Lesson 39: “The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn to Their Fathers”

Purpose

To help class members understand the need to seek out their ancestors and receive priesthood ordinances in their behalf.

Preparation

• Prayerfully study the following scriptures and other materials:
  • Doctrine and Covenants 2; 110:13–16; 138;Joseph Smith—History 1:37–39.
  • Our Heritage, pages 98–99, 101–2, 105–7.
• Review the material for this lesson in the Class Member Study Guide 
• To gain a greater understanding of historical events related to the doctrine in this lesson, consider reviewing the following:
  • "Susa Young Gates and the Vision of the Redemption of the Dead": This article gives context for the vision that has been canonized as Doctrine and Covenants 138. 
  • "Glad Tidings: The History of Baptisms for the Dead": This seven-minute video discusses how Alvin Smith's death helped shape the questions that led to revelation on baptism for the dead.
  • "Ministry of Wilford Woodruff: The Work of the Temple": This two-minute video highlights Wilford Woodruff's teachings on redeeming the dead. 
  • "Ministry of Joseph F. Smith: A Vision of the Redemption of the Dead": This three-minute video introduces the vision recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 138. 

Discussion and Application 

1. Elijah: "The keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands."

Read D&C 2; 110:13–16; 138:47–48; Joseph Smith—History 1:37–39. 

• When the angel Moroni came to Joseph Smith, he said that Elijah would "plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers" (D&C 2:2;Joseph Smith—History 1:39). In this prophecy, the word fathers refers to our ancestors. What promises were made to our ancestors?
  
  President Joseph Fielding Smith taught: "What was the promise made to the fathers that was to be fulfilled in the latter days by the turning of the hearts of the children to their fathers? It was the promise of the Lord made through Enoch, Isaiah, and the prophets, to the nations of the earth, that the time should come when the dead should be redeemed" (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954–56], 2:154).
  
  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve said, "God made those promises to the ancient patriarchs—Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and so forth—and we undoubtedly made them to our own lineal fathers and mothers, those who came to earth before the gospel was restored but whom we promised to provide its saving ordinances" (Christ and the New Covenant [1997], 297).
• On 3 April 1836 in the Kirtland Temple, the prophet Elijah appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. What was Elijah's purpose in visiting Joseph and Oliver? (See D&C 110:13–16; see also D&C 2; Joseph Smith—History 1:38–39.)
• Read Joseph Smith—History 1:37–39 and D&C 138:47–48. Why would the earth be "utterly wasted at [the Lord's] coming" if we did not have the sealing power?
  
  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught that without the sealing power, "no family ties would exist in the eternities, and indeed the family of man would have been left in eternity with 'neither root [ancestors] nor branch [descendants].' Inasmuch as … a sealed, united, celestially saved family of God is the ultimate purpose of mortality, any failure here would have been a curse indeed, rendering the entire plan of salvation 'utterly wasted'" (Christ and the New Covenant, 297–98).

2. President Wilford Woodruff: "Somebody has got to redeem them."

President Woodruff was devoted to the work of redeeming the dead and sealing families for eternity. During his ministry, many members of the Church served genealogical missions, and in 1894 the First Presidency directed the organization of a genealogical society (Our Heritage, page 101). 

According to Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve, "events of that historic year [1894] established family history research and temple service as one work in the Church" (in Conference Report, Oct. 1994, 114; or Ensign, Nov. 1994, 85).

The urgency of temple work for the dead

Read the story about Bishop Henry Ballard and his daughter from Our Heritage, pages 98–99.

For a period of time, President Woodruff served as president of the temple in St. George, Utah. It was in that temple that endowments for the dead were performed for the first time in this dispensation (see Doctrines of Salvation, 2:171). While serving there, President Woodruff was visited by the spirits of many "eminent men" who had died. 

Read the following account by President Woodruff:

"The spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them. Said they, 'You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for us. We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we … remained true to it and were faithful to God.' These were the signers of the Declaration of Independence [of the United States of America], and they waited on me for two days and two nights. … I straightway went into the baptismal font and called upon Brother McAllister to baptize me for the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and fifty other eminent men, making one hundred in all, including John Wesley, Columbus, and others" (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, sel. G. Homer Durham [1946], 160–61).

• What can we learn from these two stories?
  
  While serving in the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder Wilford Woodruff taught: "For the last eighteen hundred years, the people that have lived and passed away never heard the voice of an inspired man, never heard a Gospel sermon, until they entered the spirit-world. Somebody has got to redeem them, by performing such ordinances for them in the flesh as they cannot attend to themselves in the spirit, and in order that this work may be done, we must have Temples in which to do it" (in Journal of Discourses, 19:228–29).

