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Missionary Work and Callings

Missionary Work and Callings. D&C 79, 80, 81, 99, 106, 108. The Big IF’s. Callings are conditional These revelations may not include fascinating content, but they do set an important example Missionary work was a novel concept in the Church, but a well-known practice in broader culture.

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Missionary Work and Callings

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  1. Missionary Work and Callings D&C 79, 80, 81, 99, 106, 108

  2. The Big IF’s • Callings are conditional • These revelations may not include fascinating content, but they do set an important example • Missionary work was a novel concept in the Church, but a well-known practice in broader culture

  3. Missiology and Ecclesiology • A Proselytizing Nation • Circuit ministers • Influence of Baptists and Methodists • Mix of Amateurs and Professionals

  4. Missiology and Ecclesiology • Began before the Organization of the LDS Church • Led to settlement of Ohio and Missouri • “Saturated” Ohio in 1830s • Mix of Long and Short missions • Sent without Purse or Scrip

  5. Section 79 Origin • Jared Carter returned from a successful mission that had taken him through parts of Pennsylvania and New York to Vermont and back. He continued preaching the gospel locally in northeastern Ohio after his return. Then in March 1832 he went to Hiram, Ohio, home of Joseph “the seer to inquire the will of the Lord concerning my ministry the ensuing season. And the word of the Lord came forth.”

  6. Section 79 Origin • John Murdock baptized and confirmed Stephen Burnett, who was filled with the Holy Ghost and a desire to take the gospel to his relatives. He led his parents into the church and was called to preach in January 1832 (D&C 75:35) and again in Section 80.

  7. Section 79 Outcome • Jared noted that April 25, 1832 marked “the commencement of a mission by Jared Carter, a servant of the Lord.” He followed the revelation specifically, going from town to town in the power of his ordination, “which was to the high privilege of administering in the name of Jesus Christ.” Jared went northeast along Lake Erie and continued on to Benson, Vermont, his birthplace, proclaiming the everlasting gospel in each location. He battled opposition and bouts of deep discouragement. He kept careful track of his obedience to the revelation and the fulfillment of the promised blessings. His records testify that, as promised, the Lord sent him the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, to teach him the truth and where he should go. And since Jared was faithful to Section 79, the Lord crowned him again with a bountiful harvest. Jared summarized his service after returning in October. “I have been gone six months and two days. The Lord has permitted me to administer the Gospel to 79 souls and many others by my instrumentality have been convinced of this most glorious work.” He rejoiced on the completion of his difficult yet successful mission. “God has blessed me according to the prophecy of Brother Joseph before I went from Ohio,” Jared wrote. “He has blessed me with sheaves.”

  8. Section 80 Outcome • Stephen and Eden Smith started on their mission on July 15 and spent a few days together declaring the gospel in villages south of Kirtland, Ohio. Stephen also went east with success. He “was the first one that sounded the glad tidings of the everlasting gospel” in Dalton, New Hampshire. But then he apostatized in the wave of disaffection from the church in 1837 and 1838. Stephen allied with Warren Parrish and others who were finding fault with Joseph Smith. The Prophet attributed Stephen’s apostasy to materialism. His “heart was so set on money that he would at any time sell his soul for fifty dollars; and then think he had made an excellent bargain; and who had got wearied of the restraints of religion, and could not bear to have his purse taxed.” When Stephen tried but failed to regain the Holy Spirit he “proclaimed all revelation lies” and, tragically, left the church.

  9. Section 81 Origin • The Lord began organizing his First Presidency in early 1832. A conference in Amherst, Ohio sustained Joseph Smith as president of the high priests in January. On March 8, 1832, Joseph chose and ordained Sidney Rigdon and Jesse Gause. A week later Joseph received Section 81, giving Gause instructions for fulfilling his calling. 

  10. Section 81 Outcomes • Jesse Gause left the church by 1833 and the Lord appointed Frederick Williams to replace him. In an early manuscript of Section 81, Jesse's name is simply crossed out and Frederick's inserted. As a free agent, Jesse chose not to abide by the Lord's terms and conditions. But here as elsewhere in the revelations, the Lord simply replaced him and the kingdom rolled forward. (See D&C 56 and 124:91-95).   • Kirtland Revelation Book, 10-11, Church History Library, Salt Lake City.

