500: BUILDING BABYLON IN THE SWAMPLANDS TO THE EAST. (instead of Zion in the tops of the mountain in the West)

This is the 500th post. My first blog post was written on June 1, 2011. Eight complete years of writing. I began writing the blog after reading Hugh Nibley's book: Approaching Zion. It was during that same time the Church was building their multibillion dollar City Creek Mall in downtown Salt Lake City.  This blog has been a source of therapy for me to be able to write about things I was witnessing here in my hometown which is also the headquarters for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Over the years I have felt sadness as I saw the Restored Church becoming like the Nephites in the Book of Mormon. Prosperous, Wealthy, and Proud. No wonder that Book is for our day. It seems like 8 years later things have become even worse.

I will keep this brief.

Years ago I wrote about the Church paying over a half a billion dollars for more land in Florida. They already owned hundred of thousands of acres of land, but now they own over 2% of the state of Florida. http://barerecord.blogspot.com/2013/11/215-lds-church-spends-over-half-billion.html

THE LDS CHURCH NOW OWNS 2% OF FLORIDA

With the completion Thursday of the $562 million purchase of more than 382,000 acres of land in North Florida’s panhandle region — along with Deseret Ranches' property in Central Florida that covers parts of Osceola, Orange and Brevard counties — Mormon church subsidiaries now own nearly 2 percent of Florida.Link to the Orlando Business Journal Article

LDS CHURCH PLANS A CITY FOR 500,000 IN RESORT AREA OF FLORIDA

That is like building a city the size of Denver Colorado with their population of 557,917.

Link to the Salt Lake Tribune article:

It is hard to imagine the money that will needed to be spent in development for the roads, streets, highways, utilities, fire stations, police, schools, retail shopping, office buildings, etc. Most likely, trillions of dollars. A trillion dollars is hard to fathom.

1,000,000,000,000.00

To give you an idea, if you had a stack of $100 dollar bills you would need to stack them over 60 miles high. Most commercial airplanes fly at 30,000 feet, which is 5.7 miles high, so imagine $100 bills reaching ten times higher than the clouds.

You compare that to Elder Oaks statement that the Church spends only 40 million per year that we give to charity.

40,000,000.00

That is only .004 of what it might cost to develop this land in Florida.

I believe that maybe the expense would be worth it if we were building Zion. So is this new city in Florida going to be Zion?

Well you decide for yourself. Early development has already begun on the Church land between Disneyworld and Cape Caneveral,  just south of Orlando. The homes that are currently being built and sold look like luxury resort homes. Here are some of the conceptual renderings. The first phase of development is called Sunbridge.

 Here is an article to read for more information.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jan/30/from-book-to-boom-how-the-mormons-plan-a-city-for-500000-in-florida

Here is the Church's Development Timeline of this first phase:

• On March 21, 2016, the Church filed a comprehensive plan amendment with Orange County to begin the first phase of development.
• Construction is anticipated to begin in 2018.
• The development is a long-term project. Proposed Development Program The overall development in Orange County would include:
• 5,720 homes
• 1,650 multi-family units
• 9 million square feet of commercial space
• 5,470,000 square feet office space
• 2,900,000 square feet of Industrial  space
• 880,000 square feet of Retail space
• 490 hotel rooms Conservation Nearly 13,000 acres will comprise preserved conservation space that includes preserved wetlands and upland buffers.

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We would do well to reread the parable of the Sheep and the Goats found in Matthew 25. It is a parable for the last days just before the Lord's Second Coming. 

'When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him,.. He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left."

The sheep are those who feed the hungry, clothed the naked, and gave shelter to the homeless.
The goats did not feed the hungry, did not clothe the naked, and did not give shelter to the homeless.

"Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment"

It is my hope that the Lord will call us His sheep instead of goats.


Sidenote:

I wanted to share two more photos:

One of the photos was taken of President Nelson on his recent tour of the Pacific Islands. He was accompanied once again with his wife and her best friend Sheri Dew. The honor and glory the members give to this man is increasing. I am not sure how healthy it is for us or for him. We no longer call ourselves Mormon since it was taking away from the name Jesus Christ.  I wonder if maybe we should also change the slogan and Primary song of  'Follow the Prophet' with 'Follow the Savior'.

This is a photo/video still of the General Relief Society Presidency. I thought is was interesting that they are all wearing pants including jeans. Not sure how my mom would feel about this because when we take our annual family photos, even the guys aren't allowed to wear jeans.

That being said, the video is actually really beautiful and I want to end on this.

Out of those who are in the General Relief Society Presidency and Board.

• 6 have experienced financial problems. 
• 4 have experience infertility.
• 6 have family who identify as LGBT+
• 9 have family with addictions.
• 2 are battling chronic illness
• 2 have been divorced.
•  1 is a stepmom
• 7 have had loved one in prison
• 1 has experienced death of a spouse.
• All have been affected by depression or anxiety
• 9 work outside the home

And the last quote of the video:

"No matter what we have suffered, 

He is the source of healing. 

