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gdm Digest        Saturday, September 20 1997        Volume 01 : Number 023



In this issue:

    ---> Lesson 35

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, 20 Sep 1997 18:19:58 -0700
From: "Perry L. Porter" <[e-mail]>
Subject: ---> Lesson 35

Doctrine and Covenants 121-23

Lesson 35

Scriptural Highlights

1. Joseph Smith's prayer in Liberty Jail

2. The Lord's response

3. Exercising the priesthood in righteousness

Review the circumstances in which D&C 121-23 were revealed (see the
heading to D&C 121 and the Class Member Study Guide for this lesson).

Discussion and Application Questions

* What are your thoughts and feelings as you read Joseph Smith's prayer in
D&C 121 :1-6? What are your impressions of the Lord's answer to Joseph's
prayer? (D&C 121:7-10; 122.) What did the Lord teach the Prophet?

* Despite the torment Joseph endured in Liberty Jail, how was this
experience a blessing for him? How are the revelations the Prophet
received in this jail a blessing to us?

* In what sense did Joseph Smith's afflictions last for only "a small
moment"? (D&C 121 :7). How can we come to see adversity from the Lord's
perspective?

* Why does the Lord send or allow adversity in our lives? (D&C 95:1;
121:7-8; 122:5-9; 2 Nephi 2:11.) How can adversity be for our good? (D&C
101:4-5; 122:7.) What have you learned from your trials and problems?

* What can we do to feel more fully the peace the Lord promises in D&C
121:7? (D&C 19:23; Romans 8:6; Philippians 4:6-7.) What experiences have
shown you that the Lord is with you during times of trial?

* What can we do if we feel ourselves become despairing and hopeless
because of adversity? How can we prepare now to be strong in future times
when we may experience greater adversity?

* What will happen to people who fight against the truth? (D&C 121:11-25.)

* As you read D&C 121 :26-33, consider the blessings of being born in the
dispensation of the fulness of times. What are some of these blessings?

* What did the Lord mean by saying, "Many are called, but few are chosen"?
(D&C 121 :34-40). What prevents people from being chosen? How can a person
overcome the problem of exercising unrighteous dominion? How can a person
overcome the problem of caring too much for the things of the world?

* What can priesthood holders learn from D&C 121 :41-43 about exercising
the priesthood?

* What does the Lord promise us as we are "full of charity" and "let
virtue garnish [our] thoughts"? (D&C 121 :45-46). What does it mean to be
confident in the presence of God? What blessings do we receive when the
Holy Ghost is our companion? (John 14:26; 1 Nephi 10:19; 2 Nephi 32:5.)
What does it mean to receive an "everlasting dominion"? (D&C 121 :46; see
also D&C 76:92-95)

* Why do you think the Lord wanted the Saints to document the sufferings
and abuses they endured? (D&C 123:1 -7, 9, 11 -12.)

Additional Ideas

1. Assign a class member to summarize the circumstances of the Saints in
Missouri and of the Prophet and his companions in Liberty Jail. (See the
Class Member Study Guide for this lesson.) The summary should not be
longer than five minutes.

2. Suggested topic for family home evening: adversity (see "adversity" in
the index of the Family Home Evening Resource Book). Suggest that families
show "Gaining Strength through Adversity," segment 13 of the Family Home
Evening Video Supplement (53276 or VNW2764).

Next Week's Reading Assignment

Doctrine and Covenants 124

Page 69

Class Member Study Guide

lesson 35

Most of the Church leaders who were taken prisoner at Far West were
released within a few weeks. However, in December 1838, six of them,
including the Prophet Joseph Smith, were sent to Liberty Jail to await
their trials. All of the brethren were innocent of wrongdoing. During the
winter of 1838 and 1839, Joseph and his associates were held in the jail's
basement. There was little heat in this dungeon, and they were given
inadequate and filthy food. They had only a little straw on the rough
stone floor for their beds. D&C 122:6 accurately reflects a part of what
had happened to the Prophet.

Isolated from his family and friends and under constant threat of death,
the Prophet heard reports of the suffering of his people. He pleaded with
the Lord to relieve their suffering. In answer, the Lord revealed D&C 121,
122,and 123. The Prophet included many passages from these revelations in
a letter to Church leaders in Quincy, Illinois, who were directing the
Saints' exodus from Missouri.

* What principles did the Lord teach in answer to Joseph Smith's prayer?
(D&C 121 :1-10; 122.) How can these principles help you in times of
adversity?

* What can you do to feel more fully the peace the Lord promises in D&C
121 :7? What experiences have shown you that the Lord is with you during
times of trial?

* Although many people are called, what prevents them from being chosen?
(D&C 121:34-40.)

* What does the Lord promise us as we are "full of charity" and "let
virtue garnish [our] thoughts"? (D&C 121 :45-46).

Liberty Jail in Liberty' Missouri. Here Joseph Smith' Hyrum Smith, Sidney
Rigdon, Lyman Wight, Alexander McRae, and Caleb Baldwin were imprisoned
from 1 December 1838 to 6 April 1839. The Prophet received Doctrine and
Covenants 121, 122, and 123 during this time. Photograph by James T.
Hicks, 1878.

