Scot
Hasn’t this been a glorious year in carefully studying the Book of Mormon as individuals and families? Did you notice time and time again that the lesson for that week was just the answer you needed for yourself, your family or for the current situation in the world? Have you found that you have drawn closer to Christ in this past year of study? It’s hard to leave our intense Book of Mormon studies behind, but we are now given the immense privilege of studying the Doctrine and Covenants and the early history of the Church and the Restoration of God’s Kingdom here upon the earth in our day. What could be more exciting?
Maurine
Welcome, dear friends, to Meridian Magazine’s Come Follow Me Podcast. We are Scot and Maurine Proctor and this is our first of 50 podcasts about the Doctrine and Covenants and the new curriculum this year. The Doctrine and Covenants is a most significant, powerful and sacred book. President Ezra Taft Benson said, “The Book of Mormon is the ‘keystone’ of our religion, and the Doctrine and Covenants is the capstone, with continuing latter-day revelation. The Lord has placed His stamp of approval on both the keystone and the capstone.” (Benson, Ezra Taft, The Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants, General Conference, April 1987)
Scot
In fact, Maurine, the Lord Himself gives us our charge and a very specific commandment in Section 1 of the Doctrine and Covenants:
37 Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled.
And then comes this verse which I have probably quoted more than any other verse to my institute classes:
38 What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same. (D&C 1: 37-38)
Maurine
Scot, I love this as a foundation scripture for our studies. We have the Lord Jesus Christ’s personal witness that these commandments, these sections of the Doctrine and Covenants that we will be carefully studying this year are true and He assures us that the prophecies and the promises in this sacred book will all be fulfilled. That is thrilling.
And we’ve noticed over the years as we have taught the Doctrine and Covenants and the history of the Church, that many of our students are less schooled and less confident or conversant in these areas. Let’s work together to change that in our lives, you who are listening today. And if you already know these things pretty well, let’s dive deeper and come to know things better than ever before.
Scot
Maurine, today’s lesson centers on Doctrine and Covenants, Section 1—and we will talk about this in great detail—but I think it would help to lay a foundation as we begin this new year of study. I love context and background so that we are all on the same page.
The early history of the Church, the Joseph Smith period, can be divided into five geographical periods: The New England period; the New York and Pennsylvania period; the Ohio period; the Missouri period and the Nauvoo period—and as we get to the end of Joseph’s life, we can add one more period of study—the pioneer of trail west period.
Maurine
Just that much context helps us as we begin this course of study. And as we’ve studied and prepared for this podcast, we would highly recommend your reading President Benson’s talk given in the very last session of the April 1987 General Conference called “The Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants.” We will draw some quotes from it today, but it’s well to carefully study that address.
President Benson taught:
“The Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants are bound together as revelations from Israel’s God to gather and prepare His people for the second coming of the Lord.
“The bringing forth of these sacred volumes of scripture “for the salvation of a ruined world” cost “the best blood of the nineteenth century”—that of Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum (D&C 135:6).
Scot
He continues:
“The Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants testify of each other. You cannot believe one and not the other.
“The Book of Mormon testifies of modern books of scripture. It refers to them as “other books” and “last records” which “establish the truth” of the Bible and make known the “plain and precious things which have been taken away” from the Bible (1 Nephi 13: 39-40).
“Excluding the witnesses to the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants is by far the greatest external witness and evidence which we have from the Lord that the Book of Mormon is true. At least thirteen sections in the Doctrine and Covenants give us confirming knowledge and divine witness that the Book of Mormon is the word of God (see D&C 1; D&C 3; D&C 5; D&C 8; D&C 10; D&C 11; D&C 17; D&C 18; D&C 20; D&C 27; D&C 42; D&C 84 and D&C 135).
Maurine
President Benson continues:
“The Doctrine and Covenants is the binding link between the Book of Mormon and the continuing work of the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith and his successors…
The Book of Mormon brings men to Christ. The Doctrine and Covenants brings men to Christ’s kingdom, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth” (D&C 1:30). I know that.” (Benson, Ezra Taft, The Book of Mormon and The Doctrine and Covenants, April 1987) End of quote.
In this coming year together, let’s look for the voice of the Savior in this sacred book. Let’s look for the covenants He gives us to bind us to Him. Let’s look for the careful establishment of the Kingdom of God on the earth in these latter days. Let’s look for the signs and prophecies about His Second Coming. Let’s look for the witnesses that Joseph Smith is a prophet of the living God.
One of our goals this year is for you to come to really know the Prophet Joseph Smith, to come to love him and to strengthen your testimony of him as the instrument the Lord chose to bring the fulness of His Gospel back to the earth and to establish the Kingdom that would welcome the Savior at His Second Coming.
