I Glory In My Jesus
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Cleansed Every Whit
Thursday, April 10, 2025
BURN IT ALL DOWN
That being said, this past week I've gotten back into emailing and texting with others that wish I would go back to church. See part 1 to understand this post better. This has caused me to get back into history in order to explain my stance (again). I told both of these people that their hope for our return to church was in vain because I would have to teach my children that Joseph Smith was a liar and he lied to his wife, his children, his brethren, and indeed a whole church and he didn't lie once, he did it constantly and I'd have to teach them that all that was okay. Both their responses: "Abraham lied."
LOOOOOOORD! LORD!!!!! Lord help me.
But they sent me quotes and things to consider as to why the Church is true and will always be true and so I got back into history to dig and find out what was actually said and how they meant it. Thanks to other bloggers and as always, my husband's insights, I sent this letter below as one of the responses (with the other person we texted and called a truce. We've been this road countless times before but we are very passionate people so we always get swept back up into discussion, then truce. A discussion, then truce. It's comical.).
Hi (Edit),
When I read the scanned document you sent I couldn't find anywhere where Joseph said to refrain from accusing the brethren. Could you underline it for me? I read it about five times but couldn't see it.
I am still struggling to understand how, if Willard Richards wasn't in America, could he have recorded what Joseph said. But I'll come your way and consider that Joseph did say it. Then I ask myself - does this quote match God's eternal pattern? For example, scripture is filled with prophets, called by God, who did indeed "rise up to condemn others, finding fault with the church, saying they are out of the way." Some examples are:
Noah
Abraham
Moses
Amos
Hosea
Isaiah
Ezekiel
Micah
Jeremiah
Lehi
Jacob
Benjamin
Abinadi
Alma the Younger
Samuel the Lamanite
John the Baptist
Jesus Christ
Joseph Smith
Why would Joseph say that, "It is an eternal principle, that has existed with God from all eternity" and then have the scriptures replete with examples which contradict that exact statement? In my understanding - the mission of any true prophet is telling people who have gone astray that they are out of the way and calling them to repentance (D&C 11:9). President Benson did that in his April 1986 General Conference Talk (link).
I have observed that in our day and age "the Church" has come to mean the organizational structure at Church headquarters in Salt Lake City, the institutional, corporate Church, and primarily its leaders. But when Joseph referenced "the church" he meant just the opposite. He was talking about the rank and file members. Joseph's definition of the church was the same as the definition given by the Lord in D&C 10:67: all who repent and come unto Christ, "the same is my church."
“I will give you one of the Keys of the mysteries of the Kingdom. It is an eternal principle, that has existed with God from all eternity: That man who rises up to condemn others, finding fault with the Church, saying that they are out of the way, while he himself is righteous, then know assuredly, that that man is in the high road to apostasy; and if he does not repent, will apostatize, as God lives.”
As I see it - members in the church today are instructed to center their focus on the leaders. "You keep your eyes riveted on the prophet and the Twelve apostles. We will not lead you astray. We cannot. So keep your eyes riveted on the leadership of the Church." (Elder Ballard speaking at BYU, 1996) If I am critical and on the high road to apostasy for saying I believe Elder Ballard was incorrect in that statement and it doesn't match scripture - I will accept that accusation of me. I believe they are men who can and do make mistakes, and that's okay! I can and do make mistakes daily. I tell my children to let me know where I'm wrong and if I've said something hypocritical or inconsistent - and boy they do let me know. And I always thank them and tell them to keep it coming because I'm trying to be the best parent I can be. I believe the leaders tell us they are fallible and so I choose to keep my eye on He who is infallible and I hope that's enough for Him.
