followHIM - Doctrine & Covenants 121-123 Part 3 : Dr. Alexander L. Baugh

Episode Date: October 17, 2021

In part 3, Dr. Baugh shares the beauty and power contained in the revelations from Liberty Jail. The crucible of difficulty purifies Joseph and enables him to become a more powerful, charitable, and Christlike man. Liberty Jail transformed Joseph, and the revelations have the power to transform the Saints as well.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.

And now part three of Follow Him. I wanted to comment on reproving the times with sharpness. I found a statement of Elder H. Burke Peterson. Remember, he was presiding bishopric a long time ago. This is in your June 1990 ensign. But he said, perhaps we should consider what it means to reprove with sharpness. Reproving with sharpness means reproving with clarity, with loving firmness, with serious intent. It does not mean reproving with sarcasm or with bitterness or with clenched teeth and erased voice. One who reproves as the Lord has directed deals in principles, not personalities. He does not attack character

or humiliate or demean an individual. In almost every situation in which correction is required, private reproof is superior to public reproof. Unless the whole ward is in need of a reprimand, it's better for the bishop to speak to the individual rather than use the collective approach. Anyway, he goes on, but I put in my margin, sharpness means clarity. And I've appreciated that, especially as Hank just started to talk about, as a mom, as a dad, as a husband, as a wife. It doesn't mean anger. It means, and I appreciate that definition from Bishop Peterson. It means to reprove with clarity.

Here's exactly what I mean. Here's exactly what I'm talking about. And then you can retain the Holy Ghost that way. Beautiful. Yeah, those are great, great points and great application for all of us. And we'll continue to hear these verses over and over again. But I think where can we practice it the best? It's in the home. And not all of us are bishops or preside over large numbers of people,

but certainly as priesthood holders, we do preside with our sweethearts in the home. And we need to exercise that priesthood with great love and compassion and understanding. And like you say, I love the idea of just explain with clarity. That's a terrific way to have reproof. Reproof sounds so negative or so strong, but all it really takes is maybe an explanation to have that clarity. Yeah. I read an article about this type of thing in the Harvard Business Review just a year or two ago, and I thought, man, I've already learned this. It was written in 1838 from Liberty Jail, right? People are just kind of stumbling upon this way, this idea of giving feedback. If you do it gently, it actually can be much more effective. Isn't this interesting in verse 45? Let thy bowels, the center of your emotions, be full of charity towards all men. That is different than the December Joseph Smith, Alex, where he's calling out individuals.

No question. Like I say, I think these several weeks or a couple of months has really softened his heart. So it's a simple, just a brief little passage in his letter to Priscindia. But he says, it seems to me that my heart will always be more tender after this than it was ever before. He's lost that vindictiveness that he felt at least in December when he just, you read that, it's just anger. He's just so upset. But now he says, you know, we need to just move forward and move on. And I have no vindictive feelings for those things that have happened. We just move on.

So he's had that purging, if you will, that has changed his heart. There is just no question. I just see a different Joseph Smith. I can't say that any stronger to our listeners that Liberty Jail, there's something about suffering and hardship and extremities like this that have caused some of those chips. You know, the rough stone rolling, you know, what does he say? How, you know, I'm like a rough stone and I just had to have some things chip off my shoulder that caused me to be a smooth shaft in the quiver of the Almighty. This is what liberty does. Suffering does that.

And I hope that our listeners can understand that life is meant to be experienced and there's going to be hardships. We know that. Everyone has them. But it's how you deal with them that makes the difference. And we have a colleague, and you know him. And he has undergone some terrible, terrible health conditions. And he said, whenever something like this happens, or I haven't, he says, I'm going, I asked the question, I guess God wants me to learn something that I haven't learned before. And this is Joseph Smith to a T in this jail experience. He's learning things and

experiencing things. It's softening his heart. It's refining him. There's a refining power of tribulation and sorrow and hardship. And everybody has them. For the single person, for the ones who have health problems, for the ones who may not be doing well in school or lose employment. I think the thing we need to do is think optimistically and just say, what am I supposed to learn from this? And how can I become better and more Christ-like, more holy from this experience? And I think that's what's happened to Joseph Smith. There's just no question. I just see that in these letters, that he's a changed man. And I also see, you know, kind of 1820 to 1830, Joseph is very cautious.

He doesn't share a lot. He doesn't tell everybody about his first vision. I mean, he's very cautious. After the church is organized until Liberty Jail, he's quite confident. Quite confident. God has called me. The church is restored. We've got it moving. We've got it moving.

We've got the scriptures. But 1838, 39 on, he's very confident that God's with him. In fact, well, we'll talk about that with the next section. God's with him. But part of the reason he is so much is because he's had a change of heart. He's just different. And I can't impress that upon our listeners as much anymore. It is a different Joseph that comes out of Liberty Jail.