Scot
Maurine, what is the world to make of a man who declares that the heavens have burst open and knowledge of God has been given again to humanity? that he has been visited by an angel who has given him an ancient record testifying of Jesus Christ—and then actually produces that record? that he has seen God the Eternal Father and His Son Jesus Christ, who have told him that none of the creeds of the world are correct?
Joseph Smith is that man, and, frankly, the world is puzzled. Joseph himself said: “I don’t blame anyone for not believing my history. If I had not experienced what I have, I could not have believed it myself.” (Joseph Smith, History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2nd ed. rev., edited by B. H. Roberts, 7 vols. (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1932-51), 6:317.)
The Lord told Amos in the Old Testament that he would do nothing save he revealed it unto his servants the prophets (see Amos 3:7), and now He has opened a new dispensation by revealing himself to a prophet again, this time to a young man in New York with a common name like Joseph Smith.
To his detractors he was a fraud. They let out one long holler of derision at his claim. As one said, “I thought the man either crazed or a very shallow impostor.” (The life of Thurlow Weed (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1884), 1:359.)
Still, in this world, crazed and shallow imposters show up every day, but they do not have the magnetic power to capture the dedication of the people around them. For the doctrines Joseph taught, people were willing again and again to leave a trail of their scattered possessions behind them, willing to suffer death for the faith he taught them.
Maurine
To his followers, he was a prophet, God’s chosen instrument to restore the gospel of Jesus Christ with all its keys, principles, and ordinances. One of these, Parley P. Pratt, said, “There was something connected with the serene and steady penetrating glance of his eye, as if he would penetrate the deepest abyss of the human heart, gaze into eternity, penetrate the heavens, and comprehend all worlds.” (Scot Facer Proctor and Maurine Jensen Proctor, Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, Revised and Enhanced Edition, Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, 2000, p. 45)
Joseph Smith was by any account someone to be reckoned with. In the early summer of 1844, Josiah Quincy, who would shortly become the cultured mayor of Boston, visited the city of Nauvoo and spent a few hours with the Prophet Joseph Smith. Quincy asked questions about the faith, toured the city with the Prophet himself, and then went home to write an essay about the man he had met, sizing up the Prophet in these words: “It is by no means improbable that some future text-book, for the use of generations yet unborn, will contain a question something like this: What historical American of the nineteenth century has exerted the most powerful influence upon the destinies of his countrymen? And it is by no means impossible that the answer to that interrogatory may be thus written: Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet. And the reply, absurd as it doubtless seems to most men now living, may be an obvious commonplace to their descendants. History deals in surprises and paradoxes quite as startling as this.” (Josiah Quincy, Figures of the Past from the Leaves of Old Journals (Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1884), p. 376.)
Scot
Maurine, to understand Joseph and the revelations he received, we have to take him at his word—that he is a prophet of God. Scholars of the Bible have long been puzzled by a verse in Acts that declared that Jesus Christ would be sent again to the children of men after the “restitution of all things.” (Acts 3:21) How could there be a restitution unless there had been a falling away?
Though much of the Christian world believes that the gospel has continued unbroken since Jesus Christ had given it in his mortal ministry, the Lord told Joseph something different. He said the gospel of Jesus Christ and His saving mission was established before the foundation of the earth and that it had been known by people in every dispensation–A dispensation is a time when the church of God with its ordinances and revelations is upon the earth. To this point, it has always been followed by a period of apostasy brought on by wickedness.
When the Savior’s apostles were preaching the gospel after His resurrection, they were aware that there would be another complete falling away from the truth. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, warning them not to be deceived about the Second Coming of the Lord, “for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3)
Maurine
So how was God to usher in His great, last dispensation before the Second Coming? For unlike other dispensations, this one would not end in apostasy but would usher in the Millennium, the thousand years of peace, with Jesus Christ Himself reigning as King of kings and Lord of lords. How is a people to be prepared to meet the Savior when He comes? An unwavering, unchanging God will do it, of course, the way He has always done it—by giving a prophet knowledge and authority of God. We cannot comprehend the Lord or His ways unless He reveals Himself to us.
Humanity, left to itself, tries to press forward, but everywhere we turn we find that our best ideas are no more than promising puffs of smoke blown away on the wind. They warm us for a while and then come to nothing. Who, then, will give us the knowledge to fill our souls with light? No one in this confused world.
Scot
But that knowledge came from the Lord, breaking the long silence from the heavens, when He visited fourteen-year-old Joseph Smith in 1820. The world responded as it would to anything truly novel: with disbelief and rage. Of such people the Lord asked, “Wherefore murmur ye because ye shall receive more of my word?” (2 Nephi 29:8) Still there were thousands and then millions who had ears to hear. And we who are together this day in this podcast are among those millions.
