Part 2: January 1842

The new year seemed to usher in a renewed spirit of optimism for JS. Thanks to donations and dedicated volunteer laborers, the foundation of the in , Illinois, was slowly taking shape on a bluff overlooking the fledgling city. “The Saints seem to be influenced by a kind and indulgent Providence in their disposition & means,” a 6 January 1842 entry in JS’s journal noted, “to rear the Temple of the most High God, anxiously looking forth to the completion thereof. as an event of the greatest importance to the & the world.” The same entry also reflected on the benefits of the temple, declaring that it would further the restoration of “the ancient order” of God’s kingdom and “bring about the compl[e]tion of the fullness of the gospel, a fulness of the of Dispensations even the fulness of Times.” In preparation for these blessings, over the course of the next four months JS revealed important new doctrines and rituals through discourses, the publication of the Book of Abraham, and the temple “” ceremony—and organized the “after the pattern, or order, of the .”

In January 1842 JS devoted much of his time to developing the city of and facilitating the of the Saints to , Illinois. To supply church members with groceries and other merchandise, he had a constructed near the intersection of Water and Granger streets in late 1841. During the first week of January 1842, he spent time stocking its shelves and waiting on customers. In a 5 January letter to church , JS described the opening of the store and remarked, “I rejoice that we have been enabled to do as well as we have, for the hearts of many of the poor brethren & sisters will be made glad, with those comforts which are now within their reach.” The new building also housed the temple recorder’s office, a large meeting room, and JS’s private office, which served as the administrative headquarters for the church. JS also dictated revelations, kept “sacred writings,” and translated portions of the Book of Abraham in his office.

JS “transacted a variety of business” in the newly completed building, including sending and receiving correspondence. Of the twenty-two documents featured in part 2, fourteen are letters to or from JS. Three contain reports or requests from church members in , Illinois; ; and . Six involve traveling church agents who were commissioned to purchase goods on JS’s behalf or to settle debts on behalf of JS and the church. In a 3 January letter to JS, for example, church member reported on his efforts to gather information about debts owed to creditors in and in the wake of previous agent ’s death. Additionally, JS sent two letters to church agent in mid-January. The previous spring church leaders sent Galland and to the eastern to pay creditors who had sold the church large swaths of land on the peninsula. After learning that Galland had returned to in late 1841 without paying the debts, JS sent him a letter requesting that he report to Nauvoo. JS sent another letter on 17 January, and the next day he received a terse response that likely prompted him to revoke Galland’s power of attorney.

Many of the other January letters relate to buying, selling, or exchanging land in western . As trustee-in-trust of the church, JS purchased land on behalf of Latter-day Saints such as and , who were living in the eastern but were making efforts to gather with the church in . He also received letters from business associates and Seth Richards, who sought to sell him land in a previously undeveloped portion of the peninsula and near Bentonsport, Iowa Territory, respectively.

Even as he managed the more mundane aspects of church business, JS dictated a new revelation and preached discourses as the church’s spiritual leader. The revelation, dictated on 28 January, directed the to assume editorial responsibility for the church periodical Times and Seasons. JS purchased the local printing establishment one week later and, within a month, began to publish content as editor of the church periodical, including serial installments of the Book of Abraham and a short narrative account of his history. One of the final documents in this part is a 30 January discourse, in which JS expounded upon a previously taught idea that God had once redeemed a world just as his son, Jesus Christ, redeemed this world; he also taught that the Saints who achieved glory would themselves become gods. Taken as a whole, the documents featured in part 2 reflect JS’s administrative and spiritual roles in guiding and directing the church.