Follow Him: A Come, Follow Me Podcast - Doctrine & Covenants 94-97 Part 1 : Dr. Susan Easton Black

Episode Date: August 28, 2021

Have you ever received an assignment yet didn’t have the skills to complete it? Join Dr. Susan Easton Black as we discuss Joseph, Hyrum, and others were chastened for not building a temple and how the pattern for becoming like the Lord is established. Also, Dr. Black teaches how the temple amplifies our spiritual gifts and how the Saints can stop living beneath our privileges.Shownotes: https://followhim.co/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followhimpodcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FollowHimOfficialChannel"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com/products/let-zion-in-her-beauty-rise-pianoPlease rate and review the podcast.

Welcome to Follow Him, a weekly podcast dedicated to helping individuals and families with their Come Follow Me study. I'm Hank Smith and I'm John by the way. We love to learn, we love to laugh. We want to learn and laugh with you. As together, we follow him. Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of Follow Him. My name is Hank Smith, and I am here with the solemn John, by the way. So I mean that in all scriptural, positive ways there, John. You're solemn. We love to laugh, and we love to be solemn. We love to laugh and learn, and we love to be solemn at times. John, we have another great week ahead of us as on the follow him podcast.

We have a returning guest again and we're very blessed to have her with us. Who's here? Yeah, we're very glad to have Susan Easton Black back with us again. And our listeners may remember, she's a retired professor of church history and doctrine at BYU. She's the author of many books about Joseph Smith and the early history of the church. She has a PhD from BYU in education. She joined the faculty there in 1978 as the first female full-time professor in religious education at BYU and she also received the Carl G. Mayser Distinguished Faculty Award in 2000.

Being the first woman to receive that award, she served as an Associate Dean of General Education and Honors and her passion for LDS history began as a child, hearing stories of early church, early church history from her grandmother who was born in Utah in 1872 to British immigrant parents. And my wife had her for her religion classes and just loved those classes. I think she had her for more than one. So we're glad to have you back for more than once too. Thank you very much. Susan, I'll just have to say this. We don't we don't need to guys because weed on our last episode a little bit, but I will say this,

that I've had the privilege of walking the streets of Navu with you. And it was almost, it was walking with a celebrity. I have never seen those missionaries, especially those senior couples saying, that's her, that's her, there she is. Mrs. Navu, right?

I would dare to say, I would dare to say that you know more about Navu than I think the saints who live there did right? I don't know about that. I think but thank you. I think so. I think you just you've been there so many times in your mind and walk those streets I just think that it's you're we'll call you Miss Navu. Misses Navu. Oh, thank you. Let's jump right in, John, to our lesson this week. We're in a few sections of the doctrine covenants. Section's 94, 95, 96, and 97.

So Susan, you are our expert here. Back up as far as you want us to go, it looks like we're going to start in summer of 1833 with Reynolds-Kelhoon and Jared Carter. We'll let you take it away. Hey, thanks a lot. I appreciate this opportunity and you're right Hank. We're starting off pretty much late spring here in Kurt Lindohaio in 1833.

As we start with section 94, it's the very first time the Lord uses the word committee in a scripture in this dispensation. Oh, wow. So any of us that have served on a committee one too many times or whatever, we can always turn to section 94 and say, so that's where it began. So any of us that have served on a committee one too many times or whatever, we can always turn to section 94 and say, so that's where it began.

I think it's interesting as it starts with the committee who's put on the committee and what the purpose is for. I always like that they only chose three people on a committee. Personally, having served on many committees, the more the more opinions and the loudest voice seems to get, you know, control what's going on. But in this particular committee, you've got Hiram Smith. He's aged 33 at the time of the revelation. You've got Reynolds, Calhoun.

He's 43 and you've got Jared Carter. And you'd say they're assignment, as you look at this committee. It's all about building various houses that the Lord wants built. And so their assignment is to raise funds, give oversight, and gather then building material. And I think it's interesting you look at the three men and you can't find a builder among them. So, you ever been called to an assignment or church assignment and you go, you know, I'm not really qualified, you'd say, well, where did it begin?

