Joseph Smith stands at the head of this last, greatest of all dispensations
“The Book of Mormon reveals the inheritance of Joseph, son of Israel“
“Josephs inheritance was to be a land choice above all others“
“Joseph Smith stands at the head of this last, greatest of all dispensations (see JD 8:224). From his position today in the spirit world, he undoubtedly presides over the day of the Lamanite which now has arrived (see Kimball “The Day of the Lamanites”). In that sphere, with the cultural biases, the language difficulties, and the centuries of tradition put aside, one wonders if Joseph is not now preaching those very words and seeing the budding and blossoming of that rose which will, in due course, both there and here, reach the perfection of its bloom.” Byron R. Merrill, “Joseph Smith and the Lamanites,” in Joseph Smith: The Prophet, The Man, ed. Susan Easton Black and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1993), 187–202
The Book of Mormon reveals the inheritance of Joseph, son of Israel, who was not forgotten when land was distributed to the tribes of Israel. This was promised in the Abrahamic covenant… Josephs inheritance was to be a land choice above all others. Choice because it was chosen to be the repository of sacred writings on golden plates from which the Book of Mormon would one day come. Choice because it would eventually host the world headquarters of the Restored Church of Jesus Christ in the latter days. And it was choice because it was a land of liberty for those who worship the Lord and keep His commandments.” Russell M Nelson President, Quorum of 12 June, 2016 Provo Missionary Training Center
JOSEPH SMITH AMONG THE NATIVE AMERICAN INDIANS OR LAMANITES
“Although the Gentile threat may have temporarily halted extensive activity among the Native Americans, the ardor of the members in contemplating the Lamanites’ eventual redemption was not abated. William W. Phelps wrote to Oliver Cowdery in 1835: Our government has already gathered many of the scattered remnants of tribes, and located them west of the Missouri to be nationalized and civilized; . . . I rejoice to see the great work prosper. The Indians are the people of the Lord; they are of the tribes of Israel; the blood of Joseph, with a small mixture of the royal blood of Judah, and the hour is nigh when they will come flocking into the kingdom of God, like doves to their windows. (193).
Editors Note: Unfortunately Joseph and the church thought the government was going to take care of the Native Americans by gatherings them up and giving them land. But, it ended up the government was preparing to take land away from the Natives for their own selfish reasons which Joseph found out about later.
At a meeting in Kirtland, during that same year, Joseph Smith proposed a mission for the Twelve throughout the eastern states. It was there resolved that Brigham Young should “go immediately from this place to an adjacent tribe of the remnants of Joseph, and open the door of salvation to that long dejected and afflicted people” (HC 2:224–25). Brigham Young was not then president of the Quorum of the Twelve, but the promise that this appointment would “open the door to the whole house of Joseph” (222) seems prophetic in view of his labors among the Lamanites when the Saints moved to the Rocky Mountains. There is no record, however, that his early mission resulted in any substantial work among that people (see Young 11). Indicative of the continued concern for this chosen remnant was the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland temple, received by revelation, wherein Joseph prayed: And cause that the remnants of Jacob, who have been cursed and smitten because of their transgression, be converted from their wild and savage condition to the fullness of the everlasting gospel; That they may lay down their weapons of bloodshed, and cease their rebellions. And . . . come to a knowledge of the truth, believe in the Messiah, and be redeemed from oppression, and rejoice before thee. (D&C 109:65–67).” Byron R. Merrill, “Joseph Smith and the Lamanites,” in Joseph Smith: The Prophet, The Man, ed. Susan Easton Black and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1993), 187–202