I know you feel I am being critical when I make observations and say that doesn't match scripture (as I understand scripture). But to me...that isn't being critical - it is thinking critically (which can feel threatening I think). I don't mind when you tell me you don't agree with Trump. It's when you attack him personally (and I would feel that way if you did that for anyone) that I get uncomfortable. I say - think critically about what Trump is doing! And let me know the red flags you see. That is good conversation and helps me learn about policies and the constitution and look out for Gadianton robbers. But saying he's evil (not that you said that but just an example) does nothing to further my learning. I feel it is a good thing to look at the church and ask questions and see if the church today aligns with the scriptures. I believe the Book of Mormon encourages us to do this. 2 Nephi 28 warns of us following flesh:
9 Yea, and there shall be many which shall teach after this manner, false and vain and foolish doctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide their counsels from the Lord; and their works shall be in the dark.
10 And the blood of the saints shall cry from the ground against them.
11 Yea, they have all gone out of the way; they have become corrupted.
12 Because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted, and their churches are lifted up; because of pride they are puffed up.
13 They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up.
14 They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men.
Matt.15: 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
D&C 93: 39 And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers.
What is true? We both believe the Book of Mormon and Joseph said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” So as long as I do just what the Book of Mormon says, I hope to be in the right way.
I wanted to ask you: Could you define what the Standard of Truth that has been erected is?
From the quote you scanned:
Matthew 13: 31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
"Now we can discover plainly that this figure is given to represent the Church as it shall come forth in the last days. … Let us take the Book of Mormon, which a man took and hid in his field, securing it by his faith, to spring up in the last days, or in due time; let us behold it coming forth out of the ground, which is indeed accounted the least of all seeds, but behold it branching forth, yea, even towering, with lofty branches, and God-like majesty, until it, like the mustard seed, becomes the greatest of all herbs. And it is truth, and it has sprouted and come forth out of the earth, and righteousness begins to look down from heaven, and God is sending down His powers, gifts and angels, to lodge in the branches thereof."
Joseph says the parable plainly represents the church and then says what he means by that: He says the Kingdom of Heaven is the same as: The Book of Mormon. This Book of Mormon will spring up in the last days until it is the greatest of all herbs.
Love,
Ruth
To conclude I will say that if you don't know me by now - I am prone to burst of fire. I detest this about myself when it flares up. Often I take this fire to the Lord and have found He is big enough to handle it. But my prayer the last 10 or so years has been, and please forgive me if this offends you but I try to be transparent here, my prayer concerning the church has gone like this:
2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
That Man Who Rises Up To Condemn Others...
On a side note - they are volunteering in Africa for a year in an orphanage.
But yeah, I may have had tears and, "shaky voices" (as one of my children said last week when denying they cried over the game of Risk we were playing...."No!...there weren't tears!...only shaky voices.")
So there was some seriously shaky voice going on today (blast YOU perimenopause) and I got a headache now. But of course I have to blog because this loved one let me know that they were worried of how I was so critical of the Church and I spend so much time researching how the Church is wrong and couldn't I just spend more time seeing how it's right??
Yeah...news flash. I did exactly that - for decades. I was so passionate about the Church I fought people on polygamy and being a God after this life! But it falls on deaf ears in more ways than one.
So I'll just copy and past the email I sent them after I left because, why not. The font and text is coming out weird when I post it but I'm too tired to fix it. You get the gist.
Thank you for listening to me today. I googled the quote you gave me about criticizing the church. Here it is below:
“I will give you one of the Keys of the mysteries of the Kingdom. It is an eternal principle, that has existed with God from all eternity: That man who rises up to condemn others, finding fault with the Church, saying that they are out of the way, while he himself is righteous, then know assuredly, that that man is in the high road to apostasy; and if he does not repent, will apostatize, as God lives.”
You can skim read this email OR you can click on the Church website links I send you to understand what I am talking about with the Church attributing things to Joseph that he never said or did.
The quote you gave me was not said by Joseph.
Here is the church website to that quote (link) scroll down to page 318
If you read that quote on the Church's website it offers you a footnote (5) in blue. If you click on that footnote it says:
History of the Church, 3:385; from a discourse given by Joseph Smith on July 2, 1839, in Montrose, Iowa; reported by Wilford Woodruff and Willard Richards.
