Bro C's Teaching Emporium

III. The Godhead

Knowing the purpose of God’s great plan, we now consider the respective roles of the three members of the Godhead in that plan.

We begin with a teaching from the Bible. In concluding his second letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul makes this almost offhand reference to the Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion [or fellowship] of the Holy Ghost, be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14).

This biblical scripture represents the Godhead and references the all-defining and motivating love of God the Father, the merciful and saving mission of Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost.

God the Father

It all begins with God the Father. While we know comparatively little about Him, what we know is decisive in understanding His supreme position, our relationship to Him, and His superintending role in the plan of salvation, the Creation, and all else that followed.

As Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote just before his death: “In the ultimate and final sense of the word, there is only one true and living God. He is the Father, the Almighty Elohim, the Supreme Being, the Creator and Ruler of the universe.” He is the God and Father of Jesus Christ, as well as of all of us. President David O. McKay taught that “the first fundamental truth advocated by Jesus Christ was this, that behind, above and over all there is God the Father, Lord of heaven and earth.”

What we know of the nature of God the Father is mostly what we can learn from the ministry and teachings of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. As Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has taught, one of the paramount purposes of Jesus’s ministry was to reveal to mortals “what God our Eternal Father is like, … to reveal and make personal to us the true nature of His Father, our Father in Heaven.” The Bible contains an apostolic witness that Jesus was “the express image” of His Father’s person (Hebrews 1:3), which merely elaborates Jesus’s own teaching that “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9).

God the Father is the Father of our spirits. We are His children. He loves us, and all that He does is for our eternal benefit. He is the author of the plan of salvation, and it is by His power that His plan achieves its purposes for the ultimate glory of His children.

The Son

To mortals, the most visible member of the Godhead is Jesus Christ. A great doctrinal statement by the First Presidency in 1909 declares Him to be “the firstborn among all the sons of God—the first begotten in the spirit, and the only begotten in the flesh.” The Son, the greatest of all, was chosen by the Father to carry out the Father’s plan—to exercise the Father’s power to create worlds without number (see Moses 1:33) and to save the children of God from death by His Resurrection and from sin by His Atonement. This supernal sacrifice is truly called “the central act of all human history.”

On those unique and sacred occasions when God the Father personally introduced the Son, He has said, “This is my beloved Son: hear him” (Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35; see also 3 Nephi 11:7; Joseph Smith—History 1:17). Thus, it is Jesus Christ, Jehovah, the Lord God of Israel, who speaks to and through the prophets. So it is that when Jesus appeared to the Nephites after His Resurrection, He introduced Himself as “the God of the whole earth” (3 Nephi 11:14). So it is that Jesus often speaks to the prophets of the Book of Mormon and to the Latter-day Saints as “the Father and the Son,” a title explained in the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve’s inspired doctrinal exposition just 100 years ago.

The Holy Ghost

The third member of the Godhead is the Holy Ghost, also referred to as the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Lord, and the Comforter. He is the member of the Godhead who is the agent of personal revelation. As a personage of spirit (see D&C 130:22), He can dwell in us and perform the essential role of communicator between the Father and the Son and the children of God on earth. Many scriptures teach that His mission is to testify of the Father and the Son (see John 15:26; 3 Nephi 28:11; D&C 42:17). The Savior promised that the Comforter will teach us all things, bring all things to our remembrance, and guide us into all truth (see John 14:26; 16:13). Thus, the Holy Ghost helps us discern between truth and falsehood, guides us in our major decisions, and helps us through the challenges of mortality. He is also the means by which we are sanctified, that is, cleansed and purified from sin (see 2 Nephi 31:17; 3 Nephi 27:20; Moroni 6:4).

IV.

So, how does understanding this heavenly revealed doctrine about the Godhead and the plan of salvation help us with our challenges today?

Because we have the truth about the Godhead and our relationship to Them, the purpose of life, and the nature of our eternal destiny, we have the ultimate road map and assurance for our journey through mortality. We know whom we worship and why we worship. We know who we are and what we can become (see D&C 93:19). We know who makes it all possible, and we know what we must do to enjoy the ultimate blessings that come through God’s plan of salvation. How do we know all of this? We know by the revelations of God to His prophets and to each of us individually.

