Excerpt from The Latter-Day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 77: April 15, 1915

In the Seventh Ward Meeting House, Latter-day Saints, Ogden, Utah, there is a picture, painted on the sloping ceiling over the stand. Under the picture is simply written Rev. 14: 6, 7. Here is the picture - 'a stretch of stony land, very desolate, separated from the richer mainland by a river. On the mainland stands a beautiful building which looks like a castle. The smaller portion of land gives one the impression of being an island. Sheep are seen grazing upon it, and on a stone is seated a shepherd boy, crook in hand, with eyes intently fixed on the ground. He appears to be gazing at nothing and thinking of the same, and it is easy to see his thoughts seldom or never soar higher than the sheep he is tending.

But there is another figure, that of an old man with white hair. He also carries a shepherd's crook, but his thoughts are nowhere near the sheep. His head is raised, and his right hand shades his eyes, as he gazes far away into the heavens. Is there anything to be seen there? Yes, there, flying through the heavens is an angel bearing a scroll. Every fibre of the old man's being, you can see, is thrilling with the scene before him. He is lost to earth, lost to all around him, as he eagerly drinks in the vision of the days that are to come.

The boy has no thought of angels in his head. So intent is he on earthly things, so absorbed with the things that must pass away like the tale that is told, that he is blind and deaf to all that is passing around him, and reminds you of the words of Christ, They have eyes which see not, they have ears which hear not. What has he to do with angels' visits? All he has to think about are the poor, dumb sheep. Let who will converse with angels. But the old man has learnt how transient, how little worth are the things of this world, and all his thoughts are centered up above; and later, sitting quietly down and reviewing the vision that had opened to him, he drew his writing materials to him and wrote: And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, so you see these people who believe in angels' visits are not so de luded after all, for John left them word that one of the things they could confidently expect in the latter days was, that one angel, at least, would visit them and bear with him the gospel of Jesus Christ.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.