Well, I woke up today to a 5.7 earthquake, falling snow, coronavirus updates & panics, and the news that Moroni blew his trumpet clear out of his hand. Not sure what this all means.

I’m well-acquainted with earthquakes, having grown up in California. I recognize the jolt, the roll, the shake — my granny lived through the 1906 San Francisco quake. 

I’ve been hiking daily, so the snow is bummer. But I will weather through it. I can’t break my good habit. It’s my way of staying sane and calm.

I’ve been in the habit of using hand sanitizer for years, taking echinacea (for the last 25 yrs), storing food and TP (forever). Of course, I don’t want my family to get sick. I don’t want any good people to die of this new cold (yea all colds are a type of coronavirus — that’s why we have not had a vaccination because there are so many strains of the cold virus.)

I’ve been looking at the photos of Moroni — before and after shots. I’m always big on signs and symbols. It appears that his trumpet blew clear out of his hand — may be symbolic of blowing it right out of his grasp. Kind of strange. Is this a big announcement? I’ve studied the sign of the trumpet and the shofar — the Feast of Trumpets and all it means. Of course, today is not the feast of trumpets (that occurs in September.) But it is symbolic of the gathering of Israel. And, interestingly, today’s earthquake initiated the flying trumpet. Perhaps we should take a look at some of the scriptures about the shofar, trumpets, and angels blowing trumpets.

 

 

You can see the trumpet just below that spire where the angel is standing. But you can also see that his arms were not broken off (some media sites are showing his arm broken – they must have adobe photoshopped it.) I much prefer the symbolism of his trumpet-blowing right out of his hand with the impact of the earthquake—something to think about instead of the coronavirus today.

In 1891, Wilford Woodruff asked Cyrus Dallin to design the angel atop the Salt Lake Temple. He at first declined, saying he did not believe in angels (he was not a member of the LDS faith.)

Sculptor
 Cyrus E. Dallin
Commissioned
 19 August 1891
Material Copper covered in 22-karat gold leaf
Height 12′ 5.5″ (3.8 Meters)
Weight 1,500 lbs (680.4 kilograms)
Currently On
 1 temple

 

Some believe that the inspiration for an angel on top, blowing a trumpet, comes from the New Testament book of Matthew, chapter 24. verses 30-31:

Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

I certainly don’t want this to be the end times, and I do not believe it is — not yet. And btw, no one knows the date of those events. It is best to keep working, keep helping and serving, and to be of good cheer. And not fearful. And do not have anxiety, I just recently read in my daily scripture reading, in the book of Jacob, chapter 5, when he has the Spirit of prophecy. He is explaining how the house of Israel will be gathered back, including the Jews who did not accept Jesus as the Messiah — they missed the mark (the mark is Jesus.) Anyway, Jacob says he will explain how they will be brought back in by using the parable story of the tame and wild olive trees.

I will ufold this mystery to you; if I do not, by any means, get shaken from my firmness in the Spirit, and stumble because of my anxiety for you. (Jacob 4:18)

I realized that if you get anxiety, it can cause you to stumble and not be firm in the Spirit. So, let’s stay away from fear and anxiety while we work through all that is going in.

Maybe we need some humor too (my son shared this on our family group chat):

Stay faithful, stay happy, be thankful.