followHIM - Doctrine & Covenants 77-80 Part 2 : Dr. Craig K. Manscill

Episode Date: July 11, 2021

Dr. Manscill continues to discuss the United Firm, the Law of Consecration, and tithing. The early Saints were called to meet both temporal and spiritual needs as we are today. We discuss how the Church provides covenants as well as material assistance to advance the cause of Zion. Meet some early Saints (as well as modern Saints) who served where they were called and received gifts from the Lord.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 part two of this week's podcast. Now, let's move on to section 78. And this is again in Kirtland, Ohio. And this has some interesting stuff in it about a firm, United Firm Consecration, all this. Can you give us some background on what's going on here? and then we'll jump in. All right. Well, this is, even today as I read some of the commentaries, and there seems to be a confusion that exists, and a lot of it has to do with terminology, whether it's law of consecration, united order, enix order United Firm, the literary firm also comes in play here. So let's see if we can sort some of the terminology out. Let's see if we can figure out what's going on here. And I think that we can come away with an understanding here of why this particular section. So historically, this is a revelation that's again, Hiram, Ohio. And by the way, you can see, look at the date, it's March.

So this revelation is prior to a very catastrophic event that will happen to Joseph and Cindy on the 25th of March. You remember what that was? The tar and feathering of them. So this revelation is prior to that because it's still Hiram, Ohio. The tar and feathering will put Joseph's life at risk and he will now leave Hiram and go down to this second mission to Missouri to talk to the saints down there about organizing what's called the United Order. Oh, so you can see that between sections 81 and 82 hiram ohio in 81 jackson county missouri in 82 so he makes that move right there when the saints were called to gather the ohio in sections 37 and 38 they were

promised they would get receive the law of the Lord. And when they arrived there, the Lord kept his promise and gave us section 42. In section 42, the beginning of the principles of consecration were introduced. And Bishop Partridge was called as a bishop to administer consecration. So the Lord knew Edward Partridge's heart. He knew who he was, knew he needed him and had raised him up for the important purpose of becoming the first bishop of the church and administering principles of consecration and a order, if you want to say that, of how that would function.

So consecration was a set of principles. Now, what we're talking about here is, how do you take care of the temporal church? And consecration is about taking care of the poor, which is a responsibility of the children of God. So in section 42, the law of consecration has begun to develop. The church has three temporal needs. We need to buy land, build buildings

on the land, and to publish the Word of God. Publish that Word of God, whether it be the Book of Commandments, the word of God, whether it be the book of commandments, the doctrine covenants, the book of Mormon, children's literature. Even the hymns, right? The hymns of the church, yeah, section 25. We have a need. If we're going to get salvation into the hearts of the people, they need to read it.

They need to feast upon this word and the great revelations in the DNC, they need. And so that's a temporal need. A temporal need is there needs to be a publishing arm of the church. There needs to be a building committee for the Kirtland Temple. There needs to be an agent who purchases land in Zion like Bishop Partridge was doing down there. And somebody has to physically meet those needs. And the commerce, the economics of that is this temporal nature that has to be taken care of. So unfortunately, up until this time, the law of consecration,

the Lord had established and called for a storehouse to be built. It's now March of 1832, and there's no bishop storehouse. It hasn't been organized. The principles of consecration have simply what? They've been taught, but they haven't been enacted. You do have the Missouri church set up at this time, right? There's already been, those were sections 57, 58, right? Bishop Parchers was called to go down there and live. They were to live the law of consecration down there, and they begun that. Okay, great. But, you know, the Gilbert store hadn't been set up down there, and neither had the Whitney store been set up at this time in the Kirtland area with the second bishop of the

church. So the second bishop is Newell K. Whitney in the Kirtland area, and the first bishop of the church is Bishop Edward Partridge down in Jackson County, Missouri. So how do we finance then setting up a Bishop storehouse? That's a building or we're going to have to somehow use some building or structure for a storehouse. Or we're going to need some land for that. Or we're going to need, you know, publish something. So how do we do that? The answer is Section 78.

That's what's going on here, is how are we going to get the ball rolling? We need to have money. Okay. What I asked my students at BYU with this section, I said, how many of your families are entrepreneurs and you own businesses? And several hands go up and tell me about what your, your father does or what do they do? And all kinds of things will come up. You can imagine that. Now I would say to them, if you would have lived in Joseph Smith's day at this time in section 78, you, you would have been asked been asked to consecrate your business to the church

into an organization, what was called the United Order. And the funds you've now just given up, you'll still take care of your business, but now you've given it over to consecration and you can live off some of the proceeds, but the lion's share of dollars are going to go for the kingdom of God. Can you do it? So the law of consecration and the United Order are two different things. They really are. Yes, they are. Law of consecration is what Bishop Partridge is working with down there in Jackson County, Missouri, where you bring all your goods to the bishop and you turn it over to him and then he turns back to you what your wants and your needs are. This is different. It's an organization.

