10/20/2018 - Section 118:1-6

October 20, 2018

Section 118:1-6

Agency, Callings Do Our Best, Apostles in Far West, Holy Ghost What Is Our Role,

This revelation is another of the four given to Joseph at Far West. This one was given July 5, 1838. What I love is that it came in response to the question: “Show unto us thy will O Lord concerning the Twelve.” (History of the Church 3:46)

V 1 indicates that the vacancies in the Council of the Twelve are to be quickly filled. Four of the original Twelve, who had been called on Feb 14, 1835, had already been excummunicated: William M’Lellin, Luke Johnson, John Boynton and Lyman Johnson. One of the replacements at this time, John E Page, also ventually apostatized, but the other three remained faithful—two of them-- John Taylor & Wilford Woddruf eventually became prophets and presicdents of the church, and the fourth, Willard Richards served faithfully.

V 3 is a beautiful promis to these men as they accepted their callings: “…if they will do this [that is the command to preach the gospel from the time of that calling forward] I, the Lord, give unto them a promise that I will provide for their families; and an effectual door shall be opened for them, from henceforth.”  I read this and feel that I am also given promise—prehaps much different from those given to the Twelve—but promises nonetheless, every time I accept a new calling. Seeing how these 12 men, over time, responded differently to how they preformed this calling.  We all have our agency as to what callings we will accept, and as to how we will work within those callings. I am not ashamed to say that I fervently desire the Lord’s promised blessings. What I need to remind myself—probably every day (especially while in a mission calling) that I must do my part to obtain those blessing. If I accept a calling, I simply need to do my very best. That is all the Lord asks. And if all he requires is my very best, then as long as I am doing my best, his blessings are never out of my reach. That is comforting to me.

So next, in v 4-5, the Lord commands that on April 26, 1839, the Twelve are to leave from the temple building spot to ‘go over the great waters’ to preach the gospel abroad. Now, the enemies of the Church also knew of this ‘requirement’, and they were determined to keep it from happening. By April 1839 the people of the church had been driven out of Missouri via the extermination order from the govener. Going back into Missouri would be going under fear of death. “On the night of April 25, 1839, the little band of apostles with a small company of faithful breathern…arrived at Far West. Shortly after midnight on the moring of April 26^th, they assembled on the temple lot in Far West, and there they held a conference.”(Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation pp 196-97) John Taylor wrote: “The council then proceeded to the buildinging sport of the Lord’s house; when the following business was transaced: Part of a hymn was sung, on the mission of the twelve. Elder Alpheus Cutler, the master workman of the house, then recommenced laying the foundation of the Lord’s House, agreeably to revelation , by rolling up a large stone near the southeast corner.…After several of the Apostles had offered prayers, the assembly sant :Adam-ondi-Ahman,” and the apostles left. (History of the Church 3:336-38)

It’s after I read things like this, that I feel I need to examine what exactly is my best??? Maybe I’m not asking enough of myself. But then I realize I need not worry about how to judge my best, I only need worry that I listen for the Holy Ghost each minute of each day, and when I feel I’ve been prompted, then I Do It, and I Do It Now.

10/14/2021 – D&C 118

These were strenuous times for the saints. Four of the original members of the Quorum of the Twelve had been excommunicated or had otherwise been removed from office due to transgression or apostasy: John F Boynton, Luke Johnson, Lyman Johnson, and William E McLellin.

It is still Sunday, July 8, 1828. Joseph is in a leadership meeting. His plea to the to the Lord was to “show unto us thy will, O Lord, concerning the Twelve.” This section was the Lord’s response to Joseph. 

His response was for Joseph to hold a conference immediately and fill the vacancies in the council of the twelve (v 1). The Lord said that Thomas Marsh was to continue where he was, in order to publish “my word” (v2). He continues in v 3, asking the men in the council of the twelve to continue with their work, which includes their going on missions that would have them “go over the great waters, and there promulgate my gospel” (3)—and in the same verse he tells them just how to go about that: “do this in all lowliness of heart, in meekness and humility, and in long-suffering”, and He does this with the assurance that as they do their work, He will provide for their families. The Lord always promises us blessings as we do our part by doing our very best in the things He has asked us to do. 

The Lord is truly leading them by the hand, for He gives the apostles the very date they should start on their new missions, and then He tells Joseph the very men that should be called to complete the Twelve, naming John Taylor, John E Page, Wilford Woodruff, and Willard Richards.

President Woodruff (one of those who had been newly called into the Twelve, and one of those who would later become the prophet) later described his experiences during that time: “When the revelation was given [in 1838], all was peace and quietude in Far West, Missouri, the city where most of the Latter-day Saints dwelt; but before the time came for its fulfillment, the Saints of God had been driven out of the State of Missouri into the State of Illinois, under the edict of Governor Boggs; and the Missourians had sworn that if all the other revelations of Joseph Smith were fulfilled, that [one] should not be. It stated the day and the place where the Twelve Apostles should take leave of the Saints, to go on their mission across the great waters. The mobocrats of Missouri had declared that they would see that this particular revelation should not be fulfilled. …Having determined to carry out the requirement of the revelation, … we started for Far West. …On the morning of the 26th of April, 1839, notwithstanding the threats of our enemies that the revelation which was to be fulfilled this day should not be, and notwithstanding that ten thousand of the Saints had been driven out of the State by the edict of the governor, … we moved on to the temple ground in the city of Far West, and held a council, and fulfilled the revelation and commandment given unto us, and we performed many other things at this council. …Bidding good-by to the small remnant of Saints who remained on the temple ground to see us fulfill the revelation and commandments of God, we turned our back on Far West and Missouri, and returned to Illinois. We had accomplished the mission without a dog moving his tongue at us [see Exodus 11:7], or any man saying, ‘Why do you so?’” (Teachings: Wilford Woodruff, 139–41).

I find it so interesting how the apostles had worked so very hard to do exactly as the Lord had told them even though there was great danger for them if they gathered together, as the Extermination Order had been given and the Missourians had sworn “by all the gods of eternity that if every other revelation given through Joseph Smith were fulfilled, that should not be, for the day and date being given they declared that it should fail”.   President Woodruff’s reporting of that day, when he stated “on the morning of the 26th of April 1839”, the time on the clock was just slightly past midnight. Though they did not know the ‘why’ of this commandment of the Lord, they worked hard to follow the commandment with exaction. This example of following the Lord’s commandments to the letter is definitely something that I should work to do more fully.