ftp.xmission.com/2014.06.ftp.xmission.com.tar/ftp.xmission.com/pub/lists/gdm/archive/v01.n017

Internet Message Format | 1997-07-04 | 44KB

From: [e-mail] (gdm Digest)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: gdm Digest V1 #17
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Sender: [e-mail]
Errors-To: [e-mail]
Precedence:


gdm Digest           Saturday, July 5 1997           Volume 01 : Number 017



In this issue:

    ---> Lesson 24

See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the gdm
or gdm-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 05 Jul 1997 14:17:40 -0700
From: "Perry L. Porter" <[e-mail]>
Subject: ---> Lesson 24

Doctrine and Covenants 84-85

Lesson 24

Scriptural Highlights 1. The greater and lesser priesthoods 2. The oath and
covenant of the priesthood 3. The importance of studying the Book of Mormon
As you discuss D&C 84:54-57, bear your testimony about the importance of
studying the Book of Mormon.

Discussion and Application Questions

* The Prophet Joseph Smith called D&C 84 a "revelation on Priesthood"
(History of the Church, 1 :287). What is priesthood? Why does the Lord give
priesthood power to mortals? (See the quotation from the Melchizedek
Priesthood Leadership Handbook. ) What blessings have come to you through
the priesthood?

* In D&C 84:6-17 the Lord reviews the line of priesthood authority from
Moses back to Adam. How does a person receive priesthood authority?
(Articles of Faith 1 :5; Joseph Smith - History 1 :68-69.) Why is it
important for priesthood holders to be able to trace their line of
authority back to the Lord?

* What are the functions of the Melchizedek Priesthood? (D&C 84:18-25;
107:18-19.) How do the ordinances administered by the Melchizedek
Priesthood lead us to exaltation?

* What are the functions of the Aaronic Priesthood? (D&C 84:26-27;
107:13-14, 20.) How do the ordinances of the Aaronic Priesthood help
prepare us for the greater blessings of the Melchizedek Priesthood?

* What blessings does the Lord promise through the oath and covenant of the
priesthood? (D&C 84:33-41.) What must we do to qualify for these blessings?
(See D&C 84:33, 36, 43-44, and the quotation from President Kimball.) How
can we magnify our callings in the priesthood and in the Church?

* In what ways does the Spirit give "light to every man"? (D&C 84:46;
Moroni 7:16). What kinds of things does the Spirit communicate with us
about? How has the Lord blessed you as you have hearkened to the Spirit?

* The Lord lamented that the world "groaneth" under the bondage of sin (D&C
84:49-53). How does sin bring bondage? How can we strengthen ourselves to
resist sin?

* Why was the entire Church under the Lord's condemnation in 1832? (D&C
84:54-57.) Judging by this standard, do you think the Church is under
condemnation today? (See the quotation from President Benson.) How are our
individual lives affected when we do not
study the Book of Mormon? How is the Church as a whole affected?

* What are the signs of the believers in Christ? (D&C 84:65-72.) Why does
the Lord provide these signs? (D&C 84:73.) Why do you think the Lord
cautions us against speaking too freely about these signs?

* What promises does the Lord give his friends in D&C 84:77-88? (See also
John 15:12-15.)

* What does the Lord's statement in D&C 84:109-10 suggest about how the
Church should be governed and how we should serve in our callings?

Quotations

Melchizedek Priesthood Leadership Handbook:"Priesthood is the power and
authority of God. It existed with him in the beginning and will continue to
exist throughout all eternity (see D&C 84:17). By it He creates, sustains,
governs, redeems, and exalts.

"God gives priesthood power to worthy male members of the Church, who
receive it by prophecy and the laying on of hands by His authorized
servants.... The priesthood enables mortals to act in God's name for the
salvation of the human family. Through it they can be authorized to preach
the gospel, administer the ordinances of salvation' and govern God's
kingdom on earth" (p. 1).

President Spencer W. Kimball: "One breaks the priesthood covenant by
transgressing commandments  but also by leaving undone his duties.
Accordingly, to break this covenant one needs only to do nothing" (The
Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 497).

President Ezra Taft Benson: "We have not been using the Book of Mormon as
we should. Our homes are not as strong unless we are using it to bring our
children to Christ.... Converts will not survive under the heat of the day
unless their taproots go down to the fulness of the gospel which the Book
of Mormon contains. Our Church classes are not as spirit-filled unless we
hold it up as a standard....
"Do eternal consequences rest upon our response to this book? Yes, either
to our blessing or our condemnation. Every Latter-day Saint should make the
study of this book a lifetime pursuit. Otherwise he is placing his soul in
jeopardy and neglecting that which could give spiritual and intellectual
unity to his whole life" (Ensign, May 1975,p. 65).

