Scriptures of Light and Darkness

Light

Joseph Smith 1st Vision
Joseph Smith vision of Moroni
1 Nephi 1:9, 10
1 Nephi 519
1 Nephi 8:5, 11
1 Nephi 11:8, 13
1 Nephi 11:6
1 Nephi 22:12
2 Nephi: 18:20

Dark:
1 Nephi 8:4, 7, 8
1 Nephi 23
1 Nephi 12:5
17 mists
23 dark and loathsome
2 Ne 1:23
2 Ne 5:21
2 Ne 19:2
2 Ne 23:10 last days
27:29

Names of Jesus Christ from the Book of Mormon

Almighty

Christ

Creator

The Creator of all things

Everlasting God

Father

Father of Heaven

Father of Heaven and Earth

The First and the Last

The God; Their God

The God over all the earth

God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob

God of our Fathers

The Good Shepherd

The God over all the earth

The God who created them

The Great Creator

The Great Mediator

The Messiah

The Holy Messiah

The Holy One

The Holy One of Israel

The Mighty One of Israel

The Lamb of God

The Lord

The Lord God

The Lord God Almighty

The Word

The Lord Jesus Christ

The Lord of Hosts

The Lord our God

The Lord their Redeemer

The Lord thy God

The Maker

The Lord Omnipotent

The Mighty One of Israel

The Mighty One of Jacob

The, their, Only Begotten Son

Our, Your Providence

My, Your, their Redeemer

The Redeemer of Israel

The Rock of Righteousness

The Savior of the World

The Son of Eternal Father

The Son of God

The True and Living God

The True Messiah

The Very God of Israel

The King

Wonderful

Counselor

The Mighty God

The Everlasting Father

The Prince of Peace

Jesus Christ

Jehovah

The Son of Man

The Son of God

The Eternal God

Qualities of God and Jesus Christ

Saves  

Delivers

Rules

Confounds enemies

Hears cries

Gives knowledge

Concircles us in righteousness

Makes escape from enemies

Clears stumbling blocks

Gives liberally

Anger

Loving kindness

Condescension

Healer

Power

Grace

Truth

Judge

Minister

Peace

Faithful

Merciful

Holy

Support

Preserves

Love

A light for those who hear him

Glory

Majesty

Exalted

Sanctified in righteousness

Smiter

Holy

Mighty

Righteous judge

Comfortor

Great

Does excellent things

Our strength

Wrath

Fierce anger

Destroyer of sinners

Punish

Wrath

Powerful

God of miracles

Wise

Goodness

Consoler

Meet justice for your cause

Merciful wise

Just

Rock of salvation

Stone

Honest; can’t lie

Dominion

The Holy Ghost

1 Nephi 10: Christ makes himself manifest by power of the Holy Ghost

1 Nephi 10:17- We receive power of the Holy Ghost through faith on Christ.

We can know things by the power of the Holy Ghost

10 -The Holy Ghost is a gift of God to those who seek it

19- The mysteries of God are unfolded by the power of the Holy Ghost

22-The Holy Ghost gives authority to speak

11:27- Christ received the Holy Ghost before His ministry

1 Nephi 7:14- The Holy Ghost will not strive with the wicked

Alma 5:50- The Holy Ghost teaches of the Father

51-The Holy Ghost tells what to do

54-The Holy Ghost sanctifies us

Alma 7:10-Mary conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost

Joseph F Smith

Joseph F was the son of Hyrum and Mary Fielding Smith. Hyrum's first wife, Jerusha died at the birth of their 5th child. Hyrum didn't know what to do with 5 children and the youngest being newborn, and was advised by the Lord in a dream/revelation that he should marry again right away. I'm not sure if he was told to marry Mary Fielding or not, but he did and she lovingly cared for his 5 children. Their first child together was Joseph F Smith, named after Joseph Smith, and Mary's father, Fielding.

When Joseph F was born, his father and Joseph Smith were both in Liberty jail. Some time later, Mary wanted to visit him so he could meet his baby, so she arranged to walk the 40+ miles. Emma decided she wanted to go with her, and Mary's sister, Mercy, also went. When they got there, there was no way to visit the prisoners except to be lowered down by a ladder into the dungeon-type prison, so the women did that, even carrying a baby so they could visit. Hyrum was so happy to see his wife and baby. It was a wonderful and uplifting experience for him.

While he was an infant, a mob broke into their house and started searching through everything. They had Mary stand in a corner while they ransacked the house. They threw off the mattress from the bed, and threw it right on top of baby Joseph F. It was a heavy straw mattress, so it was a miracle that he lived.

Later, Joseph and Hyrum and the other prisoners were able to escape with the help of some guards while being transported from Liberty to somewhere else, and were able to go home to their families.

When Joseph Smith Sr. died, Hyrum became the patriarch of the Church.

When Joseph and Hyrum decided to surrender to the authorities, they said goodbye to their families. Joseph F remembered all of his life the experience of seeing his father on a horse, being raised up to kiss him goodbye, and seeing him ride away.

