The second coming is a topic of endless speculation for us, especially in light of the social unrest and wars and rumors of wars that mark our time.

President Russell M. Nelson has spoken often of the Savior's Second Coming in words like these from the October 2024 General Conference. The best is yet to come,

my dear brothers and sisters, because the Savior is coming again. The best is yet to come because the

Lord is hastening his work. The best is yet to come as we fully turn our hearts and our lives to Jesus Christ.

Yet this best time, this transcendent event, also has harrowing events that preceded, as we talk about in studying today's Doctrine and Covenants, Section 45.

Hello, we're Scott and Maureen Proctor.

Welcome to Meridian Magazine's Come Follow Me podcast, where today we are studying the weighty

section 45 of the Doctrine and Covenants.

Now, the Second Coming is a glorious topic because we yearn for the Lord, but the events leading up to

it may make you tremble, especially because things change so quickly. President Russell M. Nelson

said, admittedly, the Lord has spoken of our day in sobering terms. He warned that in our day men's hearts would fail them,

and that even the very elect would be at risk of being deceived. He told the prophet

Joseph Smith that peace would be taken from the earth, and calamities would befall mankind.

Yet the Lord has also provided a vision of how remarkable this dispensation

is. He inspired the prophet Joseph Smith to declare that the work of these last days is one of

vast magnitude. Its glories are past description, and its grandeur unsurpassable.

President Nelson said,

How are we to deal with both the sombre prophecies and the glorious pronouncements about our day?

The Lord told us how, with simple but stunning reassurance,

If ye are prepared, you shall not fear.

What a promise.

It is one that can literally change the way we see our future.

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