Revelation, [, OH], 11 Nov. 1831. Featured version, titled “74 Received on the. 11 of Oct 1831,” copied [between 11 and 20 Nov. 1831] in Revelation Book 1, p. 122; handwriting of ; CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for Revelation Book 1.
John Whitmer later crossed out “Oct” and wrote “Nov.”
Historical Introduction
On 11 November 1831, JS dictated this revelation assigning “” to accompany “” on an upcoming trip to . Sometime in late October or early November, Oliver Cowdery received the assignment to carry JS’s revelations to Missouri so they could be published at the was establishing there. John Whitmer later wrote that he was appointed by revelation to accompany Cowdery. This 11 November directive for Whitmer—who, according to a March 1831 revelation, was responsible for keeping “the Church Record & History continually”—to go to Missouri indicates that the records necessary to maintain a history of the church were to be kept there. While this revelation did not enumerate exactly which records should be preserved, it indicated that among them were the accounts of Saints who were “abroad in the Earth,” supplemented by records Whitmer himself was to obtain by traveling to different congregations. The revelation also reiterated the need for Whitmer to write in his history “all the important things which he shall observe & know concerning my Church.”
The original manuscript of the revelation is not extant. copied the revelation into Revelation Book 1, probably before his and ’s departure for on 20 November. When Whitmer copied the revelation, he dated it 11 October 1831, but he later changed the date to 11 November 1831. Whitmer copied the revelation between the testimony of the divine origin of JS’s revelations, written sometime around 2 November, and another revelation dated 11 November, suggesting that November and not October was the correct month. Although “11” is probably the correct day, an account in a later JS history raises some questions. According to that history, “The Book of Commandments and Revelations was to be dedicated, by prayer, to the service of Almighty God, by me; and after I had done this, I enquired of the Lord concerning these things, and received” the revelation. This dedication occurred at a conference held on 12 November. Since that conference focused on the publication of the revelations, it is plausible that the revelation was dictated then, although the minutes of the conference do not record such an event. Without additional evidence, 11 November remains the more probable date.
A later JS history seems to indicate that Cowdery and Whitmer received the assignment “to start for Independence, Missouri,” prior to the 1 November 1831 conference. Although that may have been true for Cowdery—a July 1831 revelation directed him to assist Phelps with printing in Missouri, and a 1 November 1831 revelation instructed him to “cary these sayings unto the land of Zion”—Whitmer apparently did not know about his own assignment until this revelation. (JS History, vol. A-1, 157; Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:13]; Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–A [D&C 68:32]; Whitmer, History, 38.)
Hearken unto me saith the Lord for verily I say unto you for my Servent sake it is not wisdom in me that he should be intrusted with the & moneys which he shall carry unto the Land of except one go with him who will be true & faithfull wherefore I the Lord willeth that my Servent shall go with my servent & also that he observe to continue in writing & makeing a history of all the important things which he shall observe & know concerning my & also that he receive council & assistance from my Servent & others & also that my Saints which are abroad in the Earth should send forth their accounts to the Land of for the Land of shall be a seat & a place to receive & do all these things nevertheless let my Servnt travel many times from place to place & from Church to Church that he may the more easily obtain knowledge Preaching & expounding writing cop[y]ing & selecting & obtain[in]g all things which shall be for the good of the Church & for the rising generations which shall grow up on the Land of to possess it from generations to generations forever & ever Amen [p. 122]
When William W. Phelps quoted from this revelation in the August 1832 issue of The Evening and the Morning Star, he included the phrase “of their stewardships” here and asked “the elders at a distance” to send him their accounts of their missions so he could publish them. (Notice, The Evening and the Morning Star, Aug. 1832, [7].)
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.