“What of Joseph’s Efforts? There seems to be a perception that Joseph’s efforts among the Lamanites were not only relatively unsuccessful but even superficial. It has been argued that “the initiative for [such] missionary work lay more with the members of the Church than with Joseph Smith” (Parry 74), and that Joseph did not see the redemptive work among the Lamanites “as essential to the ‘building up of Zion’” (72). To the contrary, Joseph’s commitment to the Book of Mormon promises to the Lamanites and the need to find a long term home for his people appear to have been closely connected priorities. Oliver B. Huntington recorded that early in the settlement of Nauvoo, Joseph Smith, Sr., confided in him that it had been revealed to the Prophet that the Church would stay in Nauvoo just seven years and “when we left there, we would go right into the midst of the Indians, in the Rocky Mountains” (18). Similarly, efforts by Lyman Wight and Jonathan Dunham appear to have combined proselyting the Lamanites and exploring for a new home for the Saints in their midst (Esplin 90–97). An 1845 mission call by the Council of the Kingdom was to “fill Joseph’s measures originally adopted . . . to seek out a location and a home where the Saints can dwell in peace and health . . . and proceed from tribe to tribe, to unite the Lamanites. . . .” (Ehat 269). Had Joseph done nothing more than translate the Book of Mormon, his contribution would have been greater than all other efforts to help the Native Americans; yet an examination of his life indicates his concern for and involvement with them went much further. But his time and energy were limited. He was faced with continual personal persecution, legal battles, and imprisonment. He conducted the defense, movements, and growth of the Church and the founding of cities. The Lord gave him many assignments including the new translation of the Bible, the translation of the Egyptian papyri, the organization of the Priesthood, the revelation of temple ordinances and their dissemination, etc. All of these required concentrated effort and substantial time. Spencer W. Kimball summarized: The very first thing before the Church was organized, Joseph Smith caught the vision of this work. He sent Oliver Cowdery, Ziba Peterson, and Parley P. Pratt and Peter Whitmer to the Indians immediately. They didn’t do very much. The brethren had their hands full: there were persecutions and the expulsions and the exodus and the settlement of this country. So missionary work with the Indians was limited in the Church to whom the great responsibility came. (Kimball, “The Children” 6) Brigham Young indicated that “there was a watch placed upon [Joseph] continually to see that he had no communication with the Indians” (Journal of Discourses 4:41; hereafter JD). Perhaps the Lord inspired Joseph to proceed cautiously in the face of false accusations which so negatively impacted the Saints. One wonders if the Lord also revealed to him that as important as this work was, only the seeds thereof were then being planted, that the fulfillment of the promises awaited a future day. Whereas this effort had originally been a primary objective of Joseph’s ministry, as the flood of revelation broadened his assignments, it became one of the principal objectives in the midst of many others. In the Proclamation of the Twelve Apostles issued 6 April 1845, many of the 115 paragraphs discuss the Lamanites, giving a more balanced perspective of their place in the overall picture than perhaps would have been the case had such a mission statement been issued in 1829 (see Clark 252–66). In Nauvoo, Joseph was heavily occupied in the restoration of the blessings given to Abraham as part of the gathering of the house of Israel, the initial stages of which were just then beginning. Who, in Joseph’s mind, would have fit more prominently into the family of Abraham (for whom the blessings were being restored) than the Lamanites? It seems Joseph knew they were of Israel before he knew he was. Was it not the spirit of the Book of Mormon and the continual leadership of the Prophet in this regard that led individual members of the Church to have special personal encounters with the Lamanites? (see Johnson 76). Contrary to general assumption, there were a few Lamanites baptized in his day. Panina S. Cotton, a Cherokee, and Lewis Dana, an Oneida, received their temple blessings in Nauvoo (Black 11:760, 13:194).” Byron R. Merrill, “Joseph Smith and the Lamanites,” in Joseph Smith: The Prophet, The Man, ed. Susan Easton Black and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1993), 187–202
