Class Member Study Guide: Lesson 28
Doctrine and Covenants 121:1-33
Doctrine and Covenants 122
Our Heritage: Pages 45-53
Missouri Timeline
January 1831: The first missionaries arrived in Missouri.
July 1831: The Lord designated Missouri as the location for the city of Zion.
August 1831: Joseph Smith dedicated the temple site in Independence, Missouri.
July 1833: A mob attacked the Saints in Independence, Missouri.
November 1833: The Battle of the Big Blue occurred. The Saints were driven from Jackson County to Clay County, Missouri.
May–June 1834: Zion’s Camp marched from Kirtland, Ohio, to Clay County, Missouri.
June 1836: Citizens of Clay County asked the Saints to leave the county.
September 1836: The Saints began moving to Far West and other locations that became Caldwell and Daviess Counties, Missouri.
March 1838: Joseph Smith and his family arrived in Far West, Missouri, after fleeing from the mobs in Kirtland, Ohio.
October 1838: The Battle of Crooked River occurred. Governor Boggs of Missouri issued his extermination order.
October 1838–April 1839: Joseph Smith and other Church leaders were kept as prisoners in Missouri.
April 1839: The Saints fled from Missouri to Illinois.
Liberty jail became a center of spiritual instruction for Joseph Smith. The Saints were looking to him for encouragement and counsel as they were driven from their home suffering intense hardships.
It was a place of meditation and prayer. … Joseph Smith sought God in this rude prison, and found him” (B. H. Roberts, A Comprehensive History of the Church, 1:526).
The Savior Has a Perfect Understanding of Our Suffering and Sorrow
Speaking of the
supreme suffering of the Savior, Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of
the Twelve said:
“Having been perfected in His empathy, Jesus thus knows how to succor
us. … Nothing is beyond His redeeming reach or His encircling empathy.
Therefore, we should not
complain about our own life’s not being a rose garden when we remember who wore
the crown of thorns!” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1987, 89; or Ensign, May
1987, 72).
Purposes of Adversity
The Prophet Joseph Smith
experienced so many afflictions that he said they “have been my common lot all
the days of my life; … and I feel, like Paul, to glory in tribulation” (D&C 127:2).
Adversity as a trial and a test
Adversity as a trial and a test
Adversity as a result of trangression
Adversity as a tool to help us grow.
Adversity because "there is an opposition in all things"
Adversity as a natural consequence of human frailties
The Lord's Counsel to Those Who Experience Adversity
Be Patient
Be Obedient
Cleave Unto All Good
Care for the Soul
Facing Adversity Well
Thoughts
The Lord's Promises to those Who Face Adversity Well
Thoughts
