One day I was pondering on life and living in the last days. I was discouraged and feeling fearful and stressed. There were so many negative things going on in the world—calamity, loss of income with the economy, bad things coming at my kids like pornography and negativity. I was just feeling a lot of despair and wondering how in the world I was ever going to raise my kids and help them remain strong spiritually. I didn’t know if I had the stamina to be a “Saturday’s Warrior” and survive these last days before Christ’s coming.
The thought came to me, “There is an equal amount of good and bad in this situation.” It caught me off guard. If the law is that everything is equal, then for all the bad going on in the world and for all those dismal “signs of the times,” by law, there has to be an equal amount of good. I needed to find and focus on that good part. I wanted to be part of the good part. A peace washed over me. There are temples being built, people accepting the gospel, good people I live around, good books to read, good music to listen to, the many religious people living their religion the best they know how. Yes, there is plenty of good in the world! Evil is prevalent, but as we seek, we will find the good, and sometimes it really isn’t that far. As I travel around the world, I have always found good people. Most people want the same things I do—love, family, a home, peace, joy. There is much out there that is good.
Shortly after this understanding, I had this powerful experience at general Relief Society meeting in September 2008.
We were standing and singing the rest hymn, “Now Let Us Rejoice” (Hymns, no. 3), when the words jumped out at me and said, “Here is the answer to living through these last days.” We sang:
- Now let us rejoice in the day of salvation.
No longer as strangers on earth need we roam.
Good tidings are sounding to us and each nation,
And shortly the hour of redemption will come,
When all that was promised the Saints will be given,
And none will molest them from morn until ev’n,
And earth will appear as the Garden of Eden,
And Jesus will say to all Israel, “Come home.”
- We’ll love one another and never dissemble
But cease to do evil and ever be one.
And when the ungodly are fearing and tremble,
We’ll watch for the day when the Savior will come,
When all that was promised the Saints will be given,
And none will molest them from morn until ev’n,
And earth will appear as the Garden of Eden,
And Jesus will say to all Israel, “Come home.”
- In faith we’ll rely on the arm of Jehovah
To guide thru these last days of trouble and gloom,
And after the scourges and harvest are over,
We’ll rise with the just when the Savior doth come.
Then all that was promised the Saints will be given,
And they will be crown’d with the angels of heav’n,
And earth will appear as the Garden of Eden,
And Christ and his people will ever be one.
The words, “To guide through these last days of trouble and gloom” hit me like a brick dropped on my head. I thought, “That’s today!” Considering our economy and the world at that time, I realized that these are the last days—the days of trouble and gloom. You can feel gloom everywhere.
I searched my mind for, “What? What will guide through these last days of trouble and gloom?” I had to go back through the words in my head…“In faith, we’ll rely on the arm of Jehovah!” That was it! All of a sudden, the thoughts I had had about the law of polarity and finding the good came into my mind. Relying on the arm of Jehovah was an equal amount of good contrasted with the gloom of the last days. What was I focusing on?
I continued on with the last verse of the song:
- And after the scourges and harvest are over,
We’ll rise with the just when the Savior doth come.
Then all that was promised the Saints will be given,
And they will be crown’d with the angels of heav’n,
And earth will appear as the Garden of Eden,
And Christ and his people will ever be one.
Are not the hurricanes, the wars, then pornography, the trafficking, the disease, and troubles of the world the scourges being spoke of? Here is where the epiphany came—when this is all over, we’ll rise with the just (the good people) when the Savior comes and all the blessings and promises we have read about—the joy of His coming and the cleansing—will be given to us. Not only that—we will be crowned with the angels. To be crowned by definition is a distinction that comes from a great achievement. It is to be given regal dignity and power, to honor or reward, to be at the top or highest part, to complete worthily and bring to a successful or triumphant conclusion. Crowned with the angels! Is that a great dream or what?
The earth will appear as the Garden of Eden—the beauty in that thought. And Christ and His people being one—one in joy, thought, purpose, and action. Now there is a goal worth shooting for. Suddenly I realized that that is the dream. In the stickman concept, you can only change your misery with a dream. Is there any greater dream than being with the Savior? I could hear a voice that said, “Keep your thoughts on this dream and goal and you will make it through the tough times!” It was the answer to not just survival, but coming off conqueror in the last days.
