Through the kind providence of our heavenly Father we are permitted,
on this pleasant day, to assemble here in this comfortable house, for
the purpose of worshiping God, and hearing instruction as the Lord may
see proper, in his kindness and wisdom, to pour out his spirit, and
make manifest the truth to us. It is a pleasing thing for the human
mind, to contemplate that it has some object to worship; that there is
a being, far exalted above us, who dwells in the heavens, who is
worthy of all adoration and praise; and that we are his children, in
possession of a portion of his attributes.
The world which we inhabit is a fallen creation, a fallen world, shut
out from the presence of our Father, the being whom we worship, so
that we cannot behold his face, nor the glory of his presence. It is
for a wise purpose, that we are placed here, in this fallen condition.
It seems to be so, as far as we have been made acquainted with the
purposes of the great Jehovah. It seems to be the ordeal, through
which all intelligent beings must pass, in order to gain that fullness
of exaltation, in the presence of God, which is promised in his word.
We were not always in the condition we are now in. We are only placed
here for a few years, and are adapted to our present condition. A long
time before you and I came here upon this stage of action, we had an
intelligent existence; we dwelt in a better world than this, and a
world that had been redeemed, a world that had been sanctified and
glorified; in other words, a world that had been made celestial, just
as we are in hopes that our present world will, at some future period,
be exalted to the celestial glory, and become the habitation of
celestial beings. That world we occupied, before we came here, was
celestial; our Father had his dwelling place there, or, at least, one
of his dwelling places; and we were surrounded by our Father's glory,
we were familiar with his countenance, familiar with the beautiful
mansions that were there—familiar with all the glory that existed
there, so far as we were capable of comprehending. There was no veil
drawn between us and our Father, no veil drawn between us and the
associates of our Father, who were also celestial beings, many of them
having been redeemed from a world more ancient than ours. We
had a long experience, I suppose, in that world; at least, we know
from that which our Father has revealed to us, that we were born
there; that this intelligent being that has power to discern, power to
reflect, power to reason—that this intelligent being was born in that
previous estate.
These were some of the first revelations given in this last
dispensation. The Lord did not wait several years, before he revealed
unto us, in some measure, concerning our condition before we came
here. Hence, it was away back in the year 1830, that this doctrine of
the pre-existence of man was revealed, in greater fullness, than it
was given in the Book of Mormon. There are two or three places in the
Book of Mormon that reveal the pre-existence of man; but not in such
great plainness, as was given soon after the publication of that Book,
through the Prophet Joseph Smith, before the Saints began to gather,
informing us that we were in reality the children of our Father and
God; that we had a pre-existence in which we had learned many very
important principles, connected with spiritual existence, before
taking bodies of flesh and bones, which was also necessary to afford
us a still greater experience. Now, in this plan that God has devised
for the advancement of these intelligent beings—by passing them
through various stages of existence, under different circumstances,
and in different conditions—he gives them experience that they never
could have gained, had they remained in the presence of the Father, in
that world which was celestial; in other words, we were his offspring
in that world, our spiritual bodies not having flesh and bones, but
being in the image of the Father and Son—his own sons and daughters.
He had a great desire that we should be educated and taught. He could
teach us a great many things in that world as we teach our children;
he could impart to us a great many things—for there were as many
truths in existence in that day as are in existence now; but truths
were taught to us, as we were capable of understanding them. The Lord
felt anxious that we might come up and eventually be made like him, as
it is written in the New Testament, "who shall change our vile body
that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body." I have no doubt
before we came into this world, we had a great anxiety, that we might
be brought up in the same way he was instructed and taught, and led
along, passing through different conditions of existence, that we
finally might be counted worthy to be exalted at his right hand, and
receive the fullness of his celestial glory the same that he is in
possession of and that we might have all his attributes, dwelling
within us, as separate individuals and personages, that he might exalt
us like unto himself. Now, there is a great deal to be comprehended,
when we are told that we are children who will become like our Father;
that we were like him in our first stage and condition of existence.
We were there, as it were, children without a fullness of knowledge;
many experiences had not yet been given to us; but we were like him in
our general outline—the outline of our persons; our general form was
like him, "after his image" etc. It is thus written in the Book of
Mormon, in that great vision to the brother of Jared, in which the
Lord condescended to take the veil off his eyes. The brother of Jared
had gone up into the mountain, and had moulten out of a rock sixteen
small stones, which he carried up into the top of the mount.
