Stake Centers and Chapels are a Luxury

[EmmaLee]

These comments of President Nelson's, below, strike me as an interesting line of thinking. My own thoughts on this are, and have been for many years, that the day is quickly coming when we will not be meeting in dedicated church buildings for Sunday worship. The possible reasons for this are varied, but two main ones keep coming to the forefront - 1) that it will not be safe to meet as large groups, especially as Christians, and MOST especially as LDS Christians, and 2) the gov't will forcibly take our buildings away from us - this however, would include our temples, which I can easily see happening one day.

The Lord will have a truly virtuous people to greet him at his return, and it will take a LOT of painful refining (burning out the dross) to get a people to that level of humility and true righteousness - the vast majority will not withstand the burning, which is why the people meeting him are always referred to as "few" and a "remnant" (rem·nant noun 1. a small remaining quantity of something.
synonyms: remains, remainder, leftovers, leavings, residue, rest). I often think we don't have the slightest clue of what is coming, the magnitude, scope, and depth of it - of what some will be called to go through, and will HAVE to go through, to become such a people.

Anyway, best to prepare - mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually - to go without 'luxury' (of any/all types).

***

“The only buildings that are absolutely essential are temples. Stake centers and chapels are a luxury”—President Nelson

As President of the Quorum of the Twelve, President Nelson encouraged frequent conversation with his Brethren about the “imbalance between what we are doing as a church and what we must do” as he described it.

Those who drive by or enter Latter-day Saints chapels see beautiful landscaping, nice parking lots, and handsome buildings with basketball courts inside. And yet most of the people of the earth live in China, India, and the Middle East- areas where billions live stacked on top of each other, wall to wall.

“One question we’ve wrestled with,” President Nelson said, “is how to take the gospel in its simple purity and the ordinances with their eternal efficacy to all of God’s children without having basketball hoops get in the way. We are accustomed to a church that is supported at home but accomplished in the chapels. We need a complete turnaround, where we have a home-centered church supported by what takes place inside our buildings. The only buildings that are absolutely essential are temples. Stake centers and chapels are a luxury.”

“This imbalance is on our worry list—high on the list. One Muslim man said it this way, ‘When your Christianity is simple enough that I can take it on the back of a camel, I will be interested.’ Faith, repentance, baptism, the endowment, and the sealing ordinance are essential. Everything you’ll see happening in the Church from this point forward will be in that direction.” —President Nelson

Taken from Sheri Dew’s biographical book, "Insights from a Prophet's Life Russell M. Nelson"

[nightlight]

, ‘When your Christianity is simple enough that I can take it on the back of a camel, I will be interested.’

Awesome! !!!

[mirkwood]

I have a book that has a quote from an early apostle or prophet that says the day will come when we will be prevented from meeting together. I think it was by the government. I'll post it if I can find it.

[oneClimbs]

This is a very encouraging quote. I keep getting the impression that President Nelson feels like he has inherited a church filled with many non-essentials that have burdened the members and taken our eyes, even if slightly, away from our core objectives.

President Nelson has never been one of my "favorite" apostles and to be honest, I wasn't super-excited about him being the next president. That sounds very rude to say, I don't know why I felt that way there wasn't anything in particular that I disliked about him or had reason to feel any negativity.

But I have to say that my skepticism has been taking blows from comments like this that to me represent an honest attempt to provide critical leadership that I really think could make a huge difference in this work. I do sustain his presidency, I always have because I didn't have a reason to not do so. I think that our leaders need our prayers and support to fulfill the burdens they carry and I'm willing to give it, even if I very much dislike any leader (which I can't say I do at the moment).

This is a man who seems to have real perspective. I'm glad he is going out on these tours among the saints and meeting with people. If these ideas are flowing through his mind, people need to hear what he is saying because it is what we need to be hearing today.

