Thomas B. Marsh and Humility

I remember my last time in the Provo Temple while in the MTC before departing for my mission. As I walked out, reluctant to leave knowing that it would be nearly two years until I was able to return, I looked at a picture of the Savior and felt that I needed to cultivate two attributes in particular as I left for France, and one of those was humility. Without that it is very difficult to be an effective missionary and have the Spirit preach the gospel. I thought about that need often on my mission and sought to better develop that attribute. Now though I am in a very different stage of life with different responsibilities, humility is just as critical for me to be the kind of father and husband the Lord needs me to be. As I read the Lord's revelations to Thomas B. Marsh in the Doctrine and Covenants, I noticed that He focused in particular on humility with him as well. The Lord invited him numerous times to be be humble in order to fulfill his responsibilities to his family and to Church.

The Lord gave Thomas in these words in 1830: "Be patient in afflictions, revile not against those that revile. Govern your house in meekness, and be steadfast" (Doctrine and Covenants 31:9). He had a wife and three sons at the time to whom he was to govern in "meekness," and he was at the same time called to be a missionary. He would later become the president of the Twelve Apostles, and in 1837 the Lord chastised him in these words, "Verily I say unto you, there have been some few things in thine heart and with thee with which I, the Lord, was not well pleased. Nevertheless, inasmuch as thou hast abased thyself thou shalt be exalted." He had done wrong but because he humbled himself the Lord forgave him. He further counseled, "Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers." He was told that as the Twelve went forth to preach the gospel, "They shall humble themselves before me, and abide in my word, and hearken to the voice of my Spirit" (Doctrine and Covenants 112:10,22). This was emphasized again to the Twelve as a whole in a verse right after the Lord directly addressed Thomas: “Let the residue continue to preach from that hour, and if they will do this in all lowliness of heart, in meekness and humility, and long-suffering, I, the Lord, give unto them a promise that I will provide for their families; and an effectual door shall be opened for them, from henceforth” (Doctrine and Covenants 118:3). Humility was key to their success as apostles and in particular to Thomas.

Ultimately Thomas B. Marsh apostatized and left the church, but he came full circle and in 1857 he humbly requested to return. He wrote to Heber C. Kimball, “The Lord could get along very well without me and He has lost nothing by my falling out of the ranks; But O what have I lost?!” His apostasy had occurred because he had not been humble. He described it this way, “I have frequently wanted to know how my apostacy began, and I have come to the conclusion that I must have lost the Spirit of the Lord out of my heart. The next question is, ‘How and when did you lose the Spirit?’ I became jealous of the Prophet, and then I saw double, and overlooked everything that was right, and spent all my time in looking for the evil; and then, when the Devil began to lead me, it was easy for the carnal mind to rise up, which is anger, jealousy, and wrath. I could feel it within me; I felt angry and wrathful; and the Spirit of the Lord being gone, as the Scriptures say, I was blinded.” In other words, he had not remembered the Lord’s warning and counsel to be humble and had let his pride lead him away. Gratefully he did humble himself and made his way back to the Saints. His life and the Lord’s counsel to him is a reminder of our constant need for humility before the Lord.