From my birth I have been immersed in the Restoration Gospel. My forebearers were converted in England in the 1840s and migrated to the United States of America only to find that the Church had been fragmented by the martyrdom of the prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. Accepting the belief that most of the Saints had gone west with Brigham Young, they made their way to Salt Lake City. Sadly, they soon discovered that the doctrines being practiced there were not in harmony with that which they had been converted. Consequently, they returned to the Midwest, settling in western Iowa. There they found association and fellowship with the growing movement to reorganize the Church under the leadership of Joseph Smith III, the son of the prophet. My ancestors on both my father’s side and on my mother’s side were a part of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS). My religious belief was built upon the strong family conviction that this was God’s true church.

As a young man growing up in this faith I had many occasions to experience first hand and personally the gifts associated with the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the Lord had spoken personally to me on more than one occasion that if I would be faithful and diligent I could become a “polished shaft” in His hands. My early adult life was filled with work in and for the Church. In the late 1970s and early 1980s changes began to take place in the RLDS Church which were troublesome to my soul. The changes were contradictory to the beliefs that I had accepted as being truth. As these theological departures became more and more prominent and apparent, my experience with the RLDS Church became more and more unpleasant. Sides were being drawn in the body of members — liberal vs. conservative. I was among those who were labeled as “dissidents.” As the rift between the opposing views widened, my determination to remain faithful to the gospel as restored in 1830 increased. The gospel as restored in 1830 and taught in the Reorganization was precious and must be preserved in its purity. In our determination to remain faithful, my companion and I began to meet with others of like mind, and for several years we met in Restoration branches seeking to preserve the “faith once delivered to the saints.” The time came when we sensed that we could not achieve the kingdom of God in small branches that were growing fiercely independent.

In the early 1990s a prayer and study group was formed to seek wisdom and direction from the Lord as to how the now scattered saints could be brought together and once again be one body — the body of Christ. It was my privilege to have been invited to share with that group of men. From that body of men in 1999 came spiritual insight and inspired counsel to send forth a “Proclamation and Invitation to the Faithful.” As the Proclamation began to circulate, faithful Saints began to sign the document, and a rally was begun which resulted in the renewal and reordering of the Church. Hence in April of 2000 an assembly of over 400 saints determined to organize as the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We believed that we were acting under divine direction and that the Gospel restored in 1830 was now being renewed and preserved as the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The assembly of April 2000 accepted as the divine will a message of instruction I had received earlier that year. Specific instruction was given on how to set the Church in order that it should once again be enabled and charged with the commission to establish the kingdom of God on earth. In September of that same year in obedience to the instruction given seven apostles were chosen and ordained thus providing the organic structure necessary to set the Church in order again upon the earth. In April of 2002, Frederick N. Larsen was directed of the Lord to present himself to the Church, as did his great grandfather Joseph Smith III, for its approval and his ordination as President of the High Priesthood and prophet, seer, and revelator to the Church.

I shall never forget that day when once again a prophet of the Lord’s own choosing was at the helm directing His Church toward the kingdom of God. It has been my great joy to have been in some small way a tool in bringing about the renewal of His Church.

May His Kingdom Come!