Attaining what the Apostle Paul described as “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13) requires far more than acquiring knowledge. It is not even enough for us to be convinced of the gospel; we must act and think so that we are converted by it. In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the plan of salvation and the gospel of Jesus Christ challenge us to become something.

As President Thomas S. Monson taught us in our last general conference:

“Essential to the plan [of salvation] is our Savior, Jesus Christ. Without His atoning sacrifice, all would be lost. It is not enough, however, merely to believe in Him and His mission. We need to work and learn, search and pray, repent and improve. We need to know God’s laws and live them. We need to receive His saving ordinances. Only by so doing will we obtain true, eternal happiness. …

“From the depths of my soul and in all humility,” President Monson declared, “I testify of the great gift which is our Father’s plan for us. It is the one perfect path to peace and happiness both here and in the world to come.”

I add my testimony to that of our beloved prophet-president. I testify that we have a Heavenly Father, who loves us. I testify that we have a Holy Ghost, who guides us. And I testify of Jesus Christ, our Savior, who makes it all possible, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Group 1

The Challenge of Public Speaking

Discuss with your group:

• How do you feel about public speaking? Why?

Read AND summarize the following:

One of Brigham Young’s greatest challenges was public speaking. He said, “I was about as destitute of language as a man could well be” (in Journal of Discourses, 5:97). He recalled a time one week after his baptism when he expected four experienced speakers who were members of the Church to preach, but they did not. He said:

“I was but a child, so far as public speaking and a knowledge of the world was concerned; but the Spirit of the Lord was upon me, and I felt as though my bones would consume within me unless I spoke to the people and told them what I had seen, heard and learned—what I had experienced and rejoiced in; and the first discourse I ever delivered I occupied over an hour. I opened my mouth and the Lord filled it. (Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses, 13:211)”

Respond to the following in your group AND write responses in you Learning Journal:

• What are the important details from this story?
• What was difficult about what Brigham Young did?  How could this be like some people today?  What things do you and others find difficult?

Read Doctrine and Covenants 100:5–6 (see also Exodus 4:12; Proverbs 16:1). Then discuss these questions with the group.  Write responses in your Learning Journal:

• How was Brigham Young’s experience related to these verses?
• What do you learn about the Lord that could help you?
• What valuable lessons can we learn from Brigham Young’s example?
• Write these lessons as doctrines.  You can write them as clear, simple statements.  You could write an “If…then” statement, or a “when we…”statement.

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Group 2

Brigham’s Sacrifice to Serve

Discuss the following in your group:

• What sacrifices does it take to serve a mission?

Invite someone to read the following:

The same year Brigham Young was baptized, his wife passed away. At great sacrifice, he arranged for the care of his two children and served missions to New York and upper Canada, where he baptized several people.  After serving a mission for about a year, Brigham described his arrival in Kirtland, Ohio:

“If any man that ever did gather with the Saints was any poorer than I was—it was because he had nothing. … I had two children to take care of. … I was a widower. … [I had] not a shoe to my foot, except a pair of borrowed boots. I had no winter clothing, except a homemade coat that I had had three or four years. … I had travelled and preached and given away every dollar of my property.” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young [1997], 243)

• What are the important details about Brigham Young in this story? (Write them down)
• What was difficult about what Brigham Young did?  How could this be like some people today?  What things do you and others find difficult? 

Invite someone to read aloud Luke 18:18–23.   As a group, look for how Brigham Young’s response to invitations to serve was different from the man who interacted with the Savior in this account.

• What do you know about the Lord that may help us be willing to make sacrifices like Brigham Young did?
• In addition to serving missions, what are some other ways the Lord may want us to sacrifice to serve Him?
• What valuable lessons can we learn from Brigham Young’s example?
• Write these lessons as doctrines.  You can write them as clear, simple statements.  You could write an “If…then” statement, or a “when we…”statement.

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Group 3

Brigham’s Mission to England

Discuss the following question as a group:

• What are some reasons a missionary needs the Lord’s help?