Page 70

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

The Notepad contains two new articles pertinant to lesson
35 in the gospel doctrine class.

http://www.srv.net/~sro/Notepad/Notepad.html

The Prophet's Epistle to the Church, Written in Liberty
Prison.

"Walls, Grates and Screeking Iron Doors: The Prison
Experience of Mormon Leaders in Missouri, 1838-1839"

For those that do not have internet access, and to place the document in
the Digests incase this site goes Away, I include the following, even
though they are long.


- ------------------------------
To the Church of Latter-day Saints at Quincy, Illinois, and Scattered
Abroad, and to Bishop Partridge in Particular:

Your humble servant, Joseph Smith, Jun., prisoner for the Lord Jesus
Christ's sake, and for the Saints, taken and held by the power of
mobocracy, under the exterminating reign of his excellency, the governor,
Lilburn W.

Boggs, in company with his fellow prisoners and beloved brethren, Caleb
Baldwin, Lyman Wight, Hyrum Smith, and Alexander McRae, send unto you all
greeting. May the grace of God the Father, and of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, rest upon you all, and abide with you forever. May knowledge
be multiplied unto you by the mercy of God. And may faith and virtue, and
knowledge and temperance, and patience and godliness, and brotherly
kindness and charity be in you and abound, that you may not be barren in
anything, nor unfruitful.

For inasmuch as we know that the most of you are well acquainted with the
wrongs and the high-handed injustice and cruelty that are practiced upon
us; whereas we have been taken prisoners charged falsely with every kind
of evil, and thrown into prison, enclosed with strong walls, surrounded
with a strong guard, who continually watch day and night as indefatigable
as the devil does in tempting and laying snares for the people of God:

Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, we are the more ready and willing to
lay claim to your fellowship and love. For our circumstances are
calculated to awaken our spirits to a sacred remembrance of everything,
and we think that yours are also, and that nothing therefore can separate
us from the love of God and fellowship one with another; and that every
species of wickedness and cruelty practiced upon us will only tend to bind
our hearts together and seal them together in love. We have no need to say
to you that we are held in bonds without cause, neither is it needful that
you say unto us, We are driven from our homes and smitten without cause.
We mutually understand that if the inhabitants of the state of Missouri
had let the Saints alone, and had been as desirable of peace as they were,
there would have been nothing but peace and quietude in the state unto
this day; we should not have been in this hell, surrounded with demons (if
not those who are damned, they are those who shall be damned) and where we
are compelled to hear nothing but blasphemous oaths, and witness a scene
of blasphemy, and drunkenness and hypocrisy, and debaucheries of every
description.

And again, the cries of orphans and widows would not have ascended up to
God against them. Nor would innocent blood have stained the soil of
Missouri. But oh! the unrelenting hand! The inhumanity and murderous
disposition of this people! It shocks all nature; it beggars and defies
all description; it is a tale of woe; a lamentable tale; yea a sorrowful
tale; too much to tell; too much for contemplation; too much for human
beings; it cannot be found among the heathens; it cannot be found among
the nations where kings and tyrants are enthroned; it cannot be found
among the savages of the wilderness; yea, and I think it cannot be found
among the wild and ferocious beasts of the forest--

that a man should be mangled for sport! Women be robbed of all that they
have--their last morsel for subsistence, and then be violated to gratify
the hellish desires of the mob, and finally left to perish with their
helpless offspring clinging around their necks.

But this is not all. After a man is dead. he must be dug up from his grave
and mangled to pieces, for no other purpose than to gratify their spleen
against the religion of God.

They practice these things upon the Saints, who have done them no wrong,
who are innocent and virtuous; who loved the Lord their God, and were
willing to forsake all things for Christ's sake. These things are awful to
relate, but they are verily true. It must needs be that offenses come, but
woe unto them by whom they come.


Oh God! where art Thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth Thy hiding
place? How long shall Thy hand be stayed, and Thine eye, yea Thy pure eye,
behold from the eternal heavens, the wrongs of Thy people, and of Thy
servants, and Thy ear be penetrated with their cries?

Yea, O Lord, how long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful
oppressions, before Thine heart shall be softened towards them, and Thy
bowels be moved with compassion towards them?

O Lord God Almighty, Maker of Heaven, Earth and Seas, and of all things
that in them are, and who controllest and subjectest the devil, and the
dark and benighted dominion of Sheol! Stretch forth Thy hand, let Thine
eye pierce; let Thy pavilion be taken up; let Thy hiding place no longer
be covered; let Thine ear be inclined; let Thine heart be softened, and
Thy bowels moved with compassion towards us, Let Thine anger be kindled
against our enemies; and in the fury of Thine heart, with Thy sword avenge
us of our wrongs; remember Thy suffering Saints, O our God! and Thy
servants will rejoice in Thy name forever.


Dearly and beloved brethren, we see that perilous times have come, as was
testified of. We may look, then, with most perfect assurance, for the
fulfillment of all those things that have been written, and with more
confidence than ever before, lift up our eyes to the luminary of day, and
say in our hearts, Soon thou wilt veil thy blushing face. He that said
"Let there be light," and there was light, hath spoken this word. And
again, Thou moon, thou dimmer light, thou luminary of night, shalt turn to
blood.

