by the prophets) but those things which existed prior to Mose’s day viz sacrifice, will be continued[.]”

The foregoing is taken from JS Papers, Documents Vol. 7, September 1839-January 1841, pp. 434-441, retyped as in the original. The entire talk goes through p. 442.

Joseph’s talk is best understood in the context of tying “dispensations” and “ordinances” to temple rites. Had he lived long enough to complete the rites he began, there would undoubtedly have been much more returned by Father Adam for the benefit of his posterity. We have the assurance that this process of restoring will continue and will eventually lead to a full and final restoration.

It is interesting that Joseph uses both the singular and the plural when he mentioned the “last dispensations.” Clearly when Joseph was slain the restoration was not completed. Therefore, another dispensation will be needed to finish the work. Perhaps it will come as a “thief in the night” and arrive while the vast majority of ignorant mankind will believe they cannot and will not be surprised by God.

A transcript of the talk I delivered in the Conference in Hurricane, Utah yesterday is now available as a download. It is linked here: The Heavens are Open (And Therefore We Have Work to Do)

The transcript includes 93 footnotes that I did not read during the talk.

At a later time a transcript of the Q&A discussion will be provided.

Tomorrow’s conference schedule of breakout sessions are going ahead. For topics, speakers and times go to the conference web page to get the Zoom links for the virtual breakout sessions. They will take place tomorrow as originally planned.

Sunday I will be speaking and it will also be accessible through a link provided on the conference web page.

A new video series begins today. The Series is titled: The Heavens Are Open Again. The first video in the planned seven-part series was made live today at this link: The Heavens Are Open Again, Part 1: Condemnation

This evening is the equinox. The First Vision happened near the Spring Equinox. The four year recurring visitation of Nephi with Joseph Smith took place on the Fall Equinox. These movements of the sun on the horizon were anciently associated with heavenly contact, and devotional festivals. Their relevance seem to have been reconfirmed at the beginning of the Restoration.

The sun is now racing across the horizon, moving more than 1 degree daily to the north. Daylight has been growing in the northern hemisphere since the Winter Solstice, but it now is moving rapidly toward the Summer Solstice.

The symbolism of these movements are largely forgotten by modern Christianity and even Mormonism. But they are indeed part of the gospel of Christ, as I intend to mention this coming Sunday during my talk.

Despite our forgetfulness, heaven still uses this occasion to convey ideas for believers. Does God still speak through an earthquake? Does removing the trumpet from the temple’s “angel” atop the highest spire say anything to believers today?

I’ve thought for several years that the shift from primarily proclaiming the Book of Mormon to now requiring fidelity to an organization’s leaders as a precondition for baptism, has gutted the Lord’s intended message. If the primacy of the Book of Mormon is no longer an organization’s central message, then there is no further need to proclaim themselves to the world.

The Hurricane, Utah conference is taking place in rented facilities and the lessor requires compliance with the current crowd-size limitation. Therefore, although I will be speaking as scheduled, no more than 10 people will be allowed to be present. It will be streamed over the Internet through the conference website. The best way to participate will be through the live streaming.

There was a 5.7 earthquake this morning in the Salt Lake Valley. It was centered in Magna. The trumpet of the Angel Moroni statue atop the Salt Lake Temple was shaken off.

There is still a lot of work to be done. The talk I will give at the upcoming conference is titled: The Heavens are Open (And Therefore We Have Work To Do).

On March 20-22 there is a Conference scheduled in Hurricane, Utah. The website for details can be found here: The Heavens Are Open

I look forward to seeing those of you who choose to attend. The opportunity to meet together is always a wonderful experience.

I flew to Denver, Colorado this last week and noted the airline travelers, hotel guests and rental car providers are all having fewer customers. That was a welcome change from what I normally confront in travel. Politics, it seems, are now played with a recklessness and frenzy that puts on quite a show.

Amid all the despair and gloom I noticed that the sunrise and sunset continues to display daily beauty and the constant reassurance that what God ordains will happen. Even in the light-polluted night sky of the Wasatch Front, right now, overhead we have Orion, Venus, Castor and Pollux still visible. A few nights ago the twins of Gemini seemed to be standing with their feet on the moon. Ursa Major still points to Polaris, and that fixed point in the northern sky is visible despite the streetlights of my community.

