Vision Nine

PROLOGUE

Let’s play “Connect the Colors”:

…………………………………

And now I, Jacob, speak unto you again, my beloved brethren, concerning this righteous branch of which I have spoken. For behold, the promises which we have obtained are promises unto us according to the flesh; wherefore, as it has been shown unto me that many of our children shall perish in the flesh because of unbelief, nevertheless, God will be merciful unto many; and our children shall be restored, that they may come to that which will give them the true knowledge of their Redeemer.

…………………………………

But behold, thus saith the Lord God: When the day cometh that they shall believe in me, that I am Christ, then have I covenanted with their fathers that they shall be restored in the flesh, upon the earth, unto the lands of their inheritance.

And it shall come to pass that they shall be gathered in from their long dispersion, from the isles of the sea, and from the four parts of the earth; and the nations of the Gentiles shall be great in the eyes of me, saith God, in carrying them forth to the lands of their inheritance.

………………………………………

Wherefore, I will send [the words of Isaiah and Jacob] forth unto my children to prove unto them that my words are true. Wherefore, by the words of three, God hath said, I will establish my word. Nevertheless, God sendeth more witnesses, and he proveth all his words.

…………………………………

And behold they will be among the Gentiles, and the Gentiles shall know them not.

And it shall come to pass, when the Lord seeth fit in his wisdom that they (the three who will tarry) shall minister unto all the scattered tribes of Israel, and unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, and shall bring out of them unto Jesus many souls, that their desire may be fulfilled, and also because of the convincing power of God which is in them.

And they (the three who will tarry) are as the angels of God, and if they shall pray unto the Father in the name of Jesus they can show themselves unto whatsoever man it seemeth them good. Therefore, great and marvelous works shall be wrought by them, before the great and coming day when all people must surely stand before the judgment-seat of Christ; Yea even among the Gentiles shall there be a great and marvelous work wrought by them, before that judgment day.

…………………………………….

Therefore the true believers in Christ, and the true worshipers of Christ, (among whom were the three disciples of Jesus who should tarry) were called Nephites, and Jacobites, and Josephites, and Zoramites.

……………………………………..

Nevertheless, my work shall go forth, for inasmuch as the knowledge of a Savior has come unto the world, through the testimony of the Jews, even so shall the knowledge of a Savior come unto my people— And to the Nephites, and the Jacobites, and the Josephites, and the Zoramites, through the testimony of their fathers

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But a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins—and not to the bringing forth my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them.

………………………………………….
And the Lord will set his hand again the second time to restore his people from their lost and fallen state. Wherefore, he will proceed to do a marvelous work and a wonder among the children of men. Wherefore, he shall bring forth his words unto them, which words shall judge them at the last day, for they shall be given them for the purpose of convincing them of the true Messiah, who was rejected by them; and unto the convincing of them that they need not look forward any more for a Messiah to come, for there should not any come, save it should be a false Messiah which should deceive the people; for there is save one Messiah spoken of by the prophets, and that Messiah is he who should be rejected of the Jews.

THE VISION

I found myself standing in the midst of a dark place. Turmoil, chaos, confusion, and disarray were all about me. It wasn’t people moving so much as it was a condition I could sense. I then heard someone, or a group, or even someTHING calling for a blessing to be healed. It may have been a person, or people but it may have been the earth herself. I said out loud, “I need three Elders to assist me!” After waiting a few minutes, I saw 3 figures emerge out of a mist. As their shapes became clearer, I realized that they were Native Americans. I’m not sure if they had on their traditional apparel or not, but I knew they were Indians. They were all VERY old and wise. It’s as if they had been waiting to be called and at the right moment, came out from their cover.

“We are the Elders,” one declared. “Come, let us form the medicine wheel.” This was a surprise because I never considered elders in the sense of age and wisdom or tribal leaders. I was expecting “church elders.” We came together, extending our right hands down, meeting in the middle, and with the left hand, we cupped the elbow of the person next to us. I called out a blessing, and the others seemed to repeat what I said, only they quietly chanted in their native language. They almost sang it. As we pronounced the blessing, I did not see any visual changes, but I could sense that it was having an effect ‘somewhere.’

