A friend asks: "Does any one ever remember hearing that one day we will not or may not be able to hold church meetings at our church buildings? In other words will we only be able to gather in small groups at a private home?"
He would like to use it in a presentation to stake leadership if it can be traced to a particular General Authority.
When you say "we", are you referring to the American Latter-day Saints?
I have never heard nor read that, but I do know of a talk that spoke of the Saints in an African nation who were living under martial law for several years. They were greatly restricted in how, where and when they could worship. I'll find the link to the talk and put it here. Kind of an interesting story.
I know that doesn't answer your question; hopefully someone has the quote you are looking for and can post it for us here.
Found what I was referring to. Elder Sheldon F. Child spoke it in 2003 November General Conference:
"In West Africa, where we are currently serving, we feel His Spirit being poured out in rich abundance upon the faithful Saints. In 1989 a storm hit Ghananot a storm of wind or rain, but a storm of persecution, slander, and misunderstandings. It was a trying time; the Church was new there. All of our non-African missionaries were required to leave the country. Our meetinghouses were locked and guarded so that they could not be used by the members. The Saints could not gather together, so they worshiped as families in their own homes. Some members were arrested and even imprisoned. This period of time is referred to as the freeze. Members had little contact or support from the outside Church, but they were not left on their own to weather the storm. They had the scriptures and the words of the prophets; they put their trust and faith in the Lord, and He poured out His Spirit upon them. One member of the Church said: We had the Spirit of the Lord with us; we could feel Him guiding and directing us. We drew closer to one another, and we drew nearer to the Savior.
For 18 months the Saints fasted and prayed for the day when the freeze would end. In November of 1990, the ban was lifted. The worst of the storm had passed, but it had taken its toll. There were those who had fallen away. Their roots had been shallow and their foundation weak. The foundation of the Church in Ghana today is built on the faith of those who weathered the storm. They were deeply rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ."
I've put this question also to email contacts and on the LDSConseravtive forum. Mirkwood sent this to me in an email.
The Life of Heber C. Kimball pg. 442, first paragraph:
"He said that this government would dissolve pretty much all the laws passed by our legislature, and that the time owuld come when the government would stop the Saints from holding meetings. When this was done the Lord would pour out His judgements.
"This quote is attributed to Col. Robert Smith who has attriubtuions 1855-1857. The book does not give any further context to this quote. My question is whether this was a future event or one that the early Saints went through."
My friend who asked me to help him with this question is thinking here in the USA. He is our stake sunday school president and is involved in the training of more members to get good at lesson instruction.
