The fact that the LDS Church believes that these are the “last days” of the world is beyond dispute. Even naming our Church after the Latter-days. This doctrine that has been repeated over and over again, by every prophet and leader, through out the history of the LDS Church. Every member understands this doctrine and has been taught since childhood to believe it.
We’ve been taught; “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Pet. 1:19–21) But what prophecies have been hidden from the members of the LDS Church? “There are those of the rising generation who shall not taste death till Christ comes.” (Joseph Smith Jr., April 6, 1843 General Conference)
“Brethren, these are some of the writings with which you should concern yourselves, rather than commentaries that may come from those whose information may not be the most reliable and whose motives may be subject to question. And may I say, parenthetically, most of such writers are not handicapped by having any authentic information on their writings” (Harold B. Lee, in Conference Report, Oct. 1972, 128; or Ensign, Jan. 1973, 106).
The LDS Church since 1820 has had much to say, about the Last Days and the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ, usually focusing not only on the preparation of his advent, but rather on the signs. This focus often has the effect of producing the emotions of fear, doom, and dread – all of them incompatible with love. Jesus taught “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18) It’s ironic but not surprising that the LDS Church requires more of their members to enter the Kingdom of God then Jesus. “v.28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. v.29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. v.30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matt 11:28-30)
Here is a chronological history by the early LDS Church, on the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, and predictions of his coming in the following years: 1846, before 1880, 1881, 1882 after 1884, 1890-91.
1820 The Orson Pratt Journals (August 3rd, 1838) “Mr. Joseph Smith, Jr., who made the following important discovery… was born… on the 23rd of December, A. D. 1805… When somewhere about fourteen or fifteen years old [1820], he began seriously to reflect upon the necessity of being prepared for a future state of existence; but how, or in what way, to prepare himself was a question as yet undetermined in his own mind. He perceived that it was a question of infinite importance, and that the salvation of his soul depended upon a correct understanding of the same. He saw that if he understood not the way, it would be impossible to walk in it except by chance, and the thought of resting his hopes of eternal life upon chance or uncertainties was more than he could endure… [account of the 1st Vision:] he was enrapt in a heavenly vision, and saw two glorious personages who exactly resembled each other in their features or likeness. He was informed that his sins were forgiven… [note: not God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ; but two unidentified personages] And it pleased God on the evening of the 21st of September, A. D. 1823, to again hear his prayers. For he had retired to rest as usual, only that his mind was drawn out in fervent prayer, and his soul was filled with the most earnest desire "to commune with some kind messenger who could communicate to him the desired information of his acceptance with God," and also unfold the principles of the doctrine of Christ, according to the promise which he had received in the former vision… [note: vision not visitation] This glorious being declared himself to be angel of God, [note: not God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ] sent forth by commandment, to communicate to him that his sins were forgiven and that his prayers were heard; and also, to bring the joyful tidings, that the covenant which God made with ancient Israel concerning their posterity was at hand to be fulfilled; that the great preparatory work for the second coming of the Messiah was speedily to commence; that the time was at hand for the gospel in its fullness to be preached in power unto all nations; that a people might be prepared with faith and righteousness, for the millennial reign of universal peace and joy.” (Far West, August 3rd, 1838. Source: Orson Pratt, A Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, and of the Late Discovery of Ancient American Records (Edinburgh, 1840) FACTS IN RELATION TO THE LATE DISCOVERY OF ANCIENT AMERICAN RECORDS http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/OPratt.html )
1820, George A. Smith (September 5, 1855) “Joseph Smith, jun… At the age of 15 [1820] he began to reflect seriously on the necessity of being prepared for a future state of existence… On the 21st September, 1823, while engaged in prayer and striving to exercise faith, the room was filled with light surpassing that of noon day, in the midst of which was a person whose countenance was as lightning, and yet so full of innocence and goodness, and of such a glorious appearance as to banish all apprehension: he was an angel commissioned of God to inform him that the covenants with ancient Israel touching their posterity should soon be fulfilled, and that the great work to prepare for the second coming of Christ should now commence; the fulness of the gospel be made known to all nations; that the native inhabitants of America were a remnant of Israel, who had anciently enjoyed the ministry of inspired men; that records containing their history had been preserved to the period of their national degeneracy, and that those records had been concealed in the earth, and the Lord promised they should soon be revealed...” (The Desert News “Truth and Liberty” G. S. L. City, U. T., September 5, 1855, Vol. V, No. 26. George Albert Smith, Church Historian)
Prefix to the above: The following succinct history of the Prophet Joseph Smith, jun., and of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, was written in March 1855, for publication in the People's Journal, in compliance with a request made by the publishers, Tonsly and Cowin, to President Brigham Young; but inasmuch as it did not appear in that paper, it was, by consent of the author, published in the Deseret News Sept. 5, 1855. Of late there has been much inquiry by strangers and sojourners in relation the history of the Latterday Saints from the "rise of the Church till and subsequent to their location in these Mountain Valleys; and upon suggestion, we have, for the benefit of those thus interested in the matter, thought proper to republish it, correcting a few errors that were inadvertently made in the first instance in setting from the original manuscript.— [Ed. News.] (NOTE: Re-Published 17 June 1865: THE LATTERS-DAY SAINTS' MILLENNIAL STAR, Vol. XXVII, Pub. 17 June 1865, London England, page 66)
1820 (2015 Modern Day Teaching, LDS.org) The Prophet Joseph Smith’s own words about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon: “Sept. 21, 1823. He [Moroni] commenced, and again related the very same things which he had done at his first visit, without the least variation; which having done, he informed me of great judgments which were coming upon the earth, with great desolations by famine, sword, and pestilence; and that these grievous judgments would come on the earth in this generation. Having related these things, he again ascended as he had done before.” (https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/js?lang=eng)
1829 March, “v.1 Behold, I say unto you, … my servant Joseph Smith, Jun. v.2 ...*I, the Lord [Jesus Christ], am God, *v.9 Behold, verily I [God] say unto you, I [God] have reserved those things which I [God] have entrusted unto you, my servant Joseph, for a wise purpose in me [God], and it shall be made known unto future generations; v.10 But this generation shall have my [God] word through you; v.16 And behold, whosoever believeth on my words, them will I [God] visit with the manifestation of my [God] Spirit… v.18 And their testimony shall also go forth unto the condemnation of this generation if they harden their hearts against them; * v.19 For a desolating scourge shall go forth among the inhabitants of the earth, and shall continue to be poured out from time to time, if they repent not, until the earth is empty, and the inhabitants thereof are consumed away and utterly destroyed by the brightness of my [God] coming.” (D&C 5:1-2,9-10,16,18-19) *****NOTE: At this time Joseph Smith was teaching the Trinity. It wasn’t till Joseph met Sidney Rigdon of the Campbellite Faith that his doctrine changed. See: Book of Commandments, Lecture of Faith #5; also read the Q&A at the end of Lecture #5. https://archive.org/stream/latterdaysaintsm01unse#page/122/mode/2up/search/%22latter+day%22
1830 March, "...Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of this world, and that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the Second Coming of the Messiah. " (Book of Mormon, Introduction. https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/introduction)
1830 October, ”v.16 And the Book of Mormon and the holy scriptures are given of me for your instruction; and the power of my Spirit quickeneth all things. v.17 Wherefore, be faithful, praying always, having your lamps trimmed and burning, and oil with you, that you may be ready at the coming of the Bridegroom— v.18 For behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, that I come quickly. Even so. Amen (D&C 33:16-18)
1830 September, “The hour is nigh, and the day soon at hand,… There shall be weeping and wailing among the hosts of men.... I will take vengeance upon the wicked, for they will not repent: For the cup of mine indignation is full…. I the Lord God will send forth flies upon the face of the earth, which shall take hold of the inhabitants thereof, and shall eat their flesh, and shall cause maggots to come in upon them, and their tongues shall be stayed that they shall not utter against me, and their flesh shall fall from off their bones, and their eyes from their sockets…. [T]he beasts of the forest, and the fowls of the air, shall devour them up: And that great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the earth, shall be cast down by devouring fire.” (Book of Commandments, Chapter XXIX: verse 10, 18-24, pp. 62-63)
1830 December 7, “v.15 The poor and the meek shall have the gospel preached unto them, and they shall be looking forth for the time of my coming, for it is nigh at hand. v.26 Lift up your hearts and be glad*, your redemption draweth nigh**. * v.27 Fear not, little flock, the kingdom is yours until I come. Behold, I come quickly.” (Book of Commandments, Chapter XXXVII verse 17, page 77) (D&C 35:15,26-27)
1831 January 5, “v.8 And verily I say unto thee, thine heart is now right before me at this time; and, behold, I have bestowed great blessings upon thy head; v.10 Behold the days of thy deliverance are come… v.11 which I have sent forth in these last days… v.15 Inasmuch as my people shall assemble themselves to the Ohio, I have kept in store a blessing such as is not known among the children of men… v.19 The kingdom of heaven is at hand… v.20 Prepare the way before my face, for the time of my coming; v.21 for the time is at hand… v. 23 and shall be looking forth for the signs of my coming… v.24 Behold I come quickly.” (Book of Commandments, Chapter XLI: verse 8,14,19-20,23, pp. 85-87) (D&C 39:8,10,11,15,19-24)
1831 February, “Prepare for the great day of the Lord…. The day has come, when the cup of the wrath of mine indignation, is full…. The great Millennial reign, which I have spoken by the mouth of my servants, shall come.” (Book of Commandments, XLV: verse 24, 31, 36, pp. 98-99)
1831 March 7, “v.16 concerning the signs of my coming… v.20 And this [Kirtland] Temple which ye now see shall be thrown down that there shall not be left one stone upon another. v.21 And it shall come to pass, that this generation of Jews shall not pass away until every desolation which I have told you concerning them shall come to pass. v.37 Ye look and behold the fig trees, and ye see them with your eyes, and ye say when they begin to shoot forth, and their leaves are yet tender, that summer is now nigh at hand; * v.38 Even so it shall be in that day when they shall see all these things, then shall they know that the hour is nigh. * v.39 And it shall come to pass that he that feareth me shall be looking forth for the great day of the Lord to come, even for the signs of the coming of the Son of Man.” (D&C 45: 16-62)
1831 March 15, [1846 second coming prediction] “… all who believed the new bible [BOM] would see Christ within fifteen years, [15+1831=1846] and all who did not would absolutely be destroyed and dam’d.” (High Priest Martin Harris, The Telegraph, Painesville, OH, March 15, 1831, vol. 2, no. 39)
http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/dbroadhu/OH/paintel2.htm
1831 May 7, “v.5 *Thus saith the Lord [Jesus Christ]; for I am God, and have sent mine Only Begotten Son into the world for the redemption of the world, and have decreed that he that receiveth him shall be saved, and he that receiveth him not shall be damned— v.6 And they have done unto the Son of Man even as they listed; and he has taken his power on the right hand of his glory, and now reigneth in the heavens, and will reign till he descends on the earth to put all enemies under his feet, which time is nigh at hand— v.7 I, the Lord God, have spoken it; but the hour and the day no man knoweth, neither the angels in heaven, nor shall they know until he comes. (D&C 49:5-7) *NOTE: At this time Joseph Smith was teaching the trinity. It wasn’t till Joseph met Sidney Rigdon of the Campbellite Faith that his doctrine changed. See Book of Commandments.
1831 June 4, “I saw Joseph Smith the Prophet when he first came to Kirtland, and was with him in the first conference held in that place, which was in a small schoolhouse. When he arose in our midst he said that before the conference closed there were those present who should see the heavens open and bear record of the coming of the Son of Man, and that the man of sin should be revealed... Lyman Wight, while being ordained to the priesthood by Joseph Smith, prophesied (while Smith’s hands were still upon his head) “that there were some in this congregation that should live until the Savior should descend from heaven, with a Shout, with all the holy angels with him.” *Harvey Whitlock stepped into the middle of the room with his arms crossed, bound by the power of Satan, and his mouth twisted unshapely. Hyrum Smith arose and declared that there was an evil spirit in the room. Joseph said, "Don't be too hasty," and Hyrum sat down. Shortly Hyrum rose the second time, saying, "I know my duty and will do it," and stepping to Harvey, commanded the evil spirits to leave him, but the spirits did not obey. Joseph then approached Harvey and asked him if he believed in God. Then we saw a change in Harvey. **He also bore record of the opening of the heavens and of the coming of the Son of Man, precisely as Lyman Wight had done. ***(Book of John Whitmer, Church Historian p.69–71; 4th Conference Events also josephsmithpapers.org)
1831 June 6, “v.1 Behold, thus saith the Lord unto the elders whom he hath called and chosen in these last days, by the voice of his Spirit— v.11 For thus saith the Lord, I will cut my work short in righteousness, for the days come that I will send forth judgment unto victory. v.36 Let them labor with their families, declaring none other things than the prophets and apostles, that which they have seen and heard and most assuredly believe, that the prophecies may be fulfilled. v.43 But, behold, I, the Lord, will hasten the city in its time, and will crown the faithful with joy and with rejoicing. v.44 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and I will lift them up at the last day. Even so. Amen. (D&C 52:1, 11, 36, 43, 44)
1831 July 17, Polygamy Introduced: “evidence indicates that some of the principles involved in this [Polygamy] revelation were known by the Prophet as early as 1831”(D&C 132 Heading)
“*Verily I [Jesus Christ] say unto you that the wisdom of man in his fallen state, knoweth not the purposes and the privileges of my holy priesthood. but ye shall know when ye receive a fulness by reason of the anointing: For it is my will, that in time, ye should take unto you WIVES of the Lamanites and Nephites, that their posterity may become WHITE, Delightsome and Just, for even now their females are more virtuous than the gentiles. *
Gird up your loins and be prepared for the mighty work of the Lord to prepare the world for my second coming to meet the tribes of Israel according to the predictions of all the holy prophets since the beginning; For the final desolation, and decrees upon Babylon: For, as the everlasting gospel is carried from this land, in love for peace, to gather mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, for Zion,— even so shall rebellion follow after speedily, with hatred for war until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all the kingdoms and nations that strive to govern themselves by the laws and precepts, and force and powers of men under the curse of sin, in all the world.
- Verily I say unto you, that the day of vexation and vengeance is nigh at the doors of this nation, when wicked, ungodly and daring men will rise up in wrath and might, and go forth in anger, like as the dust is driven by [a] terrible wind; and they will be the means of the destruction of the government, and cause the death and misery of man[y] souls, but the faithful among my people shall be preserved in holy places, during all these tribulations.”* (Revelation by Joseph Smith; Polygamy with the Native Americans Indians. 17 July 1831, Jackson Co., Missouri)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_Latter_Day_Saint_polygamy
http://www.utlm.org/images/indianpolygamyp230bshadow.gif
http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/indianpolygamyrevelation.htm
Revelations leading up to this Polygamy (D&C 28:8) (D&C 32: 1-5)
1831 July 20, The Independence Temple was the first temple commanded to be built in this dispensation. [notice how it was changed from “this Generation” to “this Dispensation”] The Temple Lot is located in Jackson County—revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith to be the location of the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve were driven out, they dwelt in Adam-ondi-Ahman. http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/independence/
1831 September 11, Did Joseph Smith prophecy his own down fall? “v.34 Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days. v.35 And the rebellious shall be cut off out of the land of Zion, and shall be sent away, and shall not inherit the land. v.38 For it shall come to pass that the inhabitants of Zion shall judge all things pertaining to Zion. v.39 And liars and hypocrites shall be proved by THEM, and they who are not Apostles and Prophets shall be known.” (D&C 64:29-39)
1831 November 1, Revelation received from the Lord to Joseph Smith: “v.12 Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh.” (D&C 1:9-16)
1831 November 1, “v.37 Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled. v.38 What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.” D&C 1:37-38
1831 November 3, D&C 133 The Saints are commanded to prepare for the Second Coming… come to Zion, and prepare for the great day of the Lord v.17 For behold, the Lord God hath sent forth the angel crying through the midst of heaven, saying: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight, for the hour of his coming is nigh-- v.18 When the Lamb shall stand upon Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, [sounds like the Jehovah Witness] having his Father’s name written on their foreheads. D&C 133:17,18 (Note: Mount Zion is Independence, Missouri)
1831 December 1, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were working on a revision of the KJ Bible when, on 1 December 1831, the Lord called them to go on a mission for a season. The Prophet Joseph Smith recorded: “From this time until the 8th or 10th of January, 1832, myself and Elder Rigdon continued to preach in Shalersville, Ravenna, and other places, setting forth the truth, vindicating the cause of our Redeemer; showing that the day of vengeance was coming upon this generation like a thief in the night; that prejudice, blindness and darkness filled the minds of many, and caused them to persecute the true Church, and reject the true light; by which means we did much towards allaying the excited feelings which were growing out of the scandalous letters then being published in the Ohio Star, at Ravenna, by the before-mentioned apostate, Ezra Booth. On the 10th of January, I received the following revelation [D&C 73] making known the will of the Lord concerning the Elders of the Church until the convening of the next conference.” (History of the Church, vol. 1, p.241)
1832 July, Signs of the Times: “*FOREIGN NEWS. It is a day of strange appearances. Every thing indicates something more than meets the eye. Every nation is opening events, which astonish mankind: Even the heart of man begins to melt at the prospect before it. The unquenchable thirst for news; the continuity of emigration; the wars and rumors of wars, with many other signs of the distress of nations, from the old world, (as it is called across the Ocean) whispers so loud to the understanding, that he that runs may read the label on the Eastern sky: The end is nigh. *
*France is filled with a spirit of rebellion, and when the Cholera was sweeping its thousands, mobs were collecting to slay their tens of thousands. While the hospitals were crowded with the sick, and the groans of the dying filled the air, the fashionable French were holding Cholera Balls [high-society masked charity balls] and dancing at the judgments of the almighty. *
*In England, where an anxious multitude have been waiting for Reformation in government for years, disappointment is destruction. The house of Lords has rejected the Reform bill, and the proud hearted Englishman says-Reform or Revolution! No stop there: for the sound comes across the Atlantic. Reform or ruin! *
All the Kingdoms of the East seem to be preparing to act the part allotted to them, when the Lord rebukes the nations. As on a morning of some, great festival, the church bell, the cannon, the small arms, the music, and the cheers of the multitude, arouse all to what is going on, and thunders to man: Behold the day! so also earthquakes wars, and rumors of wars, the distress of nations, the constant tide of emigration to the West, the wide spreading ravages of the Cholera Morbus, and the joy of the Saints of God as they come out of Babylon, alarms the world, and whispers to every mortal, watch ye, for the time is at hand for the second coming of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of Israel, with peace on earth and good will to man. Watch the signs of his coming, that ye be not deceived.” (THE EVENING AND THE MORNING STAR, Vol. I, Independence, MO. July, 1832. No. 2.) http://www.centerplace.org/history/ems/v1n02.htm
1832 September 22, “v.4 This is the word of the lord… v.5 For verily this generation shall not all pass away until an house [Missouri Temple] shall be built unto the Lord, and a cloud shall rest upon it, which cloud shall be even the glory of the Lord [Second Coming], which shall fill the house. v.31 … which house shall be built unto the Lord in this generation, upon the consecrated spot as I have appointed.” * *[100+1832=1932] D&C 84:1-5,31,32
“v.37 Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled. v.38 What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same. v.37 For behold, and lo, the Lord is God, and the Spirit beareth record, and the record is true, and the truth abideth forever and ever. Amen.” (D&C 1:37-39)
The Lord, speaking through Malachi, said that “he would send his messenger to prepare the way for his coming, and he would come swiftly to his temple.” (Malachi 3:1–2)
"A temple shall be reared in the Center Stake of Zion in the generation in which the revelation was given." (George Q. Cannon, Journal of Discourses, vol. 10, p. 334, October 23, 1864) (D&C 57:1-3)
JST KJ Bible, Matthew 24:34 “Verily I say unto you, this generation, in which these things shall be shown forth, shall not pass away until all I have told you shall be fulfilled.”
1832 September, “Within four years from September 1832, there will not be one wicked person left in the United States; that the righteous will be gathered to Zion (Independence, Missouri,) and that there will be no President over these United States at that time…. I do hereby assert and declare that in four years from the date thereof [1832], every sectarian and religious denomination in the United States, shall be broken down, and every Christian shall be gathered unto the Mormonites, and the rest of the human race shall perish.”
(High Priest, Martin Harris, quoted in Mormonism Unveiled, by Eber D. Howe, Painesville, Ohio, pub. 1834, p. 14)
1832 December 25, Civil War or Second Coming Prophecy: “…thus with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn and with famine and plague, and Earthquake and the thunder of heaven and the fierce and vivid lightning also shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath and indignation and chastening hand of an Almighty God untill the consumption decribed decreed that the cry of the saints and of blood of the saints shall cease to come up into the ears of the Lord of Saboath from the earth to be avenged of their enimies, wherefore stand ye in holy places and be not moved untill the day of the Lord come, for be hold it cometh quickly saith the Lord. Amen” D&C 87:8 http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/changech14.htm
1832 December 27, “v.87 For not many days hence and the earth shall tremble and reel to and fro as a drunken man; and the sun shall hide his face, and shall refuse to give light; and the moon shall be bathed in blood; and the stars shall become exceedingly angry, and shall cast themselves down as a fig that falleth from off a fig tree…” D&C 88:86–116
1833 January 4, (Joseph Smith Prophesied) “by the authority of Jesus Christ that not many years shall pass away before the wicked of this generation will be swept from off the face of the land and the Lost Ten Tribes will be gathered to Missouri, and that The people of the Lord… have already commenced to gather together to Zion, which is in the state of Missouri; therefore I declare unto you the warning which the Lord has commanded me to declare unto this generation…. The hour of His judgment is Come. He exhorts all to Flee to Zion, before the overflowing scourge overtake you, for there are now those living upon the earth whose eyes shall not be closed in death [100+1833=1933] until they see all these things, which I have spoken, fulfilled.” (Joseph Smith, Jr., Jan. 4, 1833, History of the Church, vol. 1, chapter 22, p. 315-316)
1833 January 23, Joseph Smith: "... my father presented himself,... I asked of him a father's blessing, which he granted by laying his hands upon my head, in the name of Jesus Christ, and declaring that I should continue in the Priest's office until Christ comes." (History of the Church, vol. 1, p. 323)
1833 Note: The marriage of Fanny Alger age 16 and Joseph Smith age 28, most likely took place in Kirtland, Ohio sometime in 1833. http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org/ “There is evidence that Joseph was a polygamist by 1831” (D&C 132 Heading) (see July 17, 1831) In all of the Patriarchal Blessings on this list (1833-1840), there is no reference to polygamy or polyandrous relationships; all spouses are singular.
1833 January, SIGNS OF THE TIMES. Signs and appearances are such, that even the most unbelieving dread coming events; and no wonder, for when the Lord comes out of his place to rebuke the nations, all hearts are faint, and all knees do tremble. Every man has a right to do as he pleases, being an agent to himself, but we ardently hope, while such important signs, and extraordinary commotions, as:-
The Cholera spreading over the whole earth;
The plague breaking out in India;
The Revolutions of Europe;
The Dissolution of South Carolina from the Union;
The gathering of the saints to Zion, and
The assembling of the Jews at Jerusalem,
are passing in rapid succession, that some will turn to God and live. Such strange movements of men; such dreadful sickness; oh! such fearful looking for the wrath of God to be poured out upon this generation, together with the evidence of Holy writ, ought to convince every man in the world, that the end is near; that the harvest is ripe, and that the angels are reaping down the earth!