Invite a group member to read the following:

After remarrying and serving five other missions, Brigham was called, with other Apostles, to serve a mission to England.   Brigham described his mission:

“We landed … as strangers in a strange land and penniless, but through the mercy of God we have gained many friends, established Churches in almost every noted town and city in the kingdom of Great Britain, baptized between seven and eight thousand, printed 5,000 Books of Mormon, … and have left sown in the hearts of many thousands the seeds of eternal truth … : in all these things I acknowledge the hand of God.” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young [1997], 6)

• What are the important details in this story? (Write them down)
• What was difficult about what Brigham Young did?  How could this be like some people today?  What things do you and others find difficult?

Invite a student to read Ammon’s words in Alma 26:12–13. Then discuss as a group:

• How does Brigham Young’s statement compare to Ammon’s?
• Why do you think relying on the Lord is essential when striving to serve Him?
• How have you tried to rely on the Lord as you serve Him?
• What valuable lessons can we learn from Brigham Young’s example?
• Write these lessons as doctrines.  You can write them as clear, simple statements.  You could write an “If…then” statement, or a “when we…”statement.

• “When to Receive Your Patriarchal Blessing” by Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita (Liahona, May 2023, 88–90)
• “Your Patriarchal Blessing—Inspired Direction from Heavenly Father” by Elder Randall K. Bennett (Liahona, May 2023, 42–43).

President Russell M. Nelson shared:

[A patriarchal blessing] is precious. It is personal scripture to you. It declares your special lineage. It reminds you of your linkage with the past. And it will help you realize your future potential. Literally, you can lay claim upon the Lord for fulfillment of those blessings through your faithfulness. (Russell M. Nelson, “Thanks for the Covenant” [Brigham Young University devotional, Nov. 22, 1988], 5)

Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita of the Seventy testified:

I frequently and prayerfully read my patriarchal blessing; it always gives me encouragement. I recognize what the Lord expects of me, and it has helped me to repent and be humble. When I read and ponder it, I desire to live worthy of receiving its promised blessings. …

… I bear my witness that Heavenly Father and His Beloved and Only Begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, live. They love us. Patriarchal blessings are sacred gifts from Them. When you receive your blessing, you will realize and feel how They love you and how They focus on you individually. (Kazuhiko Yamashita, “When to Receive Your Patriarchal Blessing,” Liahona, May 2023, 90)

Sister Bonnie H. Cordon, former Young Women General President, shared:

At an FSY conference, I met two young women who had been struggling. Both young women mentioned turning to her patriarchal blessing to rediscover the Lord’s love and guidance for her personally. Find your patriarchal blessing, blow off the dust if you must, but study it often. If you don’t have one, get one—soon. Don’t delay finding out what the Lord wants to tell you now about who you are. (Bonnie H. Cordon, “Come unto Christ and Don’t Come Alone,” Liahona, Nov. 2021, 10)

Follow the links. Write down what you learn about temples and temple ordinances in your Learning Journal.

• “Baptisms for the Dead”

• Guide to the Scriptures, “Endowment,” scriptures.ChurchofJesusChrist.org
• “About the Endowment” and other resources available at temples.ChurchofJesusChrist.org
• Topics and Questions, “Endowment,” topics.ChurchofJesusChrist.org

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?

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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?

Excerpts from “Saints”

In late April 1839, days after reuniting with the Saints, Joseph rode north to inspect land that church leaders wanted to buy in and around Commerce, a town fifty miles from Quincy. For the first time in more than six months, the prophet was traveling without armed guards or the threat of violence looming over him. He was finally among friends, in a state where people welcomed the Saints and seemed to respect their beliefs.

While in jail, Joseph had written to a man who was selling land around Commerce, expressing interest in settling the church there. “If there is not anyone who feels particular interest in making the purchase,” Joseph had told him, “we will purchase it of you.”

After the fall of Far West, however, many Saints questioned the wisdom of gathering to a single area. Edward Partridge wondered if the best way to avoid conflict and provide for the poor was to gather in small communities scattered throughout the country. But Joseph knew the Lord had not revoked His commandment for the Saints to gather.

