Faithful in All Things

On April 26, 1838 Joseph received a revelation in Far West in which the Lord commanded the Saints to build a temple there. He said, “Therefore, I command you to build a house unto me, for the gathering together of my saints, that they may worship me. And let there be a beginning of this work, and a foundation, and a preparatory work, this following summer; And let the beginning be made on the fourth day of July next; and from that time forth let my people labor diligently to build a house unto my name; And in one year from this day let them re-commence laying the foundation of my house” (Doctrine and Covenants 115:8-11). This meant that on April 26, 1839 specifically the Saints were to lay the foundation of the house of the Lord. The counsel was directed specifically to the Twelve in a subsequent revelation: “And next spring let them depart to go over the great waters, and there promulgate my gospel, the fulness thereof, and bear record of my name. Let them take leave of my saints in the city of Far West, on the twenty-sixth day of April next, on the building-spot of my house, saith the Lord” (Doctrine and Covenants 118:4-5). So twice the Lord mentioned this specific date that something needed to happen on the temple site: a foundation was to be laid and the apostles were to depart from there to preach the gospel in England. The problem, of course, was that in that year’s time the Saints were kicked out of Missouri at the peril of their lives. Fulfilling this command seemed impossible.

               The Saints book records what happened after the majority of the members of the Church had gathered in Quincy, Illinois: “The apostles in Quincy had an important—and potentially life-threatening—decision to make. The previous year, the Lord had commanded them to meet at the Far West temple site on April 26, 1839, where they were to continue laying the foundation of the temple and then leave for another mission to England. With the appointed date a little over a month away, Brigham Young insisted that the apostles return to Far West and fulfill the Lord’s commandment to the letter. Several church leaders in Quincy believed it was no longer necessary for the apostles to obey the revelation and thought it was foolish to return to a place where mobs had sworn to kill the Saints. Surely, they reasoned, the Lord would not expect them to risk their lives traveling hundreds of miles into enemy territory and back when they were needed so badly in Illinois.” The remaining apostles made their decision to go back and Brigham Young declared, “The Lord God has spoken. It is our duty to obey and leave the event in His hands.”  

               Right as Joseph Smith was fleeing Missouri, the apostles traveled back to Far West from Quincy, a journey of about 175 miles. After traveling for seven days they arrived on the night of April 25^th and as midnight came they went to the temple site: “There they sang a hymn and Alpheus rolled a large stone to the southeast corner of the temple site, fulfilling the Lord’s commandment to recommence laying the foundation of the temple. Wilford took a seat on the stone as the apostles formed a circle around him. They placed their hands on his head, and Brigham ordained him to the apostleship. When he finished, George took Wilford’s place on the stone and was ordained as well. Recognizing they had done all they could, the apostles bowed their heads and took turns praying in the morning light. When they finished, they sang ‘Adam-ondi-Ahman,’ a hymn that looked forward to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the day when the peace of Zion would spread across Missouri’s war-torn prairie and fill the world. Alpheus then rolled the stone back to where he found it, leaving the foundation in the Lord’s hands until the day when He would prepare a way for the Saints to return to Zion. The next day, the apostles rode thirty-two miles to catch up with the last families struggling to leave Missouri. They expected to depart for Great Britain soon.” Despite the incredible dangers of going back into Far West where their enemies were, they had done their best to fulfill the command of the Lord.

            Not all of the revelation concerning the temple in Far West, though, was fulfilled. After commanding the foundation to be recommenced on that specific day, the Lord said this: “Thus let them from that time forth labor diligently until it shall be finished, from the cornerstone thereof unto the top thereof, until there shall not anything remain that is not finished” (Doctrine and Covenants 115:12). Clearly that did not happen, and perhaps some day it will. Perhaps this instruction from the Lord explains how the Lord felt about their failure to build a temple in Far West: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, that when I give a commandment to any of the sons of men to do a work unto my name, and those sons of men go with all their might and with all they have to perform that work, and cease not their diligence, and their enemies come upon them and hinder them from performing that work, behold, it behooveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept of their offerings.” But the Lord did require the same thing of them in Nauvoo: “And again, verily I say unto you, I command you again to build a house to my name, even in this place, that you may prove yourselves unto me that ye are faithful in all things whatsoever I command you” (Doctrine and Covenants 124:49,55). I don’t know all the reasons why the Lord gave some commands that ultimately could not be fulfilled—or at least not yet—but I believe the lesson here from Brigham Young and those apostles is that we should do all in our power to do what the Lord has asked. We must, as they did, prove to the Lord that we are “faithful in all things whatsoever” He commands us.