It is certainly a day of dilemmas: The political party that has just been crowned with victory, shudders at the prospect before it. Horror, with all its fearful gloom slackens in one place, and commotion, or rebellion, with all its crimson warnings, reddens in another, showing, if ever there was a time when the sword of the Lord hung by a single hair, over the heads of them that have seated themselves round the feast table, it is now. The man that undertakes to run FROM the pestilence, runs to danger: and he that would leave Europe because her kingdoms are crumbling to pieces, to come to America, beholds the links in the chain of Freedom break, as the new ropes in the hands of Sampson: and he looks, but looks in vain for peace, for the hour is nigh, when it shall be taken from the earth. In the east there is trouble; in the west there is fear; in the north there is no peace, and in the south there is consternation. Well may we exclaim, all things must change: but virtue shall endure forever. (THE EVENING AND THE MORNING STAR, Vol. I. Independence, MO, January 1833, No. 8. http://www.centerplace.org/history/ems/v1n08.htm )
1833 November 7, “About two o'clock the next morning we were called up by the cry of signs in the heavens. We arose, and to our great astonishment all the firmament seemed enveloped in splendid fireworks, as if every star in the broad expanse had been hurled from its course, and sent lawless through the wilds of ether. Thousands of bright meteors were shooting through space in every direction, with long trains of light following in their course. This lasted for several hours, and was only closed by the dawn of the rising sun. Every heart was filled with joy at this majestic display of signs and wonders, showing the near approach of the coming of the Son of God.” (Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt)
1831 August 13, "v.6 Behold, I, the Lord, have brought you together that the promise might be fulfilled, that the faithful among you should be preserved and rejoice together in the land of Missouri. I the Lord, promise the faithful and cannot lie." (D&C 62:6) (See 1833 December 16)
---Read these together---
1833 December 16, “v.16 Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion [Independence, Missouri]; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God. v.17 Zion shall not be moved out of her place, notwithstanding her children are scattered. * v.20 And, behold, there is none other place appointed than that which I have appointed; neither shall there be any other place appointed than that which I have appointed, for the work of the gathering of my saints— * v.21 Until the day cometh when there is found no more room for them [at Independence, Missouri]; and then I have other places which I will appoint unto them, and they shall be called stakes, for the curtains or the strength of Zion. v. 22 Behold, it is my will, that all they who call on my name, and worship me according to mine everlasting gospel, should gather together, and stand in holy places; v. 23* And prepare for the revelation which is to come, [second coming] when the veil of the covering of my temple, in my tabernacle, which hideth the earth, shall be taken off, and all flesh shall see me together.”*** (D&C101:16,17,20-23) NOTE: This revelation was given one month after being expulsed from Jackson Co., MO. Nine years later Joseph Smith declared "The whole of America is Zion from North to South" (History of the Church, Vol. 6, p. 318). Brigham Young declared that Zion was, "...at the City of the Great Salt Lake, in the valleys of the Mountains, in the settlements of Utah Territory." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 2, p.253) Why does God keep changing his mind; did he lie?
1833 December 18, Hyrum Smith received two patriarchal blessings, one from his father, Joseph Smith Sr. and one from his brother, Joseph Smith Jr. Hyrum Smith “…Thou shalt live to see thy Redeemer come in the clouds of heaven and thou shalt lift up thy head with gladness and (have?) the holy throng with uplifted hands. Thou shalt stand before Kings and Rulers and bear testimony of the Lord…” (Given by Joseph Smith Sr.) Hyrum Smith “…when he is in trouble and great tribulation has come upon him, he shall remember the God of Jacob and he [God] shall shield him from the power of Satan. …power shall be upon him that in his old age his name may be magnified on the earth. Behold he shall be blessed with an abundance of riches of the earth: gold, silver, and treasures of precious stones, of diamonds and patina. His chariots shall be numerous and his cattle shall multiply abundantly: horses, mules, asses, camels, dromedaries, and swift beasts…” (Given by Joseph Smith Jr. in Kirtland, December 18, 1833 and recorded September 1835. Oliver Cowdery, clerk and recorder. http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/blessing-for-hyrum-smith-circa-15-28-september-1835 )
Note: Hyrum didn’t stand before Kings and Rulers, with a abundance of riches of the earth, he didn’t live to an old age, he didn’t see the Redeemer come; instead he died un-shielded by God in the Carthage Jail, June 27, 1844. (Carthage Trial)
1834, The Church changed its name to The Church of the Latter Day Saints; omitting Jesus Christ altogether. Was it because of the teaching of the 1890 second coming? Manifesto on Polygamy: Since 1840, The Church fought the US Government over the polygamy issue. Were the Saints waiting for the second coming to resolve this issue? (An Address to All Believers in Christ, David Whitmer, Richmond, Missouri, pub. 1887)
1833 Book of Commandments; now known a D&C. “Church of Christ”
http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/book-of-commandments-1833?locale=eng&p=5
1835 Doctrine and Covenants “Jesus Christ name was removed”
http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/doctrine-and-covenants-1835?locale=eng&p=9
1834 April 3, “v.1 Verily I [Jesus Christ] say unto you, my friends, I give unto you counsel, and a commandment, concerning all the properties which belong to the order which I commanded to be organized and established, to be a United Order, and an everlasting order for the benefit of my church, and for the salvation of men until I come [Second Coming].” (D&C 104:1) The United Order did fail and was disbanded, and it’s been over 180 years and Christ still has not returned.
1834 circa August, DEAR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS. [Citizens of Painesville, Ohio]
“I might… bear testimony to the things I believe and feeling, as I do, the importance of warning my fellow men to prepare themselves for the great day of the Lord, or in other words, for the second coming of the Son of Man, has induced me to endeavor by a letter to show, that that day is near at hand; and that it is necessary to be prepared to meet the Son of God when he shall appear in the clouds of heaven… Now, I will attempt to show, that the day of the Lord: the coming of the Son of God, is near at hand: probably he will make his appearance in the clouds of heaven within the present generation…” [100+1835=1935] Edward Partridge” [Presiding Bishop]
BISHOP PARTRIDGE'S LETTER. Time and space forbid lengthy comments on this production. It was forwarded us last August, with a request to either publish it, or forward the manuscript to the Hon. S. ROSA, of Painesville. On examination, we thought that it was an article fraught with so much necessary intelligence, that it could not fail to interest our patrons. With this letter we received another, requesting us, (should we publish it,) to give it entire in one number.-Till now we could not devote the space. And though it has been long written, it has not lost any of its important truths, nor will it fail, if carefully examined, to impress the reader with a reverence toward God, and an anxiety to be prepared for his coming. Bishop Partridge is well known to the individual addressed, and to the citizens of Painesville, among whom he formerly resided; and we cannot but believe, that that intelligent community will treat with due respect, and appropriate credence, this plain, easy, consistent, and unvarnished relation of truth, from their former fellow-citizen. (Editor, Oliver Cowdery) ('THE LATTER DAY SAINTS' MESSENGER AND ADVOCATE. Vol. I, No. 4, Kirtland, Ohio, pub. January, 1835, edited by Oliver Cowdery, And published by Frederick G. Williams. http://www.centerplace.org/history/ma/v1n04.htm )
https://archive.org/stream/latterdaysaintsm01unse#page/56/mode/2up/search/%22latter+day%22
1834 August 16, Joseph Smith’s letter to Lyman Wight, Edward Partridge, John Corrill, Isaac Morley, and others of the High Council of Zion: “But in case the excitement continues to be allayed, and peace prevails, use every effort to prevail on the churches to gather to those regions and locate themselves, to be in readiness to move into Jackson county in two years from the eleventh of September[1836] next, which is the appointed time for the redemption of Zion.” (Smith, History of the Church 2:145)
1834 Aug. 24, DEAR BROTHER, [William A. Cowdery] I find many who are willing to acknowledge that God is pouring out judgment upon the earth, in our day; but few will admit that he has revealed it to man. This I conclude, is because they deny the possibility of prophets in these last days; for Amos said (3:7) that, "Surely the lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret to his servants the prophets." So, admitting that the cholera is a judgment sent by the Lord to chasten or rebuke the world, which thousands do, they must admit one of two things: Either God has prophets in these last days unto whom he reveals "his secrets," or Amos was no true prophet; but spake lies in the name of the Lord. Because, if this sickness is a judgment, it certainly was once a secret, to men, not yet unfolded for either their instruction or correction…
We are aware that there are various complaints and diseases common to various countries and climates, these, though never considered by the world at large to be special judgments, sent by the hand of the Lord, it may strictly be said are his rod to humble men…
Go to the other places of which I have mentioned, and you find this to be the case. Visit the far south, and the yellow fever, with other disorders, come periodically, and take from the earth their thousands; but no agues, nor consumptions. Such has been the course pursued by a Maker with his creatures, during our day, and for generations gone-by; but no mention of the cholera. Why not? men were the same, formed of the same materials, and residing in the same climates.
It is said, that this disease first made its appearance at Jessore, about 100 miles south of Calcutta, (India,) in August, 1817. To mark its rapid progress, as it laid desolate villages and cities, would cause one's bosom to be pained for the afflictions of men! We can scarce form an estimate of its ravages in that remote country for 12 or 13 years. Towns were depopulated, and countries laid waste as the angel of death marched forth to execute his commission! till it spread from the gulf of Tartary to the Mediterranean sea! A once favored land, where light and knowledge beamed from the regions of glory to illuminate the path of men, though long since sunk in darkness, once more felt the chastening hand of God.
In 1830 the Destroyer began to execute his work in Europe, and the first, it is said, who were doomed to suffer by him, were the inhabitants resident at the mouth of the Volga on the Caspian sea. Soon, you know, desolation marked his course over Europe, and by his hand many, very many, were removed from time. In May, or June, 1832 he set foot upon our shores.-The people of Quebec felt the scourge, and soon a great part of the continent were groaning under the affliction. I have marked its progress these two years with some minuteness. In 1832 it spread from the North to the South; in 1833 it carried thousands to their long homes in the South and West, far West, and in 1834 it comes, like a "strong man armed!" and extends in rapid strides from South to North! What can stay this mighty Destroyer in his course? can the skill of men who have, for their whole life, studied the secrets of disease to render usefulness to their fellow-men? No! the wisdom of the wise falls useless, while the ocean, the fortress, "the high tower," the lofty mountains, streaked with pearling streams, with mighty rivers rolling to seek their equilibrium, are also rendered no place of security!-he flies o'er oceans, he walks o'er countries, he spreads terror and dismay in all ranks and conditions of men, and scatters the "seeds of death" in all climates, to execute his great commission, till, in fact, it is, as the prophet said should be, a vexation only to hear the report!
I have, myself, passed through towns, cities, and villages, as well as sections of our country, where hundreds were, by him, snatched from time to eternity, in an hour. I have seen the effects of his desolating march and witnessed the pale countenances of men who were just touched with his finger, and left as monuments of his power, with fallen cheeks and sunken eyes! I have seen the bereaved husband, the fatherless child, and the disconsolate widow, and others whose faces wore a settled gloom, and when met in the streets, would start as from a revery of death, or a converse with departed friends! Nor do I presume that my eyes have witnessed a beginning of what others have experienced. But I will assure you, that a thinking man's mind will be occupied with no ordinary reflections, to walk in the house of death, and to be surrounded by a power sent from God to chasten the world! In truth, it will awaken every faculty of the soul, and call forth the strictest scrutiny of one's religion, to know whether he is prepared to meet the judgment, if he has not faith to stand. Amid this mighty contagion, or, not properly contagion, but desolation, one will stand with feelings of reverence when he knows that it is a scourge of the Almighty; and as he reflects upon the system on which his hope is based, he will stand with fearless contemplation, and say, This is no less than the power of God to prepare the way for his advent in glory!
The first season after the Destroyer visited our land, you will recollect to have seen almost all denominations of people professing the religion of heaven, assembling for prayer and fasting to turn away the scourge. The several Governors in whose respective States the afflicting angel came, were very careful to make mention of the same in their messages to the Legislatures; and what is still more interesting here to be observed is, that they acknowledged that it was a judgment, a special judgment…
...I am informed by some of your previous communications, that the church in your place and vicinity numbered over sixty. This is pleasing intelligence to us: we are not, as Paul said some would be in the last days, "unthankful;" but on every remembrance of his mercy, (and we desire not to be unmindful,) we give thanks. Yours truly. OLIVER COWDERY. (To W. A. COWDERY, THE EVENING AND THE MORNING STAR, Vol. II, Liberty, Mo., Aug. 24, 1834, No. 24, http://www.centerplace.org/history/ems/v2n24.htm)
1834 September, ADDRESS TO THE PATRONS OF THE EVENING AND THE MORNING STAR. While looking at this church as it was four years since, or a few months previous to that time, the mind starts with astonishment, and the reflection arises in an instant, What will be its end? If, in the short space of four years its numbers have increased to thousands; if, in the midst of unparalleled persecution and opposition (considering the form of government under which it exists) it has spread from one side of the continent to the other; if, where bigotry has walked undisturbed, and superstition held an unmolested sway; if, in an age when iniquity abounds, and the love of men waxes cold, it has pursued its steady course, and found way to the hearts of multitudes, what will be its standing when half a century shall have passed away? If, amid every slander imaginable, and every calumny possible, it has gained its hundreds and thousands, what will be its influence, and what its numbers when the world shall know the purity of its doctrines, the perfection of its principles, and the honesty of its followers? If, amid false representations, and wicked insinuations of men of corrupt hearts, accusing this innocent body of usurpation, disloyalty, and treason, it has still progressed, and among the honest, found advocates, what will be the sound of the flocking to its communion of men of all nations, when a little time shall pass over, and the beauty and excellence of its religion shine in the face of all people, and the framers of these reports be exposed to the just reproach of an abused public, and the hail shall have swept away the refuge of lies?
In the commencement of this church, and we perfectly recollect the assertions, it was prophesied that one year would terminate its existence! One year, and all would see the "delusion," and be convinced of the "deception!" But one, yes, four have passed, and yet it stands! When persecution raged in one place; when the regions of darkness emitted its whole band of infernals, and when wrath poured from the lips of men upon the heads of the Saints that they could not endure, they have fled where they could be protected, while the influence of truth was still operating upon hundreds elsewhere; the servants of the Lord heard with attention; God manifesting himself in mercy, and the Holy Spirit bearing record of HIS "marvelous work," the church of Christ has received into its bosom the pure in heart, and angels have borne the joyful tidings to the regions of glory!
Many have strove to prevent the true knowledge of the principles of our religion from being introduced into the ranks of men to be investigated with candor, by slandering the characters of those who were advocating them, endeavoring thereby to rivet the fetters of superstition and ignorance upon their followers with a firmness which defies all power to unlock them, thus preparing them to be consumed when the great day of burning comes, because their own systems could not stand the strict scrutiny of truth contained in those sacred records which teach men to forsake the corruptions of the world, for the wiser course and richer reward promised therein! But if such have not become convinced of their weakness yet, after pursuing in a path which brings no joy, a season longer, perhaps they may abandon it. Whether they do or do not the purposes of God will be accomplished. While one man has cried "delusion," another "false prophets," and a third has reported a long catalogue of falsehoods of his own making, to blast the characters of men whom he never saw nor had a spark of evidence against, the fourth has seen the iniquity of the whole, and the first opportunity, with a thankful heart, embraced the gospel and rejoiced in the assurance manifested by the Spirit of the Lord?
On occasions like the present the mind naturally goes back to the starting point, or period when the world first heard the sound of the fulness [fullness] of the everlasting gospel in these days; when a few only were to be found on earth who had stepped forward into the new covenant, and proved by an experimental knowledge the word of an apostle to be true, "He that lives godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." However various may be the opinions of men, no one thing is more certain than this: In a corrupt generation, when the Lord spake to man, those hearing and obeying that voice, always have suffered reproach and abuse. It may be said that false systems as well as true ones have suffered their share of persecution, and that this is not a correct way to judge what is right and what is not. The Savior was persecuted, the apostles were persecuted, the church in the days of Nero and his successors, for a season, was persecuted, the Waldenses and others were persecuted, the Baptists and Quakers in New England were persecuted, the followers of Anna Lee, Jemima Wilkinson, and others were also persecuted, and were we to say that all who have been persecuted for their religion's sake were equally correct, would be to rank them in one general mass and seat them down in the same kingdom, partakers of the same joys and blessings: for, if the word of the Lord is true, all are blessed who are persecuted for his sake. How then shall we determine who are correct, since so many have been persecuted? The Savior was true, or we are yet in our sins, our faith is vain, and our bodies destined to be prisoners to the grave forever! But did he persecute? did his saints after him? if he nor they did not, unless it can now be proven from his word that the principle is correct, this fact is established, that those who persecute are the children of "that wicked one." From these items, without saying that this one is correct or incorrect, who have been persecuted for their religion, if ever a fact did exist, or a truth sound from heaven in the ears of man, those who have persecuted this church to which we have a privilege of being a member, reproachfully and slanderously called "Mormonite," are, as has just been said, of their father the devil, and if they ever had communion or fellowship with the Lord they have forsaken his house, left his fold, and like wandering stars, filthy dreamers, or beasts of corruption, abandoned to be taken and destroyed in their own wickedness!
Since June, 1832, various changes have been noticed by the observing mind, and particularly by the man who is looking for the fulfillment of the words of the ancient prophets [second coming], as well as the declarations of the Lord Jesus. Abroad he has witnessed one calamity follow another, and one desolation march in quick succession in the train of a former, until nations have felt their weight, and kingdoms, contries [countries], and wide spread empires, withered at the touch of the judgments of the Lord. War, with its horrors and distresses, has summoned its thousands to appear before the great tribunal; the same spirit of ambition and thirst for power has been previlent [prevalent] among the great; the weak have been destined to relinquish their claims of authority by combinations of different kingdoms; the yoke of oppression has alternately passed into the hands of different masters; the low and oppressed have struggled in vain for freedom, while time, in its same rapid and mighty course, has been bringing near and more near the august period when the sun is to become as sackcloth of hair, the moon turn to blood, the stars fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven be shaken!
No man, in his sober senses, with the word of God in his hand, can reflect one moment upon these scenes without being filled with awe! In distant lands, now abandoned to darkness, where human beings bow down and worship the work of their own hands, and call for assistance upon a block of wood of their own carving, have also felt the sting of pestilence, the angel of death, and the calamity of war! Whose heart, then, when gazing upon the finger of Omnipotence, as it moves creations round, and orders all things for the accomplishment of his own purposes, will not be touched with reverence as he thus sees the glorious era hastening on when the redeemed, yes, the ransomed of the Lord shall be assembled, his elect gathered home, wickedness and corruption destined to dwell in their own place, while peace and joys everlasting crown the blessed?
Said the Lord: "You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars." But our friends often say, that since Noah the same has been heard, and the end is not yet. Said the Lord: "There shall be earthquakes in diverse places." But say the world, earthquakes have desolated countries and kingdoms centuries previous, and the end is not yet. If there is not a particular meaning attached to each of these assertions, why were they ever spoken? Unless the Savior had his mind upon the future period, which should roll on in its course, and bring these sayings to the fullest degree of plainness to be understood, why did he speak them? Did HE not know that the inhabitants of the earth had experienced the calamity occasioned by the march of war? Did HE not know that his followers were acquainted with the fact, that others before them had felt the hand of justice and judgment in the desolations of earthquakes? Eighteen hundred years have passed since these words [of the second coming], were spoken; war has succeeded war; blood has flowed after blood; the cry of the widow and orphan has saluted the skies; man has invariably followed the same course, and the world exists, the elements remain, and the end is not yet! Century has slept after century; wickedness has borne its accustomed sway; the great deceiver has blinded and led captive his millions; truth has fled, virtue ceased, righteousness failed from off the earth, and the boaster against God has raised his head in blasphemies, from age to age, and the end is not yet! Truly spake an ancient apostle, when he said they would say, "Where is the promise of his coming?" The earth has rolled round; the different worlds have continued to move in their regular order; the sun is still brilliant; the moon shines upon earth, and the end is not yet!
Thus passes the world along-unwilling to acknowledge the hand of God in his providences, while pestilence stalks at their doors, and the waster consumes at mid-night; the plague devouring its thousands, & the destroyer performing his desolating march in the sight of all; the voice of the Most High heard from his holy habitation, and the angels flying in the midst of heaven; the earth just on the eve of rocking to and fro like the waves of the great ocean, and eternity filled with pain for the corruption of man; the holy messengers from above holding the four winds while he that holds the keys seals the servants of God in their foreheads; the warning voice going forth for all to be READY, and the light of truth illuminating the hearts of the poor, lest when HE comes faith shall not be found; the signs of his near approach beginning to be manifested, by tokens which are not to be misinterpreted, and the hearts of many ready to receive the admonition-Prepare! the church, the bride, the Lamb's wife adorning herself with her beautiful attire, and decking herself with the wedding garments, making all things ready for the word-He comes! and anxiously waiting the glorious period when the everlasting doors, even the gates of the celestial city shall again be lifted up, that the King of glory may descend to be crowned Lord and KING OF ALL!
But the scenes abroad are not all which have transpired since 1832 to awaken the studious mind to reflection. At home he has found a field for meditation, calculated to arouse the intellect and call up the words of the ancient prophets, to see whether they, in the midst of their heavenly visitations, touched upon a period when perplexity and strife should rack the systems and inventions of the wise, as at this day. We have seen this liberal government tossed to and fro by the ambition of men; the great principles of union and social compact severed at a touch, and war, civil war, with all its horrors, threaten us with desolation! "Rumors of wars" have surely come upon us! We have seen men professing the religion of heaven rise up against their neighbors "to put them to death!" We have seen a community composing a part of this government defy law, despise justice, and tread upon the innocent because they were weak! We have witnessed mob after mob rise up in our most populous cities, and towns, and trample upon good order with the reclessness [recklessness] of the savage! Yes, we have seen more! The Destroyer has set foot upon our shores, and summoned thousands to their "long homes!" His march has been rapid, and his path has proven his commission! Amid calamities like these we can only say to all, while these scenes are transpiring, and new ones are bursting upon us, let us be ready, for HIS coming is near!
OLIVER COWDERY. (THE EVENING AND THE MORNING STAR, Vol. II, Kirtland, Ohio, September, 1834, No. 24, http://www.centerplace.org/history/ems/v2n24.htm)
1834 Nov. 25 v.4 And again, verily I say unto you, the coming of the Lord draweth nigh, and it overtaketh the world as a thief in the night. v.5 Therefore, gird up your loins, that you may be the children of light, and that day shall not overtake you as a thief. D&C 106:4–5
1835 February 1st, (Letter written by Orson Pratt to:) “Brother Oliver Cowdery, Brother Barns and myself [Orson Pratt] preached twice in the court house at Brookville, Indiana. We were kindly received by the people of that village, and were solicited to tarry longer, but we could not conveniently: it was the first time the people in that place had heard concerning the principles of our faith, and it was somewhat marvelous to them, perhaps rendered more so in consequence of a short debate which lasted about three or four hours, principally upon the second coming of Christ. Brookville Feb. 1, 1835.” (THE LATTER DAY SAINTS' MESSENGER AND ADVOCATE. Vol. I. No. 6. Kirtland, Ohio, pub. March. 1835. http://www.centerplace.org/history/ma/v1n06.htm )
1835 Feb. 14, [1891 second coming prediction] "President Smith then stated that the meeting had been called, because God commanded it; and it was made known to him by vision and by the Holy Spirit it was the will of God that those who went to Zion [Independence, Missouri] with a determination to lay down their lives, if necessary, should be ordained to the ministry, and go forth to *prune the vineyard for the last time, or the coming of the Lord, which was nigh; even fifty-six years [56+1835=1891] should *wind up the scene…” The Three Witnesses laid their hands upon Lyman E. Johnson, and gave a blessing; in the name of Jesus Christ… and he [Lyman] shall live until the gathering is accomplished.... and shall see the Savior come and stand upon the earth with power and great glory… (HOC, vol. 2, chapter 12, p.188) Josephs brother, William Smith's blessing stated: "He shall be preserved and remain on the earth, until Christ shall come to take vengeance on the wicked" (HOC, vol. 2, chapter 12, p.191) Heber C. Kimball's blessing was… That he might receive visions; the ministration of angels, and hear their voice; and even come into the presence of God… that angels may waft him from place to place, [Earth-Moon-Sun-Planets] and that he may stand unto the coming of our Lord.” {Orson Hyde's Blessing: …that he shall stand on the earth and bring souls till Christ comes. …he shall have power to smite the earth with pestilence; to divide waters, and lead through the Saints; he shall go from land to land, and from sea to sea; he shall be like one of the three Nephites. (Mellennial Star, vol. 16, page 206 The word shall was changed to may when reprinted in HOC, vol. 2, chapter 12, p.191)} (Joseph Smith, Feb. 14, 1835, History of the Church, vol. 2, chapter 12, p.182-91) Note: *The phrases prune the vineyard & the winding up is used in many of the Patriachal Blessings given by Joseph Smith Sr.
