Bro C's Teaching Emporium

🗓 Key Events

• Summer 1831: Joseph Smith designated Independence, Missouri, as the “center place” of Zion — the New Jerusalem — and directed early Saints to begin gathering there.
• 1832–1833: Tensions rose between the Latter-day Saints and local Missourians. Cultural, religious, and economic differences fueled suspicion and hostility.
• July 1833: A mob of Jackson County residents destroyed the Evening and Morning Star printing office (the Church’s publication) and tarred and feathered Bishop Edward Partridge.
• November 1833: Armed conflict broke out. Several skirmishes occurred between the Saints and the Missouri settlers.
• Early November 1833: Under threats of death and further violence, the Saints agreed to leave Jackson County.
  Most were driven out between November 4 and November 7, 1833, crossing the Missouri River into Clay County, where they took temporary refuge.

📍 Aftermath

• By 1834, virtually all members had been forced out of Jackson County.
• The Lord through the Prophet, Joseph Smith,  later organized Zion’s Camp (1834) to aid and reestablish the displaced Saints, but the effort did not result in their return.
• The main body of the Church eventually gathered farther north in Caldwell County, Missouri.
• The citizens of Clay County were moved by the difficult situation caused by the residents of Jackson County.  They opened the county to the saints and did as much as they could to alleviate their suffering.
• Although the residents of Clay County had pity on the saints, they made it clear that the saints were only welcome in Clay County temporarily.
• 1835-1836 In the next few years, the saints in Clay County began making permanent homes as new members from outside Missouri came to “establish Zion.”  These new members also began purchasing lands and building homes.  This started to strain the relationship between the residents of Clay County and the Church.
• March 1836. The Kirtland Temple was finished and dedicated in March, 1836.  Because of the high cost of building the temple, the Church was heavily in debt.  Members throughout the country had already donated much of their money to building Zion and the temple.
• March 1836 Late Spring: With the Saints in Missouri needing a new place to settle, Joseph felt even more pressure to raise money to buy lands. He decided to open a church store near Kirtland and borrowed more money to purchase goods to sell there. The store had some success, but many Saints took advantage of Joseph’s kindness and trust, knowing he would not refuse them credit at the store.
• By the end of July, neither the store nor anything else church leaders tried had eased the church’s debt. Desperate, Joseph left Kirtland with Sidney, Hyrum, and Oliver for Salem, a city on the East Coast, after hearing from a church member who thought he knew where to find a cache of hidden money. No money came of the lead when they arrived in the city, and Joseph turned to the Lord for guidance.
• In July 1836,  William Phelps and other church leaders in Clay county wrote the prophet to tell him that local officials had summoned church leaders to the courthouse, where they discussed the Saints’ future in their county. The officials had spoken calmly and politely, but their words left no room for compromise.  The Saints had worn out their welcome in Clay County.
• Since the Saints could not return to Jackson County, the officials recommended that they look for a new place to live—somewhere they could be by themselves. The church leaders in Clay County agreed to leave rather than risk another violent expulsion.
• December 1836. Caldwell County created by the Missouri State Legislature as a place for the Latter-day Saints to relocate.
• 1837 January To help alleviate the financial crisis, the Church organized an “anti-banking company” called the Kirtland Safety Society in January 1837.  They began issuing their own notes (currency) and doing business in Kirtland and the surrounding area.
• 1837 February, the Sate of Ohio refused to grand the Kirtland Safety Society a charter. The public lost confidence in the “anti-bank.”  A few antagonists of the Church and Jospeh used this to deplete the Safety Society’s ability to hold money in reserve.  By late spring and early summer, a region financial panic occurred throughout the United States and the Kirtland Safety Society collapsed.
• The collapse of the Society’s bank only fueled negative feelings about Joseph Smith and the Church.  Many members of the Church, including some apostles, apostatized, left the Church, and began bitterly opposing Joseph Smith, making threats on his life.
• By late spring of 1837, many of the Saints in Zion were now settled along a stream called Shoal Creek, 50 miles northeast of Independence, MO.  They had founded a town called Far West, in Caldwell County—a county which had been organized by the Missouri legislature for the Saints’ ongoing problems with their neighbors. 

A long time ago, there lived a young man of modest means but uncommon strength of character. He worked long hours, treated others fairly, and used his hands to build what his heart could envision.  By diligence and goodness, his name became known across the land, and in time he built an empire of extraordinary wealth.

Yet the man feared what riches often do to the soul.

So he set a condition upon his fortune: that only those who could both prove they were of his bloodline and walk in his integrity could inherit it.  His hope was that his legal descendants would value virtue as much as gold.

Years passed into centuries.

