Keep Moving and Keep Building

This morning as I was studying my scriptures, I came across some passages in D&C 124 that struck me.  The Lord began this revelation by telling the Prophet, "Verily thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Joseph Smith, I am well pleased with your offering and acknowledgments, which you have made; for unto this end have I raised you up, that I might show forth my wisdom through the weak things of the earth.  Your prayers are acceptable before me; and in answer to them I say unto you, that you are now called immediately to make a solemn proclamation of my gospel, and of this stake which I have planted to be a cornerstone of Zion, which shall be polished with the refinement which is after the similitude of a palace" (D&C 124:1-2).

As I read these verses, the historian in me couldn't help but think about the context and how these words may have made Joseph feel.  This revelation came to the Prophet on January 19, 1841.  Two years earlier, he had been incarcerated in a hellish prison, not knowing whether he would ever get out or what would become of him.  By January 1841, however, the "beautiful city" on the Mississippi river was beginning to take shape.  This revelation included yet more plans for the construction of a temple, this one to be the most majestic that the Saints had yet undertaken.  Furthermore, as these verses discussed, Nauvoo was to become "a cornerstone of Zion," polished and gleaming with "the refinement which is after the similitude of a palace."  Most importantly, the Lord was pleased with Joseph's efforts and accepted those efforts and prayers.

In contemplating these circumstances, I couldn't help but think about the "dark, dirty, and loathsome" prison that Joseph had been kept in during the winter of 1838-1839.  I thought to myself, "How was he able to go from the hell that was Liberty Jail and the debacle in Northern Missouri, and automatically begin again to build yet another city to the Lord?  How was he able to move on from a disaster to build a beautiful city, crowned with a Temple?"

The early history of this Church is one of perpetual movement and perpetual building.  In 1830, the Saints were compelled to vacate their homes in New York to move to Kirtland, and then, in part, to Jackson County, Missouri.  In 1833, the Saints were forced to vacate Jackson County under the threat of terror and violence.  After having built and dedicated a beautiful temple in Kirtland, the Saints were forced to vacate their homes and temple in 1838, moving to Far West, Missouri.  Within months of establishing homes in Far West, the Saints were expelled from the state of Missouri, necessitating the construction of yet another city at Nauvoo beginning in 1839.  And even then, after completing their majestic Temple at Nauvoo, they were once again compelled to move, and once again build another city.

It's a story that hardly seems fair.  This constant movement and the constant need to build new homes and new temples seems almost unbearable.  But those who remained and those who built the kingdom were the ones who were willing to keep moving and keep building.  They didn't allow the experiences of Kirtland and Jackson County prevent them from building Far West.  Nor did they allow the experiences at Far West and Haun's Mill prevent them from building Nauvoo.  Nor did Nauvoo prevent the building up of Salt Lake.

May we all keep moving and keep building, no matter the experiences of the past.

Brett