It's a business organization with a co-op of businesses brought together. And then you live off some of the proceeds and it goes into this corporate fund. I was going to say the principles of consecration remain long after we leave Missouri. Right. Right. So what's the law of the principles of consecration, which some are talked about in this revelation, are eternal. And they're in the church still today. You'll hear, oh, we ended the law of consecration in 1834 because of what happened in Jackson County, Missouri. Well, we ended that practice, but the principles still were eternal. Well, then what comes along? Tithing in D&C section 119 in the Far West period.

1836, we organized what's called the welfare program. So, but the thing is, programs will change from the earliest days of the church of how to fund are the three things that I talked about. Buying land, building buildings, and printing. Buying printing presses. All of that will change. But that's the purpose of why we need to get land to build a temple in Kirtland, Ohio, etc. And the same idea of caring for the poor. That will remain, even though the programs change. The programs will change over time, and

they'll add to and take away. But the concept of a bishop's storehouse has always existed. There still exists the bishop's storehouse and the eternal principles, and that's what leads us into section 78. I know that in the past, I think President Reagan had visited Welfare Square downtown and saw that whole thing happening. And it's a really positive, positive things when we've brought presidents of the United States over to welfare square to see how we take care of our, our, our poor and needy in the church. It's, it is impressive. And we'll hit a verse on that in just a moment, John, that I think it will be very meaningful.

I wanted to read to you all the members who actually were part of it, because we'll add some of them in other revelations as you'll cover later on. There's Sidney Rigdon, I mean, Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Neal K. Whitney, and they're up in the Kirtland area. And there's Edward Partridge. These are the ones in Missouri, Edward Partridge, Sidney Gilbert, John Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery, W.W. Feltz, and Martin Harris. Now, the latter group there, these individuals were over the literary firm of the church or the printing arm of the church. Okay. And so Oliver Cowdery, because of his work on the Book of Mormon publication and W.W.

Feltz, you remember he was a printer himself out of Canandaigua, New York. And these people were doing the printing part of it. But when you have Neal K. Whitney and John Gilbert, they're helping out with the bishop storehouses and as the bishops of the church. Later on, they'll add Frederick G. Williams, who is a landowner. And so Joseph says, we're going to need land. So land to build the Kirtland Temple. So, by the way, the building of the Kirtland Temple was plan B for the Savior. Plan A was to build a temple in Jackson County, Missouri. Moses, Elias, and Elijah should have appeared there.

But section 101 teaches us that they failed. They failed in turning over a shovel and building the foundation and getting that temple up and going. And there's a whole parable about that in 101, and you're going to love that when you get to that. But plan B, and that's why Joseph always stayed in Kirtland. You ever wonder why Joseph doesn't go down and live in Missouri? That's Zion. That's designated Zion, the new Jerusalem. Why isn't the prophet down there? The Lord said, I want you back up in Kirtland. Because the Lord knew what was going to happen in the long run.

Plan B needed to be in place. If they fail in Missouri, and they did, then Kirtland becomes Plan B. And that's why Frederick G. Williams is called into the United Firm. And that's really the term we would like to use is United Firm as much as United Order. And so. All right. I liked what you said there, Craig, because Joseph Smith never lives in Jackson County. He lives in Missouri, but he lives in Far West, which isn't in Jackson County. He never gets to live. He visits, right? A number of times, but never lives in Zion.

As many as four visits down there before he goes down to live in 1838. So, yeah, it's a big deal. And it was a sore spot for the Missouri Saints all along. Like the prophet of the Lord, since you'll be down here, we need your leadership. Okay. Doctrine and Covenants 78, 3 and 4. For verily I say unto you, the time has come and is now at hand. And behold, and lo, it must needs be that there be an organization of my people in regulating and establishing the affairs of the storehouse for the poor of my people, both in this place, Ohio, and in the land of Zion, for a permanent

and everlasting establishment and order unto my church to advance the cause which ye have espoused to the salvation of man and to the glory of your Father who is in heaven. So, there you have it, you know. This is the organization of your Father who is in heaven. There you have it. This is the organization of what's called the order or the united firm, and it must needs be organized. In other words, if we don't do this, we're not going to be able to progress with what? Temporal salvation leads to eternal salvation, spiritual salvation. You can't advance the cause unless you have, you know, I know you can meet outside under the heavens,

