April 2013 Ensign - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

PHOTOGRAPH BY R. SCOTT LLOYD
Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaks during the
Seminar for New Missionary Training Center Presidents and Visitors’ Center Directors
on January 17, 2013, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Book of Mormon: Gathering Israel,
Preparing for Second Coming
By R. Scott Lloyd
Church News
The Book of Mormon is “specifically
addressed to the remnant of
the house of Israel” and is a sign to
the world that the Lord has begun to
gather scattered Israel, Elder Russell M.
Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles said on January 17, 2013.
Elder Nelson’s remarks in the Joseph
Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake
City, Utah, concluded the three­day
2013 Seminar for New Mission Training
Center Presidents and Visitors’
Center Directors.
Elder Nelson identified two important
promises of the Book of Mormon
as being that scattered Israel will be
gathered and that the Lord will come
again.
76 Ensign
In the dispensation of Abraham, Elder
Nelson said, God covenanted that
through Abraham’s lineage people of
all nations would be blessed. Other
components of the covenant were
numberless posterity, certain lands
would be inherited, the Savior of the
world would come through the lineage,
and the seed of Abraham would
be the official bearers of the priesthood
to all nations.
Elder Nelson recounted that Israel
was disobedient and was scattered
as a result, but God promised that in
time, Israel would be gathered back
into the fold of the Lord.
“The . . . title page of the Book of
Mormon makes reference to the
house of Israel, and the three fare­
well speeches of Mormon and Moroni
close the Book of Mormon by
making reference to the gathering of
Israel,” Elder Nelson explained.
“So the whole Book of Mormon is
bracketed by this doctrine. It’s one
of the important teachings of the
Church. The coming forth of the
Book of Mormon exists as a sign
to the entire world that the Lord
has commenced to gather Israel and
fulfill covenants He made those 4,000
years ago to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob.”
“We not only teach this concept, but
we participate in it,” he remarked to
the departing missionary couples.
“We do so as we help to gather the
elect of the Lord on both sides of the
veil. Marvelously and mercifully, the
invitation to come unto Christ can
also be extended to those who died
without a knowledge of the gospel.
Part of their preparation requires
earthly efforts of others. So we gather
pedigree charts and create family
group sheets and do temple work
vicariously to gather individuals unto
the Lord and into their families, their
eternal families.”
The promise of the gathering is important,
Elder Nelson said, because it
is “a promised prelude to prepare the
world for the Second Coming of the
Lord. The Book of Mormon is God’s
instrument brought forth to accomplish
both of those divine objectives.”
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