*Please note that book recommendations (BR) #1-3 will begin and end with the same paragraphs. Middle paragraphs (in bold) differ.
If you are a reader, I have three book recommendations (BR) coming to you in the next few days from UntoAllTheWorld. If you aren’t the reading type, perhaps you would consider the awaiting blessings and pleasures from reading.
I love to go where reading takes me. It is a road that has led me to so much self-discovery. As I read, there often is a whisper that wells up inside of me, reminding me of what I want to become, things I want to better understand, and character changes I crave.
To read is sometimes a journey to the past – at times so unfamiliar to me that it makes me weep that I really did not know! It is the chance (even in the present) to be somewhere new – outside of the hum drum of daily living. At times the words suck me into the plot, and I get transported to wonderful things. Even daring and exciting things.
Reading involves learning from people who lived a long time ago or who live now – people with really worthwhile messages, beings who enhance my life by their experiences, conclusions, and stories.
Reading is such a gift. I’m so grateful I can read.
Without further ado, this winter BR #2 by the fire, after supper and most certainly after scriptures is:
Behold, I Come Quickly (The Last Days and Beyond) by Hoyt W. Brewster Jr.
A friend unexpectedly gifted me with this book a few months back. I think she was trying to downsize. I’m so glad she chose me! It’s an older book, published in 1994. In a nutshell, it talks about the following: the second coming of Jesus Christ, the Millennium, signs of the last days, Israel being gathered, the lost ten tribes, what will happen at Armageddon, the New Jerusalem to be built, and the end of the world. As these events draw ever nearer, my interest in them has definitely piqued, and I am eager to learn more, more, more.
This book was just a really fun read for those desiring to increase their knowledge of said futuristic events. Lots of quotes from past prophets, apostles, and church leaders – a great many of which I’d never read prior. I learned several things from this book and just enjoyed after supper recliner reading.
Following are some inside glances that are just kind of fun “I didn’t know that” stuff for devoted theists:
Concerning the temple to be built at New Jerusalem in Jackson County, Missouri, the Prophet Joseph Smith “indicated that this temple …would actually be a complex of twelve temples, two of which would be for the lesser, or Aaronic, Priesthood.” (HC, 1:357-58). Elder Pratt gave this fascinating portrayal: “There will be 24 different compartments in the Temple that will be built in Jackson County. The names of these compartments were given to us some…years ago; the names we still have, and when we build these 24 rooms, in a circular form and arched over the centre, we shall give the names to all these different compartments just as the Lord specified through Joseph Smith…Perhaps you may ask for what purpose these 24 compartments are to be built. I answer not to assemble…the Saints all in one place, but these buildings will be built with a special view to the different orders, or in other words the different quorums or councils of the two Priesthoods that God has ordained on the earth. That is the object of having 24 rooms so that each of these different quorums, whether they be High Priests or Seventies, or Elders, or Bishops, or lesser Priesthood, or Teachers, or Deacons, or Patriarchs, or Apostles, or High Councils, or whatever may be the duties that are assigned to them, they will have rooms in the Temple of the Most High God, adapted, set apart, constructed, and dedicated for this special purpose…are there any other rooms that will be built – detached from the Temple? Yes. There will be tabernacles, there will be meeting houses for the assembling of the people on the Sabbath day. There will be various places of meeting so that the people may gather together; but the Temple will be dedicated to the Priesthood of the Most High God, and for most sacred and holy purposes.” (JD, 24:24-25)
Wow! What an edifice!
During the Millenium, President Joseph Fielding Smith said resurrected persons will not “actually take part in the endowment work of the temple along with mortal beings.” Rather, they will “assist in furnishing information which is not otherwise available, but mortals will have to do the ordinance work in the temples.” (DS, 2:178) Then this: “Much divine assistance will be provided by those who perform temple work during the Millennium. President John Taylor observed that ‘communications from the heavens will be received in regard to our labors, how we may perform them, and for whom.’ (JD, 25:185) Again from President Joseph Fielding Smith: “Those who will be living here then will be in daily communication with those who have passed through the resurrection, and they will come with this information, this knowledge that we do not have and will give it to those who are in mortality, saying, ‘Now go into the temples and do this work; when you get this done, we will bring you other names.’ And in that way every soul who is entitled to a place in the celestial kingdom of God will be ferreted out, and not one soul shall be overlooked.” (DS, 2:167)
Gosh I love that: daily communication! Awesome to help with temple work now. Incredible then!
I loved this from Joseph Smith during the Zion’s Camp march. They are words from his journal: “In pitching my tent we found three massasaugas or prairie rattlesnakes, which the brethren were about to kill, but I said, “Let them alone – don’t hurt them! How will the serpent ever lose its venom, while the servants of God possess the same disposition, and continue to make war upon it? Men must become harmless before the brute creation, and when men lose their vicious dispositions and cease to destroy the animal race, the lion and the lamb can dwell together, and the sucking child can play with the serpent in safety. The brethren took the serpents carefully on sticks and carried them across the creek. I exhorted the brethren not to kill a serpent, bird, or an animal of any kind during our journey unless it became necessary in order to preserve ourselves from hunger.” (TPJS, p. 71)
Regretting the flies I killed the other day. ☹
I did not know that the sons of perdition will rise “from the grave with…resurrected bod[ies] of no glory.”
And this on food storage: “…Sister Virginia Perry,…wife of Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, made the Book of Mormon a fundamental part of her storage programs. In addition to the cans…and other food supplies, Sister Perry maintained a supply of a dozen copies of the Book of Mormon, true spiritual food, that she replenished as regularly as she gave them out.”
Leave it to an apostle’s wife to show us how it’s done. How very cool. Definitely need to add some BOM’s to our food storage stash.
So you can see: just fun to learn stuff for “solid in the principles of the gospel” folks – if you’re interested.
This winter, may you discover a good book or start by reading this one. I think you will find it has something of worth to offer your soul.
Unto all the world: grab a good book and read, read, read until those cows come on home!