but you need a building overhead sooner or later for the kingdom to meet. I mean, we have the conference center. We have, you know, our temples. We have everything. So in order for salvation to progress in a temple, we need to buy the land and build the temple. And so this is in order, and this, it must needs be, and I really like that, it must happen, this organization. We've got to get this going. So I love the way, you know,

the Lord used Martin Harris in the early days of the church, who eventually gave every penny he had for the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the publishing of the Book of Mormon. There's so much that he did until he had no more to give. But he's included in this organization so that he can have some means to live from day to day and to contribute on the printing of things. Craig, there are some today who might say, well, you don't need religion. You can just be spiritual. This is the Lord saying, if we want to do an eternal work, we're going to need some temporal things in place. You're not going to get exalted children through okay everyone just be spiritual

so we need to take care of our poor through a bishop's storehouse with with commodities to help them both clothing and and food and whatever they need for a permanent and everlasting establishment to advance the cause. What is the cause? You have espoused to the salvation of man. So the cause is to bring about salvation and exaltation as a result of this order that's being organized. And so those are important verses that's talking about the organization. Unfortunately, this will only last two years, by the way. The organization will last from March of 1832 to 1834. In D&C 104,

it'll be disorganized largely because of what happened down in Jackson County, Missouri. When that all fell apart in 1834, we lost our bishop's storehouse, the temple site, our land. Everything was taken from us, even though we tried to get it back through legal means, it never came back to us. The church was now in financial straits and difficulties. Here we go in verses 5 and 6 are now principles that both the United Order, this co-op organization of businesses that have been brought together to benefit the church. So you can't obtain heavenly things unless you have earthly things supporting you.

And if you are not equal in earthly things, you cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things. For if I will, or if you will, that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you. What's been commanded? To build a temple in Jackson County, Missouri. And to do that, you've got to purchase land. Okay, what else has been commanded to build a temple in Jackson County, Missouri. And to do that, you've got to purchase land. Okay, what else has been commanded? To publish my word. To bring forth the Book of Mormon, to bring forth the Doctrine and Covenants. This is

1832, and they're trying to get the Book of Commandments off the ground here in 1831. By 1832, it's sitting down there with the publishing group in Jackson County, Missouri. You remember the publishers? You remember the Book of Commandments or is on the press at the time that the mobs come in? So the Book of Commandments is there. They're just taking a long time to get it published. And that's because of the press situation and paper shortage and things that they're going on in Jackson County, Missouri. So the Lord is saying, I command you to do things. Therefore, this is the purpose of the organization. John, could you read verses not, read verse eight, please. And now verily thus saith the Lord, it is expedient that all things be done unto my glory

by you who are joined together in this order. So what jumps out to me on that verse is all things are done unto my glory. Temporal salvation is also the spiritual salvation of this church. And it's essential. If we're going to get the church out of debt, finally, you know, during Joseph F. Smith's administration, we've got to have a system economically to fund the needs of the church. And of course, you know, tithing is really going to be a big thing in D&C 119 in the Far West period. So the Lord has his plan. And Joseph Smith learned that in D&C 111, didn't he?

Joseph Smith decided, I can figure out how to pay the debts of the church with that buried treasure in Salem, Massachusetts, right? And the Lord, remember what the Lord counseled Joseph? Don't be worried about your what? Your debts. Sooner or later, I'm going to bring about tithing and sooner or later, we'll get all of our debts paid and we paid every dime and interest more. By the way, during Gordon B. Hinckley's administration, we went back to the restoration period. And every dollar that we borrowed to put commodities in the Bishop's Storehouse in Kirtland, Missouri, we were indebted to merchants in Buffalo and in New York. Gordon B. Hinckley found the descendants of those people and paid them.

And paid them interest. No kidding. No kidding. And now that they're organizing this, they're deciding how is it that they're going to legally do this and who's going to administer them. So Sidney Rigdon has a tannery and he's donating that business to the church. And so, and otherwise Satan seeketh to turn their hearts away from the truth that they become blinded and understand not the things which are prepared for them. And so, you know, you need to be careful. When it comes to temporal things, we're easily blinded by money.

Temporal things blind us. And it was a great sacrifice to give up these businesses. Could you imagine your wife when you went home, if you're Bishop Partridge and said, not only are we going to give up our business to the church? We've been asked to leave our lovely home and go to Jackson County, Missouri. Craig, that is just so crucial to understand here. The moment we mention money, there seems to be a different feel from people, right? We're like, spirituality, I love it. I love the Book of Mormon. I love the spirit. Now let's talk about giving money. And we kind of there's a I think you're exactly right. Money can blind us. And the Lord says over and over. Right. What does he say in section 121? Why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are on the things of this world. Why do you think that is? Why do we? I think it's a great question. You know, where your treasure is, so is your heart. And if your treasure is your money and your bank account, well, okay.

