Reading Assignment for Sunday, August 11, 2013
Class Member Study Guide: Lesson 29
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Saturday, August 3, 2013
28: O God, Where Art Thou?
Reading Assignment for Sunday, August 4, 2013
Class Member Study Guide: Lesson 28
Doctrine and Covenants 121:1-33
Doctrine and Covenants 122
Our Heritage: Pages 45-53
Joseph Smith's Prayer in Liberty Jail and the Lord's Response--Doctrine and Covenants Section 121
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).
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
Sunday, July 28, 2013
27: They Must be Chastened and Tried
Class Member Study Guide: Lesson 27
Doctrine & Covenants 101
Doctrine & Covenants 103
Doctrine & Covenants 105
Our Heritage: Pages 27-29
Pages 37-45
ZION'S CAMP, MISSOURI SAINTS, AND TRIALS OF FAITH
The Lord's Instructions to the Saints Driven from Jackson County
Members of the newly organized church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lived both in Kirtland and Missouri in the early to mid 1830s. The Saints were tried in both locations by external persecution and by internal dissent.
When Joseph Smith learned that the Saints had been expelled from Jackson County Missouri in Februrary of 1834, he sought answers to the problems in Missouri. The prophet prayed to know what to do. The answers he received are recorded in Section 101 of the Doctrine & Covenants.
In section the Lord explains to Joseph about principals of obedience, chastening, and sanctification.
Answers to the Missouri Saints Continue to Come to the Prophet
The problems in Missouri were complex and troubling. Because of concerns about political domination, religious beliefs--that the Book of Mormon was scripture, abolitionist sentiments on the part of a largely northeastern convert base, and sympathies with the Indians, the Missouri residents often took their frustration out on the Saints through persecution, violence, evictions, seizures, and armed massacres.
The Saints tried legal means to remedy their grievances. In the winter of 1833 Smith received word of Missouri Governor Dunklin's willingness to assist in restoring homes and providing protection.
His assistance was channeled through various government officials many of whom aided persecutors instead of assisting the Saints. Through many confrontations--the confiscation and destruction of Phelps Printing Establishment, the tarring and feathering of Bishop Partridge, the Battle at Big Blue, other significant expulsions, and the massacre further north at Hahn's Mill, the Saints were tried in ways that are hard to imagine today.
After receiving word of the about the governor's offer of assistance, Joseph Smith received the revelation recorded in Section 103. He was told to organize a group of men to travel to Missouri to help return lands and provide protection afterwards. This group and their journey is now referred to in church history as Zion's Camp.
The story of the gathering of the brethren is one of faith and sacrifice. It takes from February to early May to gather a group of some 80 men together. Joseph's brother Hiram goes northwest to gather men. Others go East. The size of the group swells and wains. Its largest point was just a little over 200.
There was much dissension and many difficulties in the march. There were young boys and old men. The March tried the perseverance, testimony, and commitment of Israel's army. The camp was plagued with hunger and later disease. The prophet and his followers learned much about sacrifice and obedience.
Outcome of Zion's Camp March and Insight Into What Some Viewed as a Failed Mission
As they marched, they learned what they could and could not do. When the twelve apostles and leaders of the church were later selected, most came from the ranks of those who marched with Joseph in Zion's Camp.
What did these men learn?
Understanding the Purpose of Trials
Importance of Obedience
Willingness to Sacrifice Everything
Importance of Unification in the Lord's Work
(when even a few murmur the group is weakened)
Sustaining the prophet and following counsel even in difficulty or when we don't understand.
Don't Click on These Links During Class!
Link to BYU Production about Zion's Camp: Zion's Camp: The Joseph Smith Papers
Church Movie about Zion's Camp: Zion's Camp
BLACK FONT
Saturday, July 20, 2013
26: "Go Ye into All the World, and Preach My Gospel"
Reading Assignment for Sunday, July 21, 2013
Class Member Study Guide: Lesson 26
Doctrine & Covenants 112
Our Heritage: Missions of Early Ohio Converts: Pages 30-32
Mission of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Pages 30-32
Mission to England: Pages 32-33
Exodus from Kirtland: Page 36
SACRIFICE, COURAGE, AND FAITH
While the Saints were living in Kirtland, many missionaries were called to preach the gospel far from home, most of them at great personal sacrifice. Missionaries were sent to a number of American states, to parts of Canada, and across the Atlantic to England. Through these missionary efforts, many people received a witness of the truth of the gospel. They became valiant members who brought great strength to the young Church.
