Doctrine and Covenants 49–50

<p>Listen to this scripture found in Doctrine and Covenants. It may have been written under different circumstances, but tonight by the Holy Spirit, I hope you will take it as your personal call to this sacred work.</p><p>“Behold, I say unto you, go forth as I have commanded you; repent of all your sins; ask and ye shall receive; knock and it shall be opened unto you.</p><p>“Behold, I will go before you and be your rearward; and I will be in your midst, and you shall not be confounded.</p><p>“Behold, I am Jesus Christ, and I come quickly.”</p><p>I appeal to each of you to put yourself in a place where you can feel the generous love God has for you. You cannot put yourself beyond the reach of that love. When you feel His love, when you love Him, you will repent and keep His commandments. When you keep His commandments, He can use you in His work. His work and glory is the exaltation and eternal life of women and men.</p><p>The prophets are calling on us, my sisters. Will you be righteous? Will you articulate your faith? Can you bear being distinct and different? Will your happiness in spite of your trials draw others who are good and noble and who need your friendship? Will you turn on your light? I testify the Lord Jesus Christ will go before us and be in our midst.</p>

<p>He whose name this church bears has promised that He will be in our midst, lead us along, go before us, and even fight our battles. He has further counseled, “Be not afraid of your enemies, for I have decreed in my heart … that I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found worthy.” So let us have patience and faith as did Lehi who saw pointing fingers of scorn directed at those who grasped the iron rod, which rod, ironically, some of those same fingers once grasped. But, said Lehi, “we heeded them not.” So it should be with us! Brothers and sisters, being pointed in the right direction, we do not need to worry about being pointed at!</p>

<p>At the time the Book of Mormon was published, there was a long-standing tradition of people of European ancestry claiming a link to the lost tribes of Israel. When the Book of Mormon was published, it challenged its readers to consider the possibility that throughout history, God has sent inspired teachers to people in different locations around the world. The title page of the Book of Mormon directly proclaims that “Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations” (Book of Mormon Title Page). The Lord has directed the Saints to extend the blessings of the gospel to many groups, including the Lamanites, who were initially understood to be the American Indians.</p> <p>While early Church members applied these promises directly to the American Indians, the common conception of Lamanite identity has broadened over time to include Pacific Islanders and other people of native ancestry. The term <em>Lamanite</em> is used fluidly in the Book of Mormon, sometimes speaking of ancestry (Mosiah 10:11–17) and sometimes speaking of an ideological alignment (4 Nephi 1:36–38). In the latter days, some Latter-day Saints have used the term <em>Lamanite</em> in a derogatory way, but for the most part it has been used as a term to extend and apply the scriptural blessings promised to the house of Israel. An official Church essay concerning Lamanite identity proclaims that “Saints who have identified as Lamanites have made substantial contributions to the Church and to their communities as they have aimed to realize the Lord’s promises to His covenant people.”<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" title="" class="see-footnote">[1]</a></p> <p>Larry Echohawk, a Church leader of American Indian ancestry, spoke about his experience with the Book of Mormon, saying, “As I read the Book of Mormon, it seemed to me that it was about my American Indian ancestors.” He further added, “I especially ask the remnant of the house of Israel, the descendants of the people of the Book of Mormon, wherever you may be, to read and reread the Book of Mormon. Learn of the promises contained in the Book of Mormon. Follow the teachings and example of Jesus Christ. Make and keep covenants with the Lord. Seek for and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit.”<a href="#_ftn2" id="_ftnref2" title="" class="see-footnote">[2]</a></p> <p>The Lord’s promise that “Jacob shall flourish in the wilderness, and the Lamanites shall blossom as the rose” (D&C 49:24) undoubtedly will be fulfilled in multiple ways. One of the most positive ways to apply the prophecy given by the Lord in this revelation is to see all people as potential heirs to the promises made to Israel, regardless of their background.</p> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" title="" class="footnote-label">[1]</a> “Lamanite Identity,” Church History Topics, churchofjesuschrist.org.</p> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref2" id="_ftn2" title="" class="footnote-label">[2]</a> “Come Unto Me, O Ye House of Israel,” October 2012 General Conference.</p> </div>

<p>The Shakers rejected the revelation given to them. After Sidney Rigdon finished reading the revelation, Ashbel Kitchell announced that “I would release them and their Christ from any further burden about us, and take all the responsibility on myself.” Rigdon then asked to hear from the congregation who, according to Kitchell, declared “that they were fully satisfied with what they had.” Kitchell further recorded that “upon hearing this Rigdon professed to be satisfied and put his paper by; but Parley P. Pratt arose and commenced shaking his coattail; he said he shook the dust from his garments as a testimony against us, that we had rejected the word of the Lord Jesus.” Kitchell rebuked Parley and then accused Leman Copley of hypocrisy, reducing Copley to tears.<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" title="" class="see-footnote">[1]</a></p> <p>The experience left Leman Copley shaken, and he began to vacillate between his commitment to the Church and to the Shakers. When he returned home, he refused to honor a prior agreement he had made to permit Church members migrating from Colesville, New York, to live on his farm (see D&C 54). Over the next few years, Copley went back and forth between the Saints and the Shakers, eventually settling with neither. He joined several different Christian churches and remained near his home in Thompson, Ohio, until his death in 1862.<a href="#_ftn2" id="_ftnref2" title="" class="see-footnote">[2]</a></p> <p>As for the Shakers, they continued to grow throughout the nineteenth century, but in the twentieth century, their movement entered a sharp decline. At the movement’s peak, there were 2,000–4,000 Shakers living in 18 different communities. However, the Shaker belief in celibacy, combined with stricter laws making it illegal for religious groups to adopt children, meant that the Shaker population decreased swiftly. By the twenty-first century, there was only one remaining Shaker community, at Sabbath day Lake in Maine. Only a handful of Shakers (fewer than five individuals) remain today.<a href="#_ftn3" id="_ftnref3" title="" class="see-footnote">[3]</a></p> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" title="">[1]</a> Flake, 3.</p> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref2" id="_ftn2" title="">[2]</a> “Leman Copley,” JSP.</p> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref3" id="_ftn3" title="">[3]</a> Katherine Lucky, “The Last Shakers?” <em>Commonweal,</em> November 28, 2019.</p> </div>