What is that phrase you've often heard? Sweeter the uses of adversity. And I guess this is all a tutoring thing for him is kind of what you're saying. And that's enduring it well. That's verse eight. Like your colleague that I guess I need to learn something. That's part of enduring it well. I like what you said there. The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion. He's a different man after this. Let's keep going going is this the same letter well the same yeah actually it actually this next letter goes all the way through uh section 122 so he he takes this big chunk

i do want to just mention that in verse 45 he pulls in in the great key word charity. Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men. That means those not of our faith. And then he says, and to the household of faith. People see things differently if they're not members of the church, obviously. But we are still expected to extend charity in all things. And then, of course, to have that kind of power and influence that the priesthood requires, we must have virtue in our lives. Virtue, as soon as you think that, you think they must be chaste.

But it really is conformity to all moral laws, not just chastity. What is morally correct is someone who has virtue, not just, like I say, being sexually pure or whatever. And then, of course, you have the pure thoughts, the positive thoughts, and you have confidence in the presence of God. In other words, how did somebody, I was trying to think how they related that, just that charity and virtue give confidence in our lives that God is approving of who we are and what we're doing. And we know that God will sustain us and back us up. I don't know if that's quite the best expression, but I think the other idea here in the final thing is the doctrine of the priesthood will come upon, will understand doctrinal principles and concepts and an understanding of the gospel that we may never have before.

And how do we get that? It's through the Holy Ghost in the final verse. And what a powerful thing. I think we can all relate that over the course of our lives, as we tried to keep the commandments and exercise charity and love and virtue, we're so enlightened by the gospel and what it means to us. And the scriptures become more of a friend and a power in our lives. I just sit there and I go, what I taught on my mission compared to what I've, the experiences and things that I've learned from God in the 40 years since that time,

what he's bestowed upon me is absolutely wonderful and so meaningful in my life. But it's a lifelong process here. But just powerful expressions that I think we can all relate to. I've heard you say before, Alex, I've heard you say that before the church was organized, Joseph was cautious. From the organization of the church to liberty, he's courageous. And from liberty to Carthage jail at the end of his life, he is fearless. And I think that's verse 45, right? Thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God. That seems to happen here. Yeah. You know, they say, they talk about,

I think you've talked about this on your program that some people have said that Joseph, you know, he's a fraud. No, he believed he was a prophet. He knew he was. He wasn't trying to be deceptive in any sense of the word. So he had the confidence that, yeah, God's called me and i know it how can i be a

fraud i can't and uh yeah he has extreme confidence in in in god's promises made to him yeah so which is where this whole section kind of stemmed from because he knew god was with him well where where do you where are you when are you going to step in? It was slow in coming in his mind, but it came. He backed him up. So is 122 the same letter? Is that what you said? Yes.

It's kind of a continuation. It sounds like it just begins in the middle of, you know. Yeah, it's still the answer the Lord's giving him, it sounds like, kind of. Yeah, it's from verse 34 all the way to the end of 122, verse 9 is all one passage. Well, there's a lot to be seen here and a lot that we can kind of reflect upon. Verse 1, if people read that verse, at least one thing that comes to my mind is the promise made by Moroni on the evening of September 21st, 22nd, when he tells him what? Thy name will what? Be both good and evil spoken of among all nations. And what does he say? The ends of the earth, the entire future inhabitants of the earth.

Among them, people will look to you, inquire. Inquire implies to seek for. We're still looking to Joseph Smith for understanding, for not only his revelations, but his teachings. David O. McKay said that on his mission, something about he was, I guess they were just preaching kind of general gospel principles, but the mission president said, you got to preach about Joseph Smith. And he said something about every time you mention Joseph Smith,

it will tingle in their ears. Because of course, the Lord's going to try to say, we have prophets again. And I think that's true. When people hear the name Joseph Smith, something happens most of the time. Who is he? What did he do? Why is he so significant? And then they look into it.

At least we hope they do. But what a promise, a reiteration of that Moroni promise that people will look to you, Joseph, for what? For knowledge, for understanding, for the gospel. I mean, we always are quoting Joseph. We will inquire after Joseph from now. I mean, he is the prophet of the restoration. He's the prophet of the prophets. I mean, I know President Nelson goes, he's the head of the dispensation. So he's got a little bit more preeminence here. Now, that's not taking away from his responsibilities as a living prophet. He's just, we look to Joseph as the prophet of the restoration itself as it came through him. And even in this instance, he's 33 years old, right? He's very young.

