5/27/2017 - Section 32:1-4

May 27, 2017

Section 32:1-4

Missionary Goals, Missionary How To’s, Missionary Difficult Times, Missionary Power Give Heed, Satan’s Compliments, Spiritual Gifts, Spiritual Strengths,

P 66 has the formal covenant Oliver Cowdery wrote at the time of his being called as a missionary to the Lamanites (and others along the way i.e. Sidney Rigdon): “I, Oliver, being commanded by the Lord God, to go forth unto the Lamanites, to proclaim glad tidings of great joy unto them, by presenting unto them the fullness of the Gospel, of the only begotten Son of God; and also, to rear up a pillar as a witness where the temple of God shall be built, in the glorious New Jerusalem; and having certain brothers with me, who are called of God to assist me, whose names are Parley, and Peter, and Ziba, do therefore most solemnly covenant with God that I will walk humbly before him and do this business, and this glorious work according as he shall direct me by the Holy Ghost; ever praying for mine and their prosperity, and deliverance from bonds, from imprisonment, and whatsoever may befall us, with all patience and faith. Amen. [signed] Oliver Cowdery (Journal History, 17 Oct 1830)

Interestingly enough, in the Smith and Sjodahl commentary p 169 it says that after stopping to teach a friend of Parley Pratt who lived near Kirkland Ohio, they found Sidney Rigdon. Sidney and many of his congregation joined the church. 130 people were baptized in that area. “There missionary labors were temporarily delayed with the arrest of Parley P Pratt [as part of the attempt to prevent the missionaries from further successes]

In v 1 Christ gives specific instructions to Parley P Pratt: “…he shall declare my gospel and learn of me, and be meek and lowly of heart.” V 3 gives Christ’s promise to them: “…I myself will go with them and be in their midst…and nothing shall prevail against them.” (Notice He used the word ‘prevail” which means: “prove more powerful than opposing forces.”  He never says that opposing forces won’t occur. In fact, there are many times that when missionaries are working—and maybe especially when missionaries are working-- with their heart, mind and strength, doing all that is right and all that is in their power—that all goes wrong. I have always looked at this almost as Satan’s compliment to them—when Satan cares enough to make everything so hard then it must be that we are doing what is right and that we are close to changing lives by bringing people to an understanding of Christ. V’s 4-5 give additional instructions to all the men on this mission: “…they shall pray always that I may unfold the same to their understanding. And they shall give heed unto these words and trifle not, and I will bless them.” The Lord has promised to be with us, and as we pray—to bless us with understanding. We need to be brave, to have confidence in His guidance, and to work according to our impressions. As we do this, our spiritual gifts will grow…as will our spiritual strength.  

4/7/2021 – Section 32

From reading the BofM, the saints were aware of the possible back ground of the Indian Nations. They had prayed for the Lord’s guidance in whether or not this was the time to send missionaries to the Indian tribes in the West. The Lord’s answer was in this revelation. 

Parley P. Pratte, Ziba Peterson, Oliver Cowdery and Peter Witmer were all called. In v 1 the Lord speaks to Parley saying that  “…he shall declare my gospel and learn of me, and be meek and lowly of heart.” Bob and I have twice discovered that going on a mission truly does help us to learn more of Him, and it helps us to look to the needs of others, above looking at our needs. That makes for a satisfying life. V 3 gives me even more reason to know why we love being on missions: “…and I myself will go with them and be in their midst…”  I wish this verse had been in our minds during our missions, for then I think we would have worked to be more aware of, and more worthy of, heavenly companions.

They worked with the Catteraugus tribe near Buffalo, New York where they were nicely received and left copies of the Book of Mormon. They visited the Wyandot tribe at Sandusky Ohio. Near Independence Missouri, they had their greatest success among the Delaware Indians where they were asked to stay through the winter and teach them more of the Book of Mormon

The Come Follow Me workbook adds this historical information that was very interesting: “…by the end of their mission, even though they had positive encounters with some groups, they had not baptized a single American Indian. But they had baptized over a hundred people near Kirtland, Ohio, where they had stopped along the way to Missouri. Among those converts were future influential Church leaders, including Sidney Rigdon, and Kirtland later became an important gathering place for the Church.”

The other helps this section give that will help us be more involved and productive on our missions—and on our non-mission times-- are given in v 4 & 5: “…they shall give heed to that which is written….they shall pray always that I may unfold the same to their understanding. And they shall give heed unto these words and trifle not, and I will bless them.” These are the things that will help us live on a higher plain –mission or no mission.