No Coincidences

Tag: love

The Journal Entry of Beth’s Conversion Story

This is my wife, Beth’s testimony exactly as written. Names have been changed.

In a future post I will give some of my thoughts about this, but for now, the power of her testimony should stand on its own, unencumbered by any comments I could hope to make.

Here it is.

The Journal Entry of Beth’s Conversion Story

April 20, 2016

               I just read my patriarchal blessing for the second time since I got it. It confirmed promptings I’ve been having lately that I should do some journaling for myself and posterity so, even though it is past midnight I felt it better to do this than mindlessly fall asleep to some Netflix show. The past few years have had so much I don’t know how to fit everything I should write to remember. So, because of my failings as a journal writer, it will have to be a highlight reel of life. I just feel some changes that have occurred are too important to neglect to include.

               I am in my third year at ASU. I love it, I love learning, but my diagnosis with clinical depression in October 2015 has really been a roadblock in my ability to work hard. Luckily, after dropping out for a semester, I’m slowly starting to feel like myself again. I’m not taking medication anymore but I’ve been hiking often and the feeling I get from pushing myself and being physically fit really serves as a great anti-depressant. So I’m back in school with just 9 credit hours, but hard classes. (1920’s senior thesis, history of college sports, and existentialism) I will probably graduate in about a year and do some sort of graduate school program. I previously had been dead set on going to law school. However, I’ve had to rethink my career path after being diagnosed with the depression episode. I don’t really trust myself to be able to go through law school. I always had 100% confidence in my academic capabilities. Now, I’ve taken a real hit to that confidence. My patriarchal blessing does mention that through my righteousness I will have many different career options. That has been comforting.

               Life has been full of changes the past year. I think the biggest one that I will write on is about the ending of my very serious relationship with John for 2 ½ years and my decision to come back to church. I dated him from senior year of high school all the way up to just short of my 21^st birthday. I really thought I loved him. He and I had plans to even get married one day. We were HS sweethearts and he was what I considered my first real love. I feel a real sense of anger at the situation but I also can’t help but think I will always love who he used to be and what we used to have.

Initially, since about sophomore year of high school, I was set on not being LDS. I didn’t have a testimony of the Book of Mormon, I didn’t believe what the prophets spoke about. I wanted to live contrary to many of the commandments. I never cared to enter the temple. I was prepared to live that life with John too. We were definitely not living by LDS standards and that is exactly what I wanted. I was perfectly happy breaking the word of wisdom and living contrary to the law of chastity, among other things. Our relationship was never perfect. We fought often. He drank. I remember one day he drank so much he wound up in the hospital knocked out. For approximately 5 hours I sat there watching him, angry, upset, feeling betrayed, but wanting to show compassion. He cheated on me many times. I would often find messages on his phone texting other girls. He was perfectly fine with going out and getting drunk with other girls when I wasn’t around. Dramatic scenarios like these were often. I didn’t like who I was when I was with him. But I lost touch with who I used to be or who I could be. And when there were good times, I felt some amazing love. I just started to realize I had a better potential and I deserved better.

               The changes came slowly at first. I remember when Clark was on his mission, I had one night where I felt so very, extremely alone. Not just physically but much deeper than that. It was dark. I was overcome by hopelessness. It was a feeling I almost lack the ability to explain. I now think it was a result of separating myself so far from the spirit that the light from Christ dimmed. I was prideful. I hadn’t prayed in years. But I did. I prayed in that moment. Desperately. I pleaded with God, please take this feeling from me even though I know I don’t deserve it. Immediately, my fear dissipated and calm overwhelmed me. That was the first time I understood how real prayer was. I wish I could convey that feeling to others. It was painful, scary, optimistic, and inspiring all at once. That was a start.

               Any institute classes at ASU helped too. I didn’t mind studying the gospel from an intellectual standpoint so I liked going. I read scriptures. I discussed the gospel. I often was so eager to share what I learned with John. Sometimes he’d listen, other times he’d pretend to. It was awkward. I wanted to share what I found profound and he was resistant. But again, there were slow changes creeping in. I was realizing what the words of the gospel could mean. And he was realizing that he wanted nothing to do with it.

               The real changes began around the start of 2015. I had quit or was about to quit partaking in most of the big sins I had been living in for years. I had already quit drinking and I was ready to cut-off the intimate aspect of my relationship with John. I had an institute class on the Teachings of the Latter-Day Prophets at this time. For some scheduling reason, I missed that class often. To make up absences we had to write papers on general conference talks. (Which I had never listened to previously in my life) So I did it. And that was a blessing in disguise. Again, I took it as an intellectual opportunity, like listening to Gospel TED Talks. At first I learned a lot. But then I began to feel a lot. I studied the atonement. And the friendship and companionship of Christ. I studied talks on being genuine and being compassionate. I began to slowly feel a change of heart, a softening of a heart that had been proud for many years. And even though I thought I was happy before, I started to feel joy. Real joy. And I started to feel love for others. Real Christ-like love. And I started to understand my divine purpose. The real potential I could live up to. Then came the dreams that gave the final push.

               I’ve had vivid and detailed dreams for a few years now. Often they are silly. But often they are profound. Sometimes they even come true. I know that for many of us, the spirit speaks to us in dreams. For context, it is important to know I never wanted to get married in the temple before in my life and I never had been the kind of girl to dream excessively of my wedding day either. However, I had about four dreams where I was walking out of the temple in a white dress looking happier than I’d ever been lovingly holding the hand of a man. These dreams always ended right before I saw the face of the man I married. One night, I had the fifth identical dream but this time the man was John.

               In addition, I had another dream that my friend Mike was home from his mission, in white, crying and saying how proud he was while hugging another person dressed in white. As he turned around it became clear it was John on his baptism day! So with these dreams I thought I knew what it meant! John and I would change our ways, repent, convert, and live happily ever after.

               But of course that isn’t what happened. As a side note, I now have a different interpretation of those dreams. I think God was showing me what could be. What I should want to be. And as I saw that possibility play out in my dreams but realized that it could not be a reality in real life I had to consider what I truly wanted and expected for myself. After I broke up with John I had the wedding dream only once more. It was once again identical to the dreams before. But I saw the man I was going to marry. It isn’t like I could list a particular physical look I had for him but it’s as if I knew who he was anyway. As if the trust and love I had for him made me know him. And it made me desire so much to strive to one day be endowed so that I will get to marry that man and walk out of the temple with him one day. That was the first time I wanted to go through the temple. I now hope to be endowed and sealed one day.

So after these dreams I tried to appeal to John, first by asking him to quit drinking. I wanted so badly to have the life I thought I knew we could have. But we were sent here with free will and someone needs to want to change in order to truly change. He did not want to change. The last few months were devastating. I thought I loved John, I was otherwise so happy, but my relationship was suffering. I was starting to open up to the gospel, to build a relationship with Christ. I was doing well in school, I was making many friends. But we had diverged. Thankfully I was blessed to be given so many obvious signs of what was right that I knew without any doubt there was no turning back from the Gospel at this point. I either go forward with this change next to John or I go forward without him. But I had to go forward And so June came, he sat on my front doorstep. We talked kindly but distanced. And that was it. I was sad. The man I thought I loved was gone. But inexplicably I felt so at peace. It felt okay. I felt optimistic. I sensed a hard path ahead but I knew it was going to be worth it.

               So here I am with that journey under my belt. It has left me at times feeling damaged. I’m generally a confident person but I took a real hit to my self worth after this. The depression has made me feel like I’m not as smart or capable as I thought I was. My failed relationship made me feel I’m not worth someone’s loyalty or commitment That no matter how pretty or smart or funny or confident they think I am that a life with me wasn’t worth giving up something as trivial as alcohol. That my friends weren’t wiling to stick around when I chose to give up sin and follow Christ. But the gospel keeps me going.

               I can’t wait to love someone that chooses to love me fully back. I hope one day I can trust myself to do that. I hope one day I can give 100% of my love and feel it back. I want to trust that I’m worth someone’s loyalty. I want to trust I’m worth a righteous man. I pray to become better through this trial so I can be worth it one day.

And in the end of this trial I realize I’m grateful for it. I look to those times where I was given a sign and a testimony loud and clear when I’m beginning to doubt. And I’ve doubted. I was proud enough to think blessings would rain down on me immediately after this big step. They didn’t, at least not in the form I had expected. I’ve dated in the YSA ward but there hasn’t been anyone I’m seriously in to. In fact I almost find myself incapable of emotionally attaching to anyone. I’ve dealt with crippling depression. I lost friends. People decided they would choose John over me. They decided it was better to have the partying John than the sober Beth. I lost direction in my career path. But among all these trials I now understand what is temporary and what is eternal. It was the most alone I had ever felt. But I finally knew I wasn’t really ever alone.

               I had to go through my own repentance process with the bishop. (Farnsworth then Thurston) It was scary. But I now love and feel the atonement for real. Every time I pray, I thank Heavenly Father for Christ’s atonement. I needed the atonement then, and I need it now. My testimony in the atonement holds me over when my testimony in other aspects is less stable. My testimony of the eternal nature of being is so strong. My testimony of Christ’s personal relationship to us through prayer is tangible.

               I love Christ. I feel him there because he knows my pain. He’s been my friend when all hope was gone. I’m not completely myself again but I find joy in reaching out to those who I sense also feel alone, damaged, or scared. My trial has given me an ability to reach out to those in pain just as Christ does. And I feel real, Christ-like love that I’ve never felt before. I look at people with a new light now because of it. I try to understand the principle of forgiveness because I need it. I long to maintain an eternal perspective because I knew what challenges there were to face on Earth yet I boldly said I was ready to do it. And I will continue to do so.

               I look forward to the day I can look back and understand the ‘why’ of my experiences and trials. But for now I will press on with hope and gratitude. I know my Savior lives. I hope I never doubt it! I hope I never forget. I am so grateful for the hard times. I’m grateful for humility and for this clarity. I’m so grateful for my story.

Elisabeth Brooke Cannon

March 17, 2022
TRUTH about Heaven

On November 19, 1823, a young man named Alvin Smith died. The Smith family asked a Presbyterian minister to officiate at Alvin’s funeral. “As Alvin had not been a member of the minister’s congregation, the clergyman asserted in his sermon that Alvin could not be saved. William Smith…recalled: ‘[The minister]… intimated very strongly that [Alvin] had gone to hell, for Alvin was not a church member, but he was a good boy and my father did not like it.” (Teachings: Joseph Smith, 401, 403).

On January 21, 1836, while in the temple at Kirtland, Ohio, the heavens were opened up to a still young man named Joseph Smith. It was recorded:

1 The heavens were opened upon us, and I beheld the celestial kingdom of God, and the glory thereof, whether in the body or out I cannot tell.

5 I saw Father Adam and Abraham and my father and my mother; my brother Alvin, that has long since slept;

6 And marveled how it was that he had obtained an inheritance in that kingdom, seeing that he had departed this life before the Lord had set his hand to gather Israel the second time, and had not been baptized for the remission of sins.

7 Thus came the voice of the Lord unto me, saying: All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God;

8 Also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom;

9 For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.

10 And I also beheld that all children who die before they arrive at the years of accountability are saved in the celestial kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 7 of the Joseph Smith translation has an important clarification:

1 Now these are the words which Jesus taught his disciples that they should say unto the people.

2 Judge not unrighteously, that ye be not judged; but judge righteous judgment.

What is, righteous judgement, then? From the New Testament Student Manual:

“President Dallin H. Oaks explained these teachings and their application, basing his comments on the principle “that there are two kinds of judging: final judgments, which we are forbidden to make, and intermediate judgments, which we are directed to make, but upon righteous principles:

“First, a righteous judgment must, by definition, be intermediate. It will refrain from declaring that a person has been assured of exaltation or from dismissing a person as being irrevocably bound for hellfire. It will refrain from declaring that a person has forfeited all opportunity for exaltation or even all opportunity for a useful role in the work of the Lord. The gospel is a gospel of hope, and none of us is authorized to deny the power of the Atonement to bring about a cleansing of individual sins, forgiveness, and a reformation of life on appropriate conditions.

“Second, a righteous judgment will be guided by the Spirit of the Lord, not by anger, revenge, jealousy, or SELF-INTEREST(my emphasis added). …

“Third, to be righteous, an intermediate judgment must be within our stewardship. We should not presume to exercise and act upon judgments that are outside our personal responsibilities. …

“Fourth, we should, if possible, refrain from judging until we have adequate knowledge of the facts. …

“A fifth principle of a righteous intermediate judgment is that whenever possible we will refrain from judging people and only judge situations. … We can set and act upon high standards for ourselves or our homes without condemning those who do otherwise. …

“Sixth, forgiveness is a companion principle to [this] commandment. … In modern revelation the Lord has declared, ‘I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men’ (D&C 64:10).

“Seventh, a final ingredient or principle of a righteous judgment is that it will apply righteous standards” (“‘Judge Not’ and Judging,” Ensign, Aug. 1999, 7, 9–12).”

I will refrain from judging that minister at Alvin’s funeral who failed in almost all these points laid out by President Oaks. I will leave that judgement to God for such behavior.

What I will say is this: the hateful, vengeful God that condemns young children and the ignorant to eternal hellfire, is not my God. My God doesn’t create someone, give them a body, send them to earth, only to condemn them to eternal damnation because they never committed to a God they never heard of.

Where is the justice, mercy, and LOVE of that God? There is no love in that God. That is not my God.

My God loves all His children.

1 Peter 4:6 “For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.”

How can it be, then? How can men be judged in the flesh when their flesh has long since been laid in the ground and returned to the dust from which it was formed?

Salvation for the dead through ministering to the dead. Baptisms and ordinances for the dead. Ordinances that the dead cannot, once dead, perform for themselves. For we, without them, cannot be made perfect, as they, without us, cannot be made perfect (Hebrews 11:40 , D&C 128:18).

Truth.

Pure.

Simple.

If this doesn’t make sense to you, please, re-read it. Then read it again, then read it again. New wine is difficult to fit in old bottles. Then ask me, and maybe I can explain in better. I know the missionaries can.

God doesn’t condemn you or your loved ones to hell because you haven’t met or been taught of the true Him. This is the great evil that Satan has perpetuated throughout Christianity.

THAT IS NOT GOD.

God is love. You, your father, your father’s father. He loves all of you. And you will all be able to hear the truth before any judgement is made. I love that God, and I am grateful for Him. And I am grateful for Joseph Smith for these pure, simple truths that he restored. And I am grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, who affords me all this: forgiveness, love, peace, eternity with my family. Because He suffered for me. Again, and again and again and again I say, thank you.

To learn more about TRUTH:

CLICK HERE

March 10, 2022
Teaching in Heaven

I was having a conversation with a very close friend about the Church. Topics ranged from authority, to the Book of Mormon, to prophets.

As I was having this conversation I realized how uphill the battle was to describe these things to someone whom the topic was so foreign to. It wasn’t that my friend was flawed in any way. In fact, if there was any flaw it was in my ability to communicate with the English language things of such magnitude, such importance, such eternal significance. These situations are a reminder to me of how blessed I’ve been to be raised with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.

I’ve had many such conversations. Battling the biases, worldly distractions, and worldly concerns, so inherent and built into us while here during this mortal journey.