It says, fools will have the indurision. That's ridicule, right? Fools. Yeah, that's contempt, scorn. Yeah. And he takes his hits too. Yeah. Still today. Yeah, and always will. Yeah, too. Yeah, and still today.

Yeah, and always will. Yeah, they'll be critical of Joseph Smith. And you can understand why. If his message is true, all else that follows should be. Well, I like to think and tell my students, if you hear somebody say something negative, derogatory,atory something about joseph smith they just testified that moroni was a prophet yeah that's when i when moroni says your name will be had for both good and evil and uh and and every nation kindred tongue mean, for a long time, for hundreds of years after your life is over. That's impressive.

His influence is widespread. I mean, it continues and is expanding. And look what the Joseph Smith papers have done, has made even more of his teachings and doctrines and principles even more available and understood. It's been tremendous. I think verses two and three are talking about you two and our listeners, the pure in heart, the wise, the noble, the virtuous. They'll seek counsel and authority and blessings constantly from under thy hand. Thy people shall never be turned against thee by the testimony of traitors. So, I mean, I'd like to hope I'm in that category, right?

That I'm one of Joseph's people, that I'm never going to be turned against him by the testimony of a traitor. So I hope I can fall into that category, the verse 2 and 3 category. Yeah. And again, he suffered from some who, of course, have turned against him. Yeah. And again, he suffered from some who, of course, have turned against him. But the majority, the vast majority, I think we can safely say, continued to follow him, made their way out of Missouri, helped establish commerce in Nauvoo. But yeah, we had a few. But the majority will be with you, Joseph. They'll follow you.

They've received that testimony, and they'll support you. And indeed, they did. And the church, you know, you think at this point in time, the church is pretty dark days. I mean, how are we going to regroup? And yet, look what Nauvoo becomes in just a short amount of time. And the mission to England, going very well. So, yeah, a pretty big hiccup, but the gospel and the church are going to be in fine shape. Yeah, in the meantime, verse 4, and although their influence shall cast thee into trouble, you know, thank you, W.W. Phelps and McClellan and others, and into bars and walls, which is where you're at, thou shalt be had in

honor. So they'll kind of what we've been referring to here. But look at this. This is an interesting passage. 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. Well, verse 5 and 6 gives us all the problems a person could have in life. Perils among false brethren. He's had that. Perils among false brethren, he's had that. Perils among robbers, well, unfortunately, McClellan and Hinkle robbed his home. Later, he's going to file a suit trying to get some

of his property back. If there are perils by land or sea, well, I don't know if he's had perils on land, but not so much the sea part. He's been accused of all false manners of accusations. Enemies fell upon him, and look at this, and they tear thee from the society of thy father and thy mother and thy sisters. And if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thy offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments and shall say, my father, my father, why can't you stay with us?

My father, what are the men going to do with you? And then if he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou shall be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like bulls for the blood of the Lamb. Well, what happened here is quite simply the experience Joseph had when they brought him back to Far West. He's been before a court-martial, but they're not going to execute him, but they're going to let him, put him in prison. But before he goes, he has to go see his family and get some personal effects. I'm sure

they had some clothes and blankets and things he needed to take. And what happened during that time? He tries to say goodbye to his wife and his son, and they rip him from him. Joseph Smith III probably never read this, but he recounted when he was older what happened on that. I've got that right here. Here's Joseph Smith III in his elderly years remembering that event. I'm going to read it. I remember vividly the morning my father came to visit his family after the arrest that took place in the fall of 1838. When he was brought to the house by an armed guard, I ran out of the gate to greet him, but was roughly pushed away from his side by a sword in the hand of the guard

and not allowed to go near him. My mother also was not permitted to approach him and had to receive his farewell by word of lip only. Just goodbye. The guard did not permit him to pass into the house, nor to her to pass out, either because he feared an attempt would be made to rescue his prisoner, or because of some brutal instinct in his own breast, who shall say? Great remembrance of a six-year-old boy. He's got it right on.

And I'm not sure he ever read that passage of Scripture, because that letter was in the possession of the Willard Richards and others of the church historians, and not in Emma's possession. So, until it's published. You know, I'm so glad you clarified this. These are actual events. This very personal being pulled from your family, which to me sounds like the hardest thing, you know. Can you tell me again, when approximately was that event

that he wrote about during an arrest to go to Far West, did you say? Yeah. So, yeah, remember, he's arrested. And then he's arrested on November 1st, 30th, October 30th. And on the 1st, he's had this hearing, but they're not going to kill him. They're going to just going to have a civil hearing. And so they have to have, if they're going to have a hearing, they got to take him away. So, but they're giving him just a few minutes to go into the town of far West and, and see his family and, and get the personal effects that he needs.

