41r We Learn From Our Resurrected, Savior, Jesus Christ's Words Spoken to the Nephite Saints in Ancient Central America, in A.D. 34, (While Quoting His Prophet, Malachi), That Another of His Prophets, Elijah, Who Has Never Yet Tasted Death, Was to Come to Earth in Our Day to "Turn the Hearts of the Fathers to the Children and the Hearts of the Children to the Fathers."

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post! 

Council from an Expert on Microfilming Family Records is Given Just Before my Disclaimer paragraph!

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TODAY'S THEME

The Prophet Elijah Appearing in the Kirtland Temple April 3, 1836 -by Dan Lewis

Doctrine and Covenants 110:13 After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burst upon us; for Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said:

14 Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—

15 To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse—

16 Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors.

The Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord -by Harry Anderson



In the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, we read the following report about something our Resurrected Savior Jesus Christ commanded the Nephites living in Meso-America to write: (AD 34)

3Nephi Chapter 24
1 AND it came to pass that he commanded them that they should write the words which the Father had given unto Malachi, which he should tell unto them. And it came to pass that after they were written he expounded them. . . (emphasis added)

The Nephites, of course, did not have the prophecies of Malachi because he was born and served his ministry after Father Lehi had left Jerusalem in 600 BC. Malachi's prophecies therefore could not have been recorded on the Plates of Brass which their ancestor, Lehi, brought with him when he journeyed to the Western Hemisphere.

The following are the words of our Resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ during one of His visits to His Nephite Flock in Ancient Central America in A.D. 34

Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi Chapter 25 Chapter Heading: At the Second Coming the proud and wicked shall be burned as stubble—Elijah shall return before that great and dreadful day—Compare Malachi 4. About A.D. 34

1 FOR behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

2 But unto you that fear my name, shall the Son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves in the stall.

3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of Hosts.

4 Remember ye the law of Moses, my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.

5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord;

6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. (emphasis added)

The key words of that scripture above, which from my point of view, fit TODAY'S THEME, I have marked in red.

President Joseph F. Smith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1918 gave as his final General Conference Speech in the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City that which is recorded in the very last section of the Book of Doctrine and Covenants of the Church.

You are welcome to both Read and Listen (in its entirety) to the very significant revelation which President Smith received regarding what our Savior, Jesus Christ did in the World of Spirits between the time of His death and His resurrection!

There are things I desire to comment on about which you have just read.  The prophet Joseph F. Smith who received that revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ, was a nephew of Joseph Smith, Jr. the first prophet of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in what can be referred to as the "Latter-days." This revelation was received by Joseph F. Smith just a relatively short time before his own death.

What was taught in what you just read and listened to can give all of us bright hope which could remove our concern about family members we feel died without being qualified to be raised in the resurrection of the righteous. That which you have just read in D. and C. 138 is surely calculated to turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.

That concern mentioned in the previous paragraph may possibly be extended to yourselves and your living family members. All of you can still be taught the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and become members of His authorized church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and then seek to have the priesthood ordinances (such as baptism and granting the Gift of the Holy Ghost) done for your deceased ancestors.

Now I give you the opportunity to read once again verses 19-35. Please scroll down to verse 19 and then end at verse 35. It would be too difficult to Listen to these verses. 

Having re-read those verses can help you relieve your any concerns you may have regarding your deceased close relatives you have known who may have already died who did not have the opportunity to be taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and receive its ordinances in one of the Lord's Temples during their lifetimes.

 As we just learned from this modern day revelation, your deceased family members and all your ancestors can be taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ by His representatives on the other side of the veil.

If you personally have received all the necessary Gospel ordinances (such as baptism by immersion), you can do your deceased loved ones' ordinances for them on their behalf, or you can allow Temple-worthy LDS Church members you may or may not know personally, do these ordinances on their behalf. We call these: vicarious temple ordinances.

There most likely is an LDS Temple (often referred to as The House of the Lord) available not too far from where you live anywhere in the world. This map will assist you. Please note that clicking on the name of a temple on the list you will be viewing will allow you to see a photo of that particular temple.

Location of LDS Church Temples Throughout the World.

I will now tell you about an experience related to the above, my wife and I enjoyed several years ago.

Oquirrh Mountain Utah LDS Temple - South Jordan, Utah

My wife and I along with one of my wife's sons and his wife and three school-aged children, attended an open house of the LDS Church's newest temple, which is shown in the official LDS Temple photo above.

For your information: there are presently 134 operating LDS temples with 23 additional temples announced or under construction. This information is somewhat dated. There are additional temples in each category. The map provided you above has updated that information for you.

Melva and I have attended other temple open houses and have both witnessed something at this Temple Open House that we also had witnessed at each of the other temple open houses we have attended: There were a good number of parents with children of all ages there, some were LDS members but others were not. The guides did not ask for reverence there. It just seemed to come automatically.

Even the youngest children appeared to sense somehow the special spirit in that holy place. There was no acting out, no rudeness to one another, actually, no crying by any of them.

The guides were very kind and very willingly answered visitors' questions and helped each of us with things we needed, like finding an elevator or a restroom. If you had been there with us I'm certain you would have made the same observations as we did. It wasn't just the beautiful new temple or the helpful guides that kept everyone peaceful, including young children and babies,

it was the spirit that could be actually felt that is a part of that building in some wonderful way.

I have heard others, including non-LDS friends, say the very same thing about the childrens' demeanor, as well of that of the adults, at these open houses. We were being led through the entire structure which took about an hour and a half. This included viewing a video in which LDS leaders explained temple matters.

Here is the promised video: "Why Mormons Build Temples".

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As in other recent blog posts, in which I have inserted clarifying words from books written by LDS scholars, this time I have the privilege of quoting from a book of an LDS Expert Microfilmer, Steven W. Baldridge (a friend and Church colleague of mine) who has filmed, along with others, precious records literally throughout this entire earth so that the records of our dead will be easily available to you or me so that the vicarious temple work mentioned above in this blog post can be done for them.

I personally have read Steve's book once through and have read a good number of his chapters a second time. I am amazed at the scope of the microfilming work that he has done in a relatively short time. I admire the sacrifice he has made in living the life he had to live to accomplish what he did. He has made it possible for many of us to be able to research our ancestors in order to have the temple work done for them which is needed. 

I also appreciated Steve's enjoyable sense of humor that he seemed to always possess even in the midst of the greatest challenges. I guarantee that your purchasing and then reading his book will be something you will be glad you did!

The Cover of Steve Baldridge's Book

Now for those of you who might consider researching your family's ancestral line, here is a quick message from Steven Baldridge, the author of the book whose cover is illustrated above.

Steven W. Baldridge

"Nowadays, almost anyone can go online, input some basic information and then download their family tree, accurate or not, in a matter of minutes. This is possible because someone has already done the painstaking and laborius legwork--digging up names and dates and then linking them together to create family histories that may go back for centuries.

But where does this source material come from? it is found in the form of dusty old volumes laying in some basement archive, or sitting on the shelves of a a small parish library, guarded by a humble priest who is the latest in a long line of record custodians.

From great government collections to a handful of obscure volumes, genealogical information is the source material for our knowledge of our ancestors. I spent almost 11 years seeking out and microfilming this information, traveling around the world four times to 14 countries, to find data in 26 languages, ranging in antiquity from a few years to almost 500 years in age. To read my story is to understand that genealogical information didn't just magically appear on the Internet one day--it had to be located, acquired, catalogued and researched in order to be made available for today's armchair genealogist

It's been many years since I handled a microfilm camera, much of the material is now being digitized instead of microfilmed, and the turnaround time between acquistion and availability has decreased considerably. But, the research still needs to be done, and as you begin to fit together the pieces of your family's history, take a minute to think a kind thought for the ones who have provided your source material. Believe me, they can use it.

 For those of you who would like to read all of Steven Baldridge's book, he has provided the necessary information here:

"I am pleased to announce the printing of  “Adventures in Microfilming,” which details my experiences in collecting genealogical source material by microfilm. These experiences involved four trips around the world, visiting over 20 countries over a period of almost 11 years, to find information such as birth, death and marriage registers that might be used to identify and document millions of individuals and families. Along the way I got to: dance solo in front of a large African audience; smuggle microfilm out of a hostile country; get picked up for questioning by the Syrian police; become friends with Buddhist priests, and narrowly avoid getting killed by a truck driver on an Egyptian road. And that’s just a sampling…. The book is available by contacting me: Steve Baldridge, 627 East 5400 South, Murray, UT 84107, U.S.A.

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This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.

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TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or An Item Which Refers To Any Other Blog Post You May Desire To Access): After Reading All of This Paragraph Please Click on the Following: Joseph F. Smith. Learned . . .- Post 41r When You See the Picture of Our Savior Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy, Please, Scroll Down To Your Target Item Or Use The Alphabetic Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed.)"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon?"
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I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial that which was presented to you in this blog post.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish:  Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch

D. and C. 110:
13 After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burst upon us; for Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said:


14 Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—