We see that everything is being fulfilled; and that the time shall soon
come when the Son of Man shall descend in the clouds of heaven. Our hearts
do not shrink, neither are our spirits altogether broken by the grievous
yoke which is put upon us. We know that God will have our oppressors in
derision; that He will laugh at their calamity, and mock when their fear
cometh.

O that we could be with you, brethren, and unbosom our feelings to you!

We would tell, that we should have been liberated at the time Elder Rigdon
was, on the writ of habeas corpus, had not our own lawyers interpreted the
law, contrary to what it reads, against us; which prevented us from
introducing our evidence before the mock court.

They have done us much harm from the beginning. They have of late
acknowledged that the law was misconstrued, and tantalized our feelings
with it, and have entirely forsaken us, and have forfeited their oaths and
their bonds; and we have a come-back on them, for they are co-workers with
the mob.

As nigh as we can learn, the public mind has been for a long time turning
in our favor, and the majority is now friendly; and the lawyers can no
longer browbeat us by saying that this or that is a matter of public
opinion, for public opinion is not willing to brook it; for it is
beginning to look with feelings of indignation against our oppressors, and
to say that the "Mormons" were not in the fault in the least. We think
that truth, honor, virtue and innocence will eventually come out
triumphant. We should have taken a habeas corpus before the high judge and
escaped the mob in a summary way; but unfortunately for us, the timber of
the wall being very hard, our auger handles gave out, and hindered us
longer than we expected; we applied to a friend, and a very slight
incautious act gave rise to some suspicions, and before we could fully
succeed, our plan was discovered; we had everything in readiness, but the
last stone, and we could have made our escape in one minute, and should
have succeeded admirably, had it not been for a little imprudence or
over-anxiety on the part of our friend.

The sheriff and jailer did not blame us for our attempt; it was a fine
breach, and cost the county a round sum; but public opinion says that we
ought to have been permitted to have made our escape; that then the
disgrace would have been on us, but now it must come on the state; that
there cannot be any charge sustained against us; and that the conduct of
the mob, the murders committed at Haun's Mills, and the exterminating
order of the governor, and the one-sided, rascally proceedings of the
legislature, have damned the state of Missouri to all eternity. I would
just name also that General Atchison has proved himself as contemptible as
any of them.

We have tried for a long time to get our lawyers to draw us some petitions
to the supreme judges of this state. But they utterly refused. We have
examined the law, and drawn the petitions ourselves, and have obtained
abundance of proof to counteract all the testimony that was against us, so
that if the supreme judge does not grant us our liberty, he has to act
without cause, contrary to honor, evidence, law or justice, sheerly to
please the devil, but we hope better things and trust before many days God
will so order our case, that we shall be set at liberty and take up our
habitation with the Saints.

We received some letters last evening--one from Emma, one from Don C.

Smith, and one from Bishop Partridge--all breathing a kind and consoling
spirit. We were much gratified with their contents. We had been a long
time without information; and when we read those letters they were to our
souls as the gentle air is refreshing, but our joy was mingled with grief,
because of the sufferings of the poor and much injured Saints. And we need
not say to you that the floodgates of our hearts were lifted and our eyes
were a fountain of tears, but those who have not been enclosed in the
walls of prison without cause or provocation, can have but little idea how
sweet the voice of a friend is; one token of friendship from any source
whatever awakens and calls into action every sympathetic feeling; it
brings up in an instant everything that is passed; it seizes the present
with the avidity of lightning; it grasps after the future with the
fierceness of a tiger; it moves the mind backward and forward, from one
thing to another, until finally all enmity, malice and hatred, and past
differences, misunderstandings and mismanagements are slain victorious at
the feet of hope; and when the heart is sufficiently contrite, then the
voice of inspiration steals along and whispers


,My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions
shall be but a small moment; and then if thou endure it well, God shall
exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes; thy friends do
stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again, with warm hearts and
friendly hands; thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not conte"d
against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job; and
they who do charge thee with transgression, their hope shall be blasted
and their prospects shall melt away as the hoar frost melteth before the
burning rays of the rising sun; and also that God hath set His hand and
Seal to change the times and seasons, and to blind their minds, that they
may not understand His marvelous workings, that He may prove them also and
take them in their own craftiness; also because their hearts are
corrupted, and the things which they are willing to bring upon others, and
love to have others suffer, may come upon themselves to the very
uttermost; that they may be disappointed also, and their hopes may be cut
off; and not many years hence, that they and their posterity shall be
swept from under heaven, saith God, that not one of them is left to stand
by the wall. Cursed are all those that shall lift up the heel against mine
anointed. saith the Lord, and cry they have sinned when they have not
sinned before me, saith the Lord, but have done that which was meet in
mine eyes, and which I commanded them; but those who cry transgression do
it because they are the servants of sin and are the children of
disobedience themselves; and those who swear falsely against my servants,
that they might bring them into bondage and death; wo unto them; because
they have offended my little ones; they shall be severed from the
ordinances of mine house; their basket shall not be full, and their houses
and their barns shall perish, and they themselves shall be despised by
those that flattered them; they shall not have right to the Priesthood,
nor their posterity after them, from generation to generation; it had been
better for them that a millstone had been hanged about their necks, and
they drowned in the depth of the sea.