Arriving in Commerce, he saw a marshy floodplain that rose gently to a wooded bluff overlooking a wide bend in the Mississippi River. A few homes dotted the area. Across the river in Iowa Territory, near a town called Montrose, stood some abandoned army barracks on more land available for purchase.

Joseph believed the Saints could build thriving stakes of Zion in this area. The land was not the choicest he had ever seen, but the Mississippi River was navigable all the way to the ocean, making Commerce a good place for gathering the Saints from abroad and establishing commercial enterprises. The area was also sparsely settled.

Still, gathering the Saints there would be risky. If the church grew, as Joseph hoped it would, their neighbors might become alarmed and turn against them, as people had in Missouri.

Joseph prayed. “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?”

“Build up a city,” the Lord replied, “and call my Saints to this place.”

That spring, Wilford and Phebe Woodruff moved into the barracks in Montrose. Among their new neighbors were Brigham and Mary Ann Young and Orson and Sarah Pratt. After they settled their families, the three apostles planned to leave on their mission for Britain with the rest of the quorum.

Thousands of Saints soon moved to the new gathering place, pitching tents or living in wagons as they went to work building homes, acquiring food and clothes, and clearing farmland on both sides of the river.

As the new settlement grew, the Twelve met often with Joseph, who preached with new vigor as he prepared them for their mission. The prophet taught that God did not reveal anything to him that He would not also make known to the Twelve. “Even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to,” Joseph declared.

He instructed them in the first principles of the gospel, the Resurrection and the Judgment, and the building of Zion. Remembering the betrayal of former apostles, he also urged them to be faithful. “See to it that you do not betray heaven,” he said, “that you do not betray Jesus Christ, that you do not betray your brethren, and that you do not betray the revelations of God.”

Around this time, Orson Hyde expressed a desire to return to the Quorum of the Twelve, ashamed that he had denounced Joseph in Missouri and abandoned the Saints. Fearing Orson would betray them again when the next difficulty came along, Sidney Rigdon was reluctant to restore his apostleship. Joseph, however, welcomed him back and restored his place among the Twelve. In July, Parley Pratt escaped from prison in Missouri and was also reunited with the apostles.

By then swarms of mosquitos had risen from the marshlands to feast on the new settlers, and many Saints came down with deadly malarial fevers and bone-rattling chills. Most of the Twelve were soon too sick to leave for Britain.

On the morning of Monday, July 22, Wilford heard Joseph’s voice outside his home: “Brother Woodruff, follow me.”

Wilford stepped outside and saw Joseph standing with a group of men. All morning they had been moving from house to house, tent to tent, taking the sick by the hand and healing them. After blessing the Saints in Commerce, they had taken a ferry across the river to heal the Saints in Montrose.

Wilford walked with them across the village square to the home of his friend Elijah Fordham. Elijah’s eyes were sunken and his skin ashen. His wife, Anna, was weeping as she prepared his burial clothes.

Joseph approached Elijah and took his hand. “Brother Fordham,” he asked, “have you not faith to be healed?”

“I am afraid it is too late,” he said.

“Do you not believe that Jesus is the Christ?”

“I do, Brother Joseph.”

“Elijah,” the prophet declared, “I command you, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, to arise and be made whole.”

The words seemed to shake the house. Elijah rose from his bed, his face flush with color. He dressed, asked for something to eat, and followed Joseph outside to help minister to many others.

Later that evening, Phebe Woodruff was astonished when she visited Elijah and Anna. Only a few hours earlier, Anna had all but given up on her husband. Now Elijah said he felt strong enough to work in his garden. Phebe had no doubt his recovery was the work of God.

Joseph’s efforts to bless and heal the sick did not end the spread of disease in Commerce and Montrose, and some Saints perished. As more people died, eighteen-year-old Zina Huntington worried that her mother would succumb to the illness as well.

Zina cared for her mother daily, leaning on her father and brothers for support, but soon the entire family was sick. Joseph checked on them from time to time, seeing what he could do to help the family or make Zina’s mother more comfortable.

One day, Zina’s mother called for her. “My time has come to die,” she said weakly. “I am not afraid.” She testified to Zina of the Resurrection. “I shall come forth triumphant when the Savior comes with the just to meet the Saints on the earth.”

