Official site of Maurício A Berger » Herald of the Second Invitation, Vol 9, December 2021

To thank you for this house, which was erected to praise your holy name, through the effort and dedication of those who live for this Work, being the fruit of the contribution of many who are here, each with his own way of contributing;

We thank you for having been able for your people to gather in your home, for the 5th World Conference of your Church, with the sole purpose of receiving further instructions concerning your will, coming from the mouth of your representative on earth, the prophet, Mauricio Artur Berger, who guides us like a light, so that we do not walk in dark paths, and thus protecting his people from the clutches of ravenous wolves who incessantly try to destroy this Work;

We pray that you may assist us Father, your people, in this conference, and to grant us your grace, and that this assembly be for your honor and divine glory. And may we be considered worthy in your eyes, and may this house, which is for you, receive its holy presence constantly;

We pray that all who have entered this house today have done so to honor and glorify your holy name, that every feeling and deed here may be to honor and glorify your holy name. And may they come out of this house of yours, be clothed with the power of thy word and provide the good news to all around them, making the world know that his promises, received through the ancient prophets as revelation for these last days, are fulfilling themselves;

We pray to you O God, that whoever watches us now may feel the power of your spirit which is now present here, and as a Pentecost, the confirmation be poured out at its heart that you are at the head of this great and amazing Work;

Therefore, let us be your workers without ceasing, that we may bring souls unto you, and to protect us from every man who conspires against his people, that his wickedness and transgression shall fall unto him, and his tricks shall be reduced to nothing. So that everyone knows that you are a powerful and just God, but the one who repents, your tender mercy is proof of Your unconditional love that is available to all your children, as a Father who loves whom he himself has created;

We ask you, that stakes be built for Zion in other cities, that this work may be powerful and rapidly spread throughout the world;

O Lord, remember your servant Mauricio Artur Berger, who so much strives to serve you in all things, and that you know Father, that he lives in constant affliction, by see this people disregard your words, which is the word of God, for behold, you, O Lord, speaks through his anointed one. And they do not realize that when they disregard the prophet, are disregarding the God they claim to serve;

Ignoring his instruction that nothing will prosper if we do not heed its guidelines, and that by not taking care of him as you said in more than one revelation, we will be transgressing in the law, transgression similar to breaking a commandment.

Finally, we pray to you, Oh God, that this church of yours may be like a sun, with its shining light, shining high, as a sign that your work has begun once again among the children of men, in order to take its people out of obscurity, and see that there is now an army of faithful servants, willing to do all by your holy name, in order to fight with good combat, raising the good news which are the present revelations and The Sealed Book to all those who seek to serve you, and may your angels surround us and lead us to victory in your name, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Volume 9, Article 2-December 2021: Revelation

Revelation of the Lord - November 2021

Conference Revelation, November 2021

1 - Verily, verily, thus saith the Lord: I am Jesus Christ, the son of the Living God, he who created the heavens and the earth and all that filleth it, hear therefore these my words, ye who are the remnant people of my church in the fullness of time, as I make my will known to you through my servant, Maurício Artur Berger.

*Part of the revelation in which the Lord commands me to step down from the pulpit and convey these words to Sister Melva. However, because I was ashamed, the Lord allowed me to give his words to her on another occasion.

— My daughter, fear not; pain is part of the probation process,
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me, Jesus Christ, ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have trouble: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

2 - .See, the field is white, ready to reap, but behold, the workers are still few, among which, those who continue to sin, like paid workers in my vineyard who tend to put their personal interests as priority over their errands to whith my work.

3 - These, together with those who assented to the eternal covenant of the United Order, began to transgress the real purpose of the investments arising from the Consecrations of my people, to generate resources for the expansion of my work among the children of men — Reason why, began to arouse among themselves, a debt of generations to me, the Lord, by using resources from my work to establish businesses that until now, were solely aimed at their own interests and not Mine, says Jesus Christ.

4 - However, I tell ye: Take heed and beware; for behold, I pass by your transgressions and erase your errors from before my eyes, provided that ,from now on, they become excellent doers of my will, as required by me, the Lord of the Vineyard, administered by my faithful butler, Maurício Artur Berger — And behold, if you do this, I will not impute to ye any sin because of the afflictions and constant prayers of my servant in your behalf.

5 - May my servant Mauricio, therefore, calm your heart and know that it is I who direct my work, for behold, today, I, Jesus Christ, am putting in order my church. —

6 - Starting with the first presidency, it is my will that Ronaldo Pífero Medeiros, who is the uncle of my servant Maurício, come immediately to fill the office of president in the place of my servant John Pratt. And though he hath not come from any of the branches of the restoration, know ye that he was he prepared by me from the beginning, when in preexistence my Father ordained priests, according to his holy order, who it was after the order of your Only Begotten Son, called and prepared from the foundation of the world, according to the foreknowledge of God for this purpose. — Being, by election, my servant Ronaldo, just as described in Alma 13, "priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek".

7 - May my people, therefore, receive he as first interim counselor to my servant Mauricio in the presidency of my church, until, in due time, he will come to understand all things concerned my work, in order to fulfill all the obligations required by my gospel and for that all keys, power and authority may be confirmed about your head.

8 - And that from now on together with my servant, John Steve Woodby, hold up, the arms of my anointed one — And behold, I am satisfied with the integrity of my servant Steve, and seen the offering he made and the work he desires to do, which is to my liking for it was prophesied by my servant Moses, as described in the Sealed Book of Moses 5:24.

9 - And this I will require of ye, who are the first presidency: That you acquire this property and land to undertake in agribusiness, in order to generate wealth for my work and constitute among you an entirely self-sustainable community capable of preserving my people against the calamities that turn it. —

10 - And now, I make known my will in relation to the workers of my Vineyard: May my servant, Valdeci Oliveira Machado, take up his call and apostolate with due propriety. However, I, Jesus Christ, am releasing he from your duties in the mission field presidency.

11- May my servant, João Irandi Vendemiatti, be ordained to the office of president of the missionary work in his place. — For, behold, I, the Lord, am releasing he from your office of Evangelist Patriarch of my church until another is appointed presiding patriarch, in the place that once belonged to my servant Hyrum. And may his stewardship become the office by which he studied, coming to obtain from his profession the support of his house, and if he are faithful, in accordance with the leading of my prophet, he shall lack nothing.

12 - However, no longer allow yourself to be deceived by your feelings, but be admonished because of their haughtiness and personal boasting, because they are a trap to your soul. Put, therefore, in order your reason for being among the workers of my Vineyard, without malice, otherwise the offerings of your heart will be to me, the Lord, as the offerings of Cain.

13 - And, behold, the time has come for my servant Mauricio to organize the Quorum of the Apostles in the likeness of the twelve disciples of the Book of Mormon.

14 - So it is my will that my servants Joni Carlos Rodrigues Batista and Wagner Zeppenfield be ordained as Apostles of my church and that my servant, Sidney Amorim dos Santos, be ordained first to the high priesthood and subsequently apostle of my church and , that my servants, José Hernandez Chávez and Leonardo Rodrigues da Silva, be first confirmed elders and high priests by election and ordained apostles of my church in this which is the last dispensation of the fullness of time.

15 - And behold, I reserved this ending for a wise purpose, before leaving you in the care of my servant, Maurício: May my servant, Diego de Oliveira Ferreira, that was prepared since before the foundation of the world, answer my called and that he come to occupy the office of administrative agent of my Work in Brazil, which in the early first of the restoration belonged to my servant Sidney Gilbert.— And that the bishop, Robert Leroy Cackler, according to Doctrine and Covenants 70, verse 12, arrange for his support.

16 - As for the others who are waiting for a sign from me, none sign will be given except this one: The field is white, ready to reap, but the workers are still few. — If ye have the desire, ye are called to work.

Amen

MY TESTIMONY (Melva Cackler)

After the end of the Saturday morning program at the November 2021 conference, Brother Mauricio gathered some of us together and explained to me what had happened while he was delivering the revelation. I understood everything he said because we were blessed with him speaking in tongues! I was hearing his words in English! However, after Brother Mauricio started telling me the actual words of the revelation, he explained that he was not able to complete it, and said he would need to give it to me later.

Throughout this experience I was fighting back tears, partly because of what had happened a week or two before arriving in Brazil—the Spirit had witnessed to me that there would be a message for me during the delivery of a revelation. This was before I knew there would be a revelation for Brother Mauricio to share. However, on Saturday morning when that did not happen, I assumed that I had been mistaken. So then, with tearful but heartfelt gratitude, I was able to share my experience along with receiving this special blessing from the Lord through His prophet. Those who witnessed this experience included my husband Robert, Sisters Renee Whitefield, Adelisa Berger, Gessiane Melo Medeiros; and Brothers Ronaldo Pífero, Jose Chavez, Bento DAlmeida, Steve Woodby, Samuel Gould, and Kelvin Henson.

Volume 9, Article 3-December 2021: written by Oberli Cristian Berger

A Relationship With God

How to have a relationship with God?

To have a relationship with God you need to believe in Jesus as your Savior. When this happens, you have access to God and can deepen your relationship with Him by reading the Bible, praying, and walking in His ways.

What does it mean to have a relationship with God?

Relationship is union. To have a relationship with God means to have union with Him, sharing your life with Him. Relationship with God is a relationship of love, closeness, and trust.

Like any relationship, a relationship with God grows with time and dedication (James 4:8). As you know more of God and have more experience with Him, your relationship becomes deeper and firmer.

“James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded”.

To be saved

No one can approach God unless he is saved, because sin separates us from God. Jesus came to save you from sin, uniting you again with God (John 14:6). He died in your place, to pay for your sins, and rose again to give you eternal life with God!

To be saved and have a relationship with God, you must repent of your sins, decide that you want to change your life, and believe that Jesus is your Savior, who paid for your sins. It is not difficult!

Read the Bible the Book of Mormon and the Sealed Book

It is very difficult to have a relationship with a person you don't know! In the Bible you will get to know more of God, who He is, how He relates to you, and what pleases Him.

The Bible the Book of Mormon and the sealed Book is the word of God. When you read it, God speaks to you (2 Timothy 3:16-17) . If you want to have a good relationship with God, you need to listen to His voice, which is in the Bible!

“2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works”.

Pray

Another very important part of a relationship is to talk. Praying is talking to God. When you pray, you invite God into your life and share your thoughts, emotions, worries, frustrations, and joys with Him (Philippians 4:6-7).

Prayer brings you closer to God and helps you put God first in your life. The more you pray, the more you create intimacy with God and strengthen your relationship.

“Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”.

Living!

A relationship is also made of living together. A relationship with God is practical. When you live your daily life trying to please God, you discover more about Him and grow closer to Him (Colossians 1:10-11).

Your life experiences with God will strengthen your relationship, because you will see God at work in your life. Daily living will also help you to see things as God sees them, bringing you closer to him.

“Colossians 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;”.

Sealed Book of Moses 14:19-20

“19 And when my people Israel accept your call, then you will have a church to command beyond the Jordan, where I will give you a land flowing with milk and honey. — Therefore I will make you commandments by which the people of the covenant will be governed, and all of them, I the Lord will baptize under a cloud, that all may enter into the covenant that I am making with all the nation of Israel in their wholeness. 20 You, therefore, have a great challenge, to lead the people of Israel to live righteously, according to my words after you leave Egypt. Then it came to pass that I, Moses, answered God, saying that the children of Israel would never believe in me, nor obey my voice, and mock me, because I tell them that the Lord appeared to me, but they do not have much esteem for me”.

Volume 9, Article 4-December 2021: written by Tyler Crowell

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

The scriptures say the righteous shall live by faith and this is a profound concept to examine. Before he was taken, Enoch received the testimony that he pleased God, for without faith it is impossible to please God. The feelings of trust within our heart for God which move us to action are required of everyone alike and today the Lord is seeking those who will be approved by faith.

Consider the Patriarch Lehi, the head of a long progeny, and how his faith was tested. Lehi had great riches. And yet he left all his riches in Jerusalem because he had obtained a promise from the Lord. All his wealth seemed to have no value compared to the land of promise that awaited him. In this way Lehi acted with faith just like the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, who considered the joy that was set before him, and went to the cross to redeem you and I from the power of sin and death. What mattered to Jesus was our salvation. He wasn’t thinking of himself. He was thinking of us. And look at all the children who were born through his sacrifice, as Isaiah testified, when he shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring. In a similar way the offspring of Lehi were preserved because of Lehi’s faith, when in answer to the call of the Lord he left all he had in his inheritance in Jerusalem. Lehi was following in the footsteps of Abraham who also left his home and native land to be a wanderer and foreigner among strange people. But he too by his acts of faith obtained an everlasting inheritance for himself and his offspring.

Contrast the faith of Lehi with that of Laban, the keeper of the treasury and a captain of fifty in Jerusalem. When Laban saw the riches of Lehi, how great they were, he lusted after them, even to the point of seeking to slay the rightful owners so he could possess the greatness of those riches for himself. Where was the heart of Laban? It was upon the things of the world, where moth and rust corrupt. He was already corrupted in his heart through his love of worldly things as the scripture says, “if any man love the world, the love of the father is not in him”. Laban was like the children of Israel who had already committed themselves and their gold to the calf idol, and had nothing left to offer to the Lord, and so they perished with their gold. Laban was like Simon the sorcerer who sought to buy with money the gift of God which could only be obtained by faith and obedience. The Apostle Peter told Simon the sorcerer, “your money perish with you”. Jesus warned us that where our treasure was, there would our heart be also, and when we set our heart upon riches and the things of the world, and fame and reputation and admiration and popularity rather than our brother or sister who is destitute or in some need, like the Nephites who went on to their destruction, we sell ourselves for a thing of naught. Concerning this, Moroni asks us, why do you care more for your riches than for the people around you. It is this person of whom Jesus speaks in the parable of the man whose riches became so great than he decided to tear down all his barns and build bigger ones to store his abundance, but that night his soul was required of him. The harvest was past and his soul was beyond saving. Whose would those things be, when he was gone and had no ability to determine where they should go? This illustrates the importance to do good while it is within our power, otherwise it is a sin.

Before ever leaving the old world Lehi exclaimed, “I have obtained a land of promise”. He spoke of that which was still to come as though it had already happened because he had that much faith and confidence in the promise which God had made to him. It was Lehi’s feelings of trust that allowed him to enter the wilderness, not knowing what they would face, but like Abraham, the father of the faithful, believing the one who called him. Did they face trials in the wilderness? Was their faith tested there when they left the comfort and convenience of their home and all they knew in answer to God’s call? Yes. They struggled greatly, and at one point nearly became extinct because they were slothful and careless. But after heeding the warnings given to them, they renewed their trust and obedience and finished their journey to their new land of promise, where they would be nurtured by the Lord for a long time, to prepare them for when Jesus would appear and create the most just society among them. None of this would have been possible without the faith of Lehi.

Lehi’s oldest sons were similar to Laban. They murmured against their father. Like the children of Israel who murmured in the wilderness, they wanted to return to Jerusalem, to the comfort and convenience of their carnal security. Laman and Lemuel fell short in their faith. They thought of their father as a visionary man. They questioned his sanity and indeed the veracity of the visions God had given him through faith. Lehi could have sided with the false prophets of his day who said Jerusalem was not in danger. But Lehi believed the words of Jeremiah, and received a testimony for himself, and sought to labor with the people to bring them to a saving faith, but the people sought to take away his life. Laman and Lemuel also murmured to the same extent because they had no faith. Sometimes they obeyed only after much persuasion, and after being brought into very difficult circumstances. They were slow to respond to the voice of the Lord their God, and had to be continually admonished by their believing brother, Nephi, who had both the faith and obedience which both pleased God and to which God could respond with his miraculous power. Even after being bound with cords with swollen wrists and ankles, while the ship was being driven backwards and ready for destruction, Nephi did not murmur against the Lord. He kept his heart pure and his faith steadfast, and the Lord surely did deliver him so they obtained the land of promise. When Nephi was sorely wronged by his brothers but they sought his forgiveness he frankly forgave them, showing that his feelings were pure before God in regard to those who have strayed but seek to return. And thus, by his faith, with each test he was approved by God and justified a little more before God’s eyes.

Think of the faith of Nephi when he entered into the gates of Jerusalem, not knowing what to do, but trusting the Spirit to lead him. He had already faced two failed attempts, where more than once his life was put in danger. But the Lord had delivered him from Laban once before, and the Lord had delivered him from his brothers in the cave, who sought to beat him with a rod. Surely his faith must have been strengthened as he walked alone into Jerusalem, but not alone, for God was with him. Could he really stand against this strong captain of fifty and fulfill the commandment to obtain the plates of brass, so the generations of the seed of Lehi would have God’s precious word throughout their history? The situation, when looking only at the external circumstances, seemed impossible. But is anything impossible to God? Even though the whole matter was unknown by Nephi, he was led by the Spirit because of his faith, and God had already prepared the way. Laban, in his lust for the things of the world had become incapacitated. The mighty captain of fifty was delivered into the hands of the man of faith. It was that simple. And like David, who by faith subdued kingdoms, and removed the scourge and reproach from Israel, Nephi prevailed over those who stood in the way to prevent the plan of God. And Laban, like the man with too many goods for his barns, lost both his goods, and also his appointment as steward. God himself did these things because it wasn’t possible for Nephi in his own strength to prevail over his enemies, as they had learned by their previous attempts. So, it was by faith that they obtained the records.

When I was a young boy, my father took me and my two brothers to a swimming pool in a building where he worked at the university. The pool was closed and we were the only ones there because he had the key. He had brought us there so he could teach us to swim. I was awaiting some instruction and some detailed lessons but instead he took us to the diving board and instructed my older brother to jump in and swim to him half way across the pool. My brother jumped in and swam to my father and then it was my turn. But I had never swam before. I had none of the required skills. And I saw that my father was a great distance from where I would land in the water. I was worried if I sunk, he would not be able to reach me in time to save me. Yet, he reassured me that he would not let me drown and I was encouraged by what I saw my older brother do, so I decided to take the plunge. When I landed in the water, I put forth the effort and struggled, moving my arms and legs to reach my father. At one point I grew tired and scared and I didn’t know if I could make it, but my father beaconed me to continue a little further, and then a little further. Finally, after struggling with my might I went far further than I expected, and I reached my father, and found that for the first time, I had learned to swim. It was because of my father’s insistence that I use what abilities I had, instead of relying upon him to save me, that I gained this new skill. It was both my trust that he would save me if I fell into trouble, and my determination to meet the goal he set before me, that I both acquired a new skill and reached the desired goal. It is easy for us to want God to do everything for us. But he wants us to grow from our experiences and to acquire assurance from the exercise of our faith, a little at a time, until we are skilled and accomplished. Every champion achieves their success through much struggle and effort, including tests, failures, and disappointment, but it is in overcoming those things that we triumph.

Today God is moving his hand a second time to recover his people, calling again in search of those who will approve themselves by faith. He is moving in miraculous ways to bring to pass his purposes. He is seeking a people whom he can train and equip to be the example to the world of what he seeks from all mankind. Our response to the moving of his hand in this time, and the faith we exercise, will qualify us for his work, just like the great people of old were qualified by their faith in God, through the trials of their time, when God spoke anciently.

Who will believe our report that God is calling again, through the pages of the scripture, and by his own voice to his people, and is reasoning with them in simplicity and truth by the everlasting covenant? Like as in the days of Enoch, some will hear, and some will be offended and turn away. But God will gather out of every tribe and nation those who are fit for his purpose. Those who will exercise a little bit of faith, and a little more, until they can live by faith, and indeed find the life of which Jesus spoke. “he who loses his life for my sake shall find it.”

Nephi prophesied of those in the last days who would be led captive by the devil because of their carnal security, whose hearts were set upon the things of the world, who were comfortable and complacent in their prosperity, how their souls were being cheated by the devil, and they were being carefully and unknowingly led down to destruction. Jesus warned us in a parable that the deceitfulness of riches could choke out the word as it was trying to grow and bear fruit in our hearts. It is not easy to live by faith. It is not easy to abandon our carnal security like Lehi and Nephi did. But all the holy prophets had to pass this test. They had to choose what mattered the most to them, if they were willing to forsake all to follow Jesus. This requires great faith, one that is rare in the world, but nonetheless one that is attainable to the person who wants to follow the Lord with full purpose of heart. Are we showing the faith that testifies we are God’s people, like those who approved themselves in ancient times by faith? Do our faith and works agree with the holy scriptures?

The three Hebrews were ready to walk into the furnace even if God did not deliver them. Job had so much faith in God he said, “though he slay me, yet will I trust in him”. Many examples from the scriptures show us the faith we should have. Do you believe God’s promises enough to stake everything you have that they are true?