[DesertWonderer2]

My own thoughts on this are, and have been for many years, that the day is quickly coming when we will not be meeting in dedicated church buildings for Sunday worship. The possible reasons for this are varied, but two main ones keep coming to the forefront - 1) that it will not be safe to meet as large groups, especially as Christians, and MOST especially as LDS Christians, and 2) the gov't will forcibly take our buildings away from us - this however, would include our temples, which I can easily see happening one day.

(Feeling contrary today...)

I really don’t see how either of those scenarios could ever happen in the US / Europe / Aus / NZ etc advanced world countries.

What plausible situation could there be that would cause either your 1 or 2 to happen?

[mes5464]

These comments of President Nelson's, below, strike me as an interesting line of thinking. My own thoughts on this are, and have been for many years, that the day is quickly coming when we will not be meeting in dedicated church buildings for Sunday worship. The possible reasons for this are varied, but two main ones keep coming to the forefront - 1) that it will not be safe to meet as large groups, especially as Christians, and MOST especially as LDS Christians, and 2) the gov't will forcibly take our buildings away from us - this however, would include our temples, which I can easily see happening one day.

The Lord will have a truly virtuous people to greet him at his return, and it will take a LOT of painful refining (burning out the dross) to get a people to that level of humility and true righteousness - the vast majority will not withstand the burning, which is why the people meeting him are always referred to as "few" and a "remnant" (rem·nant noun 1. a small remaining quantity of something.
synonyms: remains, remainder, leftovers, leavings, residue, rest). I often think we don't have the slightest clue of what is coming, the magnitude, scope, and depth of it - of what some will be called to go through, and will HAVE to go through, to become such a people.

Anyway, best to prepare - mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually - to go without 'luxury' (of any/all types).

***

“The only buildings that are absolutely essential are temples. Stake centers and chapels are a luxury”—President Nelson

As President of the Quorum of the Twelve, President Nelson encouraged frequent conversation with his Brethren about the “imbalance between what we are doing as a church and what we must do” as he described it.

Those who drive by or enter Latter-day Saints chapels see beautiful landscaping, nice parking lots, and handsome buildings with basketball courts inside. And yet most of the people of the earth live in China, India, and the Middle East- areas where billions live stacked on top of each other, wall to wall.

“One question we’ve wrestled with,” President Nelson said, “is how to take the gospel in its simple purity and the ordinances with their eternal efficacy to all of God’s children without having basketball hoops get in the way. We are accustomed to a church that is supported at home but accomplished in the chapels. We need a complete turnaround, where we have a home-centered church supported by what takes place inside our buildings. The only buildings that are absolutely essential are temples. Stake centers and chapels are a luxury.”

“This imbalance is on our worry list—high on the list. One Muslim man said it this way, ‘When your Christianity is simple enough that I can take it on the back of a camel, I will be interested.’ Faith, repentance, baptism, the endowment, and the sealing ordinance are essential. Everything you’ll see happening in the Church from this point forward will be in that direction.” —President Nelson

Taken from Sheri Dew’s biographical book, "Insights from a Prophet's Life Russell M. Nelson"

The only place I can find this quote is on Reddit. Does anyone have a more reliable source?

[Mindfields]

Too bad Jesus never included the "endowment" and "sealing ordinances" in the Bible or the Book of Mormon.

3 Nephi 27

20 Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day. (No mention of temples, or endowments)

21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do; (Temple work? "Sorry mate can't heal you today, I'm doing temple work" Nope, he did things for the living like, raise the dead, cast out devils, minister to the sick and afflicted, reach out to those who were marginalized in his society)

22 Therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day. (Do the things that Jesus did not the things that man does)

I saw this saying a while ago and it really made me think. "Prayer - When you care enough to do the very least"

[oneClimbs]

Too bad Jesus never included the "endowment" and "sealing ordinances" in the Bible or the Book of Mormon.