One night, when he was 5 years old, he couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned and then heard a loud knocking at the door. A man was shouting, Sister Smith, Sister Smith, our husband has been killed. He later said it was the saddest day of his life.

At 7 years old he was in charge of driving the team of oxen to go west. He also chopped wood and cared for the animals. At one point on the trek, the oxen got lost. Mary prayed, and the finally found them stuck in a thicket. After that he always remembered the power of prayer. She also gave the great example of faithfulness when someone told her that a poor widow like her wasn't expected to pay tithing and she told him that she should not be denied the blessings that come from paying tithing. She was a great example for Joseph F.

Joseph F mostly enjoyed the trek west. He was amazed when he saw a huge heard of buffalo, and liked picking gooseberries, throwing rocks at garfish in the streams, exploring around (once he found an abandoned Indian village), and the singing in the evenings.

(Difference between a bull and an ox - an ox is a castrated bull. After being castrated they are more tame, mellow, become very loyal and mild, while still being very strong. The ox is the symbol of the house of Ephriam.)

Joseph F was 9 in 1898 when they arrived in the Salt Lake valley. They were very poor and with no husband, there was nobody to build them a house so they lived the whole winter in the covered wagon. In the spring someone helped build them a log cabin. 4 years after they got there, Mary F died, so Joseph F was an orphan at 13.

One night he dreamed that he had died and met his parents and everyone else who had died that he knew. He said after that dream he woke up  "a man" and never feared anything again.

At 15 he was called to serve a mission on the Hawaiian islands. He learned the language quickly. Since he had no family to support him he had no money and frequently went days without eating. He was there 3 years.

After the mission, he returned to the states on a boat, but was expected to find his own way to Utah from landing in California. He walked most of it with a wagon train. At one point they were attacked by a group of "Mormon haters", who put a gun to his head and asked if he was a Mormon. His famous reply: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012-05-0603-preparation-of-joseph-f-smith-true-blue-through-and-through?lang=eng

He was 27 when called to be an apostle and served under 4 Presidents. He said they were all like fathers to him. He had 6 wives and 48 children, 5 of which were adopted. Having grown up an orphan, he has a special place in his heart for orphans and family meant everything to him.

He was 63 when he became the prophet. Lorenzo Snow had taught the law of tithing, so by 1906 the Church was debt-free.
He instituted the Children's Friend in 1902
He started the Seminary program
In 1915 he instituted the Family Home Evening program and set aside Monday evenings for that.
He immediately began to acquire Church history sites and wanted to visit them personally before buying them. When he went back east he visited his aunt Emma. She hadn't seen him since he was about 7, but she recognized him immediately, before even introduced himself. She said he looked so much like Hyrum, which pleased him immensely.

He visited Carthage and said he despised the place. They purchased it for $4000 in 1903. He never went back there.
He acquired the Sacred Grove

He frequently said to leave "no written work behind" so somebody gathered all of his sermons and compiled them and gave them to him as a gift. That's called Gospel Doctrine.

When the war was on and so many people were dying and dying of illness, he was so troubled, he was pondering the Epistles of Peter and praying and received D&C 138.

Lorenzo Snow

Pre-story- the hymn We Ever Pray for Thee was written for Wilford Woodruff's  90th birthday celebration.

Wilford Woodruff was the prophet who was finally able to dedicate the Salt Lake temple. He had a dream many years before but it was hard to believe it could come true; eventually, like a year before he died, it did.

In the movie about John, the stonecutter who walked to Salt Lake City every week, most of it on one wooden leg - he did that for more than 20 years. It was more than 20 miles each way and it was a miracle that he was able to do that. He was 77 when he climbed to the top of the temple to engrave in the stone.

Lorenzo Snow was born in Ohio. He was 9 years younger than Joseph Smith. Both of their grandfathers fought in the Revolutionary War. Lorenzo dreamed of being a soldier from his childhood. His older sisters, Eliza R, and Leonore doted on him and adored him. When he was still small, Eliza R. sewed him a soldier uniform that he wore all the time and loved! He called it his freedom suit. He always wanted to be a soldier!

His family was Baptist.

In those days, there weren't many hotels or restaurants for travelers so it was common for travelers to stop at any random house along the road and ask for food or lodging. One person who stopped at the Snow home, was Joseph Smith. They had heard of him and were interested to see him in person and hear him so they could form opinions about what people had said. One of the older sisters stared at him intently until she finally decided he had a kind face and found no evil in him.

The whole family joined except Lorenzo. He was about to leave for college at Overland, which was a Presbyterian college  (It was very rare in those days for anyone to go to college) because he wanted to be a military officer. He was 17 and about to reach his life goal. A few days after Joseph Smith's visit, Lorenzo left for college. On the way he met a fellow traveler, David Patton who was returning from his mission in Canada. David urged him to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it.