We all have to answer the question, will we exercise our faith unto repentance, to turn from the world unto God? If we have a little faith, will we exercise it? If we have great faith, will we exercise our faith in a great way? No matter how much faith we have today, if we put it to use in obedience, our faith will grow, and tomorrow we will have more faith to exercise in our great God and his way. Others around us may shrink and fall backward. Who will press forward? It doesn’t matter what you have or how much, but what matters is if you are willing to offer what you have to the master, Jesus Christ. And so, it is fulfilled in each of us, one of these two outcomes. Are we the upright in heart of whom the scriptures speak? Shall we live by faith until, like Enoch, we receive the testimony that we have pleased God? You can decide for yourself which side you will choose. The Zion of Enoch awaits such a people who will choose the greater path of faith. What is your choice?

Volume 9, Article 5-December 2021: written by Patricia Pires

By the Force of Love

Dear brothers and sisters, it is with great joy that I am here today to speak with you.

I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to bear my testimony of this work in which I was called to serve with all my love!

My testimony I want to share with you is about the Sealed Book of Mormon, in which I was able to accompany our Prophet Mauricio Berger during the years we were married, we went through several difficulties, but my greatest testimony was that I saw him not give up on the calling to translate this book which is a wonderful work!

We are all called to serve in some way and with a lot of love and dedication we are here, we went through a pandemic terrified of the loss of friends and family, but we stay and if we stay it means that we still have a huge mission, it gives me greater strength to follow, and hence the name of my speech which I titled “For the strength of love”. The love that we have for each other… I have no doubt of Our Heavenly Father's love for us, He is Wonderful, every day I pray giving thanks for the LIFE and work we have and for the one to come!

Let's all be STRONG, never giving up!

In the Acts of the Three Nephites ch.1 v. 1 to 7 says:

“1 When we try to understand God's proceedings from a human perspective, the rest of the story told to us looks a fable, unless God gives the children of men, according to their attention and diligence, to know its mysteries.

2 Concerning this, behold, it was prophesied by the prophets of old, that these records would be sealed; kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord until they were brought to the knowledge of all nations, tribes, tongues, and peoples, that they might know the mysteries of God contained therein.

3 And now, before you suppose that this is foolish; I want to remind you that there are many mysteries that remain hidden, which no one knows but God himself. And behold, it was by the wisdom of God that these records were preserved; with the purpose of increasing the knowledge of his people in the fullness of times; being an instrument in the hands of God to accomplish his great and eternal designs among the children of men.

4 Remembering still, that the foolishness presented by God in the course of all dispensations was the means by which the Lord confounded the wise men and teachers of the law among his people, to do his work among those who, according to the attention and diligence that if they dedicate, come to understand their mysteries, and to bring salvation to their souls.

5 Those, therefore, who do not harden their hearts when these records are finally revealed to the children of men, will be endowed with wisdom to understand the greater part of the word already revealed, until it is given to know the mysteries of God in its fullness. But those who harden their hearts when these records appear among them, even the knowledge they possess of the first set of books revealed, will become obtuse in their minds, until they know nothing of their mysteries.

6 This record, therefore, which is granted now to the children of men, is a great and important mystery of the mysteries of God, and for this reason you can not suppose in your intellect, that it be easy to understand, because the things written here do not follow the events in chronological order, but, as with all the other scriptures left to us by the ancient prophets, future events are set in front of the prevailing affairs, and then again to intertwine in the same plot of history that is being written the present and the past so that, according to the dictates of the heavens, this entanglement of information, will compose the substance of faith in the feelings of those whose heart is receptive to the word of God through the Holy Spirit;

7 So desire to remember what was said by Alma, that "faith is not perfect knowledge". The same is true of these words of mine. At first, you can not be sure of them until you awaken your spiritual faculties, testing the words of this record as a result of what was written by the ancient prophets, and exercise a particle of faith in your quest for knowledge of the mysteries of God, still though you only have the desire to know the truth behind my words, and let this desire operate in your heart and mind, until you comprehend the fullness of these mysteries, so that you may with all diligence add to your faith the virtue of this new perception.”

So I ask you all to pray for wisdom…every day and not harden your hearts. And we follow the words in ch. 10 vs, 1 to 3:

“1 Let us therefore be moved by a higher cause, in which brother watches brother and the Church of Christ as a whole, watch over all the members, so that there is no needy, sick, and afflicted in our midst, that we may show ourselves true disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, and be worthy representatives of his name amidst a corrupted and misrepresented world.

2 Cease therefore your complaints and your grumblings, for nothing can be more destructive to men in the flesh than to complain continually. Cease looking for mistakes on your brothers or sisters, but love one another just as Christ loved us, for this not only qualifies us to be his disciples, but identifies us as such.

3 Cease to be idle, for this is required of us as servants of a great King, to be vigorous in our affairs, no matter what we are engaged to do with our own hands, doing it with every endeavor of our heart, mind, and soul for the honor and glory of our Lord.”

I repeat then…(“doing this with all the effort of our heart, mind and soul, for the honor and glory of our Lord”). And finally, we will read the words that are still in ATN in chap.1 vs. 5 which says:

“5 Those, therefore, who do not harden their hearts when these records are finally revealed to the children of men, will be endowed with wisdom to understand the greater part of the word already revealed, until it is given to know the mysteries of God in its fullness. But those who harden their hearts when these records appear among them, even the knowledge they possess of the first set of books revealed, will become obtuse in their minds, until they know nothing of their mysteries.”

May we in this way bring these words to our present day so that we may then be in communion with Christ!

Brethren, I have shared this testimony with you as an invitation to read and dedicate yourselves to the teachings of the Sealed Book, which was a gift from Heavenly Father for our day so that we can become better people. Always remembering that Christ loves us even though he knows we are sinners, unconditional and true love. May we be like him with each other. I want to tell each one of you that I love you with the Force of Love!

May Heavenly Father bless us with Wisdom, that we may continue in this work with strength and faith to fulfill our mission.

This is my speech and my testimony that I share with you, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Amen!

Volume 9, Article 6-December 2021: written by Valdeci Machado

The Journey to Zion

Whoever has put his hand to the Work, cannot allow himself to look back. We have a direction. We have a way. And it is challenging.

To this day, the Jews say, "There is no prophet like Moses.

Of course, we know that there is no man like Jesus Christ. And He is the Leader of us all! He, being God, became man to redeem us. - Philippians 2.

In Revelation 5:9 it is written, "And they sang a new song, saying: Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood...". Truly we have been bought at a good price! By the precious blood of the Lamb of God.

There are men and men, there are women and women... some were born to be influenced, others to influence. Some were born to make up human history, others to change the course of human history. This group, yes this group here, was born to shake the structures of heaven and earth, you were born to change the destiny of many.

Moses was like that. He changed the destiny of many. Observe:

Moses acts as God's counselor. Exodus 32:10-14

He convinces God not to destroy the Hebrews, who worshiped the golden calf.

He asks, and insists on seeing the glory of the Father...and he gets it! Moses sees Him behind His back...but he sees Him! - Exodus 33:18-23

What a wonderful man Moses was! How many lessons can be learned from his deeds.

In his last days, the Lord calls him... "Moses: come talk to me... come to the top of Mount Sinai". He pleads, "Lord I am no longer young, he said, it will take me a while to get there".... "And there Moses went, and there he saw the Almighty coming... and the Almighty came down in a cloud and stood before him. He stayed with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights without eating bread or drinking water. Exodus 34:28

What an incredible man Moses was! How many experiences...how many miracles in the midst of those people...how many teachings he left among them.

When his earthly journey came to an end, he was tired. After all, he had been 40 years in the desert. Of all those who had left Egypt with him, only two remained: Joshua and Caleb. He was sad, for he had lost many friends and family members on that journey.

He did not enter the promised land. Not because he did not deserve it...but because maybe God had something even better for Moses.

This message is intended to remind the covenant people, yes, we are children of promise, just like Isaac. And just as the Hebrews wandered in search of the promised land, we too are setting out in the direction of the long-dreamed-of Zion. That Zion foretold by the prophets of old. Yes, we will pave this way united by love. And just as those people had Moses guiding them, we also have a Moses with us. This time we will progress as God's people. Yes, we will live in unity and righteousness before the Most High. We will learn from the Sealed Book.

Yes, this Book, translated by the power and gift of God. Whose translator has an impressive trajectory. Who fought many wars... some that he knew: he would not win. But he was there, at the head of his people, determined to endure all adversities, and glorifying the Almighty. Many times on the top of the mountain he was, looking for guidance, for peace. He made his friends a safe haven, and his friends also made him a safe haven.

Yes, he is with us, he is among us... and many coincidences repeat themselves: Just like the ancient Moses, this one Moses has total detachment from material things. He possesses many Christian virtues. We saw him prophesying several times. We testified to this. We have been present at some revelations given by the Lord, where he stood up promptly, and led us into the homes of needy people who needed urgent help. He is full of compassion and empathy. Always willing to serve, at any time or place. He gives his life, if necessary, without hesitation, for any of us. - John 15:13

It is true, he did not use so many signs as those given by God to Moses to bring his people out of slavery in Egypt.

He did not divide the red sea, he did not make water gush out of the rock in the desert. But it was precisely in a desert, where he was alone, without friends, that this one Moses probably had his greatest confrontation. He fought valiantly against the enemy hosts, and there, in that desert, exposed, alone and helpless, he won part of his triumph, which could be total if we stay by his side, and faithful to the teachings of the Sealed Book.

Perhaps the day will come when he will declare, just as Moses of the Old Testament did: "Gather all the elders and your officers before me, and I will speak these words in their ears, and take heaven and earth as witnesses against them. It is my earnest prayer and desire, that what that Moses prophesied at the end of his life will not be repeated: "For I know that after my death you will surely corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; then this evil will overtake you in the last days, when you will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger with the work of your hands.

Dear and esteemed brethren. Yes, brothers in the One who offered himself as the sacrificial lamb. Let us prepare ourselves to be worthy of the pure and sinless blood shed by each of us here at this Conference.

May our lives and our works be worthy of the atonement of our Master Jesus Christ. May we remain in the light of the path indicated by this one Moses. Perhaps we are not in the condition of slavery, as were the Hebrew people, but realize that not so long ago we were subject to another kind of captivity: the captivity of religion, of doctrine mixed with the philosophy of men, and in this way we were being carefully led to hell. - 2 Nephi 28. This one Moses takes us out of that enclosure, and leads us to a safe place, where there is wealth of light, where we begin the building of a Church without walls, where we can become living stones, and be built up a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices pleasing to God through Jesus Christ. - I Peter 2:25.

This one Moses leads us to a knowledge of the right way to celebrate the Ordination of the Sacrament, which until recently no one on the face of this earth did in the right way, the way the Savior had instituted among his disciples in ancient times. And in this way, we have the promise of having His Spirit with us and among us. This being just one of the pieces of the chessboard that was missing, and which He brings out again to the honor and glory of our God.

Share with your friends and family the Spirit found at this Conference.

If you have a willingness to join ranks with this army that is forming, to stand shoulder to shoulder with these incredible men and women who have a claim to build up Zion, to be a witness for God at every moment of your life, in all things and in all places where you find yourselves, and consequently to weep with those who weep, to comfort those who need comfort, to care for the orphans and widows in their tribulations, to care for the sick, to reach out to the poor and the afflicted. ...if you have within you the desire to make a difference in the lives of many people, then what is stopping you from covenanting, if you haven't already, to serve the Eternal Father? To covenant to truly take upon yourself the name of Jesus Christ? What is stopping you, dear brother, dear sister?

If you look closely, and think that you can't do it. If you think that you are not strong enough, that you have so many problems, that you are incapable of helping anyone, and if you have the impression that the enemy is permanently around you, roaring like an angry lion, trying to devour you... take heart and remember: God's Dream is better, and much bigger than your dream! That sometimes your plans are not God's plans. - Isaiah 55:8-10

Believe, He sees far beyond what you see! Trust... Jesus Christ came that you may have life, and have it abundantly. - John 10:10

Believe me, there is no coincidence that you are here today, there are no coincidences!

I share these words with you, in the name of our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ. Amen!

Volume 9, Article 7-December 2021: written by João Vendemiatti

Patriarch - Advice and Blessings for Life and Eternity

Good morning brothers and sisters

It is a pleasure to address you today. General conference is always a very special occasion. Because of this important time where the Spirit of the Father is poured out in unrivaled abundance, we can see the enemy's efforts to both hinder the conference and hinder the brothers and sisters who seek to come here. So I know that many of you probably faced difficult situations so that you could be here today. Thank you for everyone's presence and for the sacrifices they made.

In my speech today, I would like to explain the role of the Patriarch, as we have many new members who do not know the role of this calling and office, as well as some members of the Restoration who, because of their traditions, have a superficial knowledge of this calling. I would also like, as the Patriarch of the Church of Christ, to give some advice that I feel is important.

To begin, I would like to read the revelation given to Joseph Smith III, April 15, 1901, known as the RLDS doctrine and covenants section 125.

D&C 125:3a The patriarch is an evangelical minister. The duties of this office are to be an evangelical minister; to preach, teach, expound, exhort, to be a revivalist; and to visit branches and districts as wisdom may direct, invitation, request, or the Spirit of God determine and require;

As we see in item “a”, the Patriarch preaches, teaches, expounds, exhorts, enlivens the faith of the members and visits the church units as wisdom or the Spirit directs.

Right after, in item B of the same verse, we read:

D&C 125:3b to comfort the Saints; to be a father to the church; to give counsel and advice to individuals who may seek for such; to lay on hands for the conferment of spiritual blessing, and if so led, to point out the lineage of the one who is blessed.

Here the Lord further specifies the assignments of the calling. First, I would like to bring up the verse of section 125 ‘3b” of counseling the Church and people who come to me. I mean that as a father to the church, as per the guidelines and assignments in this revelation, I am available to anyone who needs counseling for their lives, difficulties, family issues, etc. Nowadays, we can cross the barriers of distance through technology. So all those who need or want an interview with me, can contact with me to schedule and organize it by video conference for those who cannot come here.

The second subject I would like to address is Patriarchal Blessings.

What are Patriarchal Blessings?

The Patriarchal Blessing is a blessing the patriarch gives to members that will serve as a map to unfold from time to time, with Heavenly Father's counsel, promises, duties, and blessings reserved for his children. The Patriarchal Blessing is an individual revelation for the person who receives it, can maybe reaching then later generations.

When we are born, we go through what we call the “veil of oblivion”, we don't have full remembrance of our life before we were born on Earth. The Patriarchal Blessing comes to help us, to inform us of some blessings, promises and duties that we have received or committed to individually throughout our existence.

It can be a map not just for this mortal lifetime, but for our entire journey. From our previous life, our present life and our future life.

The Patriarchal Blessing can provide us with information about our gifts, our abilities, callings, difficulties we will encounter, advice and promises of blessing. It gives us an eternal perspective on our role, responsibilities and blessings.

Another important factor of the Patriarchal Blessing is to reveal the lineage of the tribe of Israel to which we will belong, or that we belong. Each tribe of Israel is named after its patriarch, children of Israel, with the exception of the tribe of Joseph who had their double share of inheritance divided between their sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. The sons of Jacob received patriarchal blessings from their father, blessings which endure for all their descendants and members, literal or adopted, of these tribes. The Patriarchal Blessing is so sacred that it endures, even after centuries or millennia.

Another patriarchal blessing I would like to mention is the one given by Lehi. He blesses his children, giving them promises, duties and advice. And in the end, he also bestows a patriarchal blessing on Zoran, promising his descendants prosperity on Earth while heeding Nephi's advice.

We can see that the blessings given by Lehi were all fulfilled, not just immediately, but were fulfilled over many generations as we can see throughout the entire Book of Mormon narrative.

Patriarchal blessings received in different branches of restoration may be valid if the patriarchs were inspired to do so and were given before April 2019.

When the Gospel goes into apostasy or heresy, that the higher Priesthood is taken away from the children of men, the patriarchal power is shifted to the Aaronic Priesthood so that the children of the covenant may receive blessings to help them return to the Light of the Gospel. This knowledge was given through a revelation to the Prophet Mauricio Berger, in a revelation given on May 29th to June 2nd, 2019 verse that I would like to quote here:

“15 Behold, therefore, my purposes concerning each one of them, beginning with my servant João Irandy Vendemiatti, for I have heard their prayers, and the desires of your heart have ascended to Me; and you called on me to make known to you the will of the Lord your God concerning your calling and election in this life, which I, the Lord, have raised you up in these last days, to serve with my servant chosen, which have long been ordained for this end, as you stand together again and hold the presidency of my church in these last days, as Patriarch Evangelist, not as presiding Patriarch, for this place rightfully belongs to the chosen seed. The Evangelist, however, occupies the same patriarchal position and obtains the same portion owed to him by the presiding patriarch, but it ends with the coming of death. Imbue yourself with the knowledge necessary for his office in the order of Melchizedek, since I am withdrawing his duties which I temporarily ceded to the Aaronic order in order to carry the patriarchal blessings upon my chosen people after losing the higher priesthood, but now, I, the Lord, I restore it to you. And may from now on hold the keys of patriarchal blessings upon the heads of my people in the land I will erect for you. Seek, therefore, diligently to become acquainted with the primordial requirements of his calling and election, without there being indolence on your part, for this is your stewardship, and I, the Lord your God, will require it of you again in the last day.

As the brothers can see, the Lord gives me an enormous blessing, but also a warning, that I cannot be indolent in my calling, as this is my stewardship and the Father will require of me on the last day.

So, in order not to neglect my responsibility to advise all of you, I would like to give general advice to the entire church at this time as your patriarch and concerned for your physical and spiritual well-being. I would like to talk about reckless faith.

In Matthew's Gospel chapter 10, Jesus advises his apostles to be "harmless as a dove and prudent as a serpent," and Jesus continues the counsel by saying that they would be brought to trial, imprisoned, and so on. But Jesus continues to advise that if they are persecuted in one city, that they flee to another. Jesus was not telling them to go to the rulers and purposely be arrested to demonstrate their faith.

After his resurrection Jesus says to the apostles and disciples:

And these signs will be with those who have faith: in my name they will send out evil spirits; and they will make use of new languages; They will take up snakes, and if there is poison in their drink, it will do them no evil; they will put their hands on those who are ill, and they will get well. Mark 16:17-18

How are we to understand these two passages together? Well, Jesus is not saying that to prove they are true disciples, that they should be reckless and purposefully take poison. Nor should they seek to be purposefully arrested, or act recklessly. He advises the apostles to be vigilant, to use wisdom, to carry out the teachings of Jesus.

As we see, faith must be aligned with prudence. If after respecting prudence those who unintentionally take something poisonous, they would be protected by the Lord. Also if it happened that the disciples were arrested, they would be given what they were supposed to say and some disciples were killed after that.

Well, that wise advice given 2,000 years ago is still valid today. I have seen many brothers and sisters, believing in conspiracy theories, or put they indulgent faith placing in an interpretation of promises given by the Lord, when they are not complying with the health prevention protocols against Covid-19. Other brothers are refusing to be vaccinated because of personal precepts and traditions where there is no support from the Church leadership.

Science is a process of knowledge where humanity climbs the stairs of preparation towards heavenly society. As demonstrated in the excellent article written by our prophet in the first edition of the Herald of the Second Invitation, scientific knowledge is brought along with the Gospel dispensations. After the first vision, the Father's knowledge was spilled on Earth, in approximately a century, man went from riding horses and chariots to building rockets and exploring space.

We see incredible advances in all areas of knowledge, we see almost poisonous remedies at the time of Joseph Smith being transformed into medicines that save many lives from many diseases, something notorious in this field was the discovery of penicillin.

Jesus Christ calls the waves of communication “my power” in the revelation He gave us last year.

Thus, scientific development is directly connected with the light brought by the Father and Heavenly society every time the Gospel is brought to Earth.

So, my beloved brothers and sisters, I do not intend to violate your right of belief and decision, but I advise you, as your Patriarch, to found myself spotless before the Father, that you leave your traditions aside and take all sanitary measures, such as the use of masks, alcohol gel, social distancing and, above all, all of you can get vaccinated. Faith in believing that God will protect them must go hand in hand with prudence. I would like to read a passage in the Sealed Book:

Acts of 3 Nephites 13:16

16 However, the Father will do nothing for his children on earth, for how much as there is a possibility of them doing something for themselves. Remember therefore these words of mine, which again come to you through this record, to observe carefully the birds of the heaven, for they do not reap nor store in barns, but the Father who is in heaven feeds them, day after day

Brothers and sisters, we must do our part, as science has discovered ways to reduce the chances of contamination with safety protocols and has discovered a vaccine to reduce the chance of death for those who contract the virus, it is our duty through a prudent faith, carry out these measures, for they are within our reach.