He went there with an object in view; the object was to get the Lord
to touch the stones that they might shine forth in darkness in the
eight vessels, (which had been built to convey him and his brother
across the great waters) one to be placed at each end of each of the
vessels. It would naturally increase the faith of the brother of
Jared, to believe it possible that he might see the finger of the
Lord. He was going to pray that God would touch the stones, the same
as we pray for the Lord to put forth his finger and touch the
particles of oil, when we dedicate it, for sacred purposes. If we pray
in faith, we must suppose that the finger touches the oil. And Jared
prayed in faith. He did not know but what it might be his privilege to
see his finger. He did see it; it appeared to him like the finger of a
man, like unto flesh and blood. But his faith was too great for his
nervous system; for when he saw the finger of the Lord, he fell to the
earth through fear. And the Lord looked unto him and asked him why he
had fallen. He answered and said, "I saw the finger of the Lord, and I
feared lest he should smite me; for I knew not that the Lord had flesh
and blood." He did not know but what his imperfections were so great,
that the Lord would smite him; but he was commanded to arise. The Lord
then asked him, "Sawest thou more than this?" And he answered: "Nay;
Lord, show thyself unto me." Here was a prayer that extended a little
further. The Lord wanted to see what amount of faith he had, and he
put another question to him, "Believest thou the words which I shall
speak?" And he answered, "Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the
truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie." And when the
brother of Jared had manifested his faith, the Lord condescended to
show his whole personage to him, and said, "Seest thou that ye are
created after mine own image. Behold, this body, which ye now behold,
is the body of my spirit, and man have I created after the body of my
spirit."
Here the pre-existence of man was taught in the Book of Mormon. All
men in the beginning were created after the image of this body which
he was then shewing. All the human family that then existed, and that
would exist in future time upon the earth, were created in the
beginning, after the image of that body; that is, that body which he
showed was not a body of flesh and bones, but a pure spiritual body,
organized out of pure spiritual substance, filled with light and
truth. He informed this great man of God, that he was prepared, from
before the foundation of the world, to redeem his people. "Behold,"
says he, "I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall
all mankind have light, and that eternally, even they who shall
believe on my name."
Here, then, was a great deal of information given to us, concerning
the formation of the human spirit, the formation of men—the formation
of their persons, and their individualities, before the foundation of
this world.
It was after this was given, and the Book of Mormon was published,
that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints arose. But the
Lord, thinking that we had not sufficient understanding of this
pre-existence, began to tell us (in the month of June 1830, only a few
months after the organization of the Church) more about these things. He told us about the spiritual creation, something we did not
comprehend before. We used to read the first and second chapters of
Genesis which give an account of the works of the Almighty, but did
not distinguish between the spiritual work and the temporal work of
Christ. Although there are some things in King James' translation that
give us a little distinction between the two creations, yet we did not
comprehend it. The light shone, in some measure, in darkness, but so
dark were our minds, through tradition, that we did not comprehend the
light—or the few feeble glimmerings of light, contained in these first
and second chapters, of the uninspired translation. But our heavenly
Father inspired his servant Joseph Smith, to translate several
chapters more in the Book of Genesis, in December 1830, which gave a
more full account, down to the days of the flood. He told us a great
many important principles, principles that he did not give, so far as
the historical matter was concerned, in the Book of Mormon. They were
an addition in some respects, and therefore, they were new to us, who
lived in the early rise of the Church, and calculated to give us great
joy.
In these two creations that took place in the beginning, represented
as the beginning of this creation—not absolutely the beginning of all
the creations of God; for his works are without beginning and without
end, they never cease, nor does his word cease; he speaks to us, so
far as this creation is concerned, according to our natural ideas and
understanding. He says, "all things I have created by the word of my
power, which is the power of my Spirit—I created them firstly
spiritual and secondly temporal, which is the beginning of my work;
and again firstly temporal, and secondly spiritual, which is the last
of my work, speaking unto you that you may naturally understand; but
unto myself my works have no end neither beginning."
We learn, therefore, when speaking of this spiritual creation, that
not only all the children of men, of all generations, and of all ages,
were created spiritually in heaven, but that fish and fowls, and
beasts, and all animated things, having life, were first made spiritual
in heaven, on the fifth and sixth days, before bodies of flesh were
prepared for them on the earth; and that there was no flesh upon the
earth until the morning of the seventh day. On that morning God made
the first fleshly tabernacle and took man's spirit and put within it,
and man became a living soul—the first flesh upon the earth—the first
man also. Though it was the seventh day, no flesh but this one
tabernacle was yet formed. No fish, fowl and beast was as yet
permitted to have a body of flesh. The second chapter of Genesis, (new
translation) informs us that the spirits of fowls were created in
heaven, the spirits of fish and cattle, and all things that dwell upon
the earth, had their pre-existence. They were created in heaven, the
spiritual part of them; not their flesh and bones. We are also told in
this inspired translation, that these living trees which we behold—for
God has given life unto all things—had their spiritual existence in
heaven before their temporal existence; every herb and every tree,
before it was planted out on the earth, that is, the spiritual part of
it, the life of it, that which, in other words, animates that which
gives power to the vegetable to bring forth fruit after its
likeness—the spiritual part existed in heaven. It was a spiritual creation first. We are also told that the earth was
organized in a spiritual form, that is, that portion that gives life
to the earth. We read about the earth's dying, and that it shall be
quickened again. What is it that will make the earth die? It will be
the withdrawing of the spiritual portion from it, that which gives it
life—that which animates it, and causes it to bring forth fruit; that
which quickens the earth is the Spirit of God. That spiritual creation
existed before the temporal was formed. This was the beginning of the
first part of his work, pertaining to this creation. On the seventh
day he began the temporal portion. There was not yet a man to till the
ground, "and the gods formed man from the dust of the ground, and
took his spirit—that is the man's spirit—and put it into him and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living
soul." This we read in the 2nd chapter of Genesis, and you will find
it recorded on the 6th and 35th pages of the new edition of the Pearl
of Great Price.
Abraham also obtained a knowledge of the spiritual creation, as well
as the temporal. In giving a history of the creation, he speaks of the
formation of man out of the ground, how he took man's spirit that was
created in heaven and put it within the body of man, and man became a
living soul—the first flesh upon the earth, as recorded in the second
of Genesis. Now, we have been in the habit of thinking that the
various kinds of animals that have lived, according to geologists,
were the first flesh on the earth, and we go away back millions of
ages to see that these lower formations of life existed before man.
But the Lord gives us different information from this. He shows us
that among all the animated creatures of flesh, man was the first that
was ever placed upon the earth in this temporal condition,
contradicting the theories of geologists—that is, so far as placing
man on the earth in this present probation is concerned. What may have
taken place millions of ages before the world was organized temporally
for man to inhabit is not revealed; but, so far as this present change
is concerned, that took place about six thousand years ago, man was
the first being that came upon the earth and inhabited a body of flesh
and bones. Afterwards, on the seventh day, out of the ground the Lord
God created the beasts of the field. Go back to the first chapter of
Genesis, and you will find that the beasts, etc., were formed on the
sixth day or period, and that on the seventh there was no flesh on the
earth, and having created man as the first flesh upon the earth, God
then created, out of the ground, the beasts of the field.
Here is the second part of the beginning of his work: firstly,
spiritual—the beasts created in heaven; then, secondly,
temporal—their bodies formed out of the ground, their spirits being
put within these bodies, and the beasts became living souls. As it was
with the birds of the air, so with the fish of the sea, and so with
all animated creatures pertaining to this world. This is the history
of the generations of the heavens and the earth, on the day that the
Lord God created them; and the Lord has seen proper to reveal this
great information in the first of Genesis, and in the Book of Abraham.
Now, let us consider the condition of the temporal work, for it is
needful for us to understand these things, that we may advance in the know ledge of God, in the knowledge of truth, in this great
school of experience. Let us try to understand, then, the nature of
the temporal work; for it was formed in the manner specified in this
revelation. Was there any death in this creation after the temporal
was formed, before the fall? No. Were any birds of the air subject to
death? No. Were any of the fishes of the sea? No. Were there any
animals placed on the earth in their temporal condition their bodies
being formed and adapted to the spirit that came from heaven—were any
subject to death? No. Were they ferocious? No. To every animal that
God had granted life he had given every green herb of the field for
meat, whether it was the lion, the leopard, the wolf, or whatever
animal may have existed upon the face of the earth. There was no such
thing as one animal destroying another—fighting and quarrelling were
unknown among the beasts of the field. A little child, if there had
been any, could have played, so far as any danger was concerned, with
these animals, and they feasted upon the green herbs which were given
to the beasts for their sustenance. By and by, a garden was made
eastward in Eden, in which the Lord planted a great many beautiful
trees. This was purely a temporal work, and that Garden would have
existed until today if death had not come into the world through the
fall of our first parents.
How different was the second or temporal work, that existed in the
beginning of the great work of creation, from the present order of
things! Now we see, and according to history we learn, that all
creation are at enmity one with another in their natural state. Hence
we find the lions with teeth, probably con structed since the fall, and
adapted to devour their prey. I do not believe they had such teeth in
the beginning. They had teeth with which they ate "straw like the ox."
But everything was changed in a great measure, in this beautiful
temporal creation; and the beasts began to fight, and quarrel, and
devour each other; and man began to be ferocious, like the beasts,
desirous to kill his fellow man. We see him at this early stage in our
race, seeking the blood of his fellows, and entering into secret
combinations to kill, and destroy, and rob one another of their
position and property, and to be at enmity one against another. The
Lord in the midst of this fallen condition of his temporal work, has
permitted it to continue for about, 6,000 years. But mankind have been
devising a multitude of measures, by which they reform one another;
but after they get pretty well reformed they rise up again and devour
one another by wholesale. While they are engaged in reforming each
other, they are making weapons of destruction to destroy one another.
Enmity prevails, and has prevailed, for the last 6,000 years, with the
exception of now and then a dispensation, being introduced, wherein
this fallen nature of ours becomes, in a great measure, changed
through obedience to the plan of salvation which God has revealed; and
then we begin to love our fellow men, are filled with love and
kindness like, in some measure, our heavenly Father, going forth and
proclaiming to them the Gospel of peace, and trying to do them good,
and redeem them, and reclaim them; and we succeed, now and then, in
bringing some to a higher state; they are born of God, and become new
creatures in Christ, being filled with that superior power, that exists in that celestial world, where we formerly resided. It
comes down from the Father, and from the Son, and enters into the
hearts of the sons and daughters of God, and they are made new
creatures; they begin to love that which is good, and hate that which
is evil, and begin to perfect themselves in their various
dispensations, according to the light and knowledge sent down from
heaven for their perfection.
Notwithstanding so many dispensations, and the world has continued so
long under the power of Satan, now is the time when the Lord our God
has begun to send forth a proclamation of redemption, to lift us up
out of this low fallen condition in which we have been placed, and our
fathers before us, for so long a time; and it so happens that we are
living very near the period when the earth will be restored from its
fallen condition to that same temporal condition in which it existed
before the fall, when there was no enmity existing between mankind. I
say, the day is now almost at hand when the Lord is going to begin the
last of his work, which will be to make this earth again temporal—or
in other words, to remove, in some measure, the curse—to restore it
back to the temporal condition in which it was when he first organized
it and before sin contaminated it.
In order to accomplish this work, he is working, according to his own
will and pleasure, among the nations, raising up a kingdom, a nucleus,
by taking them "one of a city and two of a family," gathering them out
from every nation to the land of Zion and planting the truth in their
hearts; they become more and more instructed and learn more and more
of the ways of the Lord, preparatory to the organization of this world
again in its temporal beauty and perfection as it was when it first
issued forth in its temporal form from the hands of the Almighty.
There is one thing connected with the temporal form of the earth which
I did not mention; I will refer to it now. While this earth existed in
its more perfect temporal form, Adam and Eve were placed upon it, and
they were immortal, just like all the beasts and just like the fishes
of the sea; death had not yet come upon any of them; all things were
immortal so far as this creation was concerned. The first pairs, the
beginning of his temporal work, were not subject to death. And another
thing, they were not to be shut out from the presence of the Almighty.
They could behold his countenance, they could hear his voice. Those
who then existed—could converse with him freely. There was no veil
between them and the Lord. Now, when the more perfect temporal
condition shall be restored again, in the last of his work, and the
Lord shall begin to remodel this earth, to transfigure it, and get it
prepared for the righteous, the veil will be taken away, in a measure;
we shall behold the face of the Lord again; we shall be able to
associate with immortal beings again; and we shall be able to enjoy a
great many blessings that were introduced in the beginning, which were
lost through the fall. The Lord Jesus Christ will be here, a part of
the time, to instruct us, and those ancient patriarchs, Adam included,
will come down out of their ancient celestial world, where they were
first made spiritual. They are coming upon this creation; and they
will have their homesteads here; and they will frequently, no doubt,
take great joy in gathering together their faithful children, from the
day of their own probation to the one hundredth generation. It
will be some pleasure for one of our ancestors that was born a hundred
generations ago to say, "Come, my children, you that are here in the
flesh that have not as yet become immortal, you that dwell upon the
face of this earth, partially redeemed—come, I have some glorious
tidings to communicate to you. I have something that you are not in
possession of, knowledge you have not gained, because we have been up
in yonder celestial world; we have been dwelling in the presence of
our Father and God. We were restored there in the dispensation in
which we died and in which we were translated, and we have learned a
great many things that the children of mortality do not know anything
about. Come, gather yourselves together, that you may behold your
former fathers, your fathers' fathers and so on, until you extend back
for a hundred generations. Hear the instructions that they shall
impart to you. They will tell you about the celestial kingdom, and the
higher glory thereof, and the blessings that are to be enjoyed by
those that attain to the fulness of that kingdom." Will not this be
encouraging to those that are yet mortal, during the millennium? I
think it will. Then will the knowledge of the fathers, the knowledge
of the earth, and of the things of God, and the knowledge of that
which is celestial, and great, and glorious, and far beyond the
comprehension of imperfect beings as we now are in our fallen
state—then that knowledge will be opened up to the minds of the
children of men, during their respective generations here upon the
earth, during the great sabbath of creation. What is all this for? It
is to prepare their children, during the millennium that they may have
this earth made celestial, like unto the more ancient one, that they,
with this creation, may be crowned with the presence of God the
Father, and his Son Jesus Christ. We gain this knowledge and
information by degrees. Our children are educated and taught, until
the heavens become familiar with them; the Lord becomes familiar with
them; his countenance becomes familiar to all the righteous of the
earth. Before we can fully understand the nature of a still greater
change than that which has been wrought upon the temporal creation,
during the millennium, we begin to expect it, and look for it, and by
and by, when evil fruit again appears in the Lord's vineyard, and the
earth is corrupted by the sons of perdition, and some of his people
begin to reject the heavenly light, and deny their God—when this
period of time shall come the earth will be spared only for a little
season, and the end will come, and the great white throne will appear,
and God will sit upon the throne, and utter forth his voice and our
temporal heaven will flee away; and this earth although it will be so
greatly blessed, although it is so far redeemed, although it is
inhabited by the righteous for a thousand years, yet, because it will
become contaminated, and because it has been so corrupted in the past,
in consequence of the fall of man, it will have to die and undergo a
greater change, than all these changes of which I have spoken.
But what says the revelation, called the "Olive Leaf," given Dec.
27th, 1832, on this subject? We are told in this that the earth shall
die, and pass away, but it shall be quickened again, for God shall
quicken the earth upon which we live. It will become a new earth; but will be prepared more perfectly than it was under the
three other conditions in which it was placed; first its spiritual
creation, secondly its temporal, in which its spiritual and temporal
were combined. The next condition is that of restoring it from the
fall back to a temporal condition, and then a still greater change,
like unto the death of our bodies, when our bodies crumble back to
mother earth and pass themselves among the elements. So it will be
with this earth. It will crumble, or in other words, the elements will
be separated asunder, and the world will pass away from his presence.
What next? Another great change to be wrought. The same elements,
constituting the earth, and the atmosphere will be brought together
again, in such a manner and way, that the new earth will look like
unto a sea of glass, and those who are worthy of the celestial glory
will inhabit it forever. What will be the condition of the people who
dwell upon that glorious celestial world? They will have the presence
of God the Father with them. They will be permitted to dwell where he
is. He will light up that world; they will have no need of the rays of
the sun, as we now have, neither of the moon, nor stars, so far as
light is concerned, for the Lord God will be their light and their
glory from that time henceforth and forever. In this new creation the
tree of life will flourish and grow. All beings that partake of the
fruit of the tree of life will be constituted, so that they will live
forever and ever.