Obviously, you know, few belongings and he's trying to get these and he's he's getting ripped apart he won't even can't even really hug and kiss his family i mean he's just torn from them so so this is november 1838 basically this would be the day of no i can tell you the exact day is november 2nd 1838 and then they took him to far west and and you've been there, that square where that temple site is. And then from there, another commander was instructed to take him down to Independence to wait until they found out what kind of hearing he's going to have. And he is dragged to prison. His enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb.

If you've been cast into the pit, that almost that sounds like the dungeon yeah the dungeon of liberty jail we're into the hands of murderers and the sentence of death passed upon these had that happened to him right if thou be cast into the deep if the billowing surge combined against thee, if fierce winds become thine enemy, and then it's just, it's all out. If the very jaws of hell shall gape open thy mouth wide after thee, you're thinking, okay, what's going to come next? He says, if all this happens, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good. Oh, I want him to say, if all this happens, then you can know I am going to step in and I am going to stop it all. Nope. Yeah.

All these things. No, this will be a good experience for you. Yes. Yeah. That's rough. I think that somebody said once, what was the funny saying that I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much.

No. Well, I'd like to make one other point here. And I think this is also reflective of Christ. Did Christ pass through much tribulation? Verse five. Yes. Was he in perils among false brethren? We'll try Judas, but there was others who went

not after him after a certain point. Was he in peril among robbers? I don't know about that Samaritan road, but that might've been an experience he had. I don't know. Perils by land or sea? Well, he had a stormy sea night. Was he accused with all manner of false accusations? And was he torn from his family, his mother? Did they cast him into the, was he cast into a pit right there before Caiaphas and hands of murderers and the sentence of death passed upon him. Did the heavens gather blackness and was everything pretty dark? Savior went through it.

And more. Much more. And he can relate to Joseph. And we too can relate. Because we know he has passed through everything. He knows everything we understand and feel and have experienced ourselves. So I think this is a great testimony even of the experiences of the Savior and his condescension, if you will.

You've talked about this was section 93 and the condescension of God. He went through some pretty brutal times. And Joseph, this is yours, but I understand what you're experiencing. So it's kind of a compassionate, even though it sounds kind of like, well, you can do this. Well, I've been there. Yeah. I've got in my margin here Alma 7, 11, and 12, those verses that kind of sound like they're expanding the atonement beyond our sins to our infirmities, our sicknesses, and that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to the flesh. It's this side.

And it's not saying, so don't complain. It's saying, I've been there. I have been there. I can help you because I have been there. And that, boy, that verse eight is just, aren't thou greater than he? Whoa, what a question where you have to say, look, he's been through it all. But I love what you just said. This is a, I've been there, I can help you type of a verse,

not a scolding verse, just I've been there, and I'm going to help you through this. He's not demeaning him at all. Yeah. He understands. John, that was so well said. And like I say, it's the same for all of us. Where Christ understands through his atoning sacrifice every thought and feeling and anguish we've ever experienced.

You just can't understand that totally. We can't. But he can understand us. I just think there's a beauty in these three sections, Alex, that you're bringing out here for anyone who is suffering greatly. I have a good friend who lost her husband just suddenly and unexpectedly. And they have eight children and are just devastated by this loss. And these are the type of sections that can bring peace when nothing else can. Nothing else can bring that kind of peace except for the Savior himself saying,

I see you. I understand you. I know how dark this is. Hold on thy way. Verse 9. Yeah, hold on thy way. And someday it will be a small moment to you. Maybe not right now, but someday this will be a small moment.

And the tears will be wiped away. And I think we'll have, we always have to maintain an eternal perspective. And I think that is brought out in verse 9, where he says, thy priesthood shall remain with thee. Joseph is the head of this dispensation, and he still is,

and he's still directing this work from behind the veil. I mean, if we went to the Spirit World Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I hope I have some time before I go there, you would see Joseph Smith anxiously engaged in this cause from behind the veil. He is still in charge. That priesthood is still with him. And this is still his dispensation, if I can say it that way. And it's not going away just because he's going to die. It doesn't mean he's done.

This dispensation continues both in mortality and in eternity. And I think that's what he's saying there in verse 9. And then I know people don't sometimes like this doctrine, but it's true. Thy days are known and thy years shall not be numbered less. We talk about people who have a terminal disease or something. We are all terminal. We have a death date. We all are.

It's just you cannot get out of this earth alive. And I know they, you can't say that. God knows all from the beginning. And was it Elder Maxwell said, all the priesthood, you can exercise if the Lord's plan is for your, you know, you're done. You're done. And I just hate to think of that at some time, but sometimes, but, you know, he knows from the beginning to the end, and death is not a surprise to him. And I have to say, Lyman White remembered Joseph Smith saying in Liberty Jail, and I believe it was the spring of 39, he said, the Lord has guaranteed me five years, at least five years.