After a year in college, he was becoming increasingly frustrated with religions. The more he studied, the less satisfied he was, and one day he went to Kirtland because Eliza had invited him. While there, she invited Lorenzo to a "blessing meeting".  In those days the Church patriarch (who at this time was Joseph Smith Sr.) would have a bunch of people come to a meeting and he would give patriarchal blessings to each one and all the others could listen. It was always a very spiritual experience and people loved to attend. Afterwards they would serve refreshments.

Lorenzo was very impressed with Joseph Smith Sr. He said he was like Abraham of old. JS Sr., told Lorenzo to study and pray and talk to the leaders of the church. He prophesied to Lorenzo that he would be baptized.

 

A few weeks later Lorenzo went to the woods to pray, following Joseph Smith's example. He heard a sound, like the rushing of winds, and felt the Spirit very strong and knew the Church was true..

Months later he went to JS Sr. for a patriarchal blessing. He was promised faith equal to the brother of Jared and that he would be able to raise the dead.

Lorenzo was about 5'6" and 140 lbs. After his baptism he asked if he could serve a mission; he served 6 missions in all. 

On his 1st mission, he had a dream. He saw 2 men beating him in a school house. The next day 2 men went up to him and invited him to a meeting. They told him they had a whole room full of people he could preach to who were anxious to hear him. He remembered the dream and declined. They got very angry and yelled at him. He found out later there was a mob waiting for him at the "meeting". 

When he finished that mission, he walked home; he didn't have money to go home any other way, so he walked 500 miles from Kentucky to Ohio in the winter. He had little food and little lodging, so by the time he got to Ohio, he stopped at the first house of a relative he came to. He had lost so much weight and looked so bad that the relative didn't recognize him and tried to turn him away.

He gave up his life-long dream of becoming a military officer and decided to become a school teacher. That was a hard decision to give up that goal

One day as he was pondering the scriptures, the thought came to him, "As man is, God once was, and as God is now, man may become." He later told Joseph Smith about it, who said, "You have received personal revelation. Write it down." We should always write down impressions that come to us when we are pondering or studying scriptures. Otherwise God may become angry with us and withhold future revelations.

On another mission in England, he presented a special copy of the Book of Mormon to the Queen of England and other dignitaries.

When the Nauvoo Legion was organized, Lorenzo was made captain, so he got to be a soldier after all. His men were so well trained and organized, that Joseph Smith was made aware and commended him for it.

His best friends were his sisters, Eliza and Leonore. 

At 40, he still had never married. Joseph Smith took him aside and spoke to him about Polygamy. Not all men practiced polygamy - it was only by invitation from the prophet. He was hesitant, but after Joseph Smith died, he decided he needed to follow the counsel. In 1845 he married and was sealed to 4 others on the same day. Eliza met his wives and gave her approval, saying they were women of great faith.

Two years later the saints left Nauvoo - in the winter and he was made captain of 10 families. When they stopped at the way station, Lorenzo got very ill and ran a very high fever. They wrapped him in a sheet, and took him to the (very cold) river and baptized him for health. (This was common practice back then) He was healed immediately and was never sick again.

In Utah, in 1848, he was called to be an apostle, the same day as Erastus Snow, who was a distant cousin.

He served a mission in Hawaii where he drown. He was in the water an hour before he was discovered and the missionaries who found him did mouth to mouth resuscitation, which hadn't even been invented yet - they were inspired to do it.. He returned home and eventually had 9 wives and 43 children. 

In 1887 the government issued the Edmunds-Tucker Act - an act of Congress that focused on restricting some practices of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was passed in response to the dispute between the United States Congress and the LDS Church regarding polygamy. 

This act threatened all the property of anyone practicing polygamy - the government could seize all their property - churches, homes, temples, etc. It also meant that they could not vote. Many leaders were imprisoned. The prison had two sides - one for the polygamists and one for violent criminals. The side for criminals was a terrible place to be, vile, negative, hateful and the guards hated to work on that side. On the side was the polygamists. The prisoners were productive, reading, painting, and preaching. Lorenzo Snow was there 11 months.

Wilford Woodruff issued the Manifesto in 1890, recorded in D&C official Declaration #1.

Not sure when, but the government finally pardoned all men who had been practicing polygamy. It was now illegal to take new wives, but with the pardon, they did not have to abandon the families they were supporting. Lorenzo Snow had 9 wives and 50 children who became an army of missionaries.

He was called to take his family and build up Box Elder County, which is now Brigham City. There were already some families there, and as soon as he got there, they began to build up and clean up.

In 1868 Eliza became the General Relief Society president.

As a general authority, Lorenzo traveled to stake conferences as a visiting authority. At one conference, during the conference, he found out that a sister had died who he knew. He left the conference and when he arrived where she was, she had been dead 3 hours. He anointed her with oil and called her back, then he went back to the conference. She woke up an hour later and asked where Lorenzo was. She lived to 86 and had 8 children. Her name was Ella. She spoke of the spirit world experience and how she loved it there and didn't want to leave. She said whenever she saw someone there who she knew, they would ask about people in this world and how they were doing. Everyone wanted updates on loved ones. She saw Lorenzo's sister, Eliza, and later told Lorenzo about her.

