Each of us have the obligation to spread the truth and the knowledge that the Scriptures (that we now have) more accurately recover. We have to go back to what was given to us through Joseph Smith as the foundation in order to qualify to be able to move forward. The objective is clear: Rise up to occupy that high place where Zion is to be built. The battle rages all around. All must charge forward to engage the battle and hasten to the sound of that conflict. There must be success where others have failed.
The history of the Restoration is incomplete and still being written. Its conclusion will be years in the future, and there is tremendous work left to complete. All of us need to awaken and arise from the deep slumber that has overtaken the Restoration. We have been misled. We have fallen from the truth. We have rejected the fullness. And we must repent and return-or, as the Book of Mormon warns, "awake and arise" from this awful situation.
You can believe in the Bible; you can accept Jesus as your Savior; you can be (in the words of the Evangelical community) "born again." You can be (in the words of Latter-day Saints) someone whose "calling and election is made sure." But the work of God, at this point, is not merely about individual salvation; it is the work of fulfilling the covenants that were made with the Fathers.
The work of the covenants that the Book of Mormon foretell are to be accomplished through the reclaiming (by repentance and returning to Him) of Gentiles will, ultimately, reach out to (and include) restoring the Lamanites/restoring the Jews to a knowledge of the works of the Father. That-that-is what is on the mind of God today. That is the purpose of the covenant that was given unto us in Boise just a few years ago. That is what fulfilling the covenant ultimately requires that we labor to achieve.
Anyone can come into this work. Anyone can remain a Catholic or a Presbyterian or a Latter-day Saint if they choose to do so. It doesn't matter. Those things are more like civic clubs. I don't care if you're a Rotarian or a Kiwanis Club member-means about the same thing as belonging to any of those church organizations. Associate with whoever you like to associate with, but you must accept baptism. You must accept the Book of Mormon. It is a covenant. The covenant must be accepted, and you must help labor alongside those who seek to return Zion.
We will never be Zion if we do not repent. Working together is the only way a society can grow together. Failing to do the hard work outlined in the covenant is failing to prepare for Zion. The Answer to the Prayer for Covenant and the Covenant are the beginning blueprint.
There is a process that is underway. There are things we have to do. I believe when the command is given to build a temple that we're going to have to act with alacrity if we are going to be able to fulfill the covenants and the obligations that have been promised by God and handed to us to do.
But don't expect the world to get better, and don't expect organized religions to get better. Hopefully there will be more and more who come to take refuge among a band of believers who have no hierarchy, office, position, who have only ourselves to fellowship with informally, gathering at one another's homes, and occasionally renting facilities to meet in larger groups. While you may look at us and say, "You've done a crude job; you've done a rudimentary job; it needs improvement," then help us improve it! This is a time to gather, not to disperse.