1. Willard Richards was not in Iowa on July 2, 1839. He was on a mission in England (link) and (link) or see the photos below:
Hopefully this illustrates what I'm talking about with Church history. I work really hard to understand what Joseph said and what I have found is that many things we believe or are taught that are attributed to Joseph - he neither said or did.
Love,
Ruth
Sunday, March 30, 2025
Fat and Sleek
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provided $1.45 billion in humanitarian aid in 2024.
- The increase over 2023 giving included $55.8 million for maternal and infant and toddler care in Africa and Asia.
- Welfare and humanitarian spending, up half a billion dollars in four years, is a significant portion of the church's use for the annual donations it receives.
“Go up and down the streets [of Salt Lake and The Church Office Building], look around and consider, search through her squares, if you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city. 2 Although they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’ still they are swearing falsely.” 3 Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent. 4 I thought, “These are only the poor; they are foolish for they do not know the way of the Lord, the requirements of their God. 5 So I will go to the leaders and speak to them, surely they know the way of the Lord, the requirements of their God." But with one accord they too had broken off the yoke and torn off the bonds. 6 Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them, a wolf from the desert will ravage them, a leopard will lie in wait near their towns to tear to pieces any who venture out, for their rebellion is great and their backslidings many.
7 “Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken me and sworn by gods [prophets and apostles] that are not gods [prophets and apostles]. I supplied all their needs, yet they committed adultery and thronged to the houses of prostitutes. 8 They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for another man’s wife (link). 9 Should I not punish them for this?” declares the Lord. “Should I not avenge myself on such a nation [church] as this? 10 “Go through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not destroy them completely. Strip off her branches, for these people do not belong to the Lord. 11 The people of Israel and the people of Judah [and the Church] have been utterly unfaithful to me,” declares the Lord.
12 They have lied about the Lord; they said, “He will do nothing! No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine.13 The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them.” 14 Therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty says: “Because the people have spoken these words, I will make my words in your mouth a fire and these people the wood it consumes. 15 People of Israel,” declares the Lord, “I am bringing a distant nation against you—an ancient and enduring nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you do not understand. 16 Their quivers are like an open grave; all of them are mighty warriors.17 They will devour your harvests and food, devour your sons and daughters; they will devour your flocks and herds, devour your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.
18 “Yet even in those days,” declares the Lord, “I will not destroy you completely. 19 And when the people ask, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?’ you will tell them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own.’ 20 “Announce this to the descendants of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah: 21 Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear: 22 Should you not fear me?” declares the Lord. “Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it. 23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts; they have turned aside and gone away. 24 They do not say to themselves, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’ 25 Your wrongdoings have kept these away, your sins have deprived you of good.
26 “Among my people are the wicked who lie in wait like men who snare birds and like those who set traps to catch people. 27 Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; they have become rich and powerful 28 and have grown fat and sleek. Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not seek justice. They do not promote the case of the fatherless; they do not defend the just cause of the poor. 29 Should I not punish them for this?” declares the Lord. “Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?
30 “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?
Jeremiah 6 (NIV)
9 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Let them glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as a vine, pass your hand over the branches again, like one gathering grapes. 10 To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the Lord is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it. 11 But I am full of the wrath of the Lord, and I cannot hold it in. “Pour it out on the children in the street and on the young men gathered together; both husband and wife will be caught in it, and the old, those weighed down with years. 12 Their houses will be turned over to others, together with their fields and their wives, when I stretch out my hand against those who live in the land,” declares the Lord. 13 “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. 14 They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace. 15 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them,” says the Lord.
16 This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it." 17 I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But you said, ‘We will not listen." 18 Therefore hear, you nations; you who are witnesses, observe what will happen to them. 19 Hear, you earth: I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not listened to my words and have rejected my law. 20 What do I care about incense from Sheba or sweet calamus from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please me.”
‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to [your kindred dead] and follow [other dead works] you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord.
‘Go now to the place where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people. While you were doing all these things, declares the Lord, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. Therefore, what I did to [Nauvoo] I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your ancestors. I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your fellow Israelites, the people of Ephraim.’
“So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. Do you not see what they are doing in [the Church] and in the streets [of Salt Lake]? The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to [the Prophets and Apostles]. They pour out drink offerings to [them] to arouse my anger. But am I the one they are provoking? declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?
‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place—on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the crops of your land—and it will burn and not be quenched.
‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their ancestors.’
“When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.
‘Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.
‘The people of [the Church] have done evil in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols [false prophet's and apostles] in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it.
Sunday, March 2, 2025
Exaltation?
Copy and paste from the Church website (you can skim)
The time to fulfill the requirements for exaltation is now (see Alma 34:32–34).
President Joseph Fielding Smith said, “In order to obtain the exaltation we must accept the gospel and all its covenants; and take upon us the obligations which the Lord has offered; and walk in the light and the understanding of the truth; and ‘live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God’” (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:43).
To be exalted, we first must place our faith in Jesus Christ and then endure in that faith to the end of our lives. Our faith in Him must be such that we repent of our sins and obey His commandments.
He commands us all to receive certain ordinances:
We must be baptized.
We must receive the laying on of hands to be confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Brethren must receive the Melchizedek Priesthood and magnify their callings in the priesthood.
We must receive the temple endowment.
We must be married for eternity, either in this life or in the next.
In addition to receiving the required ordinances, the Lord commands all of us to:
Love God and our neighbors.
Keep the commandments.
Repent of our wrongdoings.
Search out our kindred dead and receive the saving ordinances of the gospel for them.
Attend our Church meetings as regularly as possible so we can renew our baptismal covenants by partaking of the sacrament. (this is a fallacy that gets perpetuated in the church that partaking of the sacrament renews your baptismal covenants. Even Elder Anderson slips it out in a training meeting at the 14:24 minute mark of this video)
Love our family members and strengthen them in the ways of the Lord.
Have family and individual prayers every day.
Teach the gospel to others by word and example.
Study the scriptures.
Listen to and obey the inspired words of the prophets of the Lord.
Finally, each of us needs to receive the Holy Ghost and learn to follow His direction in our individual lives.
To the Church - the suffering and death of Jesus Christ is a lesser gift.
This is what is known as "doctrines of devils" (1 Timothy 4:1)
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7)
Those that live in a different glory will not do so because of the works they did. They will live there because they took what they had (the life they were given) and multiplied it (asked the Lord His will and did it). There are thrones, kingdoms, principalities, powers, dominions, and eternal lives. Jacob shows us that we live in eternal progression (Genesis 28: 11-19).
Jesus said that many will do works like prophesy and cast out devils (and more) - but it will fall short for one reason. He says clearly - you have to do the will of the Father (increase your talent) or it's all selfish (hiding your talent in the earth). If you prophesy, cast out devils, and do many wonderful works without it being the will of the Father - He will say that He actually never knew you. Another translation is - you never knew Him.
Here is what He asks for:
D&C 88:
67 And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.
68 Therefore, sanctify yourselves (seek and do His will) that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.
As Jesus was walking on from there he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him. Now while he was at the table in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?" When he heard this he replied, "It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice. And indeed I came to call not the upright, but sinners."
The next things I write are from a book by Brennan Manning (The Ragamuffin Gospel):
"Our resistance to the furious love of God may be traced to the church, our parents and pastors, and life itself. They have hidden the face of a compassionate God, we protest and favored a God of holiness, justice, and wrath. Yet if we were truly men and women of prayer, our faces set like flint and our hearts laid waste by passion, we would discard our excuses. We would be done with blaming others. We must go out into a desert of some kind (your backyard will do) and come into a personal experience of the awesome love of God."
This is the gospel of God. "A God who, out of love for us, sent the only Son He ever had wrapped in our skin. He learned how to walk, stumbled and fell, cried for His milk, sweated blood in the night, was lashed with a whip and showered with spit, was fixed to a cross, and died whispering forgiveness on us all."
