On August 2, twelve elders, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, ceremoniously placed the first log for the first building in Zion. It was not for the temple—it was a foundation for a building that would serve as a schoolhouse.2 Only the next day did Joseph dedicate the temple site. Secular learning, the implicit message held, was a natural and even an essential preparation for spiritual knowledge. In fact, Joseph considered such learning one of the motives of the gathering itself. “One of the principal objects . . . of our coming together,” he wrote, “is to obtain the advantages of
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