Why the hurry?

[laronius]

This is Wilford Woodruff's account of a dream/vision he had of Joseph Smith:

“Joseph Smith continued visiting myself and others up to a certain time, and then it stopped.

The last time I saw him was in heaven. In the night vision I saw him at the door of the temple in heaven. He came and spoke to me. He said he could not stop to talk with me because he was in a hurry….

“By and by I saw the Prophet again, and I got the privilege to ask him a question. ‘Now,’ said I, ‘I want to know why you are in a hurry. I have been in a hurry all through my life; but I expected my hurry would be over when I got into the kingdom of heaven, if I ever did.’

 “Joseph said: ‘I will tell you, Brother Woodruff. Every dispensation that has had the Priesthood on the earth and has gone into the celestial kingdom, has had a certain amount of work to do to prepare to go to the earth with the Savior when He goes to reign on the earth. Each dispensation has had ample time to do this work. We have not. We are the last dispensation, and so much work has to be done, and we need to be in a hurry in order to accomplish it.’ Of course, that was satisfactory to me, but it was new doctrine to me.”

I am curious to know what exactly needs to be prepared on that side of the veil before the Second Coming. There are a few things I think we learn from this experience.

1. It is definitely connected to the priesthood as it only applies to dispensations that had the priesthood.

2. The Second Coming is partially dependent upon it being completed or ready. Or at least, those who will go with him are dependent upon it.

3. The fact that this interview took place at the door of the temple in heaven would seem to imply that it is temple related.

4. It may not be just about being ready for Jesus' coming but also His reign on the earth.

We know there is a lot of work for the dead taking place but that apparently will be happening all throughout the Millennium as well so I don't know that that is the reason for the hurry on the other side. Unless that work is needing to be done for specific individuals prior to the Second Coming. Maybe it's something connected with what will transpire in Adam-ondi-Ahman. 

It does make me wonder about the system of government that will exist during the Millennium. Christ will of course reign as King but how is the government setup under him? And will there be a separate religious leadership organization from the government body?

[ZealoulyStriving]

28 minutes ago, laronius said:

This is Wilford Woodruff's account of a dream/vision he had of Joseph Smith:

“Joseph Smith continued visiting myself and others up to a certain time, and then it stopped.

The last time I saw him was in heaven. In the night vision I saw him at the door of the temple in heaven. He came and spoke to me. He said he could not stop to talk with me because he was in a hurry….

“By and by I saw the Prophet again, and I got the privilege to ask him a question. ‘Now,’ said I, ‘I want to know why you are in a hurry. I have been in a hurry all through my life; but I expected my hurry would be over when I got into the kingdom of heaven, if I ever did.’

 “Joseph said: ‘I will tell you, Brother Woodruff. Every dispensation that has had the Priesthood on the earth and has gone into the celestial kingdom, has had a certain amount of work to do to prepare to go to the earth with the Savior when He goes to reign on the earth. Each dispensation has had ample time to do this work. We have not. We are the last dispensation, and so much work has to be done, and we need to be in a hurry in order to accomplish it.’ Of course, that was satisfactory to me, but it was new doctrine to me.”

I am curious to know what exactly needs to be prepared on that side of the veil before the Second Coming. There are a few things I think we learn from this experience.

1. It is definitely connected to the priesthood as it only applies to dispensations that had the priesthood.

2. The Second Coming is partially dependent upon it being completed or ready. Or at least, those who will go with him are dependent upon it.

3. The fact that this interview took place at the door of the temple in heaven would seem to imply that it is temple related.

4. It may not be just about being ready for Jesus' coming but also His reign on the earth.

We know there is a lot of work for the dead taking place but that apparently will be happening all throughout the Millennium as well so I don't know that that is the reason for the hurry on the other side. Unless that work is needing to be done for specific individuals prior to the Second Coming. Maybe it's something connected with what will transpire in Adam-ondi-Ahman. 

It does make me wonder about the system of government that will exist during the Millennium. Christ will of course reign as King but how is the government setup under him? And will there be a separate religious leadership organization from the government body?

I believe the Counsel of 50 will be set up governmentally. When it was set up earlier in this dispensation it included members and non-members. I believe it will be similar.

[zil2]

Simplifying below statement to make it easier to analyze in relation to the question...

30 minutes ago, laronius said:

Every dispensation ... has had a certain amount of work to do to prepare to go to the earth with the Savior when He goes to reign on the earth.

"dispensation" in this context must be short for "the faithful people" of that dispensation.  Ergo, those who have been resurrected (or somehow made it to the celestial kingdom without resurrection) have had work to do to prepare - presumably themselves - to go with the Savior.  I mean, I'm sure the Savior himself is prepared already.  I can't see what else the context allows other than "prepare themselves".  It seems to me that this makes sense:

1. One must grow into a celestial being - it's not an instant transformation on death.

2. All who are called to accompany the Savior would need to learn their role in that event and the 1000 years that follow.

3. Those from previous dispensations likely needed to learn about all the differences between their earth and the earth as it is or will be at the Second Coming - whether that's learning history or politics or how the Church is organized in the last days or the technology that will be available in the Millennium, etc.

4. And whatever all else I cannot imagine.

Obviously, the closer your death is to the Millennium, the less time you'll have to prepare yourself to accompany the Savior.  And I expect that anyone not ready will be left behind.

43 minutes ago, laronius said:

1. It is definitely connected to the priesthood as it only applies to dispensations that had the priesthood.

2. The Second Coming is partially dependent upon it being completed or ready. Or at least, those who will go with him are dependent upon it.

3. The fact that this interview took place at the door of the temple in heaven would seem to imply that it is temple related.

4. It may not be just about being ready for Jesus' coming but also His reign on the earth.

1. I'm not sure there's anything in heaven that isn't connected to the priesthood, but yes.  Makes you wonder about those who never had the priesthood...

2. I expect it's more like "if you're not ready, you're not coming", but I suppose the other is possible.

3. Yes.  I wonder if, in addition to the part of proxy work that happens on that side of the veil, the temple there doesn't have its own ordinances (non-proxy) in preparation for resurrection and exaltation, or if it isn't a place of even more instruction than we receive in the temple here.

4. Yes, I would imagine folks will have various duties to perform both at and after His coming, and they'll need training and "orientation" as well as perfection (a process) in order to carry out their duties.

[NeuroTypical]

3 hours ago, laronius said:

I am curious to know what exactly needs to be prepared on that side of the veil before the Second Coming.

My dad needs to avail himself of the temple work I did on his behalf after he passed.  Given his mindset during this life, that might be a major effort involving an awful lot of resources.  

I give this personal anecdote, not to make fun of my dearly departed dad, but to illustrate that we figure missionary work and conversion efforts continue to happen on the other side of the veil.  Given the oodles of unbaptized billions, it's surely no small feat.