I am an Iowa school girl, turned New England Hippie, then Utah Latter-day Saint. I grew up under the shadow of World War II and was frightened by talk of nuclear war and bomb shelters. Ever since then, movies, books, personal accounts of that war have shaped my growing consciousness of good and evil, because both emerged from that cataclysm, in what many have called The Greatest Generation.
My childhood was spent in the “beating heart” of a Big Ten University. I attended a lab school run by the University of Iowa, both to train future teachers and prepare its students for an academic life. I didn’t know what a bad teacher was – they were all hand-picked from the best graduate students in their field. We were taught how to learn – not so much what to learn – as many students are now. Here’s a blog post I wrote about Iowa City a few years ago in my personal blog, www.hehealsmyheart.com: Like a River.
I married in college, majored in Business and Accounting, until I switched to Special Education in my senior year. Then, because my husband Pete had another year to go for his MFA, I went on to get a Master’s degree in Education with a focus on reading instruction.
We met interesting friends from New Hampshire who were in the College of Art who became part of our future when we set out to seek adventure. We moved near them in Stoddard, New Hampshire, purchasing a 140-year old house that we renovated. We found more friends among the local Yankees and people in the emerging Counter Culture and had two children: Amanda one month after arriving and Peter 21 months later. Sadly, the marriage died a natural death; Pete and I split, bought our own houses, and continued our adventures separately and amicably.
I landed nearby in East Alstead in my “Little Red House” that had only electricity, a phone line, a surface well, and an outhouse. It was on a maintained county road and I spent two years there, “living the Hippie Dream.” I cut the weeds, hauled in water, took out ashes from the wood stove, and had a strong impression that I would live like that again, somewhere in the West. I still think that!
Fast forward two years: I became a Christian after receiving a powerful
spiritual witness that God is real and Jesus is the Christ; then being
introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by my mother. Moving in with my parents in Iowa, I took the missionary discussions and was baptized. But it was a seminary textbook, The Restored Church, by William Berrett that led to the converting witness of the Holy Ghost: This IS my work. I shortly moved to Utah where I raised my kids. I ran a home daycare business, worked as a secretary for an international company, and then as a high school Resource teacher for 13 years. I moved again, working as a realtor for 17 years when my son and his family were relocated to Boise. I retired from real estate, moved back to Utah, and am launching my 5th career as a Gospel writer and public speaker.
Through 3 priesthood blessings, I’ve been counseled to teach about the Last Days because:
We are going through tribulation,
and the times to come are coming soon
and they will be difficult,
and the members need to be ready . . . to prepare:
to prepare their food storage,
to prepare themselves spiritually,
and to prepare their lives.
So this website is about what’s predicted to happen by the scriptures and the inspired words of God’s leaders of this dispensation in history, all for the purpose of preparing in every way for these Great and Dreadful Events (Malachi 4:5). For those not of my faith, please look at this through the Bible’s eyes and the many scriptures cited, then see how the scriptures revealed in our day mirror those messages. Also know that the traditional Hebrew Feasts are not just dusty relics of the past but are God’s appointed times for upcoming Last Days events. The 7 feasts described in Leviticus 23 are those appointments and while there are other sacred events commemorated by Jewish traditions, it’s only these 7 that point to future events, not just ones from the past. See this BLOG POST further describing them. This is the layer of knowledge that truly opens Last Days prophecy to a far greater understanding than relying on scriptural description only. I also believe they are at “The Tip of the Plow” in reuniting the 12 Tribes of Israel, and worthy of very serious study.
I will also liberally include discussion of books, movies, personal experiences, etc., that can serve to “put us in the picture” and help personalize prophecy. And finally, I focus on the GREAT day of the Lord, not just the DREADFUL events. I describe what I’ve learned about God’s “Feast of Fat Things” (Isaiah 25:6; Joel 2:21-27) in this BLOG POST– His promised blessings for those who are worthy to be gathered into the fold of good people who have chosen the right path, through the choices that will lie before us. Those good people will be of many faiths – but all will want to build a just society, basically living the 10 Commandments, and ever learning in the glorious Millennium ahead.
Then we’ll truly be able to rejoice, and like Job, that our end will be greater than our beginning (Job 42:12). In the meantime, I hope you find “Light in a Darkening World.” Here’s the picture I used as a site background – it’s what I could see in the park across the street from my childhood home that illuminates that thought more than any words of mine:
Author’s Family Photo
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