And it probably begins here in section 94. But Hiram, he's a farmer. Reynolds Gahun, he's a shoe maker, a leather guy. And you'd say Jared Carter, who is baptized by Hiram, he's a farmer kind of businessman. And suddenly you get these three men are to raise funds, give oversight and to gather material. And then if we were to look at what they were to give oversight to and gather the material for, the first is to build a building for

the presidency of the church. And this building is to be right on what today we call like Temple Square in Kirtland. And then the second of course is to build a kind of print building. But it's interesting both buildings are the same size. And the first revelation about the temple, it's always the same size. So if you're wondering what size you should build your house, there goes. And so the numbers that go three times all the way through, 55 feet by 65 feet, and obviously two story house, what they call the lower court and a higher court. And in that presidency building, the initial plan was for the presidency to have a place to receive revelation and direct the ministry.

And then the printing then is going to be for sacred Scripture work and others. But what I think it's interesting is that which of the three areas did the men seem to fall down on? And giving oversight, you'd say good. And procuring materials, maybe struggling, and raising funds definitely struggling, because there was a subscription. And with that,

decision is in made that we'll only build one building and we'll combine the two. And so maybe that's the good of building. Right. Multi use, right? Multi use, yes. It's the word meeting house, right? The multi purpose room, right?

Multi purpose room. You know what's interesting, Susan, is that the Lord has said we're gonna print from here. When earlier, he said we're gonna print from Jackson County, Missouri, and maybe I don't know if the prophet knows quite yet that the printing in Jackson County, Missouri, is about to or has just come to an abrupt end.

Right, so the printing, definitely ending in July of 1833. So here's May. And I think it's interesting, there's gonna be a place even that evening and morning star newspaper will be now printed out of this print shop that they're gonna have to pull together. So, so that new building we're talking about, it will house a print shop that they're going to pull together. So, so that new building we're talking about it will house a print shop. It will house be a place for the first presidency and also

a place for the school of the profits. So it definitely, like John was saying, multi-use. Yeah, I find it fascinating. There's not a builder among them. So, you just, I guess you, one of my students pointed out to me once, that Nephi doesn't know how to build a boat, but he does know how to work with metal, it seems. So, he just gets started doing what he knows how to do. Make tools, right? Like, I don't know how to build a boat, but I do know how to make tools. So I'll get started there. Maybe that's with these guys as well. It's, well, we don't know how to build a sample, but we do know how to shovel. We do know how to cut down weeds. So we'll just get started. Isn't that what Hyrum did? He just went out and got started.

Right. That says digs the first trench there for the temple. Well, okay, it might be of interest to your viewers as to what really is published in that printing office. So I can say newspapers that evening and morning star notice it's not the morning and evening star, but we live on the Saturday eve of the morning of the coming of the Savior. So it's always the evening and morning star, the letter day St. Messenger and Advocate, the Elder's Journal, Northern Times, those are four newspapers that will come out of that office,

but more important than that, you get scriptures. So out of that very office, here's your book of Mormon, Dr. and Covenants, and Emma's Emnell. So it's right there on Temple Square. Right there by the Curtlyn Temple. The building, the printing office is no longer there, is that right? Yes, so kind of what happened was you've got this building committee consisting of three. And once the building is done, their responsibility is over the building end. In other words, they're not responsible for the contents. And so it's the literary firm that takes over the printing and actually ownership. And then it goes through multiple owners

until you get William Marx in May of 1837. He's a man that becomes that stake president in Navu. And while he owns the building, the building is burned to the ground. Okay, so that's why it's no longer there. That's usually what happens. So the next time, next time you're leaving a tour out there, hand, you can stand almost anywhere

and say, you know, it was here somewhere. Where did they go? Because they were out there. I bet Carl Anderson knows. I'll just have to ask him. Yeah, check it. Check with Carl. So anything else on this section 94, the Lord's just organizing

and committee saying, this is how big I want the lot to be. He does mention a little bit about temple work where he says in verse eight, you shall not suffer any unclean thing to come into it. My glory shall be there, my presence shall be there. So he's kind of maybe doing a little foreshadowing of the blessings are gonna come. Yes, I would think so.

I think that the plan had been that the first presidency would have a place. And it's supposed to be a place of revelation, a place for directing the ministry of the church, and pretty hard to have that when you've got unclean fast people you know coming in. I've always wondered too. What like when did the actual idea of a temple recommend begin? I mean this sounds like the beginnings of that. We have to protect that no unclean thing comes into the house to we know when that idea and practice actually begin. Well you you get temple recommends, don't come into Vogue until you come to Utah. Interesting. So it's not a Joseph Smith time period.