We must come unto Him 

and allow Him to work His miracles. 

499: CHURCH SURVEY FOR A REPLACEMENT NAME FOR MORMON.ORG

For the past couple of years, our family has been asked to participate in Church surveys. It has been interesting to see how many of the changes now being implemented by the Church began as questions from the surveys conducted. Here is the latest one that we were asked to fill out. It is a request for us to submit a replacement name for www.mormon.org which is the Church's media channel that provides inspirational videos, radio programs, music and other uplifting media.

After submitting a proposal, we were then asked to select from a list of some of the top names other people had submitted. Below are some of the screenshot from the survey.

As everyone now knows, we are to no longer use the terms Latter-day Saints, LDS, and especially not the term Mormon.  From this article:
https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-name-alignment

"Various other services and mobile apps, such as LDS Seminary and Institute, will simply remove “LDS” from the name.

The terms “LDS” and “Latter-day Saint” should not be used to qualify objects, such as temples, scriptures or doctrine, that belong to the Lord or His Church.

 Here is the current list of the all the new names that have already been implemented. The terms are now very generic. We have removed the unique description that we have been using for decades.

Personally, if the Lord is so concerned about what we name things, how about instead of sending out online surveys and/or taking a vote, we could save alot of time and just ask Him.

498: CIVIL WEDDING NOW AUTHORIZED BEFORE A TEMPLE SEALING

The 
The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Monday that a civil marriage between a man and a woman will no longer necessitate waiting a year for that couple to be to married (or sealed) in a temple.

"...when a temple marriage would cause parents or immediate family members to feel excluded, a civil ceremony followed by a temple sealing is authorized.”

The Church asks that these civil marriage ceremonies be simple and dignified. Couples may use chapels owned by the Church for these ceremonies.


LINK TO THE ANNOUNCEMENT 

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Sidenote: 

Before the Salt Lake Temple is closed for 4 years and they remove the existing gardens surrounding the Temple and demolish the Salt Lake City Temple Chapel and Annex Building, I would highly recommend walking through the gardens right now during spring since it will be the last time to see the Temple grounds as it has been for decades.  

Here are a few photos I took a couple of days ago.

Salt Lake City Temple Chapel and Annex Building that will be demolished later this year.

The beautiful grove of trees and lawn that surround the Temple to the North.

And this photo was taken by Rory Wallwork of the Cherry Trees that will also be cut down.

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And here is what we have to look forward to in 2024:

Below are some of the renderings from the Church for the new look of the Salt Lake Temple and Temple Square. It appears that there will be more concrete and plaza space instead of the natural looking gardens that currently surround the Temple.

Looking North toward to the Temple:

Looking South toward to the Temple

497: HIS SHEEP RESPOND TO HIS VOICE

Photo taken in Wellington, Utah on Easter Sunday. April 21. 2019

If you do not enter by the doorway into the protective sheepfold, but climb in any other way, then you are only a thief and a robber. But when you enter at the door and the shepherd lets you enter, then you belong. 

The shepherd guards the entry, and his sheep respond to his voice. He calls his sheep by name and leads them up. He leads his sheep by his example and asks them to follow in his path, and they follow because they trust his words. 

His sheep will not follow another, but will flee from a stranger. They do not recognize the stranger’s voice. Jesus told this parable to them, but they could not understand what he meant by the parable. (John 10: 1-6)

496: LDS CHURCH BUYING THE ALDER CASTLE IN LONDON?

Mormon Church in Talks to Buy $129 Million London Office Building

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in exclusive negotiations to buy a City of London office building whose tenants include Lloyds Banking Group Plc, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

A subsidiary of the church, which has a multi-billion-dollar global property portfolio that encompasses malls, resorts and farmland, is close to completing a deal to buy the Alder Castle building at 10 Noble Street for about 100 million pounds ($129 million), said the people, asking not to be identified because the information is private. A fund managed by M&G Real Estate is selling the building, the people said.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-29/mormon-church-said-in-talks-on-129-million-london-office-deal?srnd=markets-vp

http://www.aldercastle.com/new/surrounding.php


Within the Church, we love to talk about the Temples we build around the world. Seldom do we talk about the other real estate buildings we build. Below are some of the luxury condominiums towers that the Church has built in downtown Salt Lake City. These beautiful models are on display across the street from Temple Square near the newly remodeled Deseret Book Store.

99 WEST 

THE REGENT

These condominiums are advertised as City Living at its FINEST. Interesting that the word FINE is used. If you search for the word FINE in the Book of Mormon you will find that adjective to describe the following:

• Fine sanctuaries
• Fine clothing
• Fine-twined Linen
• Fine apparel
• Fine silks

For example in 2 Nephi 28: 13  it states:

"They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up."