And what happens in the spring of 1844? Joseph starts worrying this might be it. So his days are known, but the point is, too, our days are known. They won't be numbered less. God will be with us. He'll help us, but we're not all meant to live to 95 and die in our sleep. This is this temporary testing time, that eternal perspective thing. Easy to say, harder to do, but I'll be with you forever and ever at the end there. And so make it through this time, but I'm going to be with you forever. And that's a long time.

And Joseph taught it himself, right, Alex? A righteous person will never be taken before their time, but they'll be taken on their time. Right. And I could even say that to my friend and her family, that their husband and father is still involved in the work, still very much involved. And his days are known and their days are known. And the Lord is guiding this whole thing. And unfortunately for many of us, Jacob, our lives passed away as it were like a dream. I mean, mortality is so swift. What's the hymn? The days are swift in passing, tis as a single day. The older you get, the faster it goes.

And, you know, I'm clearly, I still remember when I told my family that I'm closer to death than birth. And now I'm a lot closer. Thanks a lot. So am I. We all are. And so, again, another reminder to not procrastinate the days of your penance because, quite frankly, John and Hank, I may not be here tomorrow. So I better be in good shape. You know what you said, Alex, about it starts to be referred to as a day of this life. And I'm thinking of Alma 30. The day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors because the older you get, the faster it seems to go.

It's like a day. Well, 123, should we go there? One passage that I really felt like Orson Pratt, if he would have included that, would help us understand a little bit about how expansive Joseph's mind was and what he probably understood which he couldn't convey because how do you convey what he's learned through Revelation? He had a hard time conveying section 76 or some of the marvelous truths. And then he talks about in this letter this marvelous phrase. Hank, if you'd read that. Yeah, I got it right here.

He says, A fanciful and flowery and heated imagination be aware 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 into salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss and 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, but 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. Wow. Isn't that great? And that's so much our society today. We focus on things that are of no import. There is absolutely no reason for discussion or even inquiry. And if you really want to know what's important, think about the things of God. Not that we can't have good times and, you know, frivolous conversation. I don't know,

that's not exactly what I mean. But serious discussion about what and who God is and His plan and His character. And that's what's important. And to search those things and expand the mind rather than just, you know, punching a little cell phone and finding out things that have no consequence and doesn't help you become a better person or have greater feelings toward God or a fellow man. I just love that. I wish, in a way, Orson Pratt would have put that in, but it's still there. It doesn't mean it's not true and it's not important because it's there,

but I love that thought. It's very expressive and eloquent and again, I think inspired. Yeah, that is beautiful. You can find that on Joseph Smith papers. I do have one more. And this one to me is very inspiring just because it's kind of like a coach's pep talk. And you've all been involved in athletics. And right before you go out to the game, they just try to pump you up. Well, this is Joseph Smith. And I am just thrilled to be a member of this church when I read this. In those same letters from Liberty.

Yep. March 20th. Yeah. 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. 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 in 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 was 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. Gosh, that's great stuff. That's good stuff. Talk about, again, this is the march.

He wouldn't have said this in December. He's optimistic. We're going to get through this. And again, this was very comforting, these verses that, you know, thy friends do stand by. They'll hail you again. Mormonism will stand. It's going forth. It looks dark, but we're okay.

Same thing today. If people think church is heading the wrong direction, things are doing fine. We're doing fine. Lord's in control. This is his kingdom. God, apostles and prophets, we're in a good ship and it's strong and it's sturdy and it's going places. You just need to be on board yourself. Don't jump. Yeah, stay on the boat. Alex, that seems to be the tone of Section 123, where Section 121 started so, you know, not depressing,

but just so in anguish. 123 feels more energetic and more moving forward. Yeah, and it's firm counsel. And really, Joseph's requesting the church to do something here. And they follow through really, really well. So what he's saying here, and again, a lot of us kind of just gloss over 123 and say, oh, okay, But there's some key verses there that we cite all the time as well. But part of the thing Joseph is encouraging,

well, the thing that Joseph Smith is encouraging at this point is, okay, we're out of Missouri, and at least everyone but him and those who was with him. But the point is, we need to have the Latter-day Saints leave a record of what took place in Missouri. I want you to swear before a judge, they call it an affidavit. You write out a statement of your experience and what you experienced in Missouri, and you write it out and you appear before a judge or a justice, and you swear before that justice that this is a true statement of your experience. We call it an affidavit. You could call it a petition, whatever you want to call it.

And what are you supposed to do? Well, gather up. Where does it say? Verse 1. 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 this people of this state. And also the property and amount of damages which have sustained both character and personal injuries, as well as real property.

The names of all persons that have had a hand in their oppressions. I mean, we want information. And what's he going to do with it? Okay, so Joseph's already thought this through. And I know he's thinking, when I get out of here, I'm going to take this to the federal government. The state of Missouri treated us pretty rot. And I'm not going to get any justice here, but I know where I can get, at least he believes he can get some justice, is if he goes and somehow petitions the national government. And I will tell you, the saints responded in a very terrific way.

We have over 700 affidavits or petitions written by Latter-day Saints, and they vary in a lot of their content, but the idea was, tell us what happened in Jackson County, tell us what happened in Clayton, tell us what happened in Davies, Caldwell, whatever, and swear to the veracity and truth of it. Today we have the Joseph went back. And this is, of course, in late fall of 1839 after the October conference. We're just barely in Nauvoo. And Joseph takes several individuals with him. Elias Higbee.

He takes Sidney Rigdon. He takes Robert Foster, who's later going to be an enemy to Joseph Smith, and Orrin Porter Rockwell. Here comes Port. And they make a trip back to Washington, D.C. And there they meet with President Van Buren. And we know that story. He basically said when he met with him on the 29th of November, 1839, your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you. I'd lose the whole vote of the state of Missouri. Well, he was acting like a politician, but at the same time, states' rights prevailed. He knew, he said, no, this is a state's issue. I'm not going to interfere here. Well, that didn't stop Joseph Smith. He immediately went to the Senate and he met with Richard Young, who was the senator from Illinois. He was a one-time senator, but he said, I need help. I'd like to somehow work through the

legislature and perhaps get some sort of work done here that would help us rectify some of the, you know, get redressed for some of the problems in Missouri. Ironically, Richard Young later will be the judge in the hearings in Carthage, Illinois, a year after the death of Joseph and Hiram. He's the presiding judge in that trial. But he was willing to help the Latter-day Saints and help Joseph Smith. And eventually, there was a memorial. Joseph Smith and Elias Higbee crafted a memorial that's published in the Congressional Globe, the historical record of the legislature. It took him several days to write it, but it was presented in Congress in the Senate. Joseph, while that process was going through, Joseph takes a month off and goes down to

Philadelphia, New Jersey. That's a whole other story. But he comes back and his case was put before the Senate Judiciary Committee in early February. And unfortunately, in that judiciary hearing, the Judiciary Committee considered this, the incidents and problems associated with Missouri could only be handled in the Missouri courts. So it didn't pan out like Joseph had hoped, but he was trying to get the terrible situations that had happened and circumstances that had happened in Missouri before the national government and the United States itself. We want people to know what happened to us. We got kicked around. And here's our evidence of that mistreatment. Now, I have to tell you, as a historian, a man by the name of Clark Johnson, who was formerly

a colleague of ours at BYU, produced all of those petitions. And I consider that one of the most valuable contributions. I can go back and with that, those published affidavits and reconstruct and recreate numerous events that happened during Missouri. You want to read Isaac Leaney. Isaac Leaney was at Hans Mill and he was shot and he survived. I mean, it's a terrific account of the Hans Mill, and he was shot, and he survived. I mean, it's a terrific account of the Hans Mill problems. So for historians, this has proven to be a marvelous document to help us understand the Missouri experience of the Latter-day Saints. So I'm just grateful for that injunction by Joseph. And I think Orson Pratt felt that was an important inclusion, important

enough to say that we did this and this has helped our history to help verify to the world that these terrible things did indeed take place in Missouri. I love the language you're using, Alex. You say we were treated pretty rotten, but the things that the words Joseph uses, look at verse five, diabolical rascality and nefarious and murderous impositions. He goes on that the heads of government in all their dark and hellish hue. Verse seven, verse seven, we have been suffered grief, sorrow, care under the most damning hand of murder and tyranny and oppression um i mean this is uh he is not um he is not backing down holding back yeah he is saying this is the truth of what happened to us in missouri and it needs to be recorded he calls it

an imperative duty doesn't't he? Three times. I like down in verse 10, the dark and blackened deeds are enough to make hell itself shudder and to stand aghast and pale and the hands of the very devil to tremble in palsy. I don't know how you say it stronger. So descriptive.

Oh. Yeah. And of course, he specifically mentions those who have suffered so much, who've lost loved ones. Right there in verse nine, widows, fatherless, whose husbands and fathers have been murdered. The death factor, these people need to know that they suffered the most. And like I say, I think things like this will give the succeeding generations like you and I a greater appreciation for the hardship of these early saints. That's why I'm saying, and Amanda Barnes-Smith, she has her affidavit in there. This helps me understand and appreciate what she went through for the gospel's sake.. Certainly I've never had what she had.

