I'm willing to bet $100 that she didn't start calling it a 'revelation' until after the earthquake struck. Beforehand, it was probably called 'a lesson plan.'
God belief is for people who don't want to live life on the universe's terms.
Some Schmo wrote:I'm willing to bet $100 that she didn't start calling it a 'revelation' until after the earthquake struck. Beforehand, it was probably called 'a lesson plan.'
It would be interesting to know if she told the missionaries, as she was helping them prepare their kits, that a quake was coming and how she knew about it. That would go a long way toward confirming that she considered it a revelation.
"The DNA of fictional populations appears to be the most susceptible to extinction." - Simon Southerton
Wait a minute! Is there any documentation for any of this? Remember after 911 when the story popped up about a zone meeting in the twin towers and the missionaries all sleeping late or missing buses or whatever it took to keep them out of the area and unharmed? There was no zone meeting. It was totally fabricated and it happens over and over again. This sounds like the same thing to me.
A few years ago my sister sent me this story about the 1933 Leonid meteor shower which had been sent to her by the seminary system to use in her teaching.
Philo Dibble, a prominent member of the church at that time, recorded the following observations made by Joseph Hancock, the brother of Levi Hancock, near Kirtland, Ohio, on that night:
"On one occasion Joseph was preaching in Kirtland, sometime in the fall of 1833. Quite a number of persons were present who did not belong to the Church, and one man, more bitter and skeptical than others, made note with pencil and paper of a prophecy uttered on that occasion, wherein Joseph said that 'Forty days shall not pass, and the stars shall fall from heaven.' "Such an event would certainly be very unusual and improbable to the natural man, and the skeptic wrote the words as a sure evidence to prove Joseph to be a false prophet. "On the thirty-ninth day after the utterance of that prophecy, a man and brother in the Church, by the name of Joseph Hancock,... and another brother were out hunting game and got lost. They wandered about until night, when they found themselves at the house of this unbeliever, who exultingly produced this note of Joseph Smith's prophecy and asked Brother Hancock what he thought of his prophet now that thirty-nine days had passed and the prophecy was not fulfilled. "Brother Hancock was unmoved and quietly remarked, 'There is one night left of the time, and if Joseph said so, the stars will certainly fall tonight. The prophecy will all be fulfilled.' "The matter weighed upon the mind of Brother Hancock, who watched that night, and it proved to be the historical one, known in all the world as 'the night of the falling of the stars.' "He stayed that night at the house of the skeptical unbeliever, as it was too far from home to return by night, and in the midst of the falling of the stars, he went to the door of his host and called him out to witness what he had thought impossible and the most improbable thing that could happen, especially as that was the last night in which Joseph Smith could be saved from the condemnation of a 'false prophet.' "The whole heavens were lit up with the falling meteors, and the countenance of the new spectator was plainly seen and closely watched by Brother Hancock, who said that he turned pale as death and spoke not a word."[7]
The problem with this story is that Joseph Smith himself didn't claim to have made the prophecy. He saw the meteors and noted in his journal:
"November 13. About 4 o'clock a.m. I was awakened by Brother Davis knocking at my door, and calling me to arise and behold the signs in the heavens. I arose, and to my great joy, beheld the stars fall from heaven like a shower of hailstones... "Some at times appeared like bright shooting meteors, with long trains of light following in their course, and in numbers resembled large drops of rain in sunshine. These seemed to vanish when they fell behind the trees, or came near the ground. Some of the long trains of light following the meteoric stars, were visible for some seconds; these streaks would curl and twist up like serpents writhing. The appearance was beautiful, grand, and sublime beyond description; and it seemed as if the artillery and fireworks of eternity were set in motion to enchant and entertain the Saints, and terrify and awe the sinners of the earth. Beautiful and terrific as was the scenery, it will not fully compare with the time when the sun shall become black like sack-cloth of hair, the moon like blood, and the stars fall to the earth--Rev. vi:13 (italics added).[5]
Of course, I informed my sister that the story wasn't true and she replied that she didn't care if it was true or not, it was a cute story and she would use it in her class.
I don't know if that was the first "faith promoting story" in the history of the church, but it sure wasn't the last. Sometimes I wonder how much of the average TBMs testimony is built on these stories. Maybe I'm overly skeptical, but this story about "an MP's wife" sounds made up.
The person who is certain and who claims divine warrant for his certainty belongs now to the infancy of our species. Christopher Hitchens
Faith does not give you the answers, it just stops you asking the questions. Frater
I am working on my food storage slowly but surely.
DC sits on a fault?
(Nevo, Jan 23) And the Melchizedek Priesthood may not have been restored until the summer of 1830, several months after the organization of the Church.
truth dancer wrote:Is this really the way God works?
Why didn't God give someone the revelation who would actually do something about it?
This whole things makes NO sense whatsoever.
I have gotten the impression that the Mormon God plays favorites. If I have no respect for parents that treat their children this way, why should I feel any different toward a God that breaks His own rules?
I'd say what a douche, but I think it goes without sayin. Oops, I guess I said it.
Looks like she was in the Santiago East mission. Sucks that the Lord didn't get in touch with the Concepción MP's wife. Or maybe he did broadcast a wider message but she was the only one in-tune enough to get it. Or she's the only light sleeper amongst mission leadership in central Chile.
-"I was gonna say something but I forgot what it was." -"Well, it must not have been very important or you wouldn't've forgotten it!" -"Oh, I remember. I'm radioactive."
How nice to check on the missionaries preparedness before the quake hit. Did she and her inspired husband do likewise for the Stakes, Wards, Branches and twigs under their wing? Did they care enough for the members in Chile to visit them and say "Thus sayeth the Lord" about an earthquake... or even an un-named disaster shortly to hit them?
More information is needed here. If they didn't warn their members at a minimum they are seriously flawed and selfish individuals. Or is this a case of 'Only the Elders in Israel called by God on a mission are worthy of being warned'?
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be a mile away and you'll have their shoes.
Maybe this is what you're really getting at, zzyzx, but she didn't warn anyone because she didn't really see it as a revelation that an earthquake would for sure occur. I'm sure she had a strong, middle-of-the-night realization (as all of us do about a number of subjects) that the same sort of thing that happened in Haiti could happen in Chile. Chile has a history of earthquakes. But being predisposed to believe that early morning thoughts are actually revelations, she took it to the next level, that being to get all the missionaries under her care prepared. And who can fault her for this? Preparedness is smart. And MP wives tend to worry about their missionaries' well-being. But I think she's confusing her 20/20 hindsight with 20/20 foresight. At best she had a revelation about being prepared for the possibility of an earthquake, but looking back she has turned it into a revelation that one would actually occur.
I love how they quote her in the article as saying, "Some of them became frightened and asked us if we knew something they didn't know. We smiled and repeated 'if ye are prepared ye shall not fear'". What a nice vague answer which she can now pretend (and believe) was a knowing but tempered response designed to quiet fears and not cause any panic. I wonder if, now that she believes she had a revelation, she regrets not spreading the word.
Last edited by Guest on Fri Mar 05, 2010 2:49 am, edited 2 times in total.
-"I was gonna say something but I forgot what it was." -"Well, it must not have been very important or you wouldn't've forgotten it!" -"Oh, I remember. I'm radioactive."
