‘Just come and see’: The remarkable dream that led a Ghanaian chief to join the Church

Public tours begin this month for the Rome Italy Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Italy, the Church’s 162nd operating temple in the world.

On January 12, 2019, Church spokesman Irene Caso released the following statement:

A man is accused of kidnapping four church missionaries Friday night after he forced them at gunpoint to walk to a gas station to get money when they told him they had none, police said.

Often, in my field of mental health counseling, I am asked by parents, “How do I teach my children about sex as well as morality?” to which I respond, “You don’t.” To such a statement I usually get bewildered looks. I quickly reply, “You teach them healthy sexuality, which is morality.”

We know we shouldn’t think about sin because “as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). So on what should we be focusing? Avoiding sin? Not really.

Elder Gerald Lund, emeritus General Authority Seventy, began writing his book The Coming of the Lord nearly 50 years ago. In the years since his book was published in 1971, Elder Lund has learned many more things about the Second Coming and has even seen some of the prophesied signs of the Savior’s Second Coming fulfilled. In this week’s episode of All In, Elder Lund sits down with host Morgan Jones to answer questions from Twitter users on the topic that he has studied for nearly half a century.

This excerpt originally appeared in the January/February 2019 issue of LDS Living magazine.

The gospel was given to Adam and Eve when, “after many days” of sacrificing, “an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam” and taught him the plan of salvation (Moses 5:6–9). Adam and Eve joyfully embraced it and taught it to their children (see Moses 5:10–12). But “Satan came among them, saying: . . . Believe it not; . . . and men began from that time forth to be carnal, sensual, and devilish” (Moses 5:13). The gospel entails a definite pattern or style of life best defined as the opposite of “carnal, sensual, and devilish.” One of the charges or responsibilities connected with adherence to the gospel is reiterated in the “Olive Leaf” revelation: “Organize yourselves; . . . establish a house, even a house of prayer. . . . Therefore, cease from all your light speeches, from all laughter, from all your lustful desires, from all your pride and light-mindedness, and from all your wicked doings” (D&C 88:119, 121).

Instructions for priesthood blessings and ordinances are now available on the Gospel Library app.