Blog Extra: Good Quotes and Go Vote!

Today is voting day for the next president of the United States. During this time in the Book of Mormon, Nephi sees in vision the establishment of this great country. It was truly the work of the Lord. Here are some pertinent quotes from the Institute manual about one of the reasons this country was founded:

1 Nephi 13:15–19. The Establishment of America
“This great American nation the Almighty raised up by the power of his omnipotent hand, that it might be possible in the latter days for the kingdom of God to be established in the earth. If the Lord had not prepared the way by laying the foundations of this glorious nation, it would have been impossible (under the stringent laws and bigotry of the monarchical governments of the world) to have laid the foundations for the coming of his great kingdom. The Lord has done this. His hand has been over this nation, and it is his purpose and design to enlarge it, make it glorious above all others, and to give it dominion, and power over the earth, to the end that those who are kept in bondage and serfdom may be brought to the enjoyment of the fullest freedom and liberty of conscience possible for intelligent men to exercise in the earth” (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p. 409).

1 Nephi 13:19. “Delivered by the Power of God”
Elder Spencer W. Kimball spoke of the Lord’s hand in the preservation of the early colonists of America and their deliverance from an army that was seemingly far superior to them:
“I have a firm conviction that the Lord led the Pilgrims and the Puritans across the ocean, perhaps permitted the persecutions that would bring them here, so that when they came to the American shores with their righteous blood and their high ideals and standards, they would form the basis of a nation which would make possible the restoration of the gospel. I am sure that since there was not religious liberty, not political liberty here, the Lord permitted these few poorly-armed and ill-clad men at Valley Forge and elsewhere to defeat a great army with its trained soldiery and its many mercenaries, a few against the many, but the few had on their side the Lord God of heaven, that gave them victory. And there came political liberty and religious liberty with it, all in preparation for the day when a young boy would come forth and would seek and make contact with the Lord and open the doors of heaven again. Following that great manifestation to Joseph Smith came the opening of Cumorah Hill and the speaking of the dead from the dust” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1950, p. 64).

Go Vote!
Here is a warning from the prophet/king Mosiah of the Nephites. Just before he was about to die, he set up a government whose officers would be determined by the voice of the people (see Mosiah 29). Here is the part that we should be concerned with in Verses 26 and 27:

" 26 Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law—to do your business by the voice of the people.

" 27 And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land."

Please research who would be someone that would best uphold the commandments of God and do that which is right and vote for them. We do not want to be visited with great destruction.