Crandall Museum

Thursday Evening I went with my Doctrine and Covenants class to the Crandall Printing museum. I enjoyed it more than I thought it would. I've been to the printing office at Nauvoo several times, so I didn't think I'd learn much. I must say I did enjoy whispering to a friend of mine several facts/comments right before the guides said them, but even more, I enjoyed the artifacts that they had there. Every room held something that cannot be found in any other museum in the world.

Another thing I enjoyed about my experience is that it was made even more evident to me how much of a miracle the printing of the Book of Mormon was. It's amazing that the printing was able to be finished so quickly. In 7 months, they were able to print 5,000 copies of the book. That's an average of about 24 books worth of pages a day. It is another testament to me that it truly is a book of God. 5000 was a ridiculous amount of books to be printed at the time. A book binder who visited the museum did not at first believe that so many copies of the Book of Mormon could possibly have been printed in that first printing. He was confident that the guide must have been mistaken and accidentally said 5,000 instead of 500.

Another miracle to me was that the church was able to finance the book. If Joseph had not been positioned near Martin Harris, he would never have been able to come up with the money to ensure that the printer would be paid for his labor.

One thing that was stressed was how much of an influence Gutenburg had on the world. His invention remained for the most part unchanged for hundreds of years. With it, the Bible was printed, making it available for more than just the most wealthy people. The Book of Mormon was printed through the same invention.

In my stake a few years ago, we celebrated the ac175th anniversary of the first printing of the Book of Mormon and the organization of the church by giving away, as a stake, 5,000 copies of the book to represent the 5,000 books that were first printing. This was a really cool experience for me. I only gave away one or two copies, but this reenactment of sorts was a really good way for our stake to connect ourselves with our heritage.

At the Crandall Printing Museum, I was once again reminded of how much God is in control of the universe. In the 1400's, He was preparing for the printing of the Book of Mormon by inspiring Gutenberg to create a printing press with movable type. In 1825, only 5 years before the printing of the Book of Mormon, the Eerie Canal was opened, letting a printing press be more easily shipped to the town where Joseph was living. God knows what he's doing, and he prepares the way for His work to be accomplished.

Gather at the Ohio

"And again, a commandment I give unto the church, that it is expedient in me that they should assemble together at the Ohio, against the time that my servant Oliver Cowdery shall return unto them."

This revelation was given to Joseph in late 1830, and has had countless ramifications on my ancestors, and by extension, me. It is simply because of my ancestors' willingness to leave their homes behind and follow the Lord's command through the prophet to gather to Ohio, Nauvoo, and Utah that I have been blessed with the rich heritage that I have been given.

One example of this is Newel Knight and Lydia Goldthwaite. In November of 1835, they became the first couple ever to be married by the prophet Joseph Smith. Newel and Lydia had a daughter named Sally who became my 4th great grandmother. If Newel and Lydia had not moved to Kirtland to be with the saints, they would have never met.

About 50 of my ancestors were directly influenced by this call to gather. They left their homes and moved, many of them crossing great oceans, to join the body of the saints. Because of this, I was able to grow up in a home that was full of the gospel. Because of this call to gather, every one of my ancestors that were descended from those of my ancestors who heeded the call were able to have that same blessing. I will be forever grateful to these ancestors for the many blessings I've received for their righteous choices.

D&C 25, Women and the Church

I have often heard the sentiment that women in our church are oppressed. Someone once asked me why a woman would ever want to join the Mormon church. I then learned that she had been under the impression that polygamy was still practiced, but this is not the only time I've heard this expressed in some form or another. However, Women in our church have always had many rights that were denied most women in their time. This equality between women and men is apparent in D&C 25. This is the first section in the Doctrine and Covenants that is given to a woman. This section is given to Emma Smith in July of 1830. This equality between women and men is evident even from the first verse. The Lord calls Emma "my daughter", and then says,"all those who receive my gospel are sons and daughters in my kingdom." Verse 2 speaks of Emma receiving an "inheritance in zion", and suggests having it independently from her husband. In verse 6, Emma is seen as a replacement for Oliver, doing a man's work by being Joseph's scribe. Verse 7 says: "And thou shalt be ordained under his hand to expound scriptures, and to exhort the church, according as it shall be given thee by my Spirit." This is very radical for the time because Emma, a woman, was told she had authority to interpret the scriptures and preach, not only to the women, but the men also. In verse 5, God told Emma to support her husband, and in verse 9 the Lord mirrors this by telling Emma that Joseph to support Emma. This also shows the equality between Joseph and his wife. In verse 11, the Lord commands Emma to compile a selection of hymns. Many would argue that it would make more sense for W.W. Phelps to create the first hymn book, since he wrote many of the hymns in our hymnbook. However, the Lord asked Emma, a woman, to fulfill this task.

