Gospel topic
Missionary Work: Every Nation, Kindred, Tongue, and People
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Persecution has not stopped the progress of truth, but has only added fuel to the flame, it has spread with increasing rapidity. Proud of the cause which they have espoused, and conscious of our innocence, and of the truth of their system, amidst calumny and reproach, have the Elders of this Church gone forth, and planted the Gospel in almost every state in the Union; it has penetrated our cities, it has spread over our villages, and has caused thousands of our intelligent, noble, and patriotic citizens to obey its divine mandates, and be governed by its sacred truths. It has also spread into England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, where, in the year 1840, a few of our missionaries were sent, and over five thousand joined the Standard of Truth; there are numbers now joining in every land. Our missionaries are going forth to different nations, and in Germany, Palestine, New Holland, Australia, the East Indies, and other places, the Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.
Joseph Smith
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Take an artificial globe
President Brigham Young
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Some members of the Church have an erroneous idea that when the millennium comes all of the people are going to be swept off the earth except righteous members of the Church. That is not so. There will be millions of people, Catholics, Protestants, agnostics, Mohammedans, people of all classes, and of all beliefs, still permitted to remain upon the face of the earth, but they will be those who have lived clean lives, those who have been free from wickedness and corruption. All who belong, by virtue of their good lives, to the terrestrial order, as well as those who have kept the celestial law, will remain upon the face of the earth during the millennium. Eventually, however, the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters do the sea. But there will be need for the preaching of the gospel, after the millennium is brought in, until all men are either converted or pass away. In the course of the thousand years all men will either come into the Church, or kingdom of God, or they will die and pass away. In that day there will be no death until men are old. Children will not die but will live to the age of a tree. Isaiah says this is 100 years. When the time comes for men to die, they will be changed in the twinkling of an eye, and there will be no graves.
President Joseph Fielding Smith
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This ancient gospel was to be declared, so John the Revelator has written in the fourteenth chapter and sixth verse of Revelation, by an angel, who was to fly through the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, calling on them to repent for the hour of judgment is come. Nobody else, except
President Joseph Fielding Smith
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The gospel will be taught far more intensely and with greater power during the millennium, until all the inhabitants of the earth shall embrace it. Satan shall be bound so that he cannot tempt any man. Should any man refuse to repent and accept the gospel under those conditions then he would be accursed. Through the revelations given to the prophets, we learn that during the reign of Jesus Christ for a thousand years eventually all people will embrace the truth. Isaiah prophesied of the millennium as follows: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." This chapter in Isaiah, Moroni quoted to the Prophet Joseph Smith and said to him it was about to be fulfilled. If the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth as the waters do the sea, then it must be universally received. Moreover, the promise of the Lord through Jeremiah is that it will no longer be necessary for anyone to teach his neighbor, "saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord.
President Joseph Fielding Smith
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Gospel Witness Precedes Second Coming
President Joseph Fielding Smith
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Of the Presidency of the Seventy Recently, the First Presidency and the Twelve assigned me to work with the Missionary Department. Missionary work is a great challenge, especially when we realize that approximately 4.7 billion people live on the earth today. The earth’s present population gain is “150 new persons per minute, 9,100 per hour, 218,100 per day and 79.6 million per year. … “If you are 50 years old, the world’s population has more than doubled in your lifetime.” At the present time, more people are born in one day than are baptized into the Church in one year. The magnitude of our missionary task can appear to be overwhelming. Yet the assignment to the members of the Church is very clear. We are to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to every human soul. Jesus taught, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” With faith we shall do as the Lord directed, for the Prophet Joseph Smith declared, “The truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.” An indication of the faith we need to meet this challenge was expressed by Elder Boyd K. Packer, who said: “Since baptism is essential there must be an urgent concern to carry the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. … “We accept the responsibility to preach the gospel to every person on earth. And if the question is asked, ‘You mean you are out to convert the entire world?’ the answer is, ‘Yes. We will try to reach every living soul.’ “Some who measure that challenge quickly say, ‘Why that’s impossible! It cannot be done!’ “To that we simply say, ‘Perhaps, but we shall do it anyway.’” Part of the answer may lie in our ability to more fully understand and accelerate the use of modern communication technology to teach the gospel to all the world. We must use to their greatest potential the newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and satellites. But even with all of the technology working for us, there is no power in the Church to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ that can equal what you and I as individuals can do. M.
Elder M. Russell Ballard
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Our mission as a Church is to preach the gospel to all the world. That means, in due time, every country, nationality, and people. In a letter to Mr. John Wentworth in March 1842, Joseph Smith prophesied: “No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; … the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.” (History of the Church, 4:540; italics added.) To appreciate the accelerated progress that the Church has made in the last few decades, consider that it took 117 years for the Church to reach its first million members (1947); 16 years to reach its second million (1963); and 9 years its third million (1972). But during President Kimball’s administration as President of the Church, over two million people were added. Yet there is much to do before the work of God can be pronounced completed. Hearts of leaders of nations must be softened, doors of nations opened, false ideologies overcome, and the gospel presented to all our Heavenly Father’s children. As members of the Lord’s Church, we must take missionary work more seriously. The Lord’s commission to “preach the gospel to every creature” Mark 16:15 will never change in our dispensation. We have been greatly blessed with the material means, the technology, and an inspired message to bring the gospel to all men. More is expected of us than any previous generation. Where “much is given much is required.”
