I write today to the orthodox, believing members of the Church who, facing the increasingly insane world of vaccine mandates, lockdowns and mask mandates over a virus with a 99 percent-plus survival rate for most people, are upset at the Church’s endorsement of vaccines and masks.
There have been two very large Church developments over the last month, one regarding vaccines and masks, and the other President Holland’s pleading with BYU faculty and staff to support the Church’s policies on social issues.
I think it is fair to say that a very large number of Church members, at least in the United States and Canada, have been tested by these two events.
Here is my message to the orthodox, believing members of the Church: cling to the rod of iron so you can partake of the fruit of the tree of life.
What does this mean in practical terms? Ezra Taft Benson said it best in 1980:
“There will be times when you will have to choose between the revelations of God and the reasoning of men—between the prophet and the politician or professor. Said the Prophet Joseph Smith, “Whatever God requires is right, no matter what it is, although we may not see the reason thereof until long after the events transpire” (Scrapbook of Mormon Literature, vol. 2, p. 173).”
Choose the prophets. They have spoken regarding masks, vaccines and also regarding social issues like same-sex attraction and the situation at BYU.
Let me tell you who you do NOT want to be like: the left-wing woman I know about who left the Church noisily more than a year ago and was given nothing but love and support by nearly everybody in the ward. And there she was last Sunday crouched on the ground in front of the chapel writing anti-Church propaganda on the sidewalk in chalk for four hours. She was not friendly to any of the people who had been so kind to her for so many years. Her eyes were filled with hate and spite. In her mind she was so much more righteous than all of the people going to honor Jesus by taking the Sacrament, an ordinance she now refuses. In her mind the prophets hate gay people, and she is filled with love. In her mind she is some kind of hero, when the truth is she appeared to most people like Ophelia. It was a very sad scene indeed.
I have to say this to my orthodox, believing friends: some of you have reacted very poorly to the Church’s recommendations on masks and vaccines. Don’t go down that road. I have written before on this, and I feel a need to write about it again and add some additional thoughts. Two things can be true at the same time. It can be true that there has been a massive, unscientific overreaction to a virus that is relatively harmless to most people, but it can also be true that the Church has decided that the time is not right to challenge society’s response.
If you have the image in your head of the Brethren as watchmen on the tower it becomes easier to see that the Brethren can see things that we cannot. I believe that the Brethren see that worse times are coming. And if you stop and think about the over-the-top response to Elder Holland’s mild speech to BYU, it is easy to imagine the direction these bad times could take. I would like to credit regular commenter Bookslinger for linking this post, which got me thinking about the direction events could take in the coming years. Here is an excerpt:
It will eventually be impossible to hold these views [ie, the Church’s views on social issues and sexuality] & maintain a position as a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, a manager – any position of authority or responsibility in which sexuality might become relevant (i.e. all of them). We’ll lose every member who is unwilling to say “the Church is right & every other Western authority is wrong”. Not only that, but without a compelling alternative epistemology, the sudden shock of losing everything that was solid & certain about the materialist worldview will drive some of our own people out into the schizo wilderness.
Sources whom I will not cite tell me that the Church is preparing for this with great urgency. (bold from the original)
They are disentangling themselves from gentile financial & tech infrastructure – building parallel systems & bringing functionality in-house. They’re preparing for BYU to lose its accreditation, and thus its power as an economic catapult for our cognitive elite (not that that will matter much if we’re unwelcome in elite professions anyway). They’re preparing to lose a tremendous amount of tithing income (both due to mass apostasy, & the destitution of the Saints) without interrupting the work in the temples. They’re buying lots and lots and lots of farmland.
I want to emphasize here that I do not necessarily endorse that this writer has “sources.” I am not saying that he does not (he seems like a good guy, and I am not saying he is lying), but I just want to make it clear that there have been many people saying “high-ranking Church officials have told me this and that” who clearly misunderstood what they were being told.