But even way back in section 20, the Lord did tell him when they go from congregation to congregation that they should have a letter. A certificate or a certificate? No, certificate. Maybe you have some beginning things. You know, he's in and out. So there could be. And Susan, I like sections like 94 because they're practical. Right. So sometimes we have to do the work here. The Lord can't, it can't always be inspiring

and inspiring every section we kind of want to be, you know, to be like section 76 or section 93 that just blows us away. But section 94 is we gotta take care of business, right? I kinda like that, that there is that part of the church. I would think, I don't know that any of the apostles personally, but I would think that a lot of their work is the business of the church, the size of the building, the committee, I bet there's a lot of that. There seems to be a lot of that in wards and stakes, right?

A lot of the practical business of the work. And I think for the three men that were chosen, it's interesting, they continue to be chosen for the building committee and eventually become known as the Kirtland Temple Committee. It's like they get a precursor test, can you do this? And sure enough, they succeeded. Yeah, I really like this.

I don't know, to me, I like the Lord saying, all right, you three, we've got to do some work now. Enough being inspired. Let's actually put a shovel in the ground and do some work. Right. I like that. Yeah. John, anything else on section 94 before we move forward? I'm just I got so used to seeing Zion and thinking Missouri and so I like in verse one where the idea of it says the city of the stake of Zion here in the land of Kurtland. So I have to remember oh he's talking about Kurtland here but it is a stake of Zion because I've been getting used to Zion meaning Missouri do you know what I mean and and here this is a stake of Zion that the broader idea of Zion in Kirtland

So I had to stop and go. Oh, yeah, this is talking about Kirtland right here not not Jackson County Jackson County being the center place and everything else is a Stake in the tent right Susan. All right, stake in the tent like I say. Yeah Okay, and the 10 this is 1833. They're not gonna finish this the tent, right, Susan? Right. Staking the tent, like Isaiah. Yeah. Okay. And this is 1833. They're not going to finish this. This is going to be a long project, right? This is not. Right.

And in other words, for this one building, you'd say, why would they build one and bottom line, they don't have enough money to do the two. Right. In other words, a subscription. And you're going to see the enough money to do the two. In other words, a subscription. And you're going to see the Lord beginning to chase in them. You know, as you move on to section 95, because and who's not subscribing? And it's interesting. It's you look first at the men who attended the school of the prophets. So men that the Lord loved, the profit loved,

and that love the church, but then the question is, are you willing to kick in? Right. Before the latest building project, and suddenly you go, wait a minute, wait a minute. You know, I've had my heart in it, but I can give my time, and you get these stream in. Obviously by the time they're in charge of the committee for the Kirtland temple.

They know what they're doing. And but the question is, are you willing to give your money to? I was just going to say I'm old enough to remember when they used to have the award building fund drives. And it got all rolled into tithing at one point, but I remember the Bishop calling individual families and then saying, here's your building fund assessment and things like that. And there's kind of a fun story that President Mirin G. Romney tells about being asked for an amount that he thought was higher than it should be. And then he said, I came across this verse that says, if if you give begrudgingly, it's as if he didn't give the gift.

So you went back to the Bishop and gave even more because he didn't want to be on that side of it. But now that's all rolled into tithing as I understand. And the building, I just think it's kind of an interesting development when that happened. I don't know if you remember that Hank, but I remember the Ward Building Fund. I was just a kid, but I remember. I think that was just a little bit before my time. I'm trying to say, oh for sure, I'm not old enough, but yes, those were the good old days.

I must have just missed it, but maybe a week or two. Susan, you mentioned section 95 that the Lord is going to get after him a little bit. Let's move forward. Tell us about section 95. Well, obviously there's been a delay. Precuring materials, getting things going, getting the subscription, the money to be able to build this. And the Lord is definitely chasing the saints, but I love that he loves them. And he indicates, hey, he wants a solemn assembly, he wants fasting, and

he wants a building, it's like, let's do it. And the promise is, if you keep the commandments, you're gonna have power to do this. And I think I can remember, like John's talking about getting that building assessment. And you wonder fast offerings, tithing, building assessment. And here's the family bills and everything else. Can I do this? And I could testify to your youngsters that if you do make an effort to keep the commandments.

So Lord really steps up and kind of gives you the ability to be able to meet those commitments. Yeah. Let's go back to verse one and talk about this that you brought up because I can't tell you how many times I've had this conversation with my own children, which is if I didn't care about you, I wouldn't, there wouldn't be any consequences, right? I'd say, just go do it every one.