The need for us to be sealed to our parents and ancestors

Read the revelation that President Woodruff received about tracing our family histories and sealing children to their parents (Our Heritage, page 101).

• What does this revelation teach about families? How does the revelation help fulfill the prophecy about turning the hearts of the children to their fathers?

3. President Joseph F. Smith: "The eyes of my understanding were opened."

Read the following statement by President Woodruff:

"President [Brigham] Young, who followed President Joseph Smith, … laid the foundation of [the Salt Lake Temple], as well as others in the mountains of Israel. What for? That we might carry out these principles of redemption for the dead. He accomplished all that God required at his hands. But he did not receive all the revelations that belong to this work; neither did President [John] Taylor, nor has Wilford Woodruff" (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, 153–54).

President Smith, the sixth President of the Church, received a revelation that helped the work of redeeming the dead continue to move forward. On 4 October 1918, just weeks before his death, he said in general conference:

"I have been undergoing a siege of very serious illness for the last five months. … I have not lived alone these five months. I have dwelt in the spirit of prayer, of supplication, of faith and of determination; and I have had my communication with the Spirit of the Lord continuously" (in Conference Report, Oct. 1918, 2).

The day before President Smith made this statement, he had received a revelation that would expand the Saints' understanding of the redemption of the dead. This revelation is now section 138 of the Doctrine and Covenants. It is a record of the Savior's visit to the spirit world while His body was in the tomb.

• What was President Smith doing when he received the vision of the redemption of the dead? (See D&C 138:1–11. Read 1 Peter 3 and 1 Peter 4)
• Read D&C 138:12–19. Whom did the Savior visit in the spirit world?
  The Savior went to the spirits who:
  1. "Had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality" (D&C 138:12).
  2. "Had offered sacrifice in the similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God" (D&C 138:13).
  3. "Had suffered tribulation in their Redeemer's name" (D&C 138:13).
  4. "Had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection, through the grace of God the Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ" (D&C 138:14).
  5. "Were filled with joy and gladness, and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand" (D&C 138:15).
• To whom did the Savior not go? (See D&C 138:20–21.) What did the Savior do so the gospel could be preached to "those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth"? (See D&C 138:27–37.) Who preaches the gospel in the spirit world today? (See D&C 138:57.)
• Read D&C 138:22–24, 57–59. What are the differences between those in the spirit world who have been faithful in the testimony of Jesus and those who have not? What do these verses teach about the importance of teaching the gospel in the spirit world? How do these verses make you feel about your responsibility to provide priesthood ordinances for the dead?
  What experiences and feelings have you had as you have provided ordinances for the dead?

4. President Gordon B. Hinckley: "We are determined … to take the temples to the people."

Read President Joseph F. Smith's prophecy that the time would come when the land would "be dotted with temples" (Our Heritage, page 106).

President Hinckley is another prophet who has expanded our understanding of temple work. When he became President of the Church in 1995, there were 47 temples in operation. About two and one-half years later, he made the following announcement:

"There are many areas of the Church that are remote, where the membership is small and not likely to grow very much in the near future. Are those who live in these places to be denied forever the blessings of the temple ordinances? While visiting such an area a few months ago, we prayerfully pondered this question. The answer, we believe, came bright and clear.

"We will construct small temples in some of these areas, buildings with all of the facilities to administer all of the ordinances. They would be built to temple standards, which are much higher than meetinghouse standards. They would accommodate baptisms for the dead, the endowment service, sealings, and all other ordinances to be had in the Lord's house for both the living and the dead. …

"… We are determined … to take the temples to the people and afford them every opportunity for the very precious blessings that come of temple worship" (in Conference Report, Oct. 1997, 68–69; or Ensign, Nov. 1997, 49–50).

In April 1998, President Hinckley announced a goal to have 100 temples in operation by the end of the century (see Conference Report, Apr. 1998, 115; or Ensign, May 1998, 88).

• How has the increase in temple construction affected you? How has it affected others you know? How will the accelerated building of temples affect those who have died without receiving the gospel?

Lesson 38: “In Mine Own Way”

Purpose

To help class members understand the principles of spiritual and temporal welfare and commit themselves to greater self-reliance and service to the poor and needy.

