The Latin Mystery on page 203 in the Hymn Book

THERE is a popular hymn sung during December in many Sacrament meetings in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that the majority of Church members DO NOT fully understand.

It is: “Angels We Have Heard on High” (Hymn book page No. 203).

This French carol contains an untranslated Latin phrase that the vast majority of Church members who sing it, do not understand what they are singing – unless they know Latin, or they go out of their way to look up the meaning.

(I’m personally not much of a singer, but I do like to know what the meaning of what I’m singing is, or listening to is….)

“Gloria in excelsis Deo” is the key Latin phrase in the hymn that members sing six total times in three verses.

Surprisingly, the current Hymn book contains no footnote or side reference to what this 4-word French phrase means either.

I just consider it odd – especially for adults – to sing something if the full meaning is not clear, as in “Angels We Have Heard on High.”

Now this hymn isn't strictly a Mormon tune, it is also sung in many other Christian churches too, having been around since 1862.

-For the record, “Gloria in excelsis Deo" means “Glory to God in the Highest.”

Obviously music and other artistic endeavors sometimes take certain liberties to seem more paramount, smoother and/or striking and this foreign verse in this song is likely one of these …

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

The Sun shall be Darkened and the Moon be turned into Blood .....

                          The moon at night over the Wasatch Mountains.         Photo by LeAnn Arave.

ONE of the most striking and dramatic of scriptural prophecies regarding the last days, before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, is this:

"And before the day of the Lord shall come, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon be turned into blood, and the stars fall from heaven," Doctrine and Covenants 45:42.

(The same basic scripture also appears in other places, like the New Testament, Matthew 24:29: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:")

This prophecy very likely has multiple meanings.

A total eclipse of the sun on Aug. 21, 2017, seems to fulfill a portion of it -- especially given how much media and public attention that this rare event received ...


Plus, the string of events -- a darkened sun, a bloody moon and stars falling could reference a future rogue and sudden series of events that catch the world unaware, like a thief in the night ... In other worlds, not a predictable eclipse of the sun, but more dangerous things.

In addition, through symbolism, the prophecy is surely already being fulfilled in a different sense:

Consider Genesis of the Old Testament, Chapter 37, verses 9-10, where it mentions one of the dreams that Joseph (who was eventually sold into Egypt) had -- and the three symbols used are the sun, the moon and the stars.
The sun is Joseph's earthly father; the moon is his mortal mother and the stars are his brothers.
-Here are the two verses:

 "And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

"And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?"

Surely many fathers today have become blackened with sin and have gone "dark," as far as rearing their children -- given all the divorces today and the births out of wedlock, the single parent situations, etc.

Also, mothers today more frequently favor and indulge in abortions, which terminate life.

Finally, many brothers (and sisters) fall from the glory that Heavenly Father has promised and intended for them, given their rebellion and lack of both faith and morality.

All of the above and perhaps more are things to consider in this important prophecy of the last days.

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

What the 'Only True Church' declaration does and doesn't mean ....

               The administration building for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

MEMBERS of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and in particular, its full-time Missionaries, likely need a deeper understanding of what the "Only True Church" declaration does mean and does not mean.

A masterful discourse given in 2007 by Robert L Millet, then a professor of ancient scripture and emeritus Dean of Religious Education at Brigham Young University, offers many insightful dimensions on other Christian Faiths and how LDS members should view and deal with them.
Some of the teachings of this long discourse, now contained on the Religious Studies Center Website at BYU, are indeed deep. However, those who take the time to read and study it will never think about Christians of other faiths in quite the same way again.
At least the first half of this discourse should be required study for outgoing missionaries from the MTC. 

-Cut and paste the Web address below to access Robert L. Millet's discourse on "Joseph Smith and the 'Only True and Living Church'":

https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/selected-articles/joseph-smith-and-only-true-and-living-church

The first call for a Logan Temple: 1873

THE first time it was likely suggested that a temple be built in Logan, Utah was on June 29, 1873.
President Brigham Young, speaking at meetings in Logan, "suggested the erection of a fine Temple to be built on the bench crowning the eastern part of this city," according to the Salt Lake Herald Newspaper of June 29, 1873.
(At the same time, President Young suggested a road be built beyond Franklin to lessen the grade to Soda Springs and Rich County.)
According to LDS.org, the Logan Temple was not officially announced to be built for another three plus years, until Oct. 6, 1876. Its groundbreaking was on May 18, 1877 and its dedication took place on May 17, 1884.

Salt Lake Temple: Most Expensive Temple Ever?

THE next time you enjoy the gothic and symbolic features  of the one and only Salt Lake LDS Temple, consider it’s dollar price to build -- $3,469,118.

That was the price given by Elder George Reynolds, a member of the Quorum of the Seventy, back in 1895, to a Philadelphia newspaper, as quoted in the Deseret Weekly News of March 23, 1895.

Factor in the inflation and even in 1916 dollars (the furthest back an on-line government inflation calculator goes), that price equals at least $86,559,450 in 2017 dollars.

(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hasn’t revealed the actual costs of any temples for many decades now.)

However, in contrast the San Diego Temple, which opened in 1993, was reported by the Los Angeles Times to have cost an estimated $24 million. (That’s $40.6 million in 2017 dollars.)

                                                             San Diego Temple.

And, the original Ogden Temple, that opened in 1972, cost $4.29 million (or some $25 million in today’s dollars.)

Note that the Salt Lake Temple required some 40 years to build – far more than any other temple. Also, some volunteer, unpaid labor was used back then, or the price over four decades likely would have been much more, likely $100 millon plus.

Furthermore, Elder Reynolds in that 1895 article stated that exact costs of the temple were impossible. Still, he said about the Salt Lake Temple’s construction:

“In the early stages the progress was slow and very expensive, for it took four yoke of oxen four days to bring a single stone from the quarry twenty miles distant.”

He said some estimated it cost $100 for every stone cut, moved by oxen to the temple site and then laid in place. He also stressed that metal and other materials were very expensive to obtain, especially until the railroad came along.

                                                        Pencil drawing by Steve Arave

Did the Gadianton Robbers live in the Wasatch Mountains?

                       The High Uintas, with the Wasatch Mountains in the far background.

DID the infamous Gadianton Robbers of the Book of Mormon (Helaman 6:18-29) inhabit western U.S. mountains?
Yes, they did and even the Wasatch Mountains, according to Brigham Young:
"There are scores of evil spirits here -- spirits of the old Gadianton robbers, some of whom inhabited these mountains, and used to go into the south and afflict the Nephites. There are millions of those spirits in these mountains, and they are ready to make us covetous, if they can; they are ready to lead astray every man and woman that wishes to be a Latter-day Saint." (Journal of Discourses, 8:344, from a discourse by President Young on January 20, 1861, in the Tabernacle of Salt Lake City.

-On a trip to southeast Deseret territory by W.D. Huntington and with 11 other men and one Indian in 1854 by a request from Brigham Young, is another Gadianton Robber tale:

This group of explorers found some extensive Indian ruins which the current Native Americans said they didn't build and which were very old. The estimates were the group was about 500 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. Here was the men's conclusion:

"We very readily came to a conclusion drawn from  the Book
Of Mormon In second Chapter of  the  book  of
Nephi that the ancient possessors of these strong holds
were robbers of the Gadianton band and we considered this locality as one of their strongholds." (-From the Deseret News Dec. 28, 1854.)

              Navajo Mountain in S.E. Utah.                                   Photo by Ravell Call


-EXTRAPOLATING on these comments is more proof that NORTH AMERICA was where the Nephites and Lamanites primarily lived, NOT Central or South America ....

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.