I don't care. And you know, because if you, the idea is if you take away, then oh, if you take away a privilege from a child, that, mom, dad, you don't love me, right? And the Lord's saying, wait, wait, wait. I am going to chase in you for your sins because I love you. Because I love you. Have you eyes had those conversations with as parents because I sure have.

Sure. And I can't always say they're well received. But nevertheless, the effort is there and the bottom line is the Lord in his case. He says he's going to, he wants to reveal to them a strange thing. Obviously, the endowment, he wants to give them a gift, but they need to build these, build these houses to help make all that happen and to show their willingness to sacrifice. Who am I love? I also chasing, who is it that recently gave a message in general conference on divine discontent, right? That there are times where the Lord is maybe not upset with us, but He's saying, look, I have things prepared for you, but you got to move. You got to do

these things, or I can't give you these gifts. You have sinned a very grievous sin. You have not considered building this house. So I don't know. I don't know if any of your children are like mine, but oftentimes it takes me more than once to ask them to do something. John, probably not your kids. They're probably doing it before you even.

Oh no, they just remind me of what I haven't done. And you're right. Yeah. But I like this idea of uh you know if the Lord didn't love them, he just walk away. I've heard someone say once that you know the maybe the opposite of love isn't hate it's indifference and he could have been indifferent just said forget you guys and walk away. But it says I because I love you, I chase you, and I love how it says, with the chastisement, I prepare a way for their deliverance. There's an outcome in that. I'm preparing for you to be delivered.

I have loved you. And those last five words, I have loved you and we see evidence of that everywhere. So the chastisement is an evidence of love and that's I guess how we have to see it when we get chastised to. And Hank's kids have to see it that way, right? Yeah, I know this is about the temple, but for me I learned just a little parenting lesson there that not only do I chase in you for your sins because I love you, but I also prepare a way for you to be successful. Yeah, right? I'm gonna I'm gonna help you become successful

in this thing that I've asked you to do. Not just kind of, I think as a parent, sometimes I say, well, you didn't do what I asked, so you're gonna be in trouble, you're gonna lose privileges, but I don't take that next step of, I'm gonna stand by you and help you help you accomplish what I've asked you to do.

I think there's a little parenting there, less than there. I don't know if the Lord intended that, but I picked up on it. It's great. I think Steve, Steve and Harper that we've had on the program said before that section 95 is really a revelation about God's love, which I think is an interesting way to to look at it before he read it. And he is chastising them and scolding them, but it's because he wants to give them so much more. Right. And that's the desired outcome, you know. So what he's going to give them in this case is build the temple and then you get that promise of the endowment. I think this building the temple, what we're talking about is the Kirtland Temple, right? And we know that, well,

just coming off conference, you've got President Russell and Nelson, this last April conference, announcing 20 new temples. You know, I don't know if you've got any of us going, what? But I think just, it's your joy. Whereas, well, my favorite part is one of the early saints approaches Joseph and suggests that as long as we're going to be doing this next one. In other words, we've already kicked it in now for the printing slash presidency building. But as long as we're doing the next one, he suggests that Joseph have this temple built in logs. And so the big question is, shall we brother and build a house for our God of logs? And I just wanted to tell kind of the social strata going on at the time, you know,

when you move to a new area out in this Western reserve, the Ohio's, right? You first arrive, you build a log cabin, and you have a tar bucket next to it, and then you become socially more affluent, so you whitewash the inside, and then you do a clapboard and brick. But when you're really affluent, you splash it with color. You know, in other words, you can splash your wealth. And suddenly what the man is suggesting is, well, let's build a temple just of logs as if it's, you know, one of the lesser places going to be built in the community. Okay, do we all remember Joseph's response? He goes-

I want to hear it. I kind of remember it. He goes, shall we brethren build a house for God of logs? He goes, I have a better plan than that. In other words, I know there's this committee going, but I'm telling you I got a plan. He goes, I have a plan of the House of the Lord given by himself. So when you look at the Curtlyn Temple, it isn't just where you'd say, well, we've got an architect and we've got the foundation and everything perfect, but the plan for the Curtlyn Temple is given by the Lord himself. And then notice section 14,

so you'll notice in Dr. and Covenants 95, verse 14, that the Lord says that he's gonna show the manner of which you should build this to three of you. Can't you see the committee saying, I bet we're going to be it. Right. We're one, two, three. We're high-run, we're rentals, we're Jared, but it's not those three that are going to see it. It's going to be the first presidency.