When her mother died, Zina was overcome with grief. Knowing the family’s suffering, Joseph continued to attend to them.

During one of Joseph’s visits, Zina asked him, “Will I know my mother as my mother when I get over on the other side?”

“More than that,” he said, “you will meet and become acquainted with your eternal Mother, the wife of your Father in Heaven.”

“Have I then a Mother in Heaven?” Zina asked.

“You assuredly have,” said Joseph. “How could a Father claim His title unless there were also a Mother to share that parenthood?”

While the apostles were leaving for Britain, Saints in Illinois and Iowa composed statements detailing their harsh treatment in Missouri, as Joseph had instructed them to do when he was in jail. By the fall, church leaders had collected hundreds of these accounts and prepared a formal petition. In total, the Saints asked for more than two million dollars to compensate for lost homes, land, livestock, and other property. Joseph planned to deliver these claims personally to the president of the United States and to Congress.

Joseph considered President Martin Van Buren to be a high-minded statesman—someone who would champion the rights of citizens. Joseph hoped that the president and other lawmakers in Washington, DC, would read about the Saints’ suffering and agree to recompense them for the land and property they had lost in Missouri.

On November 29, 1839, after traveling nearly a thousand miles from his home in Illinois, Joseph arrived at the front door of the presidential mansion in Washington. Beside him were his friend and legal adviser, Elias Higbee, and John Reynolds, a congressman from Illinois.

A porter greeted them at the door and motioned them inside. The mansion had recently been redecorated, and Joseph and Elias were awed by the elegance of its rooms, which contrasted sharply with the Saints’ ramshackle dwellings in the West.

Their guide led them upstairs to a room where President Van Buren was speaking with visitors. As they waited outside the door, with the petition and several letters of introduction in hand, Joseph asked Congressman Reynolds to introduce him simply as a “Latter-day Saint.” The congressman seemed surprised and amused by the request, but he agreed to do as Joseph wished. Though not eager to assist the Saints, Congressman Reynolds knew their large numbers could influence politics in Illinois.

Joseph had not expected to meet the president with such a small delegation. When he left Illinois in October, his plan had been to let Sidney Rigdon take the lead in these meetings. But Sidney was too sick to travel and had stopped along the way.

At last the president’s parlor doors opened, and the three men entered the room. Like Joseph, Martin Van Buren was the son of a New York farmer, but he was a much older man, short and squat, with a light complexion and a shock of white hair framing most of his face.

As promised, Congressman Reynolds introduced Joseph as a Latter-day Saint. The president smiled at the unusual title and shook the prophet’s hand.

After greeting the president, Joseph handed him the letters of introduction and waited. Van Buren read them and frowned. “Help you?” he said dismissively. “How can I help you?”

Joseph did not know what to say. He had not expected the president to dismiss them so quickly. He and Elias urged the president to at least read about the Saints’ suffering before deciding to reject their pleas.

“I can do nothing for you, gentlemen,” the president insisted. “If I were for you, I should go against the whole state of Missouri, and that state would go against me in the next election.”

Disappointed, Joseph and Elias left the mansion and delivered their petition to Congress, knowing it would be weeks before legislators could review and discuss it.

While they waited, Joseph decided to visit the eastern branches of the church. He would also preach in Washington and in the surrounding towns and cities.

Group 1

Joseph and others were to be taken prisoner and delivered to a courthouse for trial.  Flanked by armed guards, Joseph was led through the ravaged streets of Far West to gather some belongings from his home. His wife, Emma and their children, were in tears when he arrived, but they were relieved that he was still alive. Joseph begged his guards to let him visit with his family privately, but they refused.  Emma and the children clung to him, unwilling to part.  Angry guards force them away.  Joseph’s five-year-old son clung to his father’s leg, begging him to stay.  A guard drew his sword, thrust is between Joseph and his son, and shouted, “Get away, you rascal, or I will run you through!”

• How might Joseph have felt at this time?  Why?
• What might Joseph had wanted to do?
• What COULD he do?