Wo unto all those that discomfort my people, and drive and murder, and
testify against them, saith the Lord of Hosts; a generation of vipers
shall not escape the damnation of hell. Behold mine eyes see and know all
their works, and I have in reserve a swift judgment in the season thereof,
for them all; for there is a time appointed for every man according as his
work shall be.


And now, beloved brethren, we say unto you, that inasmuch as God hath said
that He would have a tried people, that He would purge them as gold, now
we think that this time He has chosen His own crucible, wherein we have
been tried; and we think if we get through with any degree of safety, and
shall have kept the faith, that it will be a sign to this generation,
altogether sufficient to leave them without excuse; and we think also, it
will be a trial of our faith equal to that of Abraham, and that the
ancients will not have whereof to boast over us in the day of judgment, as
being called to pass through heavier afflictions; that we may hold an even
weight in the balance with them; but now, after having suffered so great
sacrifice and having passed through so great a season of sorrow, we trust
that a ram may be caught in the thicket speedily, to relieve the sons and
daughters of Abraham from their great anxiety, and to light up the lamp of
salvation upon their countenances, that they may hold on now, after having
gone so far unto everlasting life.

Now, brethren, concerning the places for the location of the Saints we
cannot counsel you as we could if we were present with you; and as to the
things that were written heretofore, we did not consider them anything
very binding, therefore we now say once for all, that we think it most
proper that the general affairs of the Church, which are necessary to be
considered, while your humble servant remains in bondage, should be
transacted by a general conference of the most faithful and the most
respectable of the authorities of the Church, and a minute of those
transactions may be kept, and forwarded from time to time. To your humble
servant; and if there should be any corrections by the word of the Lord,
they shall be freely transmitted, and your humble servant will approve all
things whatsoever is acceptable unto God. If anything should have been
suggested by us, or any names mentioned, except by commandment, or thus
saith the Lord, we do not consider it binding; therefore our hearts shall
not be grieved if different arrangements should be entered into.
Nevertheless we would suggest the propriety of being aware of an aspiring
spirit, which spirit has often times urged men forward to make foul
speeches, and influence the Church to reject milder counsels, and has
eventually been the means of bringing much death and sorrow upon the
Church.

We would say, beware of pride also; for well and truly hath the wise man
said, that pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a
fall.

And again, outward appearance is not always a criterion by which to judge
our fellow man; but the lips betray the haughty and overbearing
imaginations of the heart; by his words and his deeds let him be judged.
Flattery also is a deadly poison. A frank and open rebuke provoketh a good
man to emulation; and in the hour of trouble he will be your best friend;
but on the other hand.

it will draw out all the corruptions of corrupt hearts, and lying and the
poison of asps is under their tongues; and they do cause the pure in heart
to be cast into prison, because they want them out of their way.

A fanciful and flowery and heated imagination beware of; because the
things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful
and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O man!

if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the
utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the
broad expanse of eternity--thou must commune with God. How much more
dignified and noble are the thoughts of God, than the vain imaginations of
the human heart! None but fools will trifle with the souls of men.

How vain and trifling have been our spirits, our conferences, our
councils, our meetings, our private as well as public conversations--too
low, too mean, too vulgar, too condescending for the dignified characters
of the called and chosen of God, according to the purposes of His will,
from before the foundation of the world! We are called to hold the keys of
the mysteries of those things that have been kept hid from the foundation
of the world until now. Some have tasted a little of these things, many of
which are to be poured down from heaven upon the heads of babes; yea, upon
the weak, obscure and despised ones of the earth. Therefore we beseech of
you, brethren, that you bear with those who do not feel themselves more
worthy than yourselves, while we exhort one another to a reformation with
one and all, both old and young, teachers and taught, both high and low,
rich and poor, bond and free, male and female; let honesty, and sobriety,
and candor, and solemnity, and virtue, and pureness, and meekness, and
simplicity crown our heads in every place; and in fine, become as little
children, without malice, guile or hypocrisy.

And now, brethren, after your tribulations, if you do these things, and
exercise fervent prayer and faith in the sight of God always,

He shall give unto you knowledge by His Holy Spirit, yea by the
unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost, that has not been revealed since the
world was until now; which our forefathers have waited with anxious
expectation to be revealed in the last times, which their minds were
pointed to by the angels, as held in reserve for the fullness of their
glory; a time to come in the which nothing shall be withheld. whether
there be one God or many Gods, they shall be manifest; all thrones and
dominions, principalities and powers, shall be revealed and set forth upon
all who have endured valiantly for the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and also if
there be bounds set to the heavens, or to the seas; or to the dry land, or
to the sun, moon or stars; aIl the times of their revolutions; all the
appointed days, months and years, and all the days of their days, months
and years, and all their glories, laws, and set times, shall be revealed,
in the days of the dispensation of the fullness of times, according to
that which was ordained in the midst of the Council of the Eternal God of
all other Gods, before this world was, that should be reserved unto the
finishing and the end thereof, when every man shall enter into His eternal
presence, and into His immortal rest.