And right away you put the temple goes out of a little bit different realm than the first building that was built. And the first presidency is Joseph Smith, Sydney Rigdon, Frederick G. Williams. That's the first presidency at the time. Is that right? Yes.

But I think it's interesting, like the other one, guess what size it is. It's going to get you going around measuring your houses, right? It's the same size, 55 by 65 feet. So I imagine your viewers are going to have tape measures running around saying, do we qualify? Do we qualify? And then you'll also notice that it's going to have two floors.

In this case, the lower floor is for segment preaching, fasting, prayer, upper court for the school of the apostles. And the word apostle means one who is sent. So you get this idea, school of the prophets, school of the apostles. In other words, it's going to be a school for those that would be sent out on journeys on missions. So you've got you've got two courts just like the others. Okay. And I mean, I remember the Lord saying this way back in section, what was it, like 38? He's, when you said, I want you to go to Ohio because I'm going to endow you, right, with power. That's section 38, verse 32,

and he still hasn't forgotten that because he brings it back up in section 95, verse eight. You're gonna build a house in which house I designed to endow those whom I've chosen with power from on high. I love the Lord saying, I haven't forgotten what I told you earlier. There's a purpose. This is why we came to Ohio. I like that. I also like that you've got these three men the Lord is going to show him the manner in which the temple is to be built and

Frigatory Williams writes He says well the Lord received the word that Joseph Smith received the word of the Lord for them to him to take his two counselors before the Lord and You'd say well where would this occur? Don't you think that would occur in the offices of the Presidency, right? You know? And so he said, he said, well, they kneel down on their knees.

They call down the Lord. And the building appeared within viewing distance. It's like viewing distance means a distance away. And Frederick G Williams write, I being the first to discover it. You know how you look and you go, can you see this? And Frederick says, I'm the first to discover it. And then he said, then all of us, meaning those three, viewed it together. After we've taken a good look at the exterior, the buildings

seem to come right over us. In other words, we see it in a distance is closer, closer, now we can look up. And as a result, you get, yeah, the intercasee is the external internal. It's like a, I'm guaranteeing my son, if I told explain this to him He'd say dad that's that's virtual reality, right? That's a VR system The Lord just put a VR system on their on their head and they they were able to walk through it and around it That's that's that's absolutely Absolutely incredible. So when they're building it they can just ask did it look like this? This what it look like. Yeah, that is what it looked like. And the building, Susan, has,

and John, you've mentioned this before, I can't remember if, what episode we were talking, or even if it made it into the episode, but it's got, it's got, it doesn't have one pulpit, like we have in our, it's got a lot of pulpits, right? Like nine on each side or something. Side, right? Yeah, it's a very, which kind of tells you

someone else designed it, right? It's not the conventional, not the conventional design that they're used to. Yeah, when I go in those old American churches, I see the pulpit up on the side of the, not front and center, it's up on the side of the, not front and center. It's up right on the side in the front, right? But this is, this one's totally different. I've been inside the Kirtland Temple. It doesn't look like any other building I've seen in American history.

So you can tell, yeah. And then you have to get a handout. You have to get a handout to understand what all the letters in front of the pulpit mean. Right. It's hard to remember. Yeah. Yeah. As the tour guide, you're going, I got to memorize this. I got to memorize this. Yeah.

So Mel, Has it pre-stead, Oh, is he pre-steaded? Presidic president. President. Presidic. Yeah. Okay, what, what I like about this revelation is that, you know,

we've talked about how you get a revelation, but then how quick do you move on it? And obviously, you know, in 94, they're delay, delay, are we going to build this building? Two buildings, now we're going to build one. But in this one, once it's received, four days later, Joseph Smith takes some of the brethren right up to that temple site, and they remove offense and much foliage. In other words, this is not sit back and wait, but it's receiving a revelation and starting

on it. In other words, you're not going to get the same chastisement they had with the other building. Now, Susan, I don't want to wax too personal here, but you're a, I've known you for a while, you are a doer. You are a, let's get this done, let's get moving. Let's get this going, right? John and I, John and I, we've discussed this at length. John and I love to talk about the great things we would do if we had the time, right?