This section also sets a precedent for a very musically-focused church. The state of Utah has more pianos per house than any other state. There is also no place that has as high of a percentage of people taking piano lessons. LDS homes place high emphasis on music. I think that this is at least in part because the Lord thought this was important enough to give a revelation on it. Verse 12 says: "For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads." From this verse we learn that the hymns are prayers when sang by the righteous. Emma was given authority to decide which prayers would be sung by the saints. This is an immense responsablility, and it was given to a woman, not the prophet Joseph, not the composer W.W. Phelps, not the previous minister Sydney Rigdon.

This chapter set the precedent for equality between women and men that began in Joseph's time and which we continue to enjoy today.

The Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ

Most sections of the Doctrine and Covenants are just known by a number, but a few sections have been given specific titles. Among these is section 20, which has been given the name "The Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ"(D&C 42). This revelation was very important to the developing church and acted as a handbook for its organization. It was also used as a tool for missionaries to spread the gospel.

This revelation begins with 12 verses containing a brief history of the church. It then continues by teaching of the gospel, briefly describing the creation, the fall, and the atonement. Reading this portion reminded me of the lessons that were taught to King Lamoni and also his father (Alma 18 and 22). I think it's interesting that these three subjects are emphasized as being the first things taught to those two men who were both so willing to believe. After this portion, starting with verse 37, instructions are given for things such as how different offices of the priesthood opperate, how baptism should be performed, and how the sacrament should be passed.

To go on a brief tangent, a few years ago, I attended a Community of Christ church. While in the service, I was very surprised at how similar they were to ours. I was slightly confused when they started to read the sacrament prayers and everyone knelt down. My dad showed me verse 76 of this section: "and after this manner shall he administer it—he shall kneel with the church and call upon the Father in solemn prayer, saying..." That cleared up my confusion.
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This revelation was read and copied more times than any other revelation in the early days of the church. It was very valuable because, as the official church handbook was not yet written, this served as a means to keep the church a house of order and a house of God.

Joseph Knight

I was turning to section 13 in the D&C when something in the section heading for 12 caught my eye. Joseph Knight Sr. is my 6th great grandfather, the oldest member in my line, so every time I see his name, I stop to see what it's saying to him. To my great surprise, it was a section I was studying last week. That just goes to show how well I look at the section headings. I really loved reading what it said about him there:

"Joseph Knight believed the declarations of Joseph Smith concerning his possession of the Book of Mormon plats and the work of translation then in progress, and several ties had given material assistance to Joseph Smith and his scribe, which enabled them to continue translating."

Later today I was looking at section 23, and yet again ran into a revelation to Joseph Knight:

"Behold, I manifest unto you, Joseph Knight, by these words, that you must take up your cross, in the which you must pray vocally before the world as well as in secret, and in your family, and among your friends, and in all places.

And, behold, it is your duty to unite with the true church, and give your language to exhortation continually, that you may receive the reward of the laborer. Amen"

I think it's likely just a complete coincidence that I was drawn to these two references to my ancestor so close together, but perhaps I need to emphasize more on learning about my ancestors. I know that our ancestors and descendants are of much more importance than I think even most Latter-day Saints realize. There's something very deep in the fact that Nephi, when he saw a vision of the destruction of his people, thought of his afflictions as "great above all" (1 Ne 15:5). This is something I don't completely understand.

On one hand, I know that God is no respecter of persons. On the other, I know I've been greatly blessed by my heritage. For instance, my family's strength in the church meant that I could be brought up in a home with parents strong in the gospel. Also, having something like 100 ancestors in the church has meant that much of my genealogy has been done already. Another way I've been blessed is through my heritage as a St. Louisan. The people of St. Louis have always been very kind to the saints. During the extermination order, St. Louisans were outraged at the cruel treatment of the saints by their uncivilized neighbors. As a direct blessing of this, we were told, the St. Louis temple was built, and there was, unlike any other temple I have heard of, virtually no protest or anti-mormon outburst against it. Because of this, I have had, since I was 7 years old, a temple only about 20 minutes away.

I think it's fascinating to read blessings and revelations to my ancestors because I've fount that much that I read of them directly applies to me as well. Warnings given to them are just as relevant to me today, and blessings promised to them and their posterity have truly been evident in my life. I am very grateful for that.