March 30th, 2025, 12:00 PM MDT
This week’s “Come, Come, Follow Me” study guide covers doctrines and covenants 29, including prophecies about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Below are some quotes from past and present church leaders regarding this section of the Doctrine and Covenant.
New heaven and new earth
“The Lord will return to the land that he has made sacred by his mission in death rate. In victory he will come again to Jerusalem.
“The earth is returned to its Paradiseiciaca state and becomes a new one. There is a new heaven and a new earth (see Revelation 21:1; Ether 13:9; Doctrine and Covenant 29:23–24).
“It’s our privilege to help prepare the world for that day.”
– President Russell M. Nelson April 2020 YA weekly article, “The Church of the Future: Preparing the World for the Second Coming of the Savior”
The opposite role
“To test, you need an agency that chooses one of the alternatives, and you have to have opposition to provide an alternative to exercise your agency.
“The rest of the plan is also essential. When we make the wrong choices — as we inevitably do so — we must be tainted by sin and purified to proceed towards our eternal destiny. The Father’s plan provides a way to do this. If we repent of our sin, we will pay the price for our sin.
“In modern revelation, the Lord declares, “it is necessary that the devil should seduce man’s children, or that they cannot be agents to themselves” (D&C 29:39).
“Satan’s purpose was to acquire his father’s honor and power for himself…” Because Satan rebelled against me… I made him to be abandoned in all the spirits that he had pursued him” (Moses 4:3). And it captivates the children of God. This is because the evil one who tried to destroy his father’s plan is the opposite that allows him to make choices and the opportunity to make the right choice that leads to the purpose of his father’s plan, which is the growth. ”
– President Darrin H. Oaks, then a member of the April 2016 General Conference, “The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,” “The Opposition of All Things.”
Bitter and sweet
“The world lacks the faith, foresight and the “eternal perspective” offered by the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
“That perspective helps us understand our deadly life and many of its challenges. We face fear, betrayal, temptation, sin, loss, loneliness. Illness, disaster, depression, death shatters our dreams.
“We will be brave at the bitterness that we may taste sweets (see Doctrine and Covenant 29:39).
– In a September 2022 article from Liahona, Elder Ronald A. Lasband of the 12 Apostles, “Hope and Comfort of Christ”
“In the past few years, I have been asked by my brothers to meet with repentant members of the Church and interview them in order to restore the blessings of the temple. This has always been a spiritually moving experience to restore the blessings of wonderful people who have always repented. With tearful eyes, they responded. It has always been a special experience for me to meet these repentant souls and to feel the miracle and joy of reunion with the saints and the Holy Spirit.
“Temptation is a necessary part of our earthly experience, and through the prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord explains why we are seduced.
– The late Elder Luron G. Craven, then the Directorate, at the age of 70, at the April 1996 General Meeting, “Seduction”
“The challenge is a real opportunity to gain blessings received through overcoming, through faith, and by identifying what the Spirit and the Savior wants to teach us.
“When there’s a trial, illness, accident, loss of employment or death comes, many people tweet or complain about it. They say, ‘Why am I not?’
“Another reason for our trial is taught in Doctrine and Covenant 29:39.
– The late Elder Holocio A. Tenorio, then the Directorate, 70 years old, General Meeting in April 1990, “Teachings of the Beloved Father”
“The modern revelation speaks: for if they never become bitter, they could not know sweet things” (D&C 29:39).
“So today we need to have bitter things to know sweets. Sometimes we think we have bitters. This is normal. We all have the challenges of life to strengthen us. And the opposite builds the human character.”
– The late Eldred G. Smith, then the patriarch to the church, General Conference in October 1973, “The Opposition to Enhance Us”
Earth Management
“Because the earth and all of it are the finish of his hand” (D&C 29:25), it all belongs to him. As temporary inhabitants of this earth, we are not our owners, we are our owners.
– In a March 2021 article in Leahorna, Elder Marcus B. Nash, 70, Directorate General, “Become a better steward of the Earth created for us.”
Gather the electors
“It is our responsibility as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to gather the seeds of Abraham and bring them to Christ. They can find as much as the sand on the coast. That really means they are around us. “In my election, to speak up to salvation.”
– The late Elder Aye Bateman, then the Directorate, was 70 years old, at the general meeting of the October 1998 “Pearls from the Sand”
“In summary, the voice of the Lord may be accepted by listening to His servants, studying the Bible, and being encouraged through inspiration from the Holy Spirit. And for those who listen not only to His voice but also to listen, He will not listen to my voice in my election and do not work hard” (D&C 29:7).
– Elder Francisco J. Vinas, 70 years old at the time, General Assembly in October 1996, “Listen to the Lord’s Voice”
“Everything of mine is spiritual.”
“With the Lord’s organization for women here, we may bring peace of mind to those who need us. Such an important task requires God to understand that everything is spiritual (see Doctrine and Covenant 29:34. 301) But we remember that our experience here requires us to be God’s adults.
– The late sister Irene H. Clyde, the second counselor of the general president in October 1996, General Conference “Confirmed by Faith”,
“All God’s commandments, including the Word of Wisdom, are spiritual (see D&C 29:34–35). We need to nourish both physically and mentally. Are we giving sufficient emphasis to our mental health?”
– The late Elder Joseph B. Worthlin, then, in the general conference in October 1990, the quorum members of the 12 Apostles, “Straight and narrow roads.”
“When we talk about preparation, often our first thoughts are central to temporary or physical preparation: food, clothing, shelter. These preparations are important and necessary, but they are not all inclusive.
“There is an important balance between the temporal and spiritual aspects of this principle. The Lord said, “To me, everything is spiritual, and I have never given you a temporary law” (D&C 29:34). ”
– The late sister Barbara W. Winder, then General President of the Relief Society, October 1988 General Conference, “Become a Prepared People”
“I’m in your heart.”
“We are part of a grand whole. We need each other to complete our sisterhood. Once we hold our sisters’ hands, reach out to every continent, we are all nations. We are trying to understand what the Lord has to say to us. For joy, and find that mortality teaches us the need for our Savior, Jesus Christ.
“The Lord said to us, “For I am in the midst of you” (D&C 29:5). He is with us all, and his spirit brings us closer as we unite our arms in our gospel sisterhood. ”
– Sister Elaine L. Jack, then General President of the Relief Society, General Conference in April 1992, “Charity Never Fails”
The importance of fathers
“When the Lord declared that “Satan is not given any power to seduce the little children until they become accountable,” he made it clear to the child that this period was given to them, and “major things may be needed in the hands of the father” (see Doctrine and Covenant 29:47-48).
“‘You may need that greatness in your father’s hands!” What confidence does the Lord have in his father, and what responsibility does he have to do with his father! Today’s father needs something great. ”
– The late President Ezra Taft Benson, then 12 members of the Apostle Quarter, General Conference in April 1981, “The Great Things Their Father Needs”