Preparation

• Prayerfully study the following scriptures and other materials:
  • a. Doctrine and Covenants 38:30; 42:30–31, 42; 58:26–28; 104:13–18.
  • Our Heritage, pages 108–9, 111–14.
• Review the material for this lesson in the Class Member Study Guide.
• To gain a greater understanding of historical events related to the doctrine in this lesson, consider reviewing the following: Additional historical material for this lesson.

Discussion and Application

1. Developing spiritual self-reliance

• Read D&C 38:30. 
  • What does this passage teach about the importance of self-reliance? 
  • How have you found this counsel to be true in your life?
• What does it mean to be self-reliant in spiritual things? 
  • (We should strive to develop spiritual strength that will enable us to resolve difficult problems in our lives and strengthen others in their times of spiritual need.) 
• Why is it important to be spiritually self-reliant? 
  • Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve said: "We have been taught to store a year's supply of food, clothing, and, if possible, fuel—at home. … Can we not see that the same principle applies to inspiration and revelation, the solving of problems, to counsel, and to guidance? We need to have a source of it stored in every home. …
    "If we lose our emotional and spiritual independence, our self-reliance, we can be weakened quite as much, perhaps even more, than when we become dependent materially" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1978, 136–37; or Ensign, May 1978, 91–92).
• How can we become more self-reliant in spiritual things?
• How can parents help their children learn spiritual self-reliance?

2. Developing temporal self-reliance

• What does it mean to be self-reliant in temporal things? 
  • (We should use the blessings the Lord has given us to take care of ourselves and our families. When we are physically and emotionally able, we should not shift the burden of our own or our family's care to someone else.) 
• Why is it important to be temporally self-reliant?
• How can we become more self-reliant in temporal things? 
  • (Answers could include learning to work effectively, storing food and other essentials for a time of need, managing our money well, and gaining a good education.)

Work
Soon after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley, President Brigham Young named the region Deseret, which is a word from the Book of Mormon meaning "a honey bee" (Ether 2:3). President Young wanted the Saints to be industrious in their new home and to work together for the common good, similar to honeybees. We should have this same attitude toward work in our lives.

• Read D&C 42:42 and D&C 56:17. 
  • What warning has the Lord given to those who choose to be idle? 
  • What value does work have in our lives? (See the following quotation.) 
  • How has work been a blessing in your life? 
  • How have you learned the value of work? 
  • How can adults teach children the value of work? 
    • "To become self-reliant, a person must work. Work is physical, mental, or spiritual effort. It is a basic source of happiness, self-worth, and prosperity. Through work, people accomplish many good things in their lives" (Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2: Priesthood and Auxiliary Leaders [1998], 257).
    • Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve said, "Work is always a spiritual necessity even if, for some, work is not an economic necessity" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1998, 50; or Ensign, May 1998, 38). Why is work important to us spiritually as well as temporally?

Storage of food and other necessities
For many years, latter-day prophets have told us to store a year's supply of food and other necessities where possible. When we follow this counsel, we become more self-reliant because we are able to care for ourselves in times of need.
The Church Handbook of Instructions explains: "Church leaders have not given an exact formula for what to store. Rather, they suggest that Church members begin by storing what would be required to keep them alive if they did not have anything else to eat. … "Through careful planning, most Church members can store a year's supply of the basic items needed to sustain life. However, some members do not have the money or space for such storage, and some are prohibited by law from storing a year's supply of food. These members should store as much as they can according to their circumstances. All members can provide themselves with added security by learning to produce and prepare basic food items" (Book 2, 258).

• What are the food essentials that can be stored in your area? 
• What have you or others done to build up a supply of food storage? 
• How can having adequate food storage be a spiritual blessing as well as a temporal blessing?

Financial security
To be self-reliant, it is important that we know how to manage our money. Poor money management can lead to many problems in our individual and family lives.

• What can we do to become more self-reliant in our finances? 
• How can parents teach children to be financially self-reliant? 
• The Church Handbook of Instructions explains: "To become self-reliant in resource management, Church members should pay tithes and offerings, avoid unnecessary debt, save for the future, and satisfy all of their promised obligations. Members also should use their resources, including their time, frugally and avoid wasting them" (Book 2, 258).
• How can paying tithing help us better manage our resources?
• Why is it important that we avoid unnecessary debt? 
• What practices have helped you avoid debt or get out of debt? 
  • President Gordon B. Hinckley warned against the dangers of debt: "I urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt to the extent possible. Pay off debt as quickly as you can, and free yourselves from bondage. … "… If you have paid your debts, if you have a reserve, even though it be small, then should storms howl about your head, you will have shelter for your wives and children and peace in your hearts" (in Conference Report, Oct. 1998, 72; or Ensign, Nov. 1998, 54).