Jesus spent a disproportionate amount of time with people described in the Gospels as the poor, the blind, the lame, the lepers, the hungry, sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors, the persecuted, the downtrodden, the captives, those possessed by unclean spirits, all who labor and are heavy burdened, the rabble who know nothing of the law, the crowds, the little ones, the least, the last, and the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
"The saved sinner is prostrate in adoration, lost in wonder and praise. He knows repentance is not what we do in order to earn forgiveness; it is what we do because we have been forgiven. It serves as an expression of gratitude rather than an effort to earn forgiveness. Thus the sequence of forgiveness and then repentance, rather than repentance and then forgiveness, is crucial for understanding the gospel of grace."
Perhaps you've heard this story:Years ago in a large city in the far West, rumors spread that a certain Catholic woman was having visions of Jesus. The reports reached the archbishop. He decided to check her out. There is always a fine line between the authentic mystic and the lunatic fringe.
Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon, who had a skin disease. While Jesus was eating there, a woman approached him with an alabaster jar filled with very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She opened the jar and poured the perfume on Jesus’ head. Some who were there became upset and said to each other, “Why waste that perfume? It was worth a full year’s work. It could have been sold and the money given to the poor.” And they got very angry with the woman. Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why are you troubling her? She did an excellent thing for me. You will always have the poor with you, and you can help them anytime you want. But you will not always have me. This woman did the only thing she could do for me; she poured perfume on my body to prepare me for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached in all the world, what this woman has done will be told, and people will remember her.”
"They will be amazed at us," says the Grand Inquisitor to Jesus, "and will think of us as gods, because we, who set ourselves at their head, are ready to endure freedom, this freedom from which they shrink in horror; and because we are ready to rule over them - so terrible will it seem to them, in the end, to be free. But we shall say that we are obeying you and tuling only in your name. Again we shall be betraying them, for we shall not let you have anything to do with us anymore." Indeed, "Why have you come to disturb us?" The Grand Inquisitor means to take this Jesus who has come again, bringing freedom once again, and burn him at the stake in the name of the Church."
Wednesday, February 26, 2025
O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers...
37 For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.
Thursday, February 6, 2025
Dry Bones
Which then makes me ask - how did we get here nearly 200 years after the church was started?
367 temples in various phases
202 dedicated temples
193 operating
9 others undergoing renovations
4 with a dedication scheduled
48 under construction
3 with groundbreakings scheduled
110 others announced (not yet under construction)
Members of the church are beginning to say, "The second coming is approaching because we have all these temples being built! And President Nelson mentioned 'the second coming' in his last conference talk!!!"
January 2018 President Nelson called
Oct. 2018 12
April 2019 8
Oct. 2019 8
NOVEMBER 2019:
- Nielsen reported that Ensign Peak made unlawful misstatements to the SEC to conceal tax violations
- Nielsen reported that Ensign Peak was a for-profit business that the LDS Church "bailed out"
- Nielsen reported that Ensign Peak masked itself as a charity
- The SEC found that Ensign Peak made almost two decades of misstatements in violation of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
- The LDS Church admitted to "bailout" of Ensign Peak
Oct. 2020 6 (covid restrictions)
April 2021 20
Oct, 2021 13
April 2022 17
Oct. 2022 18
April 2023 35
Oct. 2023 20
April 2024 32
Oct. 2024 17
From the Salt Lake Tribune (link & link):
New federal reports value a massive investment portfolio of stocks, bonds and mutual funds managed on behalf of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at a five-year high of $56.8 billion.
That $56.8 billion total is also the most the once-secretive account has held since Ensign Peak began reporting its holdings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in early 2020.
Where does the portfolio stand now compared to previous quarters?
The latest total value is nearly 90% above where it was during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, when it plunged to $29.8 billion before staging a dramatic rebound.
It now is about 3.9% above its total for the first and second quarters of this year, when its managers reported to regulators that it hovered at about $54.7 billion.
The fund now holds shares in 1,706 investments, including, stocks, bonds, real estate trusts, index funds and other equities — a figure that managers have steadily whittled down quarter by quarter from 2,308 holdings in mid-2022.
