By Frank M. Keele

Speaking of our day, Ezra Taft Benson said:

“You will live in the midst of economic, political, and spiritual instability. When you see these signs—unmistakable evidences that his coming is nigh—be not troubled, but, “stand . . . in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come” (D&C 87:8).

Holy men and holy women stand in holy places, and these holy places include our temples, our chapels, our homes, and the stakes of Zion, which are, as the Lord declares, “for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth” (D&C 115:6). (BYU devotional, April 14, 1981

Elder Benson’s statement, spoken over 40 years ago is a very good summation of our day, don’t you think? And his advise to “stand in holy places” is especially applicable to our generation, the generation that President Benson said should “prepare to meet your God”. President Nelson has said:

“In coming days, we will see the greatest manifestations of the Savior’s power that the world has ever seen”.

Immagine with me for a moment what that might look like… “the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken… then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn; and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.” (JS Matt 33 & 36)

It is true that all the inhabitants of the entire earth will be a witness to the sign of the Son of Man but He will descend only to a select group… “the elect according to the covenant”… whom He will have gathered in advance via an army of angles. From JS Matt 37 we read:

37 And whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived, for the Son of Man shall come, and he shall send his angels before him with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together the remainder of his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

This gathering of the elect to a foreordained location (AOA) via legions of angels is nothing less than a humungous rescue operation that will rival a previous rescue operation, event the parting of the Red Sea! We are the generation of the second coming and a-midst the escalating turmoil we are going to need rescuing… we are going to need a place of protection… and we will need a mode of transportation capable of gathering the elect “from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” and that mode of transport will come via an army of angels!