But basic common sense seems to indicate that one of three things will happen in the next decade or so. Either 1)society will back off from the transgender/pansexual/cancel culture nonsense or 2)the Church will change its position on sexuality or 3)the Church and its members will face increasing pressure to endorse the sexual revolution or be “canceled.” Number 3 seems the most likely.
Given the increasing control that the establishment/Big Tech/social media/mainstream media cabal are imposing on society, there will be increasing pressure to exclude people who do not accept the transgender/pansexual nonsense from holding private sector jobs or being in government. The bottom line: it may very well be that in a decade or so it will be literally impossible for believing members of the Church to make a living unless they are in the trades, or are farmers or work in conservative and/or religiously orthodox institutions that are separate from today’s dominant institutions. And those alternative institutions have not been built yet.
So, what we, the orthodox, believing members of the Church need, is time. We need time to build all of those alternative institutions so we can survive the coming inevitable anti-religious pogrom.
So, what the watchmen on the tower are doing is deciding not to fight about masks and vaccines (which are relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of things) while they prepare for the coming purge.
This does not mean that orthodox, believing members of the Church are wrong to question all of the fake “science” being promoted by the establishment. You are not wrong to point out that the science clearly shows that masks do not work against viruses. You are not wrong to point out that natural immunity is even better than being vaccinated. You are not wrong to worry about the hundreds of thousands of adverse reactions to the vaccines. You are not wrong when you point out that COVID is relatively harmless for most people.
But you can be right about all of these things and still acknowledge that the Brethren are looking out for your long-term interests and the long-term interests of the Church. And when you consider what is probably coming, there are even more reasons than ever to support our church leaders. Cling to the Iron Rod, people!
So so so good, Geoff!!! So, so , so right on!
Ancestors of both my parents followed the church leaders and had plural marriages. I suspect the Manifesto was really difficult for many to follow. We can just look at the various dysfunctional polygamist clans and see what happens when members choose to not follow their church leaders.
I vaguely remember the uproar with the extension of the priesthood to all worthy men. Well, I remember my father mentioning that there were many that had a problem with it that he knew. I don’t know if anyone left the church over that, but there may have been some.
I do clearly remember the uproar over President Benson becoming prophet.
I have struggled with the church’s support of illegal immigration since I first learned of it 15 or so years ago. I still have a huge problem with the idea that any temple recommend holder could be an illegal alien, or that anyone who is illegal could be baptized.
Ultimately, we do have leaders who are flawed humans who can and do make mistakes. The church is still true in spite of that not because of that. We do only have limited insight, so we might not see the whole picture, much like how teenagers can’t understand their parents’ rules and believe their parents are just being arbitrary. And sometimes parents are just being arbitrary, but children need to learn to honor their parents even then.
We can still use the Dallin H. Oaks example and oppose the church on issues without apostasy. If he could be an ardent opponent of school prayer and explicitly oppose President McKay, then we also do not need to be automatic unthinking unprayerful followers of the latest pronouncements of the church. Maybe, like plural marriage, the doctrine is still true but expediency dictates that the church change policies. Of course, I do believe President McKay was correct in supporting prayer in school and Dallin H. Oaks was wrong to oppose it…..
If I have to give up my career and move my family and work for the church, so be it. I hope that the church is preparing for the day. And yes, there will be challenges and difficulties in following the prophet.
Pete, that is a good example (school prayer), but there is another one that people are not mentioning: prophets have spoken on many occasions against the use of birth control, yet today most active members use some kind of birth control, and some have even used the day after pill. My wife and I used birth control after our third child because it would have been very bad for my wife’s health if she were to get pregnant again in her mid-40s. So, it would seem to me that there is a general principle that the prophets have repeatedly taught (“be fruitful and multiply”) with a lot of free agency as to how couples actually carry this out. When you apply this principle to other issues, it seems clear that the Church really does follow Joseph Smith’s admonition to teach the Saints the correct principles and let them govern themselves.
