Activity A: Go through the 4 Steps of Likening.  Write each step and your answers in your Learning Journal.

Preaching the gospel

The Prophet Joseph Smith wrote, “Persecution has not stopped the progress of truth” (History of the Church, 4:540). The Lord had previously called many members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to serve missions overseas. Despite illness and difficulty, these determined brethren obediently left Nauvoo to serve, even though their families were suffering and ill.  As a result, thousands of people—primarily from England—received a witness from God, joined the Church, and traveled to Nauvoo. They became a great strength to the Church.

Read 1 Nephi 3:7 and Doctrine and Covenants 3:1, and consider how these verses might relate to this example of missionary work. 

President Henry B. Eyring wrote:  According to our records, it is estimated that between 7,500 and 8,000 were baptized during the two missions of the Twelve to the British Isles. This laid the foundation for missionary work in Europe. By the end of the 19th century, some 90,000 had gathered to America, with the most of these coming from the British Isles and Scandinavia. The Lord had inspired Joseph and those faithful missionaries who went to work to achieve a harvest that must have, at the time, seemed beyond them. But the Lord, with His perfect foresight and preparation, made it possible. (Henry B. Eyring, “He Goes before Us,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2020, 68).

Step 4:  How might the example of these missionaries in 1840 help us today when called to serve?

Activity B: Go through the 4 Steps of Likening.  Write each step and your answers in your Learning Journal.

Establishing the Relief Society

While the Saints were building the Nauvoo Temple, a few sisters noticed that many of the men working on the temple lacked adequate shoes, pants, and shirts. Inspired by the Lord, they organized a group of women and began working together to provide these clothes. Like similar groups of the time, they drafted a constitution. They presented the document to Joseph Smith for his approval.

[When] Joseph [saw it, he] said it was the best constitution of its kind. “But this is not what you want,” he said. “Tell the sisters their offering is accepted of the Lord and He has something better for them. … I will organize the women under the priesthood, after the pattern of the priesthood.” (Saints, 1:448)

On March 17, 1842, God directed Joseph Smith to organize the Relief Society. God continues to inspire Relief Society leaders today to serve and strengthen members of the Church and countless others.

Read Doctrine and Covenants 58:26–28, looking for how these verses might relate to the inspired women whose actions led to the establishment of the Relief Society.

Eliza R. Snow, secretary of the Relief Society in Nauvoo and later the second General President of the Relief Society taught: Although the name [Relief Society] may be of modern date, the institution is of ancient origin. We were told by [the Prophet Joseph Smith] that the same organization existed in the church anciently. (Eliza R. Snow, “Female Relief Society,” Deseret News, Apr. 22, 1868, 1; see also Daughters in My Kingdom [2011], 7)

Step 4:  How might the example of these sisters in 1840 help us today when called to serve?