Below are the quotes that were used in the video.
I love the imagery of ‘planting’ oneself in the gospel and in the community where you live (see section 57:8). We should “Bloom Where You are Planted!” I also love what the Lord adds to Edward Partridge. Not only should you plant yourself in your community and in Christ, but we are to help other disciples to be ‘planted’ in Christ so that they may have an eternal inheritance (see Section 57:8).
Joseph Smith: “The Lord displayed His power to the most perfect satisfaction of the Saints.” (https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-a-1-23-december-1805-30-august-1834/124).
Parley P. Pratt: “Several were then selected by revelation, through President Smith, and ordained to the High Priesthood after the order of the Son of God; which is after the order of Melchisedec. This was the first occasion in which this priesthood had been revealed and conferred upon the Elders in this dispensation, …On this occasion I was ordained to this holy ordinance and calling by President Smith.” (Pratt, Autobiography, 72).
John Whitmer: “The spirit fell upon Lyman, and he prophesied, concerning the coming of Christ…He said the coming of the Savior should be like the sun rising in the east and will cover the whole earth.” (Book of John Whitmer, by John Whitmer, Chapter 7, paragraphs 3,4,5 and 6).
John Whitmer: “He saw the heavens opened, and the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the Father. Making intercession for his brethren, the Saints. He said that God would work a work in these last days that tongue cannot express, and the mind is not capable to conceive. The glory of the Lord shone around.” (Book of John Whitmer, by John Whitmer, Chapter 7, paragraphs 3,4,5 and 6)
During that conference, Joseph Smith was transfigured before the Saints. His clothes become translucently white. His face glowed with the sun of heaven and then he said, “Let them kill me, I would not feel death as I am right now. Behold I see the Son of God on the right hand of the Eternal Father.”
“Church historian John Whitmer related that “the devil took a notion, to make known his power.” Horrid noises shrieked through the meeting, and several men were thrown around violently by evil spirits. Harvey Green was thrown on the floor in convulsions. The Prophet laid hands upon him and cast out an evil spirit. Harvey Whitlock and John Murdock were bound so they could not speak.” (Church History and Fulness of Times p 100).
Levi Hancock: “Hyrum Smith turned to his brother Joseph and said, “That’s not from God.” Joseph bowed his head in prayer and then said,
“Hyrum, you are correct, Satan has entered the conference and has taken possession of Harvey Whitlock.”
“Finally the Prophet Joseph Smith stepped forward and rebuked Satan and ordered him to leave the conference.” (Autobiography of Levi Ward Hancock, typescript, 33-34, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).
Zebedee Coultron: “During the meeting the power of darkness were made manifest in a remarkable degree… Joseph… rebuked the spirit.. From the house upon which the spirit left… and went outside, among the crowd of men standing near the door and made a swath among them several feet wide, throwing them violently to the ground. Joseph said this was a fulfillment of the scriptures where it says the man of sin should be reveled.” (Minutes of High Priests meeting held at Spanish Fork Utah Feb 5, 1978, Church history Library).
Section 53 – We too can:
“He was devoted and faithful and sacrificed all of his goods during the persecutions in Missouri. He lacked confidence in his ability to preach, however, and, according to some reports, he said he ‘would rather die than go forth to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles.’” (History of the Church, 2:118).
Ironically, he later contracted cholera and died. Heber C. Kimball recorded in his journal that “the Lord took him at his word.”
Elder B. H. Roberts wrote of Brother Gilbert: “The remarks in the body of the history, and this expression from Elder Kimball’s journal are liable to create a misunderstanding concerning Brother Algernon Sidney Gilbert, than whom the Lord has had few more devoted servants in this dispensation.” (History of the Church, 2:118n).
President James E. Faust: “…service requires us to set aside our selfish interests and desires. … we need to prepare so that we are able to accept callings…” (Power of the Priesthood, Conference Apr 1997).
Leman contracted with the Joseph Smith and the church to divide 759 acres for newly arriving converts to settle. He reneged on his promise in June of 1831.
Joseph Knight said they “had to leave his farm and pay sixty dollars damage for putting up his houses and planting his ground.” (Joseph Knight Jr., “Incidents of History 1827–1844,” Church History Library, Salt Lake City.)
Elder Dale G. Renlund: “Some unfairness cannot be explained; inexplicable unfairness is infuriating…
“In unfair situations, one of our tasks is to trust that ‘all that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.’ Jesus Christ overcame the world and ‘absorbed’ all unfairness. Because of Him, we can have peace in this world and be of good cheer. If we let Him, Jesus Christ will consecrate the unfairness for our gain. He will not just console us and restore what was lost; He will use the unfairness for our benefit.” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/04/25renlund?lang=eng)
Thomas B. Marsh: “In June 1831, I was ordained a High Priest at a Conference held in Kirtland, where I received an appointment to go to Missouri with Ezra Thayre and preach by the way. In consequence of Ezra Thayre delaying so long, I went to Joseph who received the word of the Lord appointing Selah J. Griffin with whom I journeyed to Missouri.”
President John Taylor: “If you do not magnify your callings, God will hold you responsible for those whom you might have saved had you done your duty.” (Deseret News: Semi-Weekly, 6 Aug. 1878, 1.)
President Hugh B. Brown: “This is a challenging statement. If I by reason of sins of commission or omission lose what I might have had in the hereafter, I myself must suffer and, doubtless, my loved ones with me. But if I fail in my assignment as a bishop, a stake president, a mission president, or one of the General Authorities of the Church…”
“…if any of us fail to teach, lead, direct, and help to save those under our direction and within our jurisdiction, then the Lord will hold us responsible if they are lost as the result of our failure.” (CR, Oct. 1962, p. 84).
President Ezra Taft Benson: “Sometimes the Lord hopefully waits on his children to act on their own, and when they do not, they lose the greater prize, and the Lord will either drop the entire matter and let them suffer the consequences or else he will have to spell it out in greater detail. Usually, I fear, the more he has to spell it out, the smaller is our reward.
Let us ask ourselves these questions.
Joseph Smith: ‘When will the wilderness blossom as the rose? When will Zion be built up in her glory, and where will Thy temple stand, unto which all nations shall come in the last days?’ Our anxiety was soon relieved by receiving the following [revelation: D&C 57]” (in History of the Church, 1:189).
Sidney Rigdon: “The country is unlike the timbered states of the East. As far as the eye can reach the beautiful rolling prairies lie spread out like a sea of meadows; and are decorated with a growth of flowers so gorgeous and grand as to exceed description; and nothing is more fruitful, or a richer stockholder in the blooming prairie than the honey bee.
…it bids fair—when the curse is taken from the land—to become one of the most blessed places on the globe. The winters are milder than the Atlantic states of the same parallel of latitude, and the weather is more agreeable; so that were the virtues of the inhabitants only equal to the blessings of the Lord… (History of the Church, 1:197–98.)
Teaching Thoughts:
Joseph Smith: “The Lord displayed His power to the most perfect satisfaction of the Saints.” (https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-a-1-23-december-1805-30-august-1834/124).
Parley P. Pratt: “Several were then selected by revelation, through President Smith, and ordained to the High Priesthood after the order of the Son of God; which is after the order of Melchisedec. This was the first occasion in which this priesthood had been revealed and conferred upon the Elders in this dispensation, …On this occasion I was ordained to this holy ordinance and calling by President Smith.” (Pratt, Autobiography, 72).
John Whitmer: “The spirit fell upon Lyman, and he prophesied, concerning the coming of Christ…He said the coming of the Savior should be like the sun rising in the east and will cover the whole earth.” (Book of John Whitmer, by John Whitmer, Chapter 7, paragraphs 3,4,5 and 6).
John Whitmer: “He saw the heavens opened, and the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the Father. Making intercession for his brethren, the Saints. He said that God would work a work in these last days that tongue cannot express, and the mind is not capable to conceive. The glory of the Lord shone around.” (Book of John Whitmer, by John Whitmer, Chapter 7, paragraphs 3,4,5 and 6)
During that conference, Joseph Smith was transfigured before the Saints. His clothes become translucently white. His face glowed with the sun of heaven and then he said, “Let them kill me, I would not feel death as I am right now. Behold I see the Son of God on the right hand of the Eternal Father.”
“Church historian John Whitmer related that “the devil took a notion, to make known his power.” Horrid noises shrieked through the meeting, and several men were thrown around violently by evil spirits. Harvey Green was thrown on the floor in convulsions. The Prophet laid hands upon him and cast out an evil spirit. Harvey Whitlock and John Murdock were bound so they could not speak.” (Church History and Fulness of Times p 100).
Levi Hancock: “Hyrum Smith turned to his brother Joseph and said, “That’s not from God.” Joseph bowed his head in prayer and then said,
“Hyrum, you are correct, Satan has entered the conference and has taken possession of Harvey Whitlock.”
“Finally the Prophet Joseph Smith stepped forward and rebuked Satan and ordered him to leave the conference.” (Autobiography of Levi Ward Hancock, typescript, 33-34, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah).
Zebedee Coultron: “During the meeting the power of darkness were made manifest in a remarkable degree… Joseph… rebuked the spirit.. From the house upon which the spirit left… and went outside, among the crowd of men standing near the door and made a swath among them several feet wide, throwing them violently to the ground. Joseph said this was a fulfillment of the scriptures where it says the man of sin should be reveled.” (Minutes of High Priests meeting held at Spanish Fork Utah Feb 5, 1978, Church history Library).
Section 53 – We too can:
- Forsake the world.
- Take on callings.
- Be an ‘agent’ as we are “appointed by the bishop.”
- Take our journey toward Christ.
- “Endure to the end”
“He was devoted and faithful and sacrificed all of his goods during the persecutions in Missouri. He lacked confidence in his ability to preach, however, and, according to some reports, he said he ‘would rather die than go forth to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles.’” (History of the Church, 2:118).
Ironically, he later contracted cholera and died. Heber C. Kimball recorded in his journal that “the Lord took him at his word.”
Elder B. H. Roberts wrote of Brother Gilbert: “The remarks in the body of the history, and this expression from Elder Kimball’s journal are liable to create a misunderstanding concerning Brother Algernon Sidney Gilbert, than whom the Lord has had few more devoted servants in this dispensation.” (History of the Church, 2:118n).
President James E. Faust: “…service requires us to set aside our selfish interests and desires. … we need to prepare so that we are able to accept callings…” (Power of the Priesthood, Conference Apr 1997).
Leman contracted with the Joseph Smith and the church to divide 759 acres for newly arriving converts to settle. He reneged on his promise in June of 1831.
Joseph Knight said they “had to leave his farm and pay sixty dollars damage for putting up his houses and planting his ground.” (Joseph Knight Jr., “Incidents of History 1827–1844,” Church History Library, Salt Lake City.)
Elder Dale G. Renlund: “Some unfairness cannot be explained; inexplicable unfairness is infuriating…
“In unfair situations, one of our tasks is to trust that ‘all that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.’ Jesus Christ overcame the world and ‘absorbed’ all unfairness. Because of Him, we can have peace in this world and be of good cheer. If we let Him, Jesus Christ will consecrate the unfairness for our gain. He will not just console us and restore what was lost; He will use the unfairness for our benefit.” (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/04/25renlund?lang=eng)
Thomas B. Marsh: “In June 1831, I was ordained a High Priest at a Conference held in Kirtland, where I received an appointment to go to Missouri with Ezra Thayre and preach by the way. In consequence of Ezra Thayre delaying so long, I went to Joseph who received the word of the Lord appointing Selah J. Griffin with whom I journeyed to Missouri.”
President John Taylor: “If you do not magnify your callings, God will hold you responsible for those whom you might have saved had you done your duty.” (Deseret News: Semi-Weekly, 6 Aug. 1878, 1.)
President Hugh B. Brown: “This is a challenging statement. If I by reason of sins of commission or omission lose what I might have had in the hereafter, I myself must suffer and, doubtless, my loved ones with me. But if I fail in my assignment as a bishop, a stake president, a mission president, or one of the General Authorities of the Church…”
“…if any of us fail to teach, lead, direct, and help to save those under our direction and within our jurisdiction, then the Lord will hold us responsible if they are lost as the result of our failure.” (CR, Oct. 1962, p. 84).
President Ezra Taft Benson: “Sometimes the Lord hopefully waits on his children to act on their own, and when they do not, they lose the greater prize, and the Lord will either drop the entire matter and let them suffer the consequences or else he will have to spell it out in greater detail. Usually, I fear, the more he has to spell it out, the smaller is our reward.
Let us ask ourselves these questions.
- What is it to be a Saint?
- Are we performing our various duties in building up the kingdom of God, in rolling forth his work upon the earth?
- And what are we doing to bring about the latter day glory?
- Which of our acts tends to this?
- Do any of them, or do all of them?
- And what is really our position? (Not Commanded In All Things, Conference Report, April 1965, p.121-125)
Joseph Smith: ‘When will the wilderness blossom as the rose? When will Zion be built up in her glory, and where will Thy temple stand, unto which all nations shall come in the last days?’ Our anxiety was soon relieved by receiving the following [revelation: D&C 57]” (in History of the Church, 1:189).
Sidney Rigdon: “The country is unlike the timbered states of the East. As far as the eye can reach the beautiful rolling prairies lie spread out like a sea of meadows; and are decorated with a growth of flowers so gorgeous and grand as to exceed description; and nothing is more fruitful, or a richer stockholder in the blooming prairie than the honey bee.
…it bids fair—when the curse is taken from the land—to become one of the most blessed places on the globe. The winters are milder than the Atlantic states of the same parallel of latitude, and the weather is more agreeable; so that were the virtues of the inhabitants only equal to the blessings of the Lord… (History of the Church, 1:197–98.)
Teaching Thoughts:
- “Planted in …” => Bloom where you are planted.
- When teaching several sections, use a theme to help teach the material. Like “Don’t be a scrooge” for sections 51-56
- Look patterns in the scriptures and how the Lord will bless you as you follow them.