I was sitting at my desk working one afternoon when the front door opened and in walked my Annie, just getting home from school. “Daddy,” she called through the house. “Up here,” I said.

She came up, flopped down, and with no preamble said, “Is the second coming going to be this year?”

How’s that for a report on your day? Well, she went on to tell me that there’d been quite a bit of talk at school about the second coming, and weird weather patterns, and the world was coming to an end, and so on and so forth. When I asked her why this was so important to her, she said, “Because I don’t want to die.”

That got me! You see, she believed that if Jesus came this year that she would die. Well, I explained to her that even if Jesus did come this year, as long as she continued to keep the commandments, she wasn’t going to die. But she’d be rescued by Him from the fires and the destruction. Besides, I said, I’m pretty sure He’s not coming this year.

“How do you know?” she said.

“Well, I don’t, for sure,” I replied. “No one knows exactly when He’s coming. But I trust the prophets, and that doesn’t seem to be their top concern at the moment.”

“Oh good,” she said, “because I really want to learn to drive and…” - and all that stuff.

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In the Book of Mormon there is a man who gets little coverage or credit notwithstanding his greatness. He is Mosiah, the father of King Benjamin, and the grandfather of King Mosiah.

Mosiah “1” was a righteous man living among the Nephites at a time of wickedness and rebellion. War and contention convulsed his people, and many battles were fought by the Nephites against the Lamanites. Evidently it must have become so critical that the Lord warned Mosiah to flee out of the land of Nephi taking the faithful with him, and the sacred records.

Among those who escaped with Mosiah was Abinadom, the last man to inscribe on the Small Plates of Nephi. These righteous refugees left the land of Nephi, and journeyed far to the north, and discovered a lost civilization of people called the people of Zarahemla. The people of Mosiah and the people of Zarahemla “did unite together and Mosiah was appointed to be their King.” This group becomes the principal center of Nephite culture from that time forward.

Now, what became of those Nephites that they left from, who remaining in the land southward? Well, I don’t know. They are never mentioned again. I can only conclude whether by being absorbed by destruction of war, they were Nephites no more. It seems then that Mosiah saved the faithful from annihilation.

It has been the pattern of history, my friends, since the days of Enoch and Moses, for the Almighty to warn His people of impending destruction, and as often as not, help them escape the desolation that would follow. Those same promises follow us today.

Blessed are they who have prophets, seers, and revelators among them, and recognize their power. Therefore, Annie, my dearest, look to the prophets, follow them, trust them, and whatever happens, you will be safe.