I've never suffered like she has. And so my appreciation for these early saints has grown immensely knowing what they went through and still came through in brilliant colors. Once he gets past this request, it ends pretty, it's a beautiful ending. The way it ends, yeah. 11 through 17, yeah.

Of course, verse 12 is an oft-used missionary scripture. And again, with the emphasis on we've put Missouri behind us, yes, but kind of no. We want us to recount that. But our main purpose is to continue the gospel message. And again, what does Joseph do? We barely get settled in commerce, later Nauvoo. And he sends the 12 on a mission to England, the collective 12. Whenever we needed the collective voice of the 12 to help Joseph get things underway was then.

But now Joseph says, we move on and we preach the gospel. Hence, there are many among all earth. Let's see, for there are many yet on the earth among all sex parties and denominations who are blinded by the subtle craftiness in them, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it. Well, if they don't know where to find it, we've got to find them and make it so they can see where the gospel is. The footnote I love to that is 1 Nephi 8. That is Lehi's dream.

And Lehi says, I took of the fruit and I saw your mother, he says, because he's relating the story. I saw your mother and Nephi and Sam and they stood as if they knew not where to go. What a perfect, they're only kept from, they're not bad people. They just don't know where to go. They're only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it. 112, where it says, wherever you go, there will be an effectual door open. There's people who will hear and receive. We just have to get there.

And so I just like, again, his optimism. He's saying, okay, we've got to recount for all these terrible things. But meanwhile, we've got work to do. We've got to spread the gospel. We should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness. And I think about these brethren in the Quorum of the Twelve. Oh, yeah. When's their release date again?

When do they get that? It's called death. And every single weekend, I think, except for July, they're probably on the road and reorganizing stakes. They just work and work and waste and wear out their lives. Bishops and young women's presidents and Relief Society presidents. Everybody out there listening is just working and wasting. Motivated by their love for God and their love for their fellow man. When he says waste, he means use, right?

Use and wear out our lives. Yeah, I think it doesn't mean waste in the way that you and I think of it. Yeah, or maybe the world would look at it that way. But no, you're bringing things to light. Well, I love the phrase that the Lord wants us to rust out. I don't know about you, but just because you retire doesn't mean you stop doing what you're supposed to be doing. You got to continue all the way to the end. He mentions here, like kind of continue what you thought there, your thoughts there. Let no man count them as small things, for there is much lieth in futurity

pertaining to the saints, which depends upon these things. He's got a future vision. Joseph knows the kingdom's rolling forth. Kind of like that quote I read. He's still not out of Missouri, but he's knowing and optimistically going to say, okay, we need to do some things right now if we can. But not if we can, let's do it. Because this is not the end and we'll move on and put this behind us.

And then the wonderful, it's kind of the small and simple doctrine in the Book of Mormon and also in Doctrine and Covenants. You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm. And this has been quite a storm by being kept workways with the wind and the waves. We can work through this. That's what he's saying. He says, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power. Cheerfully. Isn't that interesting, Alex? If you look at section 121, verse 1, God, where are you?

And then you go to section 123, verse 17. So how we start and how we finish. Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power. I think what you have in between is maybe a recipe to go from discouragement to excitement. If you study what's in between, you can have that same change. You feel like that? I'm safe to go there and say? Absolutely.

And I think you hit right on the head here that just weeks earlier, and just earlier in this, there's total discouragement. And then now there's, you know, I've had some reassurance that we can move forward and life's going to be okay and we'll get through this. So, I mean, there's a, like I say, you wouldn't have seen that in December. You wouldn't see it now. Yeah. And you do see it now so i've told people before you know if if you're ever discouraged start with 121 verse 1 and go carefully and slowly through one all the way to 123 verse 17 and you'll it'll you'll you'll feel the change you'll sense the change that the that what he learns gives him confidence um and what the lord says to him gives him excitement and optimism

um and there's this what did elder holland call uh it became a temple prison because of yes you know what he learned uh bh roberts the first one to refer to the temple prison yeah where god uh where it was a place of revelation for him, just supernal revelations. And these certainly are examples of that. I've heard this called Lessons from Liberty, these three sections. It was a BYU devotional from Elder Holland. Lessons from Liberty? Yeah, Lessons from Liberty Jail, September of 2008.

You can find it on speeches.byu.edu. It's definitely worth your time as you're studying this week, these incredible sections. And this is a very difficult time for the prophet and for everyone else. I remember being at the Visitor Center and asking the sister missionaries that were there once, being at the Liberty Jail Visitor Center there, and looking in that little rotunda where the replica of the prison is. And I said, excuse me, but where was the bathroom? And she said, oh, it's down the hall. And I said, no, not our bathroom. Where was their bathroom?

