The Standard of Truth: 1815–1846 (Saints, #1)

by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

True stories well told can inspire, caution, entertain, and instruct. Brigham Young understood the power of a good story when he counseled Church historians to do more than simply record the dry facts of the past. “Write in a narrative style,” he advised them, and “write only about one tenth part as much.”1

Once, after falling gravely ill sometime before Joseph’s birth, she had feared that she would die before finding the truth. She sensed a dark and lonely chasm between her and the Savior, and she knew she was unprepared for the next life. Lying awake all night, she prayed to God, promising Him that if He let her live, she would find the church of Jesus Christ. As she prayed, the voice of the Lord spoke to her, assuring her that if she would seek, she would find.

How strange, he thought, that a simple boy of no consequence in the world could attract so much bitterness and scorn. “Why persecute me for telling the truth?” he wanted to ask. “Why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen?”

Like many people in the area, including his father, Joseph believed that God could reveal knowledge through objects like rods and stones, as He had done with Moses, Aaron, and others in the Bible.

“Now, Joseph, beware,” he said. “When you go to get the plates, your mind will be filled with darkness, and all manner of evil will rush into your mind to prevent you from keeping the commandments of God.” Directing Joseph to someone who would support him, Moroni urged him to tell his father about his visions.

The record on the gold plates was more important than Martin’s reputation or Joseph’s desire to please people.

The Lord’s rebuke had stung him, but like prophets of old he wrote the revelation down for others to read. It was the first time he had ever recorded the Lord’s

word to him.

After their baptism, Joseph and Oliver found that scriptures that once seemed dense and mysterious suddenly became clearer. Truth and understanding flooded their minds.12

“They were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness,” the scripture recorded, “and there was no poor among them.”18 Under Enoch’s leadership, the people built a holy city called Zion, which God eventually received into His presence. There Enoch spoke with God as they looked down on the earth, and God wept over the wickedness and suffering of His children. The day would come, He told Enoch, when truth would be brought forth from the earth and His people would build another city of Zion for the righteous.19 As Sidney and Joseph reflected on the revelation, they knew the day had come when the Lord would again establish Zion on the earth. Like Enoch’s people, the Saints needed to prepare themselves, uniting in heart and mind, so they would be ready to build the holy city and its temple as soon as the Lord revealed its location.

A few days later, the Lord again revealed his word to Joseph, Edward, and the other elders of the church. “Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation,” He declared. “For after much tribulation come the blessings.”

In the School of the Prophets, Orson taught the men spiritual lessons in addition to history, grammar, and arithmetic, as the Lord had commanded.

They studied together, had discussions, and prayed as a group.21

At the camp along the Missouri River, Saints emerged from their tents and hovels to see the meteor shower. Edward and his daughter Emily watched with delight as stars seemed to cascade around them like a heavy summer rain. To Emily, it was as if God had sent the lights to cheer the Saints in their afflictions. Her father believed they were tokens of God’s presence, a reason to rejoice amid so much tribulation.28

After calling the apostles, Oliver gave them a special charge. “Never cease striving until you have seen God, face to face,” he told them. “Strengthen your faith, cast off your doubts, your sins, and all your unbelief, and nothing can prevent you from coming to God.” He

The day after arguing with his brother, Joseph received a letter from him. William was upset because the high council had blamed him, and not Joseph, for the dispute. Believing he had been right to reprimand Joseph in front of the high council, he insisted on meeting privately with Joseph to defend his actions.27 Joseph agreed to meet with William, suggesting that they each share their version of what had happened, acknowledge their errors, and apologize for any wrongdoing. Since Hyrum had a calming influence in the family, Joseph invited him to join them and make a fair judgment on who was at fault.28

The Lord also helped Thomas know how to repair his fractured quorum. “Be thou humble,” He said, “and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.”