“Ultimately, what did Joseph accomplish? By the gift and power of God, he translated the Book of Mormon which revealed who the Native Americans are, their heritage of prophets and priests, of repentance and righteousness, and of pride and destruction. It discloses promises to this remnant of Israel, so diligently sought by their ancestors and vouchsafed by the covenants of the Lord. It proclaims their glorious future in the face of their state of poverty. In a personal way, Joseph seemed to feel a kinship to this people whose culture was so very distant from his own. He knew he and they were both descendants of Joseph of old, the son of Israel. He knew that Joseph of old, their prophet ancestor, had foretold that a mighty seer would be raised up from his posterity to bring to pass much restoration to the remnant of his seed (2 Nephi 3:6–12). From his early tutoring by Moroni to his personal visits with numerous Native American chiefs, Joseph Smith sought to bring to this chosen people the glad tidings of the restoration. But what did he see in the way of fulfillment for his efforts? In mortality he saw very little, but in vision he must have seen the Lamanites “blossom as a rose” (D&C 49:24). Byron R. Merrill, “Joseph Smith and the Lamanites,” in Joseph Smith: The Prophet, The Man, ed. Susan Easton Black and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1993), 187–202
Lewis Dana First Indian in Council of Fifty and Solomon Tindall, a Mohegan Indian
Saints Volume 1 Chapter 46 Endowed with Power
In the fall of 1844, the Quorum of the Twelve sent an epistle to all Saints everywhere. “The temple,” they announced, “necessarily claims our first and most strict attention.” They encouraged the Saints to send money, supplies, and laborers to speed the work along. An endowment of power awaited them. All they needed was a place to receive it.
The Saints shared the apostles’ urgency. In late September, Peter Maughan wrote Willard Richards about the Saints’ new coal mine a hundred miles up the Mississippi River. Peter and Mary had recently sold their home in Nauvoo, used the money to purchase the mine for the church, and moved their family to a rough cabin near the work site. But already Peter longed to be back in Nauvoo cutting stone for the house of the Lord.
“The only thing that rests on my mind,” he told Willard, “is that the temple is being built right up and I am cut off from the privilege of helping.”
With the temple walls climbing higher, Brigham was determined to continue the work Joseph had begun. Following the prophet’s example, he prayed often with the endowed Saints and asked the Lord to preserve and unify the church. Baptisms for the dead, which had stopped after Joseph’s death, began again in the basement of the temple. Elders and seventies returned to the mission field in greater numbers.
But challenges were never far away. In September, Brigham and the Twelve learned that Sidney Rigdon was conspiring against them and denouncing Joseph as a fallen prophet. They charged him with apostasy, and Bishop Whitney and the high council excommunicated him. Sidney left Nauvoo soon after, predicting that the Saints would never complete the temple.
What happened to Sidney Rigdon?
Conflict and Change
“After the Saints settled in Nauvoo, Sidney Rigdon’s relationship with Joseph Smith was sometimes strained. Joseph charged Rigdon with neglecting his duties as Joseph’s counselor, aiding the Church’s enemies, and “defraud[ing] the innocent.” In August 1843, Joseph denounced Rigdon and asked the congregation to support him in withdrawing fellowship from his counselor. At the next Church conference in October, Joseph reluctantly agreed to retain Rigdon as his counselor if he would “magnify his office, and walk and conduct himself in all honesty, righteousness, and integrity.”
Despite these rifts, Rigdon was selected to run as Joseph Smith’s vice-presidential candidate in the 1844 United States presidential election. The campaign was cut short in June 1844, however, when a mob murdered Joseph. Rigdon rushed back to Nauvoo from Pittsburgh, where he had been living, and claimed the right to act as a “guardian” to the Church in Joseph’s absence. In response, Brigham Young declared that Joseph had given the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles all the keys and ordinances needed to lead the Church going forward. The vast majority of the Saints in Nauvoo voted to sustain the leadership of the Twelve.
Though members of the Twelve reached out to Rigdon, he refused to accept their leadership, was excommunicated from the Church in September 1844, and then returned to Pittsburgh. There he formed an independent church organization. His Church of Christ only lasted until 1847, when internal strife and a failed prophecy of Christ’s Second Coming caused the organization to crumble. With Stephen Post, Rigdon later organized another movement called the Church of Jesus Christ of the Children of Zion, which he led until his death in 1876.”
