Millennial Missionary Work

During the Summer of 1997, I was working at Treasure Mountain Boy Scout Camp in the cradle of the Teton National Forest. I had many uplifting spiritual experiences in that beautiful place, but one has stood out to me as I’ve thought of it repeatedly over the last twenty years.

I was visiting a scout troop and had the privilege of speaking with a newly called Stake President in the Pocatello region. He excitedly told me and a friend that he had just been set apart by Elder Boyd K. Packer who was the acting quorum President of the Twelve at the time. He told us in reverent tones of a prophecy that was made during the setting apart, and I remember it clearly: “Your children will live to see the day when hundreds of millions of people will join the church”. This was significant to me because he was my Father’s age, which meant his children and I were the same age, meaning that prophecy applied to me as well.

This prophecy has a similar ring of familiarity to one given by the prophet Joseph Smith on that first formal meeting on April 6, 1830 as a newly formed church of only six members:

“Brethren, I have been very much edified and instructed in your testimonies here tonight, but I want to say to you before the Lord, that you know no more concerning the destinies of this Church and kingdom than a babe upon its mother’s lap. You don’t comprehend it. … It is only a little handful of Priesthood you see here tonight, but this Church will fill North and South America — it will fill the world.’[i]

I find the two parts of the prophets’ concluding sentence to be fascinating. It is as though he saw and described two phases in which growth would take place. Another comment I find interesting is his speaking of the destiny of the “Church and kingdom”, which also seems to be indicating a duality of phases.

It is hard to know just what the prophet saw, and whether to mark his prophecy as fulfilled in full or in part. The church has expanded well in north and South America, but it would be a far stretch of the imagination to say the church has filled the world. I believe Joseph’s prophecy, and I believe Elder Packer’s as well, but I do not think either of the two phases is complete because neither geographic location has really been “filled” with membership.

This ‘filling’ of the world prophecy also has a strong scriptural backbone, and the two major missionary events mentioned by Joseph are also delineated in scripture. But those two periods of missionary prosperity in scripture can run together to the casual scripture reader making them seem like one major event. Interestingly, those two periods are always separated by another very scriptural event referred to as The Days of Tribulation.[ii] So important is this distinction in scripture, that I need to now demonstrate it, primarily using the prophetic narrative of Nephi who saw our day.

Nephi was speaking to his brothers and was apparently recounting latter-day events in chronological order as he mentioned an event when the Gentiles would scatter their seed, which we know to be the early Caucasian settlers and the Native American Indians.

Then Nephi referred to a time period when a marvelous work would take place. That is the first major missionary event (1 Nephi 22:8). He and other prophets also refer to that time period and its associated events as “A Marvelous Work and a Wonder”[iii]. These events begin with the Restoration and include the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and depict the missionary efforts of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Nephi spoke of this first major wave of missionary work when he said: “ye should know that all the kindreds of the earth cannot be blessed unless he shall make bare his arm in the eyes of the nations”. It feels as if he is saying, the Lord’s power (signified by the bare arm), would not be fully revealed in this first wave of activity, which he concludes in verse 12.

Then came a little narrative about the significant intermediate event we curiously rarely ever discuss in church settings known as The Tribulations. It begins in verse 13 and continues through verse 23. This is clearly the tribulation period, considering the reference to the ‘fall of the church of the devil’, the wars, and frequent references to natural disasters, all of which are common characteristics of The Tribulations.

Incidentally, when you look for patterns of this turbulent time period all throughout scripture it becomes obvious that most old testament prophets saw this very time period and testified of it, but used slightly different phrases, and described different details which sometimes makes it feel like several disconnected and temporally ambiguous events. To the serious studier, the spirit will reveal that they are all the same event or they used types of this grand culminating latter-day event!

Following the discussion of the Tribulations, Nephi picked up the second major missionary initiative once again in verse 24 this time using the phrase “…he gathereth his children from the four quarters of the earth”. The imagery of four quarters suggests a thorough and complete gathering, unlike that which has gone on throughout the last 190 years during the marvelous work stage.