Next Week's Reading Assignment Doctrine and Covenants 86-87; 88:86-116; 133

Page 47

Class Member Study Guide

Lesson 24

At a conference in January 1832, several elders were called to preach in
parts of the eastern United States, especially New England. They wanted to
share the gospel with relatives and friends left behind when they moved to
Kirtland. In September the missionaries began to return home. When they had
gathered at Kirtland to rejoice together, the Prophet Joseph Smith received
D&C 84, a revelation on priesthood.

* What are the functions of the Melchizedek Priesthood? (D&C 84:18-25;
107:18-19.) What are the functions of the Aaronic Priesthood? (D&C
84:26-27; 107:13-14, 20.)

* What blessings does the Lord promise through the oath and covenant of the
priesthood? (D&C 84:33-41.)
What must we do to qualify for these blessings? (D&C 84:33, 36, 43-44.)

* Why was the entire Church under the Lord's condemnation in 1832? (D&C
84:54-57.) How are our individual lives affected when we do not study the
Book of Mormon?

At this time problems arose in Missouri because some Saints were not
willing to receive their inheritances in the way revealed by the Lord.
Joseph Smith wrote to W. W. Phelps in Missouri explaining the will of the
Lord in dealing with these problems. Section 85 is an excerpt from this
letter.
A first edition copy of the Book of Mormon.

VVVVVV-----From: Stephen Ott <[e-mail]>------VVVVVVV

Subject:  Jesse Gause (D&C 81)

Jesse Gause: Joseph Smith's Little-Known Counselor
D. Michael Quinn
BYU Studies, Fall 1983

    For more than twenty years, Jesse Gause was a Quaker in good
standing, but his movement from place to place indicates a great
restlessness.  ...  It is unclear whether he was pressured into military
service during the War of 1812 despite his Quaker pacifism or whether
he was reasserting the military tradition of his father.  ..
    Jesse Gause remarried almost immediately after his wife's death,
and these abrupt changes in his marital situation seemed to precipitate a
religious crisis in his life.  ...  Exactly seven months after his resignation
from the Quakers, Jesse Gause and his children were listed as members
of the Hancock "Family" of the United Society of Believers in Christ's
Second Appearing (the "Shakers").  ...
    ...  It is not known when or how Mormon missionaries contacted
Jesse Gause, but less than five months after he came to Ohio as a
Shaker, he was converted to the Church and was soon chosen as a
counselor to Joseph Smith.
    ...  Both men were simply called "counselors" to the Church
president, but President Gause may have had the precedence of being
first counselor: Joseph Smith listed him first when recording the
organization of the First Presidency, and Jesse Gause was also nearly
ten years older than Sidney Rigdon at a time in the Church when
seniority was determined on the basis of age.  On 10 August 1832, one
of Gause's Shaker associates wrote that Jesse Gause "is yet a
Mormon--and is second to the Prophet or Seer--Joseph Smith."
    An obvious question about Gause's appointment is why Joseph
Smith chose as counselor a man who had been a member of the Church
only a few months, maybe even weeks, when the Prophet could have
advanced to that position other men who had been associated with the
Church from its beginning.  ....  Jesse Gause had three years' experience
with the communitarian Shaker families in Massachusetts and Ohio, and
another twenty-three years' experience with the close-knit Quakers.  ...
    ...  President Gause actively functioned as a counselor in the First
Presidency during the spring and summer of 1832.  ...  But after the
summer of 1832, something changed in Gause's relationship to
Mormonism, and he "denied the faith."
    As with his conversion from Quakerism to Shakerism, his
desertion of the Mormon church may have centered in his personal
family circumstances.  During his missionary journey of August, jesse
Gause visited his second wife ... and tried to persuade her to leave the
celibate Shakers and join his conversion to the restored gospel.  His wife
refused ...
    In view of what is known about Jesse Gause's troubled family
relations in the summer of 1832, his disaffection from Mormonism may
have resulted from hi learning about polygamous theory and practice that
were emerging at that time.
    ...  "Bro. Jesse" was excommunicated on 3 December 1832, and
Frederick G. Williams was appointed as counselor in place of Gause in a
revelation of 5 January 1833, which was never published in the Doctrine
and Covenants.
    ...  Apparently, Jesse Gause continued to be a restless
geographic wanderer and religious seeker until his death at age
fifty-two.
    ...  When the revelation appointing Jesse Gause to the presidency
was published for the first time, his name was simply removed and that
of Frederick G. Williams was substituted in its place.


^^^^^^-----From: Stephen Ott <[e-mail]>------^^^^^^^

- ---------

CD-ROM ON SESQUICENTENNIAL NOW AVAILABLE TO GENERAL PUBLIC

SALT LAKE CITY (RP) - A ground breaking multi-media CD-ROM containing
audio recordings, video clips, and print material about the incredible
journey of the 19th Century Mormon Pioneers is now available to the
general public.