As I was having this conversation with my friend, and struggling with the constant frustration of feeling like I’m just not doing justice to these spiritual topics through my words, something happened that’s never happened to me before. I had a vision of sorts. Really, it was simply a daydream.

I saw myself after this life. I saw this friend. I saw the scales of mortality removed from his eyes and I saw that I would have the opportunity one day to teach these things again. When that opportunity came, language, bias, and distraction would not be part of the equation. I saw that one day this friend would remember who he really was, and he would know who I really was, and I would be able to teach him.

Countless friends started to pop up in my mind around this friend the conversation was being had with. Countless people; from small, seemingly insignificant interactions to long drawn out discussions about the doctrine of Jesus Christ. I saw many people in my mind whom I love with all my heart. I saw them around me, and me able to teach them. Finally in a way they would understand. Without all my flaws and lack of ability to communicate holding them back.

I realized this friend would accept the gospel. No doubt in my mind. One day, here or there. The time spent here, with all the shortcomings in my communication, these conversations were planting seeds. And one day, when I stand before him in all his eternal glory, he will accept my words because the seed was already there, from mortality. He would remember our conversations here, and it will make it so much easier for him to accept Christ and His gospel there.

I realized this situation would be with so many people I know here. So many people I just can’t quite get the rights words, feeling, spirit, or power to persuade to see what I see and feel what I feel. Again, no fault of those around me. We all have our own journeys. One day I’ll be able to teach again. I look forward to that day.

For anyone who has read a single word of my blog posts: you will be in that group I so anxiously wait to teach. I thank you for reading, and look forward to that day when we remember who we are, and can be united under the name that grants us all we have, all we’ve ever had, and all we will ever have.

The name of Jesus Christ. Our redeemer. Our Savior.

February 24, 2022
Am I a Christian?

I was told I’m not a Christian.

I was looking to attend a Christian University and when the counselor I was speaking to heard I was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints she got kind of upset. She seemed truly disappointed to break the news to me. “You can’t attend this university if you are not Christian.”

Yes!

I was so excited to respond to that.

“I’m sorry if there’s confusion, but I am very Christian. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” I emphasized.

She didn’t seem convinced.

“I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, He is the Savior of the world, He is my Savior. He died so I can live. He came to this earth to sacrifice His mortal life for me. Christ has always been and will always be my Savior.”

We went around in circles like this for a bit.

Finally, she said with exasperation, “Do you believe Jesus Christ visited the Americas?”

An emphatic, “Yes, I do.”

Her reply, “Oh you see, we don’t believe there is any evidence of this in the Bible. I’m sorry. You don’t believe in the same Christ we do.”

The same Christ?

Speaking of “evidence” in the Bible that Christ may have visited the Americas leads me to Ezekiel 37:16 which reads:

“Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, for Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions.”

These sticks are the Book of Mormon and the Bible. One from Judah and one from Joseph.

More “evidence” in John 10:16:

“And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.”

I put quotes around “evidence” because evidence is a funny thing. Anyone can read those two scriptures and explain them away. The real evidence is in the Book of Mormon. Read it.

How can someone who has never read the Book of Mormon with its constant references to Jesus Christ, its beautiful and simple doctrine of Jesus Christ, and its eloquent teachings of Jesus Christ, tell me I’m not Christian? By their fruits you shall know them.

Do other Christians think Christ wouldn’t visit all His children across the globe? Do other Christians think Christ didn’t have time to show love to His other sheep? Do other Christians think Christ only loved the Jews in Israel?

Maybe we don’t believe in the same Christ.

But I do know that we believe in the same Christ. I know other Christians are confused about the nature of Jesus Christ and I know the Book of Mormon can shed light on His true nature and teach “Christianity” so much about our Savior whom they profess. He is everyone’s Savior. That is why I was so anxious to tell her about the Book of Mormon and explain to her that the Bible DOES testify of the Book of Mormon and show evidence that Christ visited the Americas.

