Wars and rumors of wars

Since Book of Mormon times, the Lord, through his prophets has told his people that one of the predictors of major events in the Great Plan of the Eternal God (Alma 34:9) would be wars and rumors of wars. In Mormon 8:30, Moroni, who is finishing the record of his father, prophesies of our day:

"Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be heard of fires, and tempests, and vapors of smoke in foreign lands; And there shall also be heard of wars, rumors of wars, and earthquakes in divers places. Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, …and all manner of abominations …"

In Doctrine and Covenants 45:26, speaking of conditions before the second coming, Joseph Smith was given, in part, the following revelation:

"And in that day shall be heard of wars and rumors of wars, and the whole earth shall be in commotion, and men's hearts shall fail them, and they shall say that Christ delayeth his coming until the end of the earth."

Men’s hearts do fail them in these last days. Their hearts fail because they lack faith and despair for peace – they are sure that peace can never come – that there is no Christ and he will never come to usher in the thousand years of peace promised during the Millenium.
The question that occurs to me is this: Can we ever enjoy peace again? Will there ever be peace on the Earth until Christ comes in his Crimson Robe to usher in the millennium? Church leaders have told us that peace can come – if there is enough desire for peace. President Kimball and his counselors offered the following:

“From the First Presidency,” Church News, 20 Dec. 1980, p. 3.
We call upon the heads of nations to sit down and reason together in good faith to resolve their differences. If men of good will can bring themselves to do so, they may save the world from a holocaust, the depth and breadth of which can scarcely be imagined. We are confident that when there is enough of a desire for peace and a will to bring it about, it is not beyond the possibility of attainment.

President Hinckley recently instructed us to pray for peace:

President Gordon B. Hinckley, “Benediction,” Ensign, May 2003, 99
"Pray for peace in the earth, that the Almighty who governs the universe will stretch forth His hand and let His Spirit brood upon the people, that the nations may not rage one against another."

The real key to happiness in the turmoil that surrounds the last days is that we can choose to find the peace that the gospel brings even in the midst of a war-filled world:

Spencer W. Kimball, "Remember the Mission of the Church," Ensign (May 1982): 5.
"Be peacemakers even though we must live in a world filled with wars and rumors of wars!"

Marvin J. Ashton, Be of Good Cheer [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1987], 87
"We plead for peace in our prayers and thoughts. Where is peace? Can we ever enjoy this great gift while wars, rumors of wars, discord, evil, and contention swirl all around us? The answer is yes. …we can learn to know our Father and find inner peace as we live His principles."

The Savior was called “The Prince of Peace.” At His coming it was said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." (Luke 2: 14) Perhaps our only real comfort lies in the peace that the Savior offers: us in John 14:27 as He left the earth:

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

The peace that the Savior refers to is the knowledge of a life beyond this one – the sure knowledge that if we are living the gospel, the eternal peace of eternal life in the Celestial Kingdom can be ours. Let us seek the peace that comes as we love and serve one another in this life. My constant prayer for each of us is that we may be worthy to be together and dwell with God the Father in the life to come.