President Nelson Quote – What think you.

He either has other changes planned, doling them out one or two at a time every time general conference rolls around, or it’s an attempt to keep people motivated/excited.

The mileage I’d like to get with a quote like that:

Let’s all keep an open mind because we don’t currently have all the answers (aka don’t say people that believe xyz are wrong during SS).

The practical application of the quote:

I can’t wait to see what Nelson has cooked up for us next (I’ll continue to fight against xyz until we get permission that it’s okay).

It allows for change (even radical change), while maintaining the Church’s authority, consistency, and connection with the “primitive Church”

I quite like the concept of the continuing restoration. To me this provides the framework for 1) acknowledging how messy church history is and that the church can be true and be deeply flawed at the same time and 2) provide the framework for eventually disavowing things like the priesthood ban and polygamy as speculative mistakes and dead-ends.

I am not quite sure how it relates to “restoration” in the sense of restoring things from the primitive church. I suppose I want a forward looking organization trying to seek solutions to modern problems rather than one trying to recreate a “perfect” church organizations from another time and place. Thankfully, I have not heard of anyone trying to make the argument that such changes as service missions, the two hour block, or ministering was some heretofore lost ancient wisdom that was recently revealed and returned to its proper place in the church organization.

“Our message to you tonight is the same as the message we’ve given to others, that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that this is His Church restored in its fullness,” said President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as he finished his global ministry tour Sunday, April 22, 2018, on the Brigham Young University–Hawaii campus in Laie, Hawaii.

Lol. I believe most religious talk is, and always will be, “heavily open to interpretation”.

We are witnesses to a process of restoration. If you think the Church has been fully restored, you are just seeing the beginning. There is much more to come.”

Let’s discuss…

“Our message to you tonight is the same as the message we’ve given to others, that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that this is His Church restored in its fullness,” said President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as he finished his global ministry tour Sunday, April 22, 2018, on the Brigham Young University–Hawaii campus in Laie, Hawaii.

Seems the message has evolved over the year.

I’m going with a “Both – And” scenario.

Growing up, I subconsciously believed that the restoration was continuing in affect because a) the church consists of imperfect, un-translated people. I also believed we had the most revelation from God (as in Reflexzero’s quote and commonly found among church members).

If you look at some of the patterns of the ministry of Jesus Christ, the Protestant Reformation through the centuries, and the story of Joseph Smith – certain specific key principles are upheld, while other principles undergo drastic transformations (sparked by and being the source of cultural shifts among people).

Point 1:I feel that my faith transition has the potential to spark a personal restoration to speak – if I come out of it with any organized religion, it will of necessity be a restoration of belief in organizational authority (among other things). Much of my religious paradigm is undergoing dramatic transformation. President Nelson sees and is acting on opportunities to dramatically shift how the church operates, and nudge some of the principles.

Point 2: I choose to believe that God exists. The rest of the quote I am agnostic about at this time. BUT President Nelson appears to be providing a reassuring statement regarding unchanging principles – and that I can get behind. The fact that my unchanging principles are “Charity” and and that I owe it to the rest of humanity (and myself) to make ethical decisions (and figure out what those look like) would be a chagrin to the rest of the tribe. Even if (and in a sense especially if) God actually doesn’t exist and is not involved in our lives, that doesn’t let me off the hook from being as charitable to others (and myself) as I can be. It doesn’t let me off the hook from the understanding that being human requires me to “play nice” with others (or at least try not to be stupid and irresponsible about some things).

After reading the thread I find myself wondering what “restoration” means to all parties involved. In context, what does “restoration” mean to Pte. Nelson?

Ministering

2 Hour Church

Hackles up over the label Mormons

Home church

Combined PH quorums

I wouldn’t really call those things restorations. A more fitting label would be new programs/policies.

google’s dictionary defines restoration as… aw jeez, there I go:

“the return of a hereditary monarch to a throne, a head of state to government, or a regime to power.”

So you could include anything that prepares people for the second coming of Jesus as being a part of a “restoration.” So there may be something to this whole second coming business.

To the youth in general conference in 2011:

Sometimes you might be tempted to think as I did from time to time in my youth: “The way things are going, the world’s going to be over with. The end of the world is going to come before I get to where I should be.” Not so! You can look forward to doing it right—getting married, having a family, seeing your children and grandchildren, maybe even great-grandchildren.

I’ve heard that Nelson is big on prepping for the second coming but now that I think about it, it’s usually always 2nd hand, someone else saying that Nelson is focused on it. I didn’t watch this most recent general conference, I’m waiting to have it read to me over coming months. Did Nelson hit the theme of the second coming in any of his talks?

Anyway, back on subject. “Restoration.”

It’s hard to tell what leaders mean when they say it. It could mean something as simple as the church growing in membership/size.

google’s dictionary defines restoration as… aw jeez, there I go:

“the return of a hereditary monarch to a throne, a head of state to government, or a regime to power.”

So you could include anything that prepares people for the second coming of Jesus as being a part of a “restoration.” So there may be something to this whole second coming business.

“Restoration” also has connotations of “returning to a former state or glory” – such as in furniture restoration.

I think part of his “restoration” includes initiatives to return authority to the individual over the group – changes in ministering, church supported home study change returning the initiative to the parents/family and adapting to their needs. He made a point in his April 2018 talk about personal revelation.

NOTE: Strong personal bias towards individual authority in the above statement.

On the other hand, some of those initiatives return authority to the group over the individual – hence the focus on the name of the church, and in a sense, the combining of the quorums.

I’ve heard that Nelson is big on prepping for the second coming but now that I think about it, it’s usually always 2nd hand, someone else saying that Nelson is focused on it. I didn’t watch this most recent general conference, I’m waiting to have it read to me over coming months. Did Nelson hit the theme of the second coming in any of his talks?

This is the best that I can do to corroborate that idea:

“He’s not afraid to do something different,” said the prophet’s wife. “If we’re really preparing the Church and the world for the Second Coming of the Savior, he is sincere about that. He doesn’t want us spending money, time, energy on anything that isn’t really focused on that. It’s pretty stunning.”

This quote could be taken to mean any number of things. It could mean that President Nelson is focused on making our church more Christ centered or it could mean that he is preparing for the end times. It could also just mean that sister Nelson spoke out of turn and was just trying to emphasize that 1) President Nelson is the duly apointed prophet and 2) that he is vibrant, and energetic, and in no way incapacitated.