  11. Section 99 Origin • John Murdock, an early convert, said, “The spirit of the Lord rested on me,” he wrote, “witnessing to me of the truth.” John's wife Julia believed. He wrote that he “was filled with the spirit as I read” to her. He asked Oliver and his companions to baptize him in the cold Chagrin River. He was immersed, confirmed, and ordained an elder by the power of the Holy Priesthood. “It was truly a time of the outpouring of the spirit.” John wrote. “I know the spirit rested on me as it never did before.” • Many families received the good news of the gospel from John Murdock as he consecrated himself and his family to the church • Julia died just hours after giving birth to twins in April 1831, leaving John to care for five children • Section 52 called John to preach and travel to Missouri in the summer of 1831 • John shouldered and balanced his priesthood responsibilities to nurture the children and preach the gospel the best he could • Made a selfless decision to accept an invitation from Joseph Smith to let he and Emma, whose twins had just perished, to adopt his • John left his other children in the care of relatives and fellow saints and endured a long, sickly, and extremely successful mission to Missouri and back, where he found his children well with the exception of little Joseph, who had succumbed to measles after being exposed when the Prophet was mobbed in March 1832 (See Section 71). •  John nurtured his children, regained his health, and served in the church in Ohio until August 1832, when Section 99 called him back to the mission field.

  12. Section 99 Outcomes John wrote that having received Section 99, “I immediately commenced to arrange my business and provide for my children and send them up to the Bishop in Zion,” Edward Partridge. Then John set out to preach the gospel. Some received him as the revelation predicted. Others, including his in-laws, rejected. They “met with a Dr. Matthews, a very wicked man” who rejected their offering. John documented how they applied Section 99: “We bore testimony according to the commandment and the Lord helped us in tending to the ordinance” of cleansing their feet. • John Murdock, “An Abridged Record of the Life of John Murdock, Taken from His Journal by Himself,” typescript, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.

  13. Section 106 Origin • When Joseph and others went east in March 1834 to recruit volunteers to march to the aid of Saints who had been exiled from Zion in Missouri, he visited Warren A. Cowdery, an older brother of Oliver and convert living at Freedom, New York, where he was a leading citizen practicing medicine and operating a pharmacy. Warren housed and fed Joseph and his companions generously as they preached the gospel and gained converts. In November, Joseph received Section 106 as a call for Warren Cowdery to preside over the growing number of Saints in his area. • Jessee, Papers of Joseph Smith, 2:24.

  14. Section 106 Outcomes • Warren presided over his fellow Saints in New York until he and his family moved to Kirtland early in 1836. There he served the Church as a scribe and recorder but by 1838 he became one of many who did not “continue” in their faithful witness as lights to the Church. • Elders’ Journal, August 1838, 59; Jessee, Personal Writings of Joseph Smith (2nd ed.), 667.

  15. Section 108 Origin • Joseph Smith was studying his Hebrew lesson on 26 December 1835 when Lyman Sherman, who was serving in the quorum of the seventy, came to his home and said he had been “wrought upon to make known to you my feelings and desires, and was promised that I should have a revelation which should make known my duty.” Joseph received Section 108 and recorded it in his journal. • Joseph Smith, Journal, 26 December 1835, Joseph Smith Collection, 1827-1844, Church History Library, Salt Lake City.

  16. Section 108 Outcomes • The way Section 108 came to Lyman Sherman reveals much about the order of revelation. Joseph Smith taught that revelations were universally available to mankind directly, but also that there was order to revelation. Lyman's role as a general authority and his invitation to the upcoming solemn assembly were matters to be revealed through Joseph Smith. In verse 1, the Lord forgave Lyman because he submissively acknowledged and followed this order. He was a loyal, devoted saint. In January 1839, the First Presidency called Lyman as an apostle but he died before he could fill the calling.

  17. Discussion • Reflections on Parley Pratt and William McLellin • The paradox: important to the Church, not important to the Church • Interpreting if/then clauses • Dissent

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