I
belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In the Spring of 1820, a young boy of 14, went
to a grove of trees to pray and ask God which church he should join. His world
and the rest of ours changed forever because of what occurred in that moment. The
heavens weren’t closed, they never were. Just as in times of old God spoke to
those who earnestly sought him and were called to do a special work. It was I this
moment that God the Eternal Father and His Son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph
Smith and restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ through him.
Well
that was just the start. We call it Joseph Smith’s First Vision.
Why
did there need to be a restoration? Well that is the first part of discovery in
this journey my family has started.
If
you noticed the year above it was 1820. We just started 2020. So, this Spring
will be 200 years since Joseph Smith’s First Vision and the beginning of the Restoration.
Because
of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ we have a living prophet today
(I’ll explain more about this later). His name is Russell M. Nelson. Last
October in a general conference broadcast to the apx. 15 million members of the
Church across the world he brought this 200 year mark to our attention and said
“The year 2020 will be designated as a bicentennial year. General conference
next April will be different from any previous conference.” He then gave this
promise and invitation,
“In
the next six months, I hope that every member and every family will prepare for
a unique conference that will commemorate the very foundations of the restored
gospel… Design your own plan. Immerse yourself in the glorious light of
the Restoration. As you do, general conference next April will be not only
memorable; it will be unforgettable.”
Unforgettable. How do you get that out of your mind?!
I
have always desired to follow the prophets voice because every ounce inside of
me knows that he is called of God and he is hear to help us get through our
time on earth during this time. But sometimes, like this time, I just
don’t know quite how.
Well,
it’s been a few months and it’s been on the back of my mind but the other week
President Nelson reminded us and reinvited us to prepare for this bicentennial.
Guess what? I did something else our prophet has been urging us to do. I sought
for personal revelation for my family, and you know what, I got it! I got it!
I
want to share my family’s journey with you not to show you how cool we are or
to brag about how we follow the prophet but because I want to testify that when
we desire to follow the counsel the Prophet of the Lord gives and we seek
revelation how to personally do so, the Lord answers. He answers for me and my
family. He told me what preparation would work best for me and my family. Maybe
it would work for yours or maybe He has something that is better for your
family. Maybe sharing our journey can help.
Here
it is. For the 11 weeks leading up to General Conference, April 4-5, 2020 (we
started last week), we are going to go through history discovering why we
needed a restoration and how the Lord prepared the world for it. And the last
three weeks we will be connecting with our ancestors and family and what role
they played as well as reflecting on what The Restoration has brought to us and
means for the world. Finishing with what role do we, my little family play in
the ongoing restoration and the preparation of the Second Coming of our
glorified Lord and Savior.
What
does that look like you ask? Well I’m super excited to show you what it looks
like so far.
I’m
not a huge writer so most of the next posts on our journey will be pictures and
brief descriptions. And I’ll do another one to catch you all up but for now
enjoy a few pics from the Dark Ages and primitive record keeping.
All day we only ate things like oatmeal, and here we are eating bread and vegetable broth.
