Sabbath Day/ Building Zion On Earth Now

This past week has gone by really fast. We have kept busy.   I woke up feeling restless.  What I’m I to do with myself? I’m feeling so frustrated wanting to get a place in the valley yet so tired of looking and nothing seems to be working for us.  I know  Craig wants to stay another year here at the lake. Right now it just seems so long to me.  I’m so homesick to go back full time to the valley and be closer to my kids.  Yet I know we want to officially serve a mission, thinking we can leave when Coles leaves next June 2020.  I just pray for the direction I need at this season.  Looking for a home just keeps me in an unsettle mood.   I read the conference talk this morning by Apostle  Todd D Christensen preparing for the second coming of the Savior.  “In that moment, the Holy Spirit affirmed two things to me. First, the work of ministering to temporal needs is vital and must continue. The second was unexpected, yet powerful and clear. It was this: beyond selfless service, it is supremely important to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.!!!...The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is uniquely empowered and commissioned to accomplish the necessary preparations for the Lord’s Second Coming; indeed, it was restored for that purpose. Can you find anywhere else a people who embrace the present era as the prophesied “dispensation of the fulness of times,” in which God has purposed to “gather together in one all things in Christ”?...accomplishing what needs to be accomplished for both the living and the dead to prepare for that day,...What can we do to prepare now for that day? We can prepare ourselves as a people; we can gather the Lord’s covenant people; and we can help redeem the promise of salvation “made to the fathers,” our ancestors. All of this must occur in some substantial measure before the Lord comes again....First, and crucial for the Lord’s return, is the presence on the earth of a people prepared to receive Him at His coming....in ancient times, God took the righteous city of Zion to Himself. By contrast, in the last days a new Zion will receive the Lord at His return. Zion is the pure in heart, a people of one heart and one mind, dwelling in righteousness with no poor among them. The Prophet Joseph Smith stated, “We ought to have the building up of Zion as our greatest object.” We build up Zion in our homes, wards, branches, and stakes through unity, godliness, and charity.... As President Russell M. Nelson explained in general conference last October, “The long-standing objective of the Church is to assist all members to increase their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and in His Atonement, to assist them in making and keeping their covenants with God, and to strengthen and seal their families.” Accordingly, he emphasizes the significance of temple covenants, hallowing the Sabbath, and a daily feasting upon the gospel, centered at home and supported by an integrated study curriculum at church. We want to know about the Lord, and we want to know the Lord....As President Russell M. Nelson explained in general conference last October, “The long-standing objective of the Church is to assist all members to increase their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and in His Atonement, to assist them in making and keeping their covenants with God, and to strengthen and seal their families.” Accordingly, he emphasizes the significance of temple covenants, hallowing the Sabbath, and a daily feasting upon the gospel, centered at home and supported by an integrated study curriculum at church. We want to know about the Lord, and we want to know the Lord....An underlying effort in building Zion is the gathering of the Lord’s long-dispersed covenant people. “We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes.... Lord Himself prophesied that before His return, the gospel would be preached in all the world “to recover [His] people, which are of the house of Israel,” “and then shall the end come.” Jeremiah’s prophecy is being fulfilled:... President Nelson has repeatedly emphasized that the “gathering [of Israel] is the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty. And if you choose to, … you can be a big part of it.” The Latter-day Saints have always been a missionary people. Hundreds of thousands have responded to mission calls since the beginning of the Restoration; tens of thousands currently serve. And, as Elder Quentin L. Cook has just taught, all of us can participate in simple and natural ways, in love, inviting others to join us at church, visit in our homes, become part of our circle....Publication of the Book of Mormon was the signal that the gathering had begun. The Book of Mormon itself is the instrument of gathering and conversion.... Also vital to the preparation for the Second Coming is the great redemptive effort on behalf of our ancestors. The Lord promised to send Elijah the prophet before the Second Coming, “the great and dreadful day of the Lord,” to “reveal … the Priesthood” and “plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers.” Elijah did come as promised. The date was April 3, 1836; the place was the Kirtland Temple. In that place and in that moment, he did indeed confer the promised priesthood, the keys for the redemption of the dead and the union of husbands, wives, and families across all generations of time and throughout all eternity. Without this, the purpose of creation would be frustrated, and in that sense, the earth would be cursed or “utterly wasted.”...While we strive to be diligent in building up Zion, including our part in the gathering of the Lord’s elect and the redemption of the dead, we should pause to remember that it is the Lord’s work and He is doing it. He is the Lord of the vineyard, and we are His servants. He bids us labor in the vineyard with our might this “last time,” and He labors with us....This great and last dispensation is building steadily to its climax—Zion on earth being joined with Zion from above at the Savior’s glorious return. The Church of Jesus Christ is commissioned to prepare—and is preparing—the world for that day.... In reading this conference talk I can see the importance of missionary work, in helping to prepare the world for the second coming,  I want to be a part of this great army of gathering Zion on earth.  Pray I can listen to the promptings of the spirit and do my part.   I know the church is true with all my heart I am so very blessed I love the book of Mormon and I know this book is true- pray that I can have the courage to share a book of Mormon with those around me.  I pray for the insight that is needed this season in our lives.  I truly do want to do the Lords work and be a servant in his hands. Brother and Sister Menlove received her mission call this past week and are going to Cairo Egypt.  As a service Humanitarian mission for the Church.  They are so brave!!! Pray I can prepare myself for my church meetings today and be spiritually uplifting.