I know she didn’t hear all of what I was trying to say that day. I know she was clouded by biases and preconceived notions. That’s ok. I know she’ll get a chance to learn about Jesus Christ’s love for all His children and His visit to the Americas. Someday.

Read the Book of Mormon for yourself. Let me know if it’s not the purest, most beautiful, most amazing description of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth today.

February 3, 2022
A Dream About Prophets

I had a dream last night. In it I was going down a stream. I had the feeling of leaving civilization for the wilderness. I came to a cliff. I climbed to the top and on the precipice there was a small and shabby tent erected. I went inside and there was an old prophet. I spoke with him.

A new prophet came. The new prophet was well dressed and well-kept, not like the old prophet living in a tiny tent on the edge of a cliff. The new prophet was respected, and I knew he came from a comfortable home. He was well regarded by society and lived comfortably in the world. He was told he had to take the place of the old prophet and live there in the wilderness, in a tent.

When I woke up from this dream, I had a feeling it was important, but I couldn’t figure out why.

What was this dream telling me?

I write down all my dreams. But this one felt important.

Was Russell M. Nelson the new prophet? Was he of the world? Was he flawed? What was the dream telling me?

As I meditated in the morning, I continued to ponder this question. On my drive into the office, I prayed to know if there was something I was supposed to glean from this dream. I asked specifically that if there was something important that I was supposed to learn to please allow my reading for the day to guide my mind to understanding.

I’m in Mosiah chapter 3 and Doctrine and Covenants section 133 respectively in my daily scripture study. A few hours later I was reading verse 71, exactly where I’d left off the day prior, of section 133, which reads:

“Behold, and lo, there are none to deliver you; for ye obeyed not my voice when I called to you out of the heavens; ye believed not my servants, and when they were sent unto you ye received them not.”

Alongside D&C I’m reading a commentary. The commentary for verse 71 said:

Why Are the Prophets Rejected?

President Spencer W. Kimball commented:

“Various excuses have been used over the centuries to dismiss these divine messengers. There has been denial because the prophet came from an obscure place. ‘Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?’ (John 1:46.) Jesus was also met with the question, ‘Is not this the carpenter’s son?’ (Matt. 13:55.) By one means or another, the swiftest method of rejection of the holy prophets has been to find a pretext, however false or absurd, to dismiss the man so that his message could also be dismissed. Prophets who were not glib, but slow of speech, were esteemed as naught.…

“We wonder how often hearers first rejected the prophets because they despised them, and finally despised the prophets even more because they had rejected them. Even so, why else is the record of rejection so complete? The cares of the world are so many and so entangling, even very good people are diverted from following the truth because they care too much for the things of the world.…

“Sometimes people let their hearts get so set upon things and the honors of this world that they cannot learn the lessons they most need to learn. Simple truths are often rejected in favor of the much less-demanding philosophies of men, and this is another cause for the rejection of the prophets.

“But while there are various excuses for rejection, there’s a certain cause for this sad record. It must not be passed over: the cares of the world, the honors of the world, and looking beyond the mark are all determined by a persuasive few who presume to speak for all.…

“The holy prophets have not only refused to follow erroneous human trends, but have pointed out these errors. No wonder the response to the prophets has not always been one of indifference. So often the prophets have been rejected because they first rejected the wrong ways of their own society.

“These excuses for rejection of the prophets are poor excuses. The trouble with using obscurity as a test of validity is that God has so often chosen to bring forth his work out of obscurity. He has even said it would be so. (See D&C 1:30.) Christianity did not go from Rome to Galilee; it was the other way around. In our day the routing is from Palmyra to Paris, not the reverse. Just because something is in our midst does not mean that we have been in the midst of it. We can daily drive by a museum or an art gallery but know nothing of what is inside.