But I beg leave to say unto you, brethren, that ignorance, superstition
and bigotry placing itself where it ought not, is oftentimes in the way of
the prosperity of this Church; like the torrent of rain from the
mountains, that floods the most pure and crystal stream with mire, and
dirt, and filthiness, and obscures everything that was clear before, and
all rushes along in one general deluge; but time weathers tide; and
notwithstanding we are rolled in the mire of the flood for the time being,
the next surge peradventure, as time rolls on, may bring to us the
fountain as clear as crystal, and as pure as snow; while the filthiness,
floodwood and rubbish is left and purged out by the way.


How long can rolling water remain impure? What power shall stay the
heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri
river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the
Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven, upon the heads of the
Latter-day Saints.


What is Boggs or his murderous party, but wimbling willows upon the shore
to catch the flood-wood? As well might we argue that water is not water,
because the mountain torrents send down mire and roil the crystal stream,
although afterwards render it more pure than before; or that fire is not
fire, because it is of a quenchable nature, by pouring on the flood; as to
say that our cause is down because renegades, liars, priests, thieves and
murderers, who are all alike tenacious of their crafts and creeds, have
poured down, from their spiritual wickedness in high places, and from
their strongholds of the devil, a flood of dirt and mire and filthiness
and vomit upon our heads.

No! God forbid. Hell may pour forth its rage like the burning lava of
mount Vesuvius, or of Etna, or of the most terrible of the burning
mountains; and yet shall "Mormonism" stand. Water, fire, truth and God are
all realities.

Truth is "Mormonism." God is the author of it. He is our shield. It is by
Him we received our birth. It was by His voice that we were called to a
dispensation of His Gospel in the beginning of the fullness of times. It
was by Him we received the Book of Mormon; and it is by Him that we remain
unto this day; and by Him we shall remain, if it shall be for our glory;
and in His Almighty name we are determined to endure tribulation as good
soldiers unto the end.

But, brethren, we shall continue to offer further reflections in our next
epistle. You will learn by the time you have read this, and if you do not
learn it, you may learn it, that walls and irons, doors and creaking
hinges, and half-scared-to-death guards and jailers, grinning like some
damned spirits, lest an innocent man should make his escape to bring to
light the damnable deeds of a murderous mob, are calculated in their very
nature to make the soul of an honest man feel stronger than the powers of
hell.

But we must bring our epistle to a close. We send our respects to fathers,
mothers, wives and children, brothers and sisters; we hold them in the
most sacred remembrance.

We feel to inquire after Elder Rigdon; if he has not forgotten us, it has
not been signified to us by his writing. Brother George W. Robinson also;
and Elder Cahoon, we remember him, but would like to jog his memory a
little on the fable of the bear and the two friends who mutually agreed to
stand by each other. And perhaps it would not be amiss to mention uncle
John [Smith], and various others. A word of consolation and a blessing
would not come amiss from anybody, while we are being so closely whispered
by the bear. But we feel to excuse everybody and everything, yea the more
readily when we contemplate that we are in the hands of persons worse that
a bear, for the bear would not prey upon a dead carcass.

Our respects and love and fellowship to all the virtuous Saints. We are
your brethren and fellow-sufferers. and prisoners of Jesus Christ for the
Gospel's sake, and for the hope of glory which is in us. Amen.

We continue to offer further reflections to Bishop Partridge, and to the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whom we love with a fervent
love, and do always bear them in mind in all our prayers to the throne of
God.

It still seems to bear heavily on our minds that the Church would do well
to secure to themselves the contract of the land which is proposed to them
by Mr. Isaac Galland, and to cultivate the friendly feelings of that
gentleman, inasmuch as he shall prove himself to be a man of honor and a
friend to humanity; also Isaac Van Allen, Esq., the attorney-general of
Iowa Territory, and Governor Lucas, that peradventure such men may be
wrought upon by the providence of God, to do good unto His people. We
really think that Mr.

Galland's letter breathes that kind of a spirit, if we may judge
correctly.

Governor Lucas also. We suggest the idea of praying fervently for all men
who manifest any degree of sympathy for the suffering children of God.

We think that the United States Surveyor of the Iowa Territory may be of
great benefit to the Church, if it be the will of God to this end; and
righteousness should be manifested as the girdle of our loins.

It seems to be deeply impressed upon our minds that the Saints ought to
lay hold of every door that shall seem to be opened unto them, to obtain
foothold on the earth, and be making all the preparation that is within
their power for the terrible storms that are now gathering in the heavens,
"a day of clouds, with darkness and gloominess, and of thick darkness," as
spoken of by the Prophets, which cannot be now of a long time lingering,
for there seems to be a whispering that the angels of heaven who have been
entrusted with the counsel of these matters for the last days, have taken
counsel together; and among the rest of the general affairs that have to
be transacted in their honorable council, they have taken cognizance of
the testimony of those who were murdered at Haun's Mills, and also those
who were martyred with David W. Patten. and elsewhere, and have passed
some decisions peradventure in favor of the Saints, and those who were
called to suffer without cause.

These decisions will be made known in their time; and the council will
take into consideration all those things that offend.