Ensign Peak manages only a portion of the Utah-based church’s overall wealth, representing the U.S. stocks it holds directly and is required to report.
In-depth analysis of public documents indicates the investment firm and affiliated funds manage assets on behalf of the global faith worth somewhere in the range of $265 billion, with around $32 billion of that in landholdings.
The Widow’s Mite Report, a website devoted to research and analysis of the church’s finances (please check out the widow's mite report), projects the church could be worth at least a trillion dollars by 2044.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will pay $289 million in cash for a massive addition to its expansive empire of farmlands, further bolstering the faith’s position among the largest U.S. agricultural landowners.
The purchase through subsidiary Farmland Reserve, set to close Wednesday, will fold into its vast real estate portfolio 46 farms covering a total of 41,554 acres in Arkansas, the Carolinas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma, as well as in Florida and Nebraska, where the Utah-based church already has large landholdings with rich farming operations.
The faith’s nonprofit farm investment company has made a spate of similarly large purchases since 2018, solidifying it as a key player in the U.S. farm sector and a leading landowner in several states — part of overall holdings of food-producing farms and ranches worldwide amounting to about 2.5 million acres or more.
In response to a Salt Lake Tribune inquiry, Rose offered an additional comment, relayed through a church spokesperson:
“By investing and operating wisely,” Rose said in the statement, “the returns earned by Farmland Reserve and AgReserves are available to support the mission of the church and its religious, humanitarian, educational, and charitable good works.”
That’s according to one reliable tally. The church is not legally obligated to publicly report its overall landholdings, which property records and public databases indicate are held through hundreds of companies internationally.
Research by the website Widow’s Mite Report indicates that with agricultural lands, temples, chapels and other ecclesiastical buildings, property held through Brigham Young University and extensive commercial real estate holdings, the church’s land portfolio could top $121 billion.
Public records reveal that huge chunks of ranch lands, farms, timber reserves, nut groves, orchards and plots of staple crops like potatoes and corn, located in pockets across the American heartland, are also some of the church’s most valuable real estate holdings.
Its commercial development at City Creek Center in downtown Salt Lake City tops that list at about $2 billion. But close behind — and all hovering around $1 billion in value — are its recently acquired Rex Ranch in Nebraska; Deseret Ranches and Farms and a patch of timberlands in Florida; Deseret Land and Livestock Ranch, near the northern Utah-Idaho border; and a reserve of roughly 250,000 acres of ranches and farms in Brazil.
A separate tally of large landowners by Landgate, a commercial real estate listing and data service, labels the church an “Agriculture Titan.”
The service ranks the LDS church as having the fifth largest landholdings in the U.S., behind timber and forest-product giants Weyerhaeuser, Rayonier and Sierra Pacific Industries and The Nature Conservancy. The latter is focused on ecological preservation.
Announcement of the Farmland Partners purchase comes as the church is in the midst of a worldwide push to build more temples and as it faces increased scrutiny over its wealth and finances. At the same time, the church has launched a sizable growth spurt for its farm holdings, beginning well before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nebraska media outlets have reported that since 2018, Farmland Reserve has been on a buying spree in rural Garden County and four neighboring counties that made it that state’s top land purchaser at one point. Its expansion in the Cornhusker State, bolstered by this deal, has pushed its holdings of agriculturally zoned land above 370,000 acres, also among that state’s largest property holdings.
The trend drew pushback from some Nebraska farmers, with complaints the church purchases were elevating land prices and squeezing out local growers.
Farmland Reserve beat out an investment company linked to Microsoft founder Bill Gates in 2021 with a $209 million bid to buy an extensive farm operation known as Easterday Farm in southeastern Washington out of bankruptcy. That deal included ranch lands and nearly 22,500 acres of potatoes, onions, corn and wheat fields along the Columbia Basin.
Gospel Basics
Why We Pay Tithing
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints give one-tenth of their income to the Church. This is called tithing. The money is used to carry out the work of the Church throughout the world.