“Rigdon Sidney,” josephsmithpapers.org. Elizabeth Maki, “‘Go to the Ohio’: D&C 35, 36, 37, 38,” in Matthew McBride and James Goldberg, eds., Revelations in Context: The Stories behind the Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2016), 70–73.” Sidney Rigdon Church History Topic
Disputes over Joseph’s Papers
Endowed with Power chapter 46 continues, “Still concerned about her family’s well-being, Emma Smith also refused to give her full support to the apostles. She cooperated with the trustees-in-trust they had appointed to sort out Joseph’s estate, but disputes over Joseph’s papers and other property rankled her. It also troubled her that the apostles continued to teach and practice plural marriage privately.
The women who had been sealed to Joseph as plural wives made no claim to his estate. After his death, some of them returned to their families. Others married members of the Twelve, who covenanted to care and provide for them in Joseph’s absence. Quietly, the apostles continued to introduce plural marriage to more Saints, married new plural wives, and started families with them.
At the start of 1845, the Saints’ greatest challenges came from outside the church. Thomas Sharp and eight other men had been charged with murdering Joseph and Hyrum, but none of the Saints expected them to be convicted. State legislators, meanwhile, sought to weaken church members’ political power by repealing the Nauvoo city charter. Governor Ford supported their efforts, and by the end of January 1845, the legislature stripped the Saints living in Nauvoo of their right to make and enforce laws and disbanded the Nauvoo Legion as well as the local police force.
Without these protections, Brigham feared, the Saints would be vulnerable to attacks from their enemies. Yet the temple was far from finished, and if the Saints fled the city, they could hardly expect to receive their endowment. They needed time to complete the work the Lord had given them. But staying in Nauvoo, if only for another year, could put everyone’s lives at risk.
Brigham went to his knees and prayed to know what the Saints should do. The Lord responded with a simple answer: stay and finish the temple.
Lewis Dana
On the morning of March 1, thirty-eight-year-old Lewis Dana became the first American Indian to join the Council of Fifty. After Joseph’s death, council meetings had stopped, but once the Nauvoo charter was repealed and the Saints realized their days in Nauvoo were numbered, the Twelve had called the council together to help govern the city and plan its evacuation.
A member of the Oneida nation, Lewis had been baptized with his family in 1840. He had served several missions, including one to the Indian territory west of the United States, and had ventured as far away as the Rocky Mountains. Knowing Lewis had friends and relatives among Indian nations to the west, Brigham invited him to join the council and share what he knew about the people and lands there.
“In the name of the Lord,” Lewis told the council, “I am willing to do all I can.”
Gathering Place in the West
Over the years, the Saints had grown deeply resentful of their nation’s leaders for refusing to help them. Church leaders were now resolved to leave the country and carry out Joseph’s plan to establish a new gathering place where they could raise an ensign to the nations, as the prophet Isaiah foretold, and live the laws of God in peace. Like Joseph, Brigham wanted the new gathering place to be in the West, among the Indians, whom he hoped to gather together as a branch of scattered Israel.
Addressing the council, Brigham proposed sending Lewis and several other members of the council west on an expedition to meet with Indians from several nations and explain the Saints’ purpose for moving west. They would also identify possible sites for gathering.
Heber Kimball agreed with the plan. “While these men are finding this location,” he said, “the temple will be finished and the Saints get their endowment.”
The council approved the expedition, and Lewis agreed to lead it. For the rest of March and April, he attended council meetings and advised fellow councilmen on how best to outfit the expedition and achieve its goals. By the end of April, the council had appointed four men to join Lewis on the journey, including Brigham’s brother Phineas and a recent convert named Solomon Tindall, a Mohegan Indian who had been adopted by the Delaware.
The expedition left Nauvoo soon after, traveling southwest through Missouri to the territory beyond.” Saints Volume 1 Chapter 46 Endowed with Power
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/saints-v1/46-endowed-with-power?lang=eng
