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Discourse, 28 April 1842

Source Note

JS, Discourse, [
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Hancock Co., IL, 28 Apr. 1842]. Featured version copied [ca. 28 Apr. 1842] in Relief Society Minute Book, pp. [35]–[41]; handwriting of
Eliza R. Snow

21 Jan. 1804–5 Dec. 1887. Poet, teacher, seamstress, milliner. Born in Becket, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Daughter of Oliver Snow and Rosetta Leonora Pettibone. Moved to Mantua, Trumbull Co., Ohio, ca. 1806. Member of Baptist church. Baptized into Church...

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; CHL. Includes use marks. For more complete source information, see the source note for Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book.

Historical Introduction

At a meeting of the
Female Relief Society of Nauvoo

A church organization for women; created in Nauvoo, Illinois, under JS’s direction on 17 March 1842. At the same meeting, Emma Smith was elected president, and she selected two counselors; a secretary and a treasurer were also chosen. The minutes of the society...

View Glossary
held on 28 April 1842, JS delivered a discourse on the gift of healing, the order of the
church

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

View Glossary
, and related topics. This was the society’s sixth meeting and the third time JS addressed its members. JS took 1 Corinthians chapters 12 and 13 as his text, emphasizing to society members the importance of magnifying whatever callings they individually held, rather than aspiring to office. Responding to circulating criticism that the women leading the organization were acting improperly in administering blessings of healing by
laying on hands

A practice in which individuals place their hands upon a person to bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost, ordain to an office or calling, or confer other power, authority, or blessings, often as part of an ordinance. The Book of Mormon explained that ecclesiastical...

View Glossary
, JS spoke at length on the topic, opining that miraculous signs such as healing the sick “should follow all that believe whether male or female” and that “if the sisters should have faith to heal the sick, let all hold their tongues, and let every thing roll on.” Contemplating his own mortality, and echoing a previous assertion that he would make the society a “kingdom of priests,” JS declared that he would deliver over to the society and the church the “
keys

Authority or knowledge of God given to humankind. In the earliest records, the term keys primarily referred to JS’s authority to unlock the “mysteries of the kingdom.” Early revelations declared that both JS and Oliver Cowdery held the keys to bring forth...

View Glossary
of the kingdom.”
1

See Discourse, 31 Mar. 1842.


Secretary
Eliza R. Snow

21 Jan. 1804–5 Dec. 1887. Poet, teacher, seamstress, milliner. Born in Becket, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Daughter of Oliver Snow and Rosetta Leonora Pettibone. Moved to Mantua, Trumbull Co., Ohio, ca. 1806. Member of Baptist church. Baptized into Church...

View Full Bio
noted in the minutes following JS’s discourse that “the spirit of the Lord was pour’d out in a very powerful manner, never to be forgotten by those present on that interesting occasion.”
2

Relief Society Minute Book, 28 Apr. 1842, [41], in Derr et al., First Fifty Years of Relief Society, 61.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Derr, Jill Mulvay, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds. The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History. Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2016.

It appears
Snow

21 Jan. 1804–5 Dec. 1887. Poet, teacher, seamstress, milliner. Born in Becket, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Daughter of Oliver Snow and Rosetta Leonora Pettibone. Moved to Mantua, Trumbull Co., Ohio, ca. 1806. Member of Baptist church. Baptized into Church...

View Full Bio
contemporaneously took notes of JS’s instructions, as well as the rest of the meeting’s proceedings, on a separate document—no longer extant—and then, presumably shortly after the meeting, made the copy featured here in the minute book.
3

On 27 August 1844 John McEwan copied the discourse from the minute book into the back of Wilford Woodruff’s 1841–1842 journal.


Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Discourse, 31 Mar. 1842.

  2. [2]

    Relief Society Minute Book, 28 Apr. 1842, [41], in Derr et al., First Fifty Years of Relief Society, 61.

    Derr, Jill Mulvay, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds. The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History. Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2016.