We have a fervent desire that in your general conferences everything
should be discussed with a great deal of care and propriety, lest you
grieve the Holy Spirit, which shall be poured out at all times upon your
heads, when you are exercised with those principles of righteousness that
are agreeable to the mind of God, and are properly affected one toward
another, and are careful by all means to remember, those who are in
bondage, and in heaviness, and in deep affliction far your sakes. And if
there are any among you who aspire after their own aggrandizement, and
seek their own opulence, while their brethren are groaning in poverty, and
are under sore trials and temptations, they cannot be benefited by the
intercession of the Holy Spirit, which maketh intercession for us day and
night with groanings that cannot be uttered.

We ought at all times to be very careful that such high-mindedness shall
never have place in our hearts; but condescend to men of low estate, and
with all long-suffering bear the infirmities of the weak.


Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not
chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this
world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one
lesson--that the rights of the Priesthood are inseparably connected with
the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled
nor handed only upon the principles of righteousness. That they may be
conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or
to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exorcise control, or
dominion, or compulsion, upon the souls of the children of men, in any
degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the
Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the
Priesthood, or the authority of that men. Behold! ere he is aware, he is
left unto himself, to kick against the pricks; to persecute the Saints,
and to fight against God.

We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of
almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose,
they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.

Hence many are called, but few are chosen.

No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the
Priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness, and
meekness, and by love unfeigned; by kindness, and pure knowledge, which
shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile,
reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, and
then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou
hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy; that he may know that
thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death; let thy bowels also
be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and
virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly, then shall thy confidence wax
strong in the presence of God, and the doctrine of the Priesthood shall
distill upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. The Holy Ghost shall be thy
constant companion, and thy sceptre an unchanging sceptre of righteousness
and truth, and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without
compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.

The ends of the earth shall inquire after thy name, and fools shall have
thee in derision, and hell shall rage against thee, while the pure in
heart, and the wise, and the noble, and the virtuous, shall seek counsel,
and authority and blessing~ constantly from under thy hand, and thy people
shall never be turned against thee by the testimony of traitors; and
although their influence shall cast thee into trouble, and into bars and
walls, thou shalt be had in honor, and but for a small moment and thy
voice shall be more terrible in the midst of thine enemies, than the
fierce lion, because of thy righteousness; and thy God shall stand by thee
forever and ever.

If thou art called to pass through tribulations; if thou art in perils
among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in
perils by land or by sea; if thou art accused with all manner of false
accusations if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the
society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters, and if with a
drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of
thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall
cling to thy garment, and shall say, My father, my father, why can't you
stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you? and if
then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to
prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of
the lamb; and if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of
murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast
into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce
winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the
elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of
hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that
all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.
The Son of Man hath descended below them all; art thou greater than he?

Therefore, hold on thy way, and the Priesthood shall remain with thee, for
their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years
shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God
shall be with you forever and ever.



Now, brethren, I would suggest for the consideration of the conference,
its being carefully and wisely understood by the council or conferences
that our brethren scattered abroad, who understand the spirit of the
gathering, that they fall into the places and refuge of safety that God
shall open unto them, between Kirtland and Far West. Those from the east
and from the west, and from far countries, let them fall in somewhere
between those two boundaries, in the most safe and quiet places they can
find; and let this be the present understanding, until God shall open a
more effectual door for us for further considerations.

And again, we further suggest for the considerations of the Council, that
there be no organization of large bodies upon common stock principles, in
property, or of large companies of firms, until the Lord shall signify it
in a proper manner, as it opens such a dreadful field for the avaricious,
the indolent, and the corrupt hearted to prey upon the innocent and
virtuous, and honest.

We have reason to believe that many things were introduced among the
Saints before God had signified the times; and notwithstanding the
principles and plans may have been good, yet aspiring men, or in other
words, men who had not the substance of godliness about them, perhaps
undertook to handle edged tools. Children, you know, are fond of tools,
while they are not yet able to use them.

Time and experience, however, are the only safe remedies against such
evils.

There are many teachers, but, perhaps, not many fathers. There are times
coming when God will signify many things which are expedient for the
well-being of the Saints; but the times have not yet come, but will come,
as fast as there can be found place and reception for them.


And again, we would suggest for your consideration the propriety of all
the Saints gathering up a knowledge of all the facts and sufferings and
abuses put upon them by the people of this state; and also of all the
property and amount of damages which they have sustained, both of
character and personal injuries, as well as real property; and also the
names of all persons that have had a hand in their oppressions, as far as
they can get hold of them and find them out; and perhaps a committee can
be appointed to find out these things, and to take statements, and
affidavits, and also to gather up the libelous publications that are
afloat, and all that are in the magazines, and in the encyclopedias, and
all the libelous histories that are published, and are writing, and by
whom, and present the whole concatenation of diabolical rascality, and
nefarious and murderous impositions that have been practiced upon this
people, that we may not only publish to all the world, but present them to
the heads of government in all their dark and hellish hue, as the last
effort which is enjoined on us by our Heavenly Father, before we can fully
and completely claim that promise which shall call Him forth from His
hiding place, and also that the whole nation may be left without excuse
before He can send forth the power of His mighty arm.