I have been stunned the past little while to see how successful the spirit of the adversary has been in pushing the “Iron Rod” members, with whom I had felt such kinship in recent years as the left-leaning members seemed to drift away from the prophets, likewise away from the prophets in such a similar way. It has been surprisingly easy. I am saddened beyond words.
Bravo, Geoff! Thank you.
Just a quick note on your #2 scenario about the three options: The Savior’s church will never change the doctrine on sexuality and sexual immorality. This is contrary to the eternal order of heaven, the order as taught in God’s holy temple, and the eternal family, by which the entire plan of salvation stands. I’d be cautious throwing that one in the mix 😉
A, yes. I agree that there has been no significant change in doctrine, and there never will be. That’s why I said that scenario three was the most likely. However, I would point out that “woke” members of the Church are constantly looking for signs of such a thing and currently holding up the gay pride activities at BYU as examples. This was one reason Elder Holland’s talk was so painful for these people.
Once upon a time there was a prophet. His name was Noah.
He said a lot of things that made almost everyone upset.
They told him that his pronouncements were outside of the accepted societal norms and that he was not tolerant.
They said that his pronouncements violated the consensus of their well established scientific theories and observations.
Almost all of his immediate society mocked and derided him.
Turns out, he was still correct. The End.
Good post, Geoff.
I’m reminded of how Jeremiah counseled the Jews not to resist the Babylonians. But that went against everything they believed vis-a-vis their national theology and so forth. Well, they resisted and we’re subsequently destroyed.
One of the takeaway messages (for me) from Jeremiah’s counsel is that, though the words of the prophets are almost always an offense to the world, they may seem a little counterintuitive even to the saints at times.
So let’s not be too surprised when it’s our turn to be tried by the counsel of the Lord’s anointed
I think the degree of hypocrisy among church members in the last week has been very telling.
When the First Presidency advocated for vaccines, we had a lot of people in our ward and in my social media circles shout loudly to the tune of, “FOLLOW THE PROPHET, PEOPLE! For the love! Why is this even a thing? Why can’t you just have faith? You need to follow the prophet even if you don’t understand why, and even if you don’t wanna.” We even had one parent in our ward suggest that our primary deviate from the Come, Follow Me schedule and give a separate lesson on the importance of following the prophet.
Fast forward to Elder Holland’s talk. These EXACT SAME PEOPLE had only negative things to say, murmuring about musket fire, and insisting that we need to “mourn with those that mourn” in regards to the LGBT community and their difficulties with the law of chastity.
So my takeaway from that is that they don’t really believe in following the Brethren, nor do they care about mourning with those that mourn. At best, for all their insistence that we show compassion to those with differing worldviews and circumstances, they fall painfully short of their own ideals. At worst, they merely enjoy making orthodox members of the church feel stupid and wicked.
Irked, I completely agree with you, and the hypocrisy among the prog mos has been horrific. I know dozens of people who acted as you describe — follow the prophet when it comes to vaccines and masks but don’t follow the prophet when it comes to sexuality issues. However, I would point out that I also know dozens of people who have taken the opposite stance, ie, don’t follow the prophet on vaccines and masks but do follow the prophet on sexuality issues. So if we are orthodox members we need to make sure we are not falling into that trap. You always follow the prophet, not just when it suits your political or social views.
Perhaps if we all just minded our own business & let people have their choices when it comes to vaccines & masks that would be best. We’re supposed to wear masks to church in our state again … my kids fight me on it. I’ve decided it’s better to just go to church bare faced and sit away from everyone, then fight about it at home.
As for vaccines, there are real problems for some people. My husband had to get vaccinated to keep his job and has had some very serious side effects, nigh unto death — not hyperbole either. We hope he improves eventually before anyone else takes a shot. It’s a calculated risk situation. Faith is involved with every choice we’ve made as a family this last year.
I pray in every prayer that these burdens will be made light and lifted.
Joyce, I am so sorry to hear about your husband’s problems with the vaccine. Again, there is so much hypocrisy out there. The prog mos really, really, really want people to get vaccinated, but just about all of us know people who have had severe reactions to the vaccines, yet they act as if these experiences don’t count. Shouldn’t we mourn with all people who mourn? I had COVID and have natural immunity, yet, again, somehow people seem to think that doesn’t count. It is a very weird time indeed, and, yes, the solution is for all people to just mind their own business.
I love this, I strongly fellow the brethren.
God bless our dear leaders. At last we shall win.
^^Along that line. I changed the avatar on my facebook profile to a frame that advocates for unmasking children and for parental choice. A relative snidely remarked that “I’ll follow the prophet on this one instead!” I held my tongue, but I wanted to say, “follow the prophet on just this one, or the rest as well?” The point is, the snarky comments don’t help. Masking has been a real struggle for me and I have had my own wrestle on this.
“follow the prophet when it comes to vaccines and masks but don’t follow the prophet when it comes to sexuality issues”
I am sorry, but there is a huge difference between following a Commandment that the Lord has taught from the days of Adam and strong suggestions. Yes, it is best to follow the Prophets the best you can. However, the prophets have also taught that we should never accept their words without consultation with the Scriptures and prayer. Strangely enough, we went through this before (and in some ways still do) with the Word of Wisdom before the Lord made it a requirement.
Joyce, I totally understand your feelings about masking. I saw total lunacy at church on August 29. Almost everyone sat quietly during Sacrament meeting all masked up. Then during the potluck afterward everyone sat around the tables with masks off eating and talking their heads off! Do they think the virus takes a break or only prowls around when they’re masked up? Absolute lunacy!
Why is there no discussion of the 13,000+ deaths in the US alone, occasioned so far by these new mRNA “vaccines” (not vaccines, actually, since they neither prevent one from acquiring the virus, nor from spreading it to others)? Sure, people are talking about the hundreds of thousands of adverse reactions, but what about the deaths? I love the Prophet, but good grief! It is tantamount to walking on the graves of those 13,000+ people to repeat, within the context of a letter from the 1st Presidency, the provably false claim that these “vaccines” have been proven “safe and effective” (they are neither). If the 1st Presidency is aware of the death toll, which is of a surety much greater than what makes it into the VAERS database, then guess what? They have some serious blood on their garments. Never thought in a million years that I would be saying that about God’s true prophet, but it is what it is. If they are unaware, then they are utterly derelict in their duty as watchmen on the tower in a matter of much greater consequence than what is being acknowledged here. Either way, it is unacceptable.
Jamison (and to a lesser extent Jettboy), the issue here is one of attitude towards the prophets’ guidance. I have seen the data on the 13,000-plus deaths, and in fact I linked it in the OP. I think your question is legitimate, although using language claiming that the prophets have blood on their garments and are walking on the graves is over the top and, frankly, inappropriate. Have you ever heard the phrase “evil speaking of the Lord’s anointed?” You are evil speaking of the Lord’s anointed and you need to repent. I would not usually allow such language on this blog, but I am allowing it through to make a very important point.
The issue here is attitude. As I mentioned in the comments above, the prophets have repeatedly said that Latter-day Saints should not use birth control, but the vast majority do. People understand the difference between the general guidance (“be fruitful and multiply”) and the specific guidance on birth control, which clearly is appropriate in some circumstances. In the same way, the prophets are pro-vaccine generally, and they have been for decades. They are not suddenly going to become anti-vaccine. And it is true that the vaccines are mostly safe for most people. We can say that while still acknowledging the horrific amount of deaths and adverse reactions to the vaccines. I have not been vaccinated yet because I have natural immunity, but I will be at some point. So, the Brethren have given general guidance in favor of vaccines while also allowing for free will. You can acknowledge that the vaccines are appropriate for many people while also agreeing they may not be for you because you are 30 years old and healthy. If you compare this to the issue of birth control, you can say that you follow the Brethren in your marriage by being in favor of being fruitful and multiplying but also decide that you only want to have two kids so, for example, both you and your wife can work and take care of your aging parents.