Furthermore, Joseph Smith never said that all the righteous would be spared, but that sometimes the righteous are also caught during calamities, and to finish, I'm going to read this quote from Joseph Smith:

“I explained concerning the coming of the Son of Man; also that it is a false idea that the Saints will escape all the judgments, whilst the wicked suffer; for all flesh is subject to suffer, and “the righteous shall hardly escape;” still many of the Saints will escape, for the just shall live by faith; yet many of the righteous shall fall a prey to disease, to pestilence, etc., by reason of the weakness of the flesh, and yet be saved in the Kingdom of God. So that it is an unhallowed principle to say that such and such have transgressed because they have been preyed upon by disease or death, for all flesh is subject to death; and the Savior has said, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” (September 29, 1839.) DHC 4:11

The Lord also warns in the revelations that on the day of that great tribulation, if we do not do what He tells us, He will not be able to help us either, because He revealed His will in advance so that we could provide a way to save ourselves by building the places of refuge.

I encourage brothers and sisters to read the wise words of the Prophet Mauricio in the Herald of the Second Invitation, Volume 1. I also invite anyone who wants to receive your Patriarchal Blessing or who wants to know if the blessing received in another restoration branch was inspired, to come talk to me. And also, all those who want to talk, vent, ask for advice, contact me so we can schedule an interview.

It is these words and these advices that I leave you, in the name of Jesus, the Christ, amen.

Volume 9, Article 8-December 2021: written by Robert Cackler

The Aaronic Priesthood and Readiness for the Kingdom

1- Brothers and Sisters, I greet you in the blessed name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name we gather in the worship of Almighty and All-Loving God.

2- I want to focus our thoughts on the Aaronic Priesthood and the preparatory gospel of Christ’s church. This gospel is composed of the fundamental truths that our Lord has commissioned the Aaronic Priesthood to use to prepare the hearts of people for salvation in Jesus Christ, and entry into the kingdom of God. This is in anticipation of the impending unification of that kingdom of God on earth with the kingdom of heaven, as described in Doctrine and Covenants 65 [RLDS D&C 65].

3- The process of experiencing the kingdom is personified in the account of Lehi’s vision found in 1st Nephi 8 [RLDS 1st Nephi 2] as being the fruit that is “desirable to make one happy,” fruit that “was most sweet above all that I ever before tasted,” fruit that “was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen,” fruit that “filled my soul with exceeding great joy,” and “was desirable above all other fruit.”

4- Later, as recorded in 1st Nephi 11 [RLDS 1st Nephi 3], Lehi’s son Nephi confirmed, in the presence of an angelic being, that the meaning of the tree which bore the fruit was the “love of God, which sheds itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore it is the most desirable above all things,” to which the angel replied, “and the most joyous to the soul.”

5- Brothers and Sisters, the preparatory gospel is given to prepare our hearts to dwell eternally in this treasured and glorious condition that comes from the love of God. In response to this love, one’s first duty is to emulate that love, and love God in return, by placing in our hearts the sentiments that are derived from His name, which are gifts from God. Jesus exemplified these gifts and is now teaching all people, who will listen, how to use these gifts to prepare for the coming of the kingdom of God on earth.

6- The Sealed Book of Moses 3:60 describes this process in relation to the priesthood:

This is, therefore, the key to the priesthood and the mystery that will be sealed in this book until the time of the end, because there is nothing more sacred to be revealed to men in the flesh than this knowledge, that the name of God can be invoked in their hearts, and that one can not evoke the powers of the heavens in the holy priesthood of the Son of God, unless it be through sentiments derived from the love of the Only Begotten Son of the Father, each one correspondent to his ministry, because to some, as the Spirit leads, produce sundry feelings, which we call God's gifts.

7- I have included in the title of my speech the phrase, Readiness for the Kingdom, because I believe that phrase describes the central purpose of the Aaronic Priesthood—to prepare men, women, and children to be receptive to the kingdom of God. To this end, Jesus Christ placed in His church the ordinances and scriptures as a foundation of our belief. And, He provided the priesthood to administer the ordinances and teach the scriptures of the gospel with inspiration, expounding on many of the great mysteries of the heavens.

8- The purpose of this priesthood ministry is described in The Sealed Book of Moses 3:15:

“… the priesthood of the Son of God exists to make the people of the earth come to understand the plan of salvation and allow the children of the man to know how to wait for the Son of God, who will come in the fullness of time to redeem from the fall those who believed in Him in order to become free from the yoke of sin and death, so that they may return again to the presence of the Father.”

9- Working with the higher, or Melchisedec, Priesthood, the Aaronic Priesthood has an important role in bringing the knowledge of redemption, by the love and power of Jesus Christ, to all people. Doctrine and Covenants 107 [RLDS D&C 104], elaborates in these selected passages:

There are, in the church, two priesthoods; namely the Melchisedec, and the Aaronic, including the Levitical priesthood.

The power and authority of the higher, or Melchisedec, priesthood is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church.

The power and authority of the lesser, or Aaronic, priesthood is, to hold the keys of the ministering of angels and to administer in outward ordinances—the letter of the gospel—the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, agreeably to the covenants and commandments.

10- Pertaining to the Aaronic Priesthood, understanding the keys of the ministering of angels is found in the words of Christ which constitute the letter of the gospel. Strict adherence to the teaching of Christ is essential if an Aaronic Priesthood holder desires to use the keys of this ministry. The words written by the Nephite Jonah, as recorded in the Acts of the Three Nephites 12:16, states that in the last days Jesus Christ will “recover what is Mine and restore their inheritance and My name among the people.” The next three verses gives important counsel which is very applicable to the Aaronic Priesthood:

These, therefore, shall be placed in My left hand, until God deems it expedient, in due time, to bring them back into their true fold, and to lead them again into His right hand, by observing My commandments, as revealed in these My words, when at last these records are revealed among the covenant people in the last days.

Behold, a great deal has already been written by your ancestors concerning the authority that should rule My Church on earth, just as you can inquire into the record of Mosiah on Alma, for having received authority from God, he ordained priests, and organized the Church of Christ in his days according to the ancient Order of My Gospel, and commanded that they should teach only the things which he himself taught, which were in accordance with the teachings of the holy prophets of the past up to his days, without ever changing what was written earlier.

So he told them to preach nothing but repentance and faith in the Lord, lest the confusion of the people of his day be increased further, so it will also occur at the end of times, because of the many interpretations that were and will be rooted in My gospel by the precepts of men, thus stifling My sound doctrine.

11- Following this wise counsel will bring blessings to God’s people, and the fruits of repentance will be clearly seen as each member of the Body of Christ lives what is expressed in Mosiah 5:12 [RLDS Mosiah 3:16]: “remember to retain the name written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the left hand of God, but that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, and also, the name by which He shall call you.”

12- Consider the reason that the Aaronic Priesthood holds the keys of the ministering of angels. To hold these keys is to have the blessing and authority of Jesus Christ, through faith, to use these keys and release this life-changing ministry to bring souls to repentance, in readiness to become sanctified vessels for the Lord, and living stones of the spiritual temple of Christ’s church. Possessing the keys indicates that one has the authority to open the way for God’s people to receive the associated blessings.

13- Use of keys enables the full potential of faith, as a principle of power and action. As The Sealed Book explains in The Sealed Book of Moses 3:71-74, Moses had the authority and power, by faith and compassion, to release the winds to separate the waters of the sea to save God’s chosen people. Likewise, the Aaronic Priesthood holders, through faith and right feelings, have the authority and power to prepare the members of the church to receive of the ministering of angels and partake of salvation. This ministry, which calls people to repentance, evokes the realization that one needs a Savior, and requires that one must die to self before being able to receive of the righteousness of Christ, and thus become a new creature in Him.

14- We read more about angelic ministry in the words of Moroni from the book in The Book of Mormon which bears his name, Moroni 7:29-32 [RLDS Moroni 7]:

Have miracles ceased? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men.

For behold, they are subject unto Him, to minister according to the word of His command, shewing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind, in every form of godliness.

And the office of their ministry is, to call men unto repentance, and to fulfill and to do the work of the covenants of the Father which He hath made unto the children of men, to prepare the way among the children of men, by declaring the word of Christ unto the chosen vessels of the Lord, that they may bear testimony of Him;

And by so doing, the Lord God prepareth the way that the residue of men may have faith in Christ, that the Holy Ghost may have place in their hearts, according to the power thereof; and after this manner bringeth to pass the Father the covenants which He hath made unto the children of men.

15- The Sealed Book of Moses 4:38 encapsulates the purpose of the ministering of angels, in this imperfect and sinful world, when it says:

And from that time forth, though there have been wars between men; Enoch knew that Jehovah would come to the temple that Enoch had built for the Lord, because he saw angels descending from heaven, bearing testimony of the Father and the Son, and that in the fullness of time He will come to dwell with His people, even as He came to dwell with the people of Enoch before He took them, for they shall be as in the days of Enoch, a people who live righteously.

16- To repeat, angelic ministry is to bring souls to our merciful Savior through the process of repentance. This ministry is purposed to produce a pure-hearted people who live in righteousness.

17- The ministering of angels began, in this world, with Adam as part of the plan of redemption. We read in The Sealed Book of Moses 3:17: “the gospel began to be preached from the beginning, being declared by holy angels sent from the presence of God to Adam.” And, as recorded in the Acts of the Three Nephites 12:26, holy angels continue to be involved in the salvation of souls among God’s people on earth, as they “celebrate with this first communion between them and the heavens, among whom many hear their songs of praise in the land.”

18- Further considering the Aaronic Priesthood, what is the nature of the ministry of this priesthood? I believe it can be described in one word—sacrifice. Each holder of this priesthood can be a great blessing to people seeking salvation and to the members of the church if they fully understand and embody the meaning of this word. Godly sacrifice eliminates selfishness and opposes pride. It opens the door to humility, resulting in righteousness of heart and a contrite spirit.

19- Expressions of sacrifice, that all members of Christ’s church can experience, are choosing to love one another with unconditional love, deciding to serve God’s people, obedience to the financial law, participating in the blessings of tithing and the law of consecration, giving and sacrificing for others through the fast offering, plus many other ways through the sharing of one’s time and talents in the varied ministries of the church. In and through all of this, the holders of the priesthood are called to lead by example and know, through experience, what it means to sacrifice in service to others.

20- What are the expectations of Jesus for each Aaronic Priesthood holder? As stated in Doctrine and Covenants, Section 20 [RLDS D&C 17], the Aaronic Priesthood, precisely the teachers and deacons, is called to five aspects of ministry—“to warn, expound, exhort, teach, and invite all to come to Christ.”

21- Jesus expects His ministers to declare the words of eternal life with power and conviction to bring all, who will, to Christ, and salvation in Him. Speaking to the priesthood, Jesus says in 3rd Nephi 11:23 [RLDS 5:24], “Verily I say unto you, that whoso repenteth of his sins through your words, and desireth to be baptized in My name, on this wise shall ye baptize them.” So, by this, we see how important a person’s testimony is in reaching needy souls with the good news of the Gospel.

22- As detailed in Doctrine and Covenants, Section 20 [RLDS D&C 17], the role of the Aaronic Priesthood to bring the blessings of the preparatory gospel to men, women and families, both inside and outside of the church. Many are needed “to preach, teach, expound, exhort, baptize, and administer the sacrament” (when there is no elder present). Many are needed to “visit the house of each member, and exhort them to pray,” and “attend to all family duties.” Many are needed “to watch over the church always, and be with and strengthen them,” and “see that there is no iniquity in the church, neither hardness with each other; neither lying, backbiting, nor evil speaking.” Many are needed to “see that the church meet together often, and also see that all the members do their duty.”

23- The Melchisedec Priesthood holders and others are currently fulfilling many of these roles in the absence of more available Aaronic Priesthood. But, I look forward to the day when this important and essential ministry will be functioning in its fulness among God’s people, in the way that the Lord designed, so that everyone who desires may be ready for the kingdom.

24- Our collective prayer today is that the Lord is preparing individuals to serve in the Aaronic Priesthood, and that they will respond to God’s call to serve, as He directs, in this essential ministry. We, as the Body of Christ, continue to trust that God will provide. Please join me in making this a matter of continual prayer before the Lord.

25- To summarize, I believe that successful Aaronic Priesthood ministry is an outcome of embracing the principles that enable the keys of the ministering of angels to be utilized for the benefit of mankind. Successful ministry is a demonstration of authority in action. Therefore, each Aaronic Priesthood holder is challenged to use the gifts of God to instill, in themselves and the church, a strong faith in Jesus Christ, and a firm mind to steadfastly embrace the unchangeable, ancient order of the gospel of Christ that is now being restored.

26- In conclusion, if I were to express in a few words why the Lord placed the Aaronic Priesthood in His church, I would say it is to show to all people, because of the love of Jesus Christ, they can have the faith to be saved eternally in the kingdom of God. By accepting the blessing of salvation through faith, repentance, and baptism, they can taste the goodness of the fruit that Nephi described as being “the most desirable above all things,” and, by the grace of God, they may feel in their hearts, the abundance of good feelings that the angel described as “the most joyous to the soul.” This sublime condition, is expressed in the loving condescension of the Father, in the life of the One who came to save mankind from sin, and redeem, from the fall of Adam, all who are willing to whole-heartedly embrace the ways of Christ.

27- May the Lord God bless His church to be a light unto the world. May each member be blessed in their journey with the Lord and valiant in testimony of the love of our Savior and Redeemer. I seal this message in His name, even Jesus Christ, Amen.

Robert Cackler

Prepared for the November 2021 Conference

8 October 2021

Volume 9, Article 9-December 2021: written by Melva Cackler

Called to be Guards—Protecting Our Families

I greet you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a privilege to be here with you again! I am very grateful for everyone’s prayers, love, and support that have helped make it possible for me to attend this conference. I am also very grateful for all the extra support that my husband has given me over many difficult months, and that he can finally attend a conference.

In August, after nine days with Covid-19, I ended up in hospital for three days. After arriving home, I struggled with extreme exhaustion for several weeks. It was difficult to think and remember things. I didn’t have the energy to read, and even having the energy to eat was a challenge. I’m sharing this information, because of the experience I had on September 6, just one week after being discharged from the hospital. That day I was experiencing my typical exhaustion. But late in the afternoon, while lying on the bed, the exhaustion suddenly felt peaceful and restful. Soon, I was not even aware of my exhausted body, and my mind became very alert. I was completely unaware of my surroundings and even myself. Then the Lord started teaching me. This teaching lasted for about an hour, and I knew that some of those insights needed to be shared at the November conference. Later that night, I realized that I needed to try and recall some of what I had learned and find the energy to make some detailed notes. So, lying in bed, with a notebook and pencil, I asked the Lord to help me remember what I had been taught, and the energy to write it. I ended up with two pages of notes, but was very aware that this would have been just a small part of what I had been given.

Some of the teaching I received was centered around verses in the first and second chapters of Genesis, Apostle Paul’s admonition in Ephesians 5:25, and some verses in the book of Jacob. These were all scriptures that I was quite familiar with. However, the Lord helped me see a greater meaning in them, and their importance in relation to guarding our families and being able to prepare for Zion. I realize that much of what I’ll be sharing centers around the family—parents and children. Some of you are in different situations, including being married but not having children, being single, or in other circumstances. But please find comfort in knowing that the Lord is very aware of all that you desire, as well as the ministry you give to assist in the bringing forth of Zion.

In the book of Genesis, we read that the Lord God spiritually created all things, with Man being created last. However, in the physical creation, Man was created first, and from the dust of the ground. Then the Lord God created a garden for this Man named Adam, with trees and other plants, precious metals, and animals. But Adam felt all alone, and so the Lord God made a help meet for him. How did the Lord create this woman? Not from the dust of the ground as He did for Adam, but from one of Adam’s ribs. A woman, created from a man’s rib, is inseparably connected to the heart of the man. She is to be protected by him. Can we consider not only the physical but also the spiritual relationship that a man is designed to have with his wife. It is not just a physical relationship; it is designed to be a spiritual bond that the Lord created, and is to be experienced between a husband and a wife. I am sure there will be a greater understanding of this awesome relationship when we receive more insight about the eternal round.

Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 25: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it….” And in verse 33, “… let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence [or, have deep respect for] her husband.” This section of scripture gives a comparison to Christ and the church, therefore presenting a much broader and deeper meaning. Apostle Paul refers to it as a great mystery. Is it possible that once we fully understand and live in the manner explained in verses 25 and 33, that we will then be able to understand this mystery? And once the understanding of this mystery is put into practice, will we then experience a greater blessing in our families and in the church, which will further assist in the coming forth of Zion?

Sisters, as stated in the scripture above, our husbands have this huge responsibility to love us, even as Christ loves the church—and to be willing to give their lives for us, even as Christ gave Himself for the church. In this particular scripture, what is required of the wives of these men? To give them deep respect! Giving respect to our husbands means feelings such as having a deep concern for them; we have a high opinion of them; we admire them; we praise them; we greatly appreciate them—we need to have great love and compassion for them.

Women are very blessed with the gift of compassion, but it is something that men need to learn. Adam was created as a complete and perfect being, so what happened to his sacred gift of compassion? I believe that he lost it when the Lord God took one of his ribs to create woman. And I wonder if that rib was closest to Adam’s heart. Are we women able to help our husbands understand compassion through the deep respect and love that we feel for them? Are they able to observe it when we are interacting with our children?

The Lord does hold His people accountable for their actions. A very clear example of this is given in the book of Jacob, chapters 2 and 3, LDS and chapter 2, RLDS. Jacob was commanded by the Lord to admonish the Nephite men because of their evil ways. But he was very grieved that he had to do this in the hearing of their wives and children, many of whose feelings were exceedingly tender and chaste and delicate before God. He told the men that they had broken the hearts of their tender wives and had lost the confidence of their children because of their own bad examples before their families. These chapters contain a very descriptive account of a time when a group of people walked away from the teachings of the Lord, and also describes the harm and damage that it caused to their families. This scripture was included in the teaching that the Lord gave me; it serves as an example of the power that is held within the hearts of husbands and fathers—for evil, or for good.

Imagine a man, with his family on board, driving along a busy highway in an expensive powerful car. He suddenly pushes on the accelerator and begins weaving in and out of the traffic at a high speed, sometimes, quickly braking and then accelerating again. His family does not know what may happen next and are beginning to panic. In fear, they may even be calling out to him to slow down, to stop what he is doing. The people in the vehicles around them are also affected by this man’s behavior. Things are out of control; the driver is the only person who can bring order out of fear and chaos. What is the proper choice for this husband and father? His wife and children are completely dependent on him to respond in an acceptable, safe, and loving way. He has the calling and the responsibility, as a husband and father, to guard his family—allowing his wife and children to feel safe and protected. A man has a huge responsibility as the protector of his wife and children!

In our day, as in all ages, the Lord is sometimes disappointed with priesthood and non-priesthood men because of the ways they knowingly, or unintentionally, treat their wives. In order to guard the physical, emotional, and spiritual stability of the family, and the hearts of our children, we must have a strong bond between a husband and a wife. Children must be able to see and feel the love and respect between their parents. To have strong families, there must be strong Christ-like relationships within those families. Emotionally healthy and spiritually healthy families are strong families. Strong families are needed to prepare the way for Zion. We have a calling and a responsibility to assist in preparing the next generation for their work in helping to bring forth Zion.

Men are created with a protective spirit—they are the provider. Women are created with a nurturing spirit—they are the giver of life. But, dear brothers and sisters, none of us are perfect. Because men are created to be protectors, they may become overly protective. A husband can be macho; he can become impatient or frustrated and yell at his family; he can be unfaithful; he can be abusive; he can walk out on his family. And a woman may spurn a man who is trying to be a gentleman. A wife can yell and scream; she can also be unfaithful, abusive, or abandon her family. These kinds of actions can result from what happened to these people when they were children: little boys are taught to not show their emotions and may even be ridiculed for doing so. Little girls are molested, and even worse. A child can feel that problems between his or her parents are the fault of that child. Because sin and evil entered the world, we fight an uphill battle. But the Lord God is giving us more spiritual tools to fight those battles.

As stated in The Sealed Book of Moses 5:40, the knowledge in that book (and The Sealed Book as a whole) “will not suddenly change the generation of those who will obtain it firsthand”—that generation is us, you and me—but “after this generation, their children and the children of their children will be full of holiness, and the gifts derived from the Holy Spirit will be natural in their way of feeling; inhibiting the power and influence of the enemy wherever they preach this good news of the Kingdom.” This promise is surely an incentive for us to be the guards who will protect our families from the ways of the world. It is our calling to prepare this next generation for the great work that they are commissioned to fulfill.