These are the different conditions of this creation given in a general
outline. We are now living near the close of 6,000 years during which
time evil and wickedness have prevailed. The devil has had great power
and dominion over the generations of the earth; and the earth itself
has groaned under the load of sin and corruption which has been upon
its face. Enoch when enveloped in the vision of the Almighty, beheld
and heard the earth groan under this load of wickedness, crying out to
the Lord, saying—"When will my creator sanctify me, that righteousness
may abide upon my face. When shall I rest from all the wickedness that
has gone out of me." He was informed that there was a day of rest
coming for old mother earth—for he was grieved in his heart for the
earth itself, as well as the inhabitants thereof; for he saw how the
earth was afflicted, until she groaned to be relieved. But the time
will come, when it will be sanctified. We are living near that period
of time. It is for this purpose you have come to these mountains. It
is for this purpose you have received the spirit of truth, the Holy
Ghost, the comforter, to sanctify you, and prepare you to take part in
this great work of the latter days, which God has decreed from the
beginning should come to pass in its time and season.
You have come from the nations abroad, to be instructed in the ways of
the Lord, to be taught in the ordinances that pertain to the great and
last dispensation of the fullness of times—ordinances that did not
pertain to any former dispensation—ordinances that were not made
known to any former people, but ordinances and principles that pertain
to the exaltation and glory of the world which we inhabit.
This being then the present condition of our earth, the present
condition of the Latter-day Saints, and the work that is before them,
to prepare them for the coming of the Lord, and for the redemption of the earth, what manner of persons ought you and I to be, to
prepare for so great a change which is to come, over the face of this
creation? How ought we to act and conduct ourselves? How careful we
ought to be in our doings, in all our conversations, in all our ways,
to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts, to have an eye single to his
glory, to keep his commandments in all things, to obey him with full
purpose of heart, that we may be visited with more and more of that
heavenly divine spirit, the Comforter, the Holy Ghost which we had
confirmed upon us, by authority, through the laying on of hands. That
Comforter should be nourished and cherished in our hearts. We should
not grieve it. We should listen to its whisperings, and we should seek
after more light, and knowledge, and truth. We must not expect the
Holy Spirit to impart the future knowledge that will be necessary for
the advancement of Latter-day Saints without any exertion of the mind
on our part. In all things the Lord requires man as an agent to exert
his faculties in order to obtain any blessing, of whatever nature it
may be, whether it be the spirit of vision or the spirit of
translating, or any other gift. We cannot let our minds remain
dormant, taking no thought, expecting to be filled with the spirit of
translation, or the spirit of inspiration, or revelation, or vision;
but there must be an exertion of the mind, there must be an exercise
of the agency of man and woman, in order that we may reach out after
these great and glorious gifts, promised to us. And by and by, we
will, after a school of ex perience has been given to us, find
ourselves advanced to that degree, that the Lord will condescend to
visit us by his angels—visit us by heavenly communications—visit us by
visions—visit us more fully by the spirit of revelation that the
words of Isaiah may be fulfilled to the very letter. When speaking of
the latter-day Zion, he says, "thy children shall all be taught of the
Lord" —not, being under the necessity of being taught by man, but all
shall know the Lord from the least of them unto the greatest of them.
This is the promise. All the children will be taught from on high,
like the Nephite children in ancient days. We know how it was with
them. The power of the Holy Ghost descended upon them, filling them,
and encircling them round about, by a pillar of fire, and their
tongues were loosed, even the tongues of babes and sucklings uttered
forth great and marvelous things far greater than that which Jesus had
taught to them. The Lord operated upon them, to utter forth his
knowledge, so that their fathers marveled exceedingly. So great was
the power and intelligence of Almighty God, manifested through these
little babes, that no man was permitted to write the words they spoke,
no man was permitted to utter them, no man was permitted to hand down
these things to future generations; they were things too great, too
glorious, too holy, too far advanced for the children of this world.
Hence they were hidden up from the world.
May God assist us, and pour out his Holy Spirit upon us is my prayer
in the name of Jesus. Amen.