That's where your heart is. You're going to live a different life versus a person of consecration who, and I think Martin Harris is a great example of that. And we're going to get to one named John Tanner here in a minute. But yeah, I look at verse 14 helps us with your answer that through my providence, notwithstanding the tribulation. So it's not going to be easy. The tribulation which shall descend upon you. So it will be a tribulation to give up your money

and to give up your livelihood as a consecration that the church may stand independent above all creatures beneath the celestial world. To me, that means government. To stand independent of government welfare systems. That we as Latter-day Saints take care of our own, which brought about the humanitarian aid department of the church, where we collect goods and services and prepare to help in disasters around the world and in whatever way that we can help countries that are crippled from disease or need shots or whatever, that all the places we're into. And Hank, you just said it. What is our

consecration sheet today? It's our tithe. When we fill out that tithing form, what else is on it? Not just fast offerings and tithing. There's missionary work. There's all the ways that we can give and consecrate our monies to the church. Not if we don't have the money, then we have our talents. We have our time.

And that's what we commit to consecrate to God. And that's why consecration is an everlasting principle. Consecration humbles us, and we become meek, and we become teachable. The greatest teacher, you know, Moses was known as the meekest man alive with the children of Israel. And he was teachable for God. He was a clean slate to work with, as was Joseph Smith. We need to be like that. We need to be teachable, meek, and humble that we can give under consecration this way. John is more teachable and humble and generous and giving than me. I want to be more like him because I

think, Craig, section 78 makes me, and hopefully there's a couple others out there, go, okay. Like, okay. Because whose kingdom are you trying to build? Right? Is it yours or is it God's? Because you can't, it's really hard to build both, but oh, I don't know why. I'm really happy that the Lord is going to say at the end of this, I'll lead you along. I'll help you. Yeah. I think what you were all talking about, fast offerings, tithing, all this, and then our time and our talents. I just want to restate what we stated before. All of those things are in the bishop's storehouse today. And a bishop can call upon people's talents and their gifts, and not only their money, but there are other things that they can do to help. What's the phrase? Advance the cause.

Oh, Craig, you're killing me here. Yeah, I love this here. And go to verse 17. Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children. Ye have not as yet understood how great the blessings the Father has in his own hands and prepared for you. In other words, you're like little children. We're just trying to build consecration principles amongst you. But why can we do that today is because this church, rank and file members, do obey the law of consecration. They do give their funds. And without that, the church wouldn't be where it is today. The cause of Zion would not be pushed along as we are. We have everything that consecration is about, the church is still

actively engaged in. We have a building system. We have a temple system. We have all the things, the temple department, everything is in place that the temporal part of the church can bring about salvation for mankind. And he says, you don't know now, you're just little children, but let me show you where we're at in year 2021. Yeah. I remember the story of the widow's mite where the widow puts what she has, all she can give into the treasury. And the savior says she's given more than everybody else. And it's because she's consecrated, right? Just it's not the amount. It's where your heart is. And then the things you're expressing right now that I've heard both of you just say, you just expressed what the Lord said in verses 18 and 19.

You cannot bear all things, nevertheless, be of good cheer. I will lead you along. The kingdom yours the blessings are there and the riches of eternity is yours and he who receiveth all things with thankfulness i just heard you say that john thankfulness shall be made glorious the things of this earth shall be added unto him and even a hundredfold yea more and i just thought, what a Zion idea President Hinckley had with that perpetual education fund. We've got all this. Let's help our brothers and sisters go to college so that they can be prepared in temporal things, so that they can have the riches of eternity as well. And I read these stories, and they're just amazing.

And I think, what a great Zion idea. It's in the Philippines, it's in Mexico. I don't even know how many countries it's in now, but maybe you know better than I do, Craig and Hank, but I think it's self-sustaining now. They don't, it's not on the tithing form anymore, but the Perpetual Education Fund, what a Zion idea that was of President Hinckley.

Just this last week, I had a student knock on my door. He was going through the hallway, knocking on doors. I heard, and my door was the third door he knocked on, and I was there, and I said, hello, come on in. Can I help you? And he was from Bolivia. And he had some questions about the gospel. And we had a discussion. And I said, what are you doing here? Where are you from? And he says, I'm here. I served a mission. I was from Bolivia. And I says, wow, what a privilege it is to have you here at our university. You've come all the way from Bolivia tell me about your circumstances and he just teared up and he told me how poor the family was

and he said the fact that I'm here is an absolute miracle and he's getting a good education and he's going to go back to Bolivia and I'm telling you the perpetual education fund was a blessing in his life and I he'll be a leader of the church one day back there and The Perpetual Education Fund was a blessing in his life.

And he'll be a leader of the church one day back there. And yeah, this is what we're talking about. And this is the outcome. And God could see it all in the end. And these principles are eternal and they're celestial. And they help us to become who we need to become as a church, that we can identify our poor and take care of them. So I love this revelation.

Craig, you mentioned John Tanner. We've talked about the Partridges, Edward and Lydia. We've talked about Sidney and his wife. Are you ready to go into poverty with me, sweetheart? No, Sidney Rigdon, he said, are you ready to go into poverty with me to his wife? And she said, let you ready to go into poverty with me to his wife? And she said, let's go, right? Yeah. And Sidney Gilbert and the Whitney's, Newell and Elizabeth. But you mentioned John Tanner. And I think people would be interested in that story of consecration. I know they made a movie about it, but I'm not an emotional guy. I don't, I don't, I don't get emotional very often, but the one thing that gets

to me is when you, you both were talking about something like the perpetual education fund. It's when someone has, they have whatever resources, what, and they, and they see someone in need and they go to them and lift them up. That's isn't that the message of the law of consecration, right? Is to go and lift your brothers and sisters to where you are. And to me, there's just something about it that just touches my soul. When I see that happen, when someone who has a lot to give like a Martin Harris and just hands it over so people can be blessed. To me, it is, it is, it is a Christ-like, it is, it is savior-centered love, a savior-centered people. If, if I remember my handcart pioneer stories, there were some people who sacrificed

a lot to build handcarts for everybody else and gave up a lot of their wealth that way. If I'm getting 17 miracles right in the movie, but I wanted to add one thing. I'm a lot older than Hank. My mission call was over the signature of Spencer W. Kimball, and he used to talk about the threefold mission of the church, proclaim the gospel, perfect the saints, and redeem the dead. And I remember hearing that a lot. That's what the church is for. President Monson added care for the poor and needy to that. And the way it's been restated in the latest handbook is really, really nice. It's very concise. In fact, you could summarize it in four words, live, care, invite, unite. And it's live the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's got the work of salvation. Live the gospel of Jesus Christ,

care for the poor and needy, invite all to come unto Christ and unite families for eternity. And it's a little easier to explain to an 11-year-old kid, we're going to unite families than to say, go redeem the dead, kid, you know, but you can tell him that he can do indexing and temple work. And so, I love the way it's been restated, live the gospel of Jesus Christ, care for the poor and needy, invite all to come unto Christ and unite families for eternity. And this, I just thought section 78 is a care for the poor and needy thing. And now that is articulated as, you know, one of the four missions of the church. Yeah.

Well said. Well, I think we can move on to section 79 and 80 and cover these two sections. These are sections that become very near and dear to some of the brethren. I know Elder Bednar's had a lot to say about missionary work, and one of my ecclesiastical callings right now is to work in a branch presidency at the MTC, and even though we're in a hiatus right now, and Elder Bednar is one of the favorite speakers to come there. And he's spoken about these two revelations, about the importance of verse two, about doing work under the direction of the comforter and directing a missionary what he would do for any given day.

But historically, what's going on here is that these revelations, you can see it's March, it's 1832. And this revelation is given to a man by the name of Jared Carter. Jared Carter has come down to Hiram, Ohio, and he's asked Joseph, what would the Lord have of me? I've just returned from my mission in the East. Jared Carter had been born in Benson, Vermont. He had been all the way from Ohio and gone along the water routes and taught the gospel along the way and had had a very successful mission. He had served about three missions at this time. Jared Carter come from a wonderful family. He had two brothers, Simeon Carter and

John Carter. They were great missionaries. These are young men in their early 20s who want to serve and do proselyting work. Jared Carter was a great journalist. He kept a journal of all his missions, as did Simeon and John. We have their records. And so we really know where they went for these missionary activities. And Jared gets down there. And by the way, I wanted to mention, Jared was baptized by Hiram Smith. And he was one of the early members of the Colesville branch.

When Jared Carter first heard the Book of Mormon preached and he read it, it was like Parley P. Pratt experience for Jared Carter. It was like a bolt of lightning to a soul. And he joined the church before he went home and then told his wife, guess what I've done? I've joined the church and we're moving to Ohio. And it changed the Carter's lives forever because he'll convert his two brothers. They'll all join the church. They'll all end up in Ohio. They'll live in Amherst. I've been to there. What do you think the Lord tells him in this revelation? Joseph approaches and asks the Lord. And you compare these two revelations together because in section 80, you have Stephen Burnett and Eden Smith.

Now they're called on a mission at the same time, very much the same experience, except for where they're called to go in these two revelations is what's important here, the difference between their missions. Notice that Jared is called, Jared Carter should go again into where? The eastern countries. From place to place, from city to city, in the power of ordination. In other words, he's to what? He's called back on his same mission he just finished. Now, what would you ask Joseph? Why are you sending me back to the same place? I just, yeah, I just finished my mission. I went up to my hometown. I spent, I was gone six months and two days.

I baptized over 30 people. And look, you want to send me back? They just heard me preach up there. It sounds like a missionary who's called back to the same area in his mission by his mission president. And the missionary would say, gosh, president, didn't you know I had served there for six months? Or it's called the good sister, brother who called the nursery, and six months ago, they had just been released from the nursery. And now they've been called back to the nursery, you know, and that's the kind of question. I served my time, right?

I served my time. I've already served there. I, you know, is there another place I can serve? Can I go up to Michigan? Later on, he will go to Michigan. And so Jared Carter, he doesn't question it, by the way. He says, if you want me to go, I will go back. Okay. Now, given what we've just been talking about here, why is Eden Smith, when he gets his call in verse section 80, when Stephen Burnett, you'll go into the world and you'll preach the gospel by the sound of your voice.

And in as much as you desire, companion, I'll give you Eden Smith. By the way, in section 75, Stephen Burnett had had another companion named Ames given I believe it's Aimes, given to him. And somehow that didn't work out. And now he's given it Eden Smith. Go and preach my gospel. And it doesn't matter if you go east or west. It matters not. You cannot go amiss. Jared Carter's like, hey, I, you know, so it doesn't matter. You can't go amiss as long as you are doing the Lord's work. But Jared, you're going to the Easter. And it's almost as if you missed somebody while you were there. It's almost said, now I'm going to send you back.

And if you will do what verse two says, I will send you upon by the comforter and you shall teach the truth along the way. And you'll find him. You'll find the person I need in the kingdom. And you can go get him because you're going to follow the comforter. And so that's the story. Is that Jared Carter goes back to Benson, Vermont, preaches the gospel there. He baptizes

practically a whole congregation of other people there, 30 or something people. By the time he's finished with his mission, he's baptized how many? 79. This is section 79. I don't know how that worked out that way. But the story of the one, the one that we needed, while all of the converts were important,

he ends up in Bolton, New York. And in Bolton, New York, he places his advertisement to preach. And the mayor of the town has to open up the building. And the mayor of the town says, I guess I have to open up the hall. And he opposed, actually, the Mormon missionaries to preach that evening. But he came anyway. He listened to them. He heard of their message of the apostasy, the restoration, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and the organization of Christ's church. Most of all, which intrigued him, he heard about the restoration of gifts of the Spirit and that miracles existed still, including the gift of healing.

He invited the missionaries, Jared Carter, and his brother companion, Simeon, to come with him down into their home that night. And this man was named John Tanner, who, as you now know, had cancer on his leg as the church made this great video. And as you know, he was healed that night and baptized in the lake right next to his home. Now, John Tanner was the mayor of the town, and he owned more property than anybody in town. He owned the hotels. He had a mercantile store.

He had all kinds of businesses. He was a wealthy man and a man of great respect. And when he joined the church, his best friends thought that he had been, you know, misrepresented and he had joined a church and that this was the worst thing that could ever happen to him and his family. But he realized the power and the gift of the priesthood and he felt the Spirit. And of course, John Tanner joins the church. It was a year later that the Spirit said to him

and he said to his wife, we need to sell what we can and move to Kirtland, Ohio. The Lord needs me there. Why? Because John Tanner walked into Kirtland with money hanging out

of his pockets. And it would result in the purchase of the land for what? The temple? The Kirtland Temple. And that's why Frederick G. Williams was put on the committee of the United Order, because he had the land, and John Tanner had the money, and the Lord crossed their paths.

And now what do you have? You have a missionary following this comforter in the spirit. And the Lord found who he needed. As you know, John Tanner will give thousands of dollars to Joseph Smith and the church. And as you know from the movie, one day Joseph said to John in the streets of Nauvoo, John, I fear that I will never be able to pay the debts to the church. And that's the movie, John's tearing up his IOUs. And he says, Joseph, you owe me nothing.