3 Nephi 27

20 Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day. (No mention of temples, or endowments)

21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do; (Temple work? "Sorry mate can't heal you today, I'm doing temple work" Nope, he did things for the living like, raise the dead, cast out devils, minister to the sick and afflicted, reach out to those who were marginalized in his society)

22 Therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day. (Do the things that Jesus did not the things that man does)

I saw this saying a while ago and it really made me think. "Prayer - When you care enough to do the very least"

The endowment is an instructional ritual that contains various covenants that have been offered to this generation. The modern temple ordinances are exclusive to the time period beginning with the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. Jesus teachings in 3 Nephi 15 that he has fulfilled the law but that he has not yet fulfilled the covenant and gave as sign as to when that would occur. To summarize, it was the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.

This initiated the "marvelous work" and the "strange act" whereby God would fulfill the covenant made to Abraham and his posterity through the work done in the temples which is one facet of how the covenant is being fulfilled. These details are not present in the Book of Mormon or the Bible explicitly only through symbols, prophecies, and allusions. Billions have gone to their deaths never seeing the realization of the promises of the covenant. The temple work today is the start of it and a large part of it.

I wrote a four post series several years ago explaining this, part one is here: http://oneclimbs.com/2010/08/15/the-mar ... rt-1-of-4/

This is why continuing revelation has always been necessary to God's work. There have always been ages in which things have shifted and something new began to the protestations of those who clung to the previous step. The restoration was another step, and a very important one. The next will be the Millennium and another 1000 years before the work is done. What is important to us is today and what is happening now. If we have eyes to see, we'll realize there is much more going on than we could ever realize.

Just like in Jesus' time people mocked him and thought he was nuts and teaching things that were completely diametrically opposed to God's word. There was new revelation, God was doing something massive and their minds were too small to see it. This is a lesson to us, we cannot be so prideful that we take lightly the things that are happening. Before we point the finger and mock, let's dig deeper and really consider on what is happening.

[Juliet]

The government wouldn't be the only threat to church buildings. The wickedness of the people. As for Lot, in Sodom and Gomorrah, the streets were not even safe.

[DesertWonderer2]

Too bad Jesus never included the "endowment" and "sealing ordinances" in the Bible or the Book of Mormon.

Uhhhh...He did. You just can’t see them.

[Sarah]

These comments of President Nelson's, below, strike me as an interesting line of thinking. My own thoughts on this are, and have been for many years, that the day is quickly coming when we will not be meeting in dedicated church buildings for Sunday worship. The possible reasons for this are varied, but two main ones keep coming to the forefront - 1) that it will not be safe to meet as large groups, especially as Christians, and MOST especially as LDS Christians, and 2) the gov't will forcibly take our buildings away from us - this however, would include our temples, which I can easily see happening one day.

The Lord will have a truly virtuous people to greet him at his return, and it will take a LOT of painful refining (burning out the dross) to get a people to that level of humility and true righteousness - the vast majority will not withstand the burning, which is why the people meeting him are always referred to as "few" and a "remnant" (rem·nant noun 1. a small remaining quantity of something.
synonyms: remains, remainder, leftovers, leavings, residue, rest). I often think we don't have the slightest clue of what is coming, the magnitude, scope, and depth of it - of what some will be called to go through, and will HAVE to go through, to become such a people.

Anyway, best to prepare - mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually - to go without 'luxury' (of any/all types).

***

“The only buildings that are absolutely essential are temples. Stake centers and chapels are a luxury”—President Nelson

As President of the Quorum of the Twelve, President Nelson encouraged frequent conversation with his Brethren about the “imbalance between what we are doing as a church and what we must do” as he described it.

Those who drive by or enter Latter-day Saints chapels see beautiful landscaping, nice parking lots, and handsome buildings with basketball courts inside. And yet most of the people of the earth live in China, India, and the Middle East- areas where billions live stacked on top of each other, wall to wall.

