Documents, Volume 12, Part 2 Introduction: April 1843
Part 2: April 1843
In April 1843, JS traveled to visit the Saints in
areas surrounding , Illinois,
taught doctrine, held a
in Nauvoo, encouraged efforts to fund the
construction of the Nauvoo and the , and served in his civic and military roles. He
began the month with a short journey to see the Latter-day Saints in
, Illinois. While there, he taught church
members more about the nature of God and the second coming of Jesus
Christ. This was not the only time JS
addressed theological topics in April—at various times during the
month he spoke about prophecy, death, and resurrection, and he again
preached about signs of Christ’s second coming.
He also interpreted and clarified biblical passages on the end
times; in one discourse, for example, he spoke on the meaning of the
beasts from John’s vision in the New Testament book of
Revelation.
In addition to preaching doctrinal sermons, JS addressed matters of church
administration and spoke about temporal issues. Due to JS’s
persistent suspicions that his counselor was conspiring against him with former
church member , JS presented the
“for trial” during
the early April
conference celebrating the thirteenth anniversary of the
organization of the church, asking the conference attendees whether
they sustained each member of the presidency. After Rigdon explained
his past associations with Bennett, the conference sustained him
along with the other presidency members. Following this business, JS
instructed conference attendees about the importance of the Saints
together. He directed church members seeking
property to settle in
rather than , and he
encouraged members who were already living in Iowa Territory to
relocate to
Nauvoo.
About a week following the conference, a group of more than four
hundred Latter-day Saints arrived in Nauvoo from . JS likewise advised
these Saints on where they should live and from whom they should
purchase land.
As part of his administrative duties, JS presided in an
ecclesiastical court as he and the First Presidency heard an appeal
made by in a case previously
decided by the Nauvoo .
Many church members lived in poverty in , and some
resorted to stealing, an act JS condemned. The
general lack of money also affected construction of the Nauvoo and
the .
Because the Saints still needed funds and materials to continue
constructing the two buildings, JS assigned the the task of fund raising
for these important building projects.
To aid in raising funds and to encourage economic growth,
JS oversaw the writing of a letter to the Boston Daily Bee that
described , its
buildings, and the potential for investment opportunities
there. Other correspondence makes up a
significant portion of the April documents, as JS sent and
received several other letters covering a variety of matters,
including real estate transactions, legal issues, and the conduct of
church member in the
church’s
.
Part 2 features twenty-three documents created in April 1843, including fourteen letters
and several sets of meeting minutes and accounts of discourses.