9/1/2017-Section 69:heading

September 1, 2017

Section 69: heading of the section

Mission Journal, Book of Commandments, Lord’s Work Demands Our Best,

I received several emails from Sister Turner, the current Mission Nurse Specialist now serving in the Philippines Manila Mission. Her emails are panic evoking for me. She talks of health problems I have never dealt with, and several I have not even read about. She seems to be a powerhouse packed in the body of an old, crusty, and very good, nurse. She sent me 3 weeks of her Mission Health Report, each 2-3 pages long, and at least 1/3 of the health situations would keep me from sleeping at night. She then ended her lengthy letter of worrisome health & living situations with: “Sister, I know this sounds overwhelming but I want you to know that You and the Holy Ghost can do it together. Do not hesitate to ask for all the strength and intelligence and understanding you have been promised as you do this work. I pray as I drive, as I walk and as I talk and miracles happen.   PS. This work is addicting. You will have the time of your life. You will laugh. You will cry. You will find true Joy. I am hoping this old body can do another mission in the future. Time will tell.” And her very next sentence was “Oops Forgot the worms” (meaning intestinal parasites) and that was followed by quite a descriptive paragraph.   

I think I will only cover the historical background of this section. Joseph had been commanded to get the revelations he had received in readiness for the printing of the Book of Commandments.

I so enjoyed reading about this time in: “It is an erroneous thought to believe that the Prophet selected all the revelations he had received and placed them in the collection which was to become The Book of Commandments. Each of the revelations selected for that volume was placed there because the Prophet considered that it had some value to the Church in regard to it’s teachings There are some revelations still in possession of the Church which were not included. Some of these we can be readily believe were not included because the inspiration of the Prophet was that it was not necessary, or because some of them had an application which was not intended for publications and to be sent to an unbelieving world.     The preparation for the printing was soon completed, but this took a great deal of the Prophet’s time from the first of November to the twelfth, and in that time there had been held four special conferences. However, the revelations were ready for delivery to Oliver Cowdery and his companion by the fifteenth of that month.” (Church History and Modern Revelation 1:248-49)

In the History of the Church 1:234  the prophet Joseph stated: “the Book of Commandments and Revelations was to be dedicated by prayer to the service of Almighty God by me; and after I had done this, I inquired of the Lord concerning these things, and received the following: [Section 69]”