The question here is: what is your attitude towards the prophets’ guidance? Are you like the crazy left-wing woman I mentioned in the OP writing anti-Mormon screeds in chalk in front of the chapel? Do you insult the Lord’s anointed and say negative things about them? Or do you sincerely and honestly consider their advice with a charitable heart and decide that for now you will not take it for logical reasons (ie, for you the vaccines may be more dangerous than getting COVID?). Notice how Joyce above phrased her opposition. She wants to follow the prophets but she does not want to get vaccinated because her own husband suffered adverse reactions to the vaccine. She wants to follow the prophets but is facing a lot of family opposition to the masks.
In general, my advice to people who are in this position (and by the way, I am also there) is: don’t let your questions turn into negative thoughts and/or comments about the prophets. I have posted more than 20 times on this blog questions about the lockdowns, masks and vaccines, but I have NEVER linked that to opposition to the Brethren in any way. And, yes, it is true that the COVID vaccines appear unusually dangerous compared to other vaccines. But that does not mean the prophets bear any blame.
Meg posted a while ago about a family member who became terminally ill and whose physical system increasingly could not tolerate food, eventually dying partly from the terminal condition (sped along by lack of nourishment). She turned it into a parable for people who are spiritually ill–they become increasingly unable to tolerate truth and light as they curl into toxic spiritual disease and eventually death.
I’ve used this idea in my own life as a warning system, and I’m thankful to have read her piece laying it out. This mask/vax thing lately has been a good example. When I first heard the general endorsement of both from SLC, I recognized an immediately snarling response (a spiritual intolerance or rejection) within myself. I’m glad I could see it, because it let me stop, step to the side, and look at it, and figure out how to put it all in context. I was able to keep from utterly, violently rejecting the church’s covid advice. I don’t agree with it, but neither do I kick against it. I like to think I have put it in context with my broader spirituality–it’s certainly not going to be something I apostatize over.
I encourage everybody to be able to ask themselves this about *everything*. When you feel a sudden urge to aggressively reject something coming out of SLC, push pause, step to the side, and look at it in the broader context of your life and everything around you. Have you blithely accepted something similar? Why? How does this new thing relate to what’s come before? If you stopped making it a thing in your life, would you notice, or do you require a regular injection of reactive hate in your life to keep the anger alive? These are all important red flags that the problem isn’t with Salt Lake. The problem is with you.
Lattertarian, very well said. I think you said it better than I did in some ways. Thanks.
I have my moments. 🙂
I love that we can hold onto the Iron Rod and still seek personal inspiration and understanding. After all, the Iron Rod is the very word of God, not the church. I can accept that the church is God’s One True Church led by a inspired prophet and that it is also a church run by flawed humans that make mistakes. I can also accept that sometimes things I believe are “mistakes” are not.
Once I was in a ward that split. From everything I could see logically, the split was wrong (west and east, instead of north/south). Even though the wards started at the same size, one ward had zero new consistruction and the other added 300 members in 2 years. The wards were then re-aligned along the “logical” split (north/south).
It wasn’t a mistake for 2 years. No, the eastern ward, with almost no change, still grew in the two years. They did it by reactivations. They had a 100 more newly active members than just 2 years earlier and the small size made it possible, as the few members forced them to focus. And these were very strong members that had just gotten lost and fallen into inactivity not through sin or apostasy, but just letting the world interfere.
That was about 15 or so years ago. It was a great lesson for me, especially as I see policy that I disagree with, such as illegals or the covid vax or mask mandate.
