Report of the First Presidency to the Church, circa 7 April 1841
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Source Note
[JS, , and ], Report, to the , , Hancock Co., IL, ca. 7 Apr. 1841. Featured version published in “Report of the First Presidency,” Times and Seasons, 15 Apr. 1841, vol. 2, no. 12, 384–386. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.
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Historical Introduction
At the beginning of a general of the that commenced on 7 April 1841 in , Illinois, read this report from JS and his counselors in the . The report, describing the state of the church, followed the model of a report read at the previous general conference, held in early October 1840. The April report detailed the growth of the church and encouraged the Saints to gather to Nauvoo. It highlighted progress on construction of the , the First Presidency’s optimistic promises for the city’s growth, and the need for church members to provide financial aid and physical labor to support the growth of Nauvoo.served as the scribe for the First Presidency’s original report, which is apparently no longer extant. A copy of the original was published in the 15 April 1841 issue of the Times and Seasons in accordance with a resolution of the conference that called for the report’s publication. That version, featured here, is the only known contemporaneous account of the report. No date was given for the creation of the report, but because it was prepared for the April 1841 general conference and delivered by Thompson on 7 April, it was likely created either on 7 April 1841 or in the days before.
Footnotes
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1
See Report of the First Presidency, 4 Oct. 1840. The First Presidency had also issued a proclamation to the church in mid-January 1841 that contained a message similar to that of the conference reports. The proclamation, for instance, encouraged Saints to immigrate to Nauvoo. (Proclamation, 15 Jan. 1841; see also Minutes and Discourse, 6–8 Apr. 1840.)
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2
Thompson is listed as the clerk in the Times and Seasons version, indicating that he penned the original that was sent to the Times and Seasons for publication.
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