It is an imperative duty that we owe to God, to angels, with whom we shall
be brought to stand, and also to ourselves, to our wives and children, who
have been made to bow down with grief, sorrow, and care, under the most
damning hand of murder, tyranny, and oppression, supported and urged on
and upheld by the influence of that spirit which hath so strongly riveted
the creeds of the fathers, who have inherited lies, upon the hearts of the
children, and filled the world with confusion, and has been growing
stronger and stronger, and is now the very main-spring of all corruption,
and the whole earth groans under the weight of its iniquity.

It is an iron yoke, it is a strong band; they are the very hand-cuffs, and
chains, and shackles, and fetters of hell.

Therefore it is an imperative duty that we owe, not only to our own wives
and children, but to the widows and fatherless, whose husbands and fathers
have been murdered under its iron hand; which dark and blackening deeds
are enough to make hell itself shudder, and to stand aghast and pale, and
the hands of the very devil to tremble and palsy.

And also it is an imperative duty that we owe to all the rising
generation, and to all the pure in heart, (for there are many yet on the
earth among all sects, parties, denominations, who are blinded by the
subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are
only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it);
therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to
light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they
are truly manifest from heaven.

These should then be attended to with great earnestness. Let no man count
them as small things; for there is much which lieth in futurity,
pertaining to the Saints, which depends upon these things. You know,
brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small
helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the
waves.

Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that
lie in our power, and then may we stand still with the utmost assurance,
to see the salvation of God, and for His arm to be revealed.



And again, I would further suggest the impropriety of the organization of
bands or companies, by covenant or oaths, by penalties or secrecies; but
let the time past of our experience and sufferings by the wickedness of
Doctor Avard suffice and let our covenant be that of the Everlasting
Covenant, as is contained in the Holy Writ and the things that God hath
revealed unto us.

Pure friendship always becomes weakened the very moment you undertake to
make it stronger by penal oaths and secrecy.

Your humble servant or servants, intend from henceforth to disapprobate
everything that is not in accordance with the fullness of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, and is not of a bold, and frank, and upright nature. They
will not hold their peace--as in times past when they see iniquity
beginning to rear its head--for fear of traitors, or the consequences that
shall follow by reproving those who creep in unawares, that they may get
something with which to destroy the flock. We believe that the experience
of the Saints in times past has been sufficient, that they will from
henceforth be always ready to obey the truth without having men's persons
in admiration because of advantage.

It is expedient that we should be aware of such things; and we ought
always to be aware of those prejudices which sometimes so strangely
present themselves, and are so congenial to human nature, against our
friends, neighbors, and brethren of the world, who choose to differ from
us in opinion and in matters of faith. Our religion is between us and our
God.

Their religion is between them and their God.

There is a love from God that should be exercised toward those of our
faith, who walk uprightly, which is peculiar to itself, but it is without
prejudice; it also gives scope to the mind, which enables us to conduct
ourselves with greater liberality towards all that are not of our faith,
than what they exercise towards one another. These principles approximate
nearer to the mind of God, because it is like God, or Godlike.

Here is a principle also, which we are bound to be exercised with, that
is, in common with all men, such as governments, and laws, and regulations
in the civil concerns of life. This principle guarantees to all parties,
sects, and denominations, and classes of religion, equal, coherent, and
indefeasible rights; they are things that pertain to this life; therefore
all are alike interested; they make our responsibilities one towards
another in matters of corruptible things, while the former principles do
not destroy the latter, but bind us stronger, and make our
responsibilities not only one to another, but unto God also. Hence we say,
that the Constitution of the United States is a glorious standard; it is
founded in the wisdom of God. It is a heavenly banner; it is to all those
who are privileged with the sweets of its liberty, like the cooling shades
and refreshing waters of a great rock in a thirsty and weary land. It is
like a great tree under whose branches men from every clime can be
shielded from the burning rays of the sun.

We, brethren, are deprived of the protection of its glorious principles,
by the cruelty of the cruel, by those who only look for the time being,
for pasturage like the beasts of the field, only to fill themselves; and
forget that the "Mormons," as well as the Presbyterians, and those of
every other class and description, have equal rights to partake of the
fruits of the great tree of our national liberty. But notwithstanding we
see what we see, and feel what we feel. and know what we know, yet that
fruit is no less precious and delicious to our taste; we cannot be weaned
from the milk, neither can we be driven from the breast; neither will we
deny our religion because of the hand of oppression; but we will hold on
until death.

We say that God is true; that the Constitution of the United States is
true; that the Bible is true; that the Book of Mormon is true; that the
Book of Covenants is true; that Christ is true; that the ministering
angels sent forth from God are true, and that we know that we have an
house not made with hands eternal in the heavens, whose builder and maker
is God; a consolation which our oppressors cannot feel, when fortune, or
fate, shall lay its iron hand on them as it has on us. Now, we ask, what
is man? Remember, brethren. that time and chance happen to all men.

We shall continue our reflections in our next.

We subscribe ourselves, your sincere friends and brethren in the bonds of
the everlasting Gospel, prisoners of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the
Gospel and the Saints.

