Lessons of 2025
Lesson No. Fourteen

The Lord is a God of Miracles Who Will Deliver His People in the Latter Days

“Peace shall be taken from the earth…” (D&C 1:35). This is the word of the Lord given in 1831 as the Preface to the Doctrine and Covenants. A year later the Lord revealed that the US Civil War would be the start of world-wide wars: “Verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls; And the time will come that war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at this place” (D&C 87:1-2).

“and the devil shall have power over his own dominion” (Ibid). The Civil War demonstrated that the devil has power to kill and destroy. Misery is his business. Casualties on both sides were horrific, but especially in the South and in Missouri. Two-thirds of Southern wealth was destroyed, including livestock, farm machinery, factories, and railroads. The Confederacy's financial system collapsed. The war left many Southerners impoverished. The war took a psychological toll on both soldiers and civilians, leading to widespread grief, trauma, and social unrest.

During and after the Civil War Satan, as he always does, abandoned his followers. Missouri became a hotbed for guerrilla warfare, with bands of fighters on both sides engaging in brutal attacks, ambushes, and summary executions, often targeting civilians. Atrocities were common. Over 20,000 civilians were displaced. Homes, barns, and fields were looted, pillaged, and burned particularly in western Missouri where the saints had been terrorized 25 years before.

“And also the Lord shall have power over his saints, and shall reign in their midst…”(D&C 1:36). The Lord was certainly pleased with the faithfulness of His saints who were driven out Missouri and Illinois to Utah. The Lord fulfilled His promise, and He protected His people during the Civil War. In 1846, the main body of the Church was forced west out of Nauvoo to Winter Quarters. In 1847 migration to the Salt Lake Vally began. It was then outside of the United States. The Civil War began in 1861, and the saints prospered far removed from the battle field.

Nebuchadnezzar’s dream as interpreted by Daniel (see Daniel 2) – President Spencer W. Kimball clarified this prophecy: “’And in the days of these kings [that is, the group of European nations] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed…This is a revelation concerning the history of the world, when one world power would supersede another until there would be numerous smaller kingdoms to share the control of the earth. It was in the days of these kings that power would not be given to men, but the God of heaven would set up a kingdom – the kingdom of God upon the earth, which should never be destroyed nor left to another people.

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was restored in 1830 after numerous revelations from the divine source; and this is the kingdom, set up by the God of heaven, that would never be destroyed nor superseded, and the stone cut out of the mountain without hands that would become a great mountain and would fill the whole earth” (Conference Report, April 1976, p.10).

On September 12, 1991, on a hillside overlooking Kyiv and Elder Boyd K. Packer dedicated Ukraine for the preaching of the Gospel. (For more details see Lessons for Our Day From the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ – 2024, Lesson No. Thirty-One) In December 1991 as part of the fulfillment of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream the Lord brought to pass the end of the Cold war and the down fall of the Soviet Union. I vividly remember this time. For many years, as an officer in the United States Air Force, I had been actively training for a potential conflict with the Soviet Union. Then overnight the Soviet Union was gone. This brought unprecedented freedom to many countries, and the Lord’s missionaries went to many prior communist nations. Our son John was one of the first missionaries to go to Ukraine.

The Kyiv Ukraine Temple was announced on July 20, 1998 and dedicated on August 29, 2010 – This was less than 20 years after Ukraine was dedicated for the preaching of the Gospel. Except for Kirtland and Nauvoo, a temple has never been dedicated so soon. The Church continued to grow in Ukraine and in other surrounding countries. Millions of temple ordinance have been performed in the Kyiv Ukraine Temple

Satan does not give up easily, but no unhallowed hand can stop the Lord’s work from progressing – In February 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine, and missionary and temple work have been difficult. Life in Ukraine is very hard and dangerous. Support for Ukraine has been questioned in the United States. Experts predict Ukraine’s demise. From a worldly standpoint its future is bleak as attacks on Ukraine continue to increase. Many hundreds of drones and cruise missiles recently hit Kiev in an attempt to terrorize and conquer Ukraine.

Nevertheless, “The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear; till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done” (Joseph Smith to John Wentworth, Nauvoo, Illinois, March 1, 1842).

Testimony - The temple in Kyiv is open and operating, and I testify that “the power of the Lamb of God” is “upon the covenant people of the Lord” in Ukraine, and “they [are] armed with righteousness and the power of God in great glory” (1 Nephi 14:14).

I further testify that, “The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught. For God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round. Remember, remember that it is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of men” (D&C 3:1-3).

Released on June 1st. 2025.