And then Joseph says, what can I do for you, John? And he says, give me a blessing. And he blessed him that his posterity, he and his posterity would never want for the things of this life. And if you know some of the Tanners in the church, O.C. Tanner, Ann Hilton Tanner, Tanner Clothing Company, all these businesses. Susan Tanner. Susan Tanner served as the young women's president of the church. John Tanner. And so the Tanners, they love their John Tanner and his story. By the way, for those listeners,

who's never seen the movie, you can just, it's on the church's website. It's called treasure in heaven, the John Tanner story. And if you've never seen it, it's worth your time. It's a marvelous resource.

And you see the Lord, the Lord can take someone like Jared Carter and accomplish the purposes of the church. And he knows his resources and where they're at. And it's the same thing is happening day in and day out of the church today. And what a blessing it is for someone like John Tanner back in that day versus the people today in our wards, in our stakes, in our branches all over the world who come and help and lift up those members of the church who are in need and contribute to the church very liberally, way beyond their means of their tithing and their fast offerings. And they're truly a consecrated individual. And John Tanner's an example of that.

I have a little follow-up story. As you know, I take all the BYU students out on the church history sites. And one of the things we ask our students to do is to prepare a biographical sketch of someone that's important to you in your life. Well, I had a student named Evan Smith. And Evan said, I'm a descendant of John Tanner. I'd like to do a report on him. I said, we're going to go to Bolton, New York, where he was baptized. And I tell you, he was excited. And he did his report.

Now, this is the miracle that happened that day. We were coming down from, we had just come over from Sharon, Vermont the day before. Around after lunch, I pulled the bus off and we drove through the town of Bolton, New York. And we were looking for a place to get off the bus. And I said, oh, there's, it looks like there's a place. Let's pull off there. So we got off the bus and we crowded into this little parking lot. And there was a home with a business there, like a law firm or something. And we could see the lake just 100 yards away. And he told the whole story. And he was baptized right there.

And we said, well, how do you know that he's baptized right there? And he says, well, Brother Mansell, didn't you see the sign in front of this home? This is where John Tanner lived. And I go, I didn't know that. How did we get here? He says, Brother Mansell, I thought you knew where his home was. And that's why you pulled off here. I go, no, I pulled off of here because we were just looking for a place and this looked like the best place. And, you know, I wish I could send the spirit said, turn off here.

But there was the sign, home of John Tanner. He lived right there. And we stood there, gave the report. Now, every time I take the group through, we go right to that place. And because we always have somebody from the Tanner family. we go right to that place. And, and because we always have somebody from the Tanner family. So that's a fun story. That is, that is a fantastic story. The, the, the things we've been talking about today in these incredible early saints, just, I don't know,

it just fills me with the desire to, to be, to be a better Latter-day Saint. I just want to be better because of all these, these stories that we hear. And I think that kind of ties into, I don't know, what we were just saying about these intersections that God has arranged for Jared Carter, for John Tanner, kind of takes us back to section 77, where the history of the world's already been written. The Lord knows exactly what he's doing. He's putting people in places and in situations to accomplish his work. Craig, Dr. Mansell, you are a historian and a scholar. You've been teaching this from church history for decades now.

You don't look it, but it has been decades now. 44 years. 44 years of teaching these things. You've taken, as you've mentioned, hundreds of students through these sites, church history sites. So I think John and I and our listeners would be greatly blessed to just hear your personal thoughts on Joseph Smith and his contemporaries in the Restoration. One time in my career as a religious educator, I was asked to, I just finished my PhD at Brigham Young University, and we had six children, and we were

at the whelms of seminaries and institute administration to go serve now, wherever they ask us. And I remember the call came to go work with seminaries and institutes in New York City. And, wow, I thought that's going to be a long ways from home. I was hesitant to take my family across the country and uproot them out of their schools and how difficult that was going to be. I was hoping for something to stay in Utah, actually. I was hoping to be, I never thought I would end up at Brigham Young University

at that time in the, I believe that was in 1987. But the call came for that was in 1987. But the call came for us by S&I. I treated it as a call to head out there. And it was a tribulation. And I went dragging my feet. My wife was probably more optimistic than I was. And on the way out, we were stopping,

we were traveling along I-80 and we were approaching Kirtland, Ohio. And I says, dear, I think we have some time and the sites are still opened in Kirtland, Ohio. Can we go and visit it? And she says, let's do it. So we dropped the kids in and we had an opportunity. We met with the missionaries there and they directed us. They were going to take us through what was called the Newell K. Whitney Store, the Bishop's Storehouse for the Kirtland Saints, and the residence of Joseph Smith and the School of the Prophets.

