Wendy Nelson Wife of Pres Russell M. Nelson said, “We have opportunities to fulfill our mortal missions, but we don’t have to. No one will make us. We have our agency to choose how we spend our time and energy, our talents and resources. In fact, what we choose to do is actually part of our testing.
The choice is yours and mine. Will we choose to do whatever it takes to fulfill the wonderful missions for which we were sent to earth?
Things to Do While on Earth
- Receive a mortal body.
- Be tested.
- Choose to follow Jesus Christ and stand up for Him, just as you did premortally.
- Choose to repent daily and partake of the sacrament weekly.
- Find and fulfill your mortal missions.
While that question simmers in your mind, let’s shift and talk about why you are here on earth—at this particular time, which is such a unique time in the history of the earth.
Why are you here on earth right now?
Why were you not born back in the 1880s? or 30 years from now?
Let me tell you of an experience that taught me firsthand about the historic days in which we live.
We often talk about living in the latter days. We are, after all, Latter-day Saints. But perhaps these days are more “latter” than we have ever imagined.
This truth became a reality for me because of what I experienced during one 24-hour period of time that commenced on June 15, 2013. My husband and I were in Moscow, Russia.
While President Nelson met with priesthood leaders, I had the privilege of meeting with nearly 100 of our sisters. I love our Russian sisters. They are spectacular!
When I stepped to the pulpit to speak, I found myself saying something I’d never anticipated. I said to the women: “I’d like to get to know you by lineage. Please stand as the tribe of Israel that represents the lineage declared in your patriarchal blessing is spoken.”
“Benjamin?” A couple of women stood.
“Dan?” A couple more.
“Reuben?” A few more stood.
“Naphtali?” More stood.
As the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were announced—from Asher to Zebulun—and as the women stood, we were all amazed with what we were witnessing, feeling, and learning.
How many of the twelve tribes of Israel do you think were represented in that small gathering of fewer than 100 women on that Saturday in Moscow?
Eleven! Eleven of the twelve tribes of Israel were represented in that one room! The only tribe missing was that of Levi. I was astonished. It was a spiritually moving moment for me.
Immediately after those meetings my husband and I went directly to Yerevan, Armenia. The first people we met as we got off the plane were the mission president and his wife. Somehow, she had heard about this experience in Moscow, and with great delight, she said, “I’ve got Levi!”
Just imagine our thrill when my husband and I met their missionaries the next day, including an elder from the tribe of Levi who just happened to be from Gilbert, Arizona.” Wendy Nelson Wife of Pres Russell M. Nelson
The Twelve Tribes of Israel
God promised Abraham that his descendants would be His covenant people. This promise came to Abraham’s son Isaac and grandson Jacob, also called Israel. He had 12 sons whose descendants are known as the 12 tribes of Israel. Manasseh and Ephraim were sons of Joseph. Ancient prophets foretold the scattering of Israel. They also foretold that Israel would be gathered again in a future day. To learn more, see President Nelson’s October 2006 general conference message, “The Gathering of Scattered Israel.”
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/2018/08-se/hope-of-israel?lang=eng
Abraham, covenant of
“Abraham first received the gospel by baptism (which is the covenant of salvation). Then he had conferred upon him the higher priesthood, and he entered into celestial marriage (which is the covenant of exaltation), gaining assurance thereby that he would have eternal increase. Finally he received a promise that all of these blessings would be offered to all of his mortal posterity (D&C 132:29–50; Abr. 2:6–11). Included in the divine promises to Abraham were the assurances that:
(1) Christ would come through his lineage, and that
(2) Abraham’s posterity would receive certain lands as an eternal inheritance (Gen. 17; 22:15–18; Gal. 3; Abr. 2).
These promises taken together are called the “Abrahamic covenant.” It was renewed with Isaac (Gen. 26:1–4, 24) and again with Jacob (Gen. 28; 35:9–13; 48:3–4).
The portions of the covenant that pertain to personal salvation and eternal increase are renewed with each individual who receives the ordinance of celestial marriage (see D&C 132:29–33). Those of non-Israelite lineage, commonly known as Gentiles, are adopted into the house of Israel and become heirs of the covenant and the seed of Abraham through the ordinances of the gospel (Gal. 3:26–29).
