Long day

I drove all the way to Hayesville, NC today with our new guy, who's teaching me to get promoted. He's sharp. Hayesville is in our warning area and is, in fact, the town where Margaret Dyche and John Alexander got married in the mid 1800's. She was from Monroe County, TN and he was from Murphy, NC. His middle name was Murphy. They met over the mountain tops, I take it, and then got married. Hayesville has probably lost people since then, but I like it very much. Some of the most beautiful scenery on earth there. You should probably know that Chunky Gal Mountain is there. An Indian came over the mountain and kidnapped a white woman, a somewhat chunky gal, for a wife. He hauled her back toward his home, but she fought, would not cooperate, and was too heavy to carry, so the posse caught up and rescued her. In her honor, they named the mountain Chunky Gal Mountain. I do not know the story behind Smackass Gap, but here is a picture of it:


Rode 12 miles tonight to Gilberts, IL. Took a picture of a barn and a threatening sky. I think it's beautiful. I love threatening skies. I mean the kind that threaten us, not that I like to threaten skies. That would be pointless and futile. And odd.

I am teaching a lesson on 1 Nephi tomorrow morning and noticed something that is very interesting. Follow this scripture chain and you will see what I mean. The "pit" is either hell or the spirit world where we go after death and await the resurrection. The "prisoners" are those spirits who are held in the pit. They can be righteous or wicked. The wicked wait with terror and remorse for the judgment. The righteous wait patiently for their resurrection and look forward to the judgment of Christ. Still, they are not completely free, yet. Go in this order:

Isaiah 14:12-17
Lucifer becomes Satan and falls to earth to tempt mankind. He will be judged and thrust down to hell (the pit) and will spend eternity with his back to the wall, evading the others there who want revenge on him for his lies. The rest of us will look at him and be amazed that this pathetic creature made himself to be some powerful thing. All we had to do was say "no" to him to defeat him.

Isaiah 24:22
"They" (the dead) will be shut in prison (the pit) for a long time until they are "visited". Visited by whom, exactly? That is a good question. Read on...

Zechariah 9:11
A VERY interesting prophecy. Zechariah speaks "Messianically", that is, as if he were the Lord. He can do that, as a prophet. The Lord says the by the blood of thy covenant (the atonement of Jesus Christ) he has released the prisoners from the pit, because, where there was no water. The mention of water in a pit reminds one of a baptismal font. Christ atonement, which includes his death and burial, is also symbolic of a baptism by immersion in water. I wonder if the dead need to be baptized, too, to fulfill all righteousness and be saved?

1 Nephi 21:9
The Lord will command the prisoners to go forth from the prison, out of darkness and feed in the good pastures in the high places. Those are the best pastureland, reserved for those that love and follow him. So apparently the prisoners can be saved and even feed with the Lord in the best places.

Doctrine and Covenants 128:22
Joseph Smith's words (best to just copy it in full): "Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free."

God holds himself accountable to save all those who want to be saved.

Doctrine and Covenants 138:18
You have to read the whole section to appreciate this. The infinite goodness and love of God shows forth because he saves all those who did not know God on earth, or who died innocently. This is the God I believe in.