Notes on D & C 121-123

D & C 121-123 

How to turn personal tragedy into triumph. 

If you only need to read a section in the D & C #121-123 will be those sections. 

These sections are portions of a letter Joseph Smith wrote. 

This lesson focuses on faith through affliction, enduring I it well, false accusations, the knowledge of God, Unrighteous dominion, confidence before God, hitting rock bottom, the chains of hell, remaining workways. 

This is a low moment in the History of the Church. 

Joseph Smith was betrayed by his friend 

Those were all false accusations. The civil war came decades away and did a lot of damage

A dark period in the Joseph Smith’s life       

How to keep it together in adversity 

Things that happen to good or bad people the same way

Good things happen to good people 

Bad things happen to bad people 

Good things happen to bad people 

Bad things happen to good people

Think of a husband who was unfaithful to her good wife

A person who got killed in an accident by a drunk driver

Children with incredible illnesses 

Is there anything that can help us to our dark times 

The city of Far West is established in 1836 and gone in 1838 

Far West will be placed under siege and Joseph Smith will be arrested and sentenced to execution 

Missouri will issue an “Extermination order” that calls for the removal of all members of the Church from the State or be killed. 

Joseph Smith will spend the next 5 months in Liberty Jail 

Think of a place small place with half a dozen guys with no dignity, no partitions or privacy when needed to go to the bathroom they were given a bucket. 

Coronel George Hinkle “Here general are the prisoners I agreed to deliver you” 

The voices of Far West 

“My father, my father, why can’t you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you? Joseph Smith III

“God Bless you Mother” Joseph Smith Jr.

“Shoot and be damned! Lyman Wight 

“It is cold-blooded murder> I will not obey your order… and if you execute these men, I will hold you responsible before and earthly tribunal, so help me God.” Alexander Doniphan 

“on God, where art thou? Joseph Smith Jr. 

No one has ever experience anything similar to a “gethsemane” but many have experience Liberty Jails. 

How sweet the voice of a friend is when you are dealing with loneliness

What the Lord teach us even in our trials

How long will this last? 

How will you respond under affliction? 

The pavilion is a tent or a house 

We seek justice and mercy for us and punishment for our enemies 

My son, peace be still. 

Don’t fall into the pit you dug for someone else

Think that these are your days even in the dark days. 

Put things in proper perspective 

The school of hard knocks 

Nothing will stop God from speaking truth

How to lead the Savior’s way

Many are called but few are chosen 

Don’t get caught up in the things of this world 

There is a better way if you live the gospel 

Worried too much about the honors of men

Heaven is the source of the power

Think of the vacuum and the chord is the source to access that power

There is a difference between priesthood authority and priesthood power

It does no good to fight against God

Some men, as soon as they get authority, they practice unrighteous dominium

I stand by Joseph Smith 

What gives  you confidence? 

If I know I am making a difference 

Loving people and worthy of the Holy Ghost 

What is there to fear? 

We study the doctrine of the priesthood in #20, 27, 84, 107, 91, 112 

The fools are against Joseph and the wise are with him

It’s amazing how the Lord knows we are suffering, is like saying: “ I know what you are going through” 

The kind of learning you only get with facing even hell itsef. 

The son of man has descended this all

Hitting rock bottom

Job, Paul and Joseph all went through similar experiences 

Jesus is the one who has descended them all

Just endure it well. Fear Not! 

Write down all your abuses, false accusations, personal injuries, loses and present a legal case

Allowed justice to be ministered and need evidence list all the facts. 

Thousands of people driven from their homes

Not enough to enforce the constitution when grateful for the early pioneers  

What happened needs to be documented. Trust in the Lord that will do everything 

Joseph was transformed a different better person

Have a home in heaven not made with hands.

Liberty jail was like a temple prison but what Joseph Smith learned is what gave him confidence. Elder Holland gave a BYU devotional in September 2008 Lessons from Liberty Jail. 

 

I have never experienced a jail cell but when I visited Liberty Jail, I was amazed at how small that room was and how cold it would have been in the winter of 1838-1839. Joseph’s hand must have been shaking when he wrote the letter to the Saints from a cold dungeon prison in Liberty, Missouri. He and several other men had been wrongfully accused and thrown into a basement cell with awful conditions for some of the coldest months on record. Yet, as I read the letter, I felt that his concerns were not so much for his welfare as for that of his fellow Saints, who being beaten, driven from their homes and even killed. Normally jail cells are reserved for the guilty but during those months, they were occupied by innocent servants of God, who spent the days and nights pleading for his help. “O, God, where are thou? “I remember a dark time in my life when I was living a similar “liberty jail” in my life and like it was promised, I found peace. “peace be unto thy soul, thine adversity and thine affliction shall be but a small moment.” 

 

Con amor,

Vero