The Book

In August of 1842, Joseph Smith was unjustly charged with being an accessory to the shooting of Missouri governor Lilburn W. Boggs. He was forced to go into hiding as officers attempted to take him into custody and send him to Missouri, where he knew he would receive no fair treatment. He secretly went from place to place, trying to protect himself and the Saints from their enemies once again. At the same time, apostate John C. Bennett was continuing to publish lies about Joseph and the Church, causing more animosity towards the Saints and more problems for Joseph. In the midst of this, Joseph wrote two letters to the Saints now canonized in the Doctrine and Covenants, and he described his difficult situation this way: “Forasmuch as the Lord has revealed unto me that my enemies, both in Missouri and this State, were again in the pursuit of me; and inasmuch as they pursue me without a cause, and have not the least shadow or coloring of justice or right on their side in the getting up of their prosecutions against me; and inasmuch as their pretensions are all founded in falsehood of the blackest dye, I have thought it expedient and wisdom in me to leave the place for a short season, for my own safety and the safety of this people.” Surely it was a difficult time for him as he was forced to remain aloof from the Saints and his family and worried again about unjust imprisonment because of the “the envy and wrath of man” (Doctrine and Covenants 127:1-2).  

With these difficulties upon him, I have always been impressed by how he spoke about what was on his mind during this period. He wrote to the Saints, “I now resume the subject of the baptism for the dead, as that subject seems to occupy my mind, and press itself upon my feelings the strongest, since I have been pursued by my enemies.” When thrust into a state of constant fear of being unjustly captured by his enemies and sent to Missouri, what concerned him most was not his own troubles but the glorious principle of baptism for the dead. He instructed the Saints concerning the specifics of how baptisms for the dead should be accomplished and quoted those Biblical passages that teach about the principle of salvation for the dead. He then rejoiced with the Saints about this wondrous doctrine and gloried in the Restoration that was making it possible. He declared to the Saints that they should be filled with joy because of these things: “Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of great joy…. Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free. Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King!” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:1,19,22-23) Despite being pursued by his enemies and under great tribulations, he focused on the joy of the Restoration of the gospel and the redemption of the dead.

As he finished his spirited letter to the Saints, Joseph invited them as a people to “offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” Using the words of Malachi, he described in more detail what that offering should be: “Let us, therefore, as a church and a people, and as Latter-day Saints, offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness; and let us present in his holy temple, when it is finished, a book containing the records of our dead, which shall be worthy of all acceptation.” So what is this book? Elder Allan F. Packer quoted this scripture and said, “This ‘book’ will be prepared using the records of names and ordinances in the Church’s FamilyTree database.” He continued, “I am checking and adding records to this database because I want the names of all those I love to be in the book. Don’t you?” This “book” now contains over 1.3 billion people and we can each be a part of preparing it as we add people as well as stories and pictures and memories of those who have gone before so they can be preserved through the Millennium. No matter what our current troubles, like Joseph we can each focus on the glorious doctrines of the Restoration and salvation for the dead, and we can do our part as the people of God to prepare this most glorious of all books to offer to the Savior when He comes again.