The things of the Lord can be beyond human understanding and often are. His ways are not our ways. And sometimes church leaders, local and general, do make mistakes. Bureaucracies inherently become corrupt and lose their true purposes. Leaders can be blinded by their bias and human limitations.
We can need to stay faithful. We can ask for personal guidance of the Holy Spirit. May we all do so.
Just so we’re clear, to all of us patriots, the time is never right. The church didn’t challenge nazis when they came to popular power. The church would have encouraged members not to throw tea in harbors and not to be involved in protests or secret meetings against the crown. The church certainly wouldn’t have encouraged bearing arms against in a military campaign against the crown.
The church tries not to rock the boat with authority but gives deference even to tyrannical authority as well as democratically elected authority that engages in ungodly restrictions on liberty.
We can list all the reasons and places from China to Israel to Russia to the USA. The circumstances will be different, and the rational situational, but the trend is clear. The church bows to every authority and goes along to get along.
It’s a difficult situation to be in when that authority is wrong. I’d say the church isn’t an institution for social change, but that would be false. Urging submission to authority is a certainly a type of social change. The church is not a revolutionary institution and it avoids conflict and contention with authority.
If that gets under your skin, Jesus did the same.
Sute, yes. The Jews in the Holy Land in the 1st Century AD expected the Messiah to be a political figure who would free them from Roman rule. When He came, He said His kingdom was not of this world, and he told them to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. Many people were disappointed. The modern-day Church is preparing the Earth for the Second Coming, and that means it will often act in ways that don’t reflect our conflicts on the Earth. Of course God favors liberty, and we are meant to promote liberty, but the point of the OP is that the Church is looking long-term, which is different than how we worldly people see things. I am confident that in the long run we will understand the Church’s actions better.
The last couple days have started developing in my head the idea that the Iron Rod is not smooth, metaphorically speaking. It’s rough and has dings and edges on it in various places. Sure, it’s smooth sometimes and we can just run our hand along it as we walk. But when we hit those sharp spots we need to resist the urge to let go of the rod to lick a wound. Rather, we need to put the other hand on the rod, past the rough spot, and purposefully and carefully hand-over-hand our way past that spot until we can find another smooth length.
I was also thinking along these lines as well as I was recently reading the story of Alma and his people while they were being ruled by Amulon in Mosiah 24.
I have never been good at the whole “cheerful patience” thing myself.
Not my original thought, but so also do not feel that it is appropriate to share the source. (Don’t read anything into that, either. Explicitly NOT claiming a secret GA source.)
We believe in a prophet. If you have a problem with any part of the First Presidency message, pray about it.
As a corollary, whatever personal revelation obtained in response to such a prayer is probably just that – personal. We need to let the First Presidency “urge,” and stop trying to enforce our own individual solutions, opinions, or even revelation on others. We should all benefit from prophets and personal revelation, and accord others the opportunity to do the same.
God loves all of his children. He understands what is needed for each of us as individuals and as a people. We need to stop trying to micromanage obedience. Let the keys-holders, leaders, and judges in Israel do their job. I will sustain them and seek additional light in quiet prayer regarding those things that I do not understand. It is not my job to judge, it is my job to love. My obedience is personal. So is yours. There are enough Bishops and Stake Presidents to go around. I don’t need to do their job plus
This story might be more believable if the church had not become political. During the 2016 presidential campaign the church leadership publicly and verbally attacked a political candidate, Donald Trump.
The church leaders openly, publicly showed support for admitted Marxist organizations BLM and AntiFa. “The church is politically neutral!” Riiiiiiiight!
Pres. Nelson has repeatedly publicly supported the agenda of the hard core Marxist Democrats and the Lite Marxist Republicans while attacking true Conservatives.
Church leaders privately donate to Marxist Democrat politicians almost exclusively.
The church has repeatedly sided with the Marxist Dems on every issue but one……homosexual marriage.
