Testimony: Apostle Samuel Shule Gould

I would also like to greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and bear my testimony.

I’m from the Church of Christ – Temple Lot (CofC-TL) restoration lineage, and so I first heard about the work in Brazil (2013) through the Apostles William A. Sheldon and Alvin J. Moser. And when I heard about it there was a vision that was brought back to my mind that was given when my brothers and I were laboring with Joseph F. Smith in the Unity Committee, working Elders for the unity of restoration Saints. Since the CofC-TL were not in a position to send missionaries, I had asked that the contact information be given to me that I might go with my own financing with my brother Peter to investigate the Plates of Mormon and visitation of the angel Moroni testimony. That opportunity lapsed without having received any information, name, or address to pursue.

Brother Joseph F. Smith came to me last April (2017), and he had a letter from Brother Maurício of Brazil which he read parts of it to me, and that vision of Zion and the restoration came back flooding into my soul. When he got back (in the fall) he gave me a call. He told me about his experiences and witness. The CofC-TL Bemidji, MN Congregation scheduled two meetings in Independence, MO area to hear the details.

And I went entered into a 40 day fast following New Year’s through Valentine’s day. And during that period of time there were a lot of things understandings, dreams, and visions that took place over that period. And it was a journey, trying to understand everything. I’d been given many inspirational signs and things of that nature, and in the human intellect I attempted to sort them a number of different ways.

And then I was asked to go to Brazil as a witness, and so, I went to the Lord, and I asked the Lord, “Why me? Why would you want me to go?” And the Lord showed me a dream that night 3 times, where I stood and bore witness to the truth before my CofC-TL ministers when it would have been so much easier just to fold and let matters fall where they may. I knew why he had selected me, as the third dream was a delivery I had not yet given to the future Ministers’ Conference of April 2018.

Well, during that period of time I had the courage to ask God to show me how he sees me, that I might prepare myself, that I could do His work. And he showed me an example in a dream. I thought I answered that situation pretty well. The Lord let me know, “If that is the sum total of the humility that you draw from, you’ll be unprofitable to me. You’ve got to dig down deeper in that well of humility. The fountain of all righteousness the fountain of all hope and love.” Yeah, the Lord showed me a number of things I did not like about myself and how my vision was impaired.

I did not want to go down there without being invited in accordance with the CofC-TL Articles of Faith and Practice. You don’t go down, disturb some local situation without being invited first, and I hadn’t been invited. I talked to Brother Tyler Crowell about that situation, I talked to my wife about it, and I prayed about it. And that morning, as I opened my eyes… (and I get up early) … as I opened my eyes, there was a vision of this man, his face beaming with great joy, waving me down by way of invitation to Brazil. He didn’t say anything.

The Lord gave me 10 things that I should look for, because I didn’t know what questions to ask. I mean, I think I’m pretty well educated in things of that nature, but I didn’t know what were the appropriate things to ask. So, I asked God what questions I should ask. And one of those is that it needed to be a confirmation of what I’d seen in that vision when I was working with the Unity Committee. In that dream, I saw the Lord’s heritage - all the individual groups, and factions, and fractions, spread out circumferentially around Mount Zion at the foothills. And it broke my heart, because I knew we needed to be at the summit. The destruction is coming, when we need to prepare, we need to have that place as safety, that covert from the storm. And I was walking up that mountain and there were others behind me or with me, and there was an angel of the Lord that was leading us, and when we got up to where the building was, there was Joe with an angel. He was ready to go to work, he was facing us, he’d gone before us. And the angel of the Lord gave us an instrument to take down those walls. I looked at mine and down at the business end, there beamed this bright brilliant light that came shining back towards me. It would permeate the soul of man. Then I understood that to be pure testimony. And so, if this was of God, I would have to come back with pure testimony that it is His work. Brother Joseph and I and others used that instrument to take down the walls that separated the Saints into separate and distinct rooms of worship.  As we took down the walls, the whole structure spread around the foothills of the mountain began to rise up towards the summit where the Zion we sought would be build with the Temples of the New Jerusalem.

There are a lot of other things that I prayed about, and I was shown that the book that was coming forth was a book of books. It was not just one book; it was a book of books just like the book of Mormon is a book of books. I saw the titles of the books and remembered some of them. There were things like that, that the Lord showed me. I’m not going to go through all 10 of them, but there was going to be some real examining take place, and the fact that I brought some special tools --jeweler eye glasses, and lights, etc, and those who know me know that  “I’m going to take a look at this thing.”