His posterity multiplied, but their records were lost, their hearts grew faint, and few remembered the standard of the man from whom they came.  The empire, untouched and ever-growing, waited in silence for a rightful heir.

Generations later, in a quiet village, two brothers lived by simple trades.
One evening, as dusk fell and rain whispered on the roof, a stranger knocked upon their door.

They welcomed him in, shared their food, and warmed him by their fire.

The stranger told them a story—of a man long dead, whose immense fortune remained sealed away, awaiting an heir both true in blood and in spirit.  “I know,” said the stranger, “how to prove your claim. This wealth can be yours.  I can help you find the right legal documents—but you must live as he lived.”

The elder brother leaned forward, his eyes bright with wonder.  The younger laughed, shaking his head. “Another tale for fools,” he said, and sent the stranger from their home.

D. Todd Christofferson,  excerpts from “Lifelong Disciples of Jesus Christ” at a Religious Educators Conference Devotional, June 12, 202

1. What is “lifelong discipleship?”
2. Lifelong discipleship is an essential aspect of the doctrine of Christ. The doctrine of Christ expresses how we come unto Christ and receive the gift of His atoning grace. We exercise our agency to have faith in Him, repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Ghost. But for Christ’s Atonement to have its full, transformative effect in us requires that we continue in this covenant path—the path of discipleship—to the end of our mortal lives. In Nephi’s words: “And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved.”
3. In the CES resource “Strengthening Religious Education,” we’re taught:
4. “The purpose of religious education is to teach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ from the scriptures and modern prophets in a way that helps our students:
5. Develop faith in and a testimony of Heavenly Father and His ‘great plan,’ …
6. Become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ, who make and keep covenants, … [and]
7. Strengthen their ability to find answers, resolve doubts, respond with faith, and give reason for the hope within them in whatever challenges they may face.”¹
8. Lifelong discipleship is an essential aspect of the doctrine of Christ. The doctrine of Christ expresses how we come unto Christ and receive the gift of His atoning grace. We exercise our agency to have faith in Him, repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Ghost. But for Christ’s Atonement to have its full, transformative effect in us requires that we continue in this covenant path—the path of discipleship—to the end of our mortal lives. In Nephi’s words: “And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved.”²
9. President Nelson has taught: “True disciples of Jesus Christ are willing to stand out, speak up, and be different from the people of the world. They are undaunted, devoted, and courageous.” How is this kind of discipleship achieved? What does that mean for us as religious educators? And how can we more effectively teach in a way that our youth and young adults become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ?
10. Agency’s Role in Discipleship
11. So first, agency’s role in discipleship. One of the most important gifts God gave His children was moral agency. This power and privilege—and responsibility—to act for ourselves is essential to realizing our full potential as children of God. It is central to our progression on the covenant path. God’s plan, as you know, was not to do everything for us but to provide a structure that allowed us to make our own choices to grow individually. Agency was key to our progression as spirits in the past, and it is key for what we can become under God’s plan of happiness, now and in eternity.
12. The adversary knows this and seeks to compromise our agency.
13. The War in Heaven can be seen, in large part, as a battle to preserve the agency of man. And that battle continues in this mortal sphere. Satan attacks agency on at least two fronts. On the one hand, he inspires [ideas and practices] that diminish personal responsibility or that employ [being forced or manipulated].
14. The other focus of the adversary’s assault against agency has particular significance for us as teachers. As identified in the scripture just cited, Satan, “the father of all lies,” acts “to deceive and to blind men.” Agency becomes meaningless if we don’t know what’s true and what’s not, and therefore cannot make informed, intelligent choices. The antidote to deception is truth….
15. God sent His Son as “the way, the truth, and the life.” He gives us prophets to teach and guide us to truth. He’s given the gift of the Holy Ghost to confirm that truth, and the teacher is to help students hear and choose to embrace truth.
16. But agency in the context of religious education requires a further step beyond imparting gospel truths. It is essential that we teach in a way that invites students to exercise their agency in the learning process. We want to help them become active participants in the process and take responsibility for their own learning. Activating students’ agency to take personal ownership in learning has implications for the development of lasting belief, lasting testimony. It is in so doing that they can become active and lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ.
17. Taking ownership for choices deepens personal conviction. When we don’t act for ourselves, we can unwittingly find that our faith lacks the depth required to overcome life’s questions and challenges and to be lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. In the Lord’s own words:
18. “For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day.”
19. Teaching in the Savior’s Way
20. Now, this foundational role agency plays in our own personal development has implications for the way we teach as religious educators….And we ask you, our religious educators, to teach in ways that invite personal engagement and ownership of learning. In each of these settings, real growth happens most effectively when young people are given opportunities to act and not just be acted upon.
21. To create these types of learning experiences for His disciples, the Savior found ways to help them take responsibility for their learning. Consider [these] ways the Savior engaged His disciples: (1) asking inspired questions, and (2) extending personal invitations.  In all the Savior’s invitations, He gives His disciples opportunities to act, to think, and to take ownership of their learning and their growth.
22. Implications for Religious Education
23. Earlier this year, Elder Clark Gilbert extended an invitation to our seminary and institute teachers to find ways deliberately to provide students opportunities to act and take responsibility for their learning….this is a reminder that effective teachers invite students to take responsibility in their own learning.
24. In (the church manual) “Teaching in the Savior’s Way”, we’re reminded that inviting diligent learning requires us to help students become agents in their own learning process. There are several ways this can happen, but let me emphasize at least three from that teaching resource.
    1. First, we can create learning experiences where we “invite learners to prepare to learn.” This can happen through pre-reading assignments, study questions, and personal invitations.
    2. Second, we should “encourage learners to share the truths they are learning.” There are so many ways to do this, and each of you will find personalized approaches that work for you and your students.
    3. And third, we should “invite learners to live what they are learning” (italics added). We should always look for ways to invite students to apply what they are learning in their own lives. This can come through personal invitations, reflective exercises, and a host of other efforts to help students change and become something more in Christ.
25. Helping Students Take Charge of Their Testimonies
26. Finally, on helping students take charge of their testimonies. Inviting diligent learning is foundational to developing lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ because it helps learners take responsibility for their learning, as we’ve been saying. One of the ways President Nelson has encouraged this ownership of our personal growth is in his invitation to the young adults to take charge of their testimonies. In his worldwide devotional to young adults in 2022, President Nelson stated:
27. “I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth. Don’t pollute it with the false philosophies of unbelieving men and women and then wonder why your testimony is waning. Engage in daily, earnest, humble prayer. Nourish yourself in the words of ancient and modern prophets. Ask the Lord to teach you how to hear Him better. Spend more time in the temple and in family history work. As you make your testimony your highest priority, watch for miracles to happen in your life.”
28. When he spoke to the young adults, President Nelson asked a series of questions: “Do you want to feel peace about concerns that presently plague you? Do you want to know Jesus Christ better? Do you want to learn how His divine power can heal your wounds and weaknesses? Do you want to experience the sweet, soothing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ working in your life? Seeking to answer these questions will require effort—much effort.” He validates the students’ concerns by saying: “If you have questions—and I hope you do—seek answers with the fervent desire to believe. Learn all you can about the gospel and be sure to turn to truth-filled sources for guidance.”
29. When we help students exercise their personal agency, their conversion will deepen in ways that lead to lifelong discipleship. Last October, President Nelson stated, “Now is the time for us to make our discipleship our highest priority.” And he added, “It is neither too early nor too late for you to become a devout disciple of Jesus Christ.” Let us act diligently now before it is too late. Now is the time, as he said.