It is so very important for our families to be united in support of each other—because "Zion begins in our own house" (Acts of the Three Nephites 10:5). Continuing in this chapter, "If the guidelines of our home are the teachings of Jesus Christ, then we will live in homes where joy reigns, whose branches of our posterity will be firmly rooted in the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance; these being the feelings that must fill our earthly abode, as being a heavenly refuge. And, behold, joy is one of its fruits and will overflow through the walls in the homes of Zion.

"The unity that is required of us as disciples of Christ has no structure if its foundations are not firmly established among the families of Zion. The more united we are to the members of our families, the greater will be the strength of the structures of our unity as God’s people" (A3N 10:7-8).

In closing, we are called to be guards in order to protect our families and each other as an entire church family. This small group of people around the world are called to help make Zion a reality. I pray that all of us will always diligently seek to lovingly protect and strengthen our families and each other, so that we can assist with the establishment of Zion. May the Lord bless His children, and His people, as we lay the spiritual foundation for Zion, the beautiful City of our God. Amen.

Volume 9, Article 10-December 2021: written by Maurício Berger

Tribute to President John Paul Pratt

Volume 9, Article 11-December 2021: written by John Steve Woodby

Leaving Babylon – An Ancient Script

Leaving Babylon – An Ancient Script

Good afternoon brothers and sisters. I feel a great joy and love being here among you. I’m excited about my errand here today, as it is to be presenting an ancient sacred record from the times and peoples related to those in the Book of Mormon and how they fled their Babylon successfully.

Over the last few years, ancient records have come forth and been translated, revealing the Lord’s work in times long past, complete with their prophets, social structure, and government. This record was compiled by the prophets and holy men of God. They also led this righteous people who sought to flee from the prideful Nephites and Gadianton robbers, to find a place they could live in peace and in a common order with no war. They followed the teachings and statutes of God as taught by Nephi and Ammon. Their records were kept in accordance with the direction they were given by Shiblon. This record includes the writings of some names you will recognize: Moroni, Nephi, Shiblon, Samuel the Lamanite, Hagoth, and many others. It details their flight and organization both temporally and spiritually; it also lays out their temple practices and describes their walking with angels, their ancestors and even Christ, upon “the path.” It gives a very detailed account of their visit with Jesus Christ and how they were taught by Him. The book is called the Sacred Record of the Nemenhah and it’s translation was completed in 2015. It has over 600 pages and contains some most powerful accounts of God’s dealings with his ancient people. It is prudent to mention that according to the wisdom of men, this record should be considered apocryphal; however it, like all things, should be tested by the Holy Ghost. I challenge you to read it and do so!

My purpose today is to share with you a small sampling of this ancient record that speaks directly to us from the dust. It contains much prophecy for these last days and the culmination of the LORDS restored church. These people are the descendants of Lehi, Ishmael, Zoram, Muleck, and Levi. This record is intertwined with the prophets and people of the Book of Mormon. It is an extensive, detailed record kept over hundreds of years, even until fairly recent times through the arrival of white men in North America. In fact, when the Mormons came into the San Pete Valley in Utah, they were met by American natives who had been forewarned in dreams and visions of their coming and of their complete conquest of the region. After converting to the new religion, several of the chiefs of the Americans met with Brigham Young to give into his keeping a copy of the libraries hidden in the hills of the Wasatch Front, as part of their consecration of the United Order. They were pleased that the men of prophecy had come because this meant they could leave the Valley and return to where they had originally come. President Brigham Young informed them, however, that they would have to remain with them “for we have not the here-with to translate these records.”

When it was decided this record should be brought forth at conference, I pondered and prayed asking the Lord how I could present such a large record in such limited time. I was inspired with a clear and peaceful thought: “let these words speak for themselves.” I understood that to mean, stand aside and let the spirit speak to them ……and that is just what I will do.

I am going to read and share with you several of the passages of scripture that resonated in my heart during this research .Through it all, I kept being led back to the oldest prophesies that spoke from the dust to us about our times- in these days.

Hagoths flight into the northern wilderness- a brief summary

Hagoth built ships and departed from the land southward with his family and 12 Nephite and 12 Ammonite families. They traveled north along the Pacific coastline to the mouth of the Colorado River, up the Colorado to an area known as the four corners, where they settled for a time. They became known as the Nemenhah people. They left the four corners and established two new settlements: the one on the Great Plains and the other further north in the mountains, where they remained undefiled by the Gadianton robbers.

The prophet Hagmeni (Hagoth’s son): tells of ancient records

“And it came to pass as we were searching out good stone with which to build our city, we discovered in the mountains, tombs of an ancient people. In these tombs, we found records of the Jaredite people, like unto those that Mosiah translated. Therefore, we did use these same tombs to keep our own records, and we did put copies of these plates, which Shiblon and Nephi had provided for our people. The record of all our doings, our laws, and our histories are kept there.

Hagmeni explains their prosperity

But in this record, I write about the record of the works of the spirit among the Nemenhah, for we did prosper exceedingly because we did keep the statutes of God. In as much as our people did enjoy the gifts of the spirit in excess, yea, our men and our women did heal the sick by the administration of faith. And they did also prophecy and receive visions. And they did speak with all manner of tongues, and they did interpret tongues. They waxed great in understanding and wisdom, especially in the use of plants and herbs for healing. So much so, that Mentinah became a gathering place for the teaching of healing.

VS 8-9: Christ answers Hagmeni’s prayer

Hagmeni, behold, I am Jesus Christ, the son of the living God. Listen to me, for I have heard thy entreaty on behalf of the Nemenhah. Because thou has prayed in faith, I shall answer thy prayer. It has been but one year since I called Samuel out of the midst of the Nemenhah in the far North, to go to prophecy against my people, the Nephites, in the land southward. Thou doest recall that he sojourned with you many days as he passed through thy land. And doest thou not recall the prophecy which I gave unto him? Yea, verily, I did reveal to him that 5 years should not pass away from the time he began prophecying to the Nephites and the land southward, until the sign of my coming, even of the day I should come to redeem all my people.

Wherefore, I give unto thee this same sign to watch for. There shall be great signs and lights in the heavens. And, the night before I come there shall be no darkness in the southern sky. Yea, it shall appear unto thee that the sky shall be halved. When thou dost look to the north, behold the sky shall be darkened, but only as at dusk. But when thou turnst to look southward, the sky shall be as bright as day. Therefore, there shall be a day, a night, and a day, and it shall be as one day. This is a sign by which thou shall know that I have come unto the world. Then, watch thou diligently, for in my own due time, when I have completed the work which the Father has given me to do, I shall visit thee, and thou shall see me as I am.

The prophet Ougou, is shown the latter-day Restoration Church:

“And behold, he showed us another book together with the first in the hands of a prophet and it came to pass that this prophet did cause much restoration to come to pass in the gathering and uniting of the Gentiles. But behold, the other book was about the people of this promised land, and it reminded the Gentiles of our posterity. And we saw that this little book was great in spirit and was powerful in convincing the Gentiles to come unto Christ. Yea, behold, we did rejoice exceedingly to know that the book did testify of our kindred. Then behold, we saw the Gentiles organize and regulate the Church once again in this land, and their work did grow and prosper exceedingly. But they did also grow and prosper in the things of the world. Yea, they did become exceedingly rich and the more part of them did become puffed up with pride, which thing was exceedingly heavy and difficult for the humble and righteous among them to bear.

Vs:180 Ougou gives revelation of Jesus Christ

For you have seen that I will raise up a prophet unto the Gentiles, and because of him I shall gather in my children from out of the four corners of the world. But his work shall be an INITIATION of the restoration, not a CULMINATION. Yea, he shall begin to lay the foundation of a great work and mine elect shall begin to gather out of all the nations of the earth. And many will move even unto this Holy Land, and they shall prosper. Yea, even I shall prosper them exceedingly and try them.

Ougou VS 181: And they shall begin to keep many of my statutes, but they shall change some and forget others. Yea, I shall bring forth the stick of Joseph from among them and they shall deliver it unto all the world. In this, they shall be blessed and shall be added to the children of the covenant. Yea, peace I shall bring them at the END OF THE TRAVAIL. And I will prosper them, and try them.

182: But they shall utterly fail in gathering the remnant of your posterity. I say as a people they shall forget my commandment in regard to your posterity and shall even participate in enslavement and destruction of your posterity and the posterity of your kindred in the land southward.

The prophet Heinmet (8-22), prophesies about the condemnation of the Church until the 6th generation

8. And this shall be a sign unto whom the Earth might yield up this record: In the latter days the Lord will raise up His Church once again unto the people. Yea, through a prophet He will begin to restore that which had lain seemingly dormant for many lives of men. And through His Church He will cause the Gifts of the Spirit once again to pour out upon the earth to heal her.

9. But behold, before this little church shall have had but one generation in which to grow, and the Saints begin to enjoy once again great blessings from Heaven, they shall reject even such things as the Lord shall provide with His own mighty hand. Yea, before one generation has passed, the Lord shall declare the very Saints of God under His mighty condemnation, and this condemnation shall not be lifted to the sixth generation.

10. Yea, this condemnation shall stand in effect until the children of the restoration shall finally begin to turn their hearts away from the world and from Babylon. And this shall be a sore vexation for them. For, they shall have the great gifts which the Lord shall have given them before they turned from His paths, and they shall remember still the Gifts of the Spirit which He did cause to be poured out upon their forefathers.

11. Yet behold, they shall have been led by shepherds whose concerns are for the getting of gain and of great wealth, and even their attempts to live the Law of Consecration shall be muddied and polluted by the principles of the world that their leading men shall introduce into their experiments. Yea, and they shall fail utterly to live the law that contains and controls the abundance. In the end, yea, and by the time the Lord shall wax in His impatience with them, they shall have cast aside the Law of Consecration almost entirely.

12. Now, I would exhort you to contemplate upon the patience and the longsuffering of the Lord. Is it ever of short duration? I say unto you, Nay. He does wait long upon His patience and He does give unto the children of men much opportunity to repent. But, do not think that He may be relied upon to turn away His eye as you make sport of His holy laws. He is not to be trifled with, nay, nor shall He be mocked.

13. For they who think they are Saints, yea, they who do trust in His longsuffering, but do so with bad intention, shall think themselves safe in a place where the Lord shall hide and protect His choice and elect children. But can this be so when His children do spurn His counsel and set aside His commandments? What is worse, can this be so when they make solemn vows and covenants unto Him to keep His laws and His commandments but turn away from them almost in the same breath? I say unto you, Nay!

14. Behold, the condemnation, that shall have fallen upon them even from their first generation, shall not begin to be lifted until the sixth. In that day there shall be some few among the Saints who shall see the path to redemption from the curse laid upon their fathers. Yea, they shall turn away the face from Babylon and shall cease to lay up in their hearts the things of the world. Yea, they shall no longer view their stewardship as having to do only with themselves, but shall regard the suffering of others as theirs as well.

15. Yea, they shall cease to build beyond that which they actually need, but with their surplus they shall even build a canopy for their neighbor. Yea, they shall become stewards of the Lord’s footstool and cease to puff themselves up. They shall cease to attempt to wrest from the Lord what is His. They shall cast down their towers and their great buildings and once again embrace the Earth.

16. For, is it not written that, even as the Heavens shall pour forth a blessing such that there shall be no room to accommodate it in the storehouse, so shall the Earth also give of her bounty abundantly? Yea, the Earth shall pour out the words of warning also and the hearts of the children shall be turned to the fathers. Yea, all that the Earth does hold up and guard securely, She shall pour out upon the inhabitants of the land, and the hearts of the fathers shall be turned to the children.

17. Wherefore, blessings shall fall down from heaven and blessings shall pour up from the Earth, and the whole Earth shall be filled to overflowing. Yea, then shall the face of the Earth be flooded with righteousness. Wherefore, out of a curse shall flow blessings, and this is within the power of all the Saints in the last days. But only if they will. Yea, only when they will…turn away from Babylon.

18. But behold, they shall think to be waiting upon the Lord. Yea, they shall claim to be waiting upon His word. But look! He has already spoken it. Do you suppose that you may not look upon your ancestors, who have felt of this out-flowing of the blessings of Heaven and Earth, and fail to learn to take up Zion in your hearts?

19. Do you think to wait for the wise to see the folly of their own teachings? What? Shall the Scribe or the Pharisee, or the Doctor of the laws of men discern their condemnation? Nay! But they shall cry peace and safety when all security is gone. Woe and thrice woe be unto they who so rely upon the arm of the flesh. Verily, they shall be surprised when the Lord does reward they who understand and call upon His holy name, and stay His hand toward they who but call upon His name in vanity.

20. And the whole earth shall be in turmoil in that day. And behold, the Saints shall cry out: Why did the Lord not warn us of this calamity? Why were we not made aware before the tribulation came upon us? Are we not the Lord‟s chosen people? Have we not raised up our altars unto the Lord and have we not built unto Him great Temples? And wherefore does He treat us so, that we suffer in the sight of all the world, being His own people?

21. And in this manner shall the people lift up their complaint unto their God. But, even worse, before the calamity shall come upon them, they shall be puffed up in their pride and shall claim that theirs is the only access to Heaven. Yea, they shall despise prophecy and shall look only to their shepherds, believing that the Lord shall do nothing save He reveal His secrets unto His servants, the prophets. And, believing their shepherds to be the prophets of whom the scriptures speak, they shall wait upon the word of such and shall be faithful to the will of such.

22. But, can they who labor under the condemnation of the Lord be called His servants? I will grant you that they may love Him and serve Him. But, can we say that He employs such to be the shepherds of His flock?

In the record of Ougou, he describes the basis of the Nemenhah government.

“Now this is the manner of our government – each village is ruled by a council of men and women chosen by the mothers of our people. Therefore, every woman who had a child had a vote, and because not all women bear, every woman who had reached the age of agency (16 years), also had a vote. Therefore, without the voice of the mothers in the villages, no one may gain power over the Nemenhah. Wherefore, for all things temporal, the people chose their own councils, and for all things spiritual the Lord chose their councils through their prophet and through the spirit of prophecy. All this was done after the pattern given by Nephi when he lived among the Nemenhah. Now this system was also adhered to by all the Nemenhah of the plains and many of the Lamonites in the land northward, and it presented a great stumbling block to the Gadianton, because that, whereas among the Nephites in the land southward, the men were easily corrupted because of their strength, the Nemenhah were preserved from this evil because of the meekness of our women. Yea, men make combinations for gain. But women make covenants for the good of all their people.

2 Samuel 3:15-19 (tells the history of Cumorah)

15. And behold, I did set aside a beautiful place where this library could be kept safe. And the place was some distance away from the city. For, it seemed to me expedient for my people to travel to the place of safe keeping to make copies of the works. In this, I thought, the people by their sacrifice to obtain the records might find in them greater worth. And this proved to be so. For, as the people made pilgrimage to the place where the records were kept, and they did sacrifice of themselves to do it. And their sacrifice was accepted by the Lord, and they were blessed.

16. Now, the place that I set aside for the safekeeping of the records is called Cumorah, and I named it thus by the commandment of God. For, the Spirit did speak to me in a vision of a hill by such a name which would hold the records of the people until the day of restoration. Wherefore, I did call the place after this strange name, and it was so known among all the people of Corianton.

17. And the place was very well suited for this purpose. For, there was in the hill which I called Cuhmohrhah, a deep cavity of rock. And it formed a corridor and a great room. And there was no spring or issue of water in the cavity. Wherefore, the place was safe and dry. And behold, it was large enough to hold all of the books, the plates and the scrolls that the Spirit saw fit to cause me to deposit there.

18. And behold, the books do number a great many indeed. And they do profit my people greatly for the store of knowledge contained in them. Knowledge of the grandfathers that does sustain my people in a remembrance of all that the Lord has taught His people from the time He did drive Layee and his family into the wilderness. Yea, and even from before that time.

19. Now, this place is sacred to the Nemenhah of Corianton. For it contains the sacred writings of our fathers. And in the cavity are found copies of the Plates of Brass, which Lehi, our father, brought with him from the land of Jerusalem. And these are the plates that Nephi, his son, obtained at great cost to himself.

2 Samuel 1:1&5-9 (The lineage of Samuel the Lamanite)

1. Behold, I am Samuel, whom the Nephites call Samuel the Lamanite, and I have written somewhat about some of my people. For, I would not that my descendents forget the history of their fathers, and I would assure the memory of these happenings.

5. Wherefore, I do claim the lineage of my fathers, even of Nephi and Lehi of old, and also of Mulek and of Levi. And it was this same lineage whereby my forefathers of old were called to be Priests and Prophets unto the people. Therefore, when my God does command me to speak, I do open my mouth. And behold, when my God does command me to write, I do take up my stylus and I do write the things He commands me. And I make no excuse for the things that I write unto the generations of my own posterity, unto whom I know this record will come.

6. Now behold, I will write somewhat about my own work and the small work with which the Lord did see fit to burden me during the days of my life.

7. Behold, while I was laboring upon the Way, the Lord did call out to me and did take me by the hand. And He did command me in a vision and a revelation to go down even unto the Land Southward and to testify against the Nephites, more principally against the inhabitants of the city of Zarahemlah. And behold, I did not refuse my God, but I did take my journey into the Land Southward to do as He commanded me.

8. And I am a Lamanite in appearance. For my mother descended from those Lamanite who covenanted with Moroni never to take up the sword again against the Nephites. And they became numbered among the Anti-Nephi- Lehies, who are now called the Ammonites. And my father is the son of Isabel who listened to the voice of the Savior when Alma the Prophet did send his sons unto the Lamanites to preach the gospel of peace unto them.

9. Wherefore, my skin is dark, as is my hair. And behold, I do appear in all ways as the Lamanites do appear, except in that my eyes are gray instead of brown. And when I went unto the people of Zarahemlah, I was young and of goodly stature. Wherefore, the people hardly listened to my words because I was not aged and because I was a Lamanite.

2 Samuel 8:10-11 Samuel gives revelation of Christ about the Restoration:

10. But behold, because the Gentiles shall have languished long in a dearth of my spirit, when a restoration of my gospel is delivered unto them they altogether revel in that restoration.. And ere they have received all, they shall become puffed up. And they shall immediately begin to divide my Church, and to cut it up into pieces. Yea, the men shall be divided from the women, and the children from their parents. Yea, and even they shall make division in the ministry, the young divided from the old. And with division comes great confusion. For a house divided against itself cannot stand.

11. Wherefore, write this prophecy in a book and preserve it. And in the day of great tribulation, when even my own appointed Prophets shall sit in confusion, I shall cause my words to come forth as from the dust. Yea, out of the earth shall my words hiss, and though they make every attempt to cover them up again, yet shall my words be made known and their folly shall be uncovered. Behold, they who do still see with the eyes of the spirit shall read these records, and of this prophecy most especially, and they shall beseech me again, seeking my face. And when they do this, I shall show myself unto them with great power. Then shall the restoration proceed again unhindered by pride.

2 Samuel 12:10-14 Samuel the Lamanite gives us his advice:

10. If you are wise, you shall look in those days for the records and remembrances of your fathers and your grandfathers. Howbeit, in their words you will find an ensign. Behold, we have made an experiment upon the covenants made in the Temple. Yea, seeing what would befall the Nephi in the Land Southward, we did come out of Babylon and we did gather together to establish Zion. And, behold my children, we did enjoy peace even when the Land Southward did reel to and fro under the wickedness that the Gadianton robbers did cause to come among the people.

11. And are your days so unlike ours? Are your governments filled with corruption and wickedness? Do your rulers buy their seats of power and authority? Does one nation rise up against another for gain’s sake? Do the rich persecute the poor, and does the rich man withhold his substance? Behold, I see your day and I know the conditions in which you labor. Yea, and I also see that many of my own descendants, even the most part, walk in confusion in the daylight, and in complete blindness do they their secret works at night.

12. You who would call yourselves saints, listen to my words. I am a voice that whispers out of the dust. I lived in this land in a day when the people had all things in common. And behold, when all things were in commotion and the hearts of men had waxed cold, yea, and when the Lord did call His fury down out of heaven to destroy the wickedness from off the face of the earth, behold, we did see the sign and were filled with joy. Yea, when all others quailed in the smoke and darkness of destruction, we did raise up a song of praise and of thanksgiving.

13. You live in such perilous times. Yet may you also look up with joy and with thanksgiving. In faith you may take up that covenant which your forefathers made and again establish Zion in the land.

