As For Years

D&C 51 contains a revelation to Bishop Partridge that specifically addressed his duties to help the incoming Saints from New York (particularly the Colesville branch) settling in Ohio.  Among the instruction that the Lord gave him was this counsel: “And I consecrate unto them this land for a little season, until I, the Lord, shall provide for them otherwise, and command them to go hence; And the hour and the day is not given unto them, wherefore let them act upon this land as for years, and this shall turn unto them for their good” (v17-18).  In other words, the Lord seemed to be telling him that the Saints would not be there forever—they would at some future day “go hence” from Ohio—but they should still have the mindset that they would be on the land “for years.”  I think there is a wide range of application for this principle, from our church callings to how we interact with our neighbors to how a missionary should act in the mission field.  We shouldn’t let the fact that we know that a particular assignment or experience is going to come to an end lessen our resolve to serve and love and experience the current moment to the fullest.  This kind of attitude is epitomized by Ammon when he went as a missionary to the Lamanites.  When he was found and brought before King Lamoni, he said, “I desire to dwell among this people for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die” (Alma 17:23).  I’m fairly confident that Ammon knew he wasn’t really going to live there the rest of his life—for example, his father has learned from the Lord before his sons’ departure that the Lord would “deliver [his] sons out of the hands of the Lamanites.”  But Ammon still worked and served and loved the people as if it would be his home forever (Mosiah 28:7).  That’s the “for years” attitude that the Lord wants us to have. 

               Some citations from Brigham Young showed that he struggled to help the early Saints in Utah develop the “for years” attitude.  For example, he said to his people on one occasion, “Were I residing in a gathering place where I knew I could remain for two years, and had fifty thousand dollars to spare, I would expend it in the best improvements I could, and labor to improve until the last day of my remaining.  The Lord is gathering his people, and this is a city for the Saints. A great many here are satisfied with a log hut. Some act as though they expected to be driven, and others say—'We will soon go back to the Center Stake of Zion, and this house will answer my purpose till then.’ Let every mechanic and every scientific man of all classes and occupations, and every woman, improve to the best of their ability, faithfully living their religion, and we shall be none too well qualified to build up Zion when that time arrives.”  The people knew that eventually the Saints would be called back to Missouri to build up Zion, and apparently some didn’t want to invest fully in their lives in Utah because of that future departure.  But Brigham taught them to put their roots down fully and devote themselves to building up the Lord’s kingdom where they were at.  He said on another occasion, “If you had the spirit of your calling, you would be anxious to build the best houses you could, and make the best gardens, fields, and vineyards, though you knew that you would not enjoy them one day after they were completed.”  For us in our day I think this teaching translates to how we view our participation in the Lord’s work even when we expect our time in a particular spot of the vineyard to be short.  The missionaries who spends their last day in the mission field still searching earnestly to find people to teach or the person who still tries to fellowship other church members on their last week in a ward before they move out indeed have the “spirit of their calling.” 

               It turns out that the Colesville Saints spent very little time in Ohio at all because Leman Copley broke his covenant and they weren’t able to settle on his land that he had consecrated.  So their “little season” turned out to be about a month before the Lord commanded they move on to Missouri.  For others in Kirtland their little season was up to seven years before all the Saints headed on to Missouri.  No matter what our “little season” is in the callings or responsibilities that we have, we should work with the mindset that we will be continuing it “for years” and then Lord will “turn unto [us] for [our] good” these efforts.