1835 Feb. 14, Several men were blessed by Joseph Smith Jr. and the three witnesses, including Brigham Young, and Heber C. Kimball, that they would “see the Saviour come and stand on the Earth with power and great glory,” and “live until the gathering was accomplished.” Brigham Young was blessed to “go forth and gather the Elect preparatory to the great day of the coming of the Lord” (Minutes, Kirtland, Ohio, 14–15 Feb. 1835; handwriting of Warren Cowdery; in Minute Book 1, pp. 147–154; CHL.)
1835 Feb 14, [1881 second coming prediction] Oliver B. Huntington's: On the 14th of Feb. 1835, Joseph Smith said that “God had revealed to him that the coming of Christ would be within 56 years,” which being added to 1835 shows that before 1891 and the 14th of Feb. “the Saviour of the world would make his appearance again upon the earth and the winding up scene take place.” In connection with this event, was related by my brother Dimick Huntington, the fact that when Joseph and Hyrum Smith submitted in their feelings to consent to give themselves up to the state mob at Nauvoo Illinois, after they had passed the Mississippi River. Joseph said "if they shed my blood it shall shorten this work 10 years.” That taken from 1891 would reduce the time to 1881 which if the true time within which the Saviour should come much must be crowded into 6 years. (Oliver B. Huntington, Autobiography II: 129 (Typescript, BYU Special Collections)) [10-1891=1881]
NOTE: When you see the word ZION in the below patriarchal blessings; this is referring to Independence, Missouri.
1833-1840 Joseph Smith Sr. gave Patriachal Blessings to some forty recipients, who were told they would not die before the second coming of Jesus Christ! Oliver Cowdery notes: The following are patriarchal blessings pronounced upon those named, by president Joseph Smith sen. on the 27th day of August, 1835. There were many blessings given previous to these, but the book not being obtained until a few weeks since, it would be difficult to arrange all the blessings as they were pronounced: indeed this would be impossible as many retained their blessings in their own hands, not yet having handed them in to be recorded. All that I shall observe in recording blessings hereafter is, to give their several dates. This however will not be possible always, as the clerks have not been particular to note the day and the month. One remark is necessary: It will be seen, that in the commencement of this record, I noticed that the first meeting was opened by prayer: this order is strictly observed in all patriarchal meetings, either by the one pronouncing the blessings or one whom he appoints. (October 7, 1835. Oliver Cowdery. Recorder. [Patriarchal Blessing Book 1:16])
1835 circa March, Charles B. Thompson, “For if thine enemies cast thee into the fire, the flames shall not harm thee; and if need be that thou pass through the waters, they shall part hither and thither, at thy command; and thou shalt pass through on dry land. And thou shalt have power to waft thyself on the wings of the wind as it were, from place to place, and from nation to nation. And thou shalt even have power to translate thyself to Heaven if thou desirest it… And thy right of inheritance in the land of Zion is secured unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, to the latest generation. And if thou desirest it thou shalt live on the earth, till the coming of the Son of Man in his glory, to sit upon the throne of his power, when the Lord of hosts shall reign over all flesh, in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem…” (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840)
1835 April 30, Jonathan H. Hale, “Thou shalt speak forth marvelous things, and mountains shall flee before thee, rivers of water shall be turned out of their courses, and waters shall be divide at thy word, if necessary… for thou shalt speak the words of God in power. Thou shalt have power to remain in the flesh and stand when the Lord unveils His face, and thou shalt receive a crown of Celestial Glory in the Kingdom of thy God…" (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840) [Note: In 1891, Johnathan would be 101]
1835 May 4, Isaac Morley, *“Thou shalt live to see the heavens open and see thy God in the flesh… Thy days shall be many, and thou shalt yet do great good in the cause of thy God. And if thou wilt desire it, thou shalt have thy desire,- thou shalt live to see the Son of Man come in the clouds of heaven, and the **winding up scene of this generation… ***[100+1835=1935] Thy wife shall also be blessed and receive an equal portion with thee: she shall be faithful in prayer, and if thy children are afflicted with sickness in thy absence, she shall have [Priesthood] power to heal them by the prayer of faith…” (Oliver Cowdery, Clerk and Recorder. Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840) [Note: In 1891, Isaac would be 107]
1835 May 4, Edward Partridge,“Thy name shall be sealed among the sanctified; The Lord will preserve thy life till a good old age, and thou shalt also live to see the heavens opened, for thou hast desired this thing, and shalt see the Son of man in the flesh… Thy wife shall be blessed also and receive the desire of her heart; she shall have night visions and thereby know of thy welfare in thine absence… Thou shall live to see the redemption of Zion and rejoice upon the goodly land.” (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840)
1835 June 7, Burr Riggs, “Thou shalt be mighty: the heavens shall be opened unto thee while thou art in the flesh, and thine shall behold the upper worlds; and thou shalt stand upon the earth, in the flesh, when the Savior comes… Thou shalt have power over thy enemies, and if need so be thou shalt have power to call down fire from heaven and destroy them, so as thou mayest be delivered out of their hands; for none shall have power over thy life to take it away, unless thou shalt choose to lay it down thyself. Be faithful and thou shalt see the winding up scene of this generation. [100+1835=1935] Amen. (F. G. Williams. Clerk. Oliver Cowdery, Recorder.) (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840) [Note: In 1891, Edward would be 104]
1835 August 27, Martin Harris, “Thou shalt stand upon the earth when the kingdoms of this world shall rend, and the kingdom of heaven come down, if thou art faithful; for, if thou art faithful, thou shalt know Christ more perfectly, for thou shalt see him and converse with him face to face…” (Oliver Cowdery, Clerk and Recorder) (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840) [Note: In 1891, Martin would be 104]
1835 July “Is The End Near?” by Oliver Cowdery, LDS Messenger and Advocate, July, 1835, pp. 149,150. https://archive.org/stream/latterdaysaintsm01unse#page/148/mode/2up/search/%22latter+day%22
1836 November The Latter Day Glory
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1836 December 15, Lorenzo Snow, “thou shalt have power to translate thyself from one plannet [planet] to annother [another] - power to go to the moon if thou shalt desire it. Power to preach to the spirits in prison - power like Enoch to translate thyself to heaven, - thou shalt have power to rend the vail [veil] of heaven and see Jesus standing at the right hand of his Father. Theare [There] shall not be a mightier man on Earth than thou… The diseased shall send to thee their handkerchiefs and aprons and by thy touch their owners shall be healed… *If it be expedient the Dead shall rise and come forth at thy bid[d]ing even those that have long slept in the dust shall come foarth [forth] to life. Thou shalt have long life thou shalt live to the age of Moses yet not be old, for old age shall not come upon thee, the vigor of thy mind shall not be abated and thy vigor and strength of thy body shall be preserved. Thou shalt have power to stand in the flesh and see Jesus come in the clouds, no power shall take thy life so long as it shall be useful to thy fellow men. Thou shalt preach the gospel so long as theare [there] shall be an ear to hear or an heart to believe… **Thou shalt sit in council with the one hundred and forty four thousand ***[sounds like the Jehovah Witness] and shall stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion and shall be able to sing thy song.” (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840) [NOTE: My grandfather was named after Lorenzo also his grandson!]
1837 January 3rd {Wilford Woodruff made no profession of faith until 1830, his life was not devoid of religion. From reading the Bible he had felt that “the Church of God would be re-established upon the earth’ and that he should live to see it.” (History of Wilford Woodruff, Deseret News, 7 July 1858, p 81) On 29 December 1833 he heard the preaching of two Mormon Elders… and two days later was baptized… The Third Journal Book of Wilford Woodruff, January 3, 1837: “there being two vacancies in the first quorum we were chosen to fill them, President Aldrich ordained Elder M. Holmes to this appointment & pronounced great blessings upon his head. President Zebedee Coltrin ordained me as a member of the first seventy & pronounced great blessings upon my head by the spirit of prophecy & revelation some of them I will mention which are as follows… I should heal the sick, cause the blind to see, the lame to leap as an heart, the deaf to hear, stop the mouths of lions & raise the dead to life & waft myself as did Phillip from river to river from sea to sea & from continuant to continuant for the purpose of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ & that I should stand before Kings & Princes & that they would send for me to receive wisdom knowledge & instruction at my mouth because they considered me wiser than themselves, in like manner as the Egyptians sought wisdom at the hand of JOSEPH and that God would give me a multiplicity of blessings that I should preach to the nations of the earth & to the inhabitants upon the islands of the sea & that I should then return & stand upon Mount Zion in the Flesh even in Jackson County, Missouri at the Coming of Christ & that I should be caught up to meet him in the clouds of heaven, for he [President Zebedee Coltrin] said this was the word of God unto me & also that I should visit COLUB [Kolob] & preach to the spirits in prison… & that their would be still greater blessing pronounced upon my head…”} (Journal of Wilford Woodruff, Jan. 3, 1837 also see The Kirtland Book of Wilford Woodruff, by Dean C. Jessee)
1837 February 22, Willard Richards, “Thou shalt become mighty to the pulling down the strong holds of Satan, and building up the Redeemer's kingdom in the Last days…Thou shalt have great possessions, for the treasures [treasure seeking] of the earth shall be at thy command… Death shall have no power over thee, for thou shalt tarry and behold thy Redeemer coming in the clouds, and shall see him in the flesh; shall have power to bring thy kindred into the kingdom, who shall acknowledge thee a man of God…” (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840)
1837 April 13, Wilford Woodruff, “Yea the Lord of Glory shall appear unto thee. Thou shalt put thy hands upon his feet and feel his wounds with thy hands that thou mayest become a special witness of his name… Thou shalt stand in the flesh and see the winding up scene of this generation. [100+1837=1937] *Thou shalt remain on the earth to behold the Savior come in the clouds of heaven. Thou shalt be **numbered with the 100 & 44.000 ***[sounds like the Jehovah Witness] *that shall stand upon Mount Zion and sing a song… Thou shalt have access to the **treasures hid in the sand ***[treasure seeking] *to assist thy necessities. An angel of God shall show thee the **treasures of the earth ***[treasure seeking] that thou mayest have riches to assist thee in gathering many orphan children, to Zion... No power shall stay thee, at thy word the winds shall be stayed, Thou shalt walk upon the waters. At thy command the waters shall be divided… (Journal of Wilford Woodruff, April 15, 1837 1:142) (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840)
1837 Circa, Gad Yale, “thou mayest… have power to save thy family and to bless thy children, that the blessings of heaven may attend them to the end, that they may receive an inheritance in Zion. Thy life shall be long and thou shalt see the Redeemer come in the clouds… and it shall be kept by the power of God unto the coming of the son of man, and thou shalt see the Redeemer in the flesh, and know that he is, and thy soul shall be filled with the love of God. Thou shalt win thousands by thy ministry and bring them to Zion. spotless and present them to the lamb…” (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840) [In 1890 Gad will be 106 years old]
1837 April 15, Jesse Turpin, *“Thou shalt have power to call down fire from heaven, and if it be necessary it shall consume thine enemies… Thou shalt stand in the flesh and see Jesus come in the clouds of heaven. Shall **stand among the hundred & forty four thousand ***[sounds like the Jehovah Witness] and sing their song: nothing shall be withheld from thee…” (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840)
1837 April 15, Alexander Lyon, “God will bless them [your children] and give them an inheritance in Zion: thyself also shall have an inheritance in the city of Zion… In the name of Jesus thou shalt work mighty miracles among the children of men… angels shall minister to thee and instruct thee into the mysteries of the kingdom… Thou shalt see great things done in the earth, Thou shalt see the salvation of the righteous and the destruction of the wicked. Thou shalt stand in the flesh and see Jesus.” (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840)
1837 May 20, Daniel Carter, *“The blessing of God shall fall on thy posterity. Thy children shall be blest. They shall stand with thee in the covenant. They shall have a residence in the City of Zion. They shall have with thee an inheritance in Zion. They shall become mighty men in the earth. They shall stand with the Savior on Mount Zion. If thou art faithful in keeping the commandments of God, **thou shall stand in the flesh when the Lord Jesus shall come in the clouds of heaven with Power and great glory.” ***(Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840)
1837 May 23, Henry Harmon, “The destroyer shall not have power over thee to take away thy life. Thou shalt behold the Son of God while thou dost stand in the flesh and if thou dost seek it with all thy heart, thou shalt stand on the earth to behold the Savior come in the clouds of heaven, and be caught up to meet him, and thou shalt see the end of the wicked. Thou shalt have an inheritance among the sanctified in the flesh and a seat in the celestial kingdom in eternity.” (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840)
1837 May 27, James Marvin Adams, *“Thou shalt see the mighty Power of God in the earth, [and]shalt see the accomplishment of his design and work. **Thou shalt stand in the flesh with the One Hundred and Forty Four Thousand ***[sounds like the Jehovah Witness] that shalt stand with the Lamb upon Mount Zion. Thou shalt please God. No Power on earth shall hold thee back. The powers of the upper world shall be upon thee. If thou desirest it thou shalt have power to translate thyself.” (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840)
1837 June 13, Sister Flora Jacobs, “thou shalt have [Priesthood] power over thy children, [Priesthood] Power over their hearts and conduct [Priesthood] power over them in sickness thou shall have [Priesthood]authority to lay thy hands on thy children when the Elders cannot be had and they shall recover diseases shall stand rebuked The Lord will give thee long life… Thou shalt have a place in a stake of Zion shalt have a residence in the city of Zion, *thou shalt have the treasures of the earth shalt have many Servants & maid… **if thou hast desired to tarry in the flesh to see the winding up scene of this generation ***[100+1837=1937] that desire shall be given thee, *if thou hast **desired to see thy Savior it shall be granted thee.” ***(Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840)
1837 June 27, Aaron Johnson, “Thy understanding shall be perfect. You shall conquer the enemy and gain power over the world, the flesh, and the devil. Thou shalt be great in the eyes of the great men of this generation – thou shalt be a councilor – thou shalt have power over thy kindred flesh and rejoice with them. (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840)
1837 July 17, Lyman Clisby, “ thy life Shall be lengthened out to thee thou mayest tarry [illegible] See the Savoir come in the clouds of heaven to see the winding up scene of this Generation [100+1837=1937] thou mayest have the ministering of Angels they shall instruct thee into the mistries [mysteries] of the kingdom.” (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840)
1837 July 17, Sister Hannah Clisby, “let her have vigour of body & mind til the Savior Shall come in the clouds of heaven let angels stand with her… I say unto thee Sister thou mayest have posterity, in Zion for Generations to come*, thy years Shall be many, thou shalt live to see the great things of God,** yea Sister thou mayest stand in the flesh and see the winding up scene of this generation.* [100+1837=1937] See thy Savior come in the clouds of heaven.” (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840)
1837 July 22, John Pack, “Thou Shalt behold thy Savior Come in the Clouds of heaven with Pour [Power] and great glory… Thou Shalt Stand with the lamb thou Shalt belong to the one hundred and forty four thousand [sounds like the Jehovah Witness] that Shall Stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion Thou Shalt have Pour [Power] over Treasures hid in the Sand. [Treasure seeking] (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840)
1837 July 22, Sister Julia Ives Pack, “ Thou Shalt be able to stand on the Earth in the flesh and behold the winding up Scene of this Generation thy heart will mourn on the account of the Destruction of Innocent Children Erelong thou shalt See great Destruction in the Land thou must hold up by faith, Thou shalt have an Inheritance in Zion.” (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840) [Julia was given all of the same powers as her husband. The Pack’s blessings are a must read!]
1837 September 14, Letter written; “To the Saints scattered abroad, the Bishop and his Counselors of Kirtland send greeting. “Whereas… The church of Kirtland has, therefore, required at the hand of our beloved brethren Joseph Smith jun. and Sidney Rigdon Presidents, whom God has appointed to preside over the whole church, and the persons to whom this work belongs, that they should go forth, and lay off other stakes of Zion or places of gathering, so that the poor may have a place of refuge, or places of refuge, in the day of tribulation which is coming swiftly on the earth. N. K. WHITNEY, R. CAHOON, V. KNIGHT. Palmyra Portage Co. Ohio, Sept. 14th, 1837.” (THE LATTER DAY SAINTS' MESSENGER AND ADVOCATE, Vol. III, No. 12, KIRTLAND, OHIO, SEPTEMBER, 1837. http://www.centerplace.org/history/ma/v3n12.htm )
1837 October 2, William McClerry, *“I feel that thou hast not been very visious [vicious] & wicked in thy Life the Lord is willing that thou shouldest live Long in the earth & enjoy the things of the earth, **Thou Shalt live to se[e] the winding up s[c]ene of this generation, ***[100+1837=1937] to See Jesus Christ come in the clouds of heaven with power & Great Glory, thou Shalt Stand in the flesh with one hundred forty & four thousands [sounds like the Jehovah Witness] and sing their song” (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840) [Note: In 1891, William would be 104]
1837 December 5, Sister Roxanna Freeman, “no power shall take this blessing from thee – …Thou and thy Posterity shall be guests at that Portal which the Saviour shall preside, at his comeing – If thou wilt exercise faith in God, and in his word, thou shalt stand in the flesh at that time – standing in the presence of the Holy ones – Yea with the sanctified ones on Mount Zion in the presence of the Lamb. I dont say unto thee Sister, but that thou mayest full- Yet thou shalt stand, in the flesh with thy Saviour, when he shall Preside at that great and last feast.” (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840)
1837 December 13, Noah Packard, “The destroyer shall not have power over the[e] to take thy life because of the sealing power… Thou shalt have power to rais[e] the dead, Mothers shall rejoice, having their children raised from the dead, and presented to them… thy seed shall have an inheritance in Zion and shall see the Glory of God. Thou shalt stand when the Earth shall real to and fro like a drunken man. yea in that day when God shall bring forth all his saints; and if thou desirest it with all thy heart thou shalt have have power as Elijah, to waft thy self to Heaven thou shalt not sleep in the dust for God looks upon the[e] and loves the[e]. The Angel of his presents [presence] shall watch over the[e] and thou shalt stand in the flesh upon Mount Zion with the hundred forty and four thousand [sounds like the Jehovah Witness] and sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Thou shalt stand as the saviour of many souls on Mount Zion, and they shall rejoice in the presence of the lamb.” (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840)
1837 December 13, Sophia Packard, “I confirm upon thee all the Power of the Priesthood as much as can be upon thy sex. Thou mayest Call God thy father for thou shalt have faith to heal the sick when thy children are sick thou mayest lay thy hands upon them in faith and they shall recover. Thou shalt have all things that is expedient if thou wilt exercise faith in God. Thy Children shall be blest from Generation to Generation and shall be a blessing unto the[e] in the absence of thy Companion they shall all stand with thee in the covenant and household of faith Thou shalt live till thou art satisfyed with life. and shall see the Temple reared even in Jackson County and thou shalt see the Cloud rest upon it and the glory of God fill the house and shall be satisfyed and desire to Go hence and be with Jesus… *Thou mayest live to see the **fall of this Generation ***[100+1837=1937] when wickedness shall be swept from the Earth.” (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840)
1838, [1888-1893-1898 second coming prediction] Apostle Parley P. Pratt: "…all who will not hearken to the Book of Mormon, shall be cut off from among the people; and that too, in the day it comes forth to the Gentiles and is rejected by them... the remnant of Jacob [i. e. American Indians and certain Mormons] will go through among the Gentiles and tear them in pieces, like a lion among the flocks of sheep. Their hand shall be lifted up upon their adversaries, and all their enemies shall be cut off. This destruction includes an utter overthrow, and desolation of all our Cities, Forts, and Strong Holds -- an entire annihilation of our race, except such as embrace the Covenant, and are numbered with Israel... Now, Mr. Sunderland.... I will state as a prophesy, that there will not be an unbelieving Gentile upon this continent 50 years hence; [1888] and if they are not greatly scourged, and in a great measure overthrown, within five or ten years from this date, [1893-1898] then the Book of Mormon will have proved itself false" (Mormonism Unveiled—Truth Vindicated, by Parley P. Pratt, p. 15) Note: This tract was reprinted in the book “Writings of Parley P. Pratt,” but this entire prophecy was deleted without any indication.
1839 January 27, Charles W. Hubbard, “thou shalt look and see the Redeemer… “That thou hast seen Him… thou shalt live to see the Savior come while in the flesh…and shall live to see the winding up scenes of this generation [100+1839=1939] and shall be crowned with Celestial Glory.” (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840)
1839 June 2, Signs of Second Coming Have Commenced: “Men profess to prophesy. I will prophesy that the signs of the coming of the Son of man are already commenced. One pestilence will desolate after another. We shall soon have war and bloodshed, the moon will be turned to blood. I testify of these things, and that the coming of the Son of Man is nigh, even at your doors. If our souls and our bodies are not looking forth for the coming of the Son of Man; and after we are dead, if we are not looking forth, we shall be among those who are calling for the rocks to fall upon them. JOSEPH SMITH” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, by Joseph Smith. Compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith, Church Historian. DHC--Documentary History of the Church. Section Four 1839-42, p.160) (JOD vol. 6 p. 239)
1839 July 7, “Following the setting apart of the Twelve for their mission to England and the instructions of the First Presidency to them: Reflections-- Surely this is an important day to behold a quorum of Twelve Apostles of the Lamb of God organized in these last days to go forth unto all the nations of the earth to prune the vineyard once more for the last time, that the Saints may be prepared for the Second (Coming) of Christ, and that Israel may be gathered and Babylon fall and the earth once more cleansed from its pollutions, and wickedness swept from the face thereof.” (Journal of Wilford Woodruff, July 7, 1839)
1840 April 1, [1890 second coming prediction] In the early rise of this Church, it seemed that some of the elders believed that the second coming of Christ was near at hand, and in a few years the Savior would come to his people and take vengeance and the nations be wasted away and be destroyed and especially this nation. Some prophesied that in ten years there would not be an unbeliever in some of our large cities. At the April General Conference, 1840, the Prophet Joseph, while speaking of some of the elders on this matter said they were mistaken; the Lord would not come in ten years; no, nor in twenty years; no, nor in thirty years; no, nor in forty years, and it will be almost fifty years before the Lord will come. [50+1840=1890] (Lunman Shurtliff Autobiography, 1807-1847, BYU - special Collections Library, page 44; LDS Historical Library)
1840 July 4, George Miller, *“thou mayst tarry until the winding up scene and then be numbered with the **hundred-and-forty-and-four-thousand ***[sounds like the Jehovah Witness] that stand upon Mount Zion.” (Patriachal Blessings by Joseph Smith Sr., between 1834-1840) [Note: In 1891, George would be 106]
1841 March 24, “To The Saints Abroad: The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, anxious to promote the prosperity of said church, feel it their duty to call upon the saints who reside out of this county, to make preparations to come in, without delay, This is important, and should be attended to by all who feel an interest in the prosperity of this the corner stone of Zion [Independence, Missouri]. Here the Temple must be raised, the University be built, and other edifices erected which are necessary for the great work of the last days; and which can only be done by a concentration of energy, and enterprise. Let it therefore be understood, that all the stakes, excepting those in this county, and in Lee county, Iowa, are discontinued, and the saints instructed to settle in this county as soon as circumstances will permit. Joseph Smith.” (Joseph Smith, City of Nauvoo, Hancock Co., Ill., March 24th 1841. Times and Seasons. "Truth Will Prevail." Vol. 2 No. 15, City of Nauvoo, Ill. June 1st, 1841 http://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v2n15.htm )
1842 Feb. 2, Francis Moon, letter to the editor: “Cheer up! thou poor despondent saint, thou who art sometimes ready to say "My Lord delayeth his coming." Wait patiently a little longer and he whom thou lovest not having seen, shall suddenly come to his temple and will wipe off thy tears, pour joy and gladness into thy troubled breast and place a crown of everlasting felicity upon thy immortal brow.” (FRANCIS MOON, Pittsburgh, Pa. Feb. 2nd 1842. Times and Seasons, "Truth will prevail." Vol. III, No. 10, City of Nauvoo, ILL. March, 15, 1842 http://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v3n10.htm )
1842 March “We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory. Joseph Smith.” (#10 Article of Faith pub. March 1842, Times and Seasons, vol. 3, pp. 709-710.)