Vilate believed the dissenters were wrong to turn away from the Saints, yet she felt sorrow for them rather than anger. “After all that I have said about this dissenting party,” she wrote Heber, “there are some of them that I love, and I have great feeling and pity for them.”48 She knew the collapse of the Safety Society had tried them spiritually and temporally. She too thought that Joseph had made mistakes while managing the institution, but she had not lost faith in the prophet.

“The Lord says, he that cannot endure chastisement but denies me cannot be sanctified,” she wrote.

Since the young women were headed to the same meeting he was, Willard walked with them, giving them plenty of time to talk. “Richards is a good name,” Willard said as they walked. “I never want to change it.” Then he added boldly, “Do you, Jennetta?” “No, I do not,” she replied. “And I think I never will.”21

She watched as Wilford gazed down at her lifeless body. She saw two angels enter the room. One of them told her she had a choice to make. She could go with them to rest in the spirit world or return to life and endure the trials that lay ahead. Phebe knew that if she stayed, the road would not be easy. Did she want to return to her careworn life and uncertain future? She saw the faces of Wilford and Sarah Emma, and her answer came swiftly.

though she seemeth to be dead,” he assured them. “The very God of peace shall be with you and make a way for your escape from the adversary of your souls.”14

The injustice angered Joseph. In the Old Testament, the Lord often rescued His people from danger, vanquishing their enemies with the strength of His arm. But now, when the Saints had been threatened with extermination, He had not intervened.

The Savior reminded Joseph that the Saints could not suffer more than He had. He loved them and could end their pain, but He chose instead to suffer affliction with them, carrying their grief and sorrow as part of His atoning sacrifice. Such suffering filled Him with mercy, giving Him power to succor and refine all who turned to him in their trials. He

When her mother died, Zina was overcome with grief. Knowing the family’s suffering, Joseph continued to attend to them.16 During one of Joseph’s visits, Zina asked him, “Will I know my mother as my mother when I get over on the other side?” “More than that,” he said, “you will meet and become acquainted with your eternal Mother, the wife of your Father in Heaven.” “Have I then a Mother in Heaven?” Zina asked. “You assuredly have,” said Joseph. “How could a Father claim His title unless there were also a Mother to share that parenthood?”17 In

“Repent, reform, but do it in a way to not destroy all around you,” he counseled. He did not want the Saints to tolerate wickedness, but he did not want them to shun people either. “Be pure in heart. Jesus designs to save the people out of their sins,” he reminded them. “Said Jesus, ‘Ye shall do the work which ye see me do.’ These are the grand key words for the society to act upon.” “All idle rumor and idle talk must be laid aside,” Emma agreed. Yet she mistrusted quiet discipline. “Sin must not be covered,” she told the women, “especially those sins which are against the law of God and the laws of the country.” She believed in bringing sinners to light to prevent others from making the same errors.17 Joseph,

William Law’s apostasy was upsetting but not unprecedented. “I have tried for a number of years to get the minds of the Saints prepared to receive the things of God,” Joseph told a congregation on a chilly Sunday early in 1844, “but we frequently see some of them, after suffering all they have for the work of God, will fly to pieces like glass as soon as anything comes that is contrary to their traditions.” Since the organization of the church, Joseph had seen men and women leave the faith when they disagreed with the principles he taught or when he fell short of their notions of what a prophet should be. Those who broke with the church often left peacefully. But as men like Ezra Booth, Warren Parrish, and John Bennett had shown, sometimes those who fell away fought against the prophet, the church, and its teachings, often leading to violence against the Saints. The course William would take was yet to be seen.

This plan, he reminded them, conquered death. “How consoling to the mourner,” he said, “to know that although the earthly tabernacle shall be dissolved, they shall rise in immortal glory, not to sorrow, suffer, or die anymore, but they shall be heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ.”7 The process would take time, requiring much patience, faith, and learning. “It is not all to be comprehended in this world,” the prophet assured the Saints. “It will take a long time after the grave to understand the whole.”