"An army of Elders will be sent to the four quarters of the earth to search out the righteous and warn the wicked of what is coming.  All kinds of religions will be started and miracles performed that will deceive the very elect if that were possible.  Our sons and daughters must live pure lives so as to be prepared for what is coming.

"After a while the gentiles will gather by the thousands to this place, and Salt Lake City will be classed among the wicked cities of the world.  A spirit of speculation and extravagance will take possession of the Saints, and the results will be financial bondage.

"Persecution comes next and all true Latter-day Saints will be tested to the limit.  Many will apostatize and others will be still not knowing what to do.  Darkness will cover the earth and gross darkness the minds of the people.  The judgments of God will be poured out on the wicked to the extent that our Elders from far and near will be called home, or in other words the gospel will be taken from the Gentiles and later on carried to the Jews.

"The western boundary of the State of Missouri will be swept so clean of its inhabitants that as President Young tells us, when you return to that place, there will not be left so much as a yellow dog to wag his tail.  Before that day comes, however, the Saints will be put to tests that will try the integrity of the best of them.  The pressure will become so great that the more righteous among them will cry unto the Lord day and night until deliverance comes.

"Then the prophet and others will make their appearance and those who have remained faithful will be selected to return to Jackson County, Missouri, and take part in the upbuilding of that beautiful city, the New Jerusalem."

—President Heber C. Kimball, as quoted in Deseret News, May 23, 1931.

__________________________________________________

"Latter-day Saints need to remember that we who live now are being called upon to work out our salvation in a special time of intense and immense challenges—the last portion of the dispensation of the fullness of times during which great tribulation and temptation will occur, the elect will almost be deceived, and unrighteous people will be living much as they were in the days of Noah…

"Therefore, though we have rightly applauded our ancestors for their spiritual achievements (and do not and must not discount them now), those of us who prevail today will have done no small thing.  The special spirits who have been reserved to live in this time of challenges and who overcome, will one day be praised for their stamina by those who pulled handcarts."

—Neal A. Maxwell, Notwithstanding My Weakness, p. 18.