Posted by:
JoD3:360
(
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Date: January 04, 2012 05:41PM
During the Sunday afternoon session of Gen. Conf., LDS Apostle Jeffrey Holland told Latter-day Saints:
"When Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum started for Carthage to face what they knew would be an imminent martyrdom, Hyrum read these words to comfort the heart of his brother:
"Thou hast been faithful; wherefore . . . thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.
"And now I, Moroni, bid farewell . . . until we shall meet before the judgment-seat of Christ."
A few short verses from the 12th chapter of Ether in the Book of Mormon. Before closing the book, Hyrum turned down the corner of the page from which he had read, marking it as part of the everlasting testimony for which these two brothers were about to die. I hold in my hand that book, the very copy from which Hyrum read, the same corner of the page turned down, still visible."
Holland's talk is online at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMWK20vZFwQ(or
http://broadcast.lds.org/genconf/2009/10/50/GC_2009_10_503_HollandJR___eng_.mp4)
However, the Book of Mormon read by Hyrum and mentioned in D&C 135 was previously identified in the LDS Church's news as belonging to Bathsheba Smith, the Wife of Geo. A. Smith (ref.
http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/50543/Fabric-of-history-Geo-A-and-Bathsheba-Smith-artifacts-donated-to-Church.html)
The book has her name inscribed on the front, and Hyrum's dog-ear folds over about four lines of type (on the folded-over corner):
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/9084/16658.jpghttp://img40.imageshack.us/img40/4585/16653m.jpgHolland's copy has no inscription on the front cover, and the dog-ear turns over about ten lines of text:
http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/2284/bookwave.pnghttp://img32.imageshack.us/img32/1487/bookfront.pnghttp://img183.imageshack.us/img183/354/smithbook.pngHolland didn't inform members of the following 'faith-disrupting' historical facts:
"Smith faced growing opposition among his former supporters in Nauvoo, and he "was stunned by the defections of loyal followers." Chief among the dissidents was William Law, Smith's second counselor in the First Presidency, who was well respected in the Mormon community. Law's disagreement with Smith was partly economic. But the most significant difference between the two was Law's opposition to plural marriage. There is even evidence that Smith propositioned the wives of both Law and his associate Robert D. Foster. Law and others gave testimonies at the county seat in Carthage that resulted in three indictments being brought against Smith, including one accusing him of polygamy. On May 26, just a few weeks before his death, Smith spoke before a large crowd of the Saints in front of the uncompleted temple and once again denied having any more than one wife."
"Unlike earlier dissenters Law had enough money to buy a printing press and publish a newspaper called the Nauvoo Expositor. Its only edition, published on June 7, 1844, contained affidavits testifying that the signers had heard Smith read a revelation giving every man the privilege of marrying ten virgins. The paper also attacked the attempt to "christianize a world by political schemes and intrigue" and denounced "false doctrines" such as "doctrines of many Gods," which, the paper said, Smith had recently revealed in his King Follett discourse. The newspaper also refused to "acknowledge any man as king or lawgiver to the church."
Smith declared the Expositor a "nuisance." On June 10, the Nauvoo city council passed an ordinance about libels; and Smith, as mayor, ordered the city marshal to destroy the paper. Press, type, and newspapers were dragged into the street and burned. Smith argued that destroying the paper would lessen the possibility of anti-Mormon settlers attacking Nauvoo; but as Richard Bushman [LDS historian and author] has written, he "failed to see that suppression of the paper was far more likely to arouse a mob than the libels. It was a fatal mistake."
"Nauvoo Mormons feared reprisals from the non-Mormons, and non-Mormons were apprehensive about the Nauvoo Legion, especially after Smith, fearing for his life, declared martial law on June 18. Illinois Governor Thomas Ford, desperately trying to prevent civil war, then mobilized the state militia. The governor promised Smith that he would provide protection if Smith would stand trial at Carthage for the destruction of the newspaper. Smith ordered the Legion to disarm but then fled across the Mississippi to Iowa. Emma warned Joseph that Nauvoo residents believed he had left due to cowardice and that they feared reprisals from local mobs. Smith returned to Illinois on June 23, gave himself up, and was taken to Carthage to stand trial."
(ref.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith#Dissent_in_Nauvoo)
Who first had the idea to destroy the Nauvoo Expositor press? George Harris, church member (since 1834) and acting associate justice on the Nauvoo city council. "The minutes of the meeting record: "Alderman Harris spoke from the chair, and expressed his feelings that the press ought to be demolished."'
"In early 1838, amidst growing dissent and legal problems, Joseph Smith fled Kirtland, Ohio for Far West, Missouri. A leader in Far West, George Harris met Joseph and Emma upon their arrival. Joseph wrote: "We were immediately received under the hospitable roof of George W. Harris who treated us with all kindness possible. here we refreshed ourselves with much satisfaction after our long and tedious journey.". The Smiths lived in the Harris home for two months before moving into a home of their own."
Perhaps very significantly, George Harris was the husband of Lucinda Harris, the first married woman whom Joseph Smith made his plural wife (in 1838).
"The date of the marriage between Joseph and Lucinda is uncertain. Sarah Pratt, a friend of Lucinda’s (and wife of Apostle Orson Pratt), indicated that the wedding occurred sometime during Joseph’s stay in Missouri."
(ref.
http://www.wivesofjosephsmith.org/03-LucindaMorganHarris.htm)
'Prophet' and church president Joseph Smith 'repaid' the kindness of George and Lucinda Harris by pursuing and marrying George's wife, which must have been a HUGE shock to him if he found out about it or suspected that something was going on between Lucinda and Joseph.
Did George Harris suggest that the Nauvoo Expositor printing press be destroyed knowing that Joseph Smith, Nauvoo's mayor, would issue the destruction order, thereby getting himself in serious legal trouble (violation of the First Amendment/freedom of the press) and via his incarceration, get JS away from his wife, Lucinda? Possibly.