The CD-ROM is, itself, a pioneering effort in multi-media technology by
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was originally
produced by its Public Affairs Department for the news media, as part of
the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the
pioneers in the Great Salt Lake Valley.

Members of the Church and others may purchase a copy of the CD for
$5.  It is available at the Church Distribution Centers.
The 600-megabyte CD contains video clips, photos, text and audio
recordings of some 120 pioneer journal entries, and a map of the entire
Mormon Trail from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley.  Also included is
information about the contemporary Church in the world today--from
Alaska to Zimbabwe.

By simply inserting the CD into their computers, users can Awalk the trail
with the pioneers and listen to their stories of faith and sacrifice,@ said
Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
and chairman of the Church's Pioneer Sesquicentennial Committee.

"It's a virtual library of information covering not only the history of the
Church and the pioneer trek, but it also provides information about the
Church today in all 50 states and in 57 nations," Elder Ballard said. AIt
provides a link between the historical pioneers and the pioneering still
being done by Church members throughout the world," he added.

Some actual descendants of such pioneers as Brigham Young, William
Clayton and a little-known but stalwart pioneer woman named Patience
Loader are seen and heard talking about their ancestors' journal entries
and expressing their feelings about what their heritage means to them.

 "There are 120 pioneer journal entries on the CD," Elder Ballard said,
Aall of them seen on the screen and heard by narrators."
One of the exciting features of the CD, he said, is the map of the Mormon
Pioneer

Trail. The user can scroll from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley, stopping at
any of 40 locations along the trail where significant events happened.
"For example", he said, "you can click onto a location--such as Winter
Quarters--and read and hear from journal entries telling about events
relating to that site."

Restoration Press News Service

- ----------
Y. scholar finds 'explosion' in Book of Mormon use

He says it has evolved from little-used text to central LDS scripture.


Last updated 06/14/1997, 12:01 a.m. MDT

By Edward L. Carter
Deseret News staff writer

PROVO - Latter-day Saints' use of the Book of Mormon has undergone
significant changes in the final decades of the 20th century, a Brigham
Young University professor has found.  Noel B.  Reynolds, professor of
political science and president of the Foundation for Ancient Research and
Mormon Studies (FARMS), discovered that the Book of Mormon was little-used
during the first third of this century.  Although one of four books
considered scripture by Latter-day Saints, the Book of Mormon was studied
only sporadically until the 1970s.  However, Reynolds said recently at a
FARMS conference, the book now "clearly holds center stage in Latter-day
Saint scriptural study and appreciation."

"It seems evident that the last few decades have produced a significant
revolution in the LDS community in terms of the increased understanding and
appreciation for the Book of Mormon as an inspired work of scripture,"
Reynolds said.

Reynolds' study of 20th-century LDS use of the book included surveys of
Sunday School manuals, courses at BYU and LDS Institutes of Religion, LDS
General Conference addresses and publications about the Book of Mormon.  He
also documented the book's role in the church's missionary efforts,
distribution and translation of the book and archaeological and geographic
studies sparked by the book.  Reynolds said the proliferation of scholarly
publications about the book since 1970 is perhaps the "strongest indicator
of a significant increase in serious interest in the Book of Mormon." Most
of the increase in publication rates came in the areas of general and
religious works rather than fiction or polemics, Reynolds found.

One of the most dramatic turnarounds in use of the Book of Mormon took
place at BYU itself.  No serious courses were offered about the book until
1937, and even the introduction of that class met substantial resistance,
Reynolds discovered.  He said that students and faculty at BYU from
1900-1950 were generally skeptical or antipathetic toward the Book of
Mormon - so much so that their views would likely be seen as apostate or
dissident today.  However, the 1950s saw the introduction of courses in Book
of Mormon archaeology, and study of the book became a requirement for
freshmen in 1961.  In contrast to the "intellectual milieu" of the first
part of the century, the Book of Mormon now enjoys overwhelming support
among faculty at BYU, Reynolds said.

Reynolds used research by Richard C.  Galbraith of BYU's Family Science
Department to show that citations of the Book of Mormon in General
Conference talks languished at 12 percent of all scriptures cited from 1942
to 1986.  In 1986, however, then-LDS President Ezra Taft Benson challenged
church members to emphasize the Book of Mormon.  After that, Book of Mormon
citations in conference jumped to 40 percent before leveling off at 25
percent of all scriptures cited.  Reynolds noted that President Benson's
emphasis played a major role in making the Book of Mormon central in the
minds and activities of Latter-day Saints.

