D&C 90:10-37

90:10-11 - The Lord continues that the preparation done in these classes will be helpful in “the day when the arm of the Lord shall be revealed in power in convincing the nations, the heathen nations, the house of Joseph, of the gospel of their salvation. For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fullness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them for the revelation of Jesus Christ.” I never realized how important it was for someone to learn the gospel in their native language until I had a friend who was Japanese and even though he communicated and understood English just fine, he thrived in the Japanese ward because the language was so much easier for him. I only speak English so I can’t really relate too much to what that’s like. The IM says, “President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote: ‘In order that the Gospel might be declared among the nations and kindreds and tongues, the Lord commanded that the elders should study languages and with all good books be prepared to carry the message so that people could hear it in their own tongue. This was one great opportunity presented in the school of the prophets. It is a remarkable fact that the elders of the Church going forth to foreign lands have had the gift of tongues by which they have learned to speak these foreign tongues within very brief periods of time. Not only is this the case, but there are many instances of record where the missionaries in conversation and when preaching have been understood by others in their native language. These cases have been similar with the gift of tongues as it was made manifest on the day of Pentecost, when Peter and the apostles stood up and spoke to the assembled people from all countries who had come to Jerusalem to the celebration of Pentecost. Elders who have labored in foreign fields who have relied upon the Spirit of the Lord and have been diligent in their labors can testify from all parts of the Church that through the help of the Spirit they were able to speak the languages of the people among whom they were appointed to labor, and this beyond their natural power.’ For generations, the vast majority of missionaries were sent out from North America to teach the peoples of the world, and, though they learned the language and taught the people in their own tongue, they usually lacked native fluency. Now, thousands of missionaries form scores of countries are being called to labor among their own people. Because these missionaries are native speakers and come from the same culture as the people they teach, they can be especially effective in fulfilling the prophecy that all will hear the gospel in their own tongue.”

90:12-18 - There are some very specific instructions to JS about his tasks. The IM gives a list saying, “These verses charged the First Presidency with several important tasks:

1.       Continue in the work of the ministry and presiding.

2.       Finish work on the Joseph Smith Translation.

3.       Preside over the School of the Prophets.

4.       Receive the revelations and ‘unfold’ them.

5.       Read, Study, and learn languages.

6.       Preside in council and set the affairs of the Church in order.

7.       Repent of pride and sin.

8.       Set their homes in order.

Leaders of the Church must take care for their callings but must not neglect personal and family matters.” We got a new bishopric in church today and it was really surprising to me because the man that they called to be bishop, I’ve known his family for the whole year and a half that I’ve been in the ward. They are a really amazing family but they have 4 kids under 11 years old, the wife is pregnant with baby #5, and their second son is severely disabled, he is such an incredible little boy and I love the whole family, but I thought “oh wow, out of the frying pan and into the fryer.” But one of the things that they both said while they were being sustained today was that they know that the Lord can do things with their family that they couldn’t even if they were to devote all their time, energy, and resources to it. It’s like what we talked about a while ago, when the Lord told those men who he called on missions that their children would be taught in the gospel in ways they couldn’t if the men had stayed home. And that’s what I was getting here and from the new Bishop today, if we devote ourselves to the service of the Lord then he will transform our lives, our families into things that will be unrecognizable to us because they are so amazing. The Lord will provide blessings, and lessons, and opportunities for us and our families that couldn’t have been provided in any other way, except through service, and that’s a miracle. I felt like verses 17 and 18 were meant specifically for me, “Be not ashamed, neither confounded; but be admonished in all your high-mindedness and pride, for it bringeth a snare upon your souls. Set in order your houses; keep slothfulness and uncleanness far from you.” When I listened to this part yesterday I was still feeling pretty high and mighty, but also a bit lost. I used to work only nights and I was so sleep deprived and behind on my house work that any available opportunity would be spent sleeping or grocery shopping or cooking or something like that. But now that I work less and work during the day during the week, I have a lot more time, and yesterday I woke up early and had basically the whole day to myself, and I’m so not used to that much time, and I was just feeling pretty crappy anyway, so I didn’t really do anything, I just kind of hung out. So when I heard this after my day of basically doing nothing, even though I knew that I had things to do, I felt a little chastened because my house is a mess, I’m not organized at all, and I’ve never felt like I should be doing better, but maybe now I’m at that point where I need to get that stuff done. Maybe I’ve moved forward. The IM says specifically about verse 17 “Although this counsel is valuable to all members of the Church, it was perhaps especially significant for Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams, who both later opposed the Prophet and left the Church, though Frederick G. Williams eventually returned.”