I didn’t go down there to see an angel. I went down there to assess the physical evidence that was there. And I needed to know, for instance, that Maurício had the Interpreters. And so, the first night we were there, he brings out the Interpreters.  And I started going through that list of things that the Lord had given me to verify, and one of those was, the Lord placed in my mind that Maurício had to establish that he could use the Interpreters, and in so doing he needed to demonstrate the ability to interpret the title page of the Book of Mormon, specifically.  And when I brought that out, he got emotional, and he said, “I have done that.” And he gave us some information concerning that effort and the index of books that were to be found in the sealed part under consideration. And he said when he finished the interpretation of that plate, the next set of plates under two seals did separated. That part that he was to interpret released itself from the rest of that book. That was pretty powerful. So, then I had to ask - in my dream I saw it was a book of books. And he showed us that, that it was a book of books. It had to be the record of the Nephites. I needed to see that, the record of the Nephites.

And I know that these things are true. I held the plates. We all held the plates. And as I’m holding them, they took pictures of me. I had a somber look on my face, because I’m feeling it, and you know they asked me how much the plates weighed and stuff like that, and they were heavy! But as I was contemplating that, the weight to those plates went away, and the knowledge came from God that these are the very plates that Joseph Smith brought forth the Book of Mormon. That knowledge. And in the pictures that were taken, you see me just break out with the big joyful smile. That is good news. It’s not anything you’ll ever get from an inspection device. It’s what you get from the Lord God. The Lord God is in it.

There was a simple little thing that I didn’t even know why the Lord made me write it down, but I was supposed to see where the rings were fused or joined together and how that was done. Turned out that joint was behind the sealed portion that had released itself, and for me to be able to examine it, Maurício went and he took the seal pins out, and we turned the pages. And everybody was there, this most somber time. Maurício and Joni and others who were there and they were just as intense and engaged in looking and examining those pages as we were.

They had a beautiful luster about them, as we were turning the pages, and when I saw that last page come up and the cover of the sealed portion.  When I saw that plate, it gave me the hope of Zion as the solemnity of heaven rested upon us and I saw the Father and Son upon the throne in heaven. It was as if I could see Christ himself come down out of heaven and rest on that page where there was a little figure of a shepherd on the edge and under the protective canopy of Zion. I know it wasn’t Him, but I know it was His presence, because I’ve been in the presence of Jesus Christ before. And it was the promise that he was making that if we do our part, He will come. The promise of the restoration was made and renewed in my heart. And I have loved Zion, and I have yearned for Zion all my life, but there never was a greater fulfillment than Christ’s promise. As he descended with his power giving that promise that was given to the early saints in the days of Joseph Smith. I was given to know in an instant and suddenly, Zion is!!!

That Sunday morning when Joe stood up and Gary interpreted, I heard Joe speak with the power and authority of God. The freedom of speech he’s never had before. The certainty of his words have never reverberated in my body greater in all the years I have known him. I know that the Lord God was using him in that moment.  And I stood and I bore testimony of it. I could not be silent on that point. ​

The vision I had earlier of one joyously waving me down to Brazil, I found out who that man was, it was Joni who was in my vision. He greeted us at the airport. This made my heart leap that here is the person I saw in that dream greeting us at the airport and waving at us; the very same individual that I’d never laid eyes on before. He was there. It gave me great joy to see that. Well, in our meet and greet meeting, I bore testimony of the vision of Zion ascending the mountain of God before the Brazil Congregation that day, and as I bore testimony of the vision both Joni, and also Maurício were moved very visibly and emotionally as I was bearing testimony. As soon as I was done, they hastened towards me, and Joni said, “I heard every word you said.  I didn’t need the interpreter.” And Maurício bore the same testimony. That they heard what I said, they didn’t need the interpreter.

Later I pigeon holed brother Maurício, because I wanted to know about the sword. Because that first image of the sword was not an Israelite sword. It was not the sword of Laban. And I couldn’t get an interpreter over to help me, but as I was trying to explain that I really wanted to talk to him about something. He said, “I understand what you said.” And when he said that in Portuguese, I heard what he said in English. We had a detailed discussion about that sword.  And it was under the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues. The gift of tongues happened 3 times while we were in Brazil, so that this barrier between English and Portuguese went away, in those instances.

When I was thinking and musing out loud about the gift of tongues to two of the witnesses, I said something like, “well maybe the only thing that I’ve said or done through this whole period was what was carried by the Holy Spirit in tongues, and those other things I said were really not that important. Brother Gary said, “God wants you to know this is His work. God wants you to know that.” The Spirit of God rested upon me as he spoke those words given the assurance that they were true.

And I bear my testimony before man and God. This is His work. And I ask for you to seek repentance and to seek a testimony, for the Lord has a work to do. Zion will be a reality.