In 1988, President Benson asked church members to "flood the earth" with
the Book of Mormon.  Two years later, distribution of copies of the book
through the "Family to Family" program peaked at 6.6 million.  That number
represented a sixfold increase over the 974,000 copies distributed in 1983.
"The extraordinary success and popularity of the program provide clear
evidence of a solid and enthusiastic base of support for the Book of Mormon
among Latter-day Saints in recent decades," Reynolds said.

A possible explanation for the explosion of Book of Mormon use since the
1970s involves Fawn Brodie's critical look at the life of Joseph Smith.  In
1945, Brodie authored the book, "No Man Knows My History," which attempted
to explain Joseph Smith's religious experiences without accepting his
claims of revelation.

Publication of the book provoked Hugh Nibley, a then-recent Ph.D.  graduate
of the University of California-Berkeley, to embark on a lifelong
investigation of the origins of the Book of Mormon, Reynolds said.  In turn,
Nibley's efforts inspired a generation of BYU students, some of whom showed
up as professors at BYU after 1970, to undertake scholarly work about the
Book of Mormon.

As a result of this and other factors, Reynolds said, "The Book of Mormon
appears much more frequently as the focus of official and unofficial
attention in all kinds of LDS settings."

Reynolds also discovered that the Book of Mormon has played
a greater part during the past three decades than before in Sunday School
manuals, LDS Institute classes and missionary lessons.  All of the interest
has sparked increased translation of the book, and many studies speculating
about geography and archaeology relating to the Book of Mormon, Reynolds
said.
- ------------------------
[Commentary, the converse of this is that the Book or Mormon was NOT used
much for the first 150 some odd years.  I have heard it said but do not
have the source that Joseph Smith only quoted scripture from the Book or
Mormon 5 times in all of his public sermons.  For the most perfect book
from which a man can get closer to God from reading it than any other book,
it's lack of being for it's first 100 years is most peculure.]

- -----------------------------------
From No. 106 July 1997 Mormon History Association Newsletter

Under the heading of Omaha Reports from the annual symposia of the Mormon
History Association, an attendee, Cherry Silver of Salt Lake City,
submitted a few short quotes from a memorial service arranged by Marurine
Carr Ward, and held at the Winter Quarters Bronze meonument, where the
speaker Richard Bennett said among other things :

"Speaker Richard Bennett called Winter Quarters cemetery "Mormonism's other
sacred grove. While the Sacred Grove celebrates the dawning of a brighter
day, Kirtland the turning of the hearts to the fathers, Independence the
temples of our God, and This is the Place monument discovery and sacrifice,
there are few celebration at Winter Quarters, only worshipful remembrance."

"Much has changed since 1846 and 47," Bennett suggested. "No longer a step
sister to our history, much of a positive nature has been rediscovered
here. A certain quality, an essential mission and message remains, which
holds us like a collective Unconscious."

"Let us not complicate the simplicity of it all," Bennett urged. "We now
know why they died, about how many were buried here, and more about the ebb
and flow of their activities. Winter Quarters was no cult of charismatic
leaders, no fanatic fringe, no seeking after death, . . . but a measured
devotion, a testament to the simple faith of the Latter-day Saints. With
due credit to Brigham Young and other leaders, this was the faith of all
the people. They would find this place if they would find their God."

"We make our own journey through life," Bennett concluded, "either with or
without purpose. Those who journey ended here, their direction was right at
least, and direction is everything. . . There are worse things than
cemeteries. Death but not defeat is represented here--quest and enduring
victory."

- -----------------------
[Comentary While the above "talk" is stirring it is also disturbing, for
the implication is from the phrase "Those who journey ended here, their
direction was right at least, and direction is everything" indicates that
going west was the divinely appointed solution.  This flies in the face
that the Mormon History Association is not the LDS History Association,
many excellent RLDS Historians and RLDS History buffs, are association
members and atendee's.  It also ill motives on almost half the Mormons
living in the East that did NOT make the full journey West, but turned
back, some of which became RLDS and other types of "Mormons", i.e. Jack
Mormons as well.
It also implies with it that Rigdone, and others had no claim on
leadership, which is not a forgone historical fact, but as they say, "The
Victors write the History".  I say that it is over the edge to say that
because a slight majority of the saints moved West, that this is the
"direction" that God wanted them to go.  Since the Majority of the
Doctrines, and practices that really forced the Mormons to be kicked out of
Nauvoo, such as Voting in a block, Polygamous Marriages, and a Theocracy of
welding of church and state operations, were with time, given up in Utah,
why could the practices not have been given up earlier and the saints
stayed in "True" Zion?

Research has found at least 10 families that lived in Jackson Country and
more in adjacent counties for as many as 10 years after the extermination
order, and were not forced out, my GGG Grand father Sanford Porter as well.