And in Mormon 8: 36-37

"And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts."

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A few weeks ago the LDS Church released their 2018 LDS Charities Report. From the report you can estimate and divide out how much the Church has averaged giving to charity each year. It is approximately 64 million dollars. That it wonderful and I am glad the Church donates millions and millions of dollars to help the poor and the needy.  However, that is less than half of what the Church plans to pay for the Alder Castle in London. 

 Compare the 64 million given to charity to the 2,000,000,000.00 dollars spent on City Creek Mall. 

495: NEW DESERET BOOK FLAGSHIP STORE RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY

"As Temple Square begins a four-year-long renovation at the end of this year, across the street, the Deseret Book flagship store at City Creek Center has just finished a renovation of its own.

The store’s celebration of that renovation, a public grand reopening, came Tuesday — 11 days after the Temple Square announcement, and just over nine years since the flagship store opened in 2010. The store’s refurbishment expands the vision put forward by Sheri Dew, the executive vice president of Deseret Management Corporation and CEO of Deseret Book Company."

link to full story

You can purchase this photo of this historic and memorable event below. 

The Deseret Book flagship store located directly across from the Salt Lake Temple was built  nine years ago as part of the City Creek Mall development. Over the past couple of months, the LDS Church completely gutted and remodeled the store. The grand reopening and ribbon cutting ceremony was yesterday. No longer does the Deseret Book storefront look like a bookstore which typically showcases books. Instead, the brand new DB storefront looks like a bakery where it sells Crumbl cookies. From the outside visitors will not know it was a religious bookstore. Maybe sugar was needed to draw people into the store, since religious books might be the thing of the past.

It is interesting to see how things have changed from when Deseret Book first opened it doors. Back in the late 1800's, the storefront of the first Deseret Book advertised that it sold Mormon Publications and Bibles. See below photo. Heaven forbid that the store actually used the word Mormon. 

Deseret Book no longer carries ANY book with the name Mormon in the title. So books that used to be sold like Bruce R McConkie's Mormon Doctrine can only be bought on Amazon. Deseret Book will only sell books with the word Mormon in the title if it has "The Book of" in front of the word. Most of you know that this is due to President's Nelson's request/revelation that using the word Mormon is a victory for Satan. 

Add caption

One more interesting thing about the new Deseret Book's Flagship Store. The store only has ONE entry now. Customers used to be able to enter into the store from South Temple. That door has now been sealed off. This forces the customer to enter in only one way from City Creek Mall side.  When you enter into the store you now realize that it is not just a bakery but they also sell a book. And when I say "a" book, singular, I mean just that, a single book.  A massive display with hundreds of copies of the same book dominates the front entry which makes it appear there is only one book for sell. However if you look to the right you can see a fun children's section with kid books. It is not until you walk deeper into the store that you see all of the other books for sell.  

In addition to the book and cookies, there is a gallery with paintings for sale. A Lot of the artwork for sale is not cheap. Here are some of the price tags.

Undoubtedly, the new store is beautiful. Deseret Book has come along way. I mean what is not to like about eating hot warm Crumbl cookies and looking at beautiful paintings.

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Sidenote:

One more thing about the "One" book that currently dominates in the Deseret Book Store. 

The book exploring the life and teachings of Russell M. Nelson, current President of the Mormon Church, underwent a last minute edit before its public release on April 8, 2019. The publisher, Deseret Book, became aware that the book contained a faith promoting story with material inaccuracies. The story was subsequently removed and the book reprinted in time for its scheduled release.

Excerpts from the book, titled Insights from a Prophet’s Life: President Russell M. Nelson, authored by Sheri Dew, were published in an article found in the March/April 2019 issue of LDS Living magazine.

One excerpt, titled, “You Didn’t Read it, Did You?”, tells the story of a young Nelson who was serving as a surgeon in Korea during the Korean War. While serving, he discussed the Book of Mormon with a nurse on staff, Beverly Ashcraft. He gave her copy of the book only for it to be returned a few days later by her husband, Derwin, a fellow surgeon at the base. Derwin did not express much interest in learning more about the book.

According to Leslie and Katie McKenzie, daughter and granddaughter of Derwin and Beverley that is not what happened. Katie was first made aware of this new version of the story in early March when a family member sent her a screenshot of the article. She showed it to her mother and, when she realized that it was part of an upcoming book, immediately reached out to Deseret Book and LDS Living. She sent both companies a document with annotations pointing out the incorrect information.

Katie was eventually contacted by a representative from Deseret Book and another from LDS Living. The representative from Deseret Book thanked her for bringing this to their attention and that since it was so close to the release date they would just remove the story entirely instead of trying to fix it. The representative told Katie that this would require a reprinting of at least some of the books as the final printing process had already begun.