Day 82 The Lord's Work Commences Among All Nations

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells his followers that they are the salt of the earth, and in the same sentence offers a warning that savorless salt is good for nothing. Join me in an attempt to be savory salt as I share each day one verse of scripture and one small thought. Perhaps this small daily emphasis can lead to greater savor in your life and ultimately you and I can be savory salt.

Hello, my friends and family, wherever you're listening from, thank you for joining me and know that I'm cheering for your every success. You know, it's interesting when I say that one—wherever you're listening from. Today, when we dive in and share our thoughts about the scriptures that we're reading, I want you to think about the wherever you're listening from, because it plays into our thoughts today.

Welcome to day 82 on your 365 day journey through the Book of Mormon with me a little bit each day. Today your reading is going to come from 2 Nephi chapter 30, verses 7 through 18. You're going to finish 2 Nephi chapter 30 and you're going to begin 2 Nephi 31, verses 1 through 5.

Now these chapters here and these verses inside of here have some great stuff with Nephi prophesying about the last days. And today's verse is going to talk about some of the things that are going to happen in our time. Let's take a look at verse 8 in 2 Nephi chapter 30 and see what he says here about the Lord's work.

It says in verse 8, "And it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall commence his work among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, to bring about the restoration of his people upon the earth." Now, today's thoughts, I just wanted to actually share with you some statistics about what's happened with the Lord's work in my lifetime. So, to tell you a little bit about that, my birth date is in 1980. And so, some of the stats that I pulled here deal with 1980 and then go up to the modern day.

And as of the recording of this podcast, that would be 2024. Let's look at some of this commencement of the Lord's work among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people to bring about the restoration. In 1980, there were 17 temples in operation on the earth.

In 2024, as of the recording of this podcast, there have been 335 temples either announced, under construction in various stages, with 188 of those temples dedicated and in operation. A 10-times explosion of temple work around the world! That's so exciting!

I love that! In 1980, there were 188 missions around the world that missionaries could get called to, to serve in various places. As of the recording here in 2024, there's 411 missions.

My daughter being called to one of those. It's an exciting time to watch as the Lord commences His work. And then just to give you a little bit of a framing and kind of a personal aspect, this is a, you know, small boutique podcast, right?

Savory Salt has kind of been quietly shared amongst friends and family and it has a little bit of growth as it goes through it. And yet, interestingly enough, it's found its way through the United States, France, Belgium, Canada, Kenya, the United Kingdom, Mexico, India, Italy, and Germany, and continues to grow as you continue to share it with friends and family. So when I say at the beginning of the podcast, "wherever you're listening from," this verse speaks out to me, that the Lord God shall commence His work among all nations.

The Lord is commencing His work. And you and I are part of it. That is an exciting time to be alive.

I am so excited to see what else the Lord has in store for the restoration of His people going forward. And I'm excited that you have joined along that adventure as well. That's all for today, my friends.

Remember that "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass." Keep it small, keep it simple, and always seek to be savory salt. I'll be here tomorrow. I hope you are too.