This is the last great dispensation when the gospel is upon the earth, the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times—the dispensation that opens the way for the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This knowledge is given freely to humanity to prepare them to meet the Lord. Given the doctrines revealed by Joseph Smith and the faith to live them, surely a people can be prepared.
Maurine
President Nelson taught:
“We live in a time of turmoil. Earthquakes and tsunamis wreak devastation, governments collapse, economic stresses are severe, the family is under attack, and divorce rates are rising. We have great cause for concern. But we do not need to let our fears displace our faith. We can combat those fears by strengthening our faith.
“Why do we need such resilient faith? Because difficult days are ahead. Rarely in the future will it be easy or popular to be a faithful Latter-day Saint. Each of us will be tested….
“The time is coming when those who do not obey the Lord will be separated from those who do (see Doctrine and Covenants 86:1-7).
“Do whatever it takes to strengthen your faith in Jesus Christ by increasing your understanding of the doctrine taught in His restored Church and by relentlessly seeking truth. Anchored in pure doctrine, you will be able to step forward with faith and dogged persistence and cheerfully do all that lies in your power to fulfill the purposes of the Lord.” (Nelson, Russell M., The Future of the Church: Preparing the World for the Savior’s Second Coming, Ensign, April 2020)
Scot
And that is what we are doing in this year’s course of study: Strengthening our faith in Jesus Christ by increasing our understanding of the doctrine taught in His restored Church and by relentlessly seeking truth. That is one of our goals in this podcast.
Now, in every book of scripture, the commandment and admonition is given to us to study and search the word of the Lord.
To this day in Israel, faithful Jews know the Sh’ma Yisrael, verses that serve as a centerpiece for morning and evening prayer services from the Old Testament:
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:
5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)
Maurine
And to Joshua the Lord said:
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. (Joshua 1:8)
And in the New Testament the Lord commanded:
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. (John 5:39)
Scot
In the Book of Mormon we are taught:
Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. (2 Nephi 31:20)
And when Jesus visited the Nephites personally, He said:
And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.
2 For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles.
3 And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake.
Maurine
That last verse has the same powerful admonition and language of the first section of the Doctrine and Covenants. In the Pearl of Great Price, we hear these words:
And whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived, for the Son of Man shall come, and he shall send his angels before him with the great sound of a trumpet”. (Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:37)
So, we are to treasure up the Lord’s words DAILY. We are to search the commandments and prophecies diligently and feast upon the words of Christ in all these holy books of scripture.
Scot
Which leads us back to the Doctrine and Covenants. In this first section—which is NOT chronological by the way—and we’ll talk about that in a minute—the Lord Jesus Christ says clearly, as we quoted before:
37 Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled.
38 What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.
The message is clear, part of our duty, part of our mission here on the earth, part of our daily devotion is to search, study, ponder and pray over the words of the Lord—His holy scriptures. And the blessings that follow are innumerable.
Maurine
One more thing: I notice that the title of this book of scripture is The Doctrine and Covenants. Let’s make sure we don’t miss this message.
Scot
That’s right, Maurine. We have the Old Testament—which could be translated, The Old Covenant. We have the New Testament, or the New Covenant. And we have the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ—which is full of the covenants of the Father—that His people would know that He had not forgotten them and that this covenant was not forgotten of the Lord for a thousand generations.
Maurine
And we have this Doctrine and Covenants—a renewal of the covenants of the Father—with the New and Everlasting Covenant—the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in these last days.
Now, Section 1 of the Doctrine and Covenants is unique and powerful—let’s give you the context for its reception.
A special conference or council of the eighteen-month-old Church had been called to gather in Hiram, Ohio at the home of John and Elsa Johnson. Joseph and Emma were temporarily living in this home at the time and had been for about six weeks.
The Church was so young.
The first printing of the Book of Mormon had come off the press the year before on March 26.
The Church had been legally organized on April 6 of that year before.
The Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods had been restored just 2 ½ years before.
The first high priests had been ordained just five months before.
A few missionaries had begun to go out and preach the gospel.
This gathering at the Johnson farm was small, with perhaps two or three dozen people in attendance total.
Scot
By this date 65 revelations had been received by the Prophet Joseph.
