Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Church did not plan a worldwide gala celebration for President Nelson's Birthday on September 9th. Good thing they didn't. Unlike last year when President Nelson personally invited all to his Birthday gala celebration, this year his birthday was marked by a extremely unusual and devastating Category 2 hurricane-like storm. Starting on the eve of his Birthday lasting throughout his big day, 100 plus mile winds caused destruction and uprooted century old trees around the Temple Square and the Church Office Building as well as up and down the Wasatch Front. Some areas reported actual wind gust of 112 miles an hour which would be a Category 3 hurricane wind.
This is a photo of President Nelson at his Birthday Celebration last year. I had posted more about it HERE
Despite Mother Nature reeking havoc on his birthday, President Nelson sent out a news release this week with a photo of him as a young boy and expressed gratitude for those who sent him Birthday Wishes this week. Here is his text and photo. No mention of the destruction that occurred in the Salt Lake Valley.
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| Russell M Nelson as a young boy |
“Today I am 96 years old! Many years have passed since this photo was taken when I was a young boy, and in those years I have been blessed richly with opportunities to meet and come to love God’s children all over the world. I have also witnessed many miracles and mercies from the Lord.
“Many of you have wished me a happy birthday. I wish to thank you and express my love for all who read this. The Lord loves you, and I am a witness that He is in the details of our lives.”
Also a video tribute has been posted online and members of the Quorum of the Twelve have recently shared their love for President Nelson.
Elder Gary E Stevenson said "Latter-day Saints have been highly favored of the Lord during this time of pandemic as they have received words and counsel from a living prophet...Knowing the calamities that would come upon the world, the Lord called upon President Russell M. Nelson to guide us and help us manage these unique and perilous times."
Elder Ronald A Rasband said, "During these challenges, no one has been better at communicating the will of the Lord to the world than President Russell M Nelson"...The most important prophet, so far as we are concerned, is the one who is living in our day and age. This is the prophet who has today’s instructions from God to us. Therefore, the most crucial reading and pondering that you should do is of the latest inspired words from the Lord’s mouthpiece...Those who look to the watchman on the tower “can notch their fear index down a little, they can drop their anxiety, they can lessen their loneliness to know that this Church is in the hands of the Lord. And He is guiding and directing His Apostles and Prophets.
Sidenote:
A few weeks ago, our Chief Watchmen on the Tower, President Nelson said the following and was printed in the Church News last week.
“Dear friends, the road ahead may be bumpy, but our destination is serene and secure,” he wrote. “So, fasten your seatbelt, hang on through the bumps, and do what’s right. Your reward will be eternal.”
Pretty safe bet to say that things "may" be bumpy.
Um, maybe bumpy? may be that was a misprint. I am no prophet, but I think it would be better to say, The road ahead WILL be bumpy.
No "maybe's" about it.
The weatherman is more prophet than Dr Nelson.
ReplyDeleteWow. That storm seems to have uprooted hundred-year-old, even pioneer-era trees throughout the area. Destroying them and demonstrating how shallow-rooted they actually were. But it's just not going to be the same without their presence. They've been ripped out in a single day and will be thrown away or perhaps burned. The appearances of neighborhoods changes a lot when larger trees are suddenly removed. It can leave long-time residents pretty disoriented, since they are part of the visual queues you develop for recognizing where you are when passing through different areas in town.
ReplyDeleteSeparate from that, Pres. Nelson has made quite a legacy for himself in his short time in office. I'm certain he was happy to celebrate his accomplishments, many of which have been removing time-honored traditions and practices and even the alteration of pioneer era ordinances. The landscape in the L-dS Church seems quite different now, particularly if you haven't been to Church much since Pres. Nelson began his term. You might find it pretty disorienting when you can't find your high priests group class, no longer hear from home teachers, can't go to the temple, and meet in a sparsely peopled chapel with a few scattered people wearing face coverings. You might feel like you came back to a different place.
I’ve tried to figure out the LDS preoccupation with middle initials in leader names...in some cases the initial of the first name. What is up with all those initials?
ReplyDeleteThe wind speed seemed to match non-prophet Nelson's age.
ReplyDeleteI was given this scriptures last year when the 95h birthday celebration happened:
ReplyDelete3 Nephi: 2 Therefore, when ye shall do your alms do not SOUNDS A TRUMPET BEFORE YOU, as will hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
This year it seems the Lord beat him to it, by the sounds of the mighty winds of judgment!
Reading the first part of Isaiah 5, one of the chapters quoted by Nephi, the Lord builds up this land, America, in order to grow fruit (people living the gospel). It produces no fruit, so the whole thing gets torn down.
ReplyDeleteIf Nelson were a real watchman, he'd know this. The storm is literally tearing things down outside while he parties inside. He is no watchman, more like a wolf in sheep's clothing. Maybe more like Nero fiddling while the city burns (or gets blown away, or flooded...)
Have you, by chance, seen the latest Deseret Book catalog?
ReplyDeleteIt features a book titled, "With OUT The Mask". It's about Charlie Bird, a former "Cosmo the Cougar" who came out as gay man.
When did Deseret Book start celebrating sodomy?
Years ago.
DeleteAnd these: (Old Covenants) Isaiah 13:10
ReplyDeleteBy your servants have you reproached the Lord, and have said, By the multitude of my chariots have I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof and the choice fir trees thereof;
(Old Covenants) Job 9:10
He shall be no more remembered, and wickedness shall be broken as a tree. ... They are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of grain.
Hey Donald,
ReplyDeleteI believe the middle initial thing is tied in with the church corporation.
Their full names with middle initials are trademarked. Also seems like a way to put themselves above their flock.