  3. [3]

    On 27 August 1844 John McEwan copied the discourse from the minute book into the back of Wilford Woodruff’s 1841–1842 journal.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Discourse, 28 April 1842 Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book Journal, December 1841–December 1842 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 Addenda History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 Addenda “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [38]

that the
keys

Authority or knowledge of God given to humankind. In the earliest records, the term keys primarily referred to JS’s authority to unlock the “mysteries of the kingdom.” Early revelations declared that both JS and Oliver Cowdery held the keys to bring forth...

View Glossary
of the kingdom are about to be given to them, that they may be able to detect every thing false— as well as to the
Elders

A male leader in the church generally; an ecclesiastical and priesthood office or one holding that office; a proselytizing missionary. The Book of Mormon explained that elders ordained priests and teachers and administered “the flesh and blood of Christ unto...

View Glossary
8

Three days later JS again spoke on the “keys of the kingdom,” which he said would be revealed when the temple was completed. Later the following week, on 4 and 5 May 1842, JS instructed a small group of men on the “principles and order of the priesthood, attending to washings & anointings, endowments, and the communications of keys.” The following year the group was expanded to include women. (JS, Journal, 1 and 4–5 May 1842; Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 4 and 5 May 1842, 11; JS, Journal, 28 Sept. 1843.)


He said if one member becomes corrupt and you know it; you must immediately put it away. The sympathies of the heads of the
church

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

View Glossary
have induc’d them to bear with those that were corrupt; in consequence of which all become contaminated— you must put down iniquity and by your good example provoke the Elders to good works— if you do right, no danger of going too fast: he said he did not care how fast we run in the path of virtue. Resist evil and there is no danger. God, men, angels, and devils can’t condemn those that resist every thing that is evil— as well might the devil seek to dethrone Jehovah, as that soul that resists every thing that is evil.
The charitable
Society

A church organization for women; created in Nauvoo, Illinois, under JS’s direction on 17 March 1842. At the same meeting, Emma Smith was elected president, and she selected two counselors; a secretary and a treasurer were also chosen. The minutes of the society...

View Glossary
— this is according to your natures— it is natural for females to have feelings of charity— you are now plac’d in a situatio[n] where you can act according to those sympathies which God has planted in your bosoms. If you live up to these principles how great and glorious!— if you live up to your privilege, the angels cannot be restrain’d from being your associates— females, if they are pure and innocent can come into the presence of God; for what is more pleasing to God than innocence; you must be innocent or you cannot come up before God. If ye <​we​> would come before God let us be pure ourselves. The devil has great power— he will so transform things
9

TEXT: “things” written over a knife-erased illegible word.


as to make one gape at those who are doing the will of God— You need not be tearing men for their deeds, but let the weight of innocence be felt; which is more mighty than a millstone hung about the neck.
10

See Luke 17:2; Matthew 18:6; and Mark 9:42.


Not war, not jangle, not contradiction, but meekness, love, purity, these are the things that should magnify us.— Achan must be brought to light—
11

Achan was a biblical figure who took precious items that were intended to be consecrated to the Lord. (See Joshua 7:18–26.)


iniquity must be purged out— then the vail will be rent
12

See Matthew 27:51.


and the blessings of heaven will flow down [p. [38]]
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Source Note

Document Transcript

Page [38]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Discourse, 28 April 1842
ID #
819
Total Pages
7
Print Volume Location
JSP, D9:400–407
Handwriting on This Page
  • Eliza R. Snow

Footnotes

  1. [8]

    Three days later JS again spoke on the “keys of the kingdom,” which he said would be revealed when the temple was completed. Later the following week, on 4 and 5 May 1842, JS instructed a small group of men on the “principles and order of the priesthood, attending to washings & anointings, endowments, and the communications of keys.” The following year the group was expanded to include women. (JS, Journal, 1 and 4–5 May 1842; Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 4 and 5 May 1842, 11; JS, Journal, 28 Sept. 1843.)

  2. [9]

    TEXT: “things” written over a knife-erased illegible word.

  3. [10]

    See Luke 17:2; Matthew 18:6; and Mark 9:42.

  4. [11]

    Achan was a biblical figure who took precious items that were intended to be consecrated to the Lord. (See Joshua 7:18–26.)

  5. [12]

    See Matthew 27:51.

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