And I knew and loved the place. I served my mission there in Ohio. I remember the Newell K. Whitney store when it had nothing but a frame, and it was dilapidated and fallen down. Of course, the church had restored it. I loved the place, and I needed that chance and opportunity to somehow help me to understand and accept taking my family across the country. I remember I went up into, I was in the room of the School of the Prophets upstairs.

And the missionary had talked and we had read from Section 88 about the establishment of the school. And we weren't pressed for time. And as the missionaries finished, they bore their testimony and the spirit was just cut it with a knife. And I sat there for a moment and it was as if a vision opened up to me. And I was standing in the room and as I was watching the door, Joseph Smith appeared in the door

and looked in, nodded his head. And Brigham Young, and John Taylor, and Wilford Woodruff, they all walked by, and they nodded their head. It was as if I was seeing that in a, and I just thought, oh my gosh, what has been wrong with me? Here I am in the place of consecration. Here I am. And I had, I walked out of the Noel K. Whitney store 110% committed to head out for four years to serve in New York City, Long Island,

Bronx, the Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan. I had the experience of a lifetime. It wasn't easy and there was tribulation, and it was financially difficult. But I tell you, it changed my life forever. I wouldn't be here today if I had not gone and taken that assignment. I promise you that.

So what I'm saying to you, I've studied the history of the church. I've been in its historical sites. I've been in the journals and the records. And I have students from time to time who come and ask me all the questions about the translation of the Book of Mormon or the Mountain Meadow Massacre or anything they want to ask me about the troubling things they Book of Mormon or the Mountain Meadow Massacre or anything they want to ask me about the troubling things they find on the internet. And my question to them is this.

What is it that you've studied that is willing to take you out of the church? Would you please tell me what it is? Because I want to know it. Somehow it's escaped me. Would you tell me? And they'll just tell me all of it. Well, this, this, this, this, this, this.

And I said, please tell me more. I understand everything that you said. And I'm staying in the church. Why are you choosing to step away from the church? And they look at me and said, well, because of this, this, this. And I said, there isn't anything that can remove me from the church within its history or its doctrine or the weaknesses of men and women in the church. I testify to you that Joseph Smith is the prophet of the restoration.

It has been restored through him. I testify that the priesthood and salvation and exaltation can be found and that we can return and live with God. I am holding on to those truths, and I know them in my heart to be true. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Amen. John, another episode of Follow Him is in the books and we have been just as blessed. I feel like you and I are kind of, what did we do? We must have helped an old lady across the street in the pre-existence because it's nothing we did here that we deserve this. That was just wonderful. And boy, I can't wait to go to the School of the Prophets again. I just

want to sit there and imagine that same scene so john i have to tell you a story about you i was in navoo with all my students and we were in a church meeting in and you were there too and you had all your you had a group really and you were behind us in the back and my students would say brother man Mansell, that's John, by the way, back there. And I said, yes, I know, that's John. And they said, can we have him teach us, Brother Mansell? Can we get John, by the way, to teach us. And I said, I would love to have John teach us. And it would be a privilege to have him around. My students just revered you, John. And they love you. And you've done more for the youth of the church. Both you and Hank, I will tell you. And Hank, I was at Carthage and I brought the students there my BYU students and there you were on the lawn

and you had a bus load of people in front of you and you were talking about the martyrdom and I sat and listened from a distance and I was edified and educated. I remember that. I remember that.

And I said, we are in good hands. And I will tell you, you two are larger than life. And I love you. And thank you for your service in the kingdom. Because you've changed hundreds of lives. And I just wanted you to know that. Well, we can't tell you how grateful we are to you that you would come on and bring your expertise because you have changed these sections for me.

Oh, absolutely. And yeah, every time we have an expert on like you, Craig, I think, oh, now that's my favorite section of the Doctrine and Covenants. You know, section 77 before I thought, well, that's pretty interesting, you know, and then I just kind of move on. Now I look at it with new eyes and this, and that mission call section 79, you might just skip over. Oh, it's so short. Yeah. You might. We want to thank, of course, Dr. Mansell for being with us. But we want to thank all of you who listened and spent some time with us today. We're grateful for your support. Couldn't do it without you.

We're thankful for our executive producers, Steve and Shannon Sorensen. We love you both. And of course, we have a great crew who helps us out, John, behind the scenes. And we need to make sure they get acknowledged. David Perry, Lisa Spice, Jamie Nielsen, Kyle Nielsen, Will Stoughton, and Maria Hilton. Thank you all for your help. We love our team. And we hope that you'll join us on our next episode of Follow Him.