What are angels and why are they important in the last days
"However, we as Latter-day Saints should have a high degree of comfort in knowing the power of the Lord’s angels..."
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| April 1973 "Stand Ye in Holy Places," President Harold B. Lee |
“… [God] set the ordinances to be the same forever and ever, and set Adam to watch over them, to reveal them from heaven to man, or to send angels to reveal them. ‘Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?’ [Hebrews 1:14.]
“These angels are under the direction of Michael or Adam, who acts under the direction of the Lord. From the above quotation we learn that Paul perfectly understood the purposes of God in relation to His connection with man, and that glorious and perfect order which He established in Himself, whereby He sent forth power, revelations, and glory.
( Mosiah 3:2; Mosiah 4:1)
Prayer and inspiration were mainstays in these men’s determination to be successful missionaries. These men constantly sought the direction of the Holy Ghost in their endeavors and in so doing set a pattern for future missionaries. In October 1849, Henry Bigler was struggling with a call he had received to go to California and mine gold. Just before leaving, Bigler had a dream that profoundly impressed him. He noted, “I dreamed I was not going to the mines but was on my way to the Pacific Islands on a mission to preach the gospel.” [6] This dream was a source of comfort to Bigler when he served in the Sandwich Islands. George Q. Cannon also reported having a dream that would greatly impact his future service in Hawaii:
I dreamed one night that this party of brethren were heaving at the windlass, having a rope attached to it reaching forward to the anchor at the bow of the vessel. We were working with all of our might endeavoring to raise the anchor, but seemingly we made little progress. While thus engaged I thought the Prophet Joseph came from the after part of the vessel dressed in his temple clothes, and tapping me on the shoulder told me to go with him. I went, and he climbed on to the forecastle and there he knelt down, also telling me to kneel down with him. He prayed according to the order of prayer which is revealed. After prayer, he arose upon his feet. “Now,” said he, “George, take hold of that rope”—the rope we had been pulling with all of our might. I took hold of it, and with the greatest ease and without the least effort, the anchor was raised. “Now,” said he, “let this be a lesson to you; remember that great things can be accomplished through the power of prayer and the exercise of faith in the right way.” [7]
The Hawaiian missionaries followed the counsel that Elder Cannon received in his dream and sought the Lord through prayer to guide them.
When the ten missionaries arrived at the island, one of the first things they did was to walk up Nuuanu Valley to the top of a nearby hill overlooking Honolulu (now known as Pacific Heights). Each missionary carried a stone to help build an altar. Arriving at King’s Falls (now known as Kapena Falls), the elders bathed (their first real bath in a month), and then hiked another mile up the hill. In a secluded place about a thousand feet above sea level, they built a stone altar about three feet high and three feet around. They sang hymns and bore their testimonies to one another. After sharing their feelings about their mission, they knelt together as President Hiram Clark offered a prayer dedicating Hawaii for the preaching of the gospel. Clark asked “the Lord to open the way that they might be enabled to preach the Gospel on these islands . . . have his spirit to be with us at all times to guide us . . . preserve us from the adversary and from every evil, and that the honest in heart might embrace the truth.” [8] This set two precedents: dedicating lands for the preaching of the gospel and setting apart missionaries for their service.
At sunset the missionaries descended the hill. Elder George Q. Cannon reported that their descent was quick and joyful, “and when men are joyful and the Spirit of the Lord rests upon them, they feel lithe and active. We had been in the prescience [sic] of the Lord, and had felt his power, and why should we not be happy?” [9] The missionaries felt exuberance for the forthcoming work.
(Also Elder Holland October 2008, Ministry of Angels)
Elder Boyd K. Packer, Cleansing the Inner Vessel, Conference October 2010:
Every soul confined in a prison of sin, guilt, or perversion has a key to the gate. The key is labeled “repentance.” If you know how to use this key, the adversary cannot hold you. The twin principles of repentance and forgiveness exceed in strength the awesome power of the tempter. If you are bound by a habit or an addiction that is unworthy, you must stop conduct that is harmful. Angels will coach you,19 and priesthood leaders will guide you through those difficult times. ( Nephi 32:3)
One day I was hunting cattle. While climbing a steep hill, I stopped to let my horse rest, and there, once again, an intense desire came over me to receive a manifestation of the truth of the restored gospel. I dismounted, threw my reins over my horse's head, and there, under a serviceberry bush, I prayed that God would declare to me the truth of his revelation to Joseph Smith. I am sure that I prayed fervently and sincerely and with as much faith as a young boy could muster.
At the conclusion of the prayer, I arose from my knees, threw the reins over my faithful pony's head, and got into the saddle. As I started along the trail again, I remember saying to myself: "No spiritual manifestation has come to me. If I am true to myself, I must say I am just the same `old boy' that I was before I prayed." I prayed again when I crossed Spring Creek, near Huntsville, in the evening to milk our cows.
The Lord did not see fit to give me an answer on that occasion, but in 1899, after I had been appointed president of the Scottish Conference, the spiritual manifestation for which I had prayed as a boy in my teens came as a natural sequence to the performance of duty. For, as the apostle John declared, "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." (John 7:17.)
THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING THUS! MOM
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