LDS Church History no. 3 - Brigham Young Home, or "Let Us Be Up and Doing"

In an epistle of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, written in Nauvoo, Illinois, dated 12 October 1841, we read,

Let us be up and doing. . . . Deal gently, love mercy, walk humbly before God, and whatever your hands find to do, do it with your might, keeping all the commandments, and then, whether in life or in death, all things will be yours, whether they be temples or lands, houses or vineyards, baptisms or endowments, revelations or healings, all things will be yours, for you will be Christ's and Christ is God's.

Brigham Young,
Heber C. Kimball,
Orson Pratt,
Lyman Wight,
John Taylor,
Wilford Woodruff,
George A. Smith,
Willard Richards.
("An Epistle of the Twelve Apostles, to the Brethren Scattered Abroad on the Continent of America", HC 4:438)

President Brigham Young was acutely aware of this counsel and heeded it.  He built the below home after returning home from his mission to England.

President Young lived in this home until he, under direction from the Lord, led the Latter-day Saints on the Exodus to the West.  This is a beautifully furnished home.  If Brother Brigham can "be up and doing" and build a home this beautiful in the midst of poverty, we can do likewise, even to the accomplishment of anything the Lord asks of us, whether temporal or spiritual.  I know this is true, and no true Latter-day Saint will reject this counsel to "be up and doing" without losing the Spirit of the Lord.

Next, we go inside to the Council Room of the Twelve Apostles in the east wing of the home (to the right of the above picture).  Here we see the Council Room as Brigham Young knew it:

I love the way this room is laid out.  It speaks of order, uprightness, and openness to opinion.  President Young would have no doubt been seated at the head of the table, closest to the door.  I imagine, as is customary today in the Church Office Building, the Council of the Twelve would be seated by seniority.  All would be allowed to speak in turn, and express opinions, give counsel or advise, and generally "be up and doing" in the Lord's work, which is only found within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Let us, therefore, as Latter-day Saints, council with the Lord and also take council from His hand, as the prophet Jacob admonishes, when he saith, "Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from His hand.  For behold, ye yourselves know that He counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works" (Jacob 4:10).

Lastly, we come to the below picture of President Young's root cellar:

This was the refrigerator of the nineteenth Century.  I, having had the opportunity to enter therein, opine it is of a satisfactory temperature to keep food stuffs cool, and preserve freshness.

This root cellar of Brigham Young may also have a spiritual undertone.  Notice in the above picture that one must step down to go inside and procure needed food to nourish the body.  It is thus and so also with things of the Spirit - when one is malnourished spiritually, or if the heat of the world causes us to loose our temper, or to become overwhelmed in our daily tasks, let bring ourselves lower in humility, cool off and take nourishment, and then the Lord will lift us out of the mire of our troubles.  Indeed, the Holy Ghost is the greatest nourishment one might receive in this wonderful world we live in.  God be praised for His giving us His Spirit.

I, Clark LeRay Herlin, know The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, and that President Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet of God, even His mouthpiece on Earth today.  If we heed his counsel as the Saints in Nauvoo heeded President Young, we will be led aright, and the fiery darts of the adversary shall not overcome us.  We must counsel with the Lord and take counsel from His hand, enter into our "root cellar" and cool off, and "be up and doing", and I know the Lord will give His approbation, guidance, and strength.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Mormon Theology no. 8 - The Genius of the LDS Church Organization

On 22 November 2009 at 11:20am inside the Provo Tabernacle, I heard Elder D. Todd Christofferson testify of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Priesthood Authority that the Lord has given the LDS Church.  What are the Apostles?  Who are the Seventy?  Where and when do they fit into Jesus' original Church He set up?  In this essay, we will examine these claims.  It must always be remembered that Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, and that He leads said Church.