14. But, if you heed not the warning voice that the Lord shall provide for you out of the dust, behold I say unto you, you shall be caught up in the pride of your hearts, and you shall not be found guiltless in your days. And when the wrath of the Lord is kindled against you, how may you beseech the Lord to stay His mighty hand? Yea, what excuse can you make?

Manti 11:4-6 The prophet foresees the leaders of our Church:

4. And also those who shall think to govern the church, they too shall begin to do so with an eye single to the appeasement of men and not to the pleasing of their Maker. They think that by satisfying men and rulers they will not be troubled by them. Behold, I say unto you, and hearken unto my voice all you who are of my household and do receive these things which I have written unto you, All they who seek the pleasure of men, hoping to appease them, shall be troubled by them all the more. Yea, they shall trouble you in your laws and put you in bondage. They shall trouble you with your children and your hearts shall be broken because of them. They shall trouble you in the streets of your cities on the byways. Yea, they shall come even into your homes, your churches and in your Holy Places to vex and trouble you. All this shall be only because you do esteem them more than you do your God.

5. And in the day that my writings shall come up unto you out of the dust, there shall be such vexation in this land that some few may be found who look to the past for a pattern and a way whereby they may live more completely the ways of the Lord. Yea, they shall for generations have looked unto their principle men, whom they bethought ought to have led them into righteousness and the ways of the Lord, for that ensign into the right way to keep the commandments and their own covenants in the days in which they live, only to find that they have not been led out of Babylon, but have built up Babylon in their hearts because of their teachings.

6. Yea, I say some few, and they shall be precious few, shall begin to ponder upon all that they have been taught and to seek a different path than that which their principle men, even the shepherds of Zion, shall have set out for them. For, they shall have been taught from their youth that the only way to heaven is the way the wise men have taught. Behold, this is evil and comes of evil in the hearts of conspiring men.

Moroni and the nephite brass plates:

7. And now, for most of my lifetime the records of the Nephites have slept within the library of Corianton in Cumorah, and I traveled to the place where the records are kept and opened again the box in which I had placed the plates, the sword of Laban and the Urim and Thummim with its breastplate, and I took out the plates and wrote upon them the abridgement that Ether had made of the history of his people.

8. And when I read again the last things that I had written in the record my heart swelled within me even so much that I thought it would break. And I was harrowed up again by the memories of the acts and horrible atrocities of the war and of both parties in it.

9. And I deemed it needful and full of necessity that I add a little more unto my own record there and the Spirit did manifest also that I should do it. And I went upon the Way and saw the little flock of Gentiles which the Lord would bring into this land in the last days. And I inquired unto the Lord what things I should add unto my record, for the Spirit did manifest to me that my record would come up out of the earth unto the remnant of the children of Lehi left in the land through this little flock. And they would become a little nation among nations and begin to do a great work whereby the record of the Nephites would be spread upon all the face of the earth.

10. And the Spirit moved upon me and showed me what I ought to add unto my own record to their benefit. And, after I had completed the work, I did seal the remaining plates up with a band, for the Nephites are no more. But now the Spirit does whisper unto me that the sealed portion may again be made useful unto the remnant and that they may be filled up in the end by such as the Lord calls again to record the doings of His people.

11. And it was four hundred sixty and two years from the coming of the Lord unto the Nephites, and unto the Nemenhah, that I did these things and I am satisfied that a great good shall come of the things that are recorded in my father‟s book. For, I have seen the days in which they shall come forth, that the Gentiles shall rule the whole earth and shall control the hearts of the more part of the inhabitants of it. And they shall drive the people even from the shedding of blood unto the shedding of blood, just as the Nephites and the Jaredites. Wherefore, it may be that these records may be at least as useful unto the survivors of that time as they have been unto the Nephite survivors of my own city.

12. For if in the last days there may remain any who will give up this wickedness and repent and turn away from it altogether, that even the possibility might again exist that a generation might be brought up without the memory of the fallen, then shall Zion be established again. Yea, if it so be that the Lord shall bring again Zion, it shall be among a people that have cast aside the things of the world and its unrighteousness in preparation for a generation of peace.

13. And I have seen that the Lord shall work upon the hearts of men as He sees fit. And the Holy Ghost does continually strive with all men and women who have the capacity to set aside the world and its wickedness. And I have seen that the Lord will use the Gentiles to do a great work and a great preparation. But they shall not bring again Zion. Nevertheless, they shall prepare the way before those that shall.

14. Yea, even as John the Baptist could not make the atoning sacrifice, yet could he prepare the way for One who could. Yea, he did cry repentance in a wilderness of wickedness and a way was prepared for certain good souls to receive their Creator. And even in the midst of awful wickedness, He did comfort them and they were greatly enlightened and magnified.

15. I have walked upon the Way and seen the day of wickedness. And you may believe me that the day which I have seen surpasses all the wickedness of all the ages. But behold, I have seen that the record which I did seal up in a box and place in the library of Corianton, even in Cumorah, shall be chosen of the Lord and delivered up unto a prophet in the last days. And, though that prophet shall not be found perfect in all things, yet shall the book that shall come to light through him be unto the Gentiles a guide and an anchor. And through it a generation shall be prepared to come again out of Babylon and to establish Zion again in this blessed land.

16. And I have also seen that the Gentiles shall spread themselves upon all the face of the earth and their blood shall mingle with all the races of the earth. And when this does take place among the remnants of the house of Lehi, there shall rise out of this mingling a Remnant of the House of Israel. And I have seen that this little flock shall establish again a Heaven on Earth, even Zion in the midst of madness.

17. Yea behold, it shall come to pass in the last days that the spirit of their dead fathers shall rise up again and speak to the matter of their bodies as a familiar spirit which does speak to them out of the dust. And some of them shall turn unto this curious prompting and they shall break with all that is deemed wisdom. And they shall go again into the wilderness, for though the earth be covered with people, so it shall be deemed. And they shall cast off the shackles of their captivity and, putting upon them a beautiful garment and adorning themselves for the wedding feast, they shall fill their lamps and wait upon the Lord. And He shall know them and welcome them in.

18. And behold, those Gentiles who shall also go with them out of Babylon and shed the sins of the world, for they shall have taken them up fully, they shall even be grafted into the House of Israel with them. Yea, that blood in them of Isaac and of Jacob shall rise up again within them and they shall be remembered of their fathers. And they shall walk again in Zion and shall be numbered among the people.

Revelation of Christ through his prophet Ougou:

127. Wherefore, ye Nemenhah, the things that ye write I shall preserve for the end of times when I shall restore my remnant. When, in mine own due time, I shall finish my work, yea, my strange work. Stand ye in holy places and be patient, therefore, ye Nemenhah. For, the record of your doings shall I hold up as an ensample for the redemption of the land and the establishment of Zion. And this shall be a great stumbling block to the Gentiles and shall be vexatious to them. For they shall have been established in my name for this purpose, and they shall build a foundation. But the culmination of the ushering in of the fullness of times, and the fullness of knowledge, and the fullness of wisdom, and a fullness of the Spirit, shall be accomplished by the weak, not by the wise, and by the meek not the mighty. Yea, it shall be by the slave, not by the master.

Manti 12:1 Manti teaches of The Holy Ghost:

1. And I now say unto you, because that you have brought your hearts unto the Fathers, the hearts of the Fathers are brought unto you. Wherefore, you have received these writings and do ponder them in your hearts. I would beseech and admonish you to submit all these things unto the confirmation of the Holy Ghost. And if you do this, your mind will be enlightened and you will receive of Him the truth of the things you do read within them. And behold, if you do read them with good intent, having faith in that One who is mighty to save, then the Holy Ghost will manifest the truth of these records unto you.

Brothers and sisters I have not touched on more than a glimpse of this record today. It will edify, amaze, inspire, and uplift all those who seek the face of Christ. I find this ancient record of a great worth…to us… in this time… in this place. Let our eyes and ears be tuned to the spirit that we can see and hear his voice for us in this ancient record.

Remember, the Lord first calls his people… then he prepares them.

May God bless us and the Spirit be with us. In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

This document is available for free online download in English PDF format at The Mentinah Archives website (www.7witnesses.com).

Volume 9, Article 12-December 2021: written by Maurício Berger

Abandoning the Precepts of Babylon, an ancient guideline by flashes of present-day light

"The former revelations cannot be suited to our conditions; they were given to other people, who were before us"

Joseph Smith Junior

History of the Church, volume 2, p. 52

Kalil Habib was an accomplished gold miner and wealthy farmer who suddenly sold his farm and everything he owned to get enough resources to go after diamonds.

Madness right?

A rich man who sells everything he has acquired in his life to undertake an almost "utopian" search for something he believes is more valuable than what he already has.

Still, as strange as it may seem, Jesus taught that:

"The kingdom of heaven is like a traveling merchant who sought fine pearls and who, finding a pearl of great price, promptly went and sold all the things he had in order to pursue it."

(Matthew 13:45-46)

Related to that, perhaps we can understand Kalil Habib's pre-disposition to exchange the gold he had in search of something even more valuable - the diamond, if we understand a little of the reasons of Jesus:

"who, although he was in the form of God, did not have it as a usurpation to be equal to God, coming to give up everything he had, in order to assume the form of a servant, making himself like men in the flesh (...)".

— Philippians 2:6-7:

— But why would Jesus, being God, give up everything he had in heaven, to come to suffer in the likeness of men in the flesh?

There is no other reason than to find, for oneself, among the hardened hearts of the human being, some that are true diamonds.

The gold, as everyone knows, when extracted from the earth, needs to be purified by the fire of some impurities encrusted in its interior.

Diamonds, on the other hand, for those who don't know, are not so beautiful and showy when found. Before, the diamond is just a rough stone, without much value to careless eyes, but for a specialist in precious stones, there is there, in the midst of that rustic stone, a beautiful gem of great value to be cut and polished. However, they don't need to be purified like gold, for inside, diamonds are pure, crystalline and untouched, for nothing penetrates inside them, apart from the light, which finally makes them shine.

With whom can we compare these two groups to? Well — The first, we can compare them to the Father's worshipers who, like gold, with its impurities, fill the churches with their fanatical form of worship, and the second, similar to diamonds to be cut, to the true worshipers that the Father wants to attract for himself in order to adore Him in Spirit and Truth.

Looking for these, Jesus, from the position of sovereign, that he had in heaven beside the Father, came to become the most humbled among all men on earth, in order to find something of greater Value than simple formal worshippers, who are Valuable yes, like gold newly mined, but which are not compared to diamonds, like true worshipers, whose priceless value remains hidden within themselves, and not in the clothes they wear, in piercings, tattoos and long or colored hair, what is not very attractive in the eyes of religious leaders in general, but for Christ, as an expert in precious stones, it is of paramount importance to look beyond the rough appearance, in order to find within those petrified hearts, a True diamond, which finally, after being cut and polished, it will make its true value shine in the eyes of the world.

However, even If someone allows himself to be cut, in order to reveal the diamond You carry in your heart, It requires that we respond to the call of God through His prophets.— How do we do this?

The text of MOSES 5:23-25 in the book Sealed, in part explains, when it says:

"23 (...) When, in the fullness of time, the time comes to open the knowledge of this book (...), the men of this generation will not be fully ready to understand the truths exposed here, *except for those who seek the mysteries of God in their hearts*."

SEALED BOOK OF MOSES 5:23

------------------------------------

24 For there shall be among them a Moses (...) 25 Who will be the instructor of those who will lay the foundations of a new society among the children of men, by whose fruits of the Spirit of God, *the heavenly gifts (like diamonds) that subsist in their hearts* they may, through your guidance, be fully developed (cut) among the Lord's people in the last days."

SEALED BOOK OF MOSES 5:24-25

— Do you understand what this text is revealing to us? That, like gold, there are no ready people in this generation! — The vast majority carry some kind of impurity to be extracted in the goldsmith's fire, when Christ comes in the final part of the fullness of time, but this will only occur when Christ comes in the final part of the fullness of time, except for a few who, as the text just read attests:

"seek the mysteries of God, like diamonds in their hearts."

Reason why, understand that: The Sealed Book is the manual, I am the instructor, or in other words, the diamond cutter, and you are the students who, finding diamonds in yourselves for Christ, allow yourselves be molded, cut . — "To learn what?"

Well, if we go back to this same time, a year ago, when at the November 2020 conference I taught that revelations given in earlier periods of time, such as those received by Enoch, Noah, and Abraham, were not suitable for in the days of Moses, we will realize that, in a similar way, it is not possible to live today the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, with instructions coming only from the Bible, since the latest revelations compiled in it, were conceived for a society that existed more than two thousand years and, not even through restorationist rules, instituted to accommodate the society of saints in the nineteenth century, where women could not even cut their hair, wear pants and could barely open their mouths to teach to the men in the congregation, in which only male adults had a turn and a voice, while the youth could not even express their opinions.

— "Do you realize now what you really need to learn?" That the modern world we live in today, needs current revelations and more than that, it needs them to be clarified through the Light of the Gospel, which shines from time to time, broadening our understanding, as described in PROVERBS 4:18 That says:

"The path of the righteous is like the morning sun,

shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

PROVERBS 4:18

It reminds me of that time when we're traveling by car with the family to visit a distant relative and we decided to leave before sunrise, when we didn't see anything due to the darkness around us except the road, where the light of the car that, according to Psalm 119:105 we can compare the scriptures, as it tends to illuminate the Way. However, as the hours pass, the sun begins to appear on the horizon and little by little its Light allows us to see more clearly the beautiful landscape that unfolds around us, however, with shadows that dissipate as the sun (which are the prophets) advances to its fullness, when at noon, being in the center of the celestial vault, it eliminates any and all shadows, that obscure our vision.

Well, so it is with the Gospel, for the truth of God has been revealed in stages, in the run off of various dispensations, and its understanding has been gradually amplified in the perception of the chosen people, with the projected Light, from time to time, by the prophets of God, for the purpose of dissipating among their minds every shadow created by obstacles, which are the precepts of men placed before the light of the revealed truth .

In spite of this harmful intervention in the divine purposes by mere human precepts, we must closely observe Jesus' words in Matthew 9:17, of that, "you cannot put new wine into old wineskins." Therefore, it is not convenient for these people of the second invitation, to persist in framing the restoration of the 19th century in the modern molds of the 21st century.

For since the father Adam was on earth, the human race has received through the prophets of God and their sacred records, a little here, other little there of his Gospel, clarifying, from time to time, to the understanding of His people His will, which is not as rigid as men preach—a fact corroborated by the biblical account of the woman who would be stoned through the precepts of the law revealed in the days of Moses, described in Deuteronomy 22:22-23

(Matthew 5:17) — But that Jesus, intervened in his favor, not with the aim of "abolish the Law nor to nullify what was said by the prophets who were before him," at the time in that he speaks: "He that among you who is without sin, let him cast the first stone", before, he was just demonstrating to that generation of his day, that he did not intend to nullify with his new teaching, the former commandments , required in the days of Moses because of the camp of Israel, where anyone did what they wanted and therefore, stricter laws were necessary at that time, but now, in the meridian of time, he was finishing a minor process in favor of a greater law, the law of love. Not by annulment, but by transcendence, for it did not have the same meaning for the dispensation of Jesus, what was providential for the days of Moses.

So we see in the Gospel history, from the days of Adam to the days of the Restoration in the nineteenth century, the things of God change concisely and gradually among his people, through clear and unambiguous instructions, coming from the prophets of the Lord , for how much the Covenant People had obtained in past dispensations the same privilege that you are having, here today, in receiving new guidelines and instructions from a living prophet, which transcend the previous ones, both for your momentary well-being here on this Earth, as well as for your eternal progression in the sight of heaven.

If we are, therefore, to reach the goal of building the United Order and with it the places of refuge of Zion, like Noah's ark, in order to save us from the Disasters and Calamities to come, we must, first of all, thus as Brother Woodby taught, abandon Babylon, to demolish false ideas, precepts and prejudices that were imposed on us by a harmful religious society to the feelings of love that by nature must fill, like a hidden diamond, the hardened heart of the human being, with which we must seek to build Zion from the inside out, just like Enoch, who gathered with him all those who had in common, not precepts and dogmas, of this or that church, but the noblest and most elevated feelings of compassion, charity, understanding and empathy between brothers, without making any distinction between our fellow men, as it appears in the sacred scriptures, which occasionally reminds us that God, our Father in heaven, is no respecter of persons, and that his gospel must be preached to every Creature under heaven, by whose spiritual ideology that we must carry in us, in our Zionic principles, must undo what for centuries has been impregnated in us by different religions around the world and that has nothing to do with the real reason why Jesus Christ was here on this Earth.

— "And do you really know why Jesus was here in the meridian of time?"

have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

John 10:10

—But what happens if? As we recognize this fact, that the immediate will of heaven is contained in these words of Jesus, "that he came to earth for the purpose that We might have life and have it in Abundance" — We would not be, as rational creatures that we are; forced to live up to those words? — "Are we not, in some way, offending the Supreme Intelligence of the universe, when we admit the truth of its teachings contained in the scriptures and do not obey them?" — Do we not place ourselves below our own intellectual capacity, with which Heaven has invested us, if we behave in an opposite way to the reasons why Christ came and died for us?

We are here in this world to build Zion in our hearts. Which passport enables us to be fellow citizens of the saints in the Kingdom of God here on this Earth, and for that, it is not required of us, that we be in such a way involved and fanatical for this or any other church that professes the gospel of Christ to the point of despising the music and vibe of good friendships that exist in the world out there, while we must understand once and for all that living abundantly, just as Christ wants us to live, it is intimately connected with our personal happiness, and enjoying life, the friends, the girlfriend, or vice versa, the boyfriend, it does not have anything wrong in the sight of God, as long as it does not torment your thoughts because of the precepts, merely human, of those religious leaders from the past who self-promoted as being emissaries of the truth, but which until today, through the onerous legacy they left us, imposes limits on us to live.

(Joseph Smith—History 1:28–29) In this regard, we learn from the history of the Restoration that at the time Joseph Smith Junior had his first vision, at just 14 years of age and still very young, he was persecuted by those who should have been his friends as members of some nineteenth-century religious denomination — Yet in supposing that Young Joe was deluded, rather than having properly and affectionately sought him out as the good Christians they were, as we also profess to be they spared no effort to tarnish his image.

— they abandoned me — explained Joseph Smith; and, mingling with all kinds of people, I have often fallen into many foolish mistakes, exhibiting the failty of youth and the weaknesses of human nature (...)

As a result of these events, Joseph continued in his account, I have often felt condemned for my weaknesses and imperfections.

WOW !!!

— "Did you notice what I noticed?"

Because of the abandonment and judgments imputed by godly and God-fearing people against Young Joe, he often felt condemned for his weaknesses and imperfections, and not because God Condemned him — NOTE THIS —> it was only Joseph who felt condemned in the sight of heaven for his own weaknesses and imperfections and not because God had condemned him for his foolish mistakes, arising from his youth and his somewhat cheerful nature, as he himself reported.

Even because, right after his youth and apparent foolishness in the eyes of others, God "COMMISSIONED" him to be a prophet for the nations. — "How would that be possible, if God Condemned him for the natural follies of youth?"

It is obvious that his youthful nature and detached from the molds of others, as with most of the Young people here today, did not make it impossible for God to See, like a rough diamond to be cut, the still untouched glow that Joseph Smith carried in his Heart .

— And are we, as the good Christians we should be, adequately and affectionately welcoming the young people around us?

However, because of this intolerance around him, as often occurs with the young people among us, coming from people insensitive to the feelings of others, to whom he owed no Satisfaction of his course before heaven, himself, and only he, felt inadequate and forsaken by God — little did he know, that he was a rough stone that God was carving to become, a precious diamond in the final dispensation of the fulness of time.

Now, however, in view of this new understanding of Joseph Smith's seeming errors before God in his youth, I, being a living prophet in this day, strongly warn you, to boycott your happiness no more, when condemning yourself, by what others think of you.

But keep in your heart the feelings of bliss that you must carry, like the identification of a citizen of Zion, so that the world understands that our common goal, here in this second Invitation, is the search for happiness and not the other way around, which most of the time is proposed to us by the dominant castes of our religions in general, for which, we should accept only those who are like us, due to the clothes we should wear, the light hairstyle we should have and the way we should behave among brothers, without realizing, however, what is in fact in the Heart of these starched ones on the outside, but inside they can be like gold, full of impurities. — But never the different one, who always dresses to her own taste, he often behaves in an irreverent way and has his hair long or dyed in whatever color he likes.

— “See for yourself, look at the people around you. What do you see? — Diversity?

Yes! More than that, I see what God Sees in each of you. — Individuality.

Look at our president, John Paul Pratt with his hair long and his esoteric headband tied on his forehead ... (photo on screen), — Who would dare say that his heart was not a true diamond?

It is not only diversity, it is, first of all, individuality, whose essence is essential to exercise our own will, without ever undermining the brightness of the diamond that our fellow men carry, each in their hearts.

So I challenge you to see the others in this second invitation, no longer with our prejudiced eyes that have been hardened to the molds of Babylon, but as God sees, accepting this diversity that exists among brothers, so that we can be considered sons and daughters of our Father who is in heaven.

Therefore, my dear and good friend, whatever your belief, in this or that church, this or that prophet, I assure you that, the only important reason to be actually considered by you in the gospel of Jesus Christ, has to do with the real reason you are here on this planet, so that you can, while there is time, truly live, far from the appearances and molds created by a ruling priestly class, as if you were giving them, your religious leaders, what God, your Father, still in heaven, gave you long before sending you into this world. — Your free will.

— "And what can we compare free will to?"

I compare them to the gifts described in the parable of the talents and that some of you, as Jesus said, have hidden them in the soil of your hearts, perhaps for fear of tarnishing your image in the face of the rules imposed by the General Authorities of your church, since these would-be religious leaders impose on them rules of how they should and how they should not live.

In relation to this, I ask you: What will be the end of those who today, these days, allow themselves to be blindly guided by such leaders of the modern Sanhedrin, who do not even see an inch of this important diversity in front of them?

Therefore, my dear good friend, do not allow yourself, because of these modern but such hypocritical Pharisees of the present day, as were those who lived in Jesus' day, to be afraid of being who you are, and forsake the concept imposed by Babylon of being what the world's religions, according to their molds, want you to be.

Don't limit yourself to living your life the way that makes you happy because of the distorted concepts by virtue of these, who stand as your spiritual leaders from Babylon, the great church, just as it is written in SECTION 86 of D&C, verse 3 which says:

"(...) the great persecutor of the church, the apostate, the whore, even Babylon, that maketh all nations to drink of her cup, in whose hearts the enemy, even Satan, sitteth to reign—behold he soweth the tares; wherefore, the tares choke the wheat and drive the church into the wilderness."

Protect yourself of the hypocrisy that coats the hearts of these Pharisees of today, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inside they are ravening wolves, whose principles come from Babylon, the mother of these false precepts. For, if we are to build Zion with our feelings, then we can no longer listen to what they say, for how much we have just read, "the enemy, yea, Satan, reigns in their hearts." Rather, we have to abandon Babylon and its false Truth.

We can no longer be as they want us to be, and we cannot aspire to be fairer, better, or more spiritual than anyone else around us, for the simple fact that these Pharisaic leaders imbue us with precepts of religious ego, personal greatness and notoriety of modern churchism, which occasionally permeates today's religious society as a whole. But be you, the best version of yourself you can be, because in the end, what counts is you, fighting yourself, overcoming your weaknesses and not those of others around you.

Whatever, therefore, your belief, as I said before: in this or that church, in this or that prophet, pastor or priest, in this or that doctrine, be sure of one thing, God wants you in charge of your life here on this planet, because the only work (The screen shows a man sculpting himself) to be done by you in this world, is with yourself, in the continuous search for personal perfection.

It is you who has the Hammer and the Chisel in your hands, and the only rough stone to be cut, polished and refined to shine like a diamond in the Temple of God, it is you, and no one else.

Don't waste time, therefore, trying to mold another person, beating him, constantly with your hammer, nor waste your energies molding that rough stone you are into a sculpture that at the end of your life, you won't appreciate.

See to it that at the end of your life you don't say what Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 12:1: "I have no contentment in it." - For this stone is your life!

By the way, rethinking, under the words of Solomon in his day, contained in this text of Ecclesiastes, I suppose it would be something similar to the music "Wear Sunscreen" in the present time. Therefore, bringing them to OUR days, I would say:

Remember your creator, in your spiritual youth, dance and dance as if no one is watching you dance, sing and sing at any time, whenever you feel like singing, travel, tell jokes and if no one laughs at them, laugh at yourself, wear the clothes you want to wear, wear earrings, piercings and get tattoos if so. — Young women do not need to be dressed in uncomfortable skirts and shoes, just as young men do not need to be in a suit and tie in the church of Christ, if that is not what they really want to wear to come and praise Jesus. — Scream, talk, shut up, insist, play, cry, date, with maturity of course, laugh among friends and laughter among enemies, live intensely, immeasurably, live with responsibility or even a dose without it, but live in abundance so that you can dignify the one who died on the cross so that we may live abundantly, without ever forgetting our great Creator and his son Jesus, just as wise King Solomon taught.

Live in such a way that your voice disseminates the false paradigms imposed by the ruling clergy and if possible, as I say it is, then together, in a united order, in one voice, we can also eliminate them once and for all between the saints of the Second Invitation.

— It is, of course, not an easy task. It takes time, it takes purpose.

But if the true cause of our lives is to be Happy, as proposed by the gospel of Jesus Christ AND THE PLAN OF SALVATION, then we will be victorious and abundantly happy day to day during our human existence on Earth.

However, many noble and great men and women that today we only find in the pages of the Bible, also had the same opportunity in their day that We are having here and now to build Zion, but failed.

So if we don't take immediately an attitude of acceptance, in relation to everything that this book has come to reveal to us in this crucial part of our human history on Earth, then the last failure will be ours.

Therefore, my dear friends, I challenge you today, in this last hour of the divine Schedule, being the last dispensation of our human existence on earth, to abandon once and for all the false precepts of Babylon, so that there be no failure on our part in building Zion.

Persevere, therefore, in your ways, without any guilt for being what you are. However, never forget the advice that I leave you now, so that you can, little by little, allow yourself to lapidary, with the objective of becoming a True diamond to shine before the world for the Glory of God and His son, Jesus.

First of all, put a FINAL POINT in the daily gossip, because those who are happy don't waste time talking bad about others!

Second, that husbands, especially those who maintain a macho culture and predominant posture at home, eliminate from their way of speaking, which splinter of that unpolished stone to be cut and polished by itself, those harsh words that tend to hurt your wives, but from now on, be adorned with kindness, affection, respect and love. And if you have nothing good to say in the home, determine to remain silent, because the Bible says that even a fool with a closed mouth is thought to be wise and a man who is cocky, who addresses his wife without thinking, is nothing more than a fool in the sight of God.

Be, however, you, wife, a woman who respects your husband, without ever ceasing to be the powerful woman that you are. Be life-giving at home and do not be afraid, free yourself from everything that enslaves your spirit and allow yourself to be what you want to be. Don't let your husbands or anyone else around you make you the image and likeness of the woman he has determined you to be, when in fact, you don't match up to the ideal he designed for you. — But be the woman that God empowered you to be.

But pay attention to this, don't try to impose your new self on your husband, or intimidate him into believing what you want him to see in you, don't bother him with it and don't be upset if he doesn't notice your change right away, but show him, little by little, the privilege he has of being by your side and that if he isn't him, surely he will be someone else.

And believe me husbands, I'm not giving women a reason to rebel against you, but adjectives for you men to wake up about your mates before it's too much.

Third, be good parents, not as adults usually be, but as kids, friends of your sons and daughters, so that they have the desire and need to play with you and so that you are always willing to play with them. So, when they are teenagers, you will be the friends who will influence them in their decisions in life.

After all, there is a sleeping child inside each one of us and most of the time we repress it in the incessant search to be adults, big and serious, so that our children, finally, respect us.

Finally, be seen by your family, at home or out of it, as real diamonds, rare and precious, opening your mouth only to edify and speak good things among the members of your family, in order to raise your existence and those who surround you, in a HAPPY, SATISFACTORY and above all, ABUNDANT LIFE! JUST AS JESUS WANTS US TO LIVE.

By the way, do you remember Kalil Habib, the man I mentioned at the beginning of this speech? — Three years after starting his journey in search of something more precious to himself, he had already spent all his resources on a diamond mine he had leased in Europe and, being on the brink of total misery, no longer able to pay his employees, who turned their backs on him, along with his family, for not having the same conviction he had. However, instead of giving up in the face of his visible failure, he decided on his own, to use the meager strength he still had, to find some precious Gem that could get him out of that terrible situation or else, die alone, digging in that place. It was when, in the eleventh hammer blow that he projected on the wall, that appeared to him, right before his eyes, the largest diamond mesh ever existing on earth, in which, later revealed jewels that would decorate crowns of Kings and monarchs.

– "Imagine now, if Kalil Habibi had given up when everyone had turned their backs on him?"

— "And with you, how is it going to be, now that I'm letting you know there might be a diamond in the rough in your heart?" "Are you going to give up looking for him when everyone, including your family, turn their backs on you, or are you going to continue digging for something more Valuable, in order to adorn the Crown of Christ, like monarch of the Kingdom of Heaven and King of Kings?"

Volume 9, Article 13-December 2021: written by Kelvin Henson

For Such a Time as This

The message that I have to share today is of great importance. I hope that it will strike true to each of you, that it will dwell in your hearts and stir up your affections for our Lord God. Our Father in Heaven has an individual plan for each one of you, and a greater plan for all of us as one body, the Church of Christ. That great plan includes the growth of His Kingdom, for God desires that all of His children would hear the glorious Gospel, and enter into His church, and partake of the goodness therein.

I probably do not need to tell you that it is important to share the gospel of Christ with the world. All who have accepted Jesus into their lives agree that it is important. But brothers and sisters, I do not think we know HOW important it is. If we did, I imagine our bodies would collapse in our beds at night, with extreme soreness, due to the miles of walking and lack of food that would be sacrificed each day, in order to share Jesus with one more person, and one more after that, and one more after that. We are not at this level of dedication, but do not despair, because I assure you that sharing the gospel with even one person in your life, is a victory.

We must not be Christians only when we are at church, we must be Christians at all times. And although it is true that God calls certain individuals to labor in missionary work rather than take up a job, He desires all of His children to be missionaries all of the time. God wants His gospel to be shared to all of the world, and therefore it will happen. And it is not necessarily your responsibility to do this. No, the Lord can use whomever He wants. But He has blessed you with the opportunity to do this work.

The Bible tells the story of a time when the Jews were in a precarious place while under the rule of Persia. An extermination order against the Jews had been signed by King Xerxes, although he did not know that his own wife, Queen Esther, was a Jew. Esther’s cousin, Mordecai, urged her to ask the King for mercy upon their people. Esther was reluctant to do so because approaching the King without an invitation was punishable by death. But Mordecai encouraged her with this message, “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther took up courage to approach the King on behalf of her people, and he decided to be merciful to them. He ensured Esther that no destruction of her people would happen while he ruled.

It is unlikely that any of us are in as dangerous a state as Esther was. But the message of Mordecai is still good for us today. The gospel of Jesus will go forth across the world, even if you do not assist in that work. But you are here now, and who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Brothers and sisters, the field is still white and ready for harvest, so thrust in your sickles with all your might.

In the Book of Matthew, Jesus gives the parable of the talents, wherein a master entrusted three of his servants to a portion of his property. The first servant received five talents and traded with them and earned five more. Likewise, the second servant who was given two earned two more. They both received praise from the master. But the third servant who was given one talent dug a hole and hid it in the ground.

Now let’s focus a moment on the third guy. This is a man who was given an opportunity, but he’s stuck, he’s just stuck. We don’t know why, maybe he’s scared of failing, maybe he’s content and does not care, maybe he doesn’t know how to use it, and so he just buries it in the ground. We read this parable and don’t really relate it to ourselves, but I think the difficult truth is that we are too often like this third man, and the Lord gives us opportunities but we are unwilling to take risks, unwilling to accept it. We must no longer be stuck. When you pray for the Lord to open doors for you, pray also for the courage to step through them.

Consider also the rich young ruler, who thought he had done everything that Jesus had taught. But when Jesus finally told him to sell all his things and give it to the poor, he went away sorrowful. The things of this world will turn to dust, you cannot retain them. Your allegiance belongs not to your possessions, but to God, who has given them to you, and can take them away. Nothing on this earth can compare to the glory of God, and what He has in store for those who follow after Him.

There was a man in 1952 named Jim Elliot, who was a missionary in Ecuador. He and four other missionaries were attempting to evangelize the Huaorani people, a remote tribe in the forest of Ecuador. They were a people of war, who had little contact with the outside civilization, living in huts and hunting with spears. Jim Elliot and the missionaries started their work slowly, by flying over them in a small plane and dropping written messages. After a while, they began to fly in a circle around the tribe and lower a basket with gifts inside. They recognized their success when the tribe began to put their own gifts in the basket to return to the plane.

After four years of patient work, the missionaries decided to meet the tribe in person. They landed the plane on a nearby riverbank, and were soon met by some of the people of the tribe. Everything was going well, and they were getting along just fine. They even took one of the members of the tribe up in the airplane.

And then on one of the visits from the tribe, the warriors came with their spears. The missionaries had guns with them, but had agreed not to use them. The missionaries recognized that they knew Jesus, and these people did not, therefore the lives of the tribe should be put above their own, so that the tribe might still have an opportunity to hear of Jesus. So when the warriors came with the spears, the missionaries chose to remain defenseless, and they were killed.

This came as a shock to the families because they had heard about the success thus far. It became a big story across the United States, and the world. Nobody could understand why the tribe had turned on the men so suddenly. A few years later, the wives of the missionaries, who had become friends with one of the members of the tribe, decided to visit them. They quickly became friends with the tribe, and were able to continue the missionary work that their husbands had started. Some of the families lived with them for many years, and much of the tribe accepted Jesus and became Christians. Always consider your audience, and what they are prepared to hear. Sometimes the labor will be tough and tough, but never cease reaching out.

One of the most encouraging stories in the Book of Mormon is that of the sons of Mosiah, who each rejected the right to rule as King over the Nephites, in order that they might be able to preach to their enemies, the Lamanites, who knew not God. They had no knowledge of whether their missionary attempts would prove successful, but they put their trust in the Lord and set off into the wilderness. When they reached the Lamanite lands, they separated in order to be able to share the gospel with more people. They had some difficulties with the Lamanites, but ultimately converted thousands of people to Jesus Christ, including those of royalty. After hearing the gospel, one of the Lamanite Kings said that he would do anything to be saved, that he would give up everything he had, even his kingdom. This king recognized that his kingdom was worthless when compared to the Kingdom of God. We must have this same revelation with our own kingdoms, and forfeit all attempts to build up for ourselves.

Not every attempt to share Jesus turns out how we envision it. As we can see with Esther, Jim Elliot, and the sons of Mosiah, the response of the people will not always be the same. But I encourage you to still step out in faith, and not be worried about what will happen, because in this world, the saints of God will either conquer, or get conquered, and the Lord calls them both a success.

And we must not worry about obtaining results right away. As followers of Christ, sometimes all we can do is plant a seed. It is possible that we might never know what becomes of a seed that has been planted, and yet it could grow into a tall, strong tree. Think of Abinadi in the Book of Mormon, who planted a seed in Alma. Alma then commenced a work in the gospel that would reach many people and start them out on their own missionary work, including the sons of Mosiah. But before Alma began building the church, Abinadi was killed. Abinadi never saw the results of his labors, and that is okay.

Almost 40 years after the death of Jim Elliot and the other Missionaries, and their wives and children had been living with the Huaorani people and had converted them to Jesus Christ, a decision was made to make a documentary about the missionaries. The members of the tribe took the wives and the film crew to the river bank where they had met the missionaries and their plane, the same place where the warriors had killed them. The warriors were pointing out the places where the events had occurred. The last place they pointed to was the top of the tree line on the other side of the river. They announced for the first time “that is where the white foreigners appeared,” they described what was a host of angels who appeared above the trees, singing together in a heavenly choir. This experience, which was one of the major parts of this story, had gone unknown for nearly 40 years. But when it was made known to the world, it had a big impact on many souls who were seeking the Lord, and encouraged many others to become missionaries for Christ.

Do not focus on the results of your labor. The Lord does not promise a reward for obtaining good results, He only promises a reward for those who labor diligently.

All who take the name of Jesus Christ on their hearts must join the missionary work, for it is necessary that His gospel shall be heard by all. Step out in faith and share the name of Jesus Christ, and you will notice that many people will take interest. Don’t go out with the intention of converting people to our church, but go with the intention to convert people to Jesus Christ.

Once they know Jesus, He will guide them to His church. Jesus has to be the center of our church, our work, our whole lives. Strive for the day in which the Lord will see fit to call you His good and faithful servant.

This work is of the greatest importance, and must be the focus of our lives. It is necessary to share Jesus not only with our words, but all that we do. I’ll end now with a quote from a man named Brennan Manning, an American christian who recently passed away, and I ask that you listen closely to what he said. “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, and walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

Volume 9, Article 14-December 2021: written by Renilde Pacheco

Am I My Brother's Keeper?

All of us here, or at least most of us, know the classic answer Cain gave to the Lord when he was asked, "Where is your brother Abel?" Cain replied, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:9).

This answer of Cain's always came to my mind. I wondered if this question was asked to me: "Renilde, where is your brother?" I would not give the impudent answer that Cain did, but, for sure, ashamed, I would say: "I don't know, Lord.

Where are our brothers? Is it my responsibility to know where and how my brother is? Cain's answer, as well as the one I would give, made me feel very bad. Especially when I thought about the greatness of the second greatest commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves. What would it be to love myself? How could I love, care for my brother, if I didn't know yet what it would be to love myself? Nobody can give his brother something he does not possess. I stayed a long time trying to understand what this love would be.

Some time ago, I read in Mosiah chapter 18, verses 8-10:

"And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold the waters of Mormon (for so they were called); and now, being that ye desire to enter into the fold of God, and to be called his people; and being that ye are willing to bear one another's burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and are willing to weep with them that weep; yea, and comfort those who need comfort, and serve as God's witnesses at all times and in all things and in all places where you are, even unto death; that you may be redeemed by God and counted with those of the first resurrection, that you may have eternal life -

Now I tell you, if this be the desire of your heart, what prevents you from being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a testimony before him that you have covenanted with him to serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?"

I found this scripture extremely unattainable! To carry the burdens of others, when I could not even carry my own burdens? And I went even further: I went to church constantly, I visited the afflicted in hospitals, I gave food to those who asked me, and I still thought I was a good mother within my means. I was already at my maximum!

In the month of April 2019, something happened that changed the meaning of my existence. The change was such that for a while it seemed as if my sanity was being put to the test. Cori and I met a church that apparently did not look like a church. We met a prophet who demystified every concept of a prophet that I had learned from my earliest childhood. An accessible man, that there was no need to make an appointment to talk to him. I met a book, the Sealed Book, which contained teachings unlike any I had carried in my heart about loving my neighbor. With each step I took to get to know the Sealed Book and seek more conviction in its teachings, something in me was transforming, I was gaining more peace, although I was living in a whirlwind of family health problems. This book was a milestone in my life. My perception of almost all the knowledge I had was marked between before and after knowing the truths contained in it.

But I still had that question: Am I my brother's keeper? And what was so obvious to my brothers began to seep into me like a homeopathic remedy. A dense and strong scale began to fall from my eyes. My mind and heart were slowly changing. I discovered that I could only take care of my brother to the extent that I took care of myself. I had to change my feelings. I needed, and still need, to change the lens through which I see my brother. The secret of my quest is in transforming my feelings, in accordance with what I have been learning from the Sealed Book. I have begun to pray hard for new feelings to be placed in my mind and heart.

Our passport to care for each other, a matter that fails us a lot back home, is to work on our feelings. It sounds simple speaking, but it really isn't! Today I fight my own battle to get closer to my brothers, by working on the evil that dwells in me. I cannot care for a brother, the way you expect me to, if my feelings are not compatible with what you want me to become. While I am molding myself to the noble feelings derived from the Most High, I am still crawling toward what would be ideal in the eyes of the Lord.

To love ourselves and our neighbor necessarily implies working on our feelings. This is the great secret that the Lord has reserved to reveal to His people, in these Last Days. Developing the good feelings derived from charity, enables us not only to take care of our neighbor, but also to build up the United Order of Enoch and to exercise the Holy Priesthood according to the Order of the Only Begotten Son of God, as is well explained in the sealed Book of Moses 3:61-62.

“61 You can not, therefore, effect a single part of my work if there be not among you the sentiments derived from the gifts which correspond to a spark of me the Lord.

62 No, in no way can my people live the height of my priesthood in a united order, as it did in the days of Enoch, without the noblest and high feeling in their hearts, all derived from charity, which is the purest expression of the love of God among the children of men, much less you can effect any ministry, whether it be healing or powerful works without any of the feelings derived from this greater gift”.

