Picture this: You have just arrived in Jackson County, Missouri, with the early Saints. You’re so excited and you just can’t wait to begin the work of building up Zion. But you have no idea where to start. Everywhere you look the land where the Savior will come again just seems like untamed American frontier. But then the prophet Joseph Smith arrives with very important instructions from the Lord. That's what this week’s lesson in Doctrine and Covenants 58–59 is all about—instructions the Lord gave, for the Saints then and for us today, about how to prepare spiritually to gather and build up Zion.

In place of faith in Christ, some choose disbelief. When people say, “There is no God,” or, “The Church isn’t true,” their words can put us on the defensive. However, such comments are sometimes attempts to justify poor choices and avoid change. When we listen beyond the words, the message really being communicated in such cases is, “I’ve sinned and don’t want to repent.”

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland once said that a more complete title for the book of Acts could be “The Acts of the Resurrected Christ working through the Holy Spirit in the Lives and Ministries of His Ordained Apostles.” Isn’t that interesting? According to Elder Holland, the “acts” we refer to were Christ’s—not solely those of the Apostles left behind after His death. In today’s lesson, we will dive into Acts 1–5 and see how from the very beginning, the Holy Spirit was influencing the Apostles, and we will also be reminded of the active role the Savior desires to have in our lives.

Recently, a friend reached out to me for some advice. Her daughter has received a mission call, but the guessing and celebrating long passed, excitement has given way to worry for this dear mom. And she’s not alone. Her missionary is also struggling with anxieties and doubts—feelings that seem to affect all newly called missionaries.

I’ve learned that whatever our trials, Christ is there in all of them.

War, wickedness, destruction, sorrowing of the damned—there’s no shortage of grief in Mormon 1–6. And the saddest part is that all this heartache follows hundreds of the most peaceful, righteous years the people of Nephi ever had. But these chapters, no matter how tragic, hold vital lessons for our spiritual survival during the latter days. So grab your tissues and let’s dig into this week’s lesson.

When thinking about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ it’s easy to think of the Primary song “When He Comes Again.” There are a lot of thought provoking questions from the children’s song like, will Earth be white with drifted snow, or will the world know spring? Will one star shine far brighter than the rest; will daylight stay the whole night through? And we can add, will I be alive when that day comes? These musings and visualizations on the future are what this week’s lesson is all about in Joseph Smith Matthew 1, Matthew 24-25, Mark 12-13, and Luke 21. The stories found in these gospels will have us all wondering about when He comes again.

Image from lds.org.

“There comes to us from the voice of the Book echoes as from some word that we have heard long since and have well understood; they are the whisperings to us of familiar truths. We recognize them, for they are attested by the reasoning of the mind and the sanction of the spirit within us. They tell us that the end of life is that we shall be born again (Mos. 27:25), redeemed and become the sons and daughters of God; that there is no happiness in sin, and that obedience is the way to joy (Alma 41:10; 2 Nephi 2:25). It teaches that an element of faith is a recognition of God's superior knowledge (Mos. 4:6 12), and how that faith is nurtured and grows in the heart of man (Alma 26:22); and how it may become so powerful that nothing can be held from it (3 Nephi 7:18; Ether 12:19). That spiritual gifts to man cease only because of his wickedness (Mormon 1:14), and that God to be unchangeable must be a God of miracles (Mormon 9:19). It gives full light on the comprehensiveness of the plans of the Almighty (2 Nephi 27:7 10), and shows that all men have been alike to him from the beginning of creation, and that his atonement applied as well before as subsequent to his coming in the flesh (Mos. 3:13). That baptism, necessary now, was always necessary (2 Nephi 31:9; Mos. 2:22; 3 Nephi 11:38 39). That the mission of all prophets has been to testify of the Christ (Jacob 7:11). It teaches that purity of heart alone gives access to God (Jacob 3:1). And with unanswerable authority is given again, by the Lord himself, the essence of his Gospel” (3 Nephi 27:13 16) (John A. Widtsoe and Franklin S. Harris, Jr., Seven Claims of the Book of Mormon, pp.167,168).