3. Caring for the needy

In the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord repeatedly emphasizes the importance of caring for the needy. Read the following verses and identify what each passage teaches about our responsibility to care for those in need.

a. D&C 42:30–31. (When we give our substance to the poor, we are doing it unto the Lord.)

b. D&C 44:6. (We "must visit the poor and needy and administer to their relief.")

c. D&C 52:40. (If we do not remember the poor, the needy, the sick, and the afflicted, we are not the Savior's disciples.)

d. D&C 56:16. (If we are rich and do not share with the poor, our riches will canker our souls.)

e. D&C 88:123. (We should love one another and give to each other as the gospel requires.)

f. D&C 104:18. (If we do not impart of our abundance to the poor, we will dwell among the wicked in torment.)

• In D&C 104:13–18, the Lord explains His way of providing for the temporal needs of His children. 
  • What is the Lord's "own way" of providing for the poor? 
  • What is our responsibility when we receive of the Lord's abundance? (See also Jacob 2:17–19.) 
    • Providing for the poor and needy in the Lord's "own way" means helping those who are in need by giving according to what we have received from God. It means giving freely and lovingly, recognizing that Heavenly Father is the source of all blessings and that we are responsible to use them in the service of others. Those who receive this help should accept it with gratitude. They should use it to release themselves from the limitations of their need and to become more able to rise to their full potential. They should then reach out to help others.
  • How are we blessed when we give to others who are in need? 
  • How have you been blessed because others have given to you in a time of need?
• There are many ways we can help those in need. The Church provides organized ways in which we can give help, and we can also care for those around us in quiet, individual ways.
• One way we can help provide for the needy is by contributing fast offerings. 
  • How are fast offerings used to care for the poor? 
    • (The bishop uses them to provide food, shelter, clothing, and other relief to those in need.)
  • How much should we contribute in fast offerings? (See the following quotation.) 
  • Why is it important that we contribute fast offerings? 
    • "The Church designates one Sunday each month as a fast day. On this day Church members go without food and drink for two consecutive meals. They … give to the Church a fast offering at least equal to the value of the food they would have eaten. If possible, members should be very generous and give much more than the value of two meals" (Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2, 256).
• Another way the Church helps us provide for the needy is through organized humanitarian assistance. For many years the Church has been involved in humanitarian relief and self-reliance efforts throughout the world. This assistance is given to members and nonmembers alike to help alleviate the devastating effects of poverty, war, and natural disasters.
  • How can individual members make donations to the Church's humanitarian aid fund? 
  • What are some ways in which the Church's humanitarian aid has blessed those in need? 
    • President Thomas S. Monson told about some results of the Church's humanitarian aid: "In 1992 a devastating hurricane … struck the east coast of Florida, leaving a path of ruin behind it, with homes battered, roofs gone, people hungry. Our members were there to help. Home after home was cleaned and repaired without charge. It mattered not the faith or color of the person who occupied the home. …v"Far away in the foothills on the western slopes of Mount Kenya, along the fringe of the colossal Rift Valley, pure water is now coming to the thirsty people. A potable water project has changed the lives of more than 1,100 families. When we originally became aware of the need for pure water, we were able to help fund a project in cooperation with TechnoServe, a private voluntary organization. With villagers providing the labor, drinkable water now flows through 25 miles of pipes to waiting homes in a 15-village area. The simple blessing of safe drinking water recalls the words of the Lord, 'I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink' [Matthew 25:35]" ("Our Brothers' Keepers," Ensign, June 1998, 37).
• In addition to opportunities provided by the Church, we should seek other ways to bless those in need around us. 
• Read D&C 58:26–28. 
  • How can we apply this scripture to our efforts to serve the poor and needy?
• What are some obstacles we may encounter in caring for the poor and needy? 
  • How can we overcome these obstacles?

4. The Church welfare program

In 1936, as a result of inspiration from the Lord, the First Presidency established the Church welfare program as an organized way to encourage self-reliance and help those in need.

• Read Our Heritage, pages 108–9.
• The following statement from the First Presidency emphasizes the purposes of the Church welfare program: "Our primary purpose was to set up, in so far as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self respect be once more established amongst our people. The aim of the Church is to help the people to help themselves. Work is to be re-enthroned as the ruling principle of the lives of our Church membership" