On October 3, 1841, during a conference, Joseph Smith read a letter penned by his brother Hyrum:
We give the above conference minutes an insertion, yet it will be seen
by the following extract of a letter written by Pres't. Hyrum Smith, to a
member of that branch of the church, that the church in Kirtland have not acted
according to the will of God, nor the council of the Church in this place.
"All the saints that dwell in that land are commanded to come
away, for this is “Thus saith the Lord;’ therefore pay out no monies nor properties
for houses, nor lands, in that country, for if you do, you will lose them; for
the time shall come that you shall not possess them in peace; but shall be
scourged with a sore scourge; yet your chi that branch of the church, it is not
according to the spirit and will of God; and as to the designs of the leading
members of that branch relative to the printing press, and the ordaining of
Elders, and sending out Elders to beg for the poor, are not according to the
will of God; and in these things they shall not prosper, for they have
neglected the House of the Lord, the Baptismal Font, in this place, wherein
their dead may be redeemed, and the key of knowledge that unfolds the
dispensation of the fullness of times may be turned, and the mysteries of God
be unfolded, upon which their salvation and the salvation of the world, and the
redemption of their dead depends, for "Thus saith the Lord,"
"there shall not be a General Assembly for a general conference assembled
together until the House of the Lord shall be finished, and the Baptismal Font,
and if we are not diligent the church shall be rejected, and their dead
also," "Saith the Lord," therefore, dear Brother, any
proceedings otherwise than to put forth their hands with their might to do this
work, is not according to the will of God, and shall not prosper; therefore
tarry, not in any place whatever, but come forth unto this place from all the
world, until it is filled up, and polished, and sanctified according to my
word, saith the Lord, come ye forth from the ends of the earth, that I may hide
you from mine indignation that shall scourge the wicked and then I will send
forth and build up Kirtland, and it shall be polished and refined according to
my word; therefore, your doings and your organizations, and designs in
printing, or any of your councils, are not of me, saith the Lord, even so,
Amen.
HYRUM SMITH, Patriarch for the whole church. (“Conference
Minutes,” The Times and Seasons 3, no. 1 [November 15, 1841]: 589)
Such sentiment is
consistent with D&C 124:83:
Nevertheless, I, the Lord will build up Kirtland, but I the Lord, have
a scourge prepared for the inhabitants thereof.
In her MA thesis
on the Kirtland Temple, Clarence L. Fields noted that:
We do not know how either of the above revelations were received in
Kirtland, but only a short time later the members there had reason to give it
sober thought. On the afternoon of February 4, 1842, a tornado swept out of the
heavens and pointed a finger at Kirtland and neighboring townships. “Houses and
barns were demolished. In Kirtland one child was reported killed, and the
Presbyterian church was blown down. Accompanied by rain, hail, vivid flashes of
lightning, and severe claps of thunder, it must have been a fearsome sight. In
some places the timber was completely leveled with the ground, and even apple
trees, some that had weathered the storms of many years, were torn up by the
roots.”
Shortly thereafter, Apostle Lyman Wight visited Kirtland on a mission
to reclaim as many as possible of the members who had heretofore ignored
counsel. Many listened, and he rebaptized about 200 of the “cold, dead members
of the Church and brought many of them to Nauvoo.” (Clarence L. Fields, “History
of the Kirtland Temple” [MA Thesis; Brigham Young University, August 1963], 81-82.
Fields is quoting from Artel Ricks, “Hyrum’s
Prophecy,” Improvement Era [May 1956]: 305-7, 340-42)
Further
Reading:
