Church History and the D&C Part 2 Day 10

Thought: THE TEMPLE ENDOWMENT, AS ADMINISTERED IN MODERN TEMPLES, COMPRISES INSTRUCTION RELATING TO THE SIGNIFICANCE AND SEQUENCE OF PAST DISPENSATIONS, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PRESENT AS THE GREATEST ERA IN HUMAN HISTORY. THIS COURSE OF INSTRUCTION INCLUDES A RECITAL OF THE MOST PROMINENT EVENTS OF THE CREATIVE PERIOD, THE CONDITION OF OUR FIRST PARENTS IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN, THEIR DISOBEDIENCE AND CONSEQUENT EXPULSION FROM THAT BLISSFUL ABODE, THE CONDITION IN THE LONE AND DREARY WORLD WHEN DOOMED TO LIVE BY LABOR AND SWEAT, THE PLAN OF REDEMPTION BY WHICH THE GREAT TRANSGRESSION MAY BE ATONED, THE PERIOD OF THE GREAT APOSTASY, THE RESTORATION OF THE GOSPEL WITH ALL ITS ANCIENT POWERS AND PRIVILEGES, THE ABSOLUTE AND INDISPENSABLE CONDITION OF PERSONAL PURITY AND DEVOTION TO THE RIGHT IN PRESENT LIFE, AND A STRICT COMPLIANCE WITH GOSPEL REQUIREMENTS.” (House of the Lord, p. 83-84)

“Enter this door as if the floors were paved with Gold; And every wall of jewels all of wealth untold; As if a choir in robes of fire were singing here; No shout nor rush, but hush, for God is here.” – Spencer W. Kimball
“I know your lives are busy. I know that you have much to do. But I make you a promise that if you will go to the house of the Lord, you will be blessed; life will be better for you.” – Gordon B. Hinckley
"As a result of the sacred ordinances performed in the holy house of God, no light need be permanently extinguished, no voice permanently stilled, no place in our heart permanently left vacant." —Thomas S. Monson "What a glorious thing it is for us to have the privilege of going to the temple for our own blessings. Then after going to the temple for our own blessings, what a glorious privilege to do the work for those who have gone on before us." —Howard W. Hunter
"Temples are places of personal revelation. When I have been weighed down by a problem or a difficulty, I have gone to the House of the Lord with a prayer in my heart for answers. The answers have come in clear and unmistakable ways." —Ezra Taft Benson

"Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the house of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father."—Brigham Young

"Clearly, when we baptize, our eyes should gaze beyond the baptismal font to the holy temple. The great garner into which the sheaves should be gathered is the holy temple." —Neal A. Maxwell

"Temple. One other word is equal in importance to a Latter-day Saint. Home. Put the words holy temple and home together, and you have described the house of the Lord!" —Boyd K. Packer

"The wearing of the temple garment bears great symbolic significance and represents a continuing commitment. Just as the Savior gave us an example of His ability to endure to the end, wearing the garment is one way we demonstrate enduring faith in Him and in His eternal covenants with us". (Elder Russell M. Nelson, Prepare for the Blessings of the Temple, Liahona 2010

“Let us be a temple-attending people. Attend the temple as frequently as personal circumstances allow. Keep a picture of a temple in your home that your children may see it. Teach them about the purposes of the House of the Lord. Have them plan from their earliest years to go there and to remain worthy of that blessing.” (HWHunter “Exceeding Great and Precious Promises, ” Ensign, Nov. 1994, 8.)

"By virtue of the sacred priesthood in me vested, I promise you that, with increased attendance in the temples of God, you shall receive increased personal revelation to bless your life as you bless those who have died." (ETB CR-Apr. 1987 p. 108)

"When the gospel is preached to the spirits in prison, the success attending that preaching will be far greater than that attending the preaching of our elders in this life. I believe there will be very few indeed of those spirits who will not gladly receive the gospel when it is carried to them. The circumstances there will be a thousand times more favorable." (Lorenzo Snow -Millennial Star, Oct. 6, 1893 P. 718)

"One of the great values of the temple experience is that is...presents the broad, sweeping panorama of God's purposes relating to this earth. Once we have been through the temple (and we can return and refresh our memories) the events of life fit into the scheme of things. We can see in perspective where we are, and we can quickly see when we are off course. (BKPacker "The Holy Temple p. 47)

Books of the Week- "House of Glory" S. Michael Wilcox; "The House of the Lord" James E. Talmage; "The Holy Temple" Boyd K. Packer; "Temple Worship: 20 Truths That Will Bless Your Life" Andrew C. Skinner

1. President Benson-Fridays 2. Never read a book you can comprehend in 1 reading. 3. 3 Nephi 17:3-formula. 4. D&C 88:118-Ask one another for clarification 5. Ezekiel 47-Waters to swim in 6. D&C 109-Make a list of every blessing that comes to the Saints from temple worship.

Church History by the Year 1841

1823-Nov	Alvin Smith died
1836-Jan. 21	Section 137-Joseph sees Alvin in the Celestial Kingdom-Kirtland Temple 2 months before temple dedication. D&C 110 received Apr. 3, 1836
1840-Aug. 15	Funeral of Seymour Brunson-Doctrine of Baptism for dead announced
1841-Jan. 15	1st Pres. Proclamation- Gather to Nauvoo & thanks to Illinois.
1841-Jan. 19	Section 124 received by Joseph in Nauvoo-Work to be done in Nauvoo 1-Temple
1841-Mar	Section 125-Iowa Saints
1841-Apr	Conference in Manchester. 7,500 converts, 5,000 BOM's, 3,000 hymn books, 50,000 tracts,1,000 emigrants to America
1841-April 6	Cornerstone of Nauvoo Temple laid-Term Ward began to be used
1841-July 0	Section 126-Brigham stay home
1841-Aug. 7	Don Carlos died age 25 of malaria
1841-Aug. 16	New Responsibilities to 12 - "The time has come when the 12 should be called upon to stand in their place next to the 1st Presidency, and attend to the settling of emigrants and the business of the Church at the Stakes, and to assist to bear off the kingdom victoriously to the nations" (HC IV, p. 403)
1841-Oct. 2	Cornerstones of Nauvoo House laid. (March 1844-work postponed-temple priority)
1841-Oct. 21	Orson Hyde dedicated Palestine for the return of the Jews
1841-Nov. 21	1st Baptism's for dead performed in Temple-(Basement rooms & font dedicated-8th)
1842-May 4	Endowment given in Red Brick Store to 9 brethren
1842-Sept.	D&C 127 & 128 written by Joseph from hiding
1845-Nov.	Attic of Temple dedicated
1845-Dec. 10	Endowments 1st given in temple. Scores each day (107 on Christmas)
1846-Jan. 10	Brigham goes home from temple once a week. 4 hours sleep a night
1846-Feb. 3	Brigham can't leave temple. In 8 weeks before exodus, 5,500 endowed.
1846-Feb. 8	Informal dedication held by Brigham prior to heading west.
1846-Apr. 30	Temple privately dedicated by Joseph Young-Senior Pres. of 70
1846-May 1	Official dedicatory prayer by Orson Hyde
1848-Oct. 9	Interior of temple burned by arsonist.
1850-May 27	Tornado demolished 3 of exterior walls. (1856-last wall demolished for safety)
2013-Nov. 13	Temples - 141 Operating (1 Under Renovation), 13 Under Construction, 16 Announced

 

Section 137 A vision given to Joseph Smith the Prophet, in the temple at Kirtland, Ohio, January 21, 1836. The occasion was the administration of ordinances in preparation for the dedication of the temple.

Oliver wrote that the glorious scene is too great to be describe...I only say that he heavens were opened to many, and great and marvelous things were shown.  Bishop Partridge affirmed that some of the brethren saw visions and others were blessed with the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. Joseph was the only one present to describe in detail some of what he experienced.

Section 124

Vs. 1 - Hardly a compliment!

Vs. 2-14- A proclamation to be written by Robert Thompson who died in 1841. Finally written by PPP and published by Willard Richards in England on April 6, 1845, as a 16  page pamphlet entitled "Proclamation of the 12 to the Kings of the World."

Vs. 3- William Henry Harrison

Vs. 15-You gotta love Hyrum- "I have it from the lips of my own sainted mother, that of all the men she was acquainted with iln her girlhood days in Nauvoo, she admired Hyrum Smith most for his absolute integrity and devotioin to God, and his loyalty to the prophet of God. (Heber J. Grant-CR-Oct. 1920)

Vs. 16-17- Loving John C. Bennett is a bigger challenge. Note the 3 "ifs" in these verses.

Vs. 22-24- The Nauvoo House was never completed as originally designed. Emma inherited the building (vs. 56)- married Lewis C. Bidamon, who tore down one wing of the Nauvoo House to complete a smaller two-story house on the southwest corner of the original building. (Rev. of the Rest. p. 970)

Vs. 27- A command to build the Nauvoo Temple.

Vs. 29- 1st D&C mention of Baptisms for the Dead.

Vs. 49-54- Contrast with 1 Nephi 3:7 (Temples in Jackson, Far West and Adam-ondi-Ahman)

Vs. 56-83-Back to Nauvoo House

Vs. 84- Almon Babbitt- a yo-yo

Vs. 91- William Law 2nd Counselor taking Hyrum's place who was called as Church Patriarch and Assistant President, taking Oliver Cowdery's place

Vs. 130- Lyman Wight will be called to replace David Patten.

Vs. 133-Don Carlos-1st called in Kirtland -Today Stake Presidents. Died of Malaria in 1841-age 25

Section 125- The name “Zarahemla” was given to a small Mormon settlement across the Mississippi River from Nauvoo. In August 1841 a conference was held there during which John Smith was sustained as president of the stake in Iowa, with David Pettigrew and M. C. Nickerson as his counselors. The stake was dissolved three years later; a second stake for Iowa would not be organized until 1966. The population of Lee County Iowa - 1839-2,839. 1846-12,860.

Section 126- When Joseph and Brigham met for the 1st6 time in 1832 -Brigham was call on to pray. He spoke in tongues-the 1st instance in this dispensation. Afterwards, it is asserted, the Prophet said, "A time will come when Brother Brigham will preside over this Church." (Whitney's Hist. of Utah, Vol. I p. 112)

Section 127- A recorder necessary for baptisms.

Section 128- At the home of Edward Hunter. From that home, in the attic, Joseph could see the temple construction.

Vs. 11- Summum bonum means "the supreme or highest good.

"Where did Joseph Smith get his knowledge? Few if any of the sources available to us were available to him; the best of these have been discovered only in recent years, while the citations from the others are only to be found scattered at wide intervals through works so voluminous that even had they been available to the Prophet, he would, lacking modern aids, have had to spend a lifetime running them down. And even had he found these passages, how could they have meant more to him than they did to the most celebrated divines of a thousand years, who could make nothing of them? This is a region in which great theologians are lost and bemused; to have established a rational and satisfying doctrine and prectice on grounds so dubious is indeed a tremendous achievement.  Work for the dead is an all-important phase of Mormonism about which the world knows virtually nothing."  (Hugh Nibley, "Baptism for the Dead in Ancient Times," p. 148-149)

Vs. 24 One of the most troublesome aspects of our temple activity is that as we get more and more temples scattered across the earth there is duplication of effort in proxy work. People in various nations simultaneously work on the same family lines and come up with the same names. They do not know that those in other areas are doing the same thing. We, therefore, have been engaged for some time in a very difficult undertaking. To avoid such duplication, the solution lies in complex computer technology. Preliminary indications are that it will work, and if this is so, it will be a truly remarkable thing with worldwide implications.