Class Member Study Guide: Lesson 33
Doctrine and Covenants 107: 22-24
Our Heritage: Pages 66-71
LAST SUNDAY
Last Sunday we discussed the death of Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum in Carthage, Illinois. It was rather poignant to find ourselves reading Doctrine and Covenants 135. It is the first time we as gospel students' find ourselves listening to words from another's pen--John Taylor's personal account of the Martydom--rather than revelations received by Joseph Smith from Jesus Christ and God the Father in the Doctrine and Covenants. The writer's style and voice are clearly different. The occasion is one of great mourning among the Saints then and now. John Taylor's first hand account is moving and reminds us that Joseph the Prophet is gone.
This year in gospel doctrine we have met the boy Joseph who was schooled to be a prophet by God the Father, Jesus Christ, and his angels. Moroni schooled Joseph before he received the plates. After the Book of Mormon was published in 1830 and the church was organized, we followed the prophet as he learned from God the Father and His Son through revelation and study how the church should be ordered--The Quorum of the Twelve, Bishops, Temples, Wards (Nauvoo), Sabbath Worship, Sacrament Prayers, what the priesthood is, how it should be restored, and later in Nauvoo we received the restoration of the saving ordinances of exaltation--the endowment and eternal sealings. Our understanding and connection with Joseph the Prophet of the Restoration has been rather moving this year.
On a side note: An article on the physical evidence of the shooting can be found in BYU Studies. I mention the article because it was written by my uncle--Lynn Lyon and my father who were trained as historians at the feet of my grandfather--T. Edgar Lyon--who was the historian for Nauvoo Restoration for many years. Lynn is a trained physician and gun expert. Here is the link to the PDF of that article: Physical Evidence at Carthage Jail and What It Reveals about the Assassination of Joseph and Hyrum Smith
The article is more scholarly in nature, but may be of interest to those who want more details surrounding the Martyrdom.
BRIGHAM YOUNG AS PRESIDENT OF THE QUORUM OF THE TWELVE BEGAN TO LEAD THE PEOPLE PREPARING THEM TO JOURNEY WEST
The Prophet Joseph Prepared the Quorum of the Twelve to Assume Church Leadership
"Following the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Brigham Young became the leader of the Church through an inspired process of succession that continues in the Church today."
As early as the 14 of April 1832 in Kirtland, Ohio, the Prophet Joseph told other church leaders that Brigham Young would preside over the church.
He said:
". . . 'the time will come when brother Brigham Young will preside over this Church.’ The latter part of this conversation was in my absence” (Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1801–1844, comp. Elden Jay Watson [1968], 4–5).In the Winter of 1843-44 the Prophet Joseph spent several days giving the Quorum of the Twelve their temple endowments and reviewing their responsibilities because he was concerned that he would die without bestowing upon them the keys of the kingdom.
Wilford Woodruff reports the prophet's concerns:
“Now, brethren, I thank God I have lived to see the day that I have been enabled to give you your endowments, and I have now sealed upon your heads all the powers of the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods and Apostleship, with all the keys and powers thereof, which God has sealed upon me; and I now roll off all the labor, burden and care of this Church and Kingdom of God upon your shoulders, and I now command you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to round up your shoulders, and bear off this Church and Kingdom of God before heaven and earth, and before God, angels and men” (in James R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. [1965–75], 3:134).After Joseph Smith's Martyrdom, The Twelve Presided Over the Church until Brigham Young was Sustained as the Prophet Three Years Later in December 1847.
This succession has its scriptural roots in Section 107 which was revealed as part of the organization of the Quorum of the Twelve in 1835 in Kirtland, Ohio.
Doctrine and Covenants 107: 22-24
Brigham Young about 1846 when he was 45. This is the year the Saints leave Nauvoo, wintering across the state of Iowa and into Nebraska until the spring of 1847
Brigham Young Circa 1850. He Is about 49
Many members of the Quorum of the Twelve were not in Nauvoo at the time of Joseph's death. It wasn't until August of 1844 that the issue of who would lead the church was resolved.
"In Boston rumors of Joseph Smith’s death began on 9 July. During the week before confirmation came from family letters and more complete newspaper accounts, Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff, and Orson Pratt struggled within themselves about what the terrible news meant. Brigham recorded in his journal, “The first thing which I thought of was, whether Joseph had taken the keys of the kingdom with him from the earth; brother Orson Pratt sat on my left; we were both leaning back on our chairs. Bringing my hand down on my knee, I said the keys of the kingdom are right here with the Church.”The miraculous meeting on August 8, 1844 in which other church leaders see and hear the Prophet Joseph in Brigham Young's personage reinforces the passing of the mantel of leadership to the President of the Quorum of the Twelve and is reminiscent of ancient prophets who passed the mantel of leadership in the following scripture.
2 Kings 2:8–15
George Q. Cannon remembered hearing Brigham Young speak on August 8, 1844. As the mantle of the prophet fell on Brigham Young this is what many saw and heard:
"it was the voice of Joseph himself." and "it seemed in the eyes of the people as if it were the very person of Joseph which stood before them"
In the absence of a literal prophetic mantel similar to the one passed between Elijah and Elisah in the Old Testament, instead Brigham Young appeared as Joseph as a symbol of the transition of keys and powers.
To find greater insight to Brigham Young as a Man and as a Prophet of God, you can read about him in the President's of Church Manual.
The Saints Complete the Temple and Seek Their Endowments Before Leaving Nauvoo
In this 1846 daguerreotype of Nauvoo, frame and brick buildings
dominate. Nauvoo grew and changed rapidly in the few years the Saints
were there. When they first arrived they lived in tents, wagons,
dugouts, lean-tos, or simple log structures. As they struggled to
improve their economic, social, and cultural conditions, these were
gradually replaced by traditional frame homes. In the late Nauvoo
period, brick homes became popular. Meanwhile, many public buildings and
businesses were also constructed.
“Looking upon the multitude and knowing their anxiety, as they were thirsting and hungering for the word, we continued at work diligently in the House of the Lord. Two hundred and ninety-five persons received ordinances” (History of the Church, 7:579).Some 6,000 received their endowments even with Brigham Young counseling the Saints to leave, that temples would be built in other location in a future time.
1846 Becomes the Year of Exodus with Three Distinct Waves of Departure--The Winter Departure (Persecuted Leaders & Others 3,000), The Spring Departure (10,000 in 3 Groups), and The Fall Departure (700).
Despite the Saints attempt to prepare for a spring 1846 departure, actual persecution intensified so that many Saints left during a harsh winter earlier than planned and before they were prepared in the way that Brigham Young had organized and envisioned. The Saints found themselves in encampments strung across Iowa starving and enduring harsh conditions with little if any shelter.
On the first night of encampment at Sugar Creek (7 miles from Nauvoo on the Iowa side) nine infants were born.
Eliza R. Snow recorded:
“Mothers gave birth to offspring under almost every variety of circumstances imaginable, except those to which they had been accustomed; some in tents, others in wagons—in rain-storms and in snow-storms. I heard of one birth which occurred under the rude shelter of a hut, the sides of which were formed of blankets fastened to poles stuck in the ground, with a bark roof through which the rain was dripping. Kind sisters stood holding dishes to catch the water as it fell, thus protecting the new-comer and its mother from a shower-bath. …
“Let it be remembered that the mothers of these wilderness-born babes were not … accustomed to roam the forest and brave the storm and tempest. … Most of them were born and educated in the Eastern States—had there embraced the gospel as taught by Jesus and his apostles, and, for the sake of their religion, had gathered with the saints, and under trying circumstances had assisted, by their faith, patience and energies, in making Nauvoo what its name indicates, ‘the beautiful.’ There they had lovely homes, decorated with flowers and enriched with choice fruit trees, just beginning to yield plentifully.
“To these homes … they had just bade a final adieu, and with what little of their substance could be packed into one, two, and in some instances, three wagons, had started out, desertward” (in Edward W. Tullidge, The Women of Mormondom [1877], 307–8).
