Re: Living History

It had been a calm, dark night until a group of men marched down the road, carrying torches.

But there was no anger or urgency in what they said or the way they moved. They were setting the scene as they walked to where more than a hundred people were seated, waiting. Then they told the story of what had happened on that spot, on an isolated farm in Ohio, many years before, to the Prophet Joseph Smith.

The Johnson farm in Hiram, Ohio, is much the same as it was 150 years ago. The white frame house faces a wide front lawn on a quiet back road in the Ohio countryside. In 1832, a real mob stormed down that road. They broke into the house and dragged the Prophet into the nearby fields. They beat him, choked him, scratched him, smeared him with tar and feathers, and tried to force liquid tar down his throat.

After the mob left, Joseph stumbled back to the house, where Emma fainted at the sight of her husband. In the dark, the tar looked like blood. For the remainder of the night, friends helped Joseph remove the tar and clean his wounds.

Tired, sore, and ill, he still stood the next morning on the front steps of the Johnson home and preached a sermon. Present in the crowd were some of the men who had been in the mob the night before. But the Prophet did not mention what had happened. Instead, he told about the glorious things that God had revealed to him.

On this day 159 years after Joseph stood and preached on those steps, the youth of the Columbus Ohio Stake had gathered at the Johnson farm. They were there to learn more about the man through whom the gospel was restored. The Johnson farm was just one of the significant places the youth of the Columbus Ohio Stake were visiting to understand the lessons about Church history they were studying in seminary. They were trying to understand more completely what had happened to the small group of Saints who were struggling against opposition and with their own growing testimonies to form a new church, a church that would spread far beyond the boundaries of Ohio.

As fireflies rose out of the grass and blinked in the cooling air, the young people gathered around a campfire and listened to Karl Anderson, a former regional representative and local expert on Church history. He spoke about the places nearby, places that are important because they are where many revelations that are now in the Doctrine and Covenants were received.

“We had some of the greatest spiritual experiences we have ever had in Church history here in Ohio,” said Brother Anderson. “At the same time, we had some of the worst times.”

But what did events that happened so long ago have to do with this group? Brother Anderson answered the question. “That is what you are facing today in a world with drugs and everything else. If Satan can get you while you are young, just like he tried to destroy the Church while it was young here, then he has won the battle.”

This conference was helping the youth wage a battle against the forces of evil. They were combining a learning opportunity with a tough service assignment plus some unique experiences with Church historical sites.

One place that the group was looking forward to seeing was the town of Kirtland where the Newell K. Whitney store has been restored by the Church and opened as a visitors’ center. The store is significant because the first First Presidency was formed and the School of the Elders was organized in one of the upstairs rooms. Only 14-by-14, the room holds about 20 people. Travis Fordham, 18, of the Dublin Ward, said, “You could feel the Spirit really strong up there. Those men were told there that they would be missionaries and would be sent to preach the gospel that would fill the whole world. It was the first missionary training center.”

Perhaps the highlight of their visit was a tour through the Kirtland Temple. The temple had to be abandoned by the early Saints and is now used as a meetinghouse by the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Although the temple no longer functions like LDS temples, it is still a place to be treated with great reverence. It was in the Kirtland Temple that the Prophet Joseph and Oliver Cowdery witnessed one of the most significant visions recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants:

“We saw the Lord standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit, before us; and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold, in color like amber. His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters” (D&C 110:2–3).

Brother Anderson had promised the young people that if they went to the Kirtland Temple with the right spirit that they would know that great things had happened there. In the youth conference’s closing testimony meeting, Cindy Penry of the Columbus Fourth Ward said, “I could feel that special things had happened in the Kirtland Temple. It was amazing just knowing that Joseph Smith had been there and what he saw.”

The Isaac Morley farm in Kirtland was the site of the service project. Overgrown with thorny vines, grass choking the lanes, trees crowding the old home, the farm was discouraging. Cleaning it up looked like an impossible task. But never underestimate a determined group of LDS teenagers. They tore into their assigned tasks with a vengeance. “I haven’t worked that hard in years,” said Autumn Cornaby, 17, of the Dublin Ward. “You could feel everyone working together. I thought we would never be able to clear this road.”

The group stuck with it, ignoring the scratches and the heat. By the end of the day, the road was cleared, the lawn cut, the trees trimmed, and the flowerbeds around the house cleaned out.

After a day of hard work, they heard the stories about the wonderful visions that were given to early Church leaders on the farm. One verse in the 64th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, which was received on that farm, took on a personal meaning. “Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great” (D&C 64:33).

What was the great work they were building at this youth conference? Certainly it was nothing so ordinary as cleaning up a neglected farm.

No, the great work was the life and testimony of each person who attended the conference. If they feel the same power, the same spirit that those Saints of 150 years ago did in Ohio, then who knows what great things will happen? This group of young people will go out from Ohio to proclaim the gospel as missionaries and as good examples by the way they choose to live their lives.