DISASTER CLEANUP AT THE CHURCH OFFICE BUILDING

At the LDS Church Office Building today there was a large team of disaster cleanup workers. All of them had on protective clothing and wearing gas masks. I quickly took this photo before having to leave the area due to health concerns. I assume it was a sewage problem due to the stench.  It is an unfortunate mess (no pun intended). This is a little bit of bad timing since this is a HUGE weekend for Salt Lake City. Tens of thousands of visitors are in town for the NBA All-Star Game. Hope that the Church can get things cleaned up quickly.

Photo taken on February 16, 2023

Sidenote: 

This weekend is also President's Day. In honor of this holiday, in this second part of this blog post I want to write briefly about a few amazing men who have been given the title of President.  

PRESIDENTS: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

THE GOOD INFO

This year we will observe Presidents Day on February 20th. The holiday is now always celebrated on the third Monday in February, thanks to the 1968 Uniform Monday Holiday Act. It was established in 1885 in honor of President George Washington's birthday. Washington's birthday was actually on February 22, 1732. President Abraham Lincoln's birthday, February 12, is also near this date and is often honored on President's day. Washington was the only president unanimously elected. (meaning all of the States Representatives voted for him) I have a great love for Washington and Lincoln.

Both Washington and Lincoln set high bars for any President of the United States to follow after them.

I have for the most part admired and had a deep respect for our United States Presidents 

In 2007,  I read a book that rocked my world.  At that time,  I loved our current President of the United States, George W Bush as well as his father, former President George Bush Senior) I thought that we were justified to attack Iraq due to terrorist attacks on 9-11.  I thought everything was great in the United States. 

All was well in my world. Until I read this book, "Awakening to our Awful Situation- Warnings from the Nephite Prophets."  The book examines the secret combinations happening in our day that the LDS members are warned about by Moroni in Ether 8:23-25.

A quote from the book:

"Indeed the worst kind of evil is not to be found in any single rogue individual. What is much worse is s a combination of power, wherein many evil persons unite their efforts under a central guiding hand - a secret combination."

I learned about a few modern day "secret combinations" that are alive and well  in our society today. Here are a few of them.

• The Federal Reserve
• Council of Foreign Relations (CFR)
• Trilateral Commission
• Bilderbergers
• The United Nations
• Skull and Bones Society

THE BAD INFO

So, when I found out that our current President of the United States was a member of many of these organizations (especially a member of the Skull and Bones Society) I was devastated. What I found so interesting was that President Bush didn't even tried to hide it. 

George W. Bush wrote in his autobiography, "[In my] senior year I joined Skull and Bones, a secret society; so secret, I can't say anything more." When asked what it meant that he and Bush were both Bonesmen, former presidential candidate John Kerry said, "Not much, because it's a secret."

Even the former President George Bush senior was also a member of the Skull and Bones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwJDs1cg9Eo

For those who don't know much about the Skull and Bones, it is also referred to as The Order, or The Brotherhood of Death. It began as an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University. There are only two chapters of this secret society in the United States.  The one at Yale University. and the other is at the University of Utah. Since the organization is extremely secretive, not much can be talked about. (Kind of like how we treat what happens in the LDS Temples)  A few things we do know. the building that they meet in is called The Tomb.  The Skull and Bones's membership developed a reputation with the "power elite."  There  A rare interview was given to a reporter in 2018 in Salt Lake and the article and photo of the interview was published in the Daily Utah Chronicle. Link here:

https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2018/12/04/the-us-secret-society-skull-and-bones/

THE UGLY INFO

George W. Bush is not the only one to write in his autobiography that he was a member of the Skull an Bones. Here is another autobiography of a President. The autobiography is not about a US President, but a different kind of President. Not political President but religious President.

Since I didn't believe this to be true. I called down to the Church History Library  to see if they had any available copies of President Nelson's autobiography for me to read. The Church Library told me that I needed to schedule an appointment to check out the book in the Special Archives since it has been pulled off the public shelves at the request of the author. They called me back after I made an appointment request and they told me that they could not give me access to the book because under the direction of the author, the book is no longer to be circulated. I checked on Amazon to possibly buy the book but was shocked to see that the price was thousands of dollars. The lowest price listed was a used copy selling for 1,600.00 

Fortunately I was able to get access to the special collection library at the J Willard Marriott Library as the University of Utah Campus. They allowed me to take a few photos of the book and the pages I was interested in seeing with my own eyes.

 

It appears on page 48:

Owl and Key is a “senior” level of Skull and Bones. 

Now I realize that some people reading this post might not believe the information, or think it is good to expose such information. I understand that. However, we are commanded to waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness. D & C 123:13

"Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven."

Doctrine and Covenants 123: 13

Addendum:

Some big news today with the church releasing digitized versions of Spencer W. Kimball's personal journals. https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/blog/spencer-w-kimball-journals-now-accessible?lang=eng

The Church announced this week that all of  President Kimball’s journals are now available in the Church History Library catalog under call number MS 21541. Due to the huge quantity of journal pages, it has taken several years since the journals’ donation for them to be ready for access.

Spencer W. Kimball Journals Now Accessible LINK:

https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/blog/spencer-w-kimball-journals-now-accessible?lang=eng

In 1975, President Spencer W. Kimball taught the Latter-day Saints: “Get a good notebook […] a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it. Begin today and write in it”. President Kimball practiced what he preached. For more than 60 years, he kept a detailed journal.

