Note: This post is a little different from most of my posts, so I hope you’ll indulge me with this. The following is a talk I gave in my local congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on February 14, 2021.
The Hope of the Restoration
Good afternoon, Hobble Creek 8th Ward and visitors. My name is Kevin Earl, and I’ve been living with my brother Justin and his family for almost a year. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances that brought me here in the first place, Covid-19, I haven’t gotten to know many of you.
Prior to the pandemic, I lived in Beijing where I oversaw curriculum development for an English training company and also taught English. My plans were to move to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia last summer, but that obviously didn’t happen. Instead, I chose to return stateside in February after traveling in Morocco for the Chinese New Year. I thought it would be for a month or two while things were sorted out in China, but obviously that didn’t happen either.
So, for the last year, I’ve continued doing some remote work for my company in Beijing and have started my long-thought-of tour company. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but because of the unknowns of starting my own business I have let fear steer me other directions. Now, I’ve taken the leap of faith and have tours offered in and around Salt Lake City and homeschool field trip tours with academic components.
On my Salt Lake Historic Houses of Worship tour, we visit Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church. The orthodox church claims it has an unbroken line of authority back to the original apostles and that it follows the same doctrines and practices as the early church did nearly 2,000 years ago. This claim directly contradicts our own claim in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that there was a falling away and apostasy when authority and core doctrines were lost and muddled creating a need for restoration, something that was foretold by the early apostles including Peter and Paul. Peter taught (Acts 3:19-21):
20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
And Paul wrote to the Ephesians (Eph. 1:10):
10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Both of these ancient apostles preached of a time when all would be brought together and given to God’s children. In essence, both taught that there would be things lost or that there were things missing that would need to be returned, given, and restored.
As Isaiah (2:2-3) and Amos (8:11-13) both prophesied, there came a time when the waters dried up and blackness covered the Earth, when people went wandering and searching for the word of God, but they were unable to attain it. And, even though, “Good men and women…tried to correct, strengthen, and improve their systems of worship and their body of doctrine,” the thirst was not quenched and hunger not filled until the time came foretold by “all the prophets since the world began.”
That time is now, and it began when Joseph Smith entered a grove of trees to seek wisdom as inspired through his reading in the Book of James. Most everyone in attendance or watching this meeting today, is familiar with what happened next, when the sackcloth was removed from the heavens and God the Father and Jesus the Christ appeared to Joseph in answer to his prayer. President Gordon B. Hinckley taught, “The truth of that unique, singular, and remarkable event is the pivotal substance of our faith. But this glorious vision was but the beginning of a series of manifestations that constitute the early history of this work.”
As we’ve started our study of the Doctrine and Covenants this year, one point that has stood out to me, is the process of the restoration. It is not a one and done event. When Joseph had that glorious first vision, all was not revealed immediately. He gained an answer to his question at the time of which church he should join from those vying for his attention. And, he gained invaluable insight into the nature of God. However, it would be three years more before he would have another heavenly manifestation and receive the next line or precept in the journey of the “restitution of all things.”
Joseph did not know he was called to restore the Church of Jesus Christ or that he would found any type of church from the First Vision or even his meetings with Moroni. Yet, as he began receiving and recording revelations during the translation of the Book of Mormon, the Lord began to mention a church. This process of learning, pondering, seeking, and revelation led to the restoration of God’s authority, further understanding of the afterlife, institution of temple ordinances, and so much more.
The process of the restoration continued throughout Joseph’s lifetime, it continued after his death, and it continues today. Elder Dieter F. Uctdorf taught, “Sometimes we think of the Restoration of the gospel as something that is complete, already behind us—Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, he received priesthood keys, the Church was organized. In reality, the Restoration is an ongoing process; we are living in it right now.”
To me, this is one of the greatest truths of the restoration and of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that our mortal lives are just part of our eternal progression, and our ultimate goal is to receive exaltation, which means we continue to move forward and progress through the eternities. If that is how we understand our mortal and eternal journeys, then why would we not expect the same from the organization that God has set up in our time to help us accomplish this?
In the 9th Article of Faith we declare, “We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.” Such hope this can bring to us as we walk by faith in a troubled world when there are many questions and unknowns.
As a gay Latter-day Saint, this idea of continuing restoration brings me immeasurable hope, not necessarily for change to doctrine, but hope in further light and knowledge and further understanding concerning my life on this Earth and in the eternities. Knowing that God has more to teach us and more to bestow upon his children brings great hope no matter the experiences we have on our journey.
My first mission companion in Hungary, pointed me to the hope that comes through the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One day, we had walked several miles for a confirmed appointment. Unfortunately, after walking all that way, the person was not there and the meeting did not happen. There was nothing more for us to do except walk back to the city.
My companion was extremely frustrated. When we got back to the banks of the Tisa River, he sat down and pulled out his scriptures. He turned to Doctrine and Covenants section 128 and read verses 19-23. These verses describing the events of the restoration up to that point in time, brought my companion hope when he was discouraged. In part, they read:
Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of great joy…
The next verses list several events in the restoration including Moroni and the Book of Mormon, visitations by the angels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Peter, James, and John to restore priesthood keys, and hearing the voice of the Lord and God at various times and places. After this listing, we read:
all declaring their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their priesthood; giving line upon line, precept upon precept; here a little, and there a little; giving us consolation by holding forth that which is to come, confirming our hope!
I’ve turned to these words many times over the years since then, and they continue to buoy me up and help me remember the amazing time of restoration we live in, that “God is not dead nor doth he sleep,” that God is a loving father and I am his son, that he so loves us that he sent his Son, our brother, Jesus Christ, “that we might live through him” and “that we might be saved.”
As President Russell M. Nelson declared in April 2020:
Two hundred years have now elapsed since this Restoration was initiated by God the Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ…
We gladly declare that the promised Restoration goes forward through continuing revelation. The earth will never again be the same, as God will “gather together in one all things in Christ.”
The proclamation he was presenting ends with this invitation:
With reverence and gratitude, we as His Apostles invite all to know—as we do—that the heavens are open. We affirm that God is making known His will for His beloved sons and daughters. We testify that those who prayerfully study the message of the Restoration and act in faith will be blessed to gain their own witness of its divinity and of its purpose to prepare the world for the promised Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I add my testimony that the heavens are not closed and that the Gospel and Church of Jesus Christ have been restored and are being restored. As William W. Phelps penned nearly 200 years ago, “The knowledge and power of God are expanding; The veil o’er the earth is beginning to burst.” Let’s sing and shout, “Hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb! Let glory to them in the highest be given, Henceforth and forever, Amen and amen!”
These things I leave in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.