THE SONG

COME ALONG on the trail of song,
Leaving no footprints there,
Over the rainbow bridge
Down the mountain stair.

Come on the trail of song,
Ye native elders three,
Out of the sky-land
And the seven worlds beneath.

Come we now in the wheel of song,
Arms clasped in union's prayer
Dear Mother, our four voices cry
To heal your heart's despair.








Vignettes:

Requiem, Offertorium

Did Ye Get Healed (lyrics)

Crystal Clear

Demons

Vision Eight

THE SONG

Journal entry, November 12, xxxx

I have felt for some time now to record an experience I had years ago while I attended college. The semester was coming to an end, and there had been build up to a "mandatory group assignment" in a class called Modern Problems (where we learned about social issues of world hunger, politics, religion, population, culture, and so forth). Finally, the day came to find out what this mystery test was all about.

We met in a large meeting room one Saturday morning, where the teacher's assistant began by giving us some instructions: "Today we are going to have an activity. To start, I will give everyone an envelope which contains various symbols."

She then proceeded to explain that each symbol had a certain value, and specific combinations gave you higher point assessments. She continued, "The goal of this game is to win. You win by having an accumulated amount of points over a designated number. For the first round, please assemble together to trade your cards. After 5 minutes of trading, all the individuals who have enough points to be 'winners' will leave the room and go meet together to decide the rules for the next round."

With that, she handed out the envelopes, defined the symbol and combination values, then said, "You may begin." I tore the paper, pulled out the contents and did some math in my head. I was already very close to "winning" the game with what I was given. It only took a couple of simple trades for me to acquire what I needed. After that point, I withdrew myself from the bartering and waited for the instructor to call for us.

When the time came, there were 7 of us (out of about 50) who "qualified" to be on the committee. We left the room and sat at a big conference table filled with tasty snacks, and started discussing how we should conduct the next round, while we helped ourselves to the food. The overriding theme of those who participated in the conversation seemed to be that we needed to be fair; so a system was developed where those of us who had already "won" would still participate in the exchange round (coincidentally, there were no members of the original "counsel" who traded to the point that they were ever excluded in the subsequent turns).

We made some rule changes, such as lengthening the trading time, increasing the value of certain symbols and making ourselves the judges for contested exchange disputes. Finally, after 2 or 3 cycles, there was one person from the ranks who had advanced to our elite winner's circle. I was rather confused by his behavior, though, because he didn't seem at all pleased that he had won the game. What little participation from him came in the form of sarcasm. He called those in the other room "the grunts" and "peons" who had no voice. Most on the original committee, myself included, labeled him as a whiner and ignored what he had to say. It came as no surprise to us when after that point he didn't show up to help plan and administer new policies and rules. (I think he may have just given away all his symbols, which was against the rules, so he was "out").

Following round 6 or 7, the TA made an announcement. "Okay, we're done. The game is over." She, too, appeared quite irritated at us, for what reason I could not grasp. She gathered the "committee" and the residue of people who hadn't won, and started asking our thought processes for this activity. The first question she asked our "winners" group was, "Why did you make the rules in such a fashion?" Trying to be diplomatic, I responded to her:

"It was important for us to be just to everyone, including ourselves. The others had every opportunity to win as we did, so it wouldn't be right to take that away. It's not our fault if we made good trades and they didn't. I saw some people just standing in the corner talking about completely irrelevant things. Why should we reward them for not participating in the assignment? Overall, I thought we were fair."

The TA then put me on the spot. "Did you know that for most of the players, there was practically no chance that they could win? The symbols were NOT distributed evenly, although your group assumed that was the case. In fact, by trading what they did with you, it made it all the more difficult for them to advance, because the key combinations of symbols were mostly held by your group."

I suddenly felt very foolish, but she continued to drive home her point. "Your group had the ability to make any rules you wanted after that first round. Why didn't you say, 'Everyone wins!' and invite the rest of the players into the conference room with you to share the snacks? You could see that there was plenty for all.

"Furthermore, those conversations you overheard happened because people realized that between them, their symbols had little value. So instead of stressing about winning the game, which was obviously not possible for them, they decided to engage each other in friendly conversation."

Feeling lower than the warn carpet, I was relieved when she turned to the rest of the class. "I have done this exercise several times, and invariably it always ends the same. Those at the "top" feel special somehow, yet they talk of being fair to their underlings. No one ever blatantly flaunts their position on the committee. In fact, they often speak of fairness and equality (and sometimes even complain about how 'hard' it is to have to make the decisions and "serve" the others), yet I never see themselves giving up the perks of having won the game."

She did not conclude with any sort of moral to the story or how we could take this into our daily lives. She simply said in a curt tone, "You can go home now. All participants receive full points on your grade for showing up today. It is up to you to decide if this test was of any value."

I have come to the conclusion that out of all the things I learned from college, this simple exercise conducted on a random Saturday morning was the most poignant.  

Vignettes:

Yertle the Turtle

Priesthood Protocols

They, The Pretender

Lead With Your Heart

Vision Seven

PROLOGUE
Hearken, O ye house of Israel, all ye that are broken off and are driven out because of the wickedness of the pastors of my people; yea, all ye that are broken off, that are scattered abroad, who are of my people, O house of Israel. Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken ye people from far.

Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time have I heard thee, O isles of the sea, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and I will cause thee to inherit the desolate heritages.

And he sayest uno the prisoners: Go forth; to them that sit in darkness: Show yourselves. Ye shall feed in the ways, and thy pastures shall be in all high places. Thou shalt not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite thee; for I have mercy on thee, and shall lead thee, even by the springs of water shall I guide thee. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Thy children shall make haste against thy destroyers; and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. Lift up thine eyes round about and behold; all these gather themselves together, and they shall come to thee. And as I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on even as a bride. For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants; and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.

Then shalt thou say in thine heart: Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? And who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where have they been? Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people; and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

For shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives delivered? But thus saith the Lord, even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

And the Lord is near, and he justifieth me. Who will contend with me? Let us stand together. Who is mine adversary? Let him come near me, and I will smite him with the strength of my mouth. For the Lord God will help me. And all they who shall condemn me, behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, and the moth shall eat them up. Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light?

The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season unto thee, O house of Israel. When ye are weary he waketh morning by morning. He waketh mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiter, and I hid not my face from shame. For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established; and break forth into singing, O mountains; for they shall be smitten no more; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. Awake, awake again, and put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments!


THE VISION
I was walking along the top of a steep canyon. At the bottom was a swift-moving brown river (like the Colorado in the Grand Canyon). There, on the bank of the river was a man, who appeared to have been drowning in the water. I ran down to him, and he was still alive, but was suffering from something… I think it was from swallowing the filthy water. He spoke with a garbled, hoarse voice as if he had been calling out for help.

We (there were others with me) brought him up to the top of the canyon and gave him a blessing, except it was different than any other blessing I had ever given. Normally, when I give a blessing, I listen for what I should say, then hope it turns out okay. In this blessing, though, I knew what to say from the beginning. No listening. And what I said was more instructional to the recipient than anything else. I told him that if he did as directed, he would be healed for life, and impervious to that ailment forever. As I said the words, it’s as if they took on a physical attribute… almost like a law (of physics). I don’t know how else to describe it.

The man, who I didn't recognize, yet I loved completely, was skinny, haggard, missing a tooth, and dressed in ripped clothing when I pulled him out of the water. He did as instructed in the blessing and the next time I saw him, we embraced. He was now wearing clean, pressed clothing and was beaming with joy. His face was radiant and glowed with a perfect smile (all teeth intact). I wasn't surprised that he was healed though, because I KNEW it was to be. Also, it seems that he was carrying something with him, but I couldn't tell what.