Though the victors write the history, that does not make the history
accurate or divinely sanctioned.]
- -----------------------
The Oath & Covenant of the Priesthood
This a pretest only a Pretest
(It will count as 50 % of your grade)
Enter the letter for any correct response on the line to the left of each
corresponding number.
(Review section)
__________   1.   The lesson regarding the assignation of J.F.K. taught us
that;
    A.   The government can't be trusted, ergo, we should have our 2 years
supply including ammunition.
    B.   Lee Harvey Oswald was the one and only lone gunman that killed J.F.K.
    C.   Truth is allusive, events assumed to be factual require critical and
periodic study.
    D.   The Elders of Israel have a to become as informed as possible, to
protect the constitution.

__________  2.   A typical lesson on making family histories;
    A.   Illustrated the importance of genealogy in turning the hears of the
children to their fathers and the hears of the fathers to their children.
    B.   Was a great example of why we should always have our cam corder load
and read to make another scene for America's funniest home videos.
    C.  Showed how easy it was to interview grandma and preserve a precious
personality.
    D.   Demonstrated that a home movie of a new baby may turn out to be more
precious later than it appeared to be at that moment.

__________   3.   A lesion on the importance of music in the lives of
latter day saints;
    A.   Showed that the harder you try to prepare for something the more
likely you are to be really embarrassed when you mess up.
    B.   Taught that quality music contains many fundamental aspects such as
intonation, dynamics, varying rhythm, Vocal or instrumental talent, etc.
    C.    Implied that Perry doesn't consider County "music" as good music.
    D.    Proved that Opera is the highest form of music.
    E.    Intimated that Perry has a crush on Amy Grant.

4.   Name the topic of any other lesson that your current SS teacher has
taught;

_____________________________

(Pretest section)
5.   T rue or F alse   The Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood only apply
to the Melchizedek not the Arronic Priesthood.

6.   Name one term of the covenant;

____________________________________________.

7.   Name one promise if we obey the covenant

___________________________________.

8.   In What section in the D&C is the Oath and Covenant located;  Sec.

________,  Verses __________ (extra credit for verses).

9.   In what book of the Book of Mormon is the Oath and covenant of the
priesthood repeated
Book ____________, Chapter __________, Verses _____________ (extra credit
for verses).

10.   Enter the initials of a role model that you think strives to keep the
Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood ____________________________.

(Extra credit, make up your own quality question and answer it correctly)

11.


Notes:
- --------------------------------------------

As the 24th of July approaches and the 150 Anniversary of the Saints
entering the Valley, many emotional and faith promoting lessons will be
hear, here is one that likely will not be heard :

I showed the first 20 Minutes of the excellent documentary "Struggle for
Statehood", after which I related the following.

Jim Bridger informed Brigham Young that it is unwise to bring such a large
group into the Salt Lake Valley, until it could be demonstrated that it
would be possible to raise grain there.

Jim Bridger is supposedly to have said that he would give a thousand
dollars if he knew that an ear of corn could ripen in the Salt Lake Valley.

Other versions have it that he would pay 1000 dollars for a bushel of corn
raised in that valley.
Essentials in Church History, By Joseph Fielding Smith Page 366

The story that Bridger offer $1,000 for the first bushel of corn grown in
the Salt Lake Valley was alter in the Journal History to read that "Bridger
would give $1,000 if he only knew if we could raise an ear of corn." Utah's
History, by Campbell, Alexander... page 123 footnote 3

- - Thus possible interpretations of such a statement would be ?
[Most likely, is that Bridger didn't want competition for his trading post,
and wanted them to move on to California.

Raising of the Mormon Battalion.

    - Most did not want to go.
    - Mormons not that loyal to the U.S. at that time.
    - Their only battle was against wild Bulls.
    - This was the longest Military march by US troops up to that point in time.

By shear coincidence on Feb 4th, the same day the first group from Nauvoo
left on their Westward trek, 70 Men, 68 Women, and 100 children, sailed out
of New York Harbor aboard the Brooklyn.  They were headed for Samuel Brannon.

Elder Orson Pratt of the Council of the Twelve was presiding over the
Church in the eastern states when word arrived late in 1845 of the decision
to hasten the departure from Nauvoo. Immediately he issued a dramatic call
for the Saints in that area to ; join the exodus. Angered at the treatment
the Church was receiving, he perhaps overstated the case when he declared:
"We do not want one saint to be left in the United States" after the following
spring. "Let every branch," he wrote, "in the East, West, North and South,
be determined to flee out of Babylon, either by land or by sea."6 Elder
Samuel Brannan, publisher of the Prophet, the Church paper in New York, was
appointed to charter a ship and direct a company that would go by sea as
soon as possible.