What Is Tithing?
One of God’s commandments is to pay tithing, which is one-tenth of our income, to His Church. When we pay tithing, we show our gratitude to God for our blessings. We show that we trust in the Lord and that we are willing to obey Him in all things.
Melchizedek—Keeper of the Storehouse, by Clark Kelley Price
Old Testament Teachings
God’s people have paid tithing since Old Testament times. For example, Abraham paid tithes (see Genesis 14:18–20). The law of tithing was also taught by ancient prophets, including Moses and Malachi (see Leviticus 27:30–34; Nehemiah 10:35–37; Malachi 3:10).
Restoration of the Law of Tithing
In 1838, the Prophet Joseph Smith asked the Lord how Church members should pay tithing. The Lord’s answer is recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 119, which says that members should give one-tenth of their interest to the Church (see verse 4). Church leaders have taught that “interest” means income.
Photograph by Jamie Dale Johnson
How to Pay Tithing
We can pay tithing by filling out the online donation form at donations.ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Or we can fill out a paper form and give the money to a member of the bishopric or branch presidency. All the money is sent to Church headquarters, where Church leaders (the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Presiding Bishopric) prayerfully decide how it will be used. (not investment portfolio managers...right? It said the First Presidency, Quorum of the 12 and Presiding Bishopric....that's the truth, right?)
Blessings
The Lord has promised that those who pay tithing will be blessed temporally and spiritually. Tithing also blesses all of God’s children with the opportunity to learn of Him and grow in the gospel.
How Tithing Funds Are Used
Tithing money is used to build up the Lord’s Church throughout the world. This includes building temples and other Church structures, printing scriptures and other materials, funding Church-owned schools, and helping with family history and missionary work. (zero mention of the poor. ZERO. When you pay tithing it says it goes to building up the Church. We must not ignore this.)
Tithing Declaration
Once a year, Church members meet with their bishop (or branch president) to tell him if they are full-tithe payers.
“Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed Me!
But you say,
‘In what way have we robbed You?’
In tithes and offerings.
You are cursed with a curse,
For you have robbed Me,
Even this whole nation.
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.
I think it's time to read these verses from Mormon 8 and apply them personally - even if you are 'awakened to your awful situation'.
Yea, it shall come in a day when the power of God shall be denied, and churches become defiled and be lifted up in the pride of their hearts; yea, even in a day when leaders of churches and teachers shall rise in the pride of their hearts...Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be churches built up that shall say: Come unto me, and for your money (tithing) you shall be forgiven of your sins (be able to go to the highest heaven).
O ye wicked and perverse and stiffnecked people, why have ye built up churches unto yourselves to get gain? (Is this you? What do you gain by paying your tithing to the building up of more Temples?) Why have ye transfigured the holy word of God ('modern revelation' twists the scriptures), that ye might bring damnation upon your souls? Behold, look ye unto the revelations of God (just read your scriptures...is the Temple mentioned in the Book of Mormon AT all?); for behold, the time cometh at that day when all these things must be fulfilled.
Behold, the Lord hath shown unto me great and marvelous things concerning that which must shortly come, at that day when these things shall come forth among you...Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.
And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts. (if you believe this scripture - why would you then turn and pay money to a polluted church?)
For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.
O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker (do you sell yourself for your temple recommend?), why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world (holding a temple recommend so that you can appear to be a good member of the church when you go to family weddings)?
Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life (adorn was mentioned above when it came to the Temple - are you fulfilling this scripture by further adorning the temples with your tithing money?), and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not? (maybe since you have awakened you have begun to 'give' more to the poor - but you do not give all. If your money is divided between adorning the temples and helping the poor - you are holding back from giving all)John 4 (NIV)
“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem (in the Temple). You Samaritans (Mormons) worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (Are you the kind of worshipper the Father seeks? Ask Him. "What lack I yet?!")
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
I know I have spoken strongly today. As with anything I say, I'm just some dudette on the internet. Jesus is Lord and King. Ask Him and then do what He says to do.