Volume 9, Article 15-December 2021: written by Adelisa Berger

We Must Never Abandon God

A beautiful and good afternoon to you all.

It is with great joy and happiness that we wish you all welcome to the fifth conference of the second invitation.

My beloved brethren... What a blessing that we are gathered together again for the sole purpose of... The work of the Lord.

Today I want to talk about why we must never abandon God.

I often hear people saying...God has abandoned me, He doesn't hear my prayers.

Does He? God doesn't abandon His children, it is the children who abandon the Father.

In the Sealed Book of Moses 4:11-12 God spoke to Enoch: “Then a voice from heaven said unto him: Enoch, my son, prophesy unto this people, and command them to repent, for thus saith the LORD; I am wroth with this people, and my wrath is kindled against them; for their hearts hardened, and they cover their ears, that they might not hear my messengers, the prophets, and their eyes, that they might not see my work. For behold, this people, who claim to be my people in the last days, draw nigh unto me, and with their mouths and lips honor me, but remove their heart from me...”

Brothers and sisters in this attitude is to abandon God.

I often get a feeling of love and gratitude when I pray: not only for being part of this great and wonderful work of the Lord, but for having been chosen to bear the child, raise the boy, and today be with the man who is our prophet Maurício Berger.

It is not easy being the mother of a prophet: sometimes I find myself disagreeing with something and want to correct it.

So I think I have always had a lot of faith and my feelings have always been of love and I am also very grateful for what they do for me, and I have never had any doubts that we should not abandon good feelings, they are the gifts of God.

We must always believe that faith is fundamental to have correct feelings, and that God never abandons us, it is we who abandon Him.

We are privileged to be able to live with the prophet, we are privileged to hear the teachings straight from the prophet's mouth.

But if we know that feelings are the gifts of God, why do we still sometimes doubt and even disrespect the prophet who came to guide us about the will of God? It is at this moment that we are abandoning our God is when we doubt the prophet's ability and guidance. Also in Moses 12:9 the Lord said: “Behold, in the same way, I, the Lord, will raise up a Moses in the last days; and I will give him power over a rod; and the ability to write a record, but I will not let him speak much, for I will not untie your tongue; but I will write unto him my law by the finger of my hand, which are the records of the ancient prophets of this place, that in this land overseas, my people will live by the teachings of a metal book”.

Brothers we have learned a lot about feelings and we know that bad feelings are from the enemy so be careful not to fall into the devil's traps.

As they deceive man to the point of qualifying bad as good and good as bad, this is what is happening in the world today in all denominations.

But Jesus did not leave us abandoned when he left, he sent us the Holy Spirit that is given to us through the gift of the Holy Spirit after the baptism.

Therefore I implore you brothers and sisters to stay together in the church of Christ and practice love, gratitude and charity. Through the Holy Spirit of God and his gifts he will give peace and gentleness among the children of God.

Good feelings as a voice in our ears will show us the way forward.

These were the words of Nephi in remembrance of the teachings of Christ.

Beloved brethren let us repent and follow the way that is narrow until it meets us before the pleasant tribunes of God.

Amen.

Volume 9, Article 16-December 2021: written by Bento D'Almeida

Rescue everyone through ministering the fullness of the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST

We would like Latter-day Saints and the world to know that by the loving mercy of the LORD, we not only have THE SEALED BOOK OF MORMON as the new Translated Scriptures from the Mormon Plates by the gift and power of God, conferred through the ministry of Angels and Heavens to the Seer and Prophet of the LORD, brother Maurício Berger, but through his anointed and elected we also have many Revelations and instructions to be able to fulfill the divine purposes of God, according to the prophecies contained in the Holy Scriptures, whether in the Bible, in the Book of Mormon or in the Doctrine and Covenants.

We have been studying and attending SEALED BOOK Classes online and had the opportunity to see our understanding greatly enhanced by the teachings of the Prophet Mauricio Berger. His understanding of the Holy Scriptures is profound and revealing. We invite everyone to join these online classes, accompanying friends or family who are already participating or contacting the Missionaries and thus complementing their insights into the teachings of the Sealed Book and other scriptures.

Behold, we are called and commissioned by the LORD to establish Zion and live the Holy United Order, dissolved in the times of Joseph Smith Jr., with the promise that Zion would be redeemed in the future (D&C 100:12-13). It is a very great privilege for all of us to be living in this future, for the LORD now fulfills all that he has revealed before to his Servants the Prophets, according to Amos 3:7.

When we learned of the emergence of the sealed portion of Mormon and the new ministry of the Angel Moroni, we did what is befitting a Latter-day Saint: We went Investigate and research! It was not long before we received confirmation of the truth of the SEALED BOOK by the power of the Holy Gohst.

We also received testimony of the divine call of Brother Maurício Berger, as the Translator, the Revelator, the Prophet and Seer, chosen by the LORD. The Lord knew that by the witness of the Holy Spirit who testifies of all truth, we would have the courage to let go of all that we thought we had achieved before and we would follow the voice of the Good Shepherd who calls.

We encourage all of you, and Latter-day Saints in particular, to do the same, to diligently study The Sealed Book, and by the prayer of faith receive a personal Testimony by the power of the Holy Ghost as once again exhorted Moroni in verse 15. May All follow that precious gift that was promised to them and thus magnify the anointing that we received from the Lord, before we were born, by which we can recognize the truth when it is presented to us.

In the Sealed Book, Nephi explained:

15 But, behold, Jesus Christ did not leave us completely forsaken when he departed, but sent us the Holy Spirit, who is given to us by the gift of the Holy Spirit, after baptism, by the laying on of the hands of those who possess the due authority so that we may distinguish good from evil and have a perfect discernment to separate the darkness from the light that fills our hearts, and thus choose to follow the path of clarity through the teachings of his gospel.

19 …. with the Holy Spirit of God, through His gifts, Zion will overflow with peace and meekness among the citizens, for the good feelings, as if it were a voice in our ears, will have to indicate us the way forward, amen! (A3N 6:15-19)
(End Quote)

Whenever there is a Gospel Dispensation, The LORD leads us to live for the Fullness of His Gospel and always the greater purpose is to establish a Celestial Society on Earth. We see in D&C 104 and other revelations that this purpose was established through Joseph Smith Jr in the 19th century, through the Law of Consecration with a call to the United Order. But because their hearts were more fixed on the things of the world (D&C 101:6-7), the LORD dissolved it.

After that, especially in the 1880s the Saints created several United Orders but without success. The United Order can only be established under the direction of the LORD, in his own time and through his faithful and prudent steward. (D&C 100:12-13) (See United Orders on LDS.org)

The Prophet Maurício Berger explained that if Joseph Smith and the early Elders had fulfilled all that the Lord had commanded them, surely The Sealed Book of Mormon would have been translated at that time, for it contains the Keys to build spiritual Zion in every heart. Without this Zion established within each one, physical Zion can never be built.

For over 30 years I have heard many times that The Book of Mormon contains the Fullness of the Gospel. But none have ever been able to explain to me why? Only now do we understand that the Nephites lived this Fullness of the Gospel by observing the Law of Consecration or United Order, as per the baptismal covenant described in Mosiah 18:8-10.

The same happened among the Apostles in Jerusalem. The Lord also tried to establish United order with the Hebrew people led by Moses in the wilderness , but they loved the things of the world more and were not prepared.

We know that the Nephites, due to living the Law of Consecration, prospered so much that they became proud, eventually being destroyed and swept from the Earth by the Lamanites.

Now, the sacred records of the Nemenhah show us that there was another people descended from among those who joined the people of Ammon, the Ammonites, who by the leadership of Hagoth (Alma 63:5-8) went in boats to find a place to live in peace in the northern lands, far from the robbers of Gadianton. When the Nephites were destroyed, these people in the north already lived in Consecration and United Order and since then until the days of the arrival of the settlers to the American continent, leaving a remnant who took their records to Brigham Young, who rejected it as they had no one to translate.

Moroni, having been left alone after his people were destroyed, wandered into the northern lands to the city of Mentinah, along with some of the Nephites who had fought with him and whom he encountered along the way. Mentinah was the most important city for the libraries and teachings and ordinances of the High Place.

A 17-year-old Young Prophet by the name of Heinmet, son of Pa Natan and Shi-Pahorat wrote:

6. Above all, I believe we owe our success as a nation and a community of nations to the Law of Consecration. For, it is by observance of this law that this nation and its neighbors do come out of Babylon. Yea, we do forsake the world and adhere to the Lord‟s Law of Economy, having not a desire to get gain unto our own holding and dominion, but rather, only a desire to gain abundance both for ourselves and for our neighbors. (RSN page 266, The Book of Heinmet) (End Quote)

I would like us to grasp the Lord's perspective on the Law of Consecration:

1. Behold, when you covenant to keep the Law of Consecration, you covenant to trust in the Lord in all things, and to lean not upon your own understanding. For, the laws and dictates of men center on property. But I say unto you, man has no property, for the world is My footstool. Wherefore, how may anyone claim it unless they claim Me? And if I know not the claimant, how then may he lay claim to that which does not belong to him? Verily, he bears false witness and I will spew him out.

2. Wherefore, think not of your possessions as your own property. I give My substance unto you to prove you, whether you will be a good steward of My property. The good steward shall gain more than this world can produce in the kingdom of My Father. Wherefore, if you desire riches, remember that they are Mine and I give them to that steward who will do My bidding continually. Accordingly, if you are the good steward and desire riches, you will desire them only because they allow you to perform those things which I will command of you. Yea, you will seek riches for My purposes and not your own.

3. Verily I say unto you, the Law of Consecration is simply that you will accept from Me the call to be My steward and you will use the blessings I give you willingly and prudently for your own maintenance. And that which you do not require for your maintenance, you will freely give to those of My children who have need. Yea, you shall give of your excess to the poor, to the halt, to the sick, to the needy. You shall visit the widow in her loneliness and you shall expeditiously judge the needs of the fatherless and be as a father or mother unto them.

4. And this you shall do freely, with joy in your heart, not being commanded to it and not grudgingly. For he who does begrudge the needy, robs Me. Yea, he who retains his increase and gives it not to he who has not enough, steals the fruit of My vineyard and shall be judged. I will not approve of his works and, in the great and dreadful day, all those who needed My substance of him, and he would not, shall stand up against him with hard things and I will not justify him.

11. Therefore shall My church grow and the needy shall not want. Behold, my saints shall have all things in common and there shall be no poor among them. Yea, no child shall ever know want, or hunger, or thirst, or cold, and there shall never be heard in heaven the cry of the widow.

12. For, it is a great shame unto me that so many in this day do take upon them the Law of Consecration by covenant, and yet the cry of the needy doth rise up continually from My saints. How can this be? How can so many claim themselves worthy to enter into My Holy House when so much is amiss in their own? And how can so many think themselves justified in heaping unto themselves riches, in the face of such need?

13. Yea, the children cry unto Me and their bellies are empty. And the lame cry unto Me, and the sick. And there is no end of distinction between they who have and they who have not. Wherefore, can you show unto Me any of My Wards and Stakes wherein there are none who stand up before the body of my saints and extol their own virtues because their Lord has so blessed them, but who refuse to provide their surplus to the poor and who withhold to themselves and for the sake of their own future the bounty that I give unto them? I say there are none to be found in all My church. Verily, all tables are filled with vomit.

14. How has My word been altered? How has the pulpit of My church become a Rameumptum? It is because My shepherds have not taught the Law of Consecration. My little ones have been raised up with a love of money and a worship of property. My saints sit and listen to My shepherds and follow their teachings. Why should they not? Yet, man‟s law of property has taken root in the hearts of men and it overshadows their souls.

16. Behold, let him whose eyes are opened see and understand. My whole church stands upon the brink of a precipice because of the teachings of My shepherds. Verily, the times come that will test the strength of My people. In that day, if they have set their hearts upon their property, they shall be bitterly disappointed. And let all they who have laid up store of money and not of righteousness, take of that money and buy pottage with it. Behold, I say unto you, all their money will buy but one measure of meal and a little oil, and they shall make up one last cake to eat before they perish. And if they have not laid up stores of righteousness, who shall be their prophet to extend the meal and the oil until the famine end?

17. But they who keep the Law of Consecration shall have sufficient for their needs and a surplus still, even in the day of wrath. Then shall the pure in heart prosper, though property they have none. (RSN pg 157)""" (End Quote)

I would like to recall what the LORD taught in the revelation of the tithes: “It is imperative to understand the essence of my will, so that you can receive the FULL UNDERSTANDING OF ALL THINGS.

All Saints must strictly observe the Law on which the promise is based:

In Celestial Glory there are 3 Heavens or degrees; to reach the highest, it is necessary to live in favor of something greater, with a corresponding delivery in order to reach that purpose (13)

- Only by completely detaching ourselves from your possessions, in order to promote the cause of Zion, doesn´t man exercise in his heart the highest of all gifts - To promote My Kingdom, for the benefit of his fellow men,

- Living in Consecration qualifies men to bear My Presence, as happened among the Enochians and among the Nephites (Revelation on Tithing, Vs 18)

- Lack of right feelings for the Law of Consecration inhibits the power of the Priesthood among the children of men.

- The Consecration or United Order sanctifies the Nation of Israel

The Prophet Mauricio Berger issued a proclamation with an alert and call: “””We are entering one of the darkest periods in human history, if not the darkest, since it involves all the nations of the world of humanity. — D&C 101:11"""

3 - If I could counsel Latter-day Saints, I would say that this is the time when all the branches of Mormonism must "put aside their differences" and unite for their joint salvation, because the prophecy of the Gentile times has arrived, and with it a desolating disease (D&C 45:30-31), this being the beginning of the pangs of affliction that will befall all the inhabited earth. (Revelation, verse 4)

6 - Therefore, taking into account Jesus' words in Matthew 24:21-22, do not be misled into thinking that it will be a great and powerful religious organization that will save you in these times of tribulation, but reflect on His words that “if those days do not were shortened, no meat would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short”.

7 He says “no flesh would be saved,” thus showing how terrible will be those days that will come upon us in the future. However, He gives hope to those who will listen and follow the instructions of His elect.

In the Recent Revelation on tithes, the LORD admonishes and exhorts us:

“””21 If, therefore, you put aside the directions of My servant Maurice and the revelations given to him by my word, where then will your faith rest? You have nothing without him, and without his understanding of all that he was taught by angels who visited him from heaven, you can never build Zion and a place of rescue to guard you when sudden desolation comes.

22 If they disregard him, just as my servant Joseph was disregarded by the authorities of my church in the early days of the restoration, then you will fall, just as all who have tried before without guidance from Heaven, through the prophet of God. For behold, the hour is fast approaching when the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall be tinged with blood, the stars shall fall and the heavens and earth shall sway to and fro, and none of your possessions held by you for your personal security will be of no value to your salvation when this day comes. Which is why I, the Lord, revealed to you at the November 2020 conference that as soon as the foundations of the earth will be shaken and there will be no safe place to flee to, except in Zion and her dwelling places. Which is why I have encouraged you to erect the United Order, like Noah's ark saving you in the last days.

“ 24 ….If …you are not sanctified and gathered in the places of refuge revealed by the LORD, then ye shall suffer with mankind all the calamities foretold by me, Jesus Christ, …for it will not be possible for you to endure; and I will not be able to save you, for God, my Father and your Father, hath announced to you beforehand through His prophet….””

“28 - If you can live in accordance with these principles, how great and glorious will your reward be in the Heavenly Kingdom, for the world you know, with its lust and its monetary system, is destined to dissolve quickly, which is why, I decreed at times of old that that which is bound on earth by my Prophet, President of my church among the children of men, by his word I will bind him in heaven. So, what my servant Mauricio Artur Berger binds on earth in these last days, by virtue of the keys given to him in the priesthood of Melchizedek, will be bound in heaven without fail, and that power and authority are the seal that I said I would put on a faithful and prudent steward in my house in the last days. “” (End Quote)

May each one readily be able for himself and his family to make the changes and way of being and living the revealed by the LORD.

May we rescue all who respond to the voice of the Master and Lord who cries:

“Therefore, repent and come to me, you ends of the earth. (RSN 30:34)".

Volume 9, Article 17-December 2021: written by Samuel S. Gould

The Lord is Seeking One Just Man, Woman, and Child

The Plan: In the Pre-Dawn Organization, in the presence of the Church of the Firstborn, the Father searched for one just spirit in whom he could entrust the work of the heavens¹.

It was Jesus who elected himself in volunteering to fulfil the desires of the Father as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the World given all honor and glory unto the Father of Lights.²

The Father then searched out a Just One, the first Adam, to be born through the earthly process of living in the testation period of a day upon the earth with a companion Eve to bring forth all living with the accent of the Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of God.³

Seth: Seth came forth as a “living soul” upon the earth in the very express image of the first Adam and in like manner, Jesus was the second Adam, who came forth as a “quickening spirit” in the very express image of the Father, just as they were elected and chosen of God in the predawn in the full expression of their faith in the Fathers plan.⁴

Question: How do we remember our covenant in the predawn that we make our election sure upon the earth that we walk not in the blindness of this day?

The Father is seeking for one just man, one just woman, or one just child to fulfil the hope of heaven in accordance with His holy purpose as covenanted with the blessings of heaven placed over our heads to be drawn upon in our ministry.⁵

Abraham: That the Father might have the prosperity of heaven on earth as reflected by the lights displayed in the heavens as the stars of the constellations.⁶

Yes, the Lord of the Harvest is spiritually processing the myriads of the sands of the sea of people and raising them to be the stars of the heavens in accordance with the plan of the Father of lights.⁷

Enoch: When the Lord searched for the one just child to fulfill the hope of heaven on the earth, he selected the young lad of Enoch resting under an olive tree.

He saw in Enoch the voluntary servant spirit He had witnessed in the heavens in the Pre-dawn as the blessings of heaven were placed upon his head.

Yes, as a “Just Man” he would fulfil his potential fashioned through the trials he would face before his fellow man and those “Watcher Angels” who abandoned their first estate to bring progeny upon the earth.

The boy Enoch would replicate the names of God that dwelt as sentiments in his heart that reflected the fruit of the Spirit derived from the gifts of the Spirit of Almighty God that he would replicate throughout the Zionic Society that he would draw together in a city of righteousness.⁸

He saw that this lad would multiply the talents that were received from the heavens in others, as the veritable sands of the seas to be lifted as the stars of the heavens.

In so doing, he created the hope of heaven on earth, as the city of our God was built, even Zion.

In the city of Zion, they were of one heart and one mind as they were perfected by walking in all righteousness having no poor among them.⁹

This United Order of Enoch was born within a just person who would extend it to the family, the congregation, the city and in the last days of this Second Invitation.¹⁰

Miriam: When the Father looked for one just woman, he found Miriam, a six-year-old girl to bear the tidings of heaven to earth, that would herald the earthly birth of her brother who would be known on earth as Moses.

This young girl bore the message heaven concerning her young brother’s birth, watched him as he came forth showered in the light of the heavens, his placement in the precious basket that floated in the Nile, his recovery by the daughter of Pharoah’s daughter, the selection of her mother Jochebed as wet nurse and Father Amram as teacher of the ways of the Lord and to mature to perform the service of Prophetess in the midst of the presidency of Moses and Aaron and Hur.¹¹

Shem: When the Lord of the harvest looked for one just man to develop the new society upon the face of the earth, he found the son of Noah we all know as Shem, to establish the city Salem, to become the man, even with the functional title of Melchizedek, King of Righteousness.¹²

Shem being the greater, he became the lesser, to establish the Church through Abraham whom he blessed with a multiplicity of blessings from the heavens that had been placed over his head in the pre-dawn organization of the Spirits.¹³

Abraham paid tithes of all that he had to this man Shem, the Melchizedek, keeper of the Lord’s Storehouse.¹⁴

In like manner, Jacob vowed a vow that he would give the tenth, or tithe to the work of God as he parted from his Mother Rebekah and Father and Brother.¹⁵

On 30 June 2021, the Seer Mauricio Arthur Berger, received a revelation though the Interpreters regarding the three financial laws of tithing, Consecration, and the Order of Enoch.¹⁶

The Law of Tithing (aka Telestial Law): This one tenth is the starting point of sharing earthly things that we might be enriched with the wealth of the heavens in spiritual things in our development from being a grain of sand to become a light of the heavens.

The financial laws of the Lord of the Harvest are transformative as given in the Parable of the Talents that God has endowed us, whether one, two, or five.¹⁷

The initial expectation is that we would enter through the Law of Tithing and developing into the doubling of the physical and spiritual talents we have been given and will receive that we might have two talents.

The nine (9) gifts of the Spirit are given severally unto the new member of the bride of Christ as they develop their faith initially through the Law of Tithing.