“One question we’ve wrestled with,” President Nelson said, “is how to take the gospel in its simple purity and the ordinances with their eternal efficacy to all of God’s children without having basketball hoops get in the way. We are accustomed to a church that is supported at home but accomplished in the chapels. We need a complete turnaround, where we have a home-centered church supported by what takes place inside our buildings. The only buildings that are absolutely essential are temples. Stake centers and chapels are a luxury.”

“This imbalance is on our worry list—high on the list. One Muslim man said it this way, ‘When your Christianity is simple enough that I can take it on the back of a camel, I will be interested.’ Faith, repentance, baptism, the endowment, and the sealing ordinance are essential. Everything you’ll see happening in the Church from this point forward will be in that direction.” —President Nelson

Taken from Sheri Dew’s biographical book, "Insights from a Prophet's Life Russell M. Nelson"

Can you tell me where Sheri Dew got this quote from?

[nightlight]

My own thoughts on this are, and have been for many years, that the day is quickly coming when we will not be meeting in dedicated church buildings for Sunday worship. The possible reasons for this are varied, but two main ones keep coming to the forefront - 1) that it will not be safe to meet as large groups, especially as Christians, and MOST especially as LDS Christians, and 2) the gov't will forcibly take our buildings away from us - this however, would include our temples, which I can easily see happening one day.

(Feeling contrary today...)

I really don’t see how either of those scenarios could ever happen in the US / Europe / Aus / NZ etc advanced world countries.

What plausible situation could there be that would cause either your 1 or 2 to happen?

Come on, bro... its dangerous to think like that.

The BOM spells out how this happens to a people of God. Gadiantons are a real thing. Their goal is to outlaw Christ. If you don't think this can happen to us ...you are alseep.

This country will come under bondage...

[nightlight]

1

[DesertWonderer2]

My own thoughts on this are, and have been for many years, that the day is quickly coming when we will not be meeting in dedicated church buildings for Sunday worship. The possible reasons for this are varied, but two main ones keep coming to the forefront - 1) that it will not be safe to meet as large groups, especially as Christians, and MOST especially as LDS Christians, and 2) the gov't will forcibly take our buildings away from us - this however, would include our temples, which I can easily see happening one day.

(Feeling contrary today...)

I really don’t see how either of those scenarios could ever happen in the US / Europe / Aus / NZ etc advanced world countries.

What plausible situation could there be that would cause either your 1 or 2 to happen?

Come on, bro... its dangerous to think like that.

The BOM spells out how this happens to a people of God. Gadiantons are a real thing. Their goal is to outlaw Christ. If you don't think this can happen to us ...you are alseep.

This country will come under bondage...

By whom and how?

[justme]

My own thoughts on this are, and have been for many years, that the day is quickly coming when we will not be meeting in dedicated church buildings for Sunday worship. The possible reasons for this are varied, but two main ones keep coming to the forefront - 1) that it will not be safe to meet as large groups, especially as Christians, and MOST especially as LDS Christians, and 2) the gov't will forcibly take our buildings away from us - this however, would include our temples, which I can easily see happening one day.

(Feeling contrary today...)

I really don’t see how either of those scenarios could ever happen in the US / Europe / Aus / NZ etc advanced world countries.

What plausible situation could there be that would cause either your 1 or 2 to happen?

Come on, bro... its dangerous to think like that.

The BOM spells out how this happens to a people of God. Gadiantons are a real thing. Their goal is to outlaw Christ. If you don't think this can happen to us ...you are alseep.

This country will come under bondage...

By whom and how?

Who do you suspect are gadiantons now days?

[Robin Hood]

Nope, he did things for the living like, raise the dead....

Classic!

[markharr]

My own thoughts on this are, and have been for many years, that the day is quickly coming when we will not be meeting in dedicated church buildings for Sunday worship. The possible reasons for this are varied, but two main ones keep coming to the forefront - 1) that it will not be safe to meet as large groups, especially as Christians, and MOST especially as LDS Christians, and 2) the gov't will forcibly take our buildings away from us - this however, would include our temples, which I can easily see happening one day.

