5:00 A.M., the 17^th of November.  It's dark outside.  Extremely dark.  I'm sitting in my living room with five electric light bulbs burning.  I'm in a pocket of light in a dark, dark world.

But the earth is spinning.  Way down under the eastern horizon the sun is coming.  Light is on the way; but light can't bend, and there is nothing to reflect it toward me.  I have nothing but experience to tell me that a dawn is coming.

My European ancestors of one thousand years ago were in the throws of the Dark Ages.  There was nothing in their experience to tell them that a dawn was coming.  They lived in poverty.  They had no scriptures.  They couldn't read.  Their governments were oppressive.  Their priests were superstitious, ignorant, and mis-informed.  The Book of Mormon says that my ancestors were “in captivity.”  Nephi stated that eleven times.  (1 Nephi 13-14).  They were slaves.  All of my ancestors were slaves.  They were hungry.  They had little furniture.  They lived in huts.  There was no penicillin, electricity, or running water.  There was little happiness.  Life was hard and mercifully short.

At 6:00 A.M. on this morning I detect that the eastern horizon is less dark than the rest of the sky.  It is the first hint that a change is coming.  That is like the world in 1436 as the German, Johann Gutenburg, had an idea.  The idea was implanted in his mind by the Holy Ghost.  He suddenly knew how to make a printing press.  He began designing the machine.  After several years of hard and dedicated work he held in his hand the world's first printed book.  Appropriately, it was the Bible.  He printed 200 copies.  His invention was opposed by scribes and illustrators who feared that it would take their jobs away.  They were right, but many other opportunities were opened up as book stores and book sellers became necessary.  An impediment, however, was that few people could read.  One critic commented, “Congratulations, you've printed 200 copies of the Bible; there are about three people in your town who can read the Bible in Latin.  What are you going to do with the other 197 copies?”

But light was dawning.

Shortly thereafter another idea was implanted in another mind.  The Holy Ghost revealed to Christopher Columbus that the world  was round, and that he might get to the East Indies by sailing west.  After a good deal of work he found a willing sponsor, equipped three ships, and discovered America in 1492.

The eastern sky became a shade brighter.

Dawn was approaching, and the Holy Ghost was still at work.  In the mind of William Tyndale it implanted the heretical idea that the Bible should be made available to every soul.  And not only made available, but that it should be in English.  This idea met with much opposition.  English was a relatively new language, and it was deemed unfit by ecclesiastical authorities for such sacred words.  But what those learned authorities didn't know was that English was the language that the Lord had already selected as the language through which the Restoration of the gospel would be effected.

Extreme efforts were made to stop William Tyndale's English translation of the Bible.  The opposition eventually managed to kill him, but you can't stop the dawn.  Before his death he published his translation of the New Testament in 1525.  84% of our King James version of the New Testament is in the beautiful, inspired wording of Tyndale, and 76% of the Old Testament.

A friend and acquaintance of William Tyndale was Martin Luther.  The Holy Ghost wrought upon him, and upon John and Charles Wesley, and numerous others making them dissatisfied with the obvious inconsistencies and incorrect doctrines of the prevailing church.  They felt compelled to urge changes in the church.  They wanted to reform the church and bring it into line with what the Bible taught.

The Holy Ghost wrought upon the minds of the common people, and multitudes became caught up in the idea of a reformation.  The sky was becoming brighter and brighter.  Everyone, whose mind was not closed, was able to plainly see that a dawn was coming.

The land that Christopher Columbus had discovered was now populated by two-and-a-half million of those reformation-minded dissenters.  Those people were brought there, the Book of Mormon says, by the hand of the Lord.  (1 Nephi 13:12-13).  The Holy Ghost worked upon the minds of their fathers and mothers in Europe, and implanted in their minds the desire to escape the bondage and slavery under which they were living.  Multitudes sailed to America and freedom.  Here again, however, there was an impediment.  Only 15% of them were literate, and could read.

In the 1700s the Lord sent some special babies to the families of these former European slaves.  These babies grew up to become George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, John Adams, the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and the signers of the Constitution of the United States of America.