These the Lord has selected to be manifested, nurtured, and developed by you into the great joy of partaking, testifying, and teaching others concerning the nine (9) fruits of the Spirit they have experienced.¹⁸

The Law of Consecration (aka Terrestrial Law): This is a law of promise that we might go on unto perfection, taking our two talents and developing it into four talents, first physically and second spiritually.

This law was expressed to the obedient young man who came to Christ asking, “What lack I yet,” wherein, Jesus said, “If thou would be perfect, go, sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me.” This is the requirements to entering into the Law of Consecration.¹⁹

Thus, as we develop the exceeding precious promises in the seven steps (e.g. faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity), we will take the two talents received under the promise of the Law of Tithing, and double it again, that we may have four talents given unto us in our stewardship, first physically, and second spiritually.²⁰

This path is fallowed that we may follow equality of opportunity in physical things as well as spiritual blessings as we are transformed by the mighty hand of God. If we are not equal in physical things, how might we be equal in spiritual blessings.²¹

Order of Enoch, Law of Surplus (aka Celestial Law): Having gained five talents, it is now our joy to double those talents in service to the work of the Lord that we might have ten talents to exercise in our stewardship of both physical and spiritual blessings from heaven above as we establish the city of New Jerusalem on earth that the heavenly Jerusalem may descend from out of the heavens.

The eternal rewards are written in the heart of the heavens, in the bosom of the Father, as those who proceed from the feasting on the words of the Plates of Mormon under the seven seals, also known as the Book of the Seven Seals under the teachings of Jesus from the spiritual and physical temple of the Lord during the millennial reign of Jesus.²²

Here on this earth, we will be perfected over the thousand years to live and dwell and fulfill the eternal plans of the Father of lights.

He who had developed the four talents will be granted stewardship of four cities and He who had developed the ten talents will be granted stewardship of ten cities as God plants the heavens with those who issue forth out of Zion.²³

Vision: Some weeks back I was given a night vision of Brothers Joseph Fredrick Smith and Jeffery Johnson with few others, sleeping upon the ground in a tent as I stood to deliver the words of eternal life. The word of the Lord to Brother Joseph was to arise and declare the truth of the Sealed Book of Mormon that there may be oil in the vessels of the Lord in the land of Zion. It is our duty while the window of promise is yet open.

Restoration Virgins: We must have the oil of the Holy Spirit in our vessels burning brightly with the testimony of the work of the Father in Heaven through his son Jesus, our companion in this Second Invitation.²⁴

Who among the Restoration ten virgins will go forth in truth and spiritual strength as the wise stewards of the Lord’s heritage on earth as exemplified in the uniting of the physical and spiritual labors before the Lord, and who will deliver the oil of the Holy Spirit of Promise into the vessels that now are without hope of entering unto the wedding supper of the Lord as given in this Second Invitation?

The time is fleeting, the laborers few, yet it is our calling to persuade the Virgins of this Restoration work to vest in the engraved words of truth by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, to endow them with the full promise of the Melchizedek Priesthood, such that the work of God may shine in its eternal light throughout the world as we establish the cause of Zion, build the temple of the Lord, and new Jerusalem under the direction of our companion laborer, Jesus Christ.

Will you be that one just boy or girl, that one just man or woman, that God may use to do his work in this Second Invitation as God did with Enoch, Miriam, Shem, Moses, Joseph, and now with the Seer Mauricio Arthur Berger?²⁵

Brother Samuel Shule Gould

References

Definition of Just – The just are those who have been justified, or declared not guilty, or truly without charge before God and Man and Nature, people living in right relationship with God, one another, and the natural creation. From a scriptural point of view, justice means loving our neighbor as we love ourselves and is rooted in the character and nature of God.

¹ D&C 107:18-19 (RLDS 104:9) and Gen 9:22-23 and Heb 12:22-23

² Gen 3:1-3, Abr 3:27

Abr 3:27 “And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first.”

³ 1 Cor 15:45

⁴ Gen 6:10 and Heb 1:3

⁵ Al 13:3-4 (RLDS 9:65-67) and 2 Pet 1-9-10 and Gen 18:25, 19:35

⁶ Gen 22:21

⁷ Eph 2:4-7

⁸ SMos 4:16-17

⁹ Gen 7:23

¹⁰ A3N 10:5

¹¹ Jasher 68:1, 4, 14 and SMos 13:2-4 and Ex 6:20

Jasher 68:1 And it was at that time the spirit of God was upon Miriam the daughter of Amram the sister of Aaron, and she went forth and prophesied about the house, saying, Behold a son will be born unto us from my father and mother this time, and he will save Israel from the hands of Egypt ...
4 And at the end of seven months from her conception she brought forth a son, and the whole house was filled with great light as of the light of the sun and moon at the time of their shining ...
14 And his sister Miriam stood afar off to know what would be done to him, and what would become of her words.

¹² Al 13:18 (RLDS Al 10:12-14), Jasher 16:11-12, and T&S vol. 6, p. 746

Jasher 16:11 And Adonizedek king of Jerusalem, the same was Shem, went out with his men to meet Abram and his people, with bread and wine, and they remained together in the valley of Melech. 12 And Adonizedek blessed Abram, and Abram gave him a tenth from all that he had brought from the spoil of his enemies, for Adonizedek was a priest before God.

T&S Vol 6, P746 “… And with the superior knowledge of men like Noah, Shem, (who was Melchizedec) and Abraham, the father of the faithful, three contemporaries, holding the keys of the highest order of the priesthood: connecting the creation, and fall; memorizing the righteousness of Enoch; and glorying in the construction of the ark for the salvation of a world; still retaining the model and pattern of that ark …”

¹³ SMos 9:4, and Words of Jesus through Moroni V21

21 This ordinance, which has been required from the beginning, and restored again in the dispensation of the fullness of time, that hands may not be hastily laid on the head of a man in a supervisory office in the office of high priest, but his feet may first pass through the ablution of that ordinance, under the hands of a greater one, that he, over whom some authority is passed on, may keep in himself the same concept of greatness as this one who has taken possession of him, behaving from then on with the spirit of a lesser one (Luke 9:46-48).

¹⁴ Gen 14:20 and Al 13:15; (RLDS Al 10:8)

¹⁵ Isaac Gen 28:22

¹⁶ Herald of the Second Invitation, Vol 5, Aug 2021, by John Paul Pratt.

Herald of the Second Invitation, Vol 5, November 2021

¹⁷ Matt 25:13-31

¹⁸ Mni 10:8-17 (RLDS Mni 10:9-12)

¹⁹ Matt 19:20-21

²⁰ 2 Pet 1:4-7, John 1:51

²¹ D&C 78:6 (RLDS 77:1f)

²² Rev 5:1-5

²³ Isa 51:11,16

²⁴ D&C 45:56-58 (RLDS 45:10 b-d)

²⁵ Luke 14:21and 3 Ne 20:36-40 (RLDS 3 Ne 9:74-78) .

Volume 9, Article 18-December 2021: by Renee Whitefield

Closing Prayer

Our Heavenly Father,

May your name be hallowed among us and within us. At the closing of this day and also when we close this conference, we ask you to help us develop the gifts and corresponding feelings of your amazing attributes within our souls; and help us to possess the citizenship of Zion in our hearts continually.

Through the Holy Spirit, please remind us to stay in contact with one another during the following months, regardless of our language differences, or any other differences we imagine. We remember that at the tower of Babble you confounded the languages and scattered the people to the four directions of the earth. However, we want to be blessed with the faith of the brother of Jared, who was granted his prayer for the same language between his group of family and friends and that they would remain together. I am approaching you today, asking for a similar gift. We know that there must be an opposition in all things; and like the Brother of Jared, we know that you, can not lie, Father. Therefore, grant us the faith and diligence to fully learn the pure language promised to us in the Sealed Book. We want to develop that pure language to perfection within our souls, with all the energy of our hearts and with all the focus of our minds with a unity that is in opposition to the separation we sometimes feel when we do not understand a spoken language. Help us as we work to understand this pure language with all of our might, so that your unspeakable name might be glorified in us.

We know that the journey of the Jaredites to the Promised Land involved mountainous waves crashing down upon their ships, but Jesus touched the stones that were taken out of the mountain to give the Jaredites light. Likewise, please bless us to become living stones and be a light to the world, and glorify you. We realize we will be tested regarding the things we have learned here at this conference, and we sincerely desire to conquer all the tests that we are privileged to receive from you until the next conference. Help us to “prove all things”. No matter how difficult, no matter how painful, no matter how mountainous the circumstances will seem to be, give us the corresponding feelings to believe, hope, and endure all things –because your name never fails. Thank you Father, for preserving memories of ages past, so that we will always remember to offer a sacrifice of praise to you during our darkest times, even like the Jaredites did when they were swallowed by mountainous waves and plunged in to the depths of the vast ocean.

Father, we are committed together to rescue Zion, to build up the United Order as well as the Fountains of Living Waters Society in these last days, and we realize that we are not alone in the work. There are angels among us, and you have sent your good and faithful servant, and therefore part of the kingdom of heaven is already here. How can we not praise your holy name, Father, knowing such glorious blessings have been given to us already? United together, we can change the landscape that is set before us. May thy kingdom come in it’s fullness, and may thy will be done on earth, literally, just like your will is done in heaven.

And now, immersed in the unspeakable name of Jesus Christ, whose name is as excellent as your name, we ask you for these blessings, and praise you with songs of joy for all that you have gifted us with this day, and in ages past, and also in generations to come. “Amen”.

Volume 9, Article 19-December 2021: by John Paul Pratt

Tithing and the Law of Consecration

In this special edition of the Herald, we republish President John P. Pratt's article regarding tithing and the law of consecration to be studied as requested by the Prophet Maurício Artur Berger.

A new revelation was received beginning on 30 June 2021 which clarifies some important points about the law of tithing and the law of consecration as implemented in the United Order. It also emphasizes the need to immediately begin to live consecration at a higher level because the law is designed to save the saints from the catastrophes which are about to befall the world. The need to build cities of refuge before the calamities befall us is now as important as it was for Noah to build the ark before the waters of the Great Flood came.

In the days of Enoch, his people learned to live together in love. They had all things in common and there were no poor among them. They lived the celestial law of heaven and so they were prepared to go to heaven and were eventually translated some time before the Great Flood.

Noah was called upon to build an ark to save those who would listen to the warnings of the Lord. It was a huge project to build that gigantic ship. It required large sums of materials and labor and took several years to build. The Lord did not build the ark for Noah, but instead great sacrifices were required to construct that ship which would preserve humanity and animals alike.

We live in times similar to Noah, being before the coming of the second great destruction of the proud and the wicked to cleanse the earth in preparation for the glorious Millennial reign of Jesus Christ. Great destructions are predicted in the scriptures, but the Lord has promised that His saints will be preserved in holy places, cities of refuge, built by those who believe His warnings and who also desire to live the celestial law of having all things in common, with no poor among them. The Lord will not build these cities, but, like the ark, they will be built by the sacrifice and hard work of the saints.

The Lord has called Mauricio Artur Berger to be the seer in these last days to initiate the building of cities of refuge and to prepare for the founding of the city of Zion, the New Jerusalem, to be built in Jackson County, Missouri. Much money and many resources are required for these building projects. Those in the city of Enoch will return to join them. They will all rejoice together because both cities will be living the same laws and will have similar experiences to share.

This article explains some of the clarifications given in the recent revelation about both the law of tithing and the law of consecration which need to be implemented in order to build the needed cities of refuge in time to save the saints from the devastating disasters, scourges, and droughts to come.

In the days of the Prophet Joseph Smith, an attempt was made to live the United Order. It failed for various reasons, including that the people did not have sufficient love for each other, but instead were quarreling and polluting the holy ground. Because of that they were driven out of Missouri and given the law of tithing which was easier to live, and a preparatory step to living the law of consecration.

Tithing

In 1838 the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith the law of tithing for the Church contained in D&C 119 (LDS). It is an everlasting covenant and the minimum required commandment to all worthy members of the Church. That law has two distinct parts.

The first part is that, as a beginning of their tithes, all new members were to give all of their surplus to the church to be used for three purposes: (1) for the building of the temple, (2) for the laying of the foundations of Zion and priesthood, and (3) for the debts of the First Presidency (D&C 119:2). The new revelation explains that these three purposes correspond in detail to tithing paid in the days of Moses, and are indeed part of an eternal law.

This initial part of the law has apparently never been fully implemented in any of the branches of the restoration since the days of Joseph Smith, but in the new revelation the Lord explicitly states that it is indeed still to be required of all those who join this church who have never been a member of any of the branches of the latter-day restoration.

The second portion of the law of tithing is to continually “pay one-tenth of all their interest annually” (D&C 119:4). The revelation goes on to say that this is “a standing law unto them forever” and that those in Zion who fail to keep this law “shall not be found worthy to abide among you” and that if the people in Zion as a whole ignore this law, that “it shall not be a land of Zion unto you” (D&C 119:4-6).

The new revelation emphasizes the importance for all members to pay tithing. It is not optional, but it is a commandment. After quoting the commandment in Malachi to bring the tithes into the treasure house (Mal. 3:10), the Lord explains:

“It is imperative, therefore, to comprehend the essence of my will that ye might receive the full understanding of all things — One of the duties that all saints must unfailingly observe is the law upon which this promise is based, for in the celestial glory there are three heavens, or degrees, and to reach the highest, it is necessary for you to live in favor of something greater, with a corresponding surrender to what is sought in order to reach that end.” – v. 12 (emphasis added).

In 1838, immediately after that revelation was given, it was interpreted by Bishop Edward Partridge to mean that tithing should be 10% of the interest that could be earned on one's “net worth”, which was understood to mean one's liquid assets. That did not amount to very much tithing at all for most members. He gave the example of a man with the net worth of $1,000 could invest that money at a 6% annual rate to earn $60 interest. On that amount he would only pay $6 tithing for the entire year!

That small amount of tithing would not be at all oppressive to the poor, who, in many cases, would not owe any tithing at all. Moreover, this minimum amount of tithing would not be enough to build the cities of refuge which are needed. This minimum level of tithing is an eternal law among the Church. It was given to the Church only after they had failed to live the higher law of consecration. The name “tithing of surplus” is given to this law in the new revelation to distinguish it from the “tithing of Moses” which was a higher law, described in the law of Moses in the Bible, and which is the entry point for living the law of consecration. This brings us to the higher law of consecration as implemented in the United Order.

The United Order

The Sealed Book contains explicit instructions about how to implement the United Order according to the method successfully used by the Nephites after they were taught by the Savior after the Resurrection. In particular it states that the entry level to the United Order was the “tithing of Moses”:

“it was permitted to be a partial consecration of each family, beginning with the tithing required by the law of Moses, and so progressively to the amount that each agreed to give in his heart, without any resentment … began by consecrating only the tithe of all that they possessed and continually giving the tithing of all they produced” – Acts of 3 Nephites 9:2-3.

Thus, it is necessary to understand just what is the “tithing of Moses” as described in the law of Moses in the Bible. That is explained in the new revelation:

“... the law of consecration, which law is greater than the law of tithing and which begins with the law of Moses and not the law of surplus. In turn, it requires a progressive tithe of everything and not the excess surplus” – v. 7 (emphasis added).

After reviewing the scriptures about the various parts of the tithing of Moses, verse 19 of the new revelation quotes this very verse from The Sealed Book. It also explains the principle is the basis on which the “one tenth” is calculated. Instead of being one tenth only of one's interest, surplus, or excess, it is one tenth of all possessions:

“However, every member who wants to participate in the law of consecration must begin with the tithe of Moses, coming to contribute with the tithe of everything they have, as taught by my servant Mauricio. And this involves the tithe of everything, houses, cars and goods in general, or 20, 30, 40, 50, and even 100% of everything that they have, who will enter the United Order, as each one shall determine in his heart.” – v. 27.

In this scripture, the word “tithe” is synonymous with “one tenth”. Once members have joined the United Order, it is hoped that as they feel increased love for others and increased desire to build the kingdom, to relieve the suffering of the poor, and to prepare cities of refuge for the saints to survive the coming tribulation, that they will increase the percentage of their participation until they finally arrive at the 100% goal.

To join the United Order, contact the Presiding Bishop (bishopinzion@gmail.com) if you have not already joined previously. The United Order is open to all those who have been baptized by one of the restoration branches, accept The Sealed Book, Mauricio as the Lord's seer, the Church leaders, and demonstrate this by partaking of the sacrament in this Church's meetings. That is, it is not necessary to have been baptized and confirmed a member of this Church, especially in the case where one is distant from all elders, or for any other reason has not had the opportunity to officially join.

The Order of Enoch

In the revelation, the Lord refers to those who participate in the United Order at the 100% level as having entered into the “United Order of Enoch”, or simply, the “Order of Enoch”. He states that it has been known in the restoration from the beginning that the city of Zion can only be founded upon the principles of the celestial kingdom:

But behold, they have not learned to be obedient to the things which I required at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of their substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and afflicted among them; And are not united according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom; And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself. – D&C 105:3-5 (emphasis added).

Concerning finances, that means that the people are to have all things in common, with no poor among them. He emphasizes that His laws are immutable and that such has been required of all his people from the beginning, and is required to qualify for the highest level of the celestial kingdom. The Lord explains that:

“... only on condition of letting go of their possessions altogether, in order to advance the cause of Zion, is it that man exercises in his heart the highest of all gifts, that of promoting my kingdom for the benefit of his fellow men, which, in turn, qualifies them to bear my presence, just as it was among the Enochians and also among the Nephites.” – v. 17.

Consider an example of what it would mean to be at the 100% level when the system is entirely in place: imagine a Native American buffalo hunting party. The buffalo may be taken by just one member of the group, or several might have shot arrows or thrown spears. Moreover, other members might have helped head the buffalo in a certain direction to allow others to shoot it. When the buffalo is killed, it is not considered to be for one man, nor even for the group of hunters, but it is considered to be for all of the village to share. If killed by one man, he does not think he owns it, having the first choice of meat, but instead the entire buffalo is delivered to those who will prepare it to be shared according to the needs of each. Thus, in the same manner, all that is produced is for Zion, given because of the love had for each other. All prosper together.

Of course, it is expected that all contribute to producing or helping according to their abilities. The Lord has said, “Thou shalt not be idle; for he that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear the garments of the laborer” (D&C 42:42). Again, if all love each other, then all will want to contribute what they can.

So what does it mean to be at the 100% level now? The Acts of the Three Nephites explain that in practice, they did not always give all they produced, only to then receive a portion back for themselves. It was more practical to keep for oneself what was necessary to sustain life, such as food, clothing, and shelter:

We understand that the law of Christ does not require us to sacrifice everything, it only requires us to live the basic principles of consecration in which we are required that our riches be available to the Lord, and that, while we retain some part of everything we produce in our own warehouses, yet the Lord expects us to be willing, if need be, to sacrifice our houses, lands, and estates, so that there may be a just distribution of riches. – Acts 3 Nephites 9:8.

The point was that they “consecrated” everything thing they had to the group. Moreover, they considered themselves not as owners of their property, but only as “stewards”. Remember, “the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof” (Psa. 24:1, 1 Cor. 10:26). That is, in reality, we are only stewards of what is usually considered as being “owned”. The Order of Enoch is merely a formal recognition that we are indeed only stewards.

As for details concerning exactly what is the basis on which the 10% -100% of what one produces is calculated, the revelation states that such is up to each individual to determine according to the dictates of one's own heart (v. 27). The point is emphasized, however, that the primary foundation is the love one has for others, and the desire to alleviate their suffering, both now and when the great calamities come. The example of Ananias and Sapphira is cited, who stated publicly that they were giving all the proceeds from the sale of some land, whereas actually they were holding some back because they did not fully trust in the promises of the Lord to care for them. They both died on the spot where they lied to the Lord!

As for the poor who need to receive financial aid from the Order, that will be a matter taken up individually in each case following the pattern given in the Acts of the Three Nephites.

It is hoped that all Church members may understand the necessity of joining the United Order at the highest level at which they feel capable. It is also important to remember that the minimum for all members is to pay the tithing of surplus.

This article has only been an introduction and overview of the revelation, which has been published separately. Study it carefully because it contains several pages of detailed information about these laws, and also about both the need to participate in order to be protected from the coming calamities and also the blessings which will come from having helped build the cities of refuge.

The Lord is doing all He can to prepare us for the upcoming catastrophes, but we need to do our part by accepting His revelations and acting accordingly. May we all become of one heart and one mind and prepare ourselves and our children to actually be in the presence of the Lord.

Herald of the Second Invitation, Vol 9, December 2021

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