 6. Times and Seasons, December 1, 1845

The Story of the Latter-day Saints, by Allen page 238

The saints could not possibly subsist in the Great Salt Lake Valley, as
according to the testimony of the mountaineers, it froze there every month
in the year, and the ground was too dry to sprout seeds without irrigation,
and irrigated with the cold mountain streams the seeds planted would be
chilled and prevented from growing;. . . He considered it no place for an
agricultural people, and expressed his confidence that the saints would
emigrate to California the next spring. On being asked if he had given his
views to President Brigham Young he answered that he had. On further
inquiry as to how his views were received he said in substance that the
president laughed and made some rather insignificant remark, "but, " said
Brannan, "when he has fairly tried it, he will find that I was right and he
was wrong, and will come to California."

Utah's History by Campbell Page 116

Near this point Young became severely ill with "mountain fever" and was
unable to advance with the company. Orson Pratt, with twenty-three wagons
and forty-two men, was sent ahead to lo: locate the Donner-Reed Trail. (See
map, p. 728.) After traversing Echo Canyon to present-day Henefer, Pratt
and John Brown rode down Weber Canyon for several miles before deciding
against that route. Later that day they found the Donner-Reed tracks, and
by July 19 the advance party reached the summit of Big Mountain, where they
could see over a great extent of country. Pratt and Brown climbed farther
than their companions and were able to see portions of Salt Lake Valley.
Two days later Pratt and Erastus Snow were the first of the pioneer company
to enter the valley, having followed the Donner Trail over Little Mountain,
down Emigration Canyon, and over Donner Hill. With only one horse the two
men took turns walking and ridding over major portions of the valley before
returning to the vanguard camp in the canyon.

On July 22 the first wagons moved downstream toward the mouth of Emigration
Canyon. Finding the route over Donner Hill quite unsatisfactory for a
permanent road, the Mormons spent four hours cutting a new road around the
north end of Donner Hill to rejoin the Donner tracks on the high ground
north of present Hogle Zoo. This stretch of less than a half-mile was the
only piece of original road the Mormon pioneers were required to build

Utah's History by Campbell Page 123

Of the trip West, James Allen notes.

The company suffered little unusual hardship, and the journey some became
almost leisurely. This seemed to nurture an attitude of flippancy and light
mindedness, which Brigham Young abhorred. On one occasion he roundly
criticized the men for playing cards and dominoes and for boisterous
dancing, urging them to conduct themselves in a way more befitting their
serious mission. According to the camp diarist, there was some tearful
repentance, but after that "no loud laughter was heard, no swearing, no
quarreling, no profane language, no hard speeches to  man or beast "7

The Story of the Latter-day Saints, by Allen page 243

[It should be noted that diary entries for the first few years, remarked
favorably about the trek west.  Only after the disaster of the Willie and
Martin handcart companies did the journal entries take a more torturous
view of the trek.  This became such a common story telling them, that
latter reminiscences contained hardship language that was not contained in
the original diaries of those same people.]

The first group consisted of 144 Elders of Israel.  One turned back after a
few days because of illness. 3 women were also in the first group.  One of
the wives of Brigham Young, Heber C Kimball and one of the wives of Lorenzo
Snow.  Also in the group were 3 Negro slaves, (JFS in Essentials in church
History only referrers to them as coloreds, no indication of their current
free or slave state.)

Utah's History, by Campbell page 122  From his class I remember him
indicating that it was ironic that one of the 3 negroes was also an Elder
and they made up the Biblical number of 144 Elders, even though it was
Brigham Young that restricted the blacks use of the priesthood and not his
predecessor Joseph Smith.

Plague of the Crickets. -  The season was so far advanced when the pioneers
arrived in the summer of 1847 that little resulted from the planting,
except to obtain some seed potatoes. Their salvation depended on the
success of their crops in 1848. They had built three sawmills in the
mountains and one gristmill. Their planted fields consisted of five
thousand one hundred and thirty-three acres, of which nearly nine hundred
acres were planted in winter wheat.

With the aid of irrigation all things looked favorable and it appeared that
there would be a fruitful harvest.  The Saints were happy and their
prospects were bright. They gave thanks to the Lord and in humility desired
to serve him. In the months of May and June they were menaced by a danger
as bad as the persecution of mobs. Myriads of crickets  came down the
mountain sides into the valley, like a vast army marshaled for battle, and
began to destroy the fields. From one they would pass on to another, and in
a few moments leave a field as barren as a desert waste. Something had to
be done, or the inhabitants must perish. The community were aroused and
every soul entered the unequal conflict. Trenches were dug around the
fields and filled with water, in the hope of stopping the ravages of the
pest, but without result. Fire was equally unavailing. The attempt was made
to beat them back with clubs, brooms and other improvised weapons, but
nothing that man could do was able to stop the steady onward march of the
voracious crickets. The settlers were hapless before them.