THE SONG

can you hear the road from this place?
can you hear footsteps? voices?
can you see the blood on my sleeve?
i have fallen in the forest,
did you hear me?

in the loneliness?
oh, the loneliness
and the scream to prove
to everyone
that i exist

in the loneliness
oh, the loneliness
and the scream to bring
the blood to the front of my face againnn

am i here? of course i am, yes
all i need is your hand
to drag me out again
it wasn't me,
i didn't dig this ditch
i was walking for weeks
before i fell in

to the loneliness
oh, the loneliness
and the scream to prove
to everyone
that i exist

in the loneliness
oh, the loneliness
and the scream to fill
a thousand black
balloons with air

fall down, find god
just to lose it again
glue the community together
we were hammering it

fell down, found love
but i can’t lose it again
but now our communal heart
it beats miles from here

Vignettes:

The Marriage of Figaro: Duetto-Sul Aria

Ring of Fire

Bohemian Rhapsody

HELP!

The Windmill

Vision Six

PROLOGUE
Section 124 tells us that if the Saints did not have a place to restore that which was lost—the fullness of the priesthood— to a completed temple in time that their baptisms would remain efficacious, but their vicarious work for the dead would not.

The irony presented here is that the vicarious work which now needs to be done IS FOR THOSE WHO REJECTED THE COVENANT TO BEGIN WITH. In other words, the children’s children of these Saints (who hated the Lord) need to repent for the folly and abominations of their fathers. By doing so, it is assumed, this action will free them from their bondage and make the work that they should have done in the first place have power when it is resumed.

Baptisms for the living needed to remain condoned so that the 3rd and 4th generation children could have standing when they repented. Their repentance then would give their ancestors the opportunity to be deemed again (“re-deemed”). The job to find the remnant of Lehi’s seed and all of Israel still rests with that group. What we should be doing today is repenting in their behalf.

People may or may not think that one person can repent in behalf of another. Of course, if the “other” one has not done their own due diligence, then their baptisms are moot anyway. But perhaps we should believe the Lord at His word when He says:

But if the children shall repent, or the children’s children, and turn to the Lord their God, with all their hearts and with all their might, mind, and strength, and restore four-fold for all their trespasses wherewith they have trespassed, or wherewith their fathers have trespassed, or their fathers’ fathers, then thine indignation shall be turned away; And vengeance shall no more come upon them, saith the Lord thy God, and their trespasses shall never be brought any more as a testimony before the Lord against them. Amen.

What exactly, then, does it mean to "restore four-fold for all their trespasses wherewith they have tresspassed"? I would suggest that it has to do with these follies:

•         Unauthorized plural marriage
•         Corporatism/Priestcraft
•         Correlation
•         Idolatry

The great part about all of this is that our fathers played a role in our salvation, and thus, we must play a part in theirs. Let us turn to the doctrine of Christ so that not even one will be lost!

THE VISION

I found myself in some sort of village with my family and a few others. There was a flood coming and I could hear the alarm sounding. Others were scrambling for safety as well but they didn't seem to know what to do. There was a nearby building, about 12 stories tall, and I led my group to the roof.

When we got to the top, I knew we weren't high enough. I could see a tall chain link fence surrounding some power equipment, so I climbed to the top and helped everyone up. Just as we all got to the highest spot, I saw coming over the mountains a HUGE flood of water. We all held onto each other as the deluge gushed just below our feet. Had we stayed on the top of the roof (like many others did), we would have been swept away.

The water quickly receded and we went back to the streets. They were completely empty now, except for mud here and there. I sensed there were others around us, perhaps even inside the building we were just standing on, and determined that we were going to go out and find them.

THE SONG

An old silent pond…

A frog jumps in the water.

Splash! Silence again.
_________________________________________

The flood is coming.

We must ascend above it.

Find a tall building.

Family is here

At the roof of the structure.

I see the rapids.

We must go higher.

I will pull you to the top.

Water at our heels.

The deluge has passed.

Walking in the muddy streets,

We are not alone.

I hear their voices:

"Has the Master forgotten?"

Promises invoked.

_________________________________________

An old silent pond...
A man walks on the water.
The frogs croak no more.

Vignettes:

Once in a Lifetime

Landslide

Seven Bridges Road

Radioactive

Psalm 46