The Council of the First Presidency
During certain occasions, the Lord Christ took with Him Peter, James, and John - and only them - to witness certain pivotal events in His ministry.  Such pivotal events were the raising of the daughter of Jairus, the raising of Lazarus, the events on top of the Mount of Transfiguration, and our Lord's sufferings in the Garden of Gethsemane.  The reason the Lord took Peter, James, and John upon the Mount was to ordain them to the Priesthood and give them the Keys that only the First Presidency can exercise.  These three able men eventually led the Church and called and ordained new Apostles such as Paul and Barnabas and Matthias.  Unfortunately, all Christ's original Apostles were killed, and His Authority taken from the Earth.  It was eventually restored under the hands of these same ancient Apostles (Peter, James, and John) upon the heads of Joseph Smith, Junior and Oliver Cowdery near Harmony, Pennsylvania in May or June of 1829.  Four years later on 18 March 1833, the Lord organized the First Presidency, then consisting of Joseph Smith, Junior, President; Sidney Rigdon, First Counselor; and Fredrick G. Williams, Second Counselor.  The First Presidency at the time of the death of Joseph Smith consisted of Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Hyrum Smith.  The First Presidency has been subsequently dissolved and reorganized at the death of every Church President since Joseph Smith.  The current First Presidency is Thomas S. Monson, President; Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor; and Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor.

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
During Jesus' mortal ministry (Matt. 10), He organized the first ever Quorum of the Twelve Apostles which consisted of Peter, Andrew, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Lebaeus Thaddaeus, Simon, and Judas.  As stated above, this Quorum was all killed off or taken from the Earth by the Lord, thus their Authority going with them.  It was reconstituted by the Lord on 14 February 1835 with Thomas B. Marsh, David W. Patten, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, William E. McLellin, Parley P. Pratt, Luke S. Johnson, William Smith, Orson Pratt, John F. Boynton, and Lyman E. Johnson as members.  As in former dispensations, at the death or excommunication of a member of the Twelve, a new person in called into the Quorum so as to always have twelve.  The current Quorum consists of: Boyd K. Packer, L. Tom Perry, Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H. Oaks, M. Russell Ballard, Richard G. Scott, Robert D. Hales, Jeffery R. Holland, David A. Bednar, Quinton L. Cook, D. Todd Christofferson, and Neil L. Andersen.  Together, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles hold and exercise all the Priesthood Keys on the Earth, with the President of the Church the only man authorized to exercise all the keys at one time.

The Quorums of the Seventy
In Acts 6, the Twelve Apostles chose seven able men to assist them in the work of the ministry.  The Savior had previously organized a Quorum of Seventy shortly after the organization, empowerment, and sending forth of the Twelve.  The Seventy were organized to help the Apostles lead the Church.  After the Great Apostasy, the Lord brooded upon Joseph Smith to reorganize the Seventy in the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times.  Just two weeks after the formation of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles in 1835, Joseph Smith organized the First Council of the Seventy.  One of the original members was Elder George A. Smith, a cousin to Joseph, and only 19 years of age at the time

From 1835 until 1975, the Quorums of the Seventy became so numerous that they eventually became unwieldy, which eventually were put under the supervision of the Stakes of Zion.  They were so unwieldy and disorganized, that in 1975, Spencer W. Kimball, then 12th President of the Church, reorganized the First Quorum as a Quorum of General Authority Seventies, with the Stake Seventies remaining under local jurisdiction.  By 1986, the Priesthood office of Seventy was no longer a Stake position, but operated Church wide, with the discontinuance of Stake Seventies.  Also in 1986, the Second Quorum of the Seventy was constituted, also consisting of General Authorities.  Then, in one of the great administrative motions of President Gordon B. Hinckley, he, in 1997, created the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Quorums of the Seventy.  Today, the Church has Eight Quorums of the Seventy.  With the creation of the Seventies Quorum, the Church can grow as large as ever God wills it, because the Quorums of the Seventy can expand to any number, whereas there will always and only be Twelve Apostles.

Seeing, therefore, that the Lord actually established a Church on the Earth when He was mortal, it stands to reason that His Church on the earth would have His same organization and offices in this dispensation as in former dispensations.  To fully know if what we have discussed is true, you, the reader, must read the Book of Mormon, carefully comparing its doctrine with the Bible.  If done with a prayer of faith, you will find that the LDS Church is the only true and living Church upon the face of the whole earth.  I know this is true, because I have done it.  Remember the words of Jesus, "If any man will do [God's] will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself" (John 7:17).  I bear witness of the Lord's establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that He established no other modern nor ancient Church or religion, save His Church.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.