1842 April 11, From the Dollar Weekly Bostonian: We have the pleasure to lay before our readers the following letter from Elder Freeman Nickerson, the presiding elder of the church of Latter Day Saints in Boston, who believes, to use his own words, that "wickedness will soon be swept from the earth, and that the day of universal righteousness will set in during this generation, when our offices shall all become peace, and our exactions righteousness:" (Freeman Nickerson (Presiding Elder), Boston, April 11, 1842. Times and Seasons, Edited by Joseph Smith, "Truth will prevail", Vol. III. No. 14. City of Nauvoo, ILL. May 16, 1842 http://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v3n14.htm )
1842 May 14th, To the Editor of the Daily Ledger: *“I request the citizens and authorities of the city of Boston, to open a house for the servant of the people, that the Lord hath sent to this city to **warn the people of the destruction which will *take place in this generation, that is now on the earth, ****[100+1842=1942] and teach them how they may escape, and come through and abide the day of the second coming of Christ, to reign on the earth a thousand years. Quench not the spirit, despise not prophesying, prove all things, hold fast that which is good.” (Freeman Nickerson (Presiding Elder), Nauvoo, May 14th, 1842. Times and Seasons, Edited by Joseph Smith, "Truth will prevail", Vol. III. No. 14. City of Nauvoo, ILL. May 16, 1842 http://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v3n14.htm )
1842 June 8th, [before 1880 second coming prediction] From the Dollar Weekly Bostonian: “MR EDITOR, Having attended the lectures lately delivered at the Boylston Hall by Mr. [George J.] Adams, *the Mormon lecturer of the city of New York, who has just returned from England where he has been for the last fifteen months declaring what he calls "the glories of the new and everlasting covenant," I thought a short review of said lectures would prove interesting to the readers of your valuable paper; and I have no hesitation in saying that Elder Nickerson has made a decided hit in getting Mr. Adams to assist him at this time, as the large, intelligent, and attentive congregations that have attended to hear his lectures fully prove. *
On Sunday [June 5th] Mr. Adams lectured on the second coming of Christ, and gave much light on that subject, showing that it would take place before this present generation shall pass away. He proved also, if the Bible is true, that the second advent must take place before 1880… He also declared, as it was in the days of Noah, so now God had called a prophet, viz. Joseph Smith, to warn this generation to prepare for the coming of the Son of Man, and labored to show the injustice of destroying any generation without first warning them… A LOVER OF TRUTH. Boston, June 8th, 1842.” (TIMES AND SEASONS, Edited by Joseph Smith. "Truth will prevail." Vol. III. No. 17, CITY OF NAUVOO, ILL. July 1, 1842. http://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v3n17.htm )
1842 Oct. 17, Olive Green, Ohio, “Elder John P. Greene informed us that while he was absent from us, passing through Huron county, he stopped at a temperance house, where, after making himself known, he was politely invited to preach on Sunday, the Presbyterian meeting house; which circumstance proved to be one of the anomalies of this generation; he preached on Saturday night to a few persons. …The minister, Mr. White, was present. On Sabbath morning at an early hour the house was crowded with people. Mr. White wished to know what course he should pursue, and then stated what he desired, which was to hear what was the faith of the Mormons, and wherein they differed from the popular sects of the day. -Brother Green assented to his proposition: he then arose and presented to the congregation the object, and called for an expression of the people to know if they would hear him, Mr. White, in his ordinary way, or hear the stranger [Elder Green]; upon which a unanimous vote was given for the stranger, who then presented unto them the scriptures of the Old and New Testament as being full of prophets, prophesyings, and revelations to be fulfilled in the last days, which are the days of this generation, and proposed to show from the scriptures that these things will be literally fulfilled…” (TIMES AND SEASONS, Edited by John Taylor, CONFERENCE MINUTES, Vol. IV. No. 3, City of Nauvoo, ILL. Dec. 15, 1842 http://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v4n03.htm )
Note: “After the Smiths were killed, John P. Greene supported the succession claims of James Strang, but Greene died in the midst of the succession crisis. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) alleges that Greene was "martyred by poison ... for disclosing that James Strang was appointed by Joseph Smith."
1842 November 17, Nauvoo, Letter of Orson Spencer “My Dear Sir, …there is not a more contented and cheerful people to be found. Families will consent to let father and brother go out to preaching, when their daily bread is barely supplied for a few months. Believing as we do, that these are the last days, and that signal matters await this generation: and that the harvest must be gathered soon, if at all, you must not marvel if we do not all at once become rich, and build large houses, and enclose productive farms.-If riches were our object, we might readily gratify the most ambitious grasp. We possess every facility for being rich; but we long to behold the beauty of the Lord, and inquire in his holy Temple.”
[Brother Spencer is a graduate of Union College, New York, and has for many years had a respectable standing as a minister in the "Baptist Church; and as he is generally known in the New England States, we presume that the above logical and conclusive expose of our principle, will be read with interest, by his numerous friends, and by all the Saints. John Taylor, Editor] (TIMES AND SEASONS, Edited by John Taylor, "TRUTH WILL PREVAIL" Vol. IV. No. 4., City of Nauvoo, ILL. Jan. 2, 1843 http://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v4n04.htm )
1843 February 14th, “REMARKABLE PHENOMENON. A letter from an officer in the U. S. Army, dated Fort Leavenworth, Missouri, 20th March 1842, states, that on the 14th of February, at 3 o'clock, A. M. 'the moon, which had been obscured by a cloud of some hours, burst forth in a deep blood-red color, with a black cross of equal proportions over the face, extending beyond the rim; while on the two sides small pieces of rainbow were visible. After continuing in this way for about an hour, the color of the moon changed to its ordinary hue, and the cross became a silvery white, with the edges extending beyond the rim, and touching the rainbows...” (TIMES AND SEASONS, edited by John Taylor, "TRUTH WILL PREVAIL" Vol. IV. No. 13, City of Nauvoo, ILL., May 15, 1843 http://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v4n13.htm )
1843 March 1, “To the Editor of the Weekly [Boston] Bee: Dear Sir, …Curiosity led me to their [Mormons] meeting at the Boylston Hall. …from which the speaker descanted at considerable length; and I must say I never heard a more able sermon. …Joe Smith is a Prophet chosen of God to lay the foundation and be instrumental in carrying on the great work. That this Gospel must be preached unto all people before the second coming of Christ, which from the signs of the times it is expected will be in this generation… [1843+100=1943] A Seeker after Truth.” (TIMES AND SEASONS, edited by John Taylor "TRUTH WILL PREVAIL" Vol. IV, No. 8, CITY OF NAUVOO, ILL. March 1, 1843 http://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v4n08.htm )
1843 April 2, [1890 second coming prediction] William Clayton records an important meeting at Benjamin F. Johnson’s home in Ramus (later named Macedonia), Illinois on April 2, 1843. This entry later became D&C 130: 14-17 v.14 I was once praying very earnestly to know the time of the coming of the Son of Man, when I heard a voice repeat the following: * v.15 Joseph, my son, if thou livest until thou art eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man; therefore let this suffice, and trouble me no more on this matter.* v.16 I was left thus, without being able to decide whether this coming referred to the beginning of the millennium or to some previous appearing, or whether I should die and thus see his face. v.17 I believe the coming of the Son of Man will not be any sooner than that time…” D&C130:14-17
1843 April 6, [1890 second coming prediction] Eight years later (See 1835 February 14) Joseph reinforced this statement in General Conference, Beginning April 6th, 1843. Saturday afternoon session. [Conference re-assembled at three o'clock, p. m.]
{…Urim and Thummim. This earth in its sanctified and immortal state, will be made like unto crystal and will be a Urim and Thummim to the inhabitants who dwell thereon, whereby all things pertaining to an inferior kingdom, or all kingdoms of a lower order, will be manifest to those who dwell on it; and this earth will be Christ's. Then the white stone mentioned in Revelation II: 17, will become a Urim and Thummim to each individual who receives one, whereby things pertaining to a higher order of kingdoms, will be made known; and a white stone is given to each of those who come into the Celestial Kingdom, whereon is a new name written, which no man knoweth save he that receiveth it. The new name is the key word… [Temple Work] see 1843 April 2, D&C130:6-11}
-- Continue --
THE PROPHET ON THE SECOND COMING OF THE CHRIST.
*“If I had not actually got into this work and been called of God, I would back out. But I cannot back out: I have no doubt of the truth. Were I going to prophesy, I would say the end [of the world] would not come in 1844, 5, or 6, or in forty years. **There are those of the rising generation who shall not taste death till Christ comes. ***[100+1843=1943]
I was once praying earnestly upon this subject, and a voice said unto me, My son, if thou livest until thou art eighty five years of age, [i.e., December 1890] thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man. I was left to draw my own conclusions concerning this; and I took the liberty to conclude that if I did live to that time, He would make His appearance. But I do not say whether He will make his appearance or I shall go where He is. I prophesy in the name of the Lord God, and let it be written--the Son of Man will not come in the clouds of heaven till I am eighty-five years old. Then read the 14th chapter of Revelation, 6th and 7th verses--"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come." And Hosea, 6th chapter, After two days, etc.,--2,520 years; which brings it to 1890. The coming of the Son of Man never will be--never can be till the judgments spoken of for this hour are poured out: which judgments are commenced. Paul says, "Ye are the children of the light, and not of the darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief in the night." It is not the design of the Almighty to come upon the earth and crush it and grind it to powder, but he will reveal it to His servants the prophets.
Judah must return, Jerusalem must be rebuilt, and the temple, and water come out from under the temple, and the waters of the Dead Sea be healed. It will take some time to rebuild the walls of the city and the temple, &c.; and all this must be done before the Son of Man will make His appearance, There will be wars and rumors of wars, signs in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, the sun turned into darkness and the moon to blood, earthquakes in divers places, the seas heaving beyond their bounds; then will appear one grand sign of the Son of Man in heaven. But what will the world do? They will say it is a planet, a comet, &c. But the Son of Man will come as the sign of the coming of the Son of Man, which will be as the light of the morning cometh out of the east.”
Choir sang a hymn.
Prayer by W. W. Phelps.
Adjourned at six p. m., until tomorrow morning.
Friday, 7. Conference convened at ten a. m.
Singing, prayer by Elder Orson Hyde, and singing… End Quote
(Joseph Smith, Jr., Apr. 6, 1843, History of the Church, v. 5, chapter 17)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prophecies_of_Joseph_Smith
1843 April 6, [1890 second coming prediction] “Joseph said when he was asking to know of the time of Christs second Coming he obtained for answer my son if thou shalt live until thou art Eighty five years old thou shalt see the son of man on Earth. Joseph was born in Sharon, Windsor County Vermont Dec 23, 1805. He is therefore now 37 years old last Dec which leaves 48 years yet to transpire until the time of Promise that Joseph should see Christ.” (Franklin D. Richards "Scriptural Items")
1843 April 6, [1890 second coming prediction] “I prophecy in the name of the Lord God.--& let it be written. that the Son of Man will not come in the heavens till I am 85 years old, 48 years hence or about 1890.--the Read 14 Rev. 6 verse another angel fly in the midst of heaven; for the hour of his judgment is come. to extermination--from commencement. commence when angel commences preaching this gospel 1 day--1000 years. 1000 years as 1 day.--41 yrs 8 months.-- only 6 years from the voice, saying. if thou live till thou art 85. years old. Hosea 6th chapter after 2 days &c 2520 years which bring it to 1890.--the Son of man never will be, never can be till the judgments spoken of for this hour are poured out, which judgments are commenced. (Joseph Smith diary, Williard Richards) http://www.boap.org/LDS/Parallel/1843/6Apr43(2).html#N_2_
1843 April 6, [1890 second coming prediction] <about [the second] coming.> If I had not actually got into this work, & been called of God, I would back out, but I cannot back out,— I have no doubt of the truth. were I going to prophecy. I would procpesy [prophesy] the end will not come in 1844. or 5— or 6 or 40 years more, there are those of the rising generation who shall not taste death till christ come. <I was once praying earnestly upon this subject. and a voice said unto me.> My son, if thou livest till thou art 85 years of age, thou shalt see the face of the son of man. <I was left to draw my own conclusions concerni[n]g this &,> I took the liberty to conclude that if I did live till that time Jesus <he> would make his appearance.— <but I do not say whether he will make his appeara[n]ce, or I shall go where he is.—> 159 I prophecy in the name of the Lord God.— & let it be written. <that the> Son of Man will not come in the heavns till I am 85. years old 48 years hence or about 1890.— [John] Taylor says [Christ will come in] 45 years according <to>— bible recokoning. the coming of the Son of man never will be, never can be till the judgm[en]ts spoken of for this <hour> are poured out, <which Jud[g]ments are commenced.—> Paul says (1 Thessalonians 5:2, 4–5.) ye are th[e] children of the light & not of the darkness, that that day should not overtake us as a theif in the night. — it is not the design of the Almighty to come upon the Earth & crush it, & grind it to powder.— he will reveal it to his servants the prophets. <O, lord, where—> Joe Smith.— Joe Smith.— &c <whare—> <O.> away up on the top of the top less throne aha. <&c—> Jerusalem— <must be> rebuilt. <Judah return. must return> & the temple— water come out from under the temple— the <waters of the> dead sea be heald.— <it will take> some time to build the walls & the temple. &c & all <this must be done before—>Son of Man <will make his appence [appearance]>. wars & rumours of wars. signs in the heavens above on the earth beneath— sun turnd into places, oceans heaving beyond their bounds.—166 <then> one grand sign of the Son of the son of man in heaven.— but what will the world. do? they will say it is a planet. a comet. &c— conseq[u]ently the son of man will come as the sign of coming of the son of man. <is> as the light of the morni[n]g cometh out of the East.— (Joseph Smiths Journal March 10, 1843 – July 14, 1843 See images 2, 80-84)
1844 March 10, Joseph Smith again mentioned the second coming. This sermon was recorded by several of those who heard it: "While enquiring of the Lord concerning the End of time, it was made known to him by the Holy Spirit… that the Revelation of the Son of Man from Heaven, would not be in this year, nor the next; and he would say to his Millerite friends, that it would not be in forty years to come. He uttered all this in the name of the Lord, and said we should go home and write it." (John S. Fullmer) http://www.boap.org/LDS/Parallel/1844/10Mar44.html
1844 March 10, [1884+ second coming prediction] “The Savior will not come this year. nor 40 yrs to come.” (Willard_Richards) http://www.boap.org/LDS/Parallel/1844/10Mar44.html
1844 March 10, [1884+ second coming prediction] *“But I take the responsibility upon myself to prophesy in the name of the Lord, that Christ will not come this year as [William] Miller [Founder of Seventh-day Adventist Church] has prophecyed… **I also Prophecy in the name of the Lord that Christ will not Come in forty years ***[1884+] & if God ever spake by my mouth he will not in that length of time & Jesus Christ never did reveal to any man the precise time that he would come, go & read the scriptures & you cannot find any thing that specified the exact time he would come & all who say so are fals teachers.” (Wilford Woodruff Journal, March 10, 1844. http://www.boap.org/LDS/Parallel/1844/10Mar44.html )
1844 May 12, “The scripture is ready to be fulfilled when great wars, famines, pestilence, great distress, judgments, etc., are ready to be poured out on the inhabitants of the earth.” (History of the Church, 6:364, by Joseph Smith, May 12, 1844, in Nauvoo, Illinois; reported by Thomas Bullock.)
1845 [1885-95 second coming prediction] Parley P. Pratt predicted that by 1945 workers building a LDS temple in New York City would erect it on the ruins of the former metropolis, and that they would find some gold and silver coin of the old Government of the United States*. “In digging for the foundation of our new Temple in the 124th city of Joseph, near where it is supposed the City of New York once stood, a large square stone was taken from the ruins of some building which, by a seam in it indicated more than mere stone. The seam being opened, disclosed a lead box about six by eight inches square. This box was soon found to contain several daily papers of its time, together with some coin of the old Government of the United States. It will be recollected that all the inhabitants of this city which were spared from calamity, were `slung out when the earth was turned upside down,’ some forty or fifty years ago, [1945–50=1895] for their wickedness.”* (Peter Crawley, The Essential Parley P. Pratt, 1990 ed., p. 142 http://signaturebookslibrary.org/essential-parley-p-pratt-12/ )
1845 July 15, The Latter-Day Saints Millennial Star, No.3, Vol.6; THE LAST DAYS pages 33-35
SIGHS OF THE TIMES, pages 158-160
1845 Dec. 15, “The Great Proclamation of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to all the Kings of the world, to the Presidents, Governors, Rulers, and People of all nations… The saints… must be already aware that they are conjointly engaged in a work, on the accomplishment of which hang important events; and, also that, according to the testimony of the ancients who have spoken of it, but little time is to be given for its fulfillment… This proclamation is of vast importance to the Saints of God, to the whole Gentile world, as well as to all the house of Israel. It is made in fulfillment of the commandments and revelations of God of both ancient and modern times, being an invitation and call to the Gentile nations to receive the gospel of Christ, and come to the assistance of the saints in carrying out the great principles and plan of salvation, and the accomplishment of that work which will end in the coming of Messiah, and great preparation of the marriage supper of the Lamb. Such a call and proclamation is necessary, in order that the present generation may be left without excuse, as the great events of the last days are being fulfilled. In all ages of the world, when the cup of the iniquity of any people was full, and the Lord was about to bring his judgments upon them, he has first sent a warning voice amongst them that all might have a chance of escape and be left without excuse… This proclamation bears testimony to the nations of the earth that the kingdom of God has come, as has been predicted by the ancient prophets, and prayed for in all ages, even that kingdom which shall fill the whole earth and stand forever.” WILFORD WOODRUFF. (TIMES AND SEASONS. "TRUTH WILL PREVAIL." VOL. VI, NO. 19, City of Nauvoo, ILL. Dec. 15, 1845. http://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v6n19.htm )
1854 April 2, [1904 second coming prediction] Jedediah M. Grant, counselor in the First Presidency, instructed elders to look *"for some flaming sword unsheathed" in the heavens or other special signs to "dismiss their fears, and dispense with all their anxiety" for the final events were "rushing upon the astonished world with such velocity, as to exceed even our most sanguine expectations." Children would live to raise the dead. In no more than fifty years, [1854+50=1904] everyone in the congregations would have been borne aloft to meet Christ. And Apostle George A. Smith warned the world that "the day of the Lord is near . . . and we should watch for the coming of the Son of Man."*27
27Grant, 2 April 1854, Journal of Discourses, 2:145; Lorenzo D. Young, 13 December 1857, ibid., 6:212; "Address by President Heber C. Kimball," Millennial Star 14 (25 December 1852): 693; George A. Smith, 24 June 1855, Journal of Discourses, 2:333-34. See also Orson Hyde, n.d., Journal of Discourses, 5:141; Heber C. Kimball, 11 July 1852, ibid., 1:35; Kimball, 20 September 1857, ibid., 5:254; Orson Pratt, 24January 1858, ibid., 6:202; "Pestilence and Plague," Deseret News, 9 February 1854; and Woodruff, 4:269, 4:375. (Journal of Mormon History, Vol. 22, No. 2, 1996, p. 10
http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1027&context=mormonhistory
1855 May 20, "And when the saints were driven out from Jackson County, almost all in the Church expected that they would speedily be restored, and a person was considered almost an apostate that would say, they would not come back in five years, or ten at the furthest." (Elder Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3 p. 17 http://jod.mrm.org/3/12)
1856 March 2 "The time is coming when justice will be laid to the line and righteousness to the plummet; when WE shall take the old broadsword and ask, Are you for God? And if you are not heartily on the Lord's side, YOU will be hewn down." (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 3, p. 226)
1856 August 31, [1882 second coming prediction] "Mormons, can write it down if you please, but write it as I speak it. …after twenty-six years [1830] of faithful operation and exertion by our enemies, including the times when Joseph had scarcely a man to stand by him… In the days of Joseph it was considered a great privilege to be permitted to speak to a member of Congress, but twenty-six years [1882] will not pass away before the Elders of this Church will be as much thought of as the kings on their thrones. …Jesus Christ will be the President, and we are his officers, and they will have to leave the ground: for they will find that Jesus has the right of soil. This they are afraid of, do you blame them? No, I do not, and you should not: let them feel bad and worry. [26+1856=1882] (President Brigham Young, Salt Lake City, August 31, 1856 Journal of Discourses, vol.4, p.40)
1857 Aug. 2*, "But if you cannot learn to keep the commandments of God in Great Salt Lake City...how do you expect to keep them in Jackson County?-for we are sure to go back there as we exist."* (President Heber C. Kimball, Salt Lake City, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 5. p. 134e. http://jod.mrm.org/5/129 )
1857 December 17, Heber C. Kimball: “They are holy places, and they will be held sacred even as Jackson County..” “and I shall yet see the day that I will go back there, with brother Brigham and with thousands and millions of others, and we will go precisely according to the dedication of the Prophet of the living God. Talk to me about my having any dubiety on my mind about these things being fulfilled.—I am just as confident of it as I am that I am called to be a saviour of men, and no power can hinder it.” (President Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, Vol 6. p. 190c http://jod.mrm.org/6/185)
1857 August 2, Elias Smith still believed in the Second Coming “I expect to live to be an old man, and to go back with the saints to the land of Jackson County.” (President B. Young remarks; “God grant it.”) (Elias Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 221 http://jod.mrm.org/6/218)
1857 September 6, In this prophecy, Heber C. Kimball predicts that: “…our enemies, they have cursed themselves with all the curses they can bear; and the cursings that are on them they never can get off, neither can those who sustain them. The Church and kingdom to which we belong will become the kingdom of our God and his Christ, and brother Brigham Young will become President of the United States. [Voices responded, "Amen." ] And I tell you he will be something more; but we do not now want to give him the name: but he is called and ordained to a far greater station than that, and he is foreordained to take that station, and he has got it; and I am Vice-President, and brother Wells is the Secretary of the Interior—yes, and of all the armies in the flesh.”
(Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses vol. 5, p.219, September 6, 1857 http://journalofdiscourses.com/5/35 )
1859 May 22, "Jesus has been upon the earth a great more times than you are aware of. When Jesus makes his next appearance upon the earth, but few in this church will be prepared to receive him and see him face to face and converse with him, but he will come to his temple." (Brigham Young, General Conference, Salt Lake City, May 22, 1859, Journal of Discourses 7:142 http://journalofdiscourses.com/7/21)
1859 Sept. 10, “[Christ appearance in New Jerusalem his] next appearance will be among the distressed and nearly vanquished sons of Judah. At the crisis of their fate, when the hostile troops of several nations are ravaging the city and all the horrors of war are overwhelming the people of Jerusalem, he will set his feet upon the Mount of Olives, which will cleave and part asunder at his touch. Attended by a host from heaven, he will overthrow and destroy the combined armies of the Gentiles, and appear to the worshipping Jews as the mighty Deliverer and Conquerer so long expected by their race; and while love, gratitude, awe, and admiration swell their bosoms, the Deliverer will show them the tokens of his crucifixion and disclose himself as Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had reviled and whom their fathers put to death. Then will unbelief depart from their souls, and ‘the blindness in part which has happened unto Israel’ be removed.
The great and crowning advent of the Lord will be subsequent to these two appearances [to the New Jerusalem and to the Jews]; but who can describe it in the language of mortals? The tongue of man falters, and the pen drops from the hand of the writer, as the mind is rapt in contemplation of the sublime and awful majesty of his coming to take vengeance on the ungodly and to reign as King of the whole earth.
He comes! The earth shakes, and the tall mountains tremble; the mighty deep rolls back to the north as in fear, and the rent skies glow like molten brass. He comes! The dead Saints burst forth from their tombs, and ‘those who are alive and remain’ are ‘caught up’ with them to meet him. The ungodly rush to hide themselves from his presence, and call upon the quivering rocks to cover them. He comes! with all the hosts of the righteous glorified. The breath of his lips strikes death to the wicked. His glory is a consuming fire. The proud and rebellious are as stubble; they are burned and ‘left neither root nor branch.’ He sweeps the earth ‘as with the besom of destruction.’ He deluges the earth with the fiery floods of his wrath, and the filthiness and abominations of the world are consumed. Satan and his dark hosts are taken and bound—the prince of the power of the air has lost his dominion, for He whose right it is to reign has come, and ‘the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.’” (Charles W. Penrose, “The Second Advent,” Millennial Star, 10 Sept. 1859, 583) https://www.lds.org/manual/doctrines-of-the-gospel-student-manual/chapter-36-the-lords-second-coming?lang=eng
1861 Feb. 17 “Brethren, I shall go to Jackson County with thousands of this people who will be faithful to their integrity[to build the Temple]; but we cannot go back until we have built some good houses.” (Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 8, p. 350 http://jod.mrm.org/8/348)
1861 March 10, "Who is there that is prepared for this movement back to the center stake of Zion, and where are the architects amongst us that are qualified to erect this temple and the city that will surround it… And let me remind you that it is predicted that this generation shall not pass away till a temple shall be built, and the glory of the Lord rest upon it, according to the promises." (George A. Smith, March 10, 1861, Journal of Discourse, Vol. 9, p. 71 http://jod.mrm.org/9/66)
1861 March 10, (see 1832 September 22, D&C 84:1-5,31,32) Apostle George A. Smith stated: "Who is there that is prepared for this move back to the centre stake of Zion.... let me remind you that it is predicted that this generation shall not pass away till a temple shall be built, and the glory of the Lord rest upon it, according to the promises…" (Journal of Discourses, vol. 10, p. 344 http://journalofdiscourses.com/10/63 )
1861 May 1, "We are blessed in these [Rocky] mountains; this is the best place on earth for the Latter-day Saints. Search for the history of all nations and every geographical position on the face of the earth, and you cannot find another situation so well adapted for the Saints as are these mountains. Here is the place in which the Lord designed to hide His people.... It has been designed, for many generations, to hide up the Saints in the last days, until the indignation of the Almighty be over. His wrath will be poured out upon the nations of the earth." (Brigham Young, Deseret News Vol. 2, No. 5, May 1, 1861)
1862 May 30, Joseph Morris, prophet and leader of the LDS splinter group, Morrisites, claimed to have received numerous spiritual manifestations… Morris told his followers that the Second Coming was imminent and not to bother with planting crops. They may have trampled some of their crops into the ground as evidence of their faith. Morris had received revelations indicating that Christ would come and deliver his followers just a few days after a spectacular pageant called "The Foreshadowing of the Kingdom of God Day," which was scheduled for 30 May 1862. Therefore Joseph Morris saw the appearance of the army lead by Robert T. Burton, in the middle of June as a certain sign that the time of the Second Coming was imminent. Burton killed Morris in the skirmish. Most of the remaining Morrisites who wished to be saved were escorted by Connor’s army to Soda Springs in Idaho Territory. George Williams, who declared himself to be the "Prophet Cainan" and Morris's rightful successor. In January 1879, Williams prophesied that Deer Lodge County, Montana, would be the site of the Second Coming of Christ. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Firstborn_(Morrisite)
https://www.lds.org/manual/church-history-in-the-fulness-of-times-student-manual/chapter-thirty-the-civil-war-period?lang=eng http://www.entrybytroops.org/new-jerusalem.html#back5
Note: some of Joseph Morris followers; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gudmund_Gudmundson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_W._Davies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brighouse http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hill_Forscutt http://www.angelfire.com/planet/unitychurch/
1864 October 23, “The day is near when a Temple shall be reared in the Center Stake of Zion, and the Lord has said his glory shall rest on that House in this generation, that is in the generation in which the revelation was given, which is upwards of thirty years ago.” (Elder George Q. Cannon, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 10, p. 344, http://jod.mrm.org/10/340)
1865 April 23, Goswell Hall, London, England. President Daniel H. Wells [2nd councilor to B. Young] came forward and said— *“The principles taught by the Latterday Saints are no ordinary principles, but embrace the salvation of the whole world, and for that reason the servants of God have been sent through the world to bear testimony to their truth. *
*We have partaken of the Sacrament, because Jesus had said, "Do this in remembrance of me, till I come again," and this proved that the work of the Redeemer was but partly finished, the grand consummation being withheld until a time in the future, when the Lord would again visit the earth in power and great Glory. Will our Lord thus come again before a people are prepared to receive him? No, he will not. Now, where are the people on earth who are preparing to receive him? I know the Latter-day Saints, as a people, are doing so, and have their eyes fixed on the time of His second coming. *
I testify that we, as a people, are preparing to receive him when he comes, and that no people are so blessed as they who thus wait on the Lord. But, though the Saints thus wait for him, they do not expect to see him until they are prepared. Suppose the Lord was to come down before this preparation was made, and begin to overturn the tables as he did in the Temple in days of old. This generation, had they the power, would kill him as soon as they did Joseph Smith, and for the same reason.” (THE LATTERS-DAY SAINTS' MILLENNIAL STAR, No. 24, Vol. XXVII, Pub. 17 June 1865, London England, page 368)
1866 The great American Republic is now one of the most powerful governments in the world . . . . But that great–that powerful nation–is destined to an utter overthrow. If it be asked, why is America to suffer? The answer is, because they have rejected the kingdom of God, and one of the greatest divine messages ever sent to man; because they have sanctioned the killing of the Saints, and the martyrdom of the Lord’s Prophets, and have suffered his people to be driven from their midst, and have robbed them of their houses, and homes, and land, and millions of property, and have refused to redress their wrongs.
For these great evils, they must suffer; the decrees of Jehovah have gone forth against them; the sword of the Lord has been unsheathed, and will fall with pain upon their devoted heads. Their great and magnificent cities are to be cut off. New York, Boston, Albany, and numerous other cities will be left desolate. Party will be arrayed in deadly strife against party; State against State; and the whole nation will be broken up; the sanguinary weapons of the dreadful revolution will devour the land. Then shall there be a fleeing from one city to another, from one State to another, from one part of the continent to another, seeking refuge, from the devastations of bandits and armies; then shall their dead be left unburied, and the fowls of heaven shall summer upon them, and the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
Moreover, the Lord will visit them with the deadly pestilence which shall sweep away many millions by its ravages; for their eyes shall fall from their sockets, and their flesh from their bones, and their tongues shall be staid in their mouths, that they shall not be able to blaspheme against their Maker. And it will come to pass, that the heavens will withhold their rains and their fruitful fields be turned into barrenness, and the waters of their rivers will be dried up, and left in standing pools, and the fish therein will die; and the Lord will send forth a grievous plague to destroy the horses and cattle from the land. Thus by the sword and by pestilence, and by famine, and by the strong arm of the Almighty, shall the inhabitants of that wicked nation be destroyed. In that day a remnant shall repent, and be numbered with the people of Zion, and shall know that the Lord hath spoken, and hath fulfilled his decrees upon the land, and executed his fierce justice upon the oppressors of his people. (Orson Pratt, Mill Star, 28:633-34, 1866; Masterful Discourses of Orson Pratt, pp. 156-157)
1870 April 10, (see 1832 September 22, D&C 84:1-5,31,32) Apostle Orson Pratt: “We have ... confidence in returning to Jackson county... There are many of the old stock still living, whose faith in returning to Jackson County, and the things that are coming, is as firm and fixed as the throne of the Almighty.” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 13, p. 138 http://journalofdiscourses.com/13/16 )
1870 May 5, (see 1832 September 22, D&C 84:1-5,31,32) “... God promised in the year 1832 that we should, before the generation then living had passed away, return and build up the City of Zion in Jackson County.... We believe in these promises as much as we believe in any promise ever uttered by the mouth of Jehovah. The Latter-day Saints just as much expect to receive a fulfillment of that promise during the generation that was in existence in 1832 as they expect that the sun will rise and set to-morrow. Why? Because God cannot lie. He will fulfil all His promises. He has spoken, it must come to pass. This is our faith…” (Apostle Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, vol. 13, p. 362 http://journalofdiscourses.com/13/45 )
1871 April 9, (see 1832 September 22, D&C 84:1-5,31,32) Apostle Orson Pratt: “... a temple will be reared on the spot that has been selected, [by the finger of the Lord] and the corner-stone of which has been laid, in the generation when this revelation was given; we just as much expect this as we expect the sun to rise in the morning and set in the evening.... But says the objector, "thirty-nine years have passed away." What of that? The generation has not passed away; all the people that were living thirty-nine years ago have not passed away; but before they do pass away this will be fulfilled.” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 14, p. 275 http://journalofdiscourses.com/14/38 )
1874 June 14, (see 1832 September 22, D&C 84:1-5,31,32) Apostle Orson Pratt: “God said, in the year 1832, before we were driven out of Jackson County, in a revelation ... that before that generation should all pass away, a house of the Lord should be built in that county.... This was given forty-two years ago. The generation then living was not only to commence a house of God in Jackson County, Missouri, but was actually to complete the same,... if you believe in these revelations you just as much expect the fulfillment of the revelation as of any one that God has ever given in these latter times,... we Latter-day Saints expect to return to Jackson County and to build a Temple there before the generation that was living forty-two years ago has all passed away. Well, then, the time must be pretty near when we shall begin the work.” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 17, p. 111 http://journalofdiscourses.com/17/16 )
1875 February 7, (see 1832 September 22, D&C 84:1-5,31,32) Orson Pratt was teaching that only a few of those who were driven from Jackson County would return to receive their inheritances: "We need not expect, from what God has revealed, that a very great number of those who were then in the Church and who were driven, will have the privilege of returning to that land. …There will be some that will live to behold that day, and will return ... according to the promise" (Journal of Discourses, vol. 17, p. 291-292 http://journalofdiscourses.com/17/41 )
1875 March, “… the elders were preaching that the Savior would come to earth "soon not more than sixteen years according to the revelations Joseph Smith had received."39 …In the next year, 1876, the Church published a new edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, which divided the revelations into numbered verses and added twenty-six sections, including, for the first time, the Joseph Smith millennial prophecy as Section 130.41 Thus, the Church officially endorsed Joseph Smith's prophetic timetable, renewing hope in the 1891 prophecy. …In 1877, Brigham Young died. His successor, John Taylor, left no doubt of his literal approach to modern prophecy. "All that he [God] has said . . . through ancient prophets and through Joseph Smith are true.... I will prophecy that they will take place as sure as God lives, and they are approaching very rapidly upon us." George Q. Cannon, his first counselor, told the Saints that step by step all of Joseph Smith's prophecies were coming to fruition "just as sure as [if] God [had] spoken it." Sixtus E. Johnson, bishop in Kanab, "urged the Saints to prepare for the judgments of the Almighty upon the wicked Nations." And in 1878, Lorenzo Snow predicted that "the time is speedily coming" when the Saints would return "to Jackson County, Missouri. . . . There are many hundreds and hundreds within the sound of my voice that will live to go back to Jackson County and build a holy temple to the Lord our God."42 …An 1879 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, edited by Orson Pratt, contained footnotes for the first time. Canonized at October 1880 general conference, it provided explicit and official endorsement of the millennial expectation.46 Pratt's footnote for Section 130 highlighted Joseph Smith's eighty-five-year millennial prophecy, adding in the commentary section confirmation of the fateful time frame "near the end of the year 1890." Pratt also cross-referenced the revelation: "See prophecy of Joseph, uttered
39"Record of Andrew Jackson Allen," 105, 21 March 1875; C. Jacobson, Diary, 1876, as quoted in Reinwand, "An Interpretive Study of Mormon Millennialism," 145, also refers to fifteen years.
4lThe editor, Orson Pratt, included Section 130 under the direction of Brigham Young. Robert J. Woodford, "The Historical Development of the Doctrine and Covenants" (Ph.D diss., Brigham Young University, 1974), 70, 75-76,
1,710. Earlier editions of the Book of Commandments/Doctrine and Covenants had been published in the United States in 1833, 1835, 1844, 1845, and 1846 with a British edition coming in 1845; none of them had included this prophecy.
42John Taylor, Journal of Discourses, 21 September 1878, 21:56; Cannon quoted in "Religious Service," DeseretNews, 26 June 1882, 1, and "Remarks by President George Q. Cannon," ibid., 26 July 1884, 1; Johnson quoted in Leonard John Nuttall, Diary, 7 December 1878, typescript, Special Collections, Lee Library, Brigham Young University; Snow quoted in Van Wagoner, Sidney Rigdon 153. See also Woodruff, Journal, 7:258; Woodruff, Journal of Discourses, 19:135, 360-61
46 Woodford, "The Historical Development of the Doctrine and Covenants,"
(Journal of Mormon History, Vol. 22, No. 2, 1996, p. 14, 15
http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1027&context=mormonhistory
1875 June 27, *“I do not believe that the day is very far distant when the revelations which God has given concerning the last days will have their fulfillment. I believe there are many children now living in the mountains of Israel who will never taste of death, that is, they will dwell on the earth at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. [1875+100= 1975] I will acknowledge that there is a great deal to be done, and the Lord has not revealed to man the day or the hour, but he has revealed the generation; and the fig trees are now putting forth their leaves in the eyes of all the nations, indicating the near approach of the second coming of the Son of Man. It is my faith that hundreds and thousands of the children that have been given to us will be alive in the flesh when Christ comes in the clouds of heaven in power and great glory. The Lord will not disappoint the inhabitants of the earth in these last days in regard to his second coming, any more than he has with regard to other great events and dispensations. *
We live in a very important age and generation; we live in the day and time when God has set his hand to fulfill a measure of prophecy and revelation to man, in the great dispensation of all dispensations. As an individual I do not believe that many more years will roll over the heads of the inhabitants of the earth before the resurrection will be upon them, and then these children, which we are called to bury today, will come forth from their graves, clothed with glory, immortality and eternal life. You may ask why I believe this. I believe it because the revelations of God say so. I read the Scriptures, and I believe that the revelations and prophecies therein contained mean what they say… those long lost tribes will come forth in your day and mine, if we live a few years longer, and they will be crowned under the hands of the children of Ephraim—the Elders of Israel who dwell in the land of Zion... The earth is now pretty near ripe, and when ripened the Lord will cut them off. These things are before the Latter-day Saints, but the world do not believe in them any more than they believed in the message of Noah or Lot. Brethren and sisters, let us read the revelations of God for ourselves, and when we read them, let us believe them…” (Second Coming of Christ, Wilford Woodruff, Salt Lake City, June 27, 1875, Journal of Discourse, vol. 18, pp.37-38)
1875 Oct. 2, “God has sent forth His warning message in the midst of this nation, but they have rejected it and treated His servants with contempt; the Lord has gathered out His people from their midst, and has planted them here in these mountains; and He will speedily fulfill the prophecy in relation to the overthrow of this nation, and their destruction. We shall be obliged to have a government to preserve ourselves in unity and peace; for they, through being wasted away, will not have the power to govern; for state will be divided against state, city against city, town against town, and the whole country will be in terror and confusion; mobocracy will prevail and there will be no security, through this great Republic, for the lives or property of the people.” (Orson Pratt, Deseret Evening News, Oct. 2, 1875)
1876 April 6, Unbelief of the Present Age, Etc *“One of the signs of the times to be given when the kingdom of God should be built up, was the heaving of the sea beyond its bounds. Has anybody heard of any such thing in these days? Everybody that reads the newspapers knows that events of this kind have been common during the past few years; but this generation pay no more regard to them than they would to the shaking of a straw in the wind, so far as being a sign of the coming of the Son of Man, or of the accomplishment of the work of the Lord in the last days. Talk to people generally, in the world, about such things, and they say—"Oh, they are accounted for upon some natural principle." It is so with all of the signs that the Lord has given, or that he will give, that have been prophesied about—they can all be accounted for upon some natural principle. They are nevertheless coming to pass in the time that the Lord, through his Prophets, has said they would come. Many things prophesied of in ages past and gone are actually transpiring today, yet the people generally do not comprehend them. But the majority of the Latter-day Saints do, and they **know that the time of the second coming of the Savior is approaching.” ***(Daniel H. Wells, General Conference, April 6, 1876, Journal of Discourse, Vol.18, pages 203-207, http://journalofdiscourses.com/18/24 )
1876 January 15, Andrew J. Allen reported that two elders told a congregation in one of the Salt Lake Valley wards to avoid the gentiles and their dress, and to “look forward to the time when the saviour would come on the earth which would be soon not more than sixteen years according to the revelations Joseph Smith had received.” Henry Ballard recorded in his diary that in a Bishop’s meeting in Logan, Utah, on January 15, 1876, Joseph F. Smith said, “that by the history of Joseph that it was only 15 years till the coming of the Son of man.” http://digital.lib.usu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/Diaries/id/16202
1877 May 20, Concerning the temple in Jerusalem, Orson Pratt stated, "By and by there will be a Temple built at Jerusalem. Who do you think is going to build it? You may think that it will be the unbelieving Jews who rejected the Savior. I believe that that which is contained on the 77th page of the Book of Mormon, as well as in many other places, in that same book, will be literally fulfilled. The Temple at Jerusalem will undoubtedly be built, by those who believe in the true Messiah. Its construction will be, in some respects different from the Temples now being built. It will contain the throne of the Lord, upon which he will, at times, personally sit, and will reign over the house of Israel for ever. It may also contain twelve other thrones, on which the twelve ancient Apostles will sit, and judge the twelve tribes of Israel." (Pratt, Orson, Building Temples, Journal of Discourses vol. 19: p. 19–20)
1877 December 16, A Vision of the Apostle John Taylor: “…Some of the brethren have been asking me concerning [The Second] Coming events, and I will now tell you some of the things which will shortly come to pass.
I then found myself wandering about the streets of Salt Lake City and noticed on the doors of every house, including my own, badges of mourning… No one seemed to be passing along the streets and everything was as still as death… I then looked over the country; in every direction as far as I could see, a similar condition of sickness and death prevailed. The inhabitants of Illinois and Missouri were in dreadful condition, the men and women killing each other in the most brutal manner.
Next I visited the City of Washington, D.C., and found the place deserted and in ruins. From there I went to Baltimore and on the square, where stands the monument of 1812, dead bodies of the inhabitants of the place were piled in heaps. While there I saw mothers cut the throats of their own children and drink the blood in order to quench their thirst. The waters of the Chesapeake Bay were so befouled from the effect of dead bodies that the water could not be used. Sickness and death prevailed throughout the city and the stench was something awful. I thought surely that this must be the end of suffering, but when I visited the City of Philadelphia, I found the place in ruins and the smell from dead bodies was beyond anything one could imagine.
In New York I saw men crawl out of cellars, ravish beautiful women, kill them and rob them of their jewels. I saw parents eating the flesh of their own offspring and then roll over and die. Looking back while on my way to Central Park, I saw fire break out and a heavy wind carried the flames over the city, and all the buildings, wharfs and ships in the harbor were burned. The stench from the burning bodies was carried by the wind across the Hudson River spreading death and destruction wherever it went. The sights that met my view on all sides were so horrible to look upon that it would be impossible for me to describe them.
*After these scenes had passed, I found myself standing on the left bank of the Missouri River, just opposite to where stood the City of Independence and soon discovered that the states of Illinois, Missouri, and part of Iowa had been swept clean of its inhabitants and the surrounding country was a complete wilderness. *
A short distance across the river, I beheld twelve men dressed in their temple robes standing in a square with their hands raised, and it was made known to me that they represented the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem. They then consecrated the grounds and laid the cornerstones of the city and temple; and while they were doing so, I saw myriads of heavenly angels hovering over them. I heard the most beautiful music and singing that I ever listened to and these were the words they repeated: “Now is established the Kingdom of our God and His Christ which shall no more be thrown down or given to another people.”
I then saw a multitude of people coming from various directions to take part in the upbuilding of the city and temple and even the angels were on hand to assist in the glorious work. A great cloud arose above them and many of the saints were clothed in their temple robes. All of a sudden I found myself standing at the pulpit of the Ogden Tabernacle, yet I could see the building of the city of Zion and temple going on and the cloud that hovered above the place.
I had become so animated by this time that I called upon the congregation to listen to the sweet music and singing of the angels that seemed to fill the house. Then I heard a voice say, “Now has come to pass that which was spoken by the mouth of Isaiah the Prophet, where he declares that `Seven women shall take hold of one man saying, We will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel, only let us be called by thy name to take away our reproach.’”
By this time I was so exhausted that I staggered backwards, and Brother Franklin D. Richards and some of the other brethren caught me before I fell. I then asked Brother Richards to apologize for me stopping so abruptly in my remarks, and to tell them that I had not fainted, but was overcome from exhaustion. I then rolled over in bed and the clock in the City and County Building struck twelve.” (Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, June 15, 1878, A Vision, Salt Lake City, Night of Dec 16, 1877)
http://visionsandtribulation.blogspot.com/search/label/New%20Civil%20War%20US
1879, 47 years after the 1832 Missouri Temple Revelation, (D&C 84:1-5,31,32) in the 1879 Edition of the Doctrine and Covenants this footnote was added to Section 84:5 “A generation does not all pass away in a hundred years.” Note: The footnote was removed after 1932
“It may be reasonable to assume that in giving this revelation to the Prophet, the LORD did have in mind the generation of people who would still be living within the one hundred years from the time of the announcement of the [Lords] revelation, and that they would enjoy the blessings of the temple, and a glorious cloud would rest upon it. It is also reasonable to believe that no soul living in 1832, is still living in mortality on the earth.” (Joseph F. Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 4:112)
1879 January 7, “the cup of iniquity was full and that surely the Lord would, shortly come out of his hiding place and vex the nation." (L. John Nuttall, Diary, 7 January 1879 https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V24N03_45.pdf )
1879 April 21, “The American Nation will be broken in pieces.... you live in the day and hour of the judgments of God Almighty.... the hour of God’s judgment is at the door.... I wish to warn all nations.... Thrones will be cast down, nations will be overturned, anarchy will reign, all legal barriers will be broken down, and the laws will be trampled in the dust. You are about to be visited with war, sword, famine, pestilence, plague, earthquakes, whirlwinds, tempests, and with the flame of devouring fire.... the slain of the Lord will be many.” (Apostle Wilford Woodruff, April 21, 1879, in Millennial Star, vol. 41, p. 241) [100+1879=1979]
1879 May 31, In May 1879 Charles L. Walker recorded that Joseph Smith’s contemporary, one O. M. Allen, professed he heard “the prophet Joseph say that those who lived until the year 1881 would see the judgments go forth on the wicked that would make their soul sicken to see and hear of them.”42 (Larson and Larson, Diary of Charles Walker, 1:486, 31 May 1879. Allen’s 1881 date may stem from Dimick Huntington’s recollection that, in surrendering to Illinois officials in 1844, Smith had said, “If they shed my blood it shall shorten this work 10 years. That taken from 1891 would reduce the time to 1881 which is the true time within which the Saviour should come [and] much must be crowded into 6 years.” (Oliver B. Huntington, Diary, TS, Special Collections, Lee Library, 2:129. http://signaturebookslibrary.org/?p=5708 )
1879 December 27, "There will be no United States in the year 1890." (Apostle Wilford Woodruff, Snowflake, Arizona, Dec. 27, 1879) (Note: Council of 50; The White Horse Prophecy; The Everlasting United Order; The overthrow of the US Government; Second Coming and Polygamy, solved!)
1880 Jan 9, Apostle Orson Pratt writes to his children that “*the city of New Jerusalem will be constructed by April 1950.” *[Independence, Missouri]
1880 Jan 26, Wilford Woodruff’s “Wilderness Revelation” “The nation is ripened in iniquity … and I will not stay my hand in judgement upon this nation or the nations of the earth…. The blood of my servants Joseph and Hyrum … cries from the ground for vengeance upon the nation which has shed their blood. But their blood shall speedily be avenged and shall cease to cry unto me, for the hour of God’s judgement is fully come and shall be poured out without measure upon the wicked…. prepare ye for the coming of the Son of man, which is nigh at the door. No man knoweth the day nor the hour; but the signs of both heaven and earth indicate His coming. as promised by the mouths of my disciples. The fig trees are leaving and the hour is nigh.” (51 Woodruff’s “Wilderness Revelation” can be found in full in Susan Staker, Waiting for World’s End, 340-46; and Fred C. Collier, ed., Unpublished Revelations of the Prophets and Presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 2 vols. (Salt Lake City: Collier’s Publishing Co., 1979-93), 1:123-29. http://signaturebookslibrary.org/?p=5708 )
1880 June 6th, *“We live in a generation when great changes are about to take place. We live in a time when darkness covers the whole earth and gross darkness the people. The world are a great way from the truth. Infidelity overwhelms the earth, in fact it is a hard matter today to get either priest or people, sect or party, of any name or denomination under heaven to believe in the literal fulfillment of the Bible, as translated in the days of King James, which contains the revelations given from the days of Father Adam down to our own time, and which point out to us **the signs of heaven and earth indicating the coming of the Son of Man. We live in the generation ***[100+1880=1980] itself when Jesus Christ will come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. We live in the generation when the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been revealed in its fullness... There never has been, in my view, any generation in which the same amount of prophecies and important events have to be fulfilled as in the generation in which we live.” (Wilford Woodruff, Christ Coming in this Generation, Salt Lake City, June 6th, 1880 Journal of Discourse, Vol. 21, p. 124 http://jod.mrm.org/21/121)
1880 March 21, “the coming of the Son of Man was nigh, even at the doors, and that there were thousands living in [the] mountains at [that] time that would see the son of God come and many would not taste death.” (54 Wilford Woodruff, St. George, Utah. Larson and Larson, Diary of Charles Walker, 2:544, 20 Mar. 1881)
1881 Aug. 14, Wilford Woodruff continued to warn church members of the approaching “hour.” At an 1881 conference in Manti he promised “that thousands of the children of the latter day saints would not die but would live to see the Saviour come.” (Larson and Larson, Diary of Charles L. Walker, 2:563-64, 14 Aug. 1881., http://signaturebookslibrary.org/?p=5708 )
1882 April 9, “A terrible day of reckoning is approaching the nations of the earth; the Lord is coming out of His hiding place to vex the inhabitants thereof; and the destroyer of the Gentiles, as prophesied of, is already on his way. …The internal fires of revolution are already smouldering in this nation, and they need but a spark to set them in a flame. Already are agencies at work in the land calculated to subvert and overthrow every principle of rule and government; already is corruption of every kind prevailing in high places and permeating all society; already are we, as a nation, departing from our God and corrupting ourselves with malfeasance, dishonor and a lack of public integrity and good faith; already are licentiousness and debauchery corrupting, undermining and destroying society; already are we interfering with the laws of nature and stopping the functions of life, and have become the slayers of our own offspring, and employ human butchers in the shape of physicians to assist in this diabolical and murderous work. The sins of this nation, the licentiousness, the debauchery, the murders are entering into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and I tell you now, from the tops of these mountains, as a humble servant of the living God, that unless these cries and infamies are stopped, this nation will be overthrown and its glory, power, dominion and wealth will fade away like the dews of a summer morning. I also say to other nations of the earth, that unless they repent of their crimes, their iniquities and abominations, their thrones will be overturned, their kingdoms and governments overthrown, and their lands made desolate. This is not only my saying, but it is the saying of those ancient prophets which they themselves profess to believe; for God will speedily have a controversy with the nations of the earth, and, as I stated before, the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way to overthrow governments, to destroy dynasties, to lay waste thrones, kingdoms and empires, to spread abroad anarchy and desolation, and to cause war, famine and bloodshed to overspread the earth.” (John Taylor, General Conference, Journal of Discourse, vol. 23, p.62-63, April 9, 1882 http://journalofdiscourses.com/23 )
1882 September 16, Charles Lowell Walker recorded that the St. George, Utah, President of the Seventy “Spoke of the persecutions of the Saints in Missouri and Illinois, and the duties of the Seventies and the great things that would transpire before the winding up scene in 1891.”
(Larson and Larson, Diary of Charles L. Walker, p. 586 http://rationalfaiths.com/even-fifty-six-years-wind-scene/ )
1884, “the day was at hand when Joseph and Hyrum Smith would be resurrected and Christ would
appear among his followers —all, he indicated, before the apocalyptic events associated with destruction of the wicked.” (Apostle Erastus Snow, "Discourse" 1884 https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V24N03_45.pdf )
1885 January 12, (see March 10, 1844) “…the Millerites were preparing a place for the Savior to come and meet with them, on a certain day, in that month in Illinois. They were making great preparations by cleaning a certain piece of ground and spreading carpets, etc. Brother Joseph was speaking on the "Resurrection" and the "Second Coming of the Son of God." "You can go and tell Brother Miller he won't come on that day nor the next, nor the next year. In the name of Jesus Christ I prophesy he won't come in forty years." In a [that] moment I desired to live forty years more, and he has not come; I am just as anxious to live to see the next saying of the Prophet fulfilled concerning his coming, as I was the first. He was enquiring of the Lord concerning his second coming; the answer was, "If you live to be (I think it was eighty) years old you will see the face of the Son of God*." I am in my seventy-eighth year. I want to live to see that saying fulfilled.** But it matters not. If I am faithful I will see him when he does come. Another saying of the Prophet, which I heard for myself, for I write nothing only what I can testify to.”* (Autobiography of Martha Pane Jones Thomas, Lehi, Utah County, January 12, 1885)
1885-86 Karl Benz from Germany, invented the gasoline powered motorwagen.
1886 October 14, [1891 second coming prediction] Abraham H. Cannon recorded the following in his journal: Thursday, Oct. 14th:—The following are words spoken by Apostle [sic] Moses Thatcher, at Lewiston… "It is my belief, that the time of our deliverance will be within five years; the time indicated being February 14th, 1891.... And that the man raised up will be no other than the Prophet Joseph Smith in his resurrected body.... the government will pass into the hands of the Saints, and that within five years. There will not be a city in the Union that will not be in danger of disruption by the Knights of Labor, who are becoming a formidable power in the land... A servant of God, holding the power and keys of the Holy Apostleship does not speak in this manner for mere pastime. There is more in these utterances than we are apt to attach to them, unless we are aided by the Spirit of God." (Daily journal of Abraham H. Cannon, October 14, 1886, BYU Library) (Salt Lake Tribune, 10 April 1886)
1887, [1891 second coming prediction] The LDS Church printed and distributed a book by Elder Robert Smith (2nd cousin of Joseph Smith), to be "used by teachers in Sunday Schools*." Smith wrote: Now, we will prove by the prophet Joseph Smith that the same year, 1891, is the commencement of the reign of righteousness. In Section 130, Doctrine and Covenants,* (D&C 130:14-19) Joseph was told that if he lived to be 85 years old he would live to see the scene wound up or the Redeemer on the earth. He was born December 23rd, 1805, and if we give him the 85 years, we could not count the year 1805, we should have to count 1806, as the year 1805 was mostly gone before he was born, therefore, we have 1806 and 85, making 1891; again in the year 1835 Joseph was told positively that 56 years would wind up the scene, which we believe was the reign of iniquity and transgression: 56 and 1835 are 1891. Thus we have abundant proof that that year will begin the reign of righteousness, and God's people be acknowledged, for the earth is to be given to them. He has said: 'Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (A Series of Lectures on the Fulfillment of Prophecy, 1887, pp.39-40)
1887 January 13, When the House of Representatives approved the Edmunds-Tucker Act, Wilford Woodruff warned that Congress had "turned the last key that seals their condemnation and lays the foundation for the overthrow & final destruction of the United States Government"
(Scott G. Kenney 1983, 8:420-21 https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V24N03_45.pdf )
1888 April 11, “We are all dependent upon Jesus Christ, upon his coming into the world to open the way whereby we might secure peace, happiness, and exaltation.” “We have a testimony concerning Christ, that He is coming to the earth, to reign.” (Lorenzo Snow, April 11, 1888 General Conference.) https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-lorenzo-snow/chapter-24-reflections-on-the-mission-of-jesus-christ?lang=eng&clang=ase
1888 May 17, Polygamy: “…In April, Wilford Woodruff expressed dismay that some speakers at the general conference had referred to plural marriage, despite a decision by the apostles to avoid such expressions, yet at the dedication of the Manti Temple on 17 May 1888, President Woodruff said, "We are not going to stop the practice of plural marriage until the Coming of the Son of Man." (Heber J. Grant, Journal, 17 May 1888; also John Henry Smith, Diary, 17 May 1888.
LDS Church Authority and New Plural Marriages, 1890-1904 D. Michael Quinn, page 34
https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V18N01_11.pdf )
1888 October, Apostle Franklin D. Richards proclaimed at October 1888 general conference that many children then alive would yet be alive to see the redemption of Zion and the Second Coming, a repetition of an 1885 promise by Lorenzo Snow. A full year later in November 1889, Woodruff confirmed that "the Lord will never give a revelation to abandon plural marriage," received a new revelation confirming that "the judgements of God, which are to be poured out upon all nations . .. are nigh at your doors," promised the destruction of the Church's opponents, prophesied the Saints' ***deliverance, and assured Church members that many in his audience would see Christ come in glory while "in the flesh."***60
60Woodruff quoted in Heber J. Grant, Diary, 17 May 1888, quoted in Jean Bickmore White, ed., Church, State, and Politics: The Diaries of John Henry Smith (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1990), 201 note 121; Richards quoted in John Morgan, 6 October 1888, Journals, 8:156; Snow quoted in Anson V. Call III, "An Account of the Doings of Anson V. Call II," 1, LDS Church Archives, MS 5384; Woodruff quoted in Heber J. Grant, Journal, 20 December 1888, quoted in D. Michael Quinn, "LDS Church Authority and New Plural Marriages, 1890-1904," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 18 (Spring 1985): 35; Woodruff, "Remarks," at Tooele Stake conference, 29 July 1889, in Brian H. Stuy, ed., Collected Discourses, 5 vols. (Sandy, Utah: B.H.S. Publishing, 1987-92), 1:325. See also Woodruff, Journal, 9:67-69; Nuttall, Diary, 24 November 1889; Clark, Messages of the First Presidency, 3:171-76; Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, 20:152. (Journal of Mormon History, Vol. 22, No. 2, 1996, p. 23
http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1027&context=mormonhistory
1889 [1890 second coming prediction] In his journal, President Wilford Woodruff summarized 1889 by writing: “Thus ends the year 1889, and the word of the Prophet Joseph Smith is beginning to be fulfilled that the whole nation would turn against Zion and make war upon the Saints. The nation has never been filled so full of lies against the Saints as today. 1890 will be an important year with the Latter-day Saints and [the] American Nation” (Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 9:74)
1890 January 21, “OUR CHICAGO LETTER: The Mormon Doctrine Preached by Moody, the Evangelist. CHICAGO, Jan. 21,1890. [Special Correspondence of the Deseret News.]
Last Sunday the famous evangelist, Mr. [D.L.] Moody, preached a sermon in this city which has raised a commotion in religious communities. He preached on the second coming of Christ. His language has no equivocation or ambiguity about it. Orthodox preachers are abusing him and strict sectarians are calling him a “Mormon,” a follower of Joseph Smith etc.; and really his sermon I well worth perusing especially by Utah citizens Inasmuch as this sermon was delivered to A vast and attentive congregation it is a good index of what is coming and will show to Latter Day Saints that light is breaking. On several occasions heretofore I have stated that Mr. Moody was borrowing largely from Mormon doctrine and Mormon discipline… Here Mr. Moody hits the nail on the head and account for the opposition to “Mormonism.” The thieves and cutthroats oppose it because to them the truth is to bitter. In fact the Salt Lake Gentiles might peruse this sermon with profit, and that Kingdom which they fear so much may be nearer at hand then they fancy.” ( Deseret evening news., January 24, 1890, Image 2 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045555/1890-01-24/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1889&index=0&rows=20&words=Moody+Mr&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=Utah&date2=1890&proxtext=Mr.+Moody&y=10&x=13&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 )
1890 [1890 second coming prediction] Klaus J. Hansen: "in 1890 there was a widespread belief among church members that Joseph Smith's prediction of 1835, that fifty-six years would 'wind up the scene,' would be fulfilled" (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Autumn 1966, p. 76) (See September 22, 1832 D&C 84:1-5,31,32)
1890 May 29, Lorenzo Snow, president of the Quorum of the Twelve, prophesied to them, "You
brethren will live to behold the savior, you shall not die, death shall have no power over you. You have a great work to perform. . . . Be faithful and you shall never taste death." Apostle Brigham Young, Jr., who recorded the prophecy, added with reverence: "His words penetrated to the marrow surely God is with us." In August Apostle Anthon H. Lund announced at the San Pete Stake Conference, "We need not say—'our Lord delayeth his coming!' … We can be sure it is in the near future, because the Lord told Joseph Smith . . . that if he lived to be a certain age, he should see His face, which points to 1891" That same month, Snow gave Abraham H. Cannon an apostolic blessing which promised that Cannon would "live to see the Savior, [and] the triumph of Zion." As late as September 1890, John Morgan, one of the Seven Presidents of the Seventy, reported a widespread belief that "missions would necessarily be short; that the end is very near and the Elders about to be called home." 62
62Brigham Young [Jr.] Journals, 1862-1902, LDS Church Archives, 29 May 1890; on 6 August 1890, Snow made a similar prediction. Journal notations and quotations provided courtesy of B. Carmon Hardy; Lund quoted in Lawrence G. Coates, "The Mormons and The Ghost Dance," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 18 (Winter 1985): 107; Abraham H. Cannon, Diaries, 6 August 1890; Morgan quoted in Hartley, "The Seventies in the 1880s," 83
(Journal of Mormon History, Vol. 22, No. 2, 1996, p. 24 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1027&context=mormonhistory )
1890 October 6, In a major effort to reassure the Saints and decrease apocalyptic concern, no fewer than seven Church authorities spoke on the second coming in the same general conference in which the Manifesto was presented. Some advised the Saints not to expect Christ's advent in 1891- Gibson Condie recorded in his journal, "Some of the speakers referred to the year 1891, as a great many of the saints have an Idea that the Lord was to come and reign on earth." George Q. Cannon told members that there was too much ***"agitation" associated with the 1891 prophecy and that "no man knoweth the day nor the hour."***69
However, during the same conference, Moses Thatcher warned the Saints to "prepare themselves for 1891" as "the day of calamity is approaching. It is at the doors," and Apostle Francis M. Lyman told the Saints to "pray twice a day" to "be prepared for what is to come in 1891" Perhaps most tellingly, after the Manifesto's presentation at general conference, Woodruff promised the members: I will say to the Latter-day Saints, as an Elder in Israel and as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are approaching some of the most tremendous judgments God ever poured out upon the world. You watch the signs of the times, the signs of the coming of the Son of Man. They are beginning to be made manifest both in heaven and earth. . . . We are approaching these things. All that the Latter-day Saints have to do is to be quiet, careful and wise before the Lord, watch the signs of the times, and be true and faithful; and when you get through you will understand many things that you do not today.70
69 Gibson Condie, "Reminiscences and Diary," 107; Cannon in Stuy, Collected Discourses, 2:110, 121; Marriner Wood Merrill, 5 October 1890, Diaries, 1887-1906, 1:72, LDS Church Archives; citation provided courtesy of B. Cannon
Hardy. The Church authorities who referred to the year 1891 in connection with
the "coming of the Son of Man reference" include B. H. Roberts, Moses Thatcher, Francis M. Lyman, Franklin D. Richards, HeberJ. Grant, George Q. Cannon, and Wilford Woodruff. See "General Conference," DeseretEvening News, 6 October 1890, 4; "General Conference," ibid., 6 October 1890, 4; "The Mormon Conference," Salt Lake Tribune, 5 October 1890, 4.
70"General Conference," Deseret Evening News, 6 October 1890, 2; Study, Collected Discourses, 2:107, 110, 136; Carlton, The Wonderlands of the Wild West, 321. Alexander, "Wilford Woodruff and the Changing Nature of Mormon Religious Experience," (Journal of Mormon History, Vol. 22, No. 2, 1996, p. 27, 28 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1027&context=mormonhistory )
1890 October 6, [1891 second coming prediction] General Conference, Elder B. H. Roberts (Church historian and Seventy) said: "Before another General Conference shall be reached we shall have entered upon the year 1891. In the Book of Doctrines and Covenants, section 130, Joseph Smith was promised that if he lived until 1891, he would see the face of the Son of Man. On February 14th, 1835, at a meeting where certain Elders, they were told by Joseph that they were called to go forth to prune the vineyard for the last time, before the coming of Christ, even 56 years should wind-up the scene. 1835 plus 56 years also brings us to the year 1891! These circumstances have called the Saints to believe that some great epock will open at that time--the year following the present [1891]. My faith in the matter is whatever the Lord has in mind to accomplish in that year will be performed. It may be something, however, that would scarcely create a ripple. The organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was one of the greatest events in the history of the world. It was organized with six members, and but little was known concerning it even in the neighborhood where it occurred, at the time. It may be that the greatness of what shall occur in 1891 will not be comprehended until succeeding years." (Collected Discourses 2:105-6)
Many of the Mormons in 1890 expected Jesus to return in the clouds of the sky in 1891; with thousands of angels in tow, spitting fire-balls upon the wicked nations of the earth and wiping Jackson County clean of inhabitants so that they could return and build the city of New Jerusalem. Some even prepared hand-carts for the return journey. Elder Roberts told them not to expect such a dramatic occurrence, but what was going to happen in the year 1891 may even be unnoticed by those right next to the event! (Deseret evening news, Great Salt Lake City Utah, October 06, 1890.) http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045555/1890-10-06/ed-1/seq-2/ http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045555/1890-10-06/ed-1/seq-3/
1890 October 6, President Wilford Woodruff (God Won’t Let Your Leaders Lead You Astray) “The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty.” (Sixty-first Semiannual General Conference of the Church, Monday, October 6, 1890, Salt Lake City, Utah. Reported in Deseret Evening News, October 11, 1890, p. 2)
1890 October 6, Historical Newspaper, Oakland Tribune, Monday October 6, 1890, Vol. XXX, Num. 77. The Mormons Meet and Say That the Lord is Not Coming Next Year.
The Mormons: What They Think About Polygamy and the Lord's Coming:
Salt Lake, Utah, October 6.—At the Mormon Conference yesterday, George Q. Cannon spoke of the lofty conceptions of the saints, especially regarding the future state. He believed the brethren in the penitentiary would be more prosperous when they got out than if they had not got in, because they could say they had not broken any of the covenants they had made. He thanked God he lived among such people; those who were not afraid of consequences and took punishment like heroes.
He said that the time is coming when this conduct of the Latter-Day Saints would stand out as the brightest page in modern history, and that their sufferings would be acceptable to the Lord.
Cannon further said he would obey the laws, bow in submission to the nation and leave the consequences to the Lord. He told the people not to worry about 1891; that Christ would not come then.
In the afternoon President Woodruff spoke. He said “the Lord was about to prune his vineyard for the last time, and that sprouts would fall like grain before the mower.” END [100+1890=1990]
NOTE: I found this article as I was doing genealogical research on gt-grandfather John Speer who immigrated in 1882 to San Francisco. In the same column there is a lengthy article of “the state/condition of the Mormon Saints, Polygamy and that the Government should stop the immigration to Utah and suppress the traffic now going on with the ignorant, unsuspicious foreigners by the Mormons. The Mormon Church is paying the passage to this country, of their converts, and then pays their Railroad fare to SLC.”
NOTE: This is how my Christensen family came to America in 1889. They were enlisted in the “Mormon Expedition” on the steamship Milo, which left Copenhagen on Aug. 8, 1889. The Milo was chartered by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The Saints were then transported by train into the Salt Lake Valley. My gt-grandfather David Hopkins was baptized a member in 1856, immigrated to America in 1872 and living in Soda Springs, Idaho. David’s son Thomas married Emma Christensen at the Logan Temple, Sept. 2, 1894. Emmas great-grandfather Jens Hansen was in the Charles C. Rich Company; These 126 individuals were in the company when it began its journey from the outfitting post on the Elkhorn River about 27 miles west of Winter Quarters, Nebraska. Departed 21 June 1847 Arrived 2 October 1847. This was the second group of wagons and forth wagon train to arrive in the Salt Lake Great Basin. On the LDS website it is stated that Jens Hansen was at the end of a mission for the church, and a captain of ten [teams of wagons]. http://history.lds.org/overlandtravels/pioneerDetail?lang=eng&pioneerId=35548
NOTE: After reading all of these revelations from God, can you imagine the urgency my (our) ancestors must have felt to arrive with Zion, in the Great Salt Lake Basin, before the 1890 second coming! But none of this happened and it’s still being preached to every generation since Joseph’s original 1820 revelations from God. Josephs prophesy of the second coming has gradually died by attrition during the early 1900s; eventually forgotten by the 2nd & 3rd generation of Latter Day Saints. “Verily, thus saith the Lord, let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion—the pure in heart; therefore, let Zion rejoice, while all the wicked shall mourn. For behold, and lo, vengeance cometh speedily upon the ungodly as the whirlwind; and who shall escape it? …Zion shall escape …let it be read this once to her ears, that I, the Lord, have accepted of her offering; and if she sin no more none of these things shall come upon her.” (D&C 97:21-22, 25, 27 August 2, 1833)
1890 Oct. 22, “We offer the following for the benefit of editors and other who are not willfully mistaken in their animadversions on "Mormon" immigration: "The gathering of the Saints" is a part of their religion. It is preparatory to the second coming of Christ… The Latter-day Saints gather to Utah to build up Zion, serve God, learn His ways, walk in his paths and unite with their co-religionists in preparing a people for the coming of Christ, whose advent they believe to be near at hand. We deem It our duty to present the truth in regard to this matter… we have no excuse for spreading falsehood, deceiving the public and injuring a religious community…” (Deseret Evening News, Great Salt Lake City, Utah, 22 Oct. 1890. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045555/1890-10-22/ed-1/seq-2/ )
1890 December, The collapse of London’s Baring Brothers Bank: During Utah’s territorial boom of 1889-90, the value of land and of business and residential property had skyrocketed to as much as ten times pre-1889 prices. Speculators reaped enormous paper profits, and real estate transactions in Salt Lake City alone reach an unprecedented $100,000 daily. To meet voracious demands for credit, nine new banks opened in the city. Then, in December 1890, shock waves from the collapse of London's Baring Brothers bank burst Utah's speculative bubble. Total collapse in 1893. (Why do you suppose there was a SLC Land Grab?) http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/p/PANIC_1893_FINANCIAL.html
1891 January 1, President Wilford Woodruff wrote in is diary: "Jan 1, 1891. This is New Year's Day, and the year that has been looked upon by many as one of the more important years in the world." (Journal of Wilford Woodruff, Jan. 1, 1891)
1891 January 3, In early 1891, Charles Lowell Walker of St. George wrote, ***"Some say and have written that great things are to happen . . . in this year 1891. Yea, dire and dreadful things are to transpire. Some even declare that Christ will come and the Millennial Reign inaugurated."***10
…Future apostle Franklin D. Richards, present in Nauvoo, recorded: "He is therefore now 37
***years old last Dec, which leaves 48 years yet to transpire until the time of Promise that Joseph should see Christ."**14 *
l0Diary of Charles Lowell Walker, edited by A. Karl Larson and Katharine Miles Larson, 2 vols. (Logan: Utah State University Press, 1980), 3 January 1891, 2:721-722
l4Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook, comps. and eds., The Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of the Prophet Joseph (Orem, Utah: Grandin Book Company, 1991), 181, emphasis Richards.
(Journal of Mormon History, Vol. 22, No. 2, 1996, p. 6 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1027&context=mormonhistory)
(Charles Lowell Walker, Diary, Bottom of page 21,22 Needs transcribed.)
1891 May 05, Revd. W. P. Brown, Second Coming of Christ.
A Mormon Preacher of Richmond, Says It Will Soon Occur in Jerusalem.
The Rev., W. P. Brown, now of Richmond, Mo., but formerly of
Independence, was in the latter town yesterday, he has of late attracted
much attention because of his belief that the second coming of Christ is
soon to occur, he has openly announced his belief to this effect and is
making his arrangements accordingly. He expects to be present at the
arrival of Christ, and to be a participant in the attendant ceremonies.
Rev. Mr. Brown says that the second coming of Christ is to take place
at an early date. The exact time he does not state, The event is, in his
opinion, to occur in Jerusalem. He expresses his surprise that people
generally do not realize this. The Jews, he says, are the only people
who almost universally give the idea credit. They are concentrating in
Jerusalem now from all countries to take part in the festivities.
General rejoicing will, he says, follow this coming of …?… [Jesus
Christ]
Rev, Mr. Brown is quite wealthy. He owns considerable property at
Independence and at different points in Kansas. He is endeavoring to
dispose of his entire interest and turn it into cash. He was at
Independence for this purpose. He expects to be able to sell out in time
to sail for Jerusalem within two months.
This new believer in the second coming of Christ was a resident of Independence fifteen ago. He is a promoter of the doctrine set forth in the book of Mormon held and guarded at Richmond, Mo., by the son of Colonel Whitmer, who was one of the witnesses and custodian of the original copy. He preaches the pure Mormon doctrine. [NOTE: He would be a Whitmerite not LDS. I found this article in eleven different Historical Newspapers]
(Revd. W. P. Brown, The Sedalia Weekly Bazoo., (Sedalia, Mo.) May 05, 1891, Page 6, Image 6) http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90061066/1891-05-05/ed-1/seq-6/#date1=1890&index=2&rows=20&words=Brown+P+Rev+W&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1891&proxtext=Rev.+W.+P.+Brown+&y=11&x=13&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1
(Rev. W.P. Brown, Second Coming of Jesus Christ, The Austin Weekly Statesman. (Austin, Tex.), June 18, 1891, Image 7.) http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86088296/1891-06-18/ed-1/seq-7/#date1=1890&index=3&rows=20&words=Brown+P+Rev+W&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1891&proxtext=Rev.+W.+P.+Brown+&y=11&x=13&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1
1891 November 1, “‘And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be Scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation’ [D&C 68:4].
“It is by that power that we have led Israel. By that power President Young presided over and led the Church. By the same power President John Taylor presided over and led the Church. And that is the way I have acted, according to the best of my ability, in that capacity. I do not want the Latter-day Saints to understand that the Lord is not with us, and that He is not giving revelations to us; for He is giving us revelation, and will give us revelation until this scene is wound up.”
(President Wilford Woodruff, Deseret Evening News, Nov. 7, 1891, also Official Declaration 1, Excerpts from Three Addresses by President Wilford Woodruff Regarding the Manifesto).
1891 Dec. 31, With no second coming of Christ occurring, Charles L. Walker wrote on the last day of that year how he was able to reconcile that non-event: “This is the end of the Great eventful year as some have choosed to call it, and as many have been looking for many years, some wiseacres have even boldly asserted and even prophesied that Christ would come and that the Saints would controll all the Kingdoms of the Earth, and some have written and published Books with diagrams showing the great Image that Daniel refers to, and have calculated as they thought to a nicety the Times, time, and half times, etc., etc., etc., and have set forth startling things to come to pass, which has all proved that they with all their learning and vast researches knew nothing about the set times of the Great Eternal. The only remarkable thing that has occurred this year is the suppression of the Revelation on celestial Marriage by the Heads of the Church. And for how long I know not.”
(Larson and Larson, Diary of Charles L. Walker, p.731 http://rationalfaiths.com/even-fifty-six-years-wind-scene/ )
In 1892, President Wilford Woodruff, counseled St. George members that the dispensation "was to be cut short" with little time for preparation "before the coming of the Son of Man and the ushering in of the great millennium." When he dedicated the Salt Lake Temple in April 1893, he prophesied that the "Millennium is near at hand" and that the temple was to receive Christ at his return after the preparation and perfection of the Saints. In 1894, he wrote his expectation that the day had arrived for angels to descend, "in their hands sharp Sides . . . sent forth to Visit the Earth... to poor [sic] out the Judgements of God upon the wicked and will Continue untill the scene is wound up." In 1897 he was still prophesying that ***"many in the flesh at the time would see the savior."***76
76Woodruff, Journal, 9:133, 307; see also ibid., 9:300; Woodruff quoted in Walker, Diary, 2:742; Stuy, Collected Discourses, 3:275; "Ninety Years of Age," DeseretNews Semi-Weekly, 2 March 1897, 6. See also Walker, Diary, 2:868; Study, Collected Discourses, 3:424; "Discourse," Deseret Evening News, 7 May 1898. (Journal of Mormon History, Vol. 22, No. 2, 1996, p. 30 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1027&context=mormonhistory
1893 April 8, The Salt Lake Temple was dedicated in Apr. 6, 1893, just in time for Jesus return.
END OF THE WORLD. It is Fixed by the Mormons for an Early Day in the Month of April. "If the teaching? of the Mormon faith are true," Bald Judge Edward F. Colburn, a prominent Republican of Salt Lake City, to a Boston Herald man, “it is scarcely worth while for the army of candidates to flock to Washington after offices, because after the 6th of April there won't be any offices to fill. That is the date fixed by Brigham Young for the second coming of Christ, an event which is to transpire when the great temple of the Mormon Church is fully completed. The cornerstone was laid on April 6, 1854, and the final shake-hands and wind-up were to come precisely forty years thereafter. Old Brigham was shrewd enough to fix the time far enough in advance, when he knew that he would be out of the way of heating the criticism on his unreliability as a prophet.” (The Dalles Oregon times-mountaineer., April 08, 1893, Image 1)
Also see (San Francisco Call, Volume 73, Number 116, Sunday, 26 March 1893, page 11)
1893 April 19, “Second Coming Postponed: The great Mormon Temple at Salt Lake was completed and dedicated on April 6th. It has been forty years in building, and is one of the most beautiful structures in the world. Fifty thousand saints from all parts of the world witnessed the ceremony, which the late Brigham Young said would occur at the second coming of Christ. However, a timely revelation was received by the present President, saying the second coming of the Saviour was postponed.” (The Pacific commercial advertiser, Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, April 19, 1893, Image 5) http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85047084/1893-04-19/ed-1/seq-5/#date1=1893&index=1&rows=20&words=Fifty+saints+thousand&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=Hawaii&date2=1893&proxtext=Fifty+thousand+saints&y=15&x=10&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1
Also see: (The Hawaiian gazette, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, April 25, 1893, Page 8, Image 9, Second Coming Postponed)
Jesus said, "that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth His coming." (Matt. 14:48) The LORD said unto Joseph: "...and they shall say that Christ delayeth his coming until the end of the earth." (D&C 45:26)
1894 June “Can you tell me where the people are who will be shielded and protected from these great calamities and judgments which are even now at our door? I’ll tell you. The priesthood of God who honor their priesthood and who are worthy of their blessings are the only ones who shall have this safety and protection. They are the only mortal beings. No other people have a right to be shielded from these judgments. [Only the Mormons will survive!] They are at our doors; not even this people will escape them entirely.” (President Wilford Woodruff, Young Women’s Journal, vol. 5: page 512, June 1894.) [100+1894=1994]
1895 June 24, THE COMING OF CHRIST: Henry [Smith] Tanner, an Elder of the Mormon Church, Speaks of Such an Event. One of the lodgerooms in Pythian Hall was comfortably filled last evening by ladies and gentlemen anxious to hear Elder Henry S. Tanner of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints speak upon the Second Coming of the Savior. Mr. Tanner concerned himself with four interesting elements of his theme, touching successively upon the matters of why, when, where and how the extraordinary event may be expected to manifest itself.
For reasons indicating and assuring the Second Coming of Christ, Mr. Tanner drew extensively upon the scriptures, and generally explained that the Redeemer's mission had been completed only in part, and that another visit to earth and intercourse with man were necessary to the accomplishment of his divine purpose. The life of Christ on earth formed a portion of the discourse, and Mr. Tanner indicated numerous manifestations of the Savior's divinity and the methods by which his purpose was to be attained. The scriptures also afforded Elder Tanner evidence to the fact that this event will occur in a period of persecution, extraordinary confusion and distress of nations.
Mr. Tanner believed that the world's present unsettled condition forebodes more serious disturbances, and at no very distant day the Second Coming of Christ. With the manner of its occurrence and where the event may happen, Mr. Tanner concluded his discourse.
(San Francisco Call, Volume 78, Number 24, Monday, 24 June 1895) http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC18950624.2.142&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-mormon%2b%22second+coming%22+------# genealogy http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=ldshistorical&id=I44776
1898 April “Jesus will come by and by, and appear in our midst, as He appeared in the day when upon the earth among the Jews, and He will eat and drink with us and talk to us, and explain the mysteries of the Kingdom, and tell us things that are not lawful to talk about now.” (Conference Report, Apr. 1898, 13–14.)
1899 April, “The precise time of Christ’s coming has not been made known to man. By learning to comprehend the signs of the times, by watching the development of the work of God among the nations, and by noting the rapid fulfilment of significant prophecies, we may perceive the progressive evidence of the approaching event: ‘But the hour and the day no man knoweth, neither the angels in heaven, nor shall they know until he comes’ [D&C 49:7]. His coming will be a surprise to those who have ignored His warnings, and who have failed to watch. ‘As a thief in the night’ will be the coming of the day of the Lord unto the wicked” (James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith, 362–63; 42 Edition 1973).
1900 Klaus J. Hansen: "In 1900, Woodruff's successor, Lorenzo Snow, affirmed at a special priesthood meeting in the Salt Lake Temple that 'there are many here now under the sound of my voice, probably a majority, who will live to go back to Jackson County and assist in building that temple' " (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Autumn 1966, p. 74) (See September 22, 1832 D&C 84:1-5,31,32)
1900 October, Lorenzo Snow, who became Church president after Woodruffs death in 1898, announced in an October 1900 meeting of the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles that "Christ will come before long." In January 1901, while blessing a child, Snow petitioned God that he "may live until Thy Son shall come in His glory among the children of men." In November 1900, Snow preached: "There are many here now under the sound of my voice, probably a majority who will have to go back to Jackson county and assist in building the temple." At a reception for missionaries going to Japan in June 1901, Snow testified, "When you return to Jackson County and engage in building the temple there, you will see Jesus and be associated with him." Snow viewed tithing as a step in the arrival of the millennium, as the funds would buy the Jackson County temple site, and instructed Church leaders in 1899 at a solemn assembly on tithing: ***"If you live 10 or 15 yrs more or less perhaps Less, we are going back to Jackson Co."***79 Apostles Brigham Young, Jr., and Mathias Cowley also emphasized the nearness of Zion's redemption, Cowley declaring "the day is not far distant when the Lord will clean out Jackson County," advising fellow leaders to ***“prepare themselves to build up the center stake.”***80 But following Snow's death in 1901, President Joseph F. Smith instituted a policy of assimilation rather than separation. Between 1897 and 1907, the Church replaced eleven apostles, two members of the First Council of the Seventy, and four members of the Presiding Bishopric. Thus, out of the twentyfive General Authorities, all were men who had no personal association with either Joseph Smith or the profoundly millennial worldview of his generation. Only one among this group of new Church leaders, Charles W. Penrose, was born before the Saints' arrival in Utah.81
79 Snow on Jackson County quoted in Stan Larson, ed., A Ministry of Meetings: The Apostolic Diaries of Rudger Clawson (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1993), 71-72, 150, 213-17, 233-34, 269, 270, 286; Snow on tithing quoted in Alexander, Mormonism in Transition, 288-89; Godfrey and Card, The Diaries of Charles Ora Card, 449, 504,568. See also Deseret News, 15June 1901; Anthony Woodward Ivins, Diaries, 2 July 1899, 2:68. George C. Naegle, Letter to Anthony W. Ivins, 1 September 1903, Anthony W. Ivins Collection, Box 10, folder 5, Utah State Historical Society, pledged $100 to buy land in Jackson County, Missouri.
80Larson, A Ministry ofMeetings, 78; Winslow Fair Diary, 242-43, typescript copy, Special Collections, Lee Library, Brigham Young University.
81Allen and Leonard, The Story of the Latter-day Saints, 456; Gustive O. Larson, The Americanization of Utah for Statehood (San Marino, Calif.: Huntington Library, 1971), 272-73. (Journal of Mormon History, Vol. 22, No. 2, 1996, p. 31,32 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1027&context=mormonhistory )
1901 Mar 3, Lorenzo Snow promises Salt Lake temple workers that ***"some of us would go back to Jackson County, Missouri." ***
1901 June 20, “He the Savior lives and I know it! … Many of you will live to go back to Jackson Co. and you will see Him there.” President Lorenzo Snow (spoke during a social engagement at the home of second counselor Joseph F. Smith)
1902 March, At stake conferences in March 1902, Bishop W. Derby Johnson, Jr., told the Saints
in Mexico the millennium was near, reiterating Colonia Diaz Patriarch James A. Little's belief, expressed one month earlier, that "some present would live to see the Son of Man come in His
***Glory."***78
78Anthony Woodward Ivins, Diary, 9 March 1902, 2:8; David Fisk Stout, Diaries, 9 February 1902, 13:41, microfilm, LDS Church Archives. (Journal of Mormon History, Vol. 22, No. 2, 1996, p. 31 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1027&context=mormonhistory )
1903 Oct 22, First Presidency and Twelve authorize purchase of twenty five acres of the original temple lot at Independence, Jackson County, Missouri. Purchase is complete on 14 Apr 1904.
1903, Benjamin F. Johnson brother-in-law and private secretary to Joseph Smith Jr., could not conceal his disappointment when he remarked that "we were over 70 years ago taught by our leaders to believe that the coming of Christ and the millennial reign was much nearer than we believe it to be now.” (Ed Decker & Dave Hunt, The God Makers p. 227; Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 1984) https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/BYUStudies/article/viewFile/6005/5655
1916 Oct 8, Apostle James E. Talmadge announces in Conference that "The [ten lost] tribes shall come: they are not lost unto the Lord; they shall be brought forth as hath been predicted; and I say unto you there are those now living - aye, some here present - who shall live to read the records of the Lost Tribes of Israel..."
1931 October, Speaking of the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants, President Joseph Fielding Smith said: “If we will put them into practice, if we will keep the commandments of the Lord, we will know the truth and there shall be no weapon formed against us that shall prosper. There shall be no false doctrines, no teaching of men that will deceive us. … If we will search these revelations then we will be fortified against errors and we will be made strong” (Conference Report, Oct. 1931, p. 17). https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1986/10/the-gift-of-modern-revelation?lang=eng
1935 January 1, (see 1832 September 22, D&C 84:1-5,31,32) Joseph Fielding Smith: "I firmly believe that there will be some of that generation who were living when this revelation was given who shall be living when this temple is reared.... I have full confidence in the word of the Lord and that it shall not fail" (Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection, Jan. 1, 1935, p. 270)
So what are we left to imagine about the Last Days or 2nd coming?
Christ will come during Joseph Smiths Generation!
Now here comes the spin! The sanitation of our church history. http://en.fairmormon.org/Joseph_Smith/Alleged_false_prophecies/Second_Coming_to_be_in_1890
http://www.shields-research.org/General/LDS_Leaders/1stPres/Joseph_Smith/56_Year.htm#2.
1945 June, “When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done. When they propose a plan–it is God’s plan. When they point the way, there is no other which is safe. When they give direction, it should mark the end of controversy. God works in no other way. To think otherwise, without immediate repentance, may cost one his faith, may destroy his testimony, and leave him a stranger to the Kingdom of God.” (Ward Teachers' Message, "Sustaining the General Authorities of the Church" Improvement Era, June 1945, p.354)
1948 April “Thus, clearly, the Lord has placed the responsibility for directing the work of gathering in the hands of the leaders of the Church to whom he will reveal his will where and when such gatherings would take place in the future. It would be well before the frightening events concerning the fulfilment of all God's promises and predictions are upon us, that the Saints in every land prepare themselves and look forward to the instruction that shall come to them from the First Presidency of this Church as to where they shall be gathered and not be disturbed in their feelings until such instruction is given to them as it is revealed by the Lord to the proper authority.” Harold B. Lee Conference Report, April 1948
1951 Jan 9, WWIII “The people had become indifferent to the counsel and advice of the authorities of the Church, and were more interested in the accumulating of wealth than they were in living their religion and …at this time there began to be war and bloodshed.” (The Vision of John Taylor, As related by Edward Lunt, Cedar City, Utah, Jan 9, 1951)
http://visionsandtribulation.blogspot.com/p/a-vision-of-president-john-taylor-1951.html
http://visionsandtribulation.blogspot.com/search/label/New%20Civil%20War%20US
1952 April, “Let me call your attention to this fact which you, of course, all know that we are living in the last days, [100+1952=2052] the days of trouble, days of wickedness, spoken of as days of wickedness several hundred years before the coming of Christ by Nephi, as it is recorded in the twenty-seventh chapter of Second Nephi.” (Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith, Conference Report, April 1952)
1964 October, “*Truly it must be said that **these last days ***[100+1964=2064] are exhibiting more than ever the blatant power and force of Satan… In that pre-earth life Lucifer offered to "save" mankind and to bring all back. But he [Satan] would have done it by deceit and by force, thereby destroying the agency of man. (High Priest ElRay L. Christiensen, Conference Report, October 1964)
NOTE: As we participate in Church meetings and listen in General Conference we are told historical faith promoting stories, but what we aren’t told is the total truth and facts about these stories. (Example: If I asked why Joseph Smith was tarred and feathered would you know the whole story? Does the LDS Church mention “Joseph of being intimate with Eli Johnsons [15 year old] sister, Nancy Marinda Johnson… and he was screaming for Joseph’s castration” and they had “Dr. [Richard] Dennison there to perform the castration.” Did you know that Josephs wife, Emma tried to poison him?) So if our leaders take the story out of context; conceal the truth or partial truth; how can we make competent decisions about our faith if all the facts aren’t represented? So our church leaders have forced a decision on us through their deception; you either believe in Mormonism and receive Eternal Life or you’re an apostate and will have Eternal Torment. Aren’t these the same choices we were given at that pivotal time during the War in Heaven? Did the LDS Church take our free agency away? If they’ve taken our free agency then; whose church is this?
1966 Apr. “Many things have taken place during the past one hundred and thirty-six years to impress faithful members of the Church with the fact that the coming of the Lord is near.”
(Joseph Fielding Smith, General Conference Report, Apr. 1966, 12–13).
1972 What was said about Joseph Smith failed prophecy: “It may be reasonable to assume that in giving this revelation to the Prophet, the LORD did have in mind the generation of people who would still be living within the one hundred years from the time of the announcement of the [Lords] revelation, and that they would enjoy the blessings of the temple, and a glorious cloud would rest upon it. It is also reasonable to believe that no soul living in 1832, is still living in mortality on the earth. …Verily, verily, I [God] say unto you, that when I give a commandment to any of the sons of men to do work unto my name, and those sons of men go with all their might and cease not their diligence, and their enemies come upon them and hinder them from performing that work, behold it behooveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept their offerings." (Joseph F. Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, vol. 4 p. 112) Note: Joseph F. Smith, died July 2, 1972
1975 November, We will never go wrong as a people if we follow the Lord’s prophet, who is also our prophet, and heed his teachings, counsel, and personal example. I bear witness to his divine calling. He is my teacher, my leader, and my exemplar. I sustain and uphold him by my faith and prayers. I have complete and unwavering confidence in his prophetic calling and divine leadership. His character is upright, his mind alert, his counsel wise, his judgment sound, his vision clear. He has a great love for all peoples. He is their friend and is considerate of their needs. (President Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, Nov. 1975)
1978 May, “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Pet. 1:19–21 Well, if prophecy is the most sure way of knowing what is to happen—and Isaiah said that the Lord had declared the end from the beginning Isaiah 46:10 —it’s all there when we understand it. And so I think that if Jesus pronounced such judgment upon those who failed to understand the scriptures relating to his first coming, how would he feel toward us and the world if we fail to recognize the value of the words of the holy prophets relating to his second coming? (Elder LeGrand Richards, The Second Coming of Christ, Ensign, May 1978)
1978 November, “When the Prophet speaks, … the debate is over” (Ensign, Nov. 1978, p. 108).
1979 March 4, “For nearly six thousand years, God has held you in reserve to make your appearance in the final days before the Second Coming of the Lord. Every previous gospel dispensation has drifted into apostasy, but ours will not. True, there will be some individuals who will fall away; but the kingdom of God will remain intact to welcome the return of its head—even Jesus Christ. While our generation will be comparable in wickedness to the days of Noah, when the Lord cleansed the earth by flood, there is a major difference this time. It is that God has saved for the final inning some of his strongest children, who will help bear off the Kingdom triumphantly. And that is where you come in, for you are the generation that must be prepared to meet your God… My beloved brothers and sisters, “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man,” and so can you. You are a royal generation. The heavenly grandstands are cheering you on. We are fast coming to the close of this game. The opposition is real and is scoring. But we have scored, we are scoring, and we will score in the future. The Lord is our coach and manager. His team will win, and we can be a valiant part of it if we so desire. Rise up, O youth of Zion! You hardly realize the great divine potential that lies within you. May you all follow your leader, Jesus Christ, and increase mentally, physically, spiritually, and socially, I pray for all of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.” (Ezra Taft Benson, BYU Fireside http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=89)
1980 September 16, “Youth of Zion, do you realize you are living in the days of the fulfillment of these signs and wonders? You are among those who will see many of these prophecies fulfilled. Just as certain as was the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem and the scattering of the Jews, so shall these words of the Savior be certain to your generation... You will live in the midst of economic, political and spiritual instability. When you see these signs – unmistakable evidences that His coming is nigh – be not troubled, but ‘stand... in holy places...” These holy places consist of our temples, our chapels, our homes and the stakes of Zion, which are as the Lord declares, ‘for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from the wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth’... We have every confidence that you, ‘**the rising generation [**100+1980=2080],’ will not falter. I repeat: You were valiant spirits reserved for this exceptional time. You have but one choice: To rise to the task of history’s most significant hour!” (Prophet Ezra Taft Benson, “Prepare Yourselves for the Great Day of the Lord," address delivered to the Devotional Assembly, Ricks College, Idaho, September 16, 1980)
1980 October, “Those who smugly think these calamities will not happen, that they somehow will be set aside because of the righteousness of the Saints, are deceived and will rue the day they harboured such a delusion. The Lord has warned and forewarned us against a day of great tribulation and given us counsel, through His servants, on how we can be prepared for these difficult times.
Have we heeded His counsel?”
Ezra Taft Benson, October 1980 General Conference
1981 October 6, (It Must Come True) “The ultimate test of a true prophet is when he speaks in the name of the Lord, his words come to pass” (President Ezra Taft Benson, Deseret News, October 6, 1981, p. 6a)
1981 October 31, Elder Bruce R. McConkie and other General Authorities presided over the 14 BYU Stake Conference… Elder McConkie believes that “the Second Coming of Christ will not take place during his lifetime, nor the lifetime of his children, and maybe not during the lifetime of his grandchildren. He said that there is too much to be done before the Savior's return can take place… as we measure time, it is a long way off.” [100+1981=2081]
1982 May, “Are we not witnessing the fulfillment of these signs today? …We constantly hear or read of wars and rumors of wars. Atheism, agnosticism, immorality, and dishonesty are flaunted in our society. Desertions, cruelty, divorce, and infidelity have become commonplace, leading to a disintegration of the family. Truly we live in the times of which the Savior spoke, when “the love of men shall wax cold, and iniquity shall abound.”