“The trouble with rejection because of personal familiarity with the prophets is that the prophets are always somebody’s son or somebody’s neighbor. They are chosen from among the people, not transported from another planet, dramatic as that would be!…

“Of course, rejection of the holy prophets comes because the hearts of people are hardened, as people are shaped by their society. Yet even when the hardening is swift, it can also be subtle. Who, for instance, a scant twenty years ago would have foreseen the massive use of abortion in society today? Like all the diseased doctrines of the devil, the practice is pleasing unto the carnal mind.

“Prophets have a way of jarring the carnal mind. Too often the holy prophets are wrongly perceived as harsh and as anxious to make a record in order to say, ‘I told you so.’ Those prophets I have known are the most loving of men. It is because of their love and integrity that they cannot modify the Lord’s message merely to make people feel comfortable. They are too kind to be so cruel. I am so grateful that prophets do not crave popularity.” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1978, pp. 115–16; or Ensign, May 1978, pp. 76–77.)

It wasn’t until the very end of that statement from Spencer W. Kimball that it hit me, and I remembered – I asked for guidance in what I read today to help with my dream. I dreamed of prophets, now I was reading a long commentary from a prophet about why prophets are rejected.

I thought back on my dream. I had correctly believed that Russell M. Nelson was the “new prophet.” What I incorrectly interpreted was that Russell M. Nelson was “of the world” or wrong in some way. My dream gave me a feeling that he was flawed. That he was attached to the comfortable home and respectful world he lived in.

After reading that comment from Spencer W. Kimball, I realized there was no flaw in Russell M. Nelson.

The attacks on prophets are starting to escalate in our current society. See the recent backlash against Jeffrey R. Holland as an example.

The eternal and correct view of prophets on gender, marriage, and the importance of the family is under attack. Prophets will not deny truth. They will continue to speak truth even as they are rejected by the world.

Nobody embodies a “loving man” more than Jeffrey R. Holland. If you’ve ever watched one of his tear-filled and tear-jerking General Conference addresses, you know that the man emanates love for us, for followers of Jesus Christ and for all of God’s children.

“Those prophets I have known are the most loving of men. It is because of their love and integrity that they cannot modify the Lord’s message merely to make people feel comfortable.”

No statement has ever fit Jeffrey R. Holland more accurately.

I started making connections between my dream and what it was trying to tell me, so I went back and re-read where I was at in Mosiah 3:18, 19 (the verses I read before D&C that day). It reads:

18 “For behold he judgeth, and his judgment is just; and the infant perisheth not that dieth in his infancy; but men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble themselves and become as little children, and believe that salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.

19 “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”

“And the infant perisheth not that dieth in infancy.”

“but men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble themselves and become as little children.”

“For the natural man is an enemy to God.”

“And becometh as a child.”

“even as a child doth submit to his father.”

“Who, for instance, a scant twenty years ago would have foreseen the massive use of abortion in society today? Like all the diseased doctrines of the devil, the practice is pleasing unto the carnal mind. Prophets have a way of jarring the carnal mind.”

I think my dream was reminding me what I already know to be true. We are in the time where our society has fully rejected the prophets. The attack on them is going to increase. Russell M. Nelson has been a respected heart surgeon, kind, gentle, grandfatherly figure. I believe we are quickly approaching the time that he will be cast into the wilderness and hated by a world that has always hated prophets. I believe this is what my dream was telling me.

Those of us with faith in Jesus Christ and His anointed servants must keep firm in our faith in Him, and in His servants. Don’t be shaken by the attacks on His chosen servants. If you do, your faith in Him (Jesus Christ) can be shaken next. Trust in whom He has chosen. Follow them as you follow Him. The Lord’s prophets will not lead us astray. Russell M. Nelson is the Lord’s anointed and he is our prophet. As the world turns on Jesus Christ’s prophet, we must support and protect him from a world that will hate what he and our Lord stand for.

For more on this topic, I read this blog post that elaborates on the dangers of choosing what we do and do not want to believe from prophets. Click the image below to read the post:

January 27, 2022