While the translation of the Sealed Book was being conducted in Brazil under the labors of the Seer Maurício Artur Berger, I had the following spiritual experiences for three consecutive nights.  In the night vision, it was as if my mind and that of Brother Maurício were made one and I could see the translation process as it was presented to the full consciousness of the Seer Maurício. The experience happened three consecutive nights, and oh, what rapture and joy filled my heart, mind, and soul.  The translation was given by the gift and power of Almighty God and not of man.

For example, as Brother Maurício viewed the character for temple through the interpreters, our minds were flooded with a full understanding of the in-depth physical and spiritual aspects for the infinite embodiment and the creative purpose of every element, aspect, and concept embodied by the divine nature and spiritual fulfilment in the structure of the Temple as it stood erect and complete to our vision. The temple was, is, and will always be the full expression of the perfection found in law and love of God as it exists through all eternity.  Each and every foundation stone and pillar of strength exuding the creative desire of the ineffable love as it exists in purity in the heart of our God.  In this precious moment, we were given a glimpse into the very heart of God in its full expression in heaven and on earth in this single element of the Temple of our God. I witnessed the struggle our dear Brother Maurício was under in translating this powerful communion with the gift as he was flooded with this insight from heaven concerning the character under consideration.  The simple character representing the complexity represented in the mind of our God was then concluded and recorded as the word Temple. Such a single, solitary, and summary result of such a sublime experience when the solemnity of heaven rested so delicately upon the consciousness of this Seer Maurício Artur Berger. This is the joy of my testimony, that I know that this experience was open to our Brother for every word translated whether exercised by the Prophet, Seer, Revelator, Translator and President Maurício Artur Berger for I witnessed the process of translation from the character scribed on the golden plates to the recording of the translation by our Brother Maurício on three consecutive nights during the time translating.  I give it therefore as my testimony, that the translation from the golden plates of Mormon to the Portuguese language was by the gift and power of God.

As one of the eight witnesses, I was gifted to participate in the read through of the English manuscript to compare the Portuguese with the English texts for uniformity.  It was a blessed time wherein we suggested some changes to the English text to better align with what was presented in the Portuguese text as best as we understood the words. When there was any slight disagreement among the witnesses, Brother Joseph Frederick Smith was our final arbiter for leaving the words without suggestion or passing it forward for Brother Maurício’s consideration. These gentle suggestions were then sent to Brother Maurício for consideration for the purposes of using the interpreters once more to verify the existing wording or accept the rendering that the witnesses found would be more in concert with the Portuguese text.  I was pleased with this process in that it was based on the words we had read, “…this a Moses, who shall read the words of this book, he shall be given understanding of all things concerning the knowledge hidden in these words which were left unto me by God (The Sealed Book, The Sealed Book of Moses [SMos] 5:24).  The conveyance of our keen desires towards harmonizing the two translations was jeopardized in the transference of that message unto our Brother Maurício to Brazil, and suggestions were not presented or incorporated for the initial printing.

When I received my first copy of The Sealed Book, it was after many days of joyous contemplation to read those very words I had witnessed in the translation process.  As I was traveling all day and evening to Missouri from my home in Northern Minnesota, I cherished the thought of reading those immortal words once more. Late that night, I voraciously read through the Words of Moroni and The Sealed Book, in anticipation of reading the Acts of the Three Nephites in the early morning.  When I awakened, I lifted that precious book to read those words left unread the night before.  It was then that the Spirit of God rested upon me to read again the words of the previous night first.  As I read a second time the precious words, my mind was opened with a more glorious understanding of the words I had previously read.  Knowledge and insight cascaded down upon my intellect as I read the words once more.   It was then that I understood that the words remain sealed unto all except those who have that burning righteous desire to fully understand them for the building up of the kingdom of God on earth.  It was in the reading of the words, “I, Moses, speak this way, because in truth, yea, in the fullness of truth that this fact can be told … behold the men of this generation will not be fully ready to understand the truths here exposed, except to those who seek the mysteries of God in their hearts (SMos 5:23).  Even though the words have been translated by the gift and power of God through the Seer Maurício Artur Berger, and have been recorded electronically, and have been put in the written words of ink on a page, they remain sealed to the casual reader and observer of the marvelous works and wonders brought forth by the active participation of our God.  This is the Second Invitation to the Wedding Supper of our Lord (Luke 14:21) and the last time the Lord has set his hand a second time to recover his people (Jacob 4:3) and this is the salve of healing that we might see (Revelation 3:18) and come out from under the condemnation of the 1832 Church (RLDS D&C 83:8) and when we will become as one body expressing the natural and precious fruit (Jacob 3:144) for Zion IS.

My Dear and Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Jesus Christ, this is my joy and my testimony to all the world who seek to know the truth that they may be made partakers of the promised labors with Jesus as given in the Second Invitation.

Apostle Samuel Shule Gould