We pronounce the blessings of heaven upon the heads of the Saints who seek
to serve God with undivided hearts, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

JOSEPH SMITH, JUN.,

HYRUM SMITH,

LYMAN WIGHT,

CALEB BALDWIN,

ALEXANDER McRAE.

- -----------------------------------
The last day of October 1838.... ...five Mormon leaders approached the
camp of Missouri militia commander, Samuel D. Lucas, under a flag of
truce. ...General Lucas had the five Mormons taken into custody and placed
under heavy guard. ...

Arriving on the outskirts of Richmond on 9 November, the company was met
by a contingent of Clark's soldiers who escorted them military fashion
with great pomp.... With the arrival of Clark's troops, the laxness that
had characterized the jaunt into Jackson County ceased. The prisoners were
thrust into an "old log house" in Richmond where, with three trace chains
and seven padlocks, they were chained together by their legs at two-foot
intervals. ...

On qw November a court of inquiry was held at Richmond before Judge Austin
A. King in which Joseph Smith, his fellow prisoners, and some fifty other
Mormons were charged with alleged crimes connected with the conflict of
the previous summer. The prisoners whose cases were not bailable
(including Joseph Smith and Parley Pratt) were ordered confined until the
sitting of the local circuit court the next spring. ...

While confined at Richmond, Sidney Rigdon became so ill from exposure that
he fell into a state of delirium. ...

During the confinement at Richmond, the circumstance of Joseph Smith's
rebuke of the guard took place. ...

At the conclusion of the Richmond hearing, Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith,
Lyman Wight, Alexander McRae, and Caleb Baldwin were charged with "overt
acts of treason in Daviess county," and Sidney Rigdon, with the same
offense, in Caldwell County. ...

The Mormon prisoners committee to the Clay County jail arrived in Liberty,
the county seat, on 1 December 1838, in a heavy wagon accompanied by an
armed escort. ...

It is impossible to reproduce the human drama that unfolded in the Liberty
jail between 1 December 1838 and 6 April 1839--a drama that lies hidden
behind the phrases of those who languished there: "grates and screeking
iron doors," "dirty straw couches," the "nauseous" smell, the "grimace of
the guard night and day," "weary joints and bones," and "this hell
surrounded with demons." To those who had not had the experience, it was
said "pen, or tongue, or angels" could never describe what took place
there.



...poison was administered to them on three or four occasions. "The effect
it had upon our system was, that it vomited us almost to death, and then
we would lay some two or three days in a torpid, stupid state, not even
caring or wishing for life." ...

... Joseph wrote a friend that it wa s "hell surrounded with demons if not
those who are damned ... where we are compelled to hear nothing but
blasphemous oaths and witness a scene of blasphemy and drunkenness and
hypocrisy and debaucheries of every description." ...

...the place was so dark the prisoners all go sore eyes. ...

...25 January 1839 ... the prisoners were brought before Clay County Judge
Joel Turnham at the Liberty courthouse. Rigdon said that there, for the
first time since his arrest, he heard the evidence upon which he had been
charged with treason. ...

... The entire town and many from the surrounding country gathered at the
jail. "Every mode of torture and death that their imaginations could
fancy, was proposed for us, such as blowing up the jail, taking us out and
whipping us to death, shooting us, burning us to death, tearing us to
pieces with horses, &c. But they were so divided among themselves that
they could not carry out any of their plans, and we escaped unhurt."

Following these attempts to escape, security at the jail was increased.

According to one account, Sam Tillery, the jailer, was about to have the
prisoners placed in irons and chained to the floor, but the threat did not
materialize. ...occasional inspections were made of the jail and a close
watch placed over the prisoners. ...

... It is evident that much of the stirctness at the prison was motivated
by public opinion and threats that if the prisoners escaped, the jailer
would be held accountable. ... "He is under the eye of the mob
continually, and his life is at stake if he grants us any privilege." ...

On 6 April 1839 the prisoners were taken from the Liberty jail and hurried
to Daviess County guarded by about fifteen men. ...

... At Diahman the prisoners bought two horses from the guard, paying for
one with clothing and giving their note for the other. A short time later,
while traveling near Yellow Creek in Chariton County, the Mormon prisoners
escaped. They later testified that Judge Butch and ex-Sheriff William
Bowman, who had provided transportation for the prisoners, had connived in
the escape. ...they bought a jug of whiskey, that three of the guard
"drank pretty freely" and went to bed. Sheriff Morgan showed the prisoners
the mittimus committing them to prison, that it was illegal because it was
"without date or signature," and said, "I shall take a good drink of grog
and go to bed, and you may do as you have a mind to." ...

...little is known of the journey to Illinois after their escape....

If there were redeeming qualities in the experience of those Mormons
confined in Missouri prisons in 1839-39, they are found in the inspired
instructions given there....


Dean C. Jessee, "'Walls, Grates and Screeking Iron Doors': The Prison
Experience of Mormon Leaders in Missouri, 1838-1839," New View of Mormon
History: Essays in Honor of Leonard J. Arrington, edited by Davis Bitton
and Maureen Ursenbach Beecher (Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah
Press, 1987).

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

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

End of gdm Digest V1 #23
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