The Miracle of the Gulls.- When all seemed lost, and the Saints were giving
up in despair, the heavens became clouded with gulls, which hovered over
the fields, uttering their plaintive scream. Was this a new evil come upon
them? Such were the thoughts of some who expected that what the crickets
left the gulls would destroy; but not so, the gulls in countless battalions
descended and began to devour the crickets, waging a battle for the
preservation of the crops. They ate, they gorged upon the pest, and then
flying to the streams would drink and vomit and again return to the battle
front. This took place day by day until the crickets were destroyed. The
people gave thanks, for this was to them a miracle. Surely the Lord was
merciful and had sent the gulls as angles of mercy or their salvation.1
Since that time the gull has been looked upon by the Latter-day Saints
almost as a sacred deliverer. Laws have been passed for the protection of
these birds, and the wanton killing of one would be considered a crime of
great magnitude.

1September 13, 1913, a monument commemorating this event, was unveiled on
the Temple Block, Salt Lake City. The "Seagull Monument," as it is called
is the work of Mahonri M. Young, grandson of President Brigham Young.

Essentials in Church History, By Joseph Fielding Smith, Page 384

"The chronicler of important events should not be deprived of his
individuality; but if he willfully disregards the truth, no matter what his
standing may be, or how greatly he may be respected, he should be avoided.
No historian has the right to make his prejudices paramount to the facts he
should record. For such a writer, to record as truth that which is false,
and to palm off as facts that which is fiction, degrades himself insults
his readers, and outrages his profession. "
Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. (1906)
The Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History 127 Knight Mangum
Building (KMB) Brigham Young University Provo UT 84602 (801) 3784023

Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. Born 19 July 1876, was sustained as Assistant
Church Historian 8 Apr. 1906; Apostle in 1910, sustained Church Historian
and General Church Recorder in 1921, and a
member of the first Presidency in 1969, released as Church Historian to
become Church President in Feb. 1970.  So he was either Assistant or Church
Historian for 63 years, most of which time he was also an Apostle.

The Mormons, after a fashion, prayed and fought, and fought and  prayed,
but to no purpose. The 'Black Philistines" mowed their way even with the
ground, leaving it as if touched with an acid or burnt by fire.43

Men and women alike fought the crickets with sticks, shovels, and brooms,
with gunny sacks and trenches, but with little avail.

Finally, just before the entire been eaten clean, came the announcement
from the president of the High Council: "Brethren, we do not want you to
part with your wagons and teams for we might need them," intimating that
they were considering moving on to California or some other gathering
place. But at the moment this announcement was being delivered, sea gulls
providentially moved in and began to devour the crickets,

"sweeping them up as they went along. "I guess," wrote Priddy Meeks, "this
circumstance changed our feeling considerable for the better." 44

Nevertheless, the combination of disasters discouraged many. One of the
settlers, a brother of  Brigham Young wanted to send an express to Brigham
telling him not to bring any more people to the valley, for "they would all
starve to death." John Neff, who was building a large gristmill, "left off
. . . for a while, as many expected there would be no grain to grind." 45
A few of the colonists went on to California and others returned to the
Missouri Valley.

43. Thomas L. Kane, The Mormons (Philadelphia, 1850), p. 66.

44."Journal of Priddy Meeks," p. 164; "History of Brigham Young,", 1848, p.
30. As a result of this "miracle" the seagull came to be held in sacred
remembrance in Utah. Laws were enacted prohibiting anyone from killing
them. Later a statue was erected on Temple Block in their honor. Finally,
in this century, the state legislature officially named the seagull to be
the state bird of Utah.

45 "History of Brigham Young,", 1848, p. 30

Great Basin Kingdom, Page 49 - 50 by Lenard J. Arrington. (Born 2 July
1917, at Twin Falls, Idaho.  Appointed Church Historian on 14 Jan 1972 at
the age of 54.  Joseph Fielding Smith was president at the time, all
previous Church Historians were sustained to such offices, rather than
"appointed".)

The Saints were baffled. All they could do was continue to pray. And so at
the point, after three weeks of invasion, when all seemed lost, the sea
gulls came. At first the Saints thought a new foe had come, but they soon
discovered the gulls were devouring only the crickets. They withdrew from
the fields and left the gulls at work; at the end of another three weeks
the gulls had consumed the crickets and left the fields.

Ensign to the Nations, A History of the LDS Church form 1846 to 1972.  By
Russell R. Rich.

The spring planting of grain and garden crops also showed promise.
Unfortunately, late frosts destroyed a con able portion of the spring wheat
and vegetables, and at the same time millions of crickets began to invade
the fields. Harriet Young wrote:

[May] 29th: Last night we had a severe frost. Today the crickets have
commenced on our corn and small grain. They have eaten off 12 acres for
Brother Rosacrants, 7 for Charles and are now taking Edmunds.