In an August 1833 revelation, the Lord commanded the Latter-day Saints in Kirtland, Ohio, to “commence a work of laying out and preparing a beginning and foundation of the city of the stake of Zion here in the land of Kirtland beginning at my house.” For the next three years, the Saints consecrated much of their time and talents to construct the House of the Lord, later known as the Kirtland Temple.

The First Presidency at that time—Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams—saw the building in vision in 1833 and presided over the laying of the temple cornerstone at a ceremony held on July 23. The revealed design called for an interior 55 feet wide by 65 feet long with a large first-floor assembly room for administering the sacrament, preaching, fasting, and praying, and another large hall on the second floor for a school of the elders. The exterior resembled the New England Protestant style, but the interior introduced unique features, particularly the arrangement of two series of four-tiered pulpits on each end of the assembly rooms for seating the presidencies of the Melchizedek and Aaronic Priesthoods.

A limestone quarry a few miles from the temple provided stone for the temple walls, and a sawmill built and operated through the consecrated service of the Saints supplied wood for the interior. Skilled carpenters, including Jacob Bump, Truman Angell, and Brigham Young, applied their craft to beautify the building. Children gathered discarded shards of crockery and china for mixing into the stucco finish applied to the temple’s exterior.

As the temple neared completion, Joseph Smith met in the structure with Latter-day Saint men who had been ordained to the priesthood in January and February to prepare for the dedication. The assembled men prayed together, experienced spiritual manifestations, partook of the sacrament, and participated in sacred rituals, including ceremonial washing and anointing. On January 21, 1836, Joseph Smith experienced a vision of celestial glory now found in Doctrine and Covenants 137.

