The Riches of the Whole Earth

 

To my son,

                Recently we have been discussing some of the history of the church in 1831 when Joseph Smith and many of the elders of the church made the decision to publish the revelations in the Book of Commandments. In the heading to section 70 of the Doctrine and Covenants it describes briefly the actions of this council: “The conference voted that the revelations were ‘worth to the Church the riches of the whole Earth.’ Joseph Smith’s history refers to the revelations as ‘the foundation of the Church in these last days, and a benefit to the world, showing that the keys of the mysteries of the kingdom of our Savior are again entrusted to man.’” I love that phrase and truly believe it: the revelations of God are worth the riches of the whole earth. They are worth more than any amount of worldly goods or mortal possessions because they give to us the voice of our Savior Jesus Christ and His instructions to us. How blessed we are to have the words spoken by the Lord in our dispensation. As He declared to the prophet during this conference: “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. Wherefore the voice of the Lord is unto the ends of the earth, that all that will hear may hear: Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh” (Doctrine and Covenants 1:2, 11-12). His voice was meant to go to all the world to declare the need for each of us to repent and prepare for His return to the earth. The decision of this council to publish the revelations was a witness to their belief in the veracity of these words of the Lord as they declared, “The Holy Ghost shed forth upon us that these commandments are given by inspiration of God and are profitable for all men and are verily true. We give this testimony unto the world.”

                After the decision to publish these revelations, they started working on the printing the Book of Commandments in Missouri. Unfortunately, the work was never totally finished because of the mobs that attacked the saints there in 1833 and destroyed the printing press. I love, though, the story of Mary Elizabeth Rollins who was a teenage girl at that time in Missouri. She recounted what happened, “The mob renewed their efforts again by tearing down the printing office, a two story building, and driving Brother Phelps’ family out of the lower part of the house and putting their things in the street. They brought out some large sheets of paper, and said, ‘Here are the Mormon Commandments.’ My sister Caroline and myself were in a corner of a fence watching them; when they spoke of the commandments I was determined to have some of them. Sister said if I went to get any of them she would go too, but said ‘They will kill us.’ While their backs were turned, prying out the gable end of the house, we went, and got our arms full, and were turning away, when some of the mob saw us and called on us to stop, but we ran as fast as we could. Two of them started after us. Seeing a gap in a fence, we entered into a large cornfield, laid the papers on the ground, and hid them with our persons. The corn was from five to six feet high, and very thick; they hunted around considerable, and came very near us but did not find us.” What an incredible story! She eventually received a bound copy of the book with those pages. I love her determination to preserve the words of the Lord, and we should similarly value the scriptures in our lives. Though we may not have to risk our lives to preserve them, we can make sacrifices to treasure them in our lives now. I encourage you to remember her story keep reading in the Doctrine and Covenants—which contains the revelations of the Lord worth more than all the wealth of the earth—every day. 

Love,

Dad