The LDS pioneers, often mischaracterized as westward expansionists, were actually refugees fleeing persecution. Facing extreme hardship in Winter Quarters, they endured starvation, disease, and squalid living conditions. Despite these trials, their faith and dedication grew stronger, ultimately establishing the Kingdom of God. Their story is one of resilience and unwavering belief that should inspire all of us to aspire to match their examples in dedication, sacrifice, and faith.
Category: LDS Classics
Lorenzo Snow’s Prophetic Explanation of How to Achieve World Peace
The 20th century was one of the deadliest in all human history. From the fields of Flanders to the gas chambers of Auschwitz to the gulags of Stalin to the mass starvation of Mao to the killing fields of Cambodia and more, hundreds of millions of men, women, and children have been raped, tortured, mutilated and slaughtered. And it could all have been avoided if the people of the world had listened to a prophet’s voice as he laid out the path to prosperity, liberty, and peace at the very start of the century.
This article looks at President Lorenzo Snow’s inspired counsel about how the 20th century could’ve been the greatest age of all time and explains how his words have never been more important and applicable than now.
Jesus Christ Is The Leader of His Church Today
The leader of the Church of Jesus Christ is the Lord Jesus Christ. He leads this church actively and directly. And this isn’t meant in some theoretical or technical sense. It is meant very literally. This is shown in this LDS Classic as President Heber J. Grant recalls a revelatory vision he had of the Lord Jesus Christ deciding to call him to the Apostleship.
A New Year’s Pledge of Peace
With the New Year upon us, let us further dedicate ourselves to following the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, building the Kingdom of God, establishing Zion, and being disciples in word and deed. Let us dedicate ourselves to becoming peacemakers in every sense of the term.
What It Means To Be Like Jesus
We talk about being Christ-like all the time. Our hymns repeat the refrain and our children sing about how they are “trying to be like Jesus.” But what does that mean? What was Jesus like as a person? And how could we hope to emulate Him? The question may seem impossible to answer and we may feel despondent under the weight of it. We can know Jesus Christ and we can fulfill His commandment to become like Him. This lost LDS Classic explores what character is, what Christ’s character is, and how we can manifest His character in our thoughts, words, and deeds today. This is how we can possibly, happily, joyfully be like Christ!
The Solutions to The Problems of the Modern World
In an age where powerful elements in society are pushing to do everything from obliterate the very concept of a woman by reducing them to such objectified terms such as “menstruating/birthing person” to trying to normalize exposing children to hypersexualized drag shows in order to desensitize them to sexual promiscuity, homosexuality, and transgenderism, this LDS Classic is one of the best addresses that you’ll ever read. Not only does it pinpoint the heart of darkness, the cause of much hate and danger in society today, but it also shows us how and why the doctrines of Christ can and should give us immense hope for tomorrow.
This Is What It Is Like After You Die
People have been asking the question of what happens after you die for tens of thousands of years, for millions of years. As long as humans have existed. It has been said that if you could bring someone back from the dead and ask them about what, if anything, happens next it would be the most important thing any of us ever could learn.
Well, you don’t have to wonder anymore. It has happened. People have died. They have had intimate visions of what happens after death. And they have returned to life to explain what they experienced and what we need to do to prepare in this life for the next. This is just such an account, a vision of the next world as shown by God to Elder Jedidiah M. Grant, Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Revealed here is what a modern-day Prophet, Seer, and Revelator saw when he looked beyond the veil of death and into the world of spirits.
This is what happens after you die.
This is what the afterlife is like.
This is what comes next.
The Place of Politics in the Church
This Lost LDS Classic looks at the role of partisan politics (loyalty to political parties) and nationalism play in the role of Latter-day Saint culture and religious practice. The political divisions in the church are both bothersome and poisonous. The Body of Christ, the Kingdom of God, should not be divided by the political ideologies of the world. The more we allow ourselves to be defined by our politics – as “liberal” Mormons, “conservative” Mormons, etc. – the more we weaken ourselves, disrupt our Christian unity, and weaken our ability to establish Zion and do the work that God has given us. Nationalism and political partisanship have no place in the Kingdom of God and the sooner we drive them from our hearts and minds the more we become Saints of the Most High God and true Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
The Human Side of the Book of Mormon
Why are there so many biblical quotations and allusions in the Book of Mormon? Why are there errors in the Book of Mormon’s grammar, spelling, and language? How did Joseph Smith translate the Book of Mormon? How did the Urim and Thummim work? How did the Seer Stone work? Why would Joseph need either in the first place? What impact did the knowledge and mind of Joseph Smith have on the Book of Mormon and its translation? Why would God choose an ignorant ploughboy from upstate New York to be His prophet when much more educated, enlightened, and respectable men existed? What does the answer to these questions say about the authenticity of the Book of Mormon?
Professor N.L. Nelson answers all these questions and more in this excellent essay and explains why the answers to those questions should only increase our faith in the Book of Mormon as Christian scripture.
Heaven Is Real, Hell Is Real, and Why Life Matters
Why does Pascha, Easter, matter?
The story of Pascha is phenomenal, but why does it matter that Christ atoned for Death and Hell? Why does it matter that salvation and exaltation are open to all? What really is worth celebrating at this time of year?
This forgotten LDS Classic by N.L. Nelson on the reality of Heaven, the reality of Hell, and the richness, depth, and meaning these truths imbue into our lives answers these questions and more.
This is why Pascha matters and why it is the pinnacle of Christian holy days.