On March 27, 1836, the Saints assembled for the temple’s dedication. The Saints partook of the sacrament and listened to several sermons. Joseph Smith offered a prayer of dedication that he had received by revelation (now D&C 109), which the Saints followed by giving the Hosanna Shout and singing “The Spirit of God like a Fire Is Burning,” a hymn penned by William W. Phelps for the occasion. The dedicatory prayer, Hosanna Shout, and Phelps’s hymn became standard elements of subsequent dedicatory proceedings of Latter-day Saint temples.

At the dedication ceremony and at meetings in the following weeks, Latter-day Saints experienced dramatic outpourings of the Holy Spirit and remarkable spiritual events within the temple that fulfilled a promise in earlier revelations that the Lord would “endow” the Saints with “power from on high.” Most notably, a vision of Jesus Christ and several Old Testament prophets seen by Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery inaugurated the worldwide gathering of Israel and restored a fulness of the sealing power.

The temple functioned as a center of the Kirtland Saints’ worship, hosting Sabbath, prayer, and fasting meetings. Church leaders and missionaries assembled for study in subjects including reading, writing, history, and geography. The last session of the Kirtland School of the Prophets (also called the School of the Elders) was held in the temple.

A year after the temple’s dedication, a financial crisis beset the Saints in Kirtland. Angry at Church leaders, a faction led by dissenter Warren Parrish attempted to seize the building. Months later, an unknown arsonist tried to set fire to the building. Threats of violence and other troubles led Church leaders and many Saints to leave Ohio for Far West, Missouri. The relatively few Saints remaining in Kirtland continued to worship and congregate in the temple.

After Joseph Smith’s death in 1844, most members of the Kirtland congregation embraced the “New Organization,” a movement that eventually became the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, led by Joseph’s son Joseph Smith III. In 1880, a court recognized the heirs of Joseph Smith as those holding title to the building, and two decades later, the RLDS Church (later Community of Christ) secured ownership through a legal claim of continuous use (known as adverse possession). Community of Christ has cared for the building since that time.

Eliza R. Snow

“The ceremonies of that dedication may be rehearsed, but no mortal language can describe the heavenly manifestations of that memorable day. Angels appeared to some, while a sense of divine presence was realized by all present, and each heart was filled with ‘joy inexpressible and full of glory.’”

Sylvia Cutler Webb

“One of my earliest recollections was the dedication of the Temple. My father took us up on his lap and told us why we were going and what it meant to dedicate a house to God. And although so very young at the time, I clearly remember the occasion. I can look back through the lapse of years and see as I saw then Joseph the Prophet, standing with his hands raised towards heaven, his face ashy pale, the tears running down his cheeks as he spoke on that memorable day. Almost all seemed to be in tears. The house was so crowded the children were mostly sitting on older people’s laps; my sister sat on father’s, I on my mother’s lap. I can even remember the dresses we wore. My mind was too young at that time to grasp the full significance of it all, but as time passed it dawned more and more upon me, and I am very grateful that I was privileged to be there.”

Oliver Cowdery

“In the evening I met with the officers of the church in the Lord’s house. The Spirit was poured out—I saw the glory of God, like a great cloud, come down and rest upon the house, and fill the same like a mighty rushing wind. I also saw cloven tongues, like as of fire rest upon many, … while they spake with other tongues and prophesied.”

Benjamin Brown

“Many visions [were] seen. One saw a pillow or cloud rest down upon the house, bright as when the sun shines on a cloud like as gold. Two others saw three personages hovering in the room with bright keys in their hands, and also a bright chain in their hands.”

Orson Pratt

“God was there, his angels were there, the Holy Ghost was in the midst of the people … and they were filled from the crown of their heads to the soles of their feet with the power and inspiration of the Holy Ghost.”

Nancy Naomi Alexander Tracy

“[When] the Temple was finished and dedicated … they were two of the happiest days of my life. The fitting hymn that was composed for the occasion was ‘The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning.’ It was verily true that the Heavenly Influence rested down upon that house. … I felt that it was heaven on earth.”

D&C 103

Read your assigned experience with your partner, help each other answer the questions in your Learning Journals. Be prepared to teach this section to other people.

Read the following excerpt, look for what President Oaks uses and doesn’t use to help teach about the spirit world.

Of course, we know from the scriptures that after our bodies die we continue to live as spirits in the spirit world. The scriptures also teach that this spirit world is divided between those who have been “righteous” or “just” during life and those who have been wicked. They also describe how some faithful spirits teach the gospel to those who have been wicked or rebellious (see 1 Peter 3:19; Doctrine and Covenants 138:19–20, 29, 32, 37). Most important, modern revelation reveals that the work of salvation goes forward in the spirit world (see Doctrine and Covenants 138:30–34, 58), and although we are urged not to procrastinate our repentance during mortality (see Alma 13:27), we are taught that some repentance is possible there (see Doctrine and Covenants 138:58).