This reference to the ‘four quarters’ appears in other scriptures, curiously also following discussion of the Tribulations – and not before them. D&C 45 is a good chronological narrative of latter-day events like Nephi’s, which also shows two major missionary periods separated by tribulations. The following diagram can help when studying these events.

The more I study these themes from scripture, the more curious I have grown as to why these two major missionary events are separated by Tribulations. This question has perplexed me more than any other scriptural theme I have studied. I have asked a lot of questions, and what the spirit has taught me has taken time, has come line upon line, and is not at all what I was expecting.

I know that the Lord is in charge. He knows what He’s doing, and His plan makes a lot of sense if we can get into His mind a little bit. I also know that He is going to surprise Latter-day Saints as His plan unfolds, which is by divine design, for as He has said “I will try the faith of my people” (3 Nephi 26). I know this trying of faith is also necessary to prove those who will build the New Jerusalem Temple and be part of those most holy events surrounding it.

Due to the amount of information on this surprising sequence of events, I’ll leave that for another blog post. Suffice it to say for now, the future of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not what most suppose. I believe this is why Joseph Smith spoke of the “future of this Church” – and then added the phrase “…and kingdom” in his original comment to those other five men, indicating that the church is part of the kingdom, and not the other way around, and the destinies of the two are not necessarily the same.

If I examine the question of the intermission of tribulations further, I must ask what is different about the two periods of missionary work and how the work of spreading the gospel differs. Taking an objective look at missionary work today, I can say that I believe in it because I know the church provides saving ordinances which may be more important than anything we do on the earth, but to be honest, I’m a little embarrassed to invite my non-member friends to church. This is not because of any limitations of the doctrine, which I know to be sound, but is squarely based upon the actions and impure culture that has arisen among members, which I know firsthand is offensive to many who are not of my faith, and frankly, is offensive to many who are part of it.

When I served a mission, there is no doubt that I loved the people of South Africa, but the process of hunting, pleading, and persuading was unnatural and not very effective. I always knew there was a better way but didn’t know what that was until it was made known to me recently. Put simply, our current approach to missionary work matches the Telestial world we live in with all its lower laws and conditions (D&C 88).

The answer to truly effective missionary work, and how to reach the vision of Joseph Smith, Elder Packer, and Nephi is so simple, it is going to really try the faith of many. As I was pondering these things and considered what a more enhanced version of missionary work would look like in the next phase, the following idea came clearly to mind: “The Telestial model of missionary work focuses on persuasion and arduous effort directed toward finding, improving, and changing others. The Terrestrial model of missionary work is focused on arduous effort directed toward improving ourselves, knowing others will be inspired and come to the gospel naturally.” Put more simply, when we are living righteously, we don’t need to do missionary work because our elevated living inspires others who then lift themselves.

As we near the completion of the first phase of the plan which I now understand to be the Telestial phase, I know without a doubt the intermission of Tribulation is coming. We will apparently lose most our numbers for a time, but oh the glorious day that follows, when the second Terrestrial phase begins and the four quarters of the earth are gathered; when Elder Packer and Joseph Smith’s words will be fulfilled, and many hundreds of millions are gathered and truly ‘fill the world’. May we each prepare for that great Millennial Missionary Marvel now by becoming truly converted to Christ and spiritually elevated ourselves.

---

[i]  Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff (2004), p. 25-26

[ii] “Day of Tribulation” Matthew 24:29; Doctrine and Covenants 29:8; “Days of Sorrow” (Doctrine and Covenants 136:35); “Abomination of Desolation”(Daniel 9:27; Daniel 11:31; Daniel 12:11; Mark 13:14; Doctrine and Covenants 84:117), “Great and Terrible Day of the Lord” (Joel 2:31; Malachi 4:5), “Day of the Lord”(Zephaniah 1:14; Amos 5:18; Jeremiah 46:10; Doctrine and Covenants 87:8; Joel 1:15); “The Time of the Heathen” (Ezekiel 30:3); “Day of the Lord’s Anger”(Zephaniah 2:3).

[iii] Isaiah 29 speaks of a people who would speak from the dust and who would bring forth a sealed book, which is clearly the Book of Mormon, which work he refers to as a marvelous work and a wonder. See also D&C 12:1; 3 Nephi 21:9