A number of revelations recorded in Kirtland included commandments to members to preach the gospel to the world.
Zera Pulsipher and Elijah Cheney were two who answered this call. Zera Pulsipher joined the church in 1832 and recorded that shortly afterward, he "was ordained to the office of an elder and went to preaching with considerable success."
In Richland, New York Zera Pulsipher converted a young farmer named Wilford Woodruff, who would one day become one of the most successful missionaries in the history of the church and the fourth president to the church.
Class Member Study Guide: Lesson 26
Doctrine & Covenants 112
Our Heritage: Missions of Early Ohio Converts: Pages 30-32
Mission of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Pages 30-32
Mission to England: Pages 32-33
Exodus from Kirtland: Page 36
SACRIFICE, COURAGE, AND FAITH
While the Saints were living in Kirtland, many missionaries were called to preach the gospel far from home, most of them at great personal sacrifice. Missionaries were sent to a number of American states, to parts of Canada, and across the Atlantic to England. Through these missionary efforts, many people received a witness of the truth of the gospel. They became valiant members who brought great strength to the young Church.
A number of revelations recorded in Kirtland included commandments to members to preach the gospel to the world.
The Lord declared, “Ye shall go forth in the power of my Spirit, preaching my gospel, two by two, in my name, lifting up your voices as with the sound of a trump, declaring my word like unto angels of God” (D&C 42:6).
In the following year the Lord commanded, “It becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor” (D&C 88:81).
Zera Pulsipher and Elijah Cheney were two who answered this call. Zera Pulsipher joined the church in 1832 and recorded that shortly afterward, he "was ordained to the office of an elder and went to preaching with considerable success."
In Richland, New York Zera Pulsipher converted a young farmer named Wilford Woodruff, who would one day become one of the most successful missionaries in the history of the church and the fourth president to the church.
Zera Pulsipher and his wife.
Zera Pulsipher's License to be an Elder. Notice the location--Kirtland, Ohio.
Missionary Work Required Sacrifice
Answering the call to warn their neighbors, missionaries came from all walks of life.
Answering the call to warn their neighbors, missionaries came from all walks of life.
Many of them were married and had family responsibilities. They departed in the midst of harvests and during the dead of
winter, during periods of personal prosperity and at times of economic
depression.
A number of the elders were
almost destitute when they entered the mission field. Stories from George A Smith, Eratus Snow and John E Page witness to the devotion of these men.
British Converts Fortify the Church
In the latter part of the Kirtland period, a crisis arose within the Church. Some members, including some leaders, apostatized because they could not bear trials and persecutions and because they began to find fault with the Prophet Joseph and other Church leader. The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith that something new must be done for the salvation of his church. That something was an infusion of converts into the Church from England.
On Sunday, 4 June 1827, the Prophet approached Elder Heber C. Kimball in the Kirtland Temple and said to him,
Relecting on this great harvest of souls, Heber recalled that the Prophet hand his Counselors
British Converts Fortify the Church
In the latter part of the Kirtland period, a crisis arose within the Church. Some members, including some leaders, apostatized because they could not bear trials and persecutions and because they began to find fault with the Prophet Joseph and other Church leader. The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith that something new must be done for the salvation of his church. That something was an infusion of converts into the Church from England.
Heber C. Kimball
On Sunday, 4 June 1827, the Prophet approached Elder Heber C. Kimball in the Kirtland Temple and said to him,
"Brother Heber, the Spirit of the Lord has whispered to me: 'Let my servant Heber go to England and proclaim my Gospel, and open the door of salvation to that nation.."
Relecting on this great harvest of souls, Heber recalled that the Prophet hand his Counselors
"laid their hand on me and . . . that God would make me mighty in that nation in winning souls unto Him: angels should accompany me and bear me up, that my feet should never slip: that I should be mightily blessed and prove a source of salvation to thousands."
Monday, July 1, 2013
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Sunday, June 30, 2013. Ward Conference
Stake Leaders will give the gospel doctrine lesson on Sunday, June 30, 2013
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