To purify oneself from within. (See Matthew 23:25–26; and Luke 11:39.)
Primarily referred to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion, as opposed to other religious sacraments. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed “that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in remembrance of the Lord...
View GlossaryA law, decree, or regulation issued under municipal authority.
View GlossaryJS revelations instructed elders to lay their hands on those who were ill and offer a blessing of healing. By 1834, blessings were often accompanied by an anointing with oil. As in the New Testament, having faith in Christ was a necessary component of being...
View GlossaryPrimarily referred to the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, or Communion, as opposed to other religious sacraments. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed “that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in remembrance of the Lord...
View GlossaryWilford Woodruff characterized this as a “meeting of Prayer & fasting.” (Woodruff, Journal, 4 Aug. 1839.)
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
Members of a governing body in the church, with special administrative and proselytizing responsibilities. A June 1829 revelation commanded Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer to call twelve disciples, similar to the twelve apostles in the New Testament and ...
View GlossaryHeber C. Kimball reported JS’s instruction to travel without purse or scrip “according to the revelations of Jesus Christ.” Latter-day Saint missionaries commonly followed the pattern established by the ministry of Jesus’s disciples to “carry neither purse, nor scrip”—money bag or traveling bag—meaning to depend on the hospitality and assistance of others. (Kimball, “History,” 111; Mark 6:8; Luke 10:4; Revelation, July 1830–A, in Doctrine and Covenants 9:7, 1835 ed. [D&C 24:18]; Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832, in Doctrine and Covenants 4:13, 1835 ed. [D&C 84:77–78].)
Kimball, Heber C. “History of Heber Chase Kimball by His Own Dictation,” ca. 1842–1856. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 2.
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
Sickness and poverty delayed and staggered the departure of the Twelve. Wilford Woodruff and John Taylor departed during the week following this Sunday gathering, but others did not leave until later in the fall. (Woodruff, Journal, 25 July 1839; 7 and 8 Aug. 1839; Historian’s Office, “History of Brigham Young,” 35; Allen et al., Men with a Mission, chap. 4.)
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
Historian’s Office. “History of Brigham Young.” In Manuscript History of Brigham Young, ca. 1856–1860, vol. 1, pp. 1–104. CHL. CR 100 150, box 1, fd. 1.
Allen, James B., Ronald K. Esplin, and David J. Whittaker. Men with a Mission, 1837–1841: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the British Isles. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1992.
In the wake of the recent expulsion from Missouri, the impoverished church had difficulty keeping the agreement to provide for the families of the traveling apostles. A few months after the departure of the Twelve, Hyrum Smith wrote to Parley P. Pratt with considerable understatement, “The families of the Twelve are generally well, but not altogether so comfortably situated as I could wish owing to the poverty of the Church.” (Hyrum Smith, Nauvoo, IL, to Parley P. Pratt, New York City, NY, 22 Dec. 1839, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 80–81; see also Allen et al., Men with a Mission, chap. 11.)
JS Letterbook 2 / Smith, Joseph. “Copies of Letters, &c. &c.,” 1839–1843. Joseph Smith Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155, box 2, fd. 2.
Allen, James B., Ronald K. Esplin, and David J. Whittaker. Men with a Mission, 1837–1841: The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the British Isles. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1992.