Today 29th: They have destroyed 3/4 of an acre of squashes, our flax, two
acres of millet and our rye, and are now to work in our wheat. What will be
the result we know not.

In the circumstances, some Saints despaired of surviving in the valley.
After two weeks of fighting the voracious insects, the pioneers somewhat
relieved to gain an ally in their battle when thousands of white-winged
gulls landed in the fields and began to devour the pests. The gulls helped
stem the tide of cricket devastations their coming been regarded as a
miracle by many, although little was said about it at the time. Perhaps the
fact that the frost had destroyed so much and that the gulls the gulls left
before the  crickets were eliminated muted the Saints' enthusiasm. Similar
aid by the sea gulls in subsequent years has all but been ignored in Utah
folklore.

Utah's History, by Richard D. Poll / Thomas G. Alexander / Eugene E.
Campbell / David E. Miller Brigham young University Press 1977. Page 126 - 127

But 1848 was a dry year, and late spring frosts damaged many crops. Late in
May the black crickets observed in the foothills the year before descended
in swarms upon the winter wheat and maturing spring crops. Efforts to
drown, mash, or burn the invading horde seemed futile. On Lorenzo Young's
farm, he wrote in his diary on May 29, they destroyed in one day "3/4 of an
acre of squashes, our flax, two acres of millet and our rye, and are now to
work in our wheat. What will be the result we know not." The was grim, but
it would have been much worse had it not been for the flocks of sea gulls
from the islands of the Great Salt Lake that swept in and began gorging
themselves on the crickets. The hungry gulls ate all they could,
regurgitated the indigestible portions, then ate again and again. This
continued for several weeks, and much of the crop was saved. Though the
harvest was greatly reduced, the Saints were grateful for what was spared
and for the proof that the untried soil of the valley could indeed produce
crops.

The winter of 1848-49 was especially severe, and both settlers and
livestock suffered heavily. Firewood was difficult to obtain and food
supplies dwindled. Some turned to boiling rawhide for nourishment "glue
soup," it was called by one family. Those who had surplus shared with those
who were less fortunate; and to prevent excess profit-making, voluntary
controls were established on the price of such necessities as beef and
flour. The colony survived, but empty stomachs, frostbitten feet, and an
unfamiliar environment discouraged many pioneers. For some, California's
milder climate became an increasingly attractive lure.

The Story of the Latter-day Saints, by James B. Allen and Glen M. Leonard.
Page 251
[Note no mention of miraculous answers to prayer.]

The crops planted on July 24th had barely sprouted before untended animals
grazed them to the ground.  Indians and wolves decimated the livestock herds.

Charles C. Rich, [the next apostle to be chosen in 1849] cautioned the
pioneers not to dismantle their wagons "for we might need them."  He may
have been contemplating a move to California.  At this point flocks of sea
gulls from the Great Salt Lake appeared over the fields and began devouring
the crickets.  Many witnesses saw the intervention as providential;...

The Mormon Experience, By Leonard J. Arrington and Davis Bitton, Knoff
1979, twenty one years after "Great Basin Kingdom". Page 104

[Many of the devout journal takers such as Wilfford Woodruff, made little
note of this.  The legend grew with time, and the common sense nature of
the event, faded from faithful history.]

[The did not pass on the legacy of the stupidity of not tending to the
livestock.]

[The Mormons laughed at the Indians that eagerly collected the crickets.
The Mormons saw the crickets as a bane, while the natives welcomed them as
a bountiful blessing.]

Also the new and succulent cultivated crops of the Mormons would have
attracted the majority of the crickets into one location, where normally
they would have been spread out across the whole valley searching for
isolated pockets of wild grain.

These locus like crickets, have a 7 year hibernation cycle, and the Mormons
unfortunately hit that same cycle at it's peak.

There is no stories of the "beneficial" late frost.

In conclusion, I think we should have a monument on temple square, rather
than to the Sea Gulls, we should have a monument to the Donner party.
After all many the Donner party died in part as a result of time spent
paving a new trail used a year later by the Mormons, and indicating what
canyon NOT to take, while all the Sea Gulls did was what comes natural to
them,  get a free lunch.

We should remember that people are more important than birds, even if they
are not LDS.

------------------------------

End of gdm Digest V1 #17
************************

To subscribe to gdm Digest, send the command:

    subscribe gdm-digest

in the body of a message to "[e-mail]".  If you want to
subscribe something other than the account the mail is coming from, such
as a local redistribution list, then append that address to the
"subscribe" command; for example, to subscribe "local-gdm":

    subscribe gdm-digest [e-mail]

A non-digest (direct mail) version of this list is also available; to
subscribe to that instead, replace all instances of "gdm-digest"
in the commands above with "gdm".

Back issues are available for anonymous FTP from ftp.xmission.com, in
pub/lists/gdm/archive.  These are organized by date.