90:19-31 - Now there is very specific counsel for some of the Saints there at that time such as Frederick G. Williams, Sidney Rigdon, Joseph Smith Sr., Newel K. Whitney, and interestingly, Vienna Jaques. Newel K. Whitney is counseled to “search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another.” Joseph Smith Sr. has interesting counsel saying “let your families be small, especially mine aged servant Joseph Smith’s, Sen., as pertaining to those who do not belong to your families; that those things that are provided for you, to bring to pass my work, be not take from you and given to those that are not worthy- and thereby you be hindered in accomplishing those things which I have commanded you.” This is very context specific and the IM explains, “The Lord warns His servants, particularly the Prophet’s father, to let their families be small in order that the substance provided for them by the Church be not used up by the unworthy, who were prone to take advantage of a situation. When the Lord advises them to let their families be small, He does not mean their immediate children; the visitors and hangers-on who had a tendency to take advantage of the brethren’s open houses and open hearts are the ones meant. The brethren would not be hindered in accomplishing their Lord’s work if they watched this matter.” DJR further clarifies, “Because of the large number of Saints gathering in the Kirtland area at this time in history, it was common for a number of families to move in temporarily with other families, thus overloading the capacity of the host families to care for all under their roof. The generosity of the Prophet’s father was apparently taking a heavy toll on him and his family, therefore, he was counseled to place tighter limits on the number of people he invited to live with him and his family… We see a hint that some of the ‘guests’ may have been taking advantage of the situation.” I love the new person we meet, Vienna Jaques. The IM says “Vienna Jaques, a woman who had been kind to the Prophet and had cared for his wants when in need and had helped the elders, was now by revelation to be helped with means so that she could gather with the Saints in Zion.’ A conference of high priests assembled April 30, 1833, in the schoolroom in Kirtland and took steps to raise means to pay the rent for the house where their meetings had been held during the past sons. John P. Green was appointed to take charge of a branch of the Church in Parkman County. It was also decided that Sister Vienna Jaques should not proceed immediately on her way to Zion, but wait until William Hobart and others were ready, as it would be a matter of safety.” That’s all well and good, by why even mention her if she’s just another faithful sister. DJR gives us more detail saying, “She had recently traveled alone from Boston to Kirtland at the age of forty-three, after having glanced through the Book of Mormon and having been convinced by a vision that it was worth reading. After meeting the Prophet and being taught further by him, she was baptized. She returned to Boston, converted many family members, and returned ti Kirtland with her valuables, which included $1,400 in savings that she consecrated to the Church on March 8, 1833, the day of this revelation to the Prophet. By the way, she remained faithful despite going through all the Missouri persecutions of the saints. At age sixty, she drove her own team and wagon across the plains, arriving in the Salt Lake Valley on October 2, 1847. She died at age ninety-six in her own home in Salt Lake City.” I also want to point out that Brigham Young didn’t arrive in the valley until July 24, 1847 only 2 months before Vienna arrived, which indicates to me that when her wagon company left Winter Quarters to follow Brigham Young, she didn’t exactly know where she was going, how far, or when they would get there. Because the journey from Nebraska to Utah took several months, she probably left after he did, but before he announced that “this is the place!” It’s possible that after reaching the valley, other travelers in the Vanguard company went back to spread the word of exactly where the settlement was and how to get there, but she took off across with plains knowing nothing of her destination other than that the Lord pointed west, that’s incredible faith.

90:32-37 – Joseph Smith is told that he will “preside over Zion in mine own due time,” possibly hinting that some of the church in Missouri were unhappy because JS was in Kirtland and not Zion. The IM teaches, “(The First Presidency) were to advise the Saints in Zion that the jurisdiction of the First Presidency extended over Jackson County and the West as well as over Kirtland and the East. Thus the First Presidency was to be a means of preservation of the unity of the Church. The Primitive church, after the departure of the Apostles, disintegrated and was divided into many groups, each with a head of its own, and, finally, the great division into the Roman and Greek churches occurred, the bishop of Rome and the patriarch of Constantinople, each claiming supreme authority. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints might have been a cleft in the same way, but for the Revelation instituting the First Presidency, which is both the symbol of unity of the Church and the connecting link by which this unity is effected.” But not all is well in Zion, though the Lord recognizes “that your brethren in Zion begin to repent, and the angels rejoice over them,” He’s still not pleased with William E. McLellin and Sidney Gilbert and Edward Partridge. The Lord promises to “contend with Zion, and plead with her strong ones, and chasten her until she overcomes and is clean before me. For she shall not be removed out of her place.” The IM says, “Smith and Sjodahl note that section 90 ‘closes with a warning and a promise regarding Zion. All the brethren in Zion were not keeping the commandments of God faithfully. Some of them were jealous of the position and influence of the Prophet Joseph, and denied his authority to direct the temporal affairs of the Church. Among them were the men mentioned in Verse 35. In a letter written on behalf of the Church, by Orson Hyde and Hyrum Smith, Jan 14^th, 1833, and addressed to the Bishopric and Saints in Zion, it is pointed out that Sidney Gilbert, in a communication received from his, used ‘low, dark, and blind insinuations,’ which were not received ‘as form the fountain of light.’ In the same letter W.W. Phelps is kindly rebuked for a ‘lightness of spirit that ill becomes a man placed in the important and responsible state that he is placed in.’ Furthermore, the Saints in Zion failed to keep the laws of God concerning consecration. Hence the warning: The Lord would content with Zion, plead with her strong ones, and chasten her’ until she overcomes and is clean before me.’ That is the warning. The promise is: ‘She shall not be removed out of her place.’… Elder Melvin J. Ballard said of the Lord’s promise to see that Zion overcomes and is clean: ‘That kind of promise entails the necessity of chastisement, when we need to be chastened and corrected and brought to a condition of repentance. I recognize that the Lord cannot fulfill his work nor accomplish his purposes without our willing obedience. He will not use this people unless we are willing to be used; but he has means of correcting, he has means of chastisement, which he will apply from time to time, and the only thing that impedes our progress today is our own lack of willingness to follow the counsel of those whom God has appointed to lead this people, because of the imagination of our hearts that we are wiser than they are.’”

Overall, this was a section full of counsel that I needed to hear, so much of it applied directly to me, and I’m grateful.