Group 2 

For the next month, Joseph and his associates were mistreated and moved from jail to jail as they awaited a trial based on false accusations. On December 1, 1838, the men were imprisoned in a small jail in Liberty, Missouri. During the next four months, Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum, Alexander McRae, Lyman Wight, and Caleb Baldwin were held in the lower dungeon of Liberty Jail during a bitterly cold winter. Sidney Rigdon was also with them for a time, but a judge authorized his release in late January of 1839.

• How might Joseph have felt at this time?  Why?
• What might Joseph had wanted to do?
• What COULD he do?

Group 3

The dimensions of the dungeon room were approximately 14 feet by 14 feet (4.3 meters by 4.3 meters), and the ceiling was between 6 and 6.5 feet high (between 1.8 and 2 meters). The only natural light or fresh air came from two small, barred windows near the ceiling. From outside these windows, people often mocked and insulted the prisoners. The men were forced to sleep on the floor with only a little dirty straw for padding and were given very little protection from the cold. The dungeon had a single bucket for human waste, and the meager food provided was so disgusting that the men could only eat it out of desperate hunger. Occasionally, the food was poisoned. The prisoners intensely missed their friends and families and felt deep sorrow when they heard about the suffering Saints being driven from Missouri during the cold of winter.

• How might Joseph have felt at this time?  Why?
• What might Joseph had wanted to do?
• What COULD he do?

Excerpts from “Saints Vol 1”

At the town square, under heavy guard with the rest of the Saints’ troops, Heber Kimball heard a familiar voice call his name. Looking up, he saw William McLellin, the former apostle, coming toward him. William was dressed in a hat and shirt decorated with garish red patches.

“Brother Heber,” William said, “what do you think of Joseph Smith the fallen prophet now?” William had a group of soldiers with him. They had been moving from house to house, plundering the town at will.

“Look and see yourself,” William went on. “Poor, your family stripped and robbed, and your brethren in the same fix. Are you satisfied with Joseph?”

Heber could not deny that things looked bleak for the Saints. Joseph was a captive, and the Saints were disarmed and under assault.

But Heber knew he could not forsake Joseph and the Saints, as William, Thomas Marsh, and Orson Hyde had done. Heber had stayed loyal to Joseph through every trial they had faced together, and he was determined to remain loyal even if that meant losing everything he owned.

“Where are you?” Heber asked, turning the question back on William. “What are you about?” Heber’s testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and his refusal to abandon the Saints answered William’s question well enough.

“I’m more satisfied with him a hundredfold than ever I was before,” Heber continued. “I tell you Mormonism is true, and Joseph is a true prophet of the living God.”

As the militia pillaged the town, General Lucas did nothing to stop his troops from terrorizing the Saints and taking their property. Across the settlement, Missouri militiamen were chasing Saints from their homes, cursing them as they fled into the streets. The troops whipped and beat those who resisted them. Some soldiers assaulted and raped women they found hiding in the houses. General Lucas believed the Saints were guilty of insurrection, and he wanted them to pay for their actions and feel the power of his army.

Throughout the day, Lucas’s officers rounded up more church leaders. With the help of George Hinkle, troops forced their way into the home of Mary and Hyrum Smith. Hyrum was sick, but the troops drove him outside at the point of a bayonet and placed him with Joseph and the other prisoners.

That evening, as General Lucas prepared to try the prisoners in a military court, a militia officer named Moses Wilson took Lyman Wight aside, hoping to convince him to testify against Joseph at the trial.

“We do not wish to hurt you nor kill you,” Moses told Lyman. “If you will come out and swear against him, we will spare your life and give you any office you want.”

“Joseph Smith is not an enemy to mankind,” Lyman said hotly. “Had it not been that I had given heed to his counsel, I would have given you hell before this time.”

“You are a strange man,” said Moses. “There is to be a court-martial held this night, and will you attend?”

“I will not, unless compelled by force.”

Moses threw Lyman back in with the other prisoners, and General Lucas soon convened the court. Several militia officers participated, including George Hinkle. General Doniphan, the only lawyer present, opposed the trial, arguing that the militia had no authority to try civilians like Joseph.

Paying no attention to him, General Lucas proceeded with the trial and rushed through the hearing without any of the prisoners present. George wanted Lucas to show mercy to the prisoners, but the general instead sentenced them to be shot for treason. A majority of the officers present sustained the ruling.

After the trial, Moses told Lyman the verdict. “Your doom is fixed,” he said.

Lyman looked at him contemptuously. “Shoot and be damned,” he said.

Later that evening, General Lucas ordered General Doniphan to march Joseph and the other prisoners into the town square at nine o’clock the following morning and execute them in front of the Saints. Doniphan was outraged.

“I will be damned if I will have any of the honor of it, or the disgrace of it,” he told the prisoners in private. He said he planned to withdraw with his troops before sunrise.

He then sent a message to General Lucas. “It is cold-blooded murder. I will not obey your order,” he stated. “If you execute those men, I will hold you responsible before an earthly tribunal, so help me God!”

As promised, General Doniphan’s forces were gone the next morning. Rather than execute Joseph and the other prisoners, General Lucas ordered his men to escort them to his headquarters in Jackson County.

Flanked by armed guards, Joseph was led through the ravaged streets of Far West to gather some belongings from his home. Emma and the children were in tears when he arrived, but they were relieved that he was still alive. Joseph begged his guards to let him visit with his family privately, but they refused.

Emma and the children clung to him, unwilling to part. The guards drew their swords and pried them away. Five-year-old Joseph held his father tightly. “Why can’t you stay with us?” he sobbed.

A guard thrust his sword at the boy. “Get away, you rascal, or I will run you through!”

Back outside, troops marched the prisoners through a crowd of Saints and ordered them to climb inside a covered wagon. The militia then surrounded the wagon, creating a wall of armed men between the Saints and their leaders.

As Joseph waited for the wagon to roll away, he heard a familiar voice above the noise of the crowd. “I am the mother of the prophet,” Lucy Smith called out. “Is there not a gentleman here who will assist me through this crowd!”

The wagon’s heavy canvas cover prevented the prisoners from seeing outside, but at the front of the wagon, Hyrum pushed his hand under the cover and took his mother’s hand. The guards immediately ordered her back, threatening to shoot her. Hyrum felt his mother’s hand slip away, and it seemed that the wagon would roll out at any moment.

Just then, Joseph, who was at the back of the wagon, heard a voice on the other side of the canvas. “Mister Smith, your mother and sister are here.”

Joseph pushed his hand beneath the cover and felt his mother’s hand. “Joseph,” he heard her say, “I cannot bear to go till I hear your voice.”

“God bless you, Mother,” Joseph said, just before the cart lurched and drove away.

Several nights later, the prisoners lay on the floor of a log house in Richmond, Missouri. After taking them to Jackson County, General Lucas had put them on display like animals before he was ordered to send them to Richmond for a legal hearing.

Now each man tried to sleep with a shackle around his ankle and a heavy chain binding him to the other prisoners. The floor was hard and cold, and the men had no fire to keep them warm.

Lying awake, Parley Pratt felt sick as their guards told obscene stories about raping and killing Saints. He wanted to stand up and rebuke the men—to say something that would make them stop talking—but he kept silent.

Suddenly, he heard chains clank beside him as Joseph rose to his feet. “Silence, ye fiends of the infernal pit!” the prophet thundered. “In the name of Jesus Christ, I rebuke you and command you to be still! I will not live another minute and hear such language!”

The startled guards gripped their weapons and looked up. Joseph stared back at them, radiating majesty. “Cease such talk,” he commanded, “or you or I die this instant!”

The room went quiet, and the guards lowered their guns. Some of them retreated to the corners. Others crouched in fear at Joseph’s feet. The prophet stood still, looking calm and dignified. The guards begged his pardon and fell silent until their replacements came.

On November 12, 1838, Joseph and more than sixty other Saints were taken to the Richmond courthouse to determine if there was enough evidence to try them on charges of treason, murder, arson, robbery, burglary, and larceny. The judge, Austin King, would decide if the prisoners would go to trial.

The hearing lasted for more than two weeks. The star witness against Joseph was Sampson Avard, who had been a Danite leader. During the siege of Far West, Sampson had tried to flee Missouri, but the militia had captured him and threatened to prosecute him if he refused to testify against the prisoners.

Eager to save himself, Sampson claimed that everything he had done as a Danite had been done under orders from Joseph. He testified that Joseph believed it was the will of God for the Saints to fight for their rights against the governments of Missouri and the nation.

Sampson also said that Joseph believed the church was like the stone spoken of by Daniel in the Old Testament, which would fill the earth and consume its kingdoms.

Alarmed, Judge King questioned Joseph about Daniel’s prophecy, and Joseph testified that he believed it.

“Write that down,” the judge told his clerk. “It is a strong point for treason.”

Joseph’s attorney objected. “Judge,” he said, “you had better make the Bible treason.”

The prosecution called more than forty witnesses to testify against the prisoners, including several former church leaders. Afraid of being prosecuted themselves, John Corrill, William Phelps, John Whitmer, and others had struck a deal with the state of Missouri to testify against Joseph in exchange for their own freedom. Under oath, they described outrages they had witnessed during the conflict, and all of them blamed Joseph.

The Saints’ defense, meanwhile, consisted of a few witnesses who did little to sway the judge’s opinion. Other witnesses could have testified in Joseph’s behalf, but they were harassed or scared away from the courtroom.

By the time the hearing was over, five Saints, including Parley Pratt, were jailed in Richmond to await trial on murder charges related to the fight at Crooked River.

Those who remained—Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Lyman Wight, Caleb Baldwin, and Alexander McRae—were transferred to a jail in a town called Liberty to await trial on charges of treason. If convicted, they could be executed.

A blacksmith shackled the six men together and led them to a large wagon. The prisoners climbed in and sat on the rough wood, their heads barely above the high sides of the wagon box.

The journey took all day. When they arrived in Liberty, the wagon rolled through the center of town, past the courthouse, then north to a small, stone jail. The door stood open, waiting for the men in the cold of the December day.

One by one, the prisoners climbed down from the wagon and made their way up the steps to the entryway of the jail. A crowd of curious people pressed in around them, hoping to catch sight of the prisoners.

Joseph was the last man off the wagon. As he reached the door, he looked at the crowd and raised his hat in polite greeting. He then turned and descended into the dark prison.

Study the following resources, looking for what could motivate you or others to obey the law of tithing.

Scriptures: Malachi 3:8–10; John 7:17; Doctrine and Covenants 119:5–7

Statements and other resources:

President Steven J. Lund, Young Men General President, taught:

When youth pay a full tithe, they form a link with Heavenly Father that remains. Every time they obey that commandment and make that payment, a new bond of sacrifice and connection is created. (Steven J. Lund, “Seminary, Institute, and Other Things that Work” [address given at the Seminary & Institute annual training broadcast, Jan. 27, 2023], broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org)

For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices advises:

Show love for God by keeping His commandments.. . . As you fast and pay tithes and offerings, you show God that His work is more important to you than material things. (For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices [2022], 11–12)

While serving as a member of the Seventy, Elder Stanley G. Ellis asked:

Do we have the faith to trust [the Lord’s] promises regarding tithing that with 90 percent of our increase plus the Lord’s help, we are better off than with 100 percent on our own? (Stanley G. Ellis, “Do We Trust Him? Hard Is Good,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2017, 114)

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

Often as we teach and testify about the law of tithing, we emphasize the immediate, dramatic, and readily recognizable temporal blessings that we receive. And surely such blessings do occur. Yet some of the diverse blessings we obtain as we are obedient to this commandment are significant but subtle. . . .

For example, a subtle but significant blessing we receive is the spiritual gift of gratitude that enables our appreciation for what we have to constrain desires for what we want. . . . Sometimes we may ask God for success, and He gives us physical and mental stamina. We might plead for prosperity, and we receive enlarged perspective and increased patience. (David A. Bednar, “The Windows of Heaven,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013, 17–18)

Mary Fielding Smith was the widow of Hyrum Smith and mother of President Joseph F. Smith. When someone suggested that she was too poor to observe the law of tithing, she responded: Would you deny me a blessing? . . . I pay my tithing, not only because it is a law of God, but because I expect a blessing by doing it. (Mary Fielding Smith, quoted by Joseph F. Smith, in Conference Report, Apr. 1900, 48)

🗓 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.