Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said in April 2023 general conference:
President Russell M. Nelson, our beloved prophet, has profoundly emphasized that our unique responsibility is to help gather scattered Israel and prepare the world for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.1 The Father of our spirits desires His children to be safely gathered home. . . .
Perhaps less well known is the ongoing missionary effort to the Polynesian Islands. It commenced in 1844 when Addison Pratt arrived in what is now French Polynesia.7 Many Polynesians already believed in eternal families and accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. Today almost 25 percent of Polynesians, in the Polynesian Islands, are members of the Church.8
I once listened to a 17-year-old girl on a distant Tahitian island who was a seventh-generation member. She paid tribute to her ancestors who had been converted in 1845 on Tubuai, two years before early Church members arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.9
Our doctrine is clear that there will be a time and a season for all people to receive and to respond to the gospel message. These examples are just a part of a much larger picture. President Nelson has continuously emphasized that the gathering of Israel is “the greatest challenge, … cause, and … work on earth today.”10
Until the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ, including the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the revelation and priesthood keys given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, understanding of the gathering of Israel was fragmentary and limited.11
The distinctive name “Israel” was the title conferred upon Jacob.12 It came to represent the posterity of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. The original promise and covenant to Father Abraham is set forth in Abraham 2:9–10, which reads in part:
“And I will make of thee a great nation, … “And I will bless [all nations] through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father.” . . . . Clearly the high point in Israel’s chronological history is the birth, message, ministry, and mission of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.20
After the Savior’s eternity-shaping death and Resurrection, a second well-known scattering of Judah occurred between AD 70 and AD 135 when, due to Roman oppression and persecution, the Jews dispersed throughout the then-known world.
President Nelson has taught, “The Book of Mormon came forth as a sign that the Lord had commenced to gather [the] children of the covenant.”21 Thus, the Book of Mormon, translated by the Prophet Joseph Smith through the gift and power of God, is directed to Lehi’s descendants, scattered Israel, and Gentiles who are adopted into the tribes of Israel. The chapter heading to 1 Nephi 22 reads in part, “Israel will be scattered upon all the face of the earth—The Gentiles will nurse and nourish Israel with the gospel in the last days.” The Book of Mormon title page reads that one of the book’s purposes is for “the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ.” With the Restoration and Book of Mormon, the concept of gathering Israel has greatly expanded.22
Those who accept the gospel of Jesus Christ, regardless of lineage, become part of gathered Israel.23 With that gathering and the numerous temples built and announced, we are in a unique position to gather Israel on both sides of the veil as never before under the Father’s plan.
President Spencer W. Kimball, speaking of the literal gathering of Israel, stated: “Now, the gathering of Israel consists of joining the true church and … coming to a knowledge of the true God. … Any person, therefore, who has accepted the restored gospel, and who now seeks to worship the Lord in his own tongue and with the Saints in the nations where he lives, has complied with the law of the gathering of Israel and is heir to all of the blessings promised the Saints in these last days.”24
“The gathering of Israel now involves conversion.”25
~Elder Quentin L. Cook, Safely Gathered Home (Salt Lake City: Ensign, April 2023) 20-23 or to access Elder Cook’s complete talk, click. . . . ‘Safely Gathered Home’.