(Feeling contrary today...)

I really don’t see how either of those scenarios could ever happen in the US / Europe / Aus / NZ etc advanced world countries.

What plausible situation could there be that would cause either your 1 or 2 to happen?

The same plausible situation that caused both of those to happen in 1930's Germany, and yes that could happen in the United States. It could happen anywhere there are a people who don't think it could happen here.

[nightlight]

My own thoughts on this are, and have been for many years, that the day is quickly coming when we will not be meeting in dedicated church buildings for Sunday worship. The possible reasons for this are varied, but two main ones keep coming to the forefront - 1) that it will not be safe to meet as large groups, especially as Christians, and MOST especially as LDS Christians, and 2) the gov't will forcibly take our buildings away from us - this however, would include our temples, which I can easily see happening one day.

(Feeling contrary today...)

I really don’t see how either of those scenarios could ever happen in the US / Europe / Aus / NZ etc advanced world countries.

What plausible situation could there be that would cause either your 1 or 2 to happen?

Come on, bro... its dangerous to think like that.

The BOM spells out how this happens to a people of God. Gadiantons are a real thing. Their goal is to outlaw Christ. If you don't think this can happen to us ...you are alseep.

This country will come under bondage...

By whom and how?

God will do it.....cuz this land in cursed to those who obtain it and then deny Him

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/stu ... ofm/hel/12

[nightlight]

And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and aprosper those who put their btrust in him.

2 Yea, and we may see at the very atime when he doth bprosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of cprecious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do dharden their hearts, and do eforget the Lord their God, and do ftrample under their feet the Holy One—yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.

3 And thus we see that except the Lord doth achasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with bdeath and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not cremember him.

4 O how afoolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how bquick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to hearken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their chearts upon the vain things of the world!

5 Yea, how quick to be lifted up in apride; yea, how quick to bboast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to cwalk in wisdom’s paths!

6 Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath acreated them, should brule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at cnaught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide.

7 O how great is the anothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are bless than the dust of the earth.

8 For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God.

9 Yea, behold at his avoice do the hills and the mountains tremble and bquake.

10 And by the apower of his voice they are broken up, and become smooth, yea, even like unto a valley.

11 Yea, by the power of his voice doth the awhole earth shake;

12 Yea, by the power of his voice, do the foundations rock, even to the very center.

13 Yea, and if he say unto the earth—Move—it is moved.

14 Yea, if he say unto the aearth—Thou shalt bgo back, that it clengthen out the day for many hours—it is done;

15 And thus, according to his word the aearth goeth back, and it appeareth unto man that the bsun standeth still; yea, and behold, this is so; for surely it is the earth that moveth and not the sun.

16 And behold, also, if he say unto the awaters of the great deep—bBe thou dried up—it is done.

17 Behold, if he say unto this mountain—Be thou raised up, and acome over and fall upon that city, that it be buried up—behold it is done.

18 And behold, if a man ahide up a treasure in the earth, and the Lord shall say—Let it be baccursed, because of the iniquity of him who hath hid it up—behold, it shall be accursed.

19 And if the Lord shall say—Be thou accursed, that no man shall find thee from this time henceforth and forever—behold, no man getteth it henceforth and forever.

20 And behold, if the Lord shall say unto a man—Because of thine iniquities, thou shalt be accursed aforever—it shall be done.

21 And if the Lord shall say—Because of thine iniquities thou shalt be acut off from my presence—he will cause that it shall be so.

22 And wo unto him to whom he shall say this, for it shall be unto him that will do iniquity, and he cannot be asaved; therefore, for this cause, that men might be saved, hath repentance been declared.

23 Therefore, blessed are they who will repent and hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God; for these are they that shall be saved.

24 And may God grant, in his great fulness, that men might be brought unto repentance and good works, that they might be restored unto grace for agrace, according to their works.