Lorenzo was called to be the first president of the Salt Lake City temple until Wilford Woodruff's death, then he became president of the Church. Later he took his granddaughter to the temple and as they were walking down the hall, he told her to stop. He said that that was in that very spot where the Lord appeared to him when Woodruff died and told him how to reorganize the presidency and to not wait to do it like that had done before. 

We need to share spiritual experiences with our children and grandchildren and make sure they know our testimony.

The Church was in serious debt by then because of being run out of cities and having to leave their property and possessions. That's why Lorenzo received the revelation about tithing. He went from Salt Lake City to St George and stopped at every little settlement and taught the importance of tithing. Up to then, they thought tithing was optional; that it was for if you had extra $$ but not a commandment. If you were too poor you didn't have to pay or could just pay what you could afford. Tithing became the main theme of his presidency. He taught that you should always pay a little more, to be sure you were being honest with the Lord.

He died in 1901 at 87 years old. One of his daughters lived to 1976.

James 5:10 tells us to use the prophets as examples of suffering affliction and patience. That's why it's good to study their lives. 

The Trek West

Laurel’s Class 3/14



Brigham Young took off with the first wave of members to go west. Their first goal destination was Winter Quarters. First they had to cross the Mississippi into Iowa because they didn’t want to go through Missouri because it was too dangerous. They tried building a raft to carry a wagon across, but the ox kicked a hole in it and it sank. People jumped in the river to save the family and all their belongings.



Then a miracle happened – the river froze so solid that they could cross with their whole wagons, animals and everything safely.

At this same time, many members were in New York. Sam Brennon ran a newspaper called The Prophet. His idea was to sail to the west and got many people to go with him. It was enough people that now it would be considered a very large ward. They set sail and went around South America. Two babies were born on the trip. One was named Atlantic and the other was called Pacific.

They landed in San Francisco and Sam wanted SF to be the new Church headquarters. He went to Utah to convince Brigham, but he said no, which caused Sam Brennon to leave the church. He took the tithing from the saints to invest in gold (gambled it away). He was the first millionaire in California but became addicted to alcohol, was divorced, and died penniless and alone.

Some of those members stayed in California but most went to Utah.

In 1846 the saints with Brigham Young arrived in Nebraska at Winter Quarters, what is now Florence, Nebraska. They waited there until spring to continue west. By September they had 820 lots laid out with log houses on them.

In Nauvoo, many who had remained behind were because they were too poor to buy covered wagons and make the trip. They tried to sell their new beautiful homes, but nobody would buy them. They even tried to sell the temple to finance the poor, but nobody would buy it. Two years later, someone burned it, and 2 years after that a tornado tore it down.

The saints left were in danger from the mobs. They swore they would get rid of the rest of the Mormons so they had to flee. They stayed in what became called Poor Camp. This was October. They all had to leave without food or blankets or adequate clothing. They prayed for help and on October 9 large flocks of quail fell at their feet. Same as in Numbers 11, but those people were not grateful for the quails and weren’t wise with them. They overate and got sick. They were guilty of gluttony. But the saints were grateful and saved as much as they could for the future. When Brigham Young heard of their situation, he sent rescue companies to take them to the way station.

So one of the biggest problems Brigham Young had was that the saints were too scattered. His group had almost run out of food and lived on cornmeal mush and bacon. It kept them alive, but many got sick and it caused scurvy. Brigham Young and Willard Richards both were very ill. Many died in winter quarters. George A Smith lost his wife and 3 children. He studied and found that potatoes could cure scurvy, so he got everyone eating potatoes. After that he was called the Potato Saint. Brigham Young was so concerned for his family that he gave them his portion of potatoes and only ate the peels but was healed anyway.

The saints stayed optimistic through everything in spite of all they were suffering and all the deaths. Willard Richards wrote to the apostles who weren’t there that Brigham Young sleeps with one eye open and is always ready to serve. BY was 45 years old at the time.

Brigham Young had a dream in which Joseph Smith told him the word and will of the Lord for them to move west – D&C 136. It is Brigham Young’s only recorded revelation in Doctrine and Covenants. In it he was told how to organize the saints – basically the same as Moses was told to organize the Israelites except that there weren’t nearly as many. Brigham had more than one dream in which he saw Joseph Smith. Frequently prophets are visited by past prophets. Joseph gave messages for the members – to follow the Spirit of the Lord. He told them that they can distinguish if it is the Lord’s Spirit if He whispers peace, has no malice, and what He says will help you do good.

This made the saint’s trek very different from all other settlers because of their orderliness and organization. There were three big companies and

each was led by 2 apostles.

Each company was self-sufficient.

Each took care of the fatherless and the children

They were to not complain or criticize, but to edify with their speech

They were strictly commanded to not take the name of God in vain.

(Kimball said when you are no longer shocked by evil you have lost your first defense against evil.)

They were to cease drunkenness

They were to return what they borrowed

They were to be good stewards over their property – waste not, want not

They were to praise the Lord with singing and dancing.

Heber C Kimball and Willard Richards were Brigham Young’s counselors. D&C 136 also tell why Joseph Smith had to die.

Brigham Young wanted to send a vanguard – an advanced party to go ahead to Salt Lake City. There were 143 men, 3 women and 2 children.

The missionary effort in England helped the pioneers. The members there sent scientific instruments to measure the altitude and other important things, and sent them money.

In May they reached the halfway point of the trek – Chimney Rock in Colorado. Each day the woke up and begin trek by 5:30. There were some highlights along the trail that brightened their days; they saw huge herds of buffalo and wide expanses of sunflowers. The saints were happy in spite of their difficulties and hardships. At night they would sing and dance

Jim Bridger talked to them and told them they would never make it to Utah. Orsen Pratt and Erastus Snow were the first to arrive. Days later Brigham and others arrived. Brigham saw a vision of the future of the valley – the glory of Zion. He said, It is enough. It is the right place.

There is a statue of Brigham Young in the Hall of Fame where he is called the Father of Irrigation.

They arrived on a Saturday. On Sunday they worshipped. Brigham said it would become an ensign to the nations. 100 years later the National Geographic compared the similarities between Israel and Utah – both were considered to be a promised land, both populated to escape persecution, both have a large body of salt water, both have a river Jordan, both are very dry, have the same plants, watered with irrigation, both have caves with ancient artifacts, Utah lake is like the Sea of Galilea President Monson said there are no coincidences..

Faith in every footstep

About 2 years after the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, there was a trial for about 8 of the leaders of the mob who killed him. The verdict of that trial was that they were acquitted because they were "carrying out the will of the people." This basically gave all people around Nauvoo license to kill, so the persecution increased greatly. Satan did not want them to finish the temple!

Brigham Young was inspired to finish the temple before they left, so work was increased on that while families prepared themselves to move west. As soon as the upper room was finished, furnished with trees, murals, and furniture, they did as many endowments as they could until they had to leave.

The first wave of saints started the trek west. They had planned to wait until spring so they would have more food and weather and travel conditions would be better, but the persecution was such that they needed to get out of there. Everyone leaving had to leave their brand new houses, their gardens that were about to produce, their fruit trees that had been in long enough to begin to produce, their furniture, and almost every other possession, and they got nothing for them. They had to just walk away.

These first saints to leave had covered wagons. The trail had been well scouted by men Brigham Young had sent out, so they knew where to go, but it was still unknown to them. The local newspaper, the Nauvoo Neighbor, had printed a list of supplies that saints should take. For a family of 5 it listed: blankets, 3 oxen, seeds, farm tools, 1,000 lbs of flour, guns, ammunition, 2 milk cows, cooking pans, fishing gear, dried fruit, spices, tent, nails, and ropes. The covered wagons were approximately the size of a Toyota Highlander - 18x11x4. With that many provisions, there wasn't much room for anyone to ride unless they really needed it like the elderly, pregnant, or small children. The covered wagons traveled about 18 miles a day.

From Nauvoo, they traveled north instead of west because they didn't dare try to go through Missouri. In the first attempt to cross the Mississippi river, they had a wagon and oxen on a raft, but the ox kicked a hole in the raft and everything sank. People jumped in to save everyone, and were successful, but realized that wasn't going to work. Then the first miracle of the trip happened. The weather dropped to a record low and the river froze so solid that they could cross with their wagons and oxen and everything.  Several babies were born while crossing the river.

2,000 saints gathered at the first way station, Sugar Creek. They camped in 8" of snow. But even worse was when it warmed up a little, then they were in so much mud the wagons would get stuck. There was no way to wash so everyone was very, very dirty, especially the children.

People hadn't packed all the supplies that were on the list, and there wasn't much food on the list anyway, so by the time they got to Sugar Creek, they were already running out of food. The leaders had packed extra so they shared, but soon that ran out. Brigham Young said he lost so much weight that the coat, that barely buttoned before, now wrapped around by 12"!

William Pitt and some others had taken instruments and had a brass band. In the evenings they would play while the saints gathered and danced. They played all the popular songs of the day. The dancing lifted spirits, was good aerobic exercise, and helped keep them warm. One favorite song was Upper California. At that time, all of California, Nevada, and Utah belonged was part of the Mexico Territory. That's where they were headed, so they liked that song a lot.

Brigham Young said the saints bore their trials without murmuring. He said they were the best people on earth since Enoch's city. He called them Camp of Israel.

They stayed in Sugar Creek until March. .By then the food had run out. The brass band would go into neighboring cities and play and earn money to take back to the saints for food. That was one of the things that saved them.

The longest part of their journey was through Iowa. The wagons got stuck constantly. They spent more time getting through Iowa than the whole rest of the trip to Utah.