At this point, my mind was pinging around like a ball in a pinball machine trying to find the answer. Then all of a sudden, I had it! “Christ is coming!” If the last days equal doom and gloom, the equal opposite, the good part, is that Christ is coming! That is who and what you are to focus on!” It seemed like a shaft of light was coming straight from Heaven through the church to me. I was in tears. It was so powerful! It changed my whole perspective on the last days. While I need to be aware of the signs of the times so I can watch and prepare, the thing I am to focus on is the coming of Christ and to rejoice because it is the day of salvation! How joyful is that? I could picture Christ coming and me kneeling at His feet. Peace and joy washed over me in great abundance.
We women were singing this song so robustly. Our singing was cheerful, upbeat, and joyful. Then it occurred to me—“Now, let us rejoice!” Yes! That’s it! Rejoice in these last days. Rejoice in what is coming for it will bring the Savior in our midst. Rejoice at the thoughts of seeing Him! And not only that—sing it! Sing and rejoice! And do it now…not later when you think everything will be perfect.
The next day was Sunday and I was curious to see what had hit me so hard. I wondered if there was a tidbit more to this message, so I pulled out a songbook to see what I had missed before I got to the “last days of trouble and gloom” part that had tipped me off the evening before. Upon reading, a whole new message appeared
- Now let us rejoice in the day of salvation.
We should rejoice in this day? Today when things seem dark and dreary? Today when we are on the cusp of welcoming the Savior? Yes! Feel joy! Feel the dream!
No longer as strangers on earth need we roam.
Isn’t it interesting how when you travel and meet other people at mentor trainings, seminars, TEDx events, or even on Facebook, how small your world becomes? Making friends with people from other religions or nationalities helps us no longer feel like strangers to the beautiful people who live throughout the world.
I wrote a letter to my family about this experience. My nephew replied with his great insights. He wrote, “When I think of the part ‘No longer as strangers on earth need we roam,’ I think of how we are strangers to this telestial existence; what we are not strangers to is the company of the Father and Son. We will not abide Their presence until the earth and we are ‘changed;’ remember that Father and Christ could visit the earth in its paradisiacal glory, but was limited to the Son after the Fall (their feet did not touch the ground). When the earth ‘appears as the Garden of Eden’ we will no longer be ‘strangers,’ we will be home!’”
Good tidings are sounding to us and each nation,
The gospel is spreading all over the world. Not only the gospel but even the message of the power of good thoughts and other universal laws.
And shortly the hour of redemption will come,
The hour is short and He is coming is soon.
Chorus
When all that was promised the Saints will be given,
Isn’t this a great thought?! The promises and blessings that have been foretold of by prophets will come to fruition.
And none will molest them from morn until ev’n,
Can you imagine a time without “Mormon bashing?” There will be no more abuse of any kind. No more trouble in the world.
And earth will appear as the Garden of Eden,
What a beautiful thought and visual.
And Jesus will say to all Israel, “Come home.”
To think of the Savior beckoning us home to Him sounds like a tender mother telling her children, “Come home. There is love and safety here.”
- We’ll love one another and never dissemble
We’ll stay together and be cohesive in thought and deed.
But cease to do evil and ever be one.
Wow! No evil? We are one?! One in love. One in thought. One in purpose.
And when the ungodly are fearing and tremble,
If I am not fearing and preparing for His coming right now, then I willbe among those who will not fear and tremble when He does come.
We’ll watch for the day when the Savior will come,
I am already watching for Him! This is the dream.
- In faith we’ll rely on the arm of Jehovah
Here is the answer I had first found the night before. We’ll rely on Him with all our faith to guide us through these last days. We can look forward to His coming—see the dream, believe it will happen, then feel the joy as it comes.
The song then goes back to the part above where I “heard” this verse. What gratitude I feel for the powerful witness of what I was told. The answer to mastering the last days: rely on Him and feel the joy of being with Him. This was a powerful personal experience for me in deep understanding of the power of this law.
Now, let us rejoice!