And now we are supposed to allow a corrupt Marxist controlled federal government to inject us with poison, and suffer debilitating side effects and even death, for nefarious political purposes…….so the church can look good in the eyes of evil.
Honest people know that corrupt, greedy lying politicians who are LDS – Romney, Lee, Flake, Reid, and other vastly wealthy church members who support the Marxist left, have meetings with church leaders, and whisper all kinds of untrue things. But because they are LDS they are trustworthy….. BS.
So this is all a ruse, a facade, to keep the Marxist Dems as their buddies to keep from being attacked. Nope. The church should have been prepared long before now.
Tulan, I think you and I would agree on some political issues (and disagree on others), but I have to say this comment is WAY over the top. I would not normally approve a comment like this that insults the Brethren, but I am letting it through so people who see this post get an example of how NOT to talk about Church leadership. This is exactly the kind of thinking that leads some right-wing people away from God. I am a liberty conservative myself, but I would never, ever talk this way about Church leadership. But I am curious what your evidence is for some of your claims. You state:
1)Trump was attacked by Church leadership (not the horrible Mitt Romney, Church leadership). What is your evidence? Can you provide a news story or some link showing proof of this?
2)The Brethren supported BLM and Antifa. Evidence? The Church definitely supported the NAACP, but NOT BLM and Antifa. Please provide a news story or some link showing proof. Again, I think you could make a strong claim that the horrible Mitt Romney turned a blind eye to BLM/Antifa and even unfortunately sent one tweet supporting Antifa, but not Church leadership.
3)You state: “Pres. Nelson has repeatedly publicly supported the agenda of the hard core Marxist Democrats and the Lite Marxist Republicans while attacking true Conservatives.
Church leaders privately donate to Marxist Democrat politicians almost exclusively.
The church has repeatedly sided with the Marxist Dems on every issue but one……homosexual marriage.” Please provide evidence of any kind. I call BS on all of this. (And by the way I agree that almost all Democrats and most Republicans are wrong politically).
Tulan, as I say, I am definitely opposed politically to the Marxist/progressive/left-wing Democrats and the RINO Republicans and I would agree with you that their agenda is destructive, anti-American and actually ends up hurting the poor and working class most of all. There is tremendous evidence of that, and I have written about it extensively. But it does no good to make claims that cannot be backed up because it ends up hurting the conservative cause instead of helping it. And as for insulting Church leadership, that is a very dangerous road to head down and I hope you stop doing it for your own good.
Ugly Mahana,
You made me think about the counsel Jesus gave to the multitude and the disciples in 3rd Nephi 18.
Not only does he begin his instruction to the multitude by telling them to “watch and pray always”, but he also advises the multitude to “meet together oft” and “come unto [Christ], that ye might feel and see”. He also advises the multitude to not cast anyone out but to pray for them in the name of the Father, as well as to be a light unto the world by doing what Christ did.
As to the disciples, he advises them to “not let anyone partake of [the sacrament] unworthily”, but “to minister unto him [who can’t partake worthily]”. He also tells the disciples that those who don’t repent “shall not be numbered among my people, for behold I know my sheep and they are numbered”. “Nevertheless, ye shall not cast him out of your synagogues, or your places of worship, for unto such shall ye continue to minister; for ye know not but what they will return and repent, and come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I shall heal them; and ye shall be the means of bringing salvation unto them.”
The distinction between the disciples and the multitude in this chapter and your comments regarding personal revelation and allowing the leaders and judges in Israel to do their jobs is what brought this chapter and the above verses to my mind.
Whenever I am struggling with an issue, I try to follow the above from 3rd Nephi 18 and it always helps me.
My family is reading the Amalekiah/Ammoron chapters. It’s so pertinent. Dissensions, decoy strategies, victim hustling.
I just hope men and women of the Church will be able to hold to the Gospel and resist the strategies leveled against them to divide them. I hope they are able to find quiet discernment and resolve.