The work of salvation in the spirit world consists of freeing spirits from what the scriptures frequently describe as “bondage.” All in the spirit world are under some form of bondage. President Joseph F. Smith’s great revelation, canonized in section 138 of the Doctrine and Covenants, states that the righteous dead, who were in a state of “peace” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:22) as they anticipated the Resurrection (see Doctrine and Covenants 138:16), “had looked upon the long absence of their spirits from their bodies as a bondage” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:50).

The wicked also suffer an additional bondage. Because of unrepented sins, they are in what the Apostle Peter referred to as spirit “prison” (1 Peter 3:19; see also Doctrine and Covenants 138:42). These spirits are described as “bound” or as “captives” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:31, 42) or as “cast out into outer darkness” with “weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth” as they await resurrection and judgment (Alma 40:13–14).

Resurrection for all in the spirit world is assured by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 15:22), though it occurs at different times for different groups. Until that appointed time, what the scriptures tell us about activity in the spirit world principally concerns the work of salvation. Little else is revealed. The gospel is preached to the ignorant, the unrepentant, and the rebellious so they can be freed from their bondage and go forward to the blessings a loving Heavenly Father has in store for them.

The spirit-world bondage that applies to righteous converted souls is their need to await—and perhaps even be allowed to prompt—the performance of their proxy ordinances on earth so they can be baptized and enjoy the blessings of the Holy Ghost (see Doctrine and Covenants 138:30–37, 57–58). These mortal proxy ordinances also empower them to go forward under priesthood authority to enlarge the hosts of the righteous who can preach the gospel to the spirits in prison.

Read the following excerpts from President Russell M. Nelson. As you read, look for the “crazy promises” the Lord is extending to us as we attend the temple.

The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation, Conference October 2021

My dear brothers and sisters, these are the latter days. If you and I are to withstand the forthcoming perils and pressures, it is imperative that we each have a firm spiritual foundation built upon the rock of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

So I ask each of you, how firm is your foundation? And what reinforcements to your testimony and understanding of the gospel are needed?

The temple lies at the center of strengthening our faith and spiritual fortitude because the Savior and His doctrine are the very heart of the temple. Everything taught in the temple, through instruction and through the Spirit, increases our understanding of Jesus Christ. His essential ordinances bind us to Him through sacred priesthood covenants. Then, as we keep our covenants, He endows us with His healing, strengthening power. And oh, how we will need His power in the days ahead.

We have been promised that “if [we] are prepared [we] shall not fear.” This assurance has profound implications today. The Lord has declared that despite today’s unprecedented challenges, those who build their foundations upon Jesus Christ, and have learned how to draw upon His power, need not succumb to the unique anxieties of this era.

Temple ordinances and covenants are ancient. The Lord instructed Adam and Eve to pray, make covenants, and offer sacrifices. Indeed, “whenever the Lord has had a people on the earth who will obey His word, they have been commanded to build temples.” The standard works are replete with references to temple teachings, clothing, language, and more. Everything we believe and every promise God has made to His covenant people come together in the temple. In every age, the temple has underscored the precious truth that those who make covenants with God and keep them are children of the covenant.

Thus, in the house of the Lord, we can make the same covenants with God that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob made. And we can receive the same blessings!

….If you don’t yet love to attend the temple, go more often—not less. Let the Lord, through His Spirit, teach and inspire you there. I promise you that over time, the temple will become a place of safety, solace, and revelation.

Becoming Exemplary Latter-day Saints Conference, Oct 2018

Now let’s turn to the topic of temples. We know that our time in the temple is crucial to our salvation and exaltation and to that of our families.

After we receive our own temple ordinances and make sacred covenants with God, each one of us needs the ongoing spiritual strengthening and tutoring that is possible only in the house of the Lord. And our ancestors need us to serve as proxy for them.

My dear brothers and sisters, the assaults of the adversary are increasing exponentially, in intensity and in variety. Our need to be in the temple on a regular basis has never been greater. I plead with you to take a prayerful look at how you spend your time. Invest time in your future and in that of your family. If you have reasonable access to a temple, I urge you to find a way to make an appointment regularly with the Lord—to be in His holy house—then keep that appointment with exactness and joy. I promise you that the Lord will bring the miracles He knows you need as you make sacrifices to serve and worship in His temples.

Building and maintaining temples may not change your life, but spending your time in the temple surely will. To those who have long been absent from the temple, I encourage you to prepare and return as soon as possible. Then I invite you to worship in the temple and pray to feel deeply the Savior’s infinite love for you, that each of you may gain your own testimony that He directs this sacred and ageless work.

Excerpts from Saints Vol 1 Chapt 11 “Ye Shall Receive My Law”

Ann and Newel Whitney were grateful to have Joseph and Emma in Kirtland. Although the Whitneys had three small children and an aunt living with them, they invited the Smiths to stay in their house until they found a place of their own. Since Emma was far along in her pregnancy, Ann and Newel moved into an upstairs room so she and Joseph could have the bedroom on the ground floor.¹

After settling into the Whitney home, Joseph began to visit new converts. Kirtland was a small cluster of houses and shops on a hill south of the Whitneys’ store. A small creek ran alongside the town, powering mills and feeding a larger river to the north. About a thousand people lived there.²

As Joseph visited church members, he saw their enthusiasm for spiritual gifts and their sincere desire to pattern their lives after the saints in the New Testament.³ Joseph loved the gifts of the Spirit himself and knew they had a role in the restored church, but he worried that some Saints in Kirtland were getting carried away in their pursuit of them.

He could see that he had serious work to do. The Kirtland Saints had more than doubled the size of the church, but it was clear they needed additional direction from the Lord.

Eight hundred miles to the west, Oliver and the other missionaries arrived in the small town of Independence in Jackson County, Missouri, on the western border of the United States. They found lodging and work to support themselves and then made plans to visit the Delaware Indians who lived on territory a few miles west of town.⁴

The Delaware had recently moved to the territory after they were forced off their land by Indian removal policies of the United States government. Their leader, Kikthawenund, was an old man who had struggled for more than twenty-five years to hold his people together while settlers and the U.S. Army pushed them west.⁵

On a cold day in January 1831, Oliver and Parley set out to meet Kikthawenund. They found him sitting beside a fire in the center of a large cabin in the Delaware settlement. The chief shook their hands warmly and motioned for them to sit on some blankets. His wives then placed a tin pan full of steaming beans and corn in front of the missionaries, and they ate with a wooden spoon.

Aided by a translator, Oliver and Parley spoke to Kikthawenund about the Book of Mormon and asked for a chance to share its message with his governing council. Kikthawenund was normally opposed to letting missionaries speak to his people, but he told them he would think about it and give them his decision soon.

The missionaries returned to the cabin the next morning, and after some discussion, the chief called a council together and invited the missionaries to speak.

Thanking them, Oliver looked into the faces of his audience. “We have traveled the wilderness, crossed the deep and wide rivers, and waded in the deep snows,” he said, “to communicate to you great knowledge which has lately come to our ears and hearts.”

He introduced the Book of Mormon as a history of the ancestors of the American Indians. “The book was written on plates of gold,” he explained, “and handed down from father to son for many ages and generations.” He told how God had helped Joseph find and translate the plates so their writings could be published and shared with all people, including the Indians.

After he finished speaking, Oliver handed Kikthawenund a Book of Mormon and waited as he and the council examined it. “We feel truly thankful to our white friends who have come so far, and been at such pains to tell us good news,” the old man said, “and especially this new news concerning the book of our forefathers.”

But the severe winter weather had been hard on his people, he explained. Their shelters were poor, and their animals were dying. They had to build homes and fences and prepare farms for the spring. For now, they were not ready to host missionaries.

“We will build a council house and meet together,” Kikthawenund promised, “and you shall read to us and teach us more concerning the book of our fathers and the will of the Great Spirit.”⁶

A few weeks later, Joseph received a report from Oliver. After describing the missionaries’ visit with Kikthawenund, Oliver admitted he was still unsure if the Delaware would accept the Book of Mormon. “How the matter will go with this tribe to me is uncertain,” he wrote.⁷

Joseph remained optimistic about the Indian mission, even as he turned his attention to strengthening the church in Kirtland. Shortly after meeting the Saints there, he received a revelation for them. “By the prayer of your faith ye shall receive my law,” the Lord again promised, “that ye may know how to govern my church and have all things right before me.”⁸

From his study of the Bible, Joseph knew that God had given Moses a law as he led his people to the promised land. He also knew that Jesus Christ had come to earth and clarified the meaning of His law throughout His ministry. Now He would once more reveal the law to His covenant people.

In the new revelation, the Lord praised Edward Partridge for his pure heart and called him to be the first bishop of the church. The Lord did not describe a bishop’s duties in detail, but He said Edward was to devote his time completely to the church and help the Saints obey the law the Lord would give them.⁹

A week later, on February 9, Edward met with Joseph and other elders of the church to pray to receive the law. The elders asked Joseph a series of questions about the law, and the Lord revealed answers through him.¹⁰ Some of these answers repeated familiar truths, affirming the principles of the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus. Others gave the Saints new insights into how to keep the commandments and help those who transgressed them.¹¹

The Lord also gave commandments to help the Saints become like Enoch’s people. Rather than share common property, as the people on the Morleys’ farm did, they were to think of all their land and wealth as a sacred stewardship from God, given to them so they could care for their families, relieve the poor, and build Zion.

Saints who chose to obey the law were to consecrate their property to the church by deeding it to the bishop. He would then return land and goods to them as an inheritance in Zion, according to the needs of their families. Saints who obtained inheritances were to act as God’s stewards, using the land and tools they had received and returning whatever was unused to help the needy and build Zion and the temple.¹²

The Lord urged the Saints to obey this law and continue seeking truth. “If thou shalt ask, thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge,” He promised, “that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal.”¹³

Joseph received other revelations that brought order to the church. Responding to the extreme behaviors of some Saints, the Lord warned that false spirits were abroad on the earth, deceiving people into thinking that the Holy Ghost caused them to act wildly. The Lord said that the Spirit did not alarm and confuse people, but rather uplifted and instructed them.

“That which doth not edify is not of God,” He declared.¹⁴

Soon after the Lord revealed His law in Kirtland, the Saints in New York made final preparations to gather to Ohio. They sold their land and property at great loss, packed their belongings in wagons, and said goodbye to family and friends.

Elizabeth and Thomas Marsh were among the Saints preparing to move. After Thomas received the pages from the Book of Mormon and returned home to Boston, they had moved to New York to be closer to Joseph and the church. The call to gather to Ohio came just a few months later, so Elizabeth and Thomas packed up once more, resolved to gather with the Saints and build Zion wherever the Lord directed.

Elizabeth’s determination grew out of her conversion. Although she believed the Book of Mormon was the word of God, she had not been baptized right away. After giving birth to a son in Palmyra, however, she asked the Lord for a witness that the gospel was true. A short time later, she received the testimony she sought and joined the church, unwilling to deny what she knew and ready to lend a hand to the work.

“There has a great change taken place with me, both in body and mind,” Elizabeth wrote Thomas’s sister shortly before they left for Ohio. “I feel a desire to be thankful for what I have received and still look for more.”

In the same letter, Thomas shared the news of the gathering. “The Lord calleth for all to repent,” he declared, “and assemble at Ohio speedily.” He did not know if the Saints were going to Ohio to build Zion or if they were preparing for a more ambitious move in the future. But it did not matter. If the Lord commanded them to gather to Missouri, or even to the Rocky Mountains a thousand miles beyond the nation’s western border, he was ready to go.

“We know nothing of what we are to do, save it be revealed to us,” he explained to his sister. “But this we know: a city will be built in the promised land.”¹⁵

….The ground was still cold when the first group of Saints left New York. The second group, including Lucy Smith and about eighty others, left a little later. They booked passage on a canal boat that would bring them to a large lake to the west. At the lake, they would then board a steamboat that would carry them to a harbor near Kirtland. From there, they would travel overland for the final leg of their three-hundred-mile journey.²¹

….While his mother and the New York Saints traveled west, Joseph moved with Emma to a small cabin on the Morley farm. His leadership and the newly revealed law had brought more order, understanding, and harmony to the Saints in Ohio. Now many elders and their families were making great sacrifices to spread the gospel to neighboring towns and villages.

In Missouri, missionary efforts were less encouraging. For a time, Oliver had believed they were making progress with Kikthawenund and his people. “The principal chief says he believes every word of the book,” he had reported to Joseph, “and there are many more in the nation who believe.”²⁷ But after a government agent threatened to arrest the missionaries for preaching to Indians without permission, Oliver and the missionaries had to stop their efforts.²⁸

Oliver considered taking the message to another Indian nation, the Navajo, who lived a thousand miles to the west, but he did not feel authorized to travel that far. Instead, he sent Parley back east to get a preaching license from the government while he and the other missionaries tried to convert settlers in Independence.²⁹

Joseph and Emma, meanwhile, faced another tragedy. On the last day of April, Emma delivered twins—a girl and a boy—with the help of women from the Morley family. But like their brother before them, the twins were frail and died within a few hours of birth.³⁰

On the same day, a recent convert named Julia Murdock passed away after giving birth to twins. When Joseph heard about her death, he sent a message to her husband, John, letting him know that he and Emma were willing to raise them. Heartbroken at his loss and unable to care for the newborns on his own, John accepted the offer.³¹

Joseph and Emma were overjoyed to welcome the babies into their home. And when Joseph’s mother arrived safely from New York, she was able to cradle her new grandchildren in her arms.³²

Stand in Holy Places

Please link the following scriptures to D&C 45:32

Psalm 24:3–4; Isaiah 58:13; Helaman 5:12; 3 Nephi 18:24; Doctrine and Covenants 27:15; 115:5–6

Tag these scriptures as “The Second Coming of Christ” and “Preparing for the Second Coming” and “Standing in Holy Places”

Read the verses and write in your Learning Journal what these verses teach you about preparing for the 2nd Coming.

Read the following quote.  Consider placing them in your scriptures next to D&C 45:32.  In your Learning Journal, write down words and phrases that stand out to you.  What are they teaching us about standing in holy places?

Sister Ann B. Dibb, Young Women General Presidency:

President Ezra Taft Benson counseled, “Holy places include our temples, our chapels, our homes, and the stakes of Zion, which are … ‘for a defense, and for a refuge’ [Doctrine and Covenants 115:6]” [“Prepare Yourself for the Great Day of the Lord,” New Era, May 1982, 50]. In addition to these, I believe we can each find many more places. We might first consider the word place as a physical environment or a geographic location. However, a place can be “a distinct condition, position, or state of mind” [Merriam-Webster Online, “place,” merriam-webster.com/dictionary/place]. This means holy places can also include moments in time—moments when the Holy Ghost testifies to us, moments when we feel Heavenly Father’s love, or moments when we receive an answer to our prayers. Even more, I believe any time you have the courage to stand for what is right, especially in situations where no one else is willing to do so, you are creating a holy place. (Ann M. Dibb, “Your Holy Places,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2013, 115)

Taking the Holy Spirit for Our Guide

Please link the following scriptures to D&C 45:57

Proverbs 3:5–6; Psalm 118:8–9; 1 Nephi 4:6; 2 Nephi 32:5; Moroni 10:5; Doctrine and Covenants 11:12–14

Tag these verses as “The Second Coming of Christ” and “Preparing for the Second Coming” and “Taking the Holy Spirit for Our Guide”

Read the following quote.  Consider placing them in your scriptures next to D&C 45:57.  In your Learning Journal, write down words and phrases that stand out to you.  What are they teaching us about taking the Holy Spirit as our guide?

Elder Dallin H. Oaks:  How do we take the Holy Spirit for our guide? We must repent of our sins each week and renew our covenants by partaking of the sacrament with clean hands and a pure heart, as we are commanded to do [see Doctrine and Covenants 59:8–9, 12]. Only in this way can we have the divine promise that we will “always have his Spirit to be with [us]” [Doctrine and Covenants 20:77]. …

… We must always do the things necessary to retain that Spirit. We must keep the commandments, pray for guidance, and attend church and partake of the sacrament each Sunday. And we must never do anything to drive away that Spirit. Specifically, we should avoid pornography, alcohol, tobacco and drugs, and always, always avoid violations of the law of chastity. (Dallin H. Oaks, “Be Not Deceived,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2004, 46)

Gospel Library: Guide to the Scriptures: Jesus Christ

• See also Advocate; Alpha and Omega; Anointed One; Ascension; Atone, Atonement; Beginning; Begotten; Blood; Bread of Life; Bridegroom; Comforter; Conscience; Cornerstone; Create, Creation; Cross; Crucifixion; Deliverer; Endless; Faith; Fall of Adam and Eve; Firstborn; God, Godhead; Golgotha; Good Shepherd; Gospels; Grace; I AM; Immanuel; Jehovah; Lamb of God; Light, Light of Christ; Living Water; Lord; Mary, Mother of Jesus; Mediator; Messiah; Plan of Redemption; Redeem, Redeemed, Redemption; Redeemer; Remission of Sins; Repent, Repentance; Resurrection; Rock; Sacrament; Sacrifice; Savior; Second Coming of Jesus Christ; Sermon on the Mount; Serpent, Brazen; Son of Man; Transfiguration—Transfiguration of Christ; Way

Assignment:

Pick two names or titles of Jesus that you would like to study or learn more about.  Write what you find about the meaning of the word and how it applies to Jesus.  How does the word/title help us understand what Jesus is like, His character, or what He will do for us.  Then, find two scripture references that use that title.  How does understanding this title help us understand the scripture better?

Example: 

• Title of Jesus:  Christ 
• Meaning: a Greek word meaning “the anointed.”  The Hebrew word is “Messiah” also meaning “the anointed one.”  When something or someone  was anointed, it means they were set apart for a specific and holy purpose, they were dedicated for God.  Jesus was called and chosen in the pre-earth life to be our Savior and atone for our sins.  This helps us see that Heavenly Father has a plan, He knew we would need help returning back to Him, so Jesus was called or “anointed” even before the world was created to help His Father’s plan succeed.
• Scripture reference: Romans 8:17 Just as Christ was foreordained for a purpose, we were also foreordained for a purpose, and through Christ will achieve it if we are faithful during our afflictions. Ephesians 2:6 We are raised to Heaven through Christ—Christ’s purpose and calling was to help us return to Heaven.