Nearly a year after the great tempest which destroyed the Nephite and Lamanite lands, the Savior visited these people. It would be the first of several recorded visits, but based upon the record we have, these are not all His visits.
I wonder what drew so many to the temple on that day. Did the spirit move them? Perhaps they were congregating to meet either to worship or to memorialize the dead? I don’t know, but I think it was their Sabbath, their day of worship and as they were getting ready to meet in the morning of that day, they heard the Father’s voice.
I don’t criticize them for not understanding until the third time He spoke. Especially when I remember how many times the Spirit has had to repeat a message to me before I finally listened and hearkened to it. Sadly, I also admit there are many times I refused to listen and he gave up on me, but that’s another story.
In this instance, the Father was persistent and kept repeating until the people heard and when they heard, what they heard shook them and filled them with the fire of the Holy Ghost. Picture yourself there on the temple plaza. You hear a voice coming from the sky but you can’t make out the words. It comes again. The third time you understand them and there in the sky overhead, you see a man dressed in white descending to the ground.
I would be speechless too. I know in that instant all the fear and travails of the previous year as I labored to rebuild a life shattered by the tempest would be swept away. I would be filled with many emotions: from being overcome with joy and awe, to sorrow for missing friends. My mind would be racing, but undergirding it all would be a sense of peace and the realization that I made it.
My hope is that when He comes again, I’ll get to be there too as they were.
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