Fulness of Times

Many of us are familiar with the parable of the good Samaritan, found in Luke chapter 10. After "a certain lawyer" asks the Master, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" The Master asks him what the law says, to which the lawyer responds "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God..and they neighbour as thyself. Jesus tells him he answered right and to do what he had said. The lawyer then asks, "Who is my neighbour?" The Master then tells the parable of the good Samaritan, where "a certain man" (we don't know what kind of man) was robbed, beat up, and left for dead. First a priest, and later a Levite, pass by without helping. A Samaritan, who are despised by the Jews, comes by stops, tends to the wounds, and takes the person to an inn where he pays the host to help the man as needed. While we are quick to condemn the priest and Levite, the Lord does not. At the end of the parable he basically asks a question to the questioner which &quo

If an invitation to gather is given to the Saints, who will heed the call?  My thoughts are those who heed the call immediately will have the easiest time gathering. However, I don't think destruction will be immediate on those who remain behind. I think it will be like the city of Ammonihah where there may be 4 months or so before destruction comes (by way of a monstrous earthquake) to the Salt Lake and Utah valleys.  Between the initial call to gather and the huge earthquake, it will become increasingly difficult for people to gather to the places of refuge. Limitations on travel will likely be in place, probably due to quarantines and limited martial law as a result of fast spreading viruses/plagues. Inflation and other economic conditions may also add to the difficulty to travel.  Overall conditions will not look bad at the time of the invitation to gather. In fact, conditions will probably be improving and be expected to continue to improve, which will cause many

I work as an IT technician, so I'm familiar with computers and troubleshooting. This fall I started a graduate program in cybersecurity. We have not gotten into much depth--that's for later classes--but we have used easy, freely available programs to create hacks into various systems. There are several in the class who are very adept and have taken the time to look into other hacks, and then shared them with the class. With more devices being connected to the internet, and most of those devices not having much in the way of security, we are opening our homes, vehicles, and families to potential invasion. The best defenses against the attackers include: Keeping your system (the operating system) updated. Maintain an updated anti-virus/anti-malware program. Keep applications up-to-date. Backup your data regularly, and keep a copy of your backup disconnected from your system and not connected to the internet. Be cautious where you go in the internet and what you clic

Some people ascribe an implantable chip to being the mark of the beast, and most likely it will be the physical mark. But the real mark is the attitude people have towards the world and God. Most of those who receive the mark of the beast do so willingly; essentially embracing the ways of the world, the wonders of Babylon. While an actual "chip" may be forced on people during or after a major crisis as a means to track and identify the people, a first deployment, so to speak, of a tracking chip in this way would lead to open rebellion. Those who want to control and track people would prefer more willing slaves, particularly if the slaves don't realize they are enslaved. We may see the "chip" come about in a more subtle way. With the increased identity theft and the need for more secure systems, I think the initial push will be for, what I call, bio-ID, or an implanted personal security identification device. But before that time, we will be completely ac

One of the natural consequences of going against traditional marriage and pushing for unnatural relations is the fact that STDs reached a record high last year. Here's some excerpts from the CDC's website: "Total combined cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis reported in 2015 reached the highest number ever, according to the annual Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)." The "CDC estimates STD cases cost the U.S. healthcare system nearly $16 billion each year." "Young people and gay and bisexual men continue to face the greatest risk of becoming infected with an STD, and there continue to be troubling increases in syphilis among newborns." "Men who have sex with men (MSM) accounted for the majority of new gonorrhea and P&S syphilis cases (82 percent of male cases with known gender of sex partner). Antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea may be higher a

My understanding of the Jubilee year is it to be celebrated after 7 periods of 7 years, or the year after the 49th year. The scriptures identify this as the 50th year, but if the Jubilee occurs every 50 years then the next cycle of 7 sets of 7 years would start the year after the Jubilee year. This would be like adding a new day to the week after every 7 weeks. Some see this as like a leap year, but there are a couple of issues with that. In a leap year there are no new days of the week. The Jews add a full extra month during their leap year. We just add an additional day to the year once every 4 years, but it's not a new day of the week. Similarly when the scriptures mention an eighth day, it doesn't mean there's a new day of the week. It just means you count eight days from the first day. For example, Leviticus 23:39 "Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on

The Vision of Elder Heber C. Kimball (1868) An army of elders will be sent to the four quarters of the earth to search out the righteous and warn the wicked of what is coming. All kinds of religions will be started and miracles performed that will deceive the very elect if such a thing were possible. Our sons and daughters must live pure lives so as to be prepared for what is coming. “After a while the Gentiles will gather to this place by the thousands, and Salt Lake will be classed among the wicked cities of the world. A spirit of  speculation  and  extravagance  will take possession of the Saints, and the result will be  financial   bondage . “Persecution comes next, and all true Latter-day Saints will be tested to the limit. Many will apostatize, and others will stand still, not knowing what to do. Darkness will cover the earth and gross darkness the minds of the people. “The judgments of God will be poured out upon the wicked to the extent that our elders from far and nea