Nauvoo
Week 18 (11-17 April 2016)
Monday
we worked in the Temple. That evening we
had Family home evening. Dr. Craig Dunn
spoke to us about the appearance (what did he really look like) of the Prophet
Joseph Smith. He told us that Joseph was
around 185 lbs to 215 lbs at his death.
He was 6 feet tall, and had flaxon red hair and dark blue eyes, that
were deep set and large. Most of the
photos of Joseph in his time came from Sudcliffe Modsley who lived in
Nauvoo. He did profilist pictures where
he would shine a light on his profile; he would trace that profile and then
fill it in. Lucien Foster was a
photographer in 1844 also did picture of Joseph. When Joseph and Hyrum died they made a death
mask of both of them. D.J. Bawden a sculptor
did Joseph and Hyrum statues that are across the street from the front of the
Temple, depicting them riding on their horses on the way to carthage jail. They stopped up by the Temple to take one last
look before leaving.
After
Elder Dunn was finished President and Sister McArthur passed out our new
schedules and activities that we will be doing with the new couples the week
they arrive. There will be 32 new
couples come to work in the Temple. It
will be fun to meet them and to help orient them to this Temple. That means that in a couple of weeks we will
have someone living below us, which means we will have to be quieter!
On
Tuesday, we had another Susan Easton Black lecture. She talked about Lorenzo Snow. He was not a big man about 5ft. 6ins. and 152
lbs. He came from a well-to-do family
who live in Mantua, Ohio. He had
military aspirations. He wanted to be as
great as Washington on the sea instead of land.
His sister is Eliza R. Snow. He
went to Kirtland Ohio to live and he was not a member yet. He goes to the Johnson farm and hears Joseph
speak, but he is not interested. He was
going to attend Oberlin College in Ohio but his sister Eliza tells him that
there is a wonderful school in Kirtland and she convinces him to come to the School
of the Prophets. He is very quiet, but
he becomes friends with Joseph Smith Sr.
He asked how it was that these unlearned men knew so much. He told him it was because they had received
the Holy Ghost and that they were being prompted through the Holy Ghost as they
studied. He asks how he can receive it and he is taught the gospel and
baptized. He then goes to the class
again thinking that he would have more knowledge and he is told that he needed
to be baptized by fire. He prayed that the Holy Ghost would dwell with him and
then things became clearer. Joseph Smith
Sr. gave him a patriarchal blessing where he gave him the Priesthood power to
raise the dead. He asked the Prophet
what he should do and he told him to serve a Mission which he did for ten years
at which point he was 31 and still single.
He marries and is sealed to two women on the same day in the Nauvoo
Temple. He goes to Utah - he is an
Apostle. He was assigned to talk at a
stake conference in Farmington and he is given a note before he is to speak,
telling him that one of his relatives who lives there is very sick, and was
asking him to come and bless this person.
He tells the Stake President that he will speak when he returns from
giving the blessing. When he gets there they
say Uncle Lorenzo you are too late, she is dead. He asks for oil and climbs on the body three
times. He asks for inspiration and
basically performs CPR on her. He returns
to the stake conference meeting and gives his talk. His relative is alive and the first words she
said is “Where is Eder Snow, he called me back.” When Lorenzo is serving as an Apostle he
hears that Wilford Woodruff had gone to San Francisco and had passed away. Lorenzo goes to the Holy of Holies and he
fasts and prays for three days, hoping that he would have permission to raise Wilford
from the dead. He sees Jesus Christ who
tells him that Wilford is with him and that he should reconstitute the first
Presidency immediately. He is put in as
President of the Church with his counselors George Q. Cannon and Joseph F.
Smith. He was the first Prophet to send
women on missions. President Snow and President Joseph F. Smith were headed to
St. George and are in two separate carriages.
President Smith said he was tired of going so slow behind the Prophet’s
carriage and asks if they can pass them up.
President Snow says no, and then from that point they have a race the
rest of the way to St. George! He gives
the address about Tithing, telling the Saints that if they will pay an honest tithe,
that the Lord would open the windows of heaven and that it would rain, so they
could still have crops. It did not rain
immediately and he prayed and prayed and said I will give you anything Lord
even my life if you will make it rain.
Of course we know that it did rain and the Saints were blessed for their
faithfulness.
On
Thursday, Susan gives us another lecture on members of the church. She spoke about 4 types of people: 1) 9% stay
Faithful 2) a Very Large leave the church, then come back 3) another Large
group leave the church and never return and 4) 8% Leave the church and then
FIGHT against it. Those of the first
group have two things in common; Confidence and the Spirit (a pipeline to
heaven). Joseph Smith and Brigham Young
are good examples of group one. Thomas B. Marsh is an example of the second
group; he is excommunicated over the strippings of his wife’s milk (to make cheese). His wife is complaining that Lucinda Harris
is cheating on her portions; he takes this to many church councils and is told
that if there was any cheating that his wife was the one who was doing it. Finally in a rage, he is angry and he goes to
Governor Boggs and tells him that Joseph had ruled that his wife was actually
at fault and proceeds to tell him lies about Joseph and how he is a fallen
Prophet. It was right after this
conversation that Governor Boggs issues the extermination order of the Saints. He stayed away from the church for 16
years. He had lost his family and was
basically a popper. He goes to Utah and
the Saints are having a Conference and he walks in. He wants to be a member again. Brigham Young has him come to the front and sit
down by him. When he stands he tells
Marsh to stand next to him. He goes into
all of the things he had done against the church and the letter he wrote to Governor
Boggs. He then asks for a vote if they
think he should be reinstated. The vote was unanimous to accept him back. He promises that he will never fall
again. Brigham calls him out and
basically says he will. He did leave
again and was later baptized into the RLDS church.
An
example of the third group is John F. Boynton; a former Apostle leaves the
church never to return. He was an
inventor; inventing many useful items, the first fire extinguisher, the soda
fountain, torpedoes, a levy system for lifting heavy things out of water, and one
of the first family history programs. He
was asked to come west, but he said he would only do so if Brigham would send
him wagons to take all of his inventions.
Brigham tells him no and he tells him that if he stays he will die. He died right after this exchange of words.
An
example of the fourth group is Almon W. Babbitt, a Stake President in June
1844. He was disfellowshipped on at
least 4 occasions and later reinstated, was eventually excommunicated for
creating a golden calf (creating his own counsel instead of listening to the
counsel of the Lord. He is mentioned in
D&C 124. He was always bitter, had
no joy, and was angry all the time. He
was a lawyer. Joseph sent some men to
ask him to represent him in the trial at Carthage, and he said he had been
asked by the accusers first. He was eventually
killed while making one of his many trips to Washington D.C.
In
the evening Sister Black gave another lecture about who will be our leader,
after the death of Joseph? Sidney Rigdon
said that he should be the guardian of the Church after reportedly seeing an
angel. He wants the Saints to go to
Pittsburgh instead of the Rocky Mountains.
Nauvoo is in chaos and not
knowing who was in charge. Willard
Richards and John Taylor are recovering, they being the two witnesses of the martyrdom. Sidney sets a date, August 7th for
a meeting. Brigham and 10 Apostles are
serving a Political mission in Boston to let others know about Joseph Smith
running for President. Brigham Young
finds out by reading a newspaper that Joseph and Hyrum have been killed. He comes back on August 7th to
Nauvoo. He hears about the meeting that
Sidney has called and goes to ask him if he may speak also. While Sidney speaks the wind is howling and
nobody can hear him but he still talks for two and a half hours. Brigham Young gets up and the wind
stops. As Brigham stands to speak people
see Joseph in his countenance, and he sounds like Joseph (Mantel of Joseph). Those who were touched by the spirit witness
this. He talks for two and a half
minutes and the leadership falls to the quorum of the Twelve. The vote was taken; there were ten thousand
people there, the vote was unanimous- the church leadership should be given to
the Twelve. Sidney Rigdon tells the people that Satan has deceived them and 1,000
people went with him to Pittsburg. James
T. Strang claims to be a prophet and says that he is translating the brass
plate material. He claimed he had a
letter from Joseph stating that he should be the new Prophet. He eventually proclaims himself "King" Strang;
2,000 people from Nauvoo follow him and he goes to Beaver Island, Wisconsin. His church grows to 12,000. He is killed by the congregation after a
speech. Membership of the current church
is 124. William Smith, son of Lucy Mack
Smith, has been ordained to be the Presiding Patriarch-is excommunicated after
proclaiming his right to the Presidency (lineage of Joseph). He begins to form
a church that is patterned after the original Latter-day Saint Church with many
of those saints who could not go west or had stopped during the crossing of
Missouri. He becomes the President
Pro-Tem of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and
takes a group to Kentucky. The RLDS ask
Joseph Smith III to be the President of the Reorganized Church of Jesus
Christ. He turns it down 3 times due to
other aspirations he has; finally accepting in 1860 and all that he wanted to
do had failed. Brigham Young leads the saints
west, and becomes Prophet of the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints. This action was approved by the saints in
Kanesville, IA. Oliver Cowdery also
showed up to this meeting, after being separated from the Church for many years
and is welcomed back into the Church-rebaptism happening a little later.
We
are grateful for the privilege of serving here in Nauvoo.
Love,
Mom & Dad/Nana
& Papa/Elder & Sister Shaw 