*Youth of Zion, do you realize you are living in the days of the fulfillment of these signs and wonders? You are among those who will see many of these prophecies fulfilled. Just as certain as was the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem and the scattering of the Jews, **so shall these words of the Savior be certain to your generation. *[100+1982=2082] We know not the day nor the hour of His coming, but of this you may feel assured: You stand close to the great day of the Lord! (Pod-cast President Ezra Taft Benson, Prepare Yourself for the Great Day of the Lord, New Era May 1982)
Spencer W. Kimball The ancients looked forward to the coming of the Lord and asked, “When shall all these things be?” The pioneers thought it would be soon and watched for signs; our grandparents watched for the sprouting of the fig tree; our parents watched for the reddening of the sky; and we ourselves have heard all our lives that the Second Coming is near. (Faith Proceeds the Miracle, 249)
1982 February, [1982 second coming prediction] “In this setting, as these and ten thousand like things are in progress, suddenly, quickly, as from the midst of eternity, He comes! Fire burns before him; tempests spread destruction; the earth trembles and reels to and fro as a drunken man. Every corruptible thing is consumed. He sets his foot on the Mount called Olivet; it cleaves in twain. The Lord has returned and the great millennium is here! The year of his redeemed has arrived!” (Bruce R. McConkie, Millennial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man, p. 21–22).
1982 February, “We live in the day when the signs are coming to pass.” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man, p. 344)
1982 February, “Before the Lord Jesus descends openly and publicly in the clouds of glory, attended by all the hosts of heaven; before the great and dreadful day of the Lord sends terror and destruction from one end of the earth to the other; before he stands on Mount Zion, or sets his feet on Olivet, or utters his voice from an American Zion or a Jewish Jerusalem; before all flesh shall see him together; before any of his appearances, which taken together comprise the second coming of the Son of God—before all these, there is to be a secret appearance to selected members of his Church. He will come in private to his prophet and to the apostles then living. Those who have held keys and powers and authorities in all ages from Adam to the present will also be present” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man, p. 578-79)
As to the Second Coming, the time is fixed, the hour is set, and, speaking after the manner of the Lord, the day is soon to be. The appointed day can be neither advanced nor delayed. It will come at the decreed moment, chosen before the foundations of the earth were laid, and it can be neither hastened by righteousness or put off by wickedness. It will be with our Lord’s return as it was with his birth to Mary: the time of each coming was fixed by the Father… (Bruce R. McConkie
A New Witness for The Articles of Faith, 591)
Neal A. Maxwell
The Savior taught this in the parable of the fig tree whose tender new branches give a sign of the coming of summer. “So likewise,” when the elect shall see the signs of His coming “they shall know that he is near, even at the doors” (JS—M 1:38–39; see also Matt. 24:32–33; D&C 45:37–38).
1988 May “Over the sweep of Christian history, some believers have, by focusing on a few prophecies while neglecting others, prematurely expected the Second Coming. Today, while we are obviously closer to that great moment, we are in the same danger. . . . “In the context of such cautions, I have no hesitancy in saying that there are some signs—but certainly not all— suggesting that ‘summer is nigh’ (Matthew 24:32) “Members of the Church need not and should not be alarmists. They need not be deflected from quietly and righteously pursuing their daily lives” (Neal A. Maxwell, Conference Report, Apr. 1988, p.6–8; or Ensign, May 1988, p.7, 9)
1998 December 18, “Ted Capener: You certainly are not now or never have
been, I’m sure, a prophet of doom, or of doomsday. Are we living in
the last days?
Gordon B. Hinckley: “I don’t know, but we better act as if we
were. [My Prophet doesn’t know?]
TC: Yeah.
GBH: “Then we won’t have anything to worry about!”
TC: That’s right.
GBH: “If it’s ready to come, we’ll be ready.” (Prophet Gordon B.
Hinckley, interview by Ted Capener, Friday, December 18, 1998, KUED
Public Television Station in Salt Lake City, Utah)
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/670073/President-Hinckley-on-KUED-Ch-7-tonight.html?pg=all
2001 October 6, “The era in which we live is the fulness of times spoken of in the scriptures, when God has brought together all of the elements of previous dispensations Joel 2:28–32. …Those who observe us say that we are moving into the mainstream of religion. We are not changing. We teach the same doctrine.”(living-in-the-fulness-of-times, Gordon B. Hinckley, General Conference, October 2001)
2001 October 7*, “I have just been handed a note that says that a U.S.
missile attack is under way. I need not remind you that we live in
perilous times. …Now, I do not wish to be an alarmist. I do not wish to
be a prophet of doom. I am optimistic. I do not believe the time is
here when an all-consuming calamity will overtake us.* *…Are these
perilous times? They are.”
*(the-times-in-which-we-live
Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley, General Conference, October 7, 2001)
2004 April 4, *“**We of this generation ***[100+2004=2104] are the end harvest of all that has gone before. It is not enough to simply be known as a member of this Church. A solemn obligation rests upon us. Let us face it and work at it. We must live as true followers of the Christ, with charity toward all, returning good for evil, teaching by example the ways of the Lord, and accomplishing the vast service He has outlined for us. May we live worthy of the glorious endowment of light and understanding and eternal truth which has come to us through all the perils of the past. Somehow, among all who have walked the earth, we have been brought forth in this unique and remarkable season. Be grateful, and above all be faithful.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, General Conference April 4, 2004) https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2004/04/the-dawning-of-a-brighter-day?lang=eng
2004 April 4, Preparation for the Second Coming: “We need to make, spiritual preparation for the events prophesied at the time of the Second Coming. I wish to speak about… ‘the faithful are taught to study the signs of it [the Second Coming] and to be prepared for it [the Second Coming] of these great realities’ …We are living in the prophesied time “when peace shall be taken from the earth” (D&C 1:35), when “all things shall be in commotion” and “men’s hearts shall fail them” (D&C 88:91). There are many temporal causes of commotion, including wars and natural disasters, but an even greater cause of current “commotion” is spiritual.” (Dallin H. Oaks, General Conference April 4, 2004) https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2004/04/preparation-for-the-second-coming?lang=eng
2005 January, “Fear shall come upon all people. But you and I know that the Lord has prepared places of safety to which he is eager to guide us....It will be our choice whether or not to move up or stay where we are. But the Lord will invite and guide us upward by the direction of the Holy Ghost...” (Henry B. Eyring, Raise the Bar, BYU Idaho Talk - January 2005)
2008 April 5, Examples-of-righteousness: Timestamp 2:40 “As bearers of the priesthood, we have been placed on earth in troubled times… Timestamp 11:50 I have thought about that experience [wiggling my ears] over the years as I’ve contemplated how, particularly when we’re young, we tend to imitate the example of our parents, our leaders, our peers. The prophet Brigham Young said: “We should never permit ourselves to do anything that we are not willing to see our children do. We should set them an example that we wish them to imitate…”(Deseret News, June 21, 1871, 235.) My brethren, as we now leave this general priesthood meeting, let us all determine to prepare for our time of opportunity and to honor the priesthood we bear through the service we render, the lives we bless, and the souls we are privileged to help save. You “are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation,” and you can make a difference.” (1 Peter 2: 9) (Thomas S. Monson, General Conference, Priesthood Session. Note: Talk given with a since of sadness or heavy hearted.)
2008 April 30, Uploaded on YouTube: LDS Prophets warn us of the dangers Facing America.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehD390q9G3k
2008 Jul 23, Uploaded on YouTube; LDS Church Leaders preparing us for the 2nd Coming of Christ. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqaesQ2EE8w
2009 April 5, Thomas S. Monson: “Since last we met together in a general conference six months ago, there have been continuing signs that circumstances in the world aren’t necessarily as we would wish. The global economy, which six months ago appeared to be sagging, seems to have taken a nosedive, and for many weeks now the financial outlook has been somewhat grim. In addition, the moral footings of society continue to slip, while those who attempt to safeguard those footings are often ridiculed and, at times, picketed and persecuted. Wars, natural disasters, and personal misfortunes continue to occur. It would be easy to become discouraged and cynical about the future—or even fearful of what might come—if we allowed ourselves to dwell only on that which is wrong in the world and in our lives.” (Thomas S. Monson, General Conference, Ensign, May 2009, 89).
2010 Dec. 5, “Look Steadfastly for His Coming. …We live in the 11th hour before the coming of the day of our Lord. Let us therefore look forward to that blessed day when the King of kings descends with a shout takes away death, dries up tears, and ushers in a new era of peace, joy, and learning.” (President Uchtdorf, First Presidency Christmas Devotional)
2011 Second Coming of Jesus Christ, Author’s Note: “I personally have been given the promise in my Patriarchal Blessing that I would be with those who shall return to Jackson County, Missouri, to assist in the building of that Holy Temple for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It may happen in this life or during the Millennium.” (BOOK: Family History and Temples Including Grigg and Related Family Genealogies, By Dick Griggs, page 51.) Note: notice the distorted view of the Millennium. https://books.google.com/books?id=2myR_qjAl6kC&pg=PA51&lpg=PA51&dq=Daniel+H.+Wells+second+coming&source=bl&ots=M-u5qL-u4f&sig=K0Xtiluf0fEptnfZz8XSLz-b_yY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lA-vVKnUNoLpoAS1w4KwDw&ved=0CDwQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=Daniel%20H.%20Wells%20second%20coming&f=false
2014 LDS Essay, Since the second coming didn’t happen in 1890 as prophesied, the converts outside the United States were asked to: “Beginning in the 1890s converts outside the United States were asked to build up the Church in their homelands rather than move to Utah.” (LDS Essay: https://www.lds.org/topics/plural-marriage-and-families-in-early-utah paragraph 12)
2015 Second Coming (LDS Church)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Coming_(LDS_Church)
*************************************************************
Is it so hard to comprehend that the early saints would believe in a 1890 second coming of Christ?
In my life time, I can remember 1,024 church members committing suicide in the name of their religion. 1978 People's Temple; 1993 Branch Davidians; 1997 Heaven's Gate; I’m sure there’s many more.
Jesus warned; Matthew 7:15-20 that many false prophets would come, and several other places warn us about false prophets and spiritual deception (2 Corinthians 11:4-15; Galatians 1:6-9; 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Peter 2:1-3; and 1 John 4:1). We should not be surprised, to discover that there are false prophets in the world today.
Jesus said: v.33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
Jesus said: v.12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. v.13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. v.14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. (John 16:12-14)
“v.20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. 21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? 22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously; thou shalt not be afraid of him.” (Deuteronomy 18:20-22) https://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/deut/18.20-22?lang=eng#19
Joseph F. Smith stated: "Mormonism, as it is called, must stand or fall on the story of Joseph Smith. He was either a prophet of God, divinely called, properly appointed and commissioned, or he was one of the biggest frauds this world has ever seen. There is no middle ground.
If Joseph Smith was a deceiver who willfully attempted to mislead the people then he should be exposed: his claims should be refuted, and his doctrines whom to be false, for the doctrines of an imposter cannot be made to harmonize in all particulars with divine truth. If his claims and declarations were build upon fraud and deceit, there would appear many errors and contradiction, which would be easy to detect. The doctrines of false teachers will not stand the test when tried by the accepted standards of measurement, the scriptures." (Doctrines of Salvation by Joseph F. Smith, pub. 1954, Vol. 1 p. 188. )
If you’re a Mormon and you’re confused, it’s because you’re paying attention!
Dan Speer
George Daniel Speer Sr.
Extra Research:
https://www.lds.org/topics/second-coming-of-jesus-christ
http://mormonthink.com/QUOTES/mormonquotes.htm
http://mormonthink.com/QUOTES/lastdays.htm
Harmony Society: Prophet Johann Georg Rapp (George Rapp) 1757–1847
In 1791, George Rapp said, "I am a prophet and I am called to be one" In 1803 Rapps group immigrated to Harmony, PA and started a commune known as the Harmony Society that was formally organized on February 15, 1805. In 1807, celibacy was advocated as the preferred custom of the community in an attempt to purify themselves for the coming Millennium.
Rapp believed that the events and wars [war of 1812] going on in the world at the time were a confirmation of his views regarding the imminent Second Coming of Christ. Rapp predicted that on September 15, 1829, the three and one half years of the Sun Woman would end and Christ would begin his reign on earth. After Rapp's death in 1847, a number of members left the group because of disappointment and disillusionment over the fact that his prophecies regarding the return of Jesus Christ in his lifetime were not fulfilled.
The Harmonites were Millennialists, in that they believed Jesus Christ was coming to earth in their lifetime to help usher in a thousand-year kingdom of peace on earth. This is perhaps why they believed that people should try to make themselves "pure" and "perfect", and share things with others while willingly living in communal "harmony" (Acts 4:32-37) and practicing celibacy. They believed that the old ways of life on earth were coming to an end, and that a new perfect kingdom on earth was about to be realized.
The Harmonite commune ultimately failed because the policy of celibacy prevented new members from within, and the majority of the outside world had no desire to give up so much to live in a commune. The society was formally dissolved in 1906.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Rapp
Jehovah Witness: In our church we kinda talk badly about Jehovah Witness and some of their beliefs. The Jehovah Witness have “five failed prophesy” about the 2nd coming. They (like the LDS) also have to sanitize their scriptures and doctrinal teachings.
Studies In the Scriptures - Thy Kingdom Come, 1908 edition
"That the deliverance of the saints must take place some time before 1914 is manifest, since the deliverance of fleshly Israel, as we shall see, is appointed to take place at that time, and the angry nations will then be authoritatively commanded to be still, and will be made to recognize the power of Jehovah's Anointed. Just how long before 1914 the last living members of the body of Christ will be glorified, we are not directly informed; but it certainly will not be until their work in the flesh is done; nor can we reasonably presume that they will long remain after that work is accomplished. With these two thought in mind, we can approximate the time of the deliverance."
Studies In the Scriptures - Thy Kingdom Come 1915 Edition
"That the deliverance of the saints must take place very soon after 1914 is manifest, since the deliverance of fleshly Israel, as we shall see, is appointed to take place at that time, and the angry nations will then be authoritatively commanded to be still, and will be made to recognize the power of Jehovah's Anointed. Just how long after 1914 the last living members of the body of Christ will be glorified, we are not directly informed; but it certainly will not be until their work in the flesh is done; nor can we reasonably presume that they will long remain after that work is accomplished." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Jehovah's_Witnesses#Failed_predictions
Seventh-day Adventist Church: was founded by William Miller in upper state New York about 1820. Revd. Miller was married in 1803 to “a” Lucy Smith. During the Great Revival or Second Great Awakening. In September 1822, Miller formally stated his Doctrine, in a twenty-point document, including article 15: "I believe that the Second Advent of Jesus Christ is near, even at the door, even within twenty-one years,--on or before 1843." October 22, 1844, the day Jesus was expected to return, ended like any other day ^[28]^ to the disappointment of the Millerites. On March 10, 1844, one of the dates of Joseph Smith Jr’s. second comings perditions, Joseph stated Miller was wrong about the timing of the second coming.
People's Temple: Prophet Jim Jones, November 18, 1978(1978-11-18) of The People's Temple of the Disciples of Christ: 910 inhabitants of Jonestown, 303 of them children, died by suicide by drinking cyanide-laced grape-flavored Flavor Aid. NOTE: My Gt-grandparents John and Annie Speer are buried at Evergreen Cemetery, Oakland, CA. 412 unclaimed bodies of Jonestown are also buried at Evergreen.
Branch Davidians: Prophet David Koresh, April 19, 1993: The 51-day FBI Siege ended with the death of 76 Branch Davidians, including David Koresh. Davids 24 children were to serve as the ruling elders over the millennium after the return of Christ.
Harold Camping: In 1992, Camping published a book titled 1994?, in which he proclaimed that Christ's return might be on September 6, 1994. In that publication, he also mentioned that 2011 could be the end of the world. Camping's predictions use 1988 as a significant year in the events preceding the apocalypse; this was also the year he left Alameda Bible Fellowship. As a result, some individuals criticized him for "date-setting."^[50]^ Camping's later publications, We are Almost There! and To God be The Glory, referred to additional Bible passages which, in his opinion, pointed to May 21, 2011, as the date for the Rapture and October 21, 2011, as the date for the end of the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Camping
Heaven's Gate: Prophet Marshall Applewhite, March 19–20, 1997: Marshall Applewhite taped himself speaking of mass suicide and asserted "it was the only way to evacuate this Earth." After claiming that a spacecraft was trailing Comet Hale–Bopp, Applewhite convinced 38 followers to commit suicide so that their souls could board the craft. Applewhite believed that after their deaths, an unidentified flying object (UFO) would take their souls to another "level of existence above human", which he described as being both physical and spiritual. In October 1996, the group purchased alien abduction insurance to cover up to 50 members at a cost of $10,000 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven's_Gate_(religious_group)#Mass_suicide_and_aftermath
Joseph Morris Ministries: http://josephmorris.com/edu/ EDU=End of Days Update
LDS Apostate, Gladden Bishop: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladden_Bishop The Resurrected Jesus Christ. (The spirit of democracy, Woodsfield, Ohio, July 27, 1853, Image 2, Gladden Bishop)
Christopher Mark Nemelka: http://www.marvelousworkandawonder.com/tsp/download/LEHI.pdf
The Perpetual Emigration Fund was established to aid the poor convert in “The Gathering of Zion” between 1850-1890 (D&C 57:1-3)
To my children, If I lead you astray you will be ok:
v.54 Hence came the saying abroad among the people, that the Son of God hath atoned for original guilt, wherein the sins of the parents cannot be answered upon the heads of the children, for they are whole from the foundation of the world. https://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/moses/6.54?lang=eng#53
1830-1834 Coming of the Son of Man: “ When I contemplate the rapidity with which the great and glorious day of the coming of the Son of Man advances, when He shall come to receive His Saints unto Himself, where they shall dwell in His presence, and be crowned with glory and immortality: when I consider that soon the heavens are to be shaken, and the earth tremble and reel to and fro; and that the heavens are to be unfolded as a scroll when it is rolled up; and that every mountain and island are to flee away, I cry out in my heart, What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness! You remember the testimony which I bore in the name of the Lord Jesus, concerning the great work which He has brought forth in the last days. You know my manner of communication, how that in weakness and simplicity, I declared to you what the Lord had brought forth by the ministering of His holy angels to me for this generation. I pray that the Lord may enable you to treasure these things in your mind, for I know that His Spirit will bear testimony to all who seek diligently after knowledge from Him. I hope you will search the Scriptures to see whether these things are not also consistent with those things which the ancient Prophets and Apostles have written. Your brother, etc. JOSEPH SMITH”
(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, by Joseph Smith. Compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith Church Historian. DHC--[Documentary] History of the Church. Section One 1830-34, p.29 http://www.boap.org/LDS/Joseph-Smith/Teachings/T4.html)
1842-43 Earth Now Groaning Under Corruption: The earth is groaning under corruption, oppression, tyranny and bloodshed; and God is coming out of His hiding place, as He said He would do, to vex the nations of the earth. JOSEPH SMITH” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, by Joseph Smith.Compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith Church Historian. DHC--[Documentary] History of the Church. Section Five 1842-43, p.253 http://www.boap.org/LDS/Joseph-Smith/Teachings/T5.html )
https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-21?lang=eng
Pulsipher, Zerah 1789-1872
Autobiography (c. 1803-1862)
Typescript, HBLL.
HISTORY OF ZERA PULSIPHER
AS WRITTEN BY HIMSELF
I was about fourteen or fifteen years of age… I have often heard my father say that the signs of Christ's second coming was often seen and that he would come before many years should pass away. And if they did not live to see it, likely his children would.
However, when I was about twenty-one I married a very agreeable companion, lived with her about one year when she died leaving one child which we named Harriett. After the death of my wife (Polly or Mary Randell) I had some anxiety about her state and condition, consequently in answer to my desires in a few weeks she came to me in vision and appearing natural looked pleasant as she ever did and sat by my side and assisted me in singing a hymn - beginning thus: "That glorious day is drawing nigh when Zions Light Shall Shine." This she did with a seeming composure.
This vision took away all the anxiety of my mind concerning her in as much as she seemed to enjoy herself well. This hymn which she introduced and sang with me applied to the great work of the last dispensation of the fullness of times. This transpired about ten years before Joseph Smith had discovered the first revelation of the work of the last days. My mind became calm as respecting her condition in the spirit world.
In the year 1814 I hired a farm at Bellows falls on the Connecticut River and being alone gave my brother John the privilege to work it with me. In the fall of that season there were the most extraordinary northern lights that I had ever saw, it was the cause of many speculative notions among the people but my father said it was the signs of the last days and of Christ's second coming. I regarded my father's remarks as specimens of good sense.
Joseph Smith was the founder of the Mormon Church. He saw in a vision that the Kingdom of God would be west of a large river. He set up an earthly kingdom just west of the Mississippi River in Illinois. The town had been called Commerce, but Joseph Smith changed the name to Navoo. Joseph Smith told his followers that Jesus would return at Independence, Missouri. While in Independence he was arrested and spent the winter in the Liberty Jail. At this time he saw a vision of a great river and Jesus was on the west side of the river. Independence is east of the Missouri River. Joseph Smith was being transferred to a different jail and his followers helped him to escape. He traveled on the Mississippi River until he saw a mountain and a town in a valley west of the river. He told his followers that this town would now be called Navoo. He said it was a Greek word meaning "plateau." His followers could not find Navoo in Greek, but they believed he was a prophet, so they accepted the new name….
Smith Saw: Jesus Would Return in the Rockies
In the spring of 1844 Joseph Smith received a vision called "The White Horse Prophecy." He saw that Jesus would return in the Rockies. He told Brigham Young to take the members west and there they would meet up with a group of people who were pure in heart (the salt of the earth).
http://www.entrybytroops.org/joseph-smith.html
The overlooked prophesy on The Last Days and the 1891 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ.
I’ve assembled 47 pages of chronological history taught by the early LDS Church, on the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, and predictions of his coming in the following years: 1846, before 1880, 1881, 1882 after 1884, 1890-91, 1894.
The LDS Church since 1820 has had much to say, about the Last Days and the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ, usually focusing not on preparation for his advent, but rather on the signs. This focus often has the effect of producing the emotions of fear, doom, and dread – all of them incompatible with love. Jesus taught “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18)
It’s ironic but not surprising that the LDS Church requires more of their members to enter the Kingdom of God then Jesus. “v.28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. v.29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. v.30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matt 11:28-30)
Mr. X
I have gathered 55 pages of documentation showing the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, and our LDS Prophets and Apostles Predictions of his coming in the following years: 1846, before 1880, 1881, 1882 after 1884, 1890-91, 1893. The most prophesied date was 1891.
No you aren’t the original chosen people. It was suppose to happen before 1893. Everything on the above list would have been resolved at Christ second coming; Polygamy, Council of 50, The White Horse Prophecy, The Everlasting United Order, The overthrow of the US Government…
The Salt Lake Temple was dedicated in 1893, just in time for Jesus return. Have you ever wondered why the Saints could build the Manti, Logan and St. George Temples in 7 to 13 years but the SLT took 40? I have a 1852? newspaper article with Brigham Young stating it would take 10 years to construct at a cost of $_?_ million See April 8, 1893
1920 was the beginning of the cover up; then the installation of the 1940 “literature censorship committee”
What’s been over looked is that all of Josephs Revelations: Council of the 50; Polygamy would come to fruition in 1891 the predicted year of Christ second advent.
I like to reveal the Facts, because with Facts you don’t have to rely on Faith and Feelings.
Clair Barrus
http://www.withoutend.org/contributors/clair-barrus/
It would please me to share my Second Advent document, with you and you
alone. I’m looking for someone with website design skills to publish my
research. I want it to be a living document that others can add to.
Would you be willing to publish this? Do you know someone willing to
publish this?
I’m sending it in its raw format. Please disregard my anger. (I was at a pretty ugly place when I was working on this.)
I would like to know your story.
George Daniel Speer Sr. (aka George Reeps)