John, we say, you know what we ought to do is this, this, and this. And then we both go home and we watch the end of your show. So how does in your mind, Susan, how does one come from a, wow, what great things we could do to a Joseph Smith, Hiram Smith type? Well, let's get started. What, how did you become that way? You know, I've always been, you know, I, you know, I doesn't seem to matter whether I'm going backwards or forwards, but I must be doing something. Right. And I know you can't

see with how we're looking, but if you look behind me, you'd say, well, who authored those and I go, man, me. Yeah. So. And so, uh, well, for me, I just, uh, one of the hardest things is sitting. So here I am sitting, talking to you, but, you know, but if you saw my hands, you say, well, okay, you're wondering what time is it. And I don't know. I think it's, uh, it't know. I think it's energy. I think it's drive. I think it's that. And I've always had this thing.

You know how you wonder, I know we don't do check-off lists anymore. I love the check-off list time. And so with that, you wonder personally, am I doing enough, have I done enough? Can it really be said, well down now, faithful, servant, if I just think good thoughts? And at least in this revelation, you see Joseph's not letting grass grow under his feet.

He's moving at the time. And I think I think that's great. Yeah, I think yeah, there's I've taken time and time again as we've gone through the doctrine Covenants this year and John you can you can tell me if I'm saying this too much, but this man, Joseph Smith, there is no doubt at all that he believes he's a profit. there is no doubt at all that he believes he's a prophet. Because if he was making this up as he went, he sure is asking himself to do some really hard things. Right, and it would be, he's just saying, you know, and once he receives the revelation, he goes. I'm amazed that they even come to Ohio in the dead of winter, right?

When the Lord says, let's go to Ohio, Joseph is the first to pack up his assay, and I would say, man, if I was making this up, I'd say's go to Ohio Joseph is the first to Pack up his assay and I would say man if I was making this up I'd say go to Ohio when When it's convenient and you know when the weather's nice spring Right. Yeah, and the nice weather so he gets up and he gets started I like what you said there He doesn't he doesn't let the grass grow under his feet. I'm gonna use that Susan. Okay. Well, do you think I mean Do you think Joseph's you know the committee is going we need, I mean, do you think Joseph's, you know, the committee is going, we need to start and someone says, you know, Joseph's already cleaned it off.

You know, taking out the full age events has gone. And you do get hiring Smith and Realms Goon, remember they're part of the committee. They do dig the first trench for the walls and George A Smith bringing in, hauling in the first stone and the committee just kind of moving forward. And what I like about the building of the Kirtland Temple is that as Joseph notices the men now moving into action. And he said their wives, hebercy, Campbell aren't one wit behind the men and they're spending and sewing on all of that. And Joseph's comment was that never had there been such a time of unity, harmony, and charity. And there's something about working side by side with

people that differences kind of fade away because you're working for a common cause and you know people need projects. We need projects that we share together much like you're doing with this come follow me. We work we're excited by side to try and accomplish something that that we couldn't do on our own and And my hat's off to both of you. I think this is wonderful. Yeah, we bond, don't we? We bond in our projects.

You do. I love what you're saying there. When I think of the many youth service projects I've been in as a youth and in participating in a youth conference, It's kind of funny, because some of the kids might think, oh, I've got to do this, we've got to go dig up something. But when they actually get there and start doing it,

there is a bonding that goes on. And I always tell the kids, well, watch each other, who's working hard and who's hardly working. You're gonna learn a lot about each other today at this service project, you know? And, but I like that you would say that because I think those become really fun memories

when we're working on something together and maybe that's another good reason to have those just serve projects. What's that website Hank just serve? And I like it was gonna add that what Susan said that I love to tell my students Nephi said I will go and do not I will sit and stew. That's a great quote. Yeah, I was sitting and stewing when I thought it. I just want to highlight a couple of verses and 95 before you move on, maybe get both of your thoughts on them. The Lord says something, I find interesting in verse six. He says, they who are not chosen, right? Those who don't show up, many are called, but few show up,

and those who don't show up, those who don't act, are a sin to very grievous sin in that they are walking in darkness at noon day. Now that's an interesting parallel of it's noon day, so it should be very bright outside, and yet you are walking in darkness. So it seems when he says a very grievous sin, it's not because you're hurting him,

it's because you're hurting you. Right? You are hurting you. This is a very grievous sin because you are hurting you. And here the Lord is offering this light, and he's saying, you're refusing the light. You're walking in darkness at noon day. Or reminds me of, John, you have to, you know the scripture's better than I do.

Susan, you do too, but who sees the cloud of darkness over the earth and Satan is laughing? And is that Enic, right? Enic, yeah. Moses, what's that? Moses, seven. Moses, six. Satan laughs because he's got this darkness covering the earth. I'm glad you brought up that phrase because I think it's such a great phrase.

You're walking into me. It was similar to what you were thinking, Hank, you're walking in darkness at Noonday. There's so much more light I would like to give you. And to me, he's still talking about the temple. There's so much more I want to give you, and you're walking a darkness at noon day. Your inaction is eclipsing all this light I want to give you.

I like the fact that, you know, as time goes on and there is a temple, right? And they're not going to dedicate it until March of 36. But in January, missionaries have come home and Joseph is surprised about his nephew. And it's so interesting. He has them come in and gives them an endowment. And then the difference, if you just looked at the sheer number of the converts that join after. So it's not just that they are, you know, walking in darkness, but they are making all those that are in need of the gospel, not receive it

because they need this building so bad. So it's like they're putting off blessings. Yeah, that's a fascinating idea. And I've been able, I haven't been able to articulate this well, but I try to tell, you know, as someone is preparing for the temple, I'll say, I knew I had some specific spiritual gifts. I could feel them. I knew I had them, but it took the temple to grow them, right?

Somehow after I went through the temple, it was like, I had the dry mix, I needed to add water, right? Something needed to happen to make that grow. And it's really hard for me to articulate, but I got better at teaching when, after I had my experience in the temple and kept going back. I think this is the metaphor.

It reminds me of the year living beneath your privileges. And you remember the president, Oop Dorf, made the video about the crews where the guy, what was that called? You're potential your privileges, I think. And that's what that walking and darkness, I've got so much more I want to give you and and your inaction is the reason you don't have it. Very layman and Lemuel, right? God doesn't talk to me. Yeah, he's spinning their wheels. Yeah. Now, he uses a phrase in verse seven that I don't know if we've heard before and that is

solemn assembly. It's still a word we use today, but is that that's a very old testament type word? Maybe maybe the Lord did use it in section 88. Maybe he did talk about a solemn assembly. What do they understand that to be, Susan? Do you know, does Joseph understand what a solemn assembly is going to be? Well, a solemn assembly. We know that you said, you know, you're going to vote in priesthood forums, right? And to vote sustaining a very, very sacred event. Very few times, have we in this dispensations, you know, held Solomon's assemblies as different than sacrament meeting or State conference kind of thing or even general Yeah, yeah, it's a fascinating idea that I

One thing I've learned in the in this year Susan and you can comment on this that the Lord In earlier sections he'll drop little tiny hints and phrases about upcoming ideas Right, but at first he just drops little phrases like back in section 38 drop little tiny hints and phrases about upcoming ideas. But at first he just drops little phrases like back in section 38. Don't want you to go high, I'm gonna endow you with power where Joseph's probably thinking,

I don't know what that means, but it sounds good. Right, section 88, we're gonna have a solemn assembly. I don't know what that means. Evens, verse 17, he says, say at the sun, Amen. That is another idea that's going to not be fleshed out for another couple of years, what that means. And so one part that's been,

I've known Joseph was a prophet for a long time, but one thing that's really strengthened my testimony of him are these little hints in these early sections that lead to larger things later on that he had no idea what was coming. Right, it's like the the Lord's done a tapestry. Right. And you know, you're weaving a little bit there and then pretty soon you pull the string

through and you go, I get it. I guess stop. Uh-huh. Yeah, those I really like how these sections build on each other. I, you know, as a, as a Book of Mormon New Testament teacher, John and I both are, are, Dr. Incovidence has really opened up this year. Wouldn't you say, John? Mm-hmm.

That maybe before this, I thought, Susan, I don't know how you, another Dr. Incovidence teachers do that, right? I don't know how you keep people doctrine covenant, teachers do that, right? I don't know how you keep people interested in the doctrine covenant, and now this year I'm going, I needed some repenting. I absolutely needed some repenting. There's a lot in here.

Oh, I wanted to mention one other thing, and that is, I don't think the Lord, I don't think we have details on this. Do we see this in verse 10? He says that contention arose in the school of the prophets. Now, I've been in that room above the Whitney store where they were holding the school of the profits. Now, I've been in that room above the Whitney store where they were holding the school of the profits and I got to say it's a small room and putting a couple, you know, putting 20 men in there would, I think contention would

arise. Your elbows in my side. I don't think we have any specifics on what happened there, do we? Well, part of the contention, you know, they've got a school going, they've got lots of subjects, but the contention, you could go right back to the front while the Lord's chastising him. You know, it's who's going to kick in the money to make all these buildings happen. And so maybe that's in verse 12 as well. If you keep not my commandments and the commandments to build the temple, right, the love of the Father shall not continue with you. You will keep walking in darkness, right? You will continue to walk in darkness. So four days later, you said they get started. Right. Four days later, they're started and off they go. And it's and yet, you know how sometimes it went when she started doing it, it takes they go. And it's, and yet, you know how sometimes it,

when she start doing it, it takes you well. And pretty soon you love doing it. And you see people coming in from all over to help to be a part of what's becoming this unity and harmony and charity towards each other. There's a, there's a beautiful picture in the Come Follow Me manual. John I only have the digital one but you can tell me if it's in the hard copy.

