Transcript Brother Brigham - LDSGospelDoctrine.net

Brother Brigham
[email protected]
Elder Oaks
November 2004
BYU Devotional
Deer hunting story
“Now, I invite you to think about some
seemingly small decisions you are making
in your life that would benefit from your
asking, “where will it lead?”
President Kimball
If we live in such a way that the
considerations of eternity
press upon us, we will make
better decisions.
(Ensign, Jan 1977, p.3)
July 1844
Newspaper headline announcing the death
of Joseph and Hyrum:
“Thus endeth Mormonism”
Why didn’t it?
Why Brigham Young?
Zion’s Camp
"I have traveled with Joseph a
thousand miles. . . . I have
watched him and observed every
thing he said or did. . . . For the town of
Kirtland I would not give the knowledge I
got from Joseph on this Journey; and then
you may take the State of Ohio and the
United States. . . . It has done me good . .
. and this was the starting point of my
knowing how to lead Israel. “ (Salt Lake High
Council Record)
Kirtland
"When I saw a man stand in the path before the Prophet to
dictate him, I felt like hurling him out of the way and
branding him a fool," he declared (JD 10:363-64).
Essentially he did just that during an incident, included in
his history, of catching a man loudly denouncing Joseph
through the Kirtland streets after midnight. Cowhide in
hand, Young jerked the man around and warned him that
if he did not stop and let the people sleep, he would whip
him on the spot. He declared that they had the Lord's
prophet right there and did not need the devil's
prophet yelling in the streets
Special Meeting
August 8th, 1844
"The Twelve are appointed by the finger of God! Here is
Brigham, have his knees ever faltered? Have his lips
ever quivered? Did he ever flinch before the bullets in
Missouri?
Here are the Twelve, an independent body who have the
keys of the Priesthood, the keys of the Kingdom to
deliver to all the world. This is true So help me God. . . .
You cannot appoint a Prophet, but if you let the Twelve
remain & act in their place the keys of the Kingdom are
with them, and they can manage the affairs of the
Church & direct all things aright."
Research into the Transformation
of Brigham Young
101 written testimonies of people who say a
transformation or spiritual manifestation
occurred.
Fifty-seven are firsthand documents: personal
journals, personal narratives told to a scribe, or
first-person testimonies published in Church
magazine articles.
Forty-two are secondhand testimonies: accounts
gleaned from biographies written by family
members or from historical compilations."
(Lynne Watkins Jorgensen, BYU Studies, vol 36, #4)
Benjamin Johnson
"I sat in the assembly near to President Rigdon, closely attentive to his
appeal to the conference to recognize and sustain his claim as
'guardian for the Church.' And I was, perhaps, to a degree, forgetful of
what I knew to be the rights and duties of the apostleship. And as he
closed his address and sat down, my back was partly turned to the
seat occupied by Apostle Brigham Young and other Apostles, when
suddenly, and as from heaven, I heard the voice of the Prophet
Joseph.
That thrilled my whole being, and quickly turning around, I saw in the
transfiguration of Brigham Young, the tall, straight, and portly form of
the Prophet Joseph Smith, clothed in a sheen of light covering him to
his feet. And I heard the real and perfect voice of the Prophet, even to
the whistle, as in years past caused by the loss of a tooth, said to have
been broken out by the mob at Hiram. This view or vision, although
but for seconds was to me as vivid and real as the glare of lightning or
the voice of thunder from the heavens. …
I found that others could testify to having seen and heard the same.
Result of Aug 8th Meeting
The Twelve were sustained to lead the church.
What did Brigham Young then set out to do?
1) Finish the temple. Why?
2) Prepare to move the Saints. Why?
Brother Brigham simply followed Joseph’s every
direction. To the day he died.
Question
Brigham was accused, in Kirtland, of “blindly
following” Joseph Smith.
Should we blindly follow Pres. Hinckley?
President Benson
1980 BYU Devotional
To help you pass the crucial tests
which lie ahead I am going to give you
today several facets of a grand key
which, if you will honor, will crown you with
God's glory and bring you out victorious in spite
of Satan's fury.
Soon we will be honoring our Prophet (Pres.
Kimball) on his eighty-fifth birthday. As a church
we sing the song, 'We Thank Thee, O God, for a
Prophet.' Here then is the grand key—Follow
the Prophet."
D&C 21
4 Wherefore, meaning the church, thou shalt give heed
unto all his [the prophet’s] words and commandments
which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them,
walking in all holiness before me;
5 For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth,
in all patience and faith.
6 For by doing these things the gates of hell shall not
prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will
disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and
cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his
name's glory.
Feb 16th, 1847
Illness seized [Brigham] during the night of 16 February and the pre-dawn hours of 17 February, a
sickness so severe that he "fainted away, apparently dead for several moments" … Only those
who die and go through the veil could know how he felt, he said two weeks later, adding that "I
know that I went to the world of spirits" (Stout 1:238). However, it was not given him to
immediately remember the details of what he saw there: "All that I know, is what my wife told
me about it since." She reported that his first words upon being revived were that he "had been
where Joseph & Hyrum was" and that "it is hard coming back to life again'"
Revived and returned to his bed, Brigham Young fell asleep and dreamed, and when he awoke, he
called for writing materials. "In my dream I went to see Joseph," he wrote. He found him sitting
by a large window looking "perfectly natural." Brigham took him by the hand, kissed his
cheeks, and asked him why they could not be together as before.
Joseph arose from his chair and "looked at me with an ernest and plesent countenence, spoak in
his usual way it is all right. I then said to him I due not like to be a way from you. it is wright he
replied we can not be together yet, we shall be by en by[.] but you will have to do things with
out me a while and then we shall be together again." Brigham then addressed Joseph as his
mentor in the priesthood, one who knew the Saints better than he did.
if you have a word of councel for me I should be glad to receive it." The counsel was very simple:
"be sure to tel[l] the people to keep the spiret of the Lord" (Brigham Young Holograph, 17 Feb
1847).
The interview over, Brigham turned and saw Joseph standing in the light "but where I had to go was
as midnight darkness." Because Joseph insisted, Brigham "went back in the darkness" and
awoke (Stout 1:238). As he described the experience not long afterward, "I have been with
Joseph and Hyrum; it is hard to come back to life again.“ (Ron Esplin Discipleship, Joseph
Smith and Brigham Young)