Being an heir to the Abrahamic covenant does not make one a “chosen person” per se but does signify that such are chosen to responsibly carry the gospel to all the peoples of the earth. Abraham’s seed have carried out the missionary activity in all the nations since Abraham’s day. (Matt. 3:9; Abr. 2:9–11.)” LDS Bible dictionary Abrahamic, Covenant
Great Nation Needs a People of Size
As the book of Genesis, where the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are found, comes to an end, we find that the direct line descendants of the Patriarchal Fathers, “the chosen seed,” numbered only seventy souls” (Ex. 1:5), not more than the size of a small village. But Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had been promised that the Lord would make of them “a great nation,” a nation that would “bear [the gospel] and Priesthood unto all nations” (Abr. 2:9). And “seventy souls” does not a nation make! That would be a small village at best. A great nation needs a people of size, of great size!
The last part of Genesis relates the remarkable story of how Israel became a people of great size. The center of this is Joseph, son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt by his brothers. The story is told in Genesis 37-50. That’s thirteen chapters of the 50 chapters that comprise Genesis! Of this, Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has observed:
The importance of Joseph in the book of Genesis is signified by the fact that he figures prominently in sixteen of its fifty chapters (see Gen. 30; 33; 35; 37; 39-50). Joseph’s life span from cradle to grave4 represents only 4 percent of the twenty-seven hundred years covered by the book of Genesis. Yet his life is reported in nearly one-third of its chapters. (“Remnants Gathered, Covenants Fulfilled,” in Voices of Old Testament: The 26 Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium th [1997], p. 4) Robert J. Matthews, a highly respected scholar in the Department of Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University, has also noted:
The book of Genesis covers seventy-eight pages in my copy of the Bible. If we deduct four pages for the account of the Creation, that leaves seventy-four pages to cover the time from the fall of Adam to the death of Joseph, a period of about twenty-three hundred years. The ninety-three years of Joseph’s life from age seventeen to one hundred ten are covered in twenty-four pages; in other words, 30 percent of Genesis covers only 5 percent of the time period. That proportion ought to give us an idea of how Moses, the inspired author of Genesis, felt about the importance of Joseph’s story. (“Our Heritage of Joseph of Israel,” in Thy People Shall Be My People and Thy God My God: The 22d Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium, [1994], p.2)
Though Joseph was the eleventh son of Jacob, he was the first born of Rachel, Jacob’s second wife by trickery but first by bargain (Gen. 29). When Jacob’s firstborn, Reuben, lost the birthright through transgression (see Gen. 35:22; 49:3-4), Joseph became the birthright son (1 Chron. 5:1-2). Jacob greatly loved Joseph, which caused his brother’s to despise him (Gen. 37:3-4). Adding to their spite were the dreams Joseph had that they and Jacob would bow down to him (Gen. 37:5-11). This was more than the brother’s could handle. Finding opportunity, they sold him to a band of Ishmaelites who in turn sold him as a slave to Potiphar, an Egyptian official (Gen. 37:12- 28). Jacob was told that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal (Gen. 37:29-36). (“Remnants Gathered, Covenants Fulfilled,” in Voices of Old Testament Prophets [1997], pp.3-4)
Below is a very interesting article.
DID YOU KNOW THAT THE 12 SONS OF JACOB AND THE MEANINGS OF THEIR NAMES ARE A MYSTERY OF CHRIST?
Jacob had twelve sons and their names put together is the hidden gospel revealed through it. Its amazing how God hid all these wonderful truths in simple names and stories. Here are the names and their meanings:
Reuben – Behold, A Son is born to us
Simeon – One who hears
Levi – Attached
Judah – Praise the Lord
Dan – He judged
Naphtali – My Struggle
Gad – Good fortune
Asher – Happiness
Issachar – Reward
Zebulun – Honour
Joseph – Add to my family
Benjamin – Son of righteousness
This is what the collection of their names says:
BEHOLD, A SON IS BORN UNTO US, ONE WHO HEARS US AND BECAME ATTACHED UNTO US.
PRAISE THE LORD, HE JUDGED OUR STRUGGLE AND BROUGHT US GOOD FORTUNE, HAPPINESS, REWARD, HONOR; HE ADDED US TO HIS FAMILY AND CALLED US THE SONS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
This completely blew off my mind when I discovered it. Jesus Christ is not just a mere name we mention in our sermons or discussions, He is the Content, the Context, the Text, Paragraph, the Remark, the Mark and the Outline of the entire Bible.” https://speakupministries.org/en_US/did-you-know-that-the-12-sons-of-jacob-and-the-meanings-of-their-names-are-a-mystery-of-christ/ Beatrice Oyedokun
