🏛️ The Rameumptom, the Temples, and the Voice We Yearn For

President Russell M. Nelson just turned 101. That’s a gift. My own mother lived to a ripe old age, and I know the honor that comes with a long life.

But when the candles clear, this presidency will be remembered for one thing above all: temples—hundreds announced, rising like polished mountains around the world.

If everything in Zion were clear and honest, we could simply celebrate the man and smile. But because so much is veiled—history edited, records locked, money hidden—questions keep tugging at the sleeve even on a birthday. If all were truly in the light, we wouldn’t feel the need to ask them.

✨ The Father We Actually Long For

Ask most Latter-day Saints why they go to the temple and they’ll say, “to be closer to our Father in Heaven.” That yearning is real.

But here’s the doctrine we whisper too softly: when we are born again—baptized with fire and the Holy Ghost—Jesus Christ becomes our spiritual Father. He gives us new life. He claims us as His sons and daughters. That’s the Voice our spirit aches to hear, the embrace we keep chasing through recommends and rooms. Of course we honor Father and Mother in Heaven—but the living rebirth comes through Christ now, not someday. We can walk with HIM outside of the Temple also. Someday HE will even introduce us to THEM.... FATHER AND MOTHER.

📖 “Only One Person at a Time”: Alma and the Rameumptom

Alma watched a religion turn proud and rigid—and his heart broke.

Alma 31:12–13 describes the Rameumptom in the Zoramite synagogues: a high stand “which would only admit one person,” so that “whosoever desired to worship must go forth and stand upon the top thereof” and recite the approved prayer. One place. One at a time. One script.

Then listen to what they said on that stand:

“Holy God, we thank thee that thou hast separated us from our brethren… that thou hast elected us to be thy holy children.” (Alma 31:16–18, esp. the “elected… holy” and “separated” language)

Chosen. Better. Authorized. And—tragically—“there shall be no Christ.” (v. 16)

Alma sees a people convinced that worship only “counts” in one elevated place, in one approved way, by one voice at a time, with a prayer that says, “we’re the chosen; others are cast off.” He mourns because it feels devout while quietly choking the living God out of everyday life.

Sound familiar?

Jacob 2:13: “Ye suppose ye are better than another” because of your costly show.
2 Nephi 28:21, 24–25, 29: “All is well in Zion… we have enough.”
Mormon 8:36–37: “Ye do love money more than the poor… why have ye built up churches unto yourselves to get gain?”

The Book of Mormon keeps warning: when religion turns into status, place, and polish, the poor get pushed out and the proud call it “Zion.”

🔄 What Changed? Worship Then and Now

The Zoramites changed the manner of worship (Alma 31). After Joseph, we did too. Under Brigham, ordinances were revised; revelations and histories were edited; the story bent toward a complicated temple-centric system where the holiest things get fenced inside buildings, schedules, and scripts.

Meanwhile, the Nemenhah show a different path—temple as now, not “someday”:

Purification and rebirth —die to the old, rise in the Peacemaker’s breath today.
Family governance led by mothers, where revelation and mercy order the house and the village.
Healing rites that expect God to answer now, not after death.
Endowment as entry, not rehearsal—teachings that lead a living soul through the veil of flesh to converse with God while still in mortality.

Said simply:

LDS temples are largely rehearsal—signs pointing forward: hold on, wait, endure, someday.
Nemenhah temples are arrival—receive the Peacemaker now, walk in His gifts now, build Zion in the kitchen, the lodge, the field now.

One culture treats the holiest moments as future drama; the other treats them as today’s bread.

💰 Marble, Money, and the “McDonald’s” Feeling

Two years ago the Church paid a $5 million penalty for hiding billions behind shell entities. Not my rumor—public record. Soon after, a gush of temple announcements. Maybe coincidence. But it makes ordinary saints ask whether we’ve mistaken building programs for building Zion.

McDonald’s isn’t really about hamburgers; it’s about real estate. When religion starts to feel the same—assets, parcels, prestige—Mormon 8’s old mirror starts to glare: love of money over the poor; churches for gain.

If temples become the main outlet for wealth while the widow and refugee wait, that’s not Zion—it’s the Rameumptom with better lighting.

🕰️ “Why Ask This on His Birthday?”

Because truth loves daylight.

If history hadn’t been rewritten, if records weren’t locked, if finances weren’t hidden, we wouldn’t feel any need to ask. We’d sing, cut the cake, and be done. But secrecy trained us to hesitate.

🕊️ The Way Back Isn’t a Stand—It’s a Voice

Alma didn’t tell the Zoramites to polish the stand; he invited them back to God’s living voice. The Book of Mormon keeps pointing at the same door:

Pray in your fields, your homes, your closets—God hears.
Break your heart, not your budget.
Seek the baptism of fire—let Christ father you into new life.
Feed the poor, lift the broken, reconcile with your enemy—that is temple work written on flesh.

Celebrate a long life, yes. But don’t confuse longevity with legacy, nor temples with truth. Don’t climb a modern Rameumptom thinking proximity to stone equals proximity to God.

Because the Lord still whispers, here and now:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Come—not to a stand, or a schedule, or a script—but to Him.

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🕊️ If the Prophets Spoke Today

And if King Benjamin were standing here, I think he’d say: “Carry the peace of God in your tents, with your families, every day. Do not think it is tied to a building, but let it flow into your homes. If you remember Him, He will remember you.”

And if Nephi were here, he’d cry: “Do not suppose the Lord can only be worshiped in one place. The way is plain before you — repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and feast upon His word. He promises to walk with you always, if you will but hearken to His voice.”

And if Alma were here, he’d plead: “Do not climb the Rameumptom of your day. Let the Spirit be your stand. Let your worship be every breath, every prayer, every humble act. For the Lord hath said: if ye remember me, ye shall have my Spirit to be with you forever.”

This is their message, and I believe it is the same today:
Not stone, not marble, not recommend desks — but Christ in you, always.

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