President Ezra Taft Benson
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You remember what the Prophet Joseph wrote to Mr. John Wentworth, the editor of the Chicago Democrat newspaper: “The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.” (History of the Church, 4:540.) The Lord has not yet said the work is done, so we must continue moving forward. It is good to know that during the four years that President Ezra Taft Benson has presided over the Church, more than eighty thousand missionaries have been set apart to proclaim the glad tidings of the Restoration. The work will continue to grow and prosper throughout the world. In recent years the Lord’s servants have unlocked the door and opened the work in the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Yugoslavia. They have opened many nations of Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana, Zaire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Ivory Coast, and Namibia; and Papua New Guinea. Thirteen nations and territories have been opened for missionary work in just the past four years. Many others will be opened to the preaching of the gospel. Truly, no unhallowed hand can stop the sacred work of proclaiming life and salvation to all nations and peoples, but this work will not continue without challenges and risks. M.
Elder M. Russell Ballard
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The Millennium
Elder Neal A. Maxwell
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The Apostle John saw in vision the time when “another angel [would] fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” This prophecy has been fulfilled.
President James E. Faust
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God has spoken through His prophet and announced to the world that “the Standard of Truth has been erected” and that “no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing.” That is undeniably and indisputably true. We have seen it for ourselves, in decade after decade, from the time of the Prophet Joseph Smith to the time of President Thomas S. Monson. Persecutions have raged. Calumny and lies and misrepresentation have attempted to defame. But in every decade from the time of the Restoration forward, the truth of God has gone “forth boldly, nobly, and independent.” The little Church that started in 1830 with just a handful of members has now grown to more than 13 million Latter-day Saints in many different nations around the world, and we are well on our way to penetrating every continent, visiting every clime, sweeping every country, and sounding in every ear. M.
Elder M. Russell Ballard
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Of the Seventy (3)
Elder Brent H. Nielson
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From a small beginning 182 years ago, our presence is now felt throughout the world. This great cause in which we are engaged will continue to go forth, changing and blessing lives as it does so. No cause, no force in the entire world can stop the work of God. Despite what comes, this great cause will go forward. You recall the prophetic words of the Prophet Joseph Smith: “No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”
President Thomas S. Monson
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In that day He will not come “wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger,” but He will appear “in the clouds of heaven, clothed with power and great glory; with all the holy angels.” We will hear “the voice of the archangel, and … the trump of God.” The sun and the moon will be transformed, and “stars [will] be hurled from their places.” You and I, or those who follow us, “the saints … from [every quarter] of the earth,” “shall be quickened and … caught up to meet him,” and those who have died in righteousness, they too will “be caught up to meet him in the midst … of heaven.” Then, a seemingly impossible experience: “All flesh,” the Lord says, “shall see me together.” How will it happen? We do not know. But I testify it will happen—exactly as prophesied. We will kneel in reverence, “and the Lord shall utter his voice, and all the ends of the earth shall hear it.” “It shall be … as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder.” “[Then] the Lord, … the Savior, shall stand in the midst of his people.” There will be unforgettable reunions with the angels of heaven and the Saints upon the earth. But most important, as Isaiah declares, “All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God,” and He “shall reign over all flesh.” In that day the skeptics will be silent, “for every ear shall hear …, and every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess” that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. Today is Easter. We rejoice with Christians all over the world in His glorious Resurrection and in our own promised resurrection. May we prepare for His coming by rehearsing these glorious events over and over in our own minds and with those we love, and may His prayer be our prayer: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” I testify that He lives. “Come, O thou King of Kings.” In the name of
Elder Neil L. Andersen
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I close with the prophecy of Joseph Smith, words that I testify are true: “No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.” I so testify that these prophecies of Joseph Smith are being fulfilled.
Elder Ronald A. Rasband
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Speaking of Antarctica, even in Ushuaia, at the southern tip of Argentina, I saw prophecy being fulfilled as our missionaries shared the restored gospel of Jesus Christ in a place called “the end of the earth.”
Elder Gerrit W. Gong
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Credit: RichardandMardonne Neiman, Jilli
Elder Gary E. Stevenson
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With the increasing use and availability of artificial intelligence — like Chat GPT, Copilot and Gemini — Church leaders are evaluating how to best use AI as a tool in support of the ongoing Restoration, Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve said Wednesday, March 13. "Throughout the ongoing Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, emergent technologies — including in construction, communication and transportation — have allowed this great work to reach out and touch every nation, kindred, tongue and people," Elder Gong said as he began a presentation to thousands of Church employees around the world.
Elder Gerrit W. Gong
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Missionaries work in nearly every country of the world to share the gospel. New members are baptized and confirmed and receive blessings of the Abrahamic covenant by living the gospel of Jesus Christ, Elder Cook said. Those new members then prepare to and eventually make additional covenants in the house of the Lord and are sealed together as families. “We are witnessing the Lord hastening the gathering in our day,” Elder Cook said. Elder Cook said youth and young adults have shown a “remarkable response” to the call to serve missions with the number of missionaries now has increased from 57,000 in 2022 to 83,000 today. He also said the number of missions increased by 36 in 2024 and will increase by another 55 in 2026. Elder Cook said he feels grateful to see the Lord’s work moving forward in this way. “The Lord has hastened His work so dramatically that in the first 11 months of this year there were already more convert baptisms than in any other complete year in this dispensation,” he said.
Elder Quentin L. Cook
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