25 And I would that all men might be saved. But we read that in the agreat and last day there are some who shall be cast out, yea, who shall be cast off from the bpresence of the Lord;

26 Yea, who shall be consigned to a state of endless misery, fulfilling the words which say: They that have done good shall have aeverlasting life; and they that have done evil shall have everlasting bdamnation. And thus it is. Amen.

[EmmaLee]

These comments of President Nelson's, below, strike me as an interesting line of thinking. My own thoughts on this are, and have been for many years, that the day is quickly coming when we will not be meeting in dedicated church buildings for Sunday worship. The possible reasons for this are varied, but two main ones keep coming to the forefront - 1) that it will not be safe to meet as large groups, especially as Christians, and MOST especially as LDS Christians, and 2) the gov't will forcibly take our buildings away from us - this however, would include our temples, which I can easily see happening one day.

The Lord will have a truly virtuous people to greet him at his return, and it will take a LOT of painful refining (burning out the dross) to get a people to that level of humility and true righteousness - the vast majority will not withstand the burning, which is why the people meeting him are always referred to as "few" and a "remnant" (rem·nant noun 1. a small remaining quantity of something.
synonyms: remains, remainder, leftovers, leavings, residue, rest). I often think we don't have the slightest clue of what is coming, the magnitude, scope, and depth of it - of what some will be called to go through, and will HAVE to go through, to become such a people.

Anyway, best to prepare - mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually - to go without 'luxury' (of any/all types).

***

“The only buildings that are absolutely essential are temples. Stake centers and chapels are a luxury”—President Nelson

As President of the Quorum of the Twelve, President Nelson encouraged frequent conversation with his Brethren about the “imbalance between what we are doing as a church and what we must do” as he described it.

Those who drive by or enter Latter-day Saints chapels see beautiful landscaping, nice parking lots, and handsome buildings with basketball courts inside. And yet most of the people of the earth live in China, India, and the Middle East- areas where billions live stacked on top of each other, wall to wall.

“One question we’ve wrestled with,” President Nelson said, “is how to take the gospel in its simple purity and the ordinances with their eternal efficacy to all of God’s children without having basketball hoops get in the way. We are accustomed to a church that is supported at home but accomplished in the chapels. We need a complete turnaround, where we have a home-centered church supported by what takes place inside our buildings. The only buildings that are absolutely essential are temples. Stake centers and chapels are a luxury.”

“This imbalance is on our worry list—high on the list. One Muslim man said it this way, ‘When your Christianity is simple enough that I can take it on the back of a camel, I will be interested.’ Faith, repentance, baptism, the endowment, and the sealing ordinance are essential. Everything you’ll see happening in the Church from this point forward will be in that direction.” —President Nelson

Taken from Sheri Dew’s biographical book, "Insights from a Prophet's Life Russell M. Nelson"

The only place I can find this quote is on Reddit. Does anyone have a more reliable source?

I gave you the source in the OP. Did you miss it? Or do you not consider Dew's biography a reliable source? The quote is from Sheri Dew's book "Insights from a Prophet's Life: Russell M. Nelson" - you can buy it on Amazon if you want - https://www.amazon.com/Insights-Prophet ... way&sr=8-1

[EmmaLee]

These comments of President Nelson's, below, strike me as an interesting line of thinking. My own thoughts on this are, and have been for many years, that the day is quickly coming when we will not be meeting in dedicated church buildings for Sunday worship. The possible reasons for this are varied, but two main ones keep coming to the forefront - 1) that it will not be safe to meet as large groups, especially as Christians, and MOST especially as LDS Christians, and 2) the gov't will forcibly take our buildings away from us - this however, would include our temples, which I can easily see happening one day.

The Lord will have a truly virtuous people to greet him at his return, and it will take a LOT of painful refining (burning out the dross) to get a people to that level of humility and true righteousness - the vast majority will not withstand the burning, which is why the people meeting him are always referred to as "few" and a "remnant" (rem·nant noun 1. a small remaining quantity of something.
synonyms: remains, remainder, leftovers, leavings, residue, rest). I often think we don't have the slightest clue of what is coming, the magnitude, scope, and depth of it - of what some will be called to go through, and will HAVE to go through, to become such a people.

Anyway, best to prepare - mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually - to go without 'luxury' (of any/all types).

***

“The only buildings that are absolutely essential are temples. Stake centers and chapels are a luxury”—President Nelson

As President of the Quorum of the Twelve, President Nelson encouraged frequent conversation with his Brethren about the “imbalance between what we are doing as a church and what we must do” as he described it.

Those who drive by or enter Latter-day Saints chapels see beautiful landscaping, nice parking lots, and handsome buildings with basketball courts inside. And yet most of the people of the earth live in China, India, and the Middle East- areas where billions live stacked on top of each other, wall to wall.

“One question we’ve wrestled with,” President Nelson said, “is how to take the gospel in its simple purity and the ordinances with their eternal efficacy to all of God’s children without having basketball hoops get in the way. We are accustomed to a church that is supported at home but accomplished in the chapels. We need a complete turnaround, where we have a home-centered church supported by what takes place inside our buildings. The only buildings that are absolutely essential are temples. Stake centers and chapels are a luxury.”

“This imbalance is on our worry list—high on the list. One Muslim man said it this way, ‘When your Christianity is simple enough that I can take it on the back of a camel, I will be interested.’ Faith, repentance, baptism, the endowment, and the sealing ordinance are essential. Everything you’ll see happening in the Church from this point forward will be in that direction.” —President Nelson

Taken from Sheri Dew’s biographical book, "Insights from a Prophet's Life Russell M. Nelson"

Can you tell me where Sheri Dew got this quote from?

The quote is on pages 405-406 of her book. Dew doesn't even say where she got the quote from.

[EmmaLee]

My own thoughts on this are, and have been for many years, that the day is quickly coming when we will not be meeting in dedicated church buildings for Sunday worship. The possible reasons for this are varied, but two main ones keep coming to the forefront - 1) that it will not be safe to meet as large groups, especially as Christians, and MOST especially as LDS Christians, and 2) the gov't will forcibly take our buildings away from us - this however, would include our temples, which I can easily see happening one day.

(Feeling contrary today...)

I really don’t see how either of those scenarios could ever happen in the US / Europe / Aus / NZ etc advanced world countries.

What plausible situation could there be that would cause either your 1 or 2 to happen?

Come on, bro... its dangerous to think like that.

The BOM spells out how this happens to a people of God. Gadiantons are a real thing. Their goal is to outlaw Christ. If you don't think this can happen to us ...you are alseep.

This country will come under bondage...

For some folks, 'all is well' - until it's not, and then it will be too late for them. Some refuse to wake up and smell the Postum. Thanks for your comments Nightlight; I'm glad all are not asleep.

[Vision]

(Feeling contrary today...)

I really don’t see how either of those scenarios could ever happen in the US / Europe / Aus / NZ etc advanced world countries.

What plausible situation could there be that would cause either your 1 or 2 to happen?

Come on, bro... its dangerous to think like that.

The BOM spells out how this happens to a people of God. Gadiantons are a real thing. Their goal is to outlaw Christ. If you don't think this can happen to us ...you are alseep.

This country will come under bondage...

By whom and how?

Who do you suspect are gadiantons now days?

Have you heard about Robert Mueller, and the FBI, CIA and NSA?

What is the verse in Ether that says they obtained sole management of the Government.

[justme]

I remember hearing when I was younger that the cfr was the arch enemy. That must not be the case since we now have a cfr member in the 12.

[ori]

I remember hearing when I was younger that the cfr was the arch enemy. That must not be the case since we now have a cfr member in the 12.

Who?

There are still those who think the CFR has evil purposes. Source: https://youtu.be/mXti2K_6Re0