In those days, when a missionary, like Joseph’s brother, Samuel Harrison Smith, or Parley Parker Pratt or Ziba Peterson or Frederick G. Williams would go out, they would take a few copies of the newly published Book of Mormon AND they would hand-copy a few revelations they could use in their preaching, like the revelation that had been given in February 1829 that we now know as Section 4 of the Doctrine and Covenants. It would take some time to copy those 145 words but they were like gold in their pockets. When they were preaching, they would then pull out a folded piece of paper, unfold it and began to read the words they had copied from that original revelation.
Obviously, this method of copying would proliferate mistakes. Someone might carry a copy of a copy of a copy of a revelation with them and it may or may not be completely accurate in the transmission.
Maurine
When those few saints gathered for this November conference at the Johnsons, Joseph laid out the revelations he had received on a table. It was clearly time for them to be published in one volume. A number of matters were to be discussed.
How many copies of this Book of Commandments should be published?
Where should they be published?
Who should carry the precious revelations to the press?
Who should be the publisher?
And, when you go to publish a new book, there needs to be a preface.
A committee was tasked to write the preface. They drafted a preface but it was sadly unequal to the great revelations that had been given.
Scot
Joseph Smith the Prophet stepped forth and “dictated by the spirit the preface…while sitting by a window in the room. Sidney Rigdon wrote it down. Joseph would deliver a few sentences and Sidney would write them down, then read them aloud, and if correct, then Joseph would proceed and deliver more, and by this process the preface was given.” (William Kelley to the editor, January 16, 1882, in Saints’ Herald 29, no. 5 (March 1, 1882): p. 67)
Here is a book, the Doctrine and Covenants, that has a preface given by the Lord Himself. This fact alone makes this the most unique modern book in the world. Authors scramble to have someone famous write a preface to their book—one of our friends got Stephen R. Covey to write the preface for this book—it became a New York Times bestseller. That preface is very important to set the tone and the context for the book that is to follow. Imagine now, that we have a book where Jesus Christ has given the preface! Let’s explore that preface.
Maurine
In the very first two verses we are given so much:
1 Hearken, O ye people of my church, saith the voice of him who dwells on high, and whose eyes are upon all men; yea, verily I say: Hearken ye people from afar; and ye that are upon the islands of the sea, listen together.
2 For verily the voice of the Lord is unto all men, and there is none to escape; and there is no eye that shall not see, neither ear that shall not hear, neither heart that shall not be penetrated.
Immediately, the Lord is speaking to all the members of the Church AND to all people everywhere.
And He uses the word “hearken”—it’s not a word we hear very often anymore.
Scot
I love that word. In the Hebrew it is kaw-shab’ and it has more connotations that to just hear. It means:
Give attention!
Give heed!
Incline yourself towards!
Listen with your whole soul!
Mark well!
Regard these words!
Listen as to the instruction of a father and give your heart that you may gain understanding.
With that in mind: Hearken, O ye people of my church—
All that He is about to say in this preface is for us to hear, heed and obey.
Maurine
And the Lord promises in that second verse that none will escape the word of the Lord—and He is very specific— there is no eye that shall not see, neither ear that shall not hear, neither heart that shall not be penetrated.
Again—here in the Preface of the Doctrine and Covenants He says:
4 And the voice of warning shall be unto all people, by the mouths of my disciples, whom I have chosen in these last days.
5 And they shall go forth and none shall stay them, for I the Lord have commanded them.
That is the promise and the authority of the Lord to His servants.
Scot
Maurine, I know this is a little thing but I want to share it in reference to this scripture. When I serving in Idar-Oberstein in Germany, I was called from there to Kaiserslautern to serve as a zone leader. I don’t know how it is now, but in those days the zone leaders and the assistants to the president were the only missionaries who had cars. I was told that my companion I would be serving with did not have a driver’s license and I would be required to obtain a German driver’s license. These are very hard to obtain and sometimes would take months to process. They came with a very difficult test and then a lot of money—but the hardest thing was just the time involved. The first thing I did when I arrived in Kaiserslautern was go with my companion to the driver’s license division and apply. The man there was a perfect monist. There was only one way to do things and there was only one procedure and there was a set time to obtain things and that’s the way it was. PERIOD. I told him that I was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was here for a brief time and I would need a driver’s license as soon as possible. He just laughed at me and continued to tell me that it would take a very long time—and, in fact, I think that my pushing him a little bit was going to make it be even longer. I knew we needed to visit missionaries who were in need to help that very weekend. I believe this was on a Tuesday or a Wednesday and I told him I needed the license by Friday. Again, he laughed and he said very emphatically: “Das ist unmöglich!” “That is impossible!” I took the test and we came back on Friday. We had been praying the whole time and pleading with the Lord that He would open the way for us to get this license. I drew upon these verses in the first section that “none shall stay them, for I the Lord have commanded them.” The man saw us coming and he put on that same face of defiance. I came up to him and said, “Is it possible to pick up my driver’s license right now?” I remember what happened to this day, He shook his head defiantly and said, “Nein, es ist nicht möglich.” “No, it is not possible” and then, in that same shaking of his head, I saw his head go to a nod as if someone had gently taken his head from behind and moved it up and down and he said, “Ja, das kann ich machen.” “Yes, I can do that.” And within five minutes I had my German driver’s license! We had just witnessed a miracle.
