This Used To Count As Home Teaching

After Joseph Smith was murdered a whole bunch of people, I’ve heard as many as 15, raised their hand to volunteer themselves as the prophet’s heaven-sent successor. Sidney Rigdon is probably the best known second man. He wanted to take everyone back to Pittsburgh. ( https://byustudies.byu.edu/content/sidney-rigdon-post-nauvoo ) . James Strang wanted to cheesehead on over to Wisconsin and then hop up to Michigan ( http://www.michiganradio.org/post/how-mormon-king-shaped-sleepy-island-lake-michigan ) . Lyman Wight said Smith told him to wagon train to Texas. ( https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fwi05 ) . Brigham Young, of course, had the distant Rocky Mountains in his sights. But where did Joseph Smith want to go? He certainly had plans to leave Nauvoo. Joseph infamously crossed the river going west just before his imprisonment and death. That’s a clue, right?   Below is a big list of far more than clues. It’s a truckload of old pioneer commentary a...

When you think of the Latter-Day Saint Nauvoo era, you probably think of a few people. Joseph   and Emma, obviously. Porter Rockwell may come to mind. Brigham Young  probably isn’t far behind. There were quite a few people crammed into that city – about 12,000 by some estimates. It makes sense that there were an awful lot that don’t get a lot of mention. Ezekiel Johnson Jr. Jr. for example, deserves a few more paragraphs in the history books. Here is a tiny bit about him. It is short, sweet and should leave you with a wide-eyed touch of gratitude. He was not a perfect man, but he met a selfless death: “He was considering baptism into the Mormon Church, when he found out his wife had secretly been baptized in the night. He was very distressed and said he would never have anything to do with the Church. “In 1835, he left the family home for good. He lived with his daughter Esther and her family in Nauvoo. He eventually gave up drinking and ha...

When Fast Sunday is approaching, I often find myself watching sleight of hand videos on Youtube. It hasn’t happened yet, but one day soon I hope to be able to secretly swipe enough sacrament to reassemble an entire piece of bread. Unfortunately my hands are not nimble, and I usually end up just doing a whole bunch of finger snaps while the tray speeds by.   Seriously though, some time ago I read an account about fasting. It was an old pioneer account referencing something Joseph Smith said about the surprising power of a three day fast. After that I saw three day fasts referenced in other old Church stories. It took several references before I realized this could be a list worth compiling. These are the accounts I could re-find as I went back looking for them. There weren’t a ton more, but if you know of some I’d love to see them! I’ll start with my favorite. It makes me think I’ll keep this whole 3 day fast thing in my back pocket for when things...