And she said, oh, the jailers would lower a bucket from the ceiling. And I'm going, okay, winter, 1839, half a dozen guys in there, no privacy, no partitions, no dignity. And these words come out of there,thren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power. And it just changed the way I read these three, having visited there and thinking of that dungeon and those circumstances. And I like to read this, Hank, without the word cheerfully and see if people catch me. Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us do all things that lie in our power

and see how much that adverb adds to it. That's like Nephi, what is that? First Nephi 17, where we're waiting through much affliction in the wilderness, we're eating raw meat. And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us, like in the very next verse. It's like next sentence, this is so great, pass the raw meat, you know, that it's an attitude of going through. It's a mindset, a godly mindset of going through trials that we're blessed with. You know, what we've been talking today reminds me of there's a book I'm sure both of you have read, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, who is part of the Jewish concentration camps in Germany. And this is what he says. It reminds me of Joseph in Liberty. He says, even the helpless victim of a hopeless situation may rise above himself, may grow beyond himself,

and by so doing change himself, he may turn personal tragedy into triumph. And that feels like sections 121 through 123 to me, Alex, is tragedy into triumph. I love that. That is so, and you know, he had a kind of a shared experience with Joseph as a result of religious persecution. Yeah. A different time and place. But yeah, he clearly made the change in his own life or the understanding of his own life of how meaningful life really was and that he could triumph over that terrible adversity,

which only we can't even comprehend, nor can we comprehend Joseph's. Well, I think there's just an interesting, in Joseph's last letter to Emma, he writes it on the 4th, and they've now received word that they're going to have their hearing. Their hearing was postponed, so they had to stay longer than March. It was supposed to happen in March. And now they're going to have this hearing in Gallatin. And so they've been instructed or told that they're going to have to transport them from Liberty to Gallatin for that hearing. And this is April 4th. And he writes this letter, the last one to Emma, and he says, concerning Liberty, he says, we shall be moved from this at any rate, and we are glad of it.

Let what will become of us, we cannot get into a worse hole than this is. We shall not stay here but one night besides this. If that, thank God, we shall never cast a lingering wish after Liberty in Clay County, Missouri. We have had enough of it to last forever. So he's going, we're finally coming out of here. But here's the irony. And that is in 1963, we build this visitor center to commemorate and to honor and to reflect upon this terrible experience of these Latter-day Saint men and their prison experience. And to add to that irony is about two miles away is the Kansas City Temple. Now, I don't know if that sends a message to anybody, but it does to me

that that is, we're back. And yes, it was negative, but look what came out of it. A refined prophet, revelations, and timely counsel and wisdom. And today we're back in Liberty. We're back in Clay County. We have, what, seven, eight stakes in and around Kansas City. We're back. And the Lord's hand, I mean, could Joseph have ever imagined that someday we would have a memorial to that experience and his suffering that we can look at in a positive vein? And then, like I say, to have congregations and a temple in Clay County, Missouri, where he said, we're glad to get rid of it.

We've had enough forever. Well, we're not done. And we're back. And there's wonderful saints and wonderful people in Clay County, Missouri, in Caldwell County, Missouri, and in Davies County, Missouri, and in Jackson County, Missouri. I just think it's so amazing how God's hand works. Terrible situation in Missouri, but you know what?

Things have changed and things are a lot different 200 years down the road. And we got a temple right in that place that he didn't really want to be around. He could maybe not even understand what would happen. I don't know if he did and how much vision he had, but I just think that's wonderful. And this closes the Missouri Revelations. This is it. This is the bookend, if you will, for these marvelous revelations given in Missouri. But the future of Missouri is glorious. Zion is not moved out of her place. Something's going to happen there.

I'm grateful to be part of it now and look forward to a glorious Zion in the future. Thank you so much, Alex. We have been uplifted and edified today, John. I don't know about you well I do know about you I know you'll say the same thing just beautiful sections beautiful time

something so profound coming out of such a hard time I don't want to wish for hard times but look what how we have benefited from this today, how the whole church will bring these sections. Triumph out of tragedy. Look what the Lord can do. We want to thank Dr. Alex Baugh for being with us today.

We want to thank you for listening and staying with us. We wouldn't have a podcast if it weren't for you. We want to thank our production team, uh, David Perry, Lisa spice, Kyle Nelson, Jamie Nielsen, Will Stoughton. Thank you, uh, to our wonderful team. And of course we want to thank our executive producers, Steve and Shannon Sorenson, whom we love. And we hope you'll join us next time on, uh, our next episode of Follow Him.