While we were hiking last Saturday we ran into the rafter of turkeys that have been absent for the last month. (A “flock” of turkeys is called a “rafter.”) It was nice to see them again. Cycles in nature continue unabated.

When I see mankind fearfully running about and acting on their dread, I think of how ancient prophets compared man to the unruly sea. The ‘seas heaving themselves beyond their bounds’ is a familiar scriptural metaphor used to describe panic in the last days. ‘Men’s hearts failing them for fear’ is another way the bemused prophets and our Lord described how society will behave as the end approaches.

I look forward to next week’s conference.

I received a request to put this statement up from the sisters gathering funds for the temple project:

STATEMENT REGARDING FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR DONATED TEMPLE FUNDS

We hereby inform all interested parties that all monetary gifts donated for the temple fund have been and are currently held in their entirety without any disbursal for any reason to this date, March 1, 2020. Not one cent has been spent, or is expected to be spent, until construction commences.

Every donation is carefully recorded in two separate records maintained by members of the committee.

We plan to provide full transparency of all gifts (with donor names withheld for privacy) as well as an accounting for all expenditures when the temple is complete.

The fund at this point has earned over $11,000.00 in interest, which also has not been spent, and which will continue to accumulate as part of the temple funds, until construction begins.

The Temple Fund Committee

Karen Strong
Janette VanLeer
Elaine Henderson

The Restoration has a glorious destiny. It does not matter if “restoration churches” or organized institutions falter, stumble and fall. As Joseph Smith explained it: “the standard of truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing.” That “standard of truth” is the Book of Mormon, not an institution. And it will continue to ” go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say, The work is done.” (T&C 146:20)

We will continue to advance the message. We have no structure to be compromised by aspiring men.

We have nothing diverting tithing money away from helping the poor.

We have no organization exerting control.

We believe in faith, repentance and baptism for the remission of sin, and that the holy ghost will follow to lead and inspire those who repent and are baptized.

We believe in gathering together often to partake of the sacrament.

These are things taught to us in our scriptures.

When other “restoration churches” are compromising with the world, adopting more worldiness, losing light, and violating commandments, we invite anyone who believes in the Restoration and would like to remain true and faithful to God’s commands to fellowship with us. Here is where you can find a group of those who believe in and seek to preserve the Restoration: Fellowship Locator

A regional conference in Japan is scheduled for April 3-5. A link to the conference announcement appears below:

The Search for Truth

This important outreach will include people who plan to participate from several nations in the Far East. All are invited to attend.

“From the bottom of the deepest ocean trench to the top of the highest mountain, the zone that covers nearly the whole of known life, is only something over a dozen miles- not much when set against the roominess of the cosmos at large. For humans it is even worse… no less than 99.5% of the world’s habitable space by volume, according to one estimate, is fundamentally- in practical terms completely- off limits to us.” A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson, p. 239.

This creation is a grand undertaking, vast in scope, infinite in size, with billions of years from the past displayed nightly in the vault of heaven. Both science and Genesis tell us the greatest part of this whole creation was made before man arrived on the scene. Science declares mankind is the greatest step in evolutionary development. Genesis identifies the creation of man and woman as the final step in God fashioning something “very good.”

Surely God appreciates His vast handiwork. Mankind is made to be “like God” comprehending and appreciating this great undertaking. My wife and I hike almost every day. No matter which trail is taken, every venture is unique. Seasons change. Light shifts. The shadows on the same path are different as the sun moves across the horizon from Solstice to Equinox to Solstice, year by year.

“And again, verily I say unto you, he has given a law unto all things, by which they move in their times and their seasons, and their courses are fixed, even the courses of the heavens and the earth, which comprehend the earth and all the planets. And they give light to each other in their times and in their seasons, in their minutes, in their hours, in their days, in their weeks, in their months, in their years. All these are one year with God, but not with man. The earth rolls upon her wings, and the sun gives his light by day, and the moon gives her light by night, and the stars also give their light as they roll upon their wings, in their glory, in the midst of the power of God. Unto what shall I liken these kingdoms that you may understand? Behold all these are kingdoms, and any man who has seen any or the least of these has seen God moving in his majesty and power.” (T&C 86:7-8)

In the upcoming March 20-22 Conference in Hurricane, Utah there will be specific activities planned for the youth. To help the Conference organizers they ask that those who plan to attend register to help with arrangements.

The link to the site is here: BEHOLD, Your Little Ones