Doctrine and Covenants 98

Ever felt like getting even with someone?

On July 20, 1833, a group of 400–500 Missourians began destroying their property and threatening their lives. On August 6, 1833, the Prophet Joseph Smith received the revelation recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 98. The Prophet was in Kirtland (900 miles away) and could not have understood the seriousness of the situation but only through revelation.

The Perfect Person’s Timeline BornNurseryPrimaryPriestTeacherDeaconBaptismDriving - DatingElder Graduation MarriageMission Is anyone’s timeline perfect? College Family

Read Doctrine and Covenants 98:1–3,4- 5, 11–15, 21–22 to look for phrases that teach about how enduring trials. The Origins of Trials

The Missourians at the meeting in the Independence courthouse quickly turned into a mob and decided to destroy the printing office and the press. They broke into the printing office, threw the furniture into the street and garden, broke the press, scattered the type, and destroyed nearly all the printed work, including most of the unbound sheets of the Book of Commandments. The mob next went to destroy the Gilbert and Whitney Store. However, Sidney Gilbert met the mob before they could carry out their plan and promised that he would pack the goods and leave in three days. (See Church History in the Fulness of Times, 133.) The Missouri Persecutions

Three days later, a mob appeared again in Jackson County, Missouri, this time armed with rifles, pistols, whips, and clubs. They set fire to haystacks and grain fields and destroyed several homes, barns, and businesses. They eventually confronted six Church leaders who, seeing that the property and lives of the Saints were in jeopardy, offered their lives as a ransom. Rejecting this offer, the mob leaders threatened that every man, woman, and child would be whipped unless they consented to leave the county. Under pressure, the brethren signed an agreement to leave Jackson County. Half of the Church members and most of the leaders would leave by January 1, 1834, and the rest would leave by April 1, (See Church History in the Fulness of Times,134.) The Missouri Persecutions

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed. The fact is that most putts don't drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old-time journey...delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas, and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride“ (Jenkin Lloyd Jones, as quoted by President Gordon B. Hinckley, BYU Devotional, 23 September, 1973) The Origins of Trials

We live in a Telestial World Some trials are self-inflicted Trials come through other people

The Origins of Trials “God actively intervenes in some destructive lineages, assigning a valiant spirit to break the chain of destructiveness in such families. Although these children may suffer innocently as victims of violence, neglect, and exploitation, through the grace of God some find the strength to “metabolize” the poison within themselves, refusing to pass it on to future generations. Before them were generations of destructive pain; after them the line flows clear and pure. Their children and children’s children will call them blessed.” Carlfred Broderick, “I Have a Question,” Ensign, Aug. 1986, 38–39

The Origins of Trials We live in a Telestial World Some trials are self-inflicted Trials come through other people God will send trials our way

“ Let us remember that we were measured before we were born and we were found equal to all our tasks.” Elder Neal A. Maxwell BYU Speeches of the Year, 1986

“ No pain that we suffer, no trial that we endure, is ever wasted. All that we suffer and all that we endure…will make us more like our Father and Mother in Heaven.” Orson F. Whitney (qtd in Faith Precedes the Miracle, pg 98)

Two groups: The law of retaliation 98:23-30 The law of forgiveness 98:39-48

23 Now, I speak unto you concerning your families—if men will smite you, or your families, once, and ye bear it patiently and revile not against them, neither seek revenge, ye shall be rewarded; 25 And again, if your enemy shall smite you the second time, and you revile not against your enemy, and bear it patiently, your reward shall be an a hundredfold. 26 And again, if he shall smite you the third time, and ye bear it patiently, your reward shall be doubled unto you four-fold; 29 And then, if he shall come upon you or your children, or your children’s children unto the third and fourth generation, I have delivered thine enemy into thine hands; 30 And then if thou wilt spare him, thou shalt be rewarded for thy righteousness; and also thy children and thy children’s children unto the third and fourth generation. D&C 98:23-30

155 children in three generations

780 children in 4 generations

So how do you have a bad day but still have a great life? (Journal) Make a list of people who were tried in the scriptures and what they did to overcome

GOD WILL LIFT US UP

GOD WILL LIFT US UP

Doctrine and Covenants 98