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Minutes and Discourse, 21 April 1834

Source Note

Minutes and Discourse, , Medina Co., OH, 21 Apr. 1834. Featured version copied [between ca. late Apr. and 5 May 1834] in Minute Book 1, pp. 43–47; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 1.

Historical Introduction

On 21 April 1834, in , Ohio, JS presided over a of that focused on the necessity of redeeming . This conference had a clear millenarian theme, with sermons indicating that Jesus Christ’s second coming was near and that the inhabitants of the earth needed to repent and gather to Zion in order to be saved. JS and other participants explained that it was imperative for church members to assist the Saints who had been expelled from , Missouri, so Zion could be reclaimed and reoccupied. Such assistance could take two forms: volunteering to go with JS and others on an expedition to or donating money to provision those volunteers. Without such aid, JS stated, Zion would not be redeemed and all of the church would be “persecuted and destroyed in like manner.” JS’s journal notes that “some few volunteered to go to Zion, and others donated $66.37. for the benefit of the scattered breth[r]en in Zion.”
JS also spoke at the conference about some of the foundational events of the church, topics he rarely discussed in public, including the of the Book of Mormon and the “revelation” of both the , or the lesser priesthood, and the . His presentation of these topics largely followed the history he wrote in summer 1832. then spoke on the necessity of redeeming Zion, the construction of the in , Ohio, and the of power that would come after the house was built.
Before the conclusion of the conference, the participants conducted a trial of Thomas Tripp, a church member accused of improprieties with various women. After voting to exclude Tripp from the church, the meeting concluded with the blessing of children by JS and the administration of the . According to JS’s journal, the conference was “a glorious time.”
As clerk of the conference, kept the minutes. later copied the minutes into Minute Book 1.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    For more information on the Saints’ expulsion from Jackson County, see “Joseph Smith Documents from February 1833 through March 1834.”

  2. [2]

    For information on JS’s financial concerns leading up to this conference, see Historical Introduction to Letter to Orson Hyde, 7 Apr. 1834.

  3. [3]

    JS, Journal, 21–22 Apr. 1834.

  4. [4]

    At an October 1831 conference, for example, Hyrum Smith suggested that JS explain “the coming forth of the book of Mormon,” but JS demurred, stating that “it was not intended to tell the world all the particulars of the coming forth of the book of Mormon.” (Minutes, 25–26 Oct. 1831.)

  5. [5]

    A September 1832 revelation explained that the lesser priesthood was “confirmed upon Aaron and his sons.” (Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:30].)

  6. [6]

    JS History, ca. Summer 1832, 1.

  7. [7]

    JS, Journal, 21–22 Apr. 1834.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Minutes and Discourse, 21 April 1834 Minute Book 1 History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 46

in the last days, and then gave a statement of the situation of the affairs of the brethern in , and then took up the revelation given; requireing the saints to go up for the deliverance of those who had been driven from their , and urged the importance of an obedience to the same by those who could go, & those who could not go, should help those who are going to means for their expenses.
Bro. then occupied a few minutes in giveing a relation of the brethren being driven out from their homes, and called upon the brethren and Sisters to open their hearts and contribute to their necessities. Bro. then made some remarks upon contributions, followed by brother Salmon Warner upon the same subject.
Bro. occupied a short time in exhortation and instructed the brethren into the propriety of the deliverance of Zion. He said that he had no property, but if necessary for the deliverance of Zion, he would sell his own clothes at auction if he could have left to him as good a garment as the Saviour had in the manger.
The time was occupied for a few minutes by two or three others upon the same subject. Bro. Joseph Smith Jnr. then deliverd a short prophecy, that if Zion was not deliverd the time was near when all of this , whereever they might be found, would be persecuted and destroyed in like manner
Bro. then took up the second item, viz:— The of the with power from on high. He gave an account of the endowment of the ancient and laid before the the dimensions of the to be built in and rehearsed the promise to the elders in the last days which they were to realize after the was built. Bro. [p. 46]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes and Discourse, 21 April 1834
ID #
6709
Total Pages
5
Print Volume Location
JSP, D4:13–19
Handwriting on This Page
  • Orson Hyde

Footnotes

  1. [17]

    See Revelation, 24 Feb. 1834 [D&C 103]. Rigdon was told in this revelation to “lift up his voice in the congregations in the eastern countries in preparing the churches to keep the commandments which I have given unto them concerning the restoration & redemption of Zion.”

  2. [18]

    See Acts 2:1–4.

  3. [19]

    According to a 1 June 1833 revelation, the size of the House of the Lord was to be “fifty and five feet in width and . . . sixty and five feet in length in the inner court thereof.” When the building was completed in 1836, the inner court conformed to these measurements. The complete building was fifty-nine feet wide and approximately seventy-nine feet long. In summer 1833, the presidency of the high priesthood prepared detailed plans for the House of the Lord to be constructed in Missouri. Although this temple was supposed to be larger than the Kirtland House of the Lord, the layout and features of both appear quite similar. (Revelation, 1 June 1833 [D&C 95:15]; Robison, First Mormon Temple, 9, 36–37; Plan of the House of the Lord, between 1 and 25 June 1833; Revised Plan of the House of the Lord, ca. 10 Aug.–ca. 4 Sept. 1833.)

    Robison, Elwin C. The First Mormon Temple: Design, Construction, and Historic Context of the Kirtland Temple. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1997.

  4. [20]

    See Revelation, 2 Jan. 1831 [D&C 38:32]; Revelation, Feb. 1831–A [D&C 43:16]; and Revelation, 1 June 1833 [D&C 95:8].

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