Building the current land temple by Walter Rein. And yeah it is a beautiful and I love what you're saying here Susan that once it starts happening other people say I want I want in. Yeah I want to be a part of that. John, if you. Part of the bandwagon. Yeah, if you're on our video, you can see John's holding it up there. Yeah, I love, I love the Walter Rain paintings. And at the BYU Salt Lake Center, they have the whole set of his kind of book of Mormon paintings.

And I always tell my students, go, go look at the prayer of Venus. Go look at, because we have the Arnold Freeberg paintings in our mind and it's fun to see the Walter Rain paintings. But I love them. There's always people in action. You rarely see people sending straight up and down in Walter Rain paintings. They're moving and look at these people working there.

I'm glad you pointed that out. Now, it's a place. They're building on a place called the French farm Susan. Okay, so the French farm There was a man named Peter French and he's selling here French. Yeah, Pierre French He's selling his property. He's got 103 acres and he's willing to sell it for $5,000 Those were the good old days and we all missed it, right? But in that land, it's considered a choice land because they've got a quarry.

And that's the attractive, but he wants to sell it all as one parcel. Well, the church as a whole doesn't have that kind of money, but individuals start donating, giving money. Vienna Jocks mentioned in the Dr. Cove Nance. She gives over $1,000. Her money is received. Joseph Coe, kind of coming up with the last payment,

and a large payment will be Father John Johnson out of Hiram, Ohio. He's now come to Kirtland and it will be on that property that we've been talking about where you'll get the Kirtland Temple and other buildings will be built. Yeah, I mean we've talked at Langsouzin about Martin Harris and his money giving to the Book of Mormon and that was $3,000. So this for Vienna, that is not a small amount of money. $1,000 in 1833. They say that she actually gave 1,400 and she's a single woman.

There's only two women mentioned by name in the doctrine of covenants, one being Emma, and one being this Vienna jox. She was a nurse and came out and Joseph asked you know what she was willing to give and she was literally willing to give her all. But then on this French farm, that's where you get what John first started talking about about the city or stake of Zion at Curtlyn, so that 103 acres is a center plot and you'd say the very very center of that is what we could probably call temple square where you've got the buildings on it and then that, Joseph will actually survey out lots that are 10 acres of piece. And you'd say, well, would you go to Joseph Smith to get your lot? You know,

as part of this and the answer is no, you go to Nile Kay Whitney. And you say, what is Nile Kay Whitney? Well, he's our bishop there in Kirkland to assign it out. Now, it's a great plan. It's plan of Zion. It looks similar to what we've learned before about Zion and Independence. The problem is it doesn't work. You know, so, you know, you can have the plan. You've got the city of Zion, you know, or steak of Zion, but the steak, that does work. And I find it so interesting. You go to section 96 that when you talk about the Kirtland steak, we don't get a steak president per se until the Navu

years in 1841. But when you talk about who's the stake presidency, we have a stake presidency, and guess what? They are the same people that are in the first presidency. So you get Joseph Smith, Sydney Rigdon, Fredrici Williams, the one that have seen the temple in a distance, temple, you know, seeing it as a spirit to pass over them, but Nulkey Whitney then, the Bishop in Curtlyn is to divide out the lots. And you can see in section 96 that, you know, there's a lot for the temple and the temple committee each each are gonna get a lot and then it's gonna go out to others but

Anytime like we're talking land. We're talking money and you get contention You know who's who's lots gonna be closest to the temple hold it New okay Whitney He's our so the church has a total of two bishops now, right? We have Edward Parkridge and new okay Whitney. They're in a very small club of probably very stressful and there's no words per se that that comes in Navu too. So you've got to stake with no words, but you do have living within that stake one business. One business.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Big responsibility. Especially in people out of end fighting. Please join us for part two of this podcast. you