Most of the 34 journals are typed, and many pages include underlining, usually in red pencil with brief annotations and marginalia written in his distinctive hand.

Below is a screenshot of some of President Kimball journal entries in February 1979.

The above yellow highlight addition to the journal was added by Spencer W Kimball's son. For those of you who don't know the definition of 'fulsome"... here is how Webster defines it. 

Fulsome: complimentary or flattering to an excessive degree. Offensive to good taste, esp. as being excessive; overdone or gross.

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Here is the full foreword to President Nelson's autobiography that Spencer W Kimball gave approval to use with his name attached.  It is not uncommon for a foreword to be written by someone else ( a ghost writer) with the permission to use it. But probably very uncommon for the foreword to an autobiography to be written by the actual autobiographer. 

Here is the foreword.

Foreword

This book, the engaging record of the life and experiences of Russell Marion Nelson, is a fulfillment of a great dream. In these pages he has set forth a chronicle of his noble parentage and crystallized the many experiences of himself and his adorable family. This work will bring joy and peace and happiness to its readers.

The first time I saw the Nelson family was at a stake conference meeting in 1964. Eight daughters were singing a song, accompanied by their mother, Dantzel. I was amazed and pleased, and I thought, “What a perfect family! What beautiful parents! And what delightful children to grow up in one household.” I have known them from that time forward, and now there are nine daughters and one son. Brother Nelson has always been a family man first, and now all his family unite to bring him honor.

I owe much to him as a doctor. It was in 1971 in England that I first spoke to him of my heart problems. When we returned to the United States, investigation showed that I had problems with a deteriorating valve in my heart and an obstruction in an artery. I felt my life slipping away, and I wondered if perhaps the time had come for a younger man to enter the Quorum of the Twelve and do the work I could no longer do. But at the inspired insistence of President Harold B. Lee, I was prompted to press on. Therefore, my life was placed in the hands of this young doctor, in whom we noted a sweet Spirituality. Because of his skill as a surgeon—one who trusts in the power of the priesthood and relies on the Spirit of the Lord—my life was spared, even though the risks were very great for a man of my seventy-seven years.

We became close as I recovered from the open-heart surgery that he performed perfectly. Whenever I became discouraged, there was always his sweet, understanding spirit to buoy me up.

Then President Lee died in December 1973. We never thought it could happen, for he was younger than I and seemingly in good health; therefore, we were all taken by surprise. Brother Nelson, of his own accord, came to my side immediately in case he should be needed. I appreciated his thoughtfulness very much...

It pleases me very much to note that he has done a superb work in assembling the information to bring this book into existence...It seems to me that it has been done beautifully and without flaw. Long will his children and their posterity honor this great man, and long will they remember that he followed the precepts of his Lord through his prophets...

President Spencer W. Kimball Salt Lake City, Utah March 1979

 

Is this the Direction the Church and Deseret Book is heading? WOKENESS instead of AWAKENING TO OUR AWFUL SITUATION.

Deseret Book is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It is the publishing arm of the Church and was created back in 1919 when the Deseret Sunday School Union merged with the Deseret News Bookstore. Sheri L. Dew has been the CEO and President of Deseret Book for over 20 years now. Things have really changed over the past 20 years since she has been the CEO. 

Just like the rest of the country, Deseret Book is celebrating the importance of being WOKE. The meaning of Woke is an active awareness of systemic injustices and prejudices, especially those involving the treatment of ethnic, racial, or sexual minorities. For the entire month of February,  Deseret Book's website has a huge splash banner at the top declaring "Deseret Book Celebrates Black History Month." Below is a screenshot after clicking on the Shop Now Arrow. 

Furthermore, If you click on the Search bar, and type in LGBTQ, instead of the search coming up as 0 results found, many books published and distributed by Deseret Book appear. Here are just a few. 

And here is an interesting one. Expanding the Borders of Zion: A Latter-Day Saint Perspective on LGBTQ Inclusion. 

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NOW FOR THE REASON FOR THIS BLOGPOST:

What you will NOT find available on the Deseret Book website or in the Deseret Book stores is the newest book written by Elder Tad R. Callister.    His latest book called America's Choice: A Nation under God or without God? was turned down by Deseret Book to publish and is not even available for sell in the Deseret Bookstores. 

But why? 

I wonder if it is because one of the chapters in the book is called, 

"Has God Spoken about Same-Sex Relations and Marriage"

From the back cover of the book: 

America’s Choice asks, “What is the greatest challenge facing our society today?” The economy, national security, immigration, gun control, poverty, racism, crime, national pandemics, climate change? While each of these is a valid concern and deserves attention, none of them strikes at the heart of our greatest challenge, namely, finding a way to build stronger homes and in the process bringing about a return to family, God, and moral values. To put our prime focus on challenges other than these is to strike at the leaves, not the root of the problem. It is now our choice and America’s choice - to place our trust in the wisdom of God or the wisdom of the world - to be a nation under God or without God. 

I find it so interesting that a book written to warn the American People to help us awake to our awful situation was turned down by Deseret book. Not only to not publish it, but to not even sell it in their bookstore despite Elder Callister being a best selling author who served in the Presidency of the Seventy and was the General Sunday School President. One of his most well known book was  'The Infinite Atonement' was a  landmark book and was a best seller for Deseret Book.