I’m sure that same kind of story could be repeated by missionaries all over the world thousands of times over. This is the Lord’s work and He is the one in charge—and none shall stay His hand.
Maurine
I want us to look in Section 1 at verse 17:
17 Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments;
That one verse alone tells us so much about the Lord’s feelings for and trust in the Prophet Joseph. Seeing what was about to happen to the earth, the Lord called Joseph! That’s so powerful.
Brigham Young taught:
It was decreed in the counsels of eternity, long before the foundations of the earth were laid, that he, Joseph Smith, should be the man, in the last dispensation of this world, to bring forth the word of God to the people, and receive the fulness of the keys and power of the Priesthood of the Son of God. The Lord had his eyes upon him, and upon his father, and upon his father’s father, and upon their progenitors clear back to Abraham, and from Abraham to the flood, from the flood to Enoch, and from Enoch to Adam. He has watched that family and that blood as it has circulated from its fountain to the birth of that man. He was fore-ordained in eternity to preside over this last dispensation (DBY, 108).
Scot
Don’t let us ever underestimate what we have in our lives because of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Through the Prophet Joseph we have a correct knowledge of God the Father and of Jesus Christ.
Maurine
Through the Prophet Joseph we have the Book of Mormon that brings us unto Christ.
Scot
Through the Prophet Joseph we have the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods restored in our time.
Maurine
Through the Prophet Joseph we have the true ordinances of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Scot
Through the Prophet Joseph we have the true organization of the Church of Jesus Christ restored to us in these latter days.
Maurine
Through the Prophet Joseph we have the restoration of the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the Quorum of the Seventy.
Scot
Through the Prophet Joseph we have the Relief Society, set in order by revelation and as an arm of the priesthood to bless, lift and serve people everywhere.
Maurine
Through the Prophet Joseph we have the blessings, covenants and power of the Temple, including all the saving ordinances of initiatory, endowment and sealing.
Scot
Through the Prophet Joseph we have the keys of the gathering of Israel on both sides of the veil—including baptism for the dead which then allows the prisoners to go free.
Maurine
Through the Prophet Joseph we have a knowledge of the pre-mortal world, the grand councils of heaven and our divine relationship with Heavenly Parents. Truly we know we are beloved daughters and sons of Heavenly Parents.
Scot
Through the Prophet Joseph we have 3,410 verses of the Bible either corrected or received anew to restore many of the plain and precious truths that were lost.
Maurine
Through the Prophet Joseph we have more revelation and more scripture than by any other prophet in the history of the world—including the revelations of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Scot
In [these] revelations, the doctrines of the gospel are set forth with explanations about such fundamental matters as the nature of the Godhead, the origin of man, the reality of Satan, the purpose of mortality, the necessity for obedience, the need for repentance, the workings of the Holy Spirit, the ordinances and performances that pertain to salvation, the destiny of the earth, the future conditions of man after the Resurrection and the Judgment, the eternity of the marriage relationship, and the eternal nature of the family. Likewise, the gradual unfolding of the administrative structure of the Church is shown with the calling of bishops, the First Presidency, the Council of the Twelve, and the Seventy and the establishment of other presiding offices and quorums. Finally, the testimony that is given of Jesus Christ—His divinity, His majesty, His perfection, His love, and His redeeming power—makes this book—[The Doctrine and Covenants]—of great value to the human family and “worth to the Church the riches of the whole Earth” (see heading to D&C 70).
Maurine
In this marvelous book we will hear again and again the voice of Jesus Christ and will be drawn closer to Him and to His kingdom.
Dear listeners and friends, we have the most exciting year ahead of us as we study and learn together about these transcendent revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants, about the Prophet Joseph Smith and his family and associates, about the events and details of the early history of the Church and about the unfolding of the Kingdom of God upon the earth.
Scot
Thanks for joining us today and throughout this coming year. Next week the lesson will be Joseph Smith History 1: 1-26 and is entitled, “I Saw a Pillar of Light.” Special thanks to Paul Cardall for the music that opens and closes this podcast and thanks to our producer, Michaela Proctor Hutchins.
Blessings to each of you and a very happy, productive and wonderful New Year.