William Clayton had gone with Brigham Young on this trip without his wife because she was expecting a baby. He was so worried about her and that all would be well, and finally he got a message that his wife had her baby and that both were fine. That inspired him to write the hymn, "All is Well". It quickly became everyone's favorite hymn, and it was an unwritten rule that if someone started singing it, all had to join in. He was also asked to be the camp clerk and keep track of their miles. In doing this, he invented the odometer!

In April they reached the next way station, Garden Grove. While there they plowed 700 acres, built log cabins, and planted crops for those who followed.

About that time, Texas was annexed into the Union and Congress declared war on Mexico. Someone was sent to recruit the Mormons to help fight but nobody wanted to enlist. First of all, they were pretty involved in what was going on in their lives, and 2nd, the government had consistently turned its back on them. But Brigham received a revelation that if they joined, it would be well, it would bring good will with the Church and the government, it would finance their trip west, and they would never have to fight.

So 541 enlisted. Brigham Young handpicked the officers. He promised them that if they kept the commandments they would never have to fight. Among other things they were told to never take God's name in vain if they wanted His help. (George Washington also demanded that). If they were married, they could take their wives.

There was a huge sendoff in July 1846. 31 women went to cook and do laundry. There were also some children. They marched 200 miles to Leavenworth. They were given $42 for clothing/year, which is the equivalent of $1200 today, and uniforms were optional. So they gave part of the money to Parley P Pratt to take back to the saints.

When they signed up with the Army, the recruiters were very surprised because all of the 541 men knew how to write. The Mormon Battalion was assigned to blaze a trail to Santa Fe and from there to California. They were good workers and did a great job, but never fought.

At one point on the trip there was a stampede of bulls, called the Battle of Bulls. A few were injured, but none were killed.

When they got to Tucson, AZ, the Mexicans ran from them. They had heard of this huge army of Mormons. So they were able to take over the city without fighting. They went to San Diego as occupation troops. They were admired because they knew how to build houses and other buildings. They built a courthouse, dug wells, and greatly contributed to establish San Diego.

Most men were discharged after a year but Brigham Young told them to stay in San Diego to earn money. In Sutter's Fort gold was discovered so they got a lot of money and the next summer they left the gold mines to go to join their families in Utah.

After the martyrdom

2/28 Class by Laurel Lawrence

Read January Ensign, Miraculous Mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith

It’s good to take our families to the Church History Museum so that the things we tell them become more real.

During his ministry, Joseph Smith was taken to court and acquitted over 220 times! Eventually he became his own lawyer and was very good at it.

(The first governor of California was one of Joseph’s lawyers and said that he was such a good man!)

John Taylor and Willard Richards were he only apostles in town for Joseph’s funeral. John Taylor was severely wounded, so no idea if he was able to attend. All other apostles were away on missions, but after they heard about Joseph’s death, each remembered the day and that they had felt a great sadness on that day without knowing why. Orson Hyde remembered breaking out in tears and feeling so sad and didn’t know why. George Albert Smith couldn’t sleep and was depressed. He eventually read about it in the newspapers and didn’t believe it at first. Parley P Pratt was on a steamboat and heard new passengers talking about it and also didn’t believe it. Then other passengers began to taunt him saying, “Now what’s going to happen to your Church? How are you going to keep it together without him?” He reminded them that Jesus was also killed but His Church continued. He was very sad but received a message from God to tell the saints to continue faithful. He went back to Nauvoo. 

Everyone was very happy to see him. One of the things he taught was to not seek revenge. All the apostles knew that they needed to wait until all of them had returned before trying to reorganize the Church leadership. In the meantime the saints were instructed to keep working on the temple.  The saints needed this leadership because without Joseph, they felt like sheep without a shepherd.

Then Brigham Young remembered that the keys were there; Joseph had bestowed all the keys on the apostles before he left for Carthage. The saints were so happy to see all the apostles return.

Back when the saints moved from Kirtland to Nauvoo, Sydney Rigdon didn’t to with them. He went to Pennsylvania. He was unhappy with Joseph because of polygamy.

D&C 124 God tells him to go where they were commanded and that even now if he will obey he will be blessed. But he didn’t want to obey.  After Joseph Smith died, Syndey went to Nauvoo and announced that he had received a revelation that he  should be the new “guardian” of the Church. Sydney knew what it was like to receive a revelation because he had received D&C 76 with Joseph Smith. But Satan can counterfeit revelations and many other things:

God’s                                                    Satan’s counterfeit

Love                                                     Lust

Priesthood                                             Priestcraft for money and glory

Miracles                                                sorcery

Marriage between man and woman         Gay marriage

Prophets                                                psychics

Patriarch                                               fortune teller

Law of consecration                                communism

Eternal progression                                 reincarnation

Seer stone                                              crystal ball

Six weeks after Joseph was killed, the apostles held a solemn assembly to let the saints choose who should replace Joseph. First Syndey Rigdon spoke for 1 ½ hours. Nobody was moved or felt anything. . Then Brigham Young spoke  and talked about Joseph Smith. As he spoke people heard the voice of Joseph, with his manner of speaking with a whistle because of the chipped tooth from when he was tarred and feathered.  They thought he looked like Joseph in his looks, attitude, dress, appearance, and manner and that he had the mantle of Joseph Smith. There were over 1,000 who testified of that.