Never in the history of the world had there been such a collection of great minds and great men as these.  It was done by design.  Into their minds the Holy Ghost implanted radical, almost unheard of, ideas about freedom, liberty, and the agency of man.  They established a new nation founded upon heavenly principles.

All the world watched the birth of this nation.  The stage was set.  The sun was about to rise on the world.

To a humble, common New England family a baby was sent.  This is the way the Lord does things.  When He wants something important to be done He sends a special spirit that He has reserved for the purpose.  To Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith He sent a baby boy in 1805.  Prophets foresaw that baby's birth thousands of years before he came.  His birth was so sure that those ancient prophets were even able to state what his name would be.  He would be known as Joseph.  (2 Nephi 3:14-16).

His parents taught him righteous principles.  They taught him to read.  They prepared him.  And then the Holy Ghost took over.  The Holy Ghost pointed him to James chapter 1 verse 5.  The Holy Ghost so wrought upon his mind that he felt compelled to do what that scripture said to do.  He went out into the woods with a determination to ask his first vocal prayer.

That's when the dawn's first spark appeared on the horizon.  God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ appeared to the boy in a pillar of light that was brighter than the sun at noonday.  Light began to flood the world.  That light penetrated my dark mind, and the minds of millions more.  The Church achieved its first one millionth member in 1947, the year I was born.  I became the 2-1/2 millionth member 20 years later.  The Church now numbers over 17 million.  The light is growing brighter and brighter.  It's preparing the world for the Savior's Second Coming when every soul will be encompassed by His light.

God is hard at work.  This time He is sending not dozens, but thousands of special, reserved spirits to the homes of Latter-day Saints.  He asks the parents to teach, train, and prepare those special babies, and then the Holy Ghost takes over and implants ideas and desires in their minds.  They serve missions.  They become leaders.  They become lights to the world.

There are currently 72,000 of them!  Can you imagine turning such an important work over to 18-, 19-, and 20-year-old kids?  No other organization in the world could do that.  These young people are special.  They were reserved to come at this time for this purpose, and they're being inspired by the Holy Ghost.  Four of them are my grandchildren, and this summer that will increase to seven.  With the world spiraling downward, especially among the youth, I am totally amazed at the quality of young people that this Church is turning out.  They're preparing the way for the Redeemer of the world to come and usher in one thousand years of peace and righteousness.

His appearing will be a dawn like no other.  It's coming.  The world is turning.  The dawn is coming, and it can't be stopped.  Get ready.  Get prepared.  Keep your eyes on the horizon.  In just a moment you'll see an amazing flash of light.

I'm anxious.  I'm waiting.  I'm watching.

And I'm reading my Book of Mormon.  Lights came on when I started to read that book.  That's all I wanted to do.  I couldn't have told you that my head was full of darkness, but I actually felt light pushing the darkness out.  I got more and more excited.

And then my girl friend sent me a pamphlet entitled, “Joseph Smith's Testimony.”  It said there that a pillar of light appeared over his head brighter than the sun at noonday, and that standing above him in the light were two persons.  One pointed to the other and said, “Joseph, this is my beloved Son.  Hear Him!”

Reading that was like an electric shock.  I had wondered for years whether God and Jesus Christ were one person or two, or whether they were persons at all.  No priest or minister out in the world can tell you.  When I read those words, I knew!  I knew that Joseph Smith was telling the truth!  All the pieces suddenly fell into place.

Dawn had come for me.  I'm now inside where it's warm and light and safe.  I have the gift of the Holy Ghost and the Book of Mormon, the Priesthood, and a testimony.  I have covenants, and an eternal family.  I have the promise of a glorious resurrection and of eternal life.

I know a family with numerous children that reads the Book of Mormon every day.  They haven't missed a day in 10 years!

What are the chances that those children will fall away from the Church?

Practically zero.

President Nelson has said that “In the coming days it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”

President Nelson knows what's coming.  We'd best take heed.

What are the chances that you will fall away if you're daily reading the Book of Mormon?

Practically zero.

The Dark Ages are over, but a very dark time is coming for those who aren't standing in the light.  The day dawn has broken.  The light of the Holy Ghost is now available to everyone who will respond to its invitations.