In the afternoon Brigham Young spoke again and testified of himself – that he had never faltered (like so many apostates and Sydney Rigdon) Then they had a vote to have the 12 apostles lead the Church with the president of the quorum of the twelve to govern. The vote was unanimous.

19 times during his life Joseph Smith told the people that he wouldn’t live to 40. He had carefully trained the 12 before he left for Carthage. He met with them every day before they all left on their last mission. He also gave them the endowments and gave the sealing powers to Brigham Young.

Sydney Rigdon was excommunicated and was furious and returned to Pittsburgh and started his own church called the Church of Christ, organized on April 6. He had a handful of believers “Rigdonites” who eventually all left him.

Another apostate, James Strang came forward saying he had a letter from Joseph Smith that said the saints should follow him and gather in Wisconsin. He took some saints “Strangites” and they struggled for a while and in 1856 was murdered by one of his followers.

From then on they followed the apostolic succession from President of the 12 to President of the 12.

How to remember the succession of presidents:

Never               Nelson

Order                Oaks

Big                    Ballard

Hamburgers       Holland

Except               Eyring

Under               Uchdorf

Bitter                Bednar

Cold                 Cook    

Conditions         Christofferson

And                  Anderson

Rather               Rasband

Severe               Stevenson

Rainstorms        Renlund

Get                   Gong

Soup                 Soares

The first priority for the saints was to finish the temple. They completed one ordinance at a time so that they could do that ordinance while building the next ordinance room. So the first done was the baptistery.

They continued to send out missionaries and created the quorum of 70. People were called as 70s to go on missions.

The difference between an Area Seventy and a General Authority Seventy:

An Area Seventy lives at home, continues with his job, and serves by traveling around his area completing assignments from the Quorum of the Twelve. It is a part time calling, but they are ordained Seventies. There are 210 area seventies in the world. They serve about 5 years. When they are released, they aren’t emeritus or anything. They just go back to work.

A General Authority Seventy is a full time calling. They leave their home, job, and go with their family to wherever they are assigned. They are ordained Seventy if they weren’t already, and then set apart as General Authority Seventy. There are 90 General Authority Seventies in the world. They are called to serve until they turn 70. They are replaced in the April Conference of the year they turn 70, and serve until October. When they are released they are emeritus status.

They used to call a bunch of assistants for the Quorum of the Twelve and when Kimball was president, he told them that is what seventies are, so they called 70s to do that instead of “assistants” to the twelve.

Brigham renamed Nauvoo to City of Joseph. The saints settled and more arrived daily but the persecution also grew. A year later, there was a trial for 9 leaders of the mob that killed Joseph, but they were all acquitted because they argued that what they did was the popular will of the people.

They couldn’t have any police or militia in Nauvoo, so Brigham organized the young boys, ages 9-13 to protect the safety of the citizens. They were taught to whittle and whistle. They spread all over the city and whenever they saw someone who looked or was acting superstitious, they would begin to whistle with the whistle they had whittled. They would just follow the guy around whistling, which would bring the other boys and soon the man would be surrounded by young boys, whistling. It was so annoying that they would leave. It was highly effective and was a great way to keep the young boys involved in a good cause. Plus they had all loved Joseph and wanted to do their part. There is an article in the Friend about them.

Once when Joseph was in hiding, he passed a school and was going to say hi to the kids but saw them all praying for him. He commended them and told them that God always hears the prayers of the children.

In the temple they focused on getting endowments. Brigham would work until 3am and only sleep 4 hours at night to do as many as possible. Having the ordinances was a huge help to the saints when they crossed the plains. None of the endowed members left the church and of the worst apostates, none had been endowed.

The martyrdom of Joseph Smith

It is imperative that children learn to know and love Joseph Smith. They will encounter many voices in the world who will berate Joseph and they need to know the truth. We need to teach the children stories of Joseph Smith.

In his last years, Joseph Smith said that he was more worried about the apostates than the nonmembers. They WANTED/NEEDED the Church to be wrong so they could feel right. One of the biggest, most influential of the apostates was William Law. After he was excommunicated, he organized his own church, called The True Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He created a newspaper called the Expositor, used to try to expose the Church as a fake. He used it to rail against the Church. He hated Joseph so much he had tried to kill him. He actually shot at Joseph six times and the gun mis-fired every time.

In those times it was very common for people to burn down a printing press if they felt it was printing scandalous stories. It had happened to the Saints more than 20 times, with no consequences from the law to those who did it. But when the Church burned down the Expositor, a warrant was put out for Joseph Smith, Hyrum, and other leaders of the Church. There were also more serious charges against Joseph (who was the Mayor) and Hyrum, who was the vice-Mayor. The City Council was exonerated twice in Nauvoo, so the authorities decided to move the court to Carthage, so another warrant was issued for them all.

Joseph and Hyrum knew they had 3 choices – 1. Turn themselves in, in which case they knew they would be killed, 2. Go west where the saints were beginning to move to, or 3. Go into hiding until the charges could be disputed and dropped. They decided to go into hiding. They stayed on an island in the Mississippi river until one member told Joseph Smith that he was a coward. He responded that if his life was of no value to the saints, it was of no value to himself, so they turned themselves in.

On the way to turn themselves in, they went home to say goodbye and gave each of his children a blessing and spent the night there. They had a very faithful dog named Major who followed Joseph everywhere. They didn’t want the dog to follow him to jail, so they shut him in an upstairs bedroom. But the window was open, so the dog jumped out the 2^nd story window and went with him. As Joseph waved goodbye to the saints, he said, “Little do they know the trials that await them.” D&C 135 he said, “I go as a lamb to the slaughter.” He knew he would not be coming back.

The ride took all day so when they got to Carthage, they spent that night in a hotel. Then in the morning they surrendered. There was rioting and then they were charged with treason. Same as when Christ was arrested, the charges were changed after they were taken into custody. Treason changed the charges to a capital offense, punishable by death. (Other similarities with Jesus – he submitted willingly, he gave his life, he asked someone to take care of his family, it was his own followers who convicted him, etc.)

The governor declared Martial Law and left for Nauvoo to “investigate” and should have taken Joseph with him like he said he would, so he wasn’t there to protect the leaders in jail. The men were put in Carthage to wait for trial. There had been no trial yet; they had not even been convicted.

Their first night was in a gloomy cell where they read from the Book of Mormon and Joseph testified to the guards regarding angels and truth.

Dan Jones, one of the prisoners, slept on the floor near Joseph (who was also on the floor). He didn’t want to be in a bed if others were on the floor. Joseph asked Dan if he was afraid to die and testified to him that he would live and would serve a mission in Wales.

In the morning, June 27, some men, including Dan were sent on an errand. Willard Richards and John Taylor wanted to stay. The lock on the door was broken, so they actually could have walked out anytime.  A group of the U.S. Militia was outside the jail – bad-mouthed, evil men who were boasting they would kill Joe Smith. A man named J Wheeler visited the prison and took a pistol to Joseph to defend himself.

The room was filled with a feeling of depression and gloom. They knew that the governor had left them to the mobs. Hyrum asked John Taylor to sing A Poor Wayfaring Man (not in hymnbook yet), then asked him to sing it a 2^nd time. John T said he really didn’t feel like singing; Hyrum said, “if you begin, perhaps the feeling will come.” He was singing when they saw men with their faces painted black (with gun powder) around the jail. They began to storm the door so Hyrum and Willard braced themselves against the door. Then the mobs shot through the door which wounded Hyrum, then a shot from the window killed him. Joseph saw his brother dead and leaped to the door. Joseph shot through the door, which slowed them a little but they soon broke through. John Taylor tried to jump out the window and was shot but the bullet hit his watch, stopping it. So we know the attack was at 5:15 pm. The watch saved his life. He crawled under the bed but was shot 2 more times. Joseph tried also to jump out the window but was shot and killed. Willard Richards was not shot at all. It was prophesied to him that bullets would whiz past him and he would not be hurt.

The mob fled after killing Joseph. One yelled, “the Mormons are coming!” (They apparently heard or saw something that wasn’t there.)

At the time that Joseph was killed, the cattle began to bellow all over Nauvoo. The Quorum of Twelve were all over the place on missions, and at the time of Joseph’s death, they all felt intense sadness and gloom and didn’t know why. Samuel Smith was on his way to Carthage to try to help them and arrived too late, but helped move the bodies before the mobs came back. He was sick and the ride was hard; he died 1 month later. Lucy Mack Smith had lost 5 sons and a husband. She cried, “Why hast thou forsaken my family?” The answer came back to her, “I have taken them home to rest.”

The next day they took the bodies back to Nauvoo. They covered them to protect them. They put them in Joseph Smith’s house to lie in state. Thousands went through for the viewing.

George Canon was a new convert, new to Nauvoo, and he had an ability nobody else had – he could make a “death mask”, which preserved the features of their faces so future generations would know what they looked like. He was the father of George Q Cannon.

There was a memorial service. W.W. Phelps spoke. Appropriately, he wrote Praise to the Man. Gordon B Hinckley said when he was 12 he was finally allowed to attend Priesthood meeting at Stake Conference. It was hard for him to sit still and listen to everything, but when that hymn was sung, it stirred his soul and started his testimony.

It was necessary for Joseph Smith to seal his testimony with blood. All 12 of Jesus apostles died martyrs. Willard Richards and John Taylor became the 2 witnesses of the martyrdom.

Porter Rockwell was a lifelong friend of Joseph Smith and wanted to go with him to Carthage, but Joseph asked him to stay in Nauvoo to guard his family.

Good books about Joseph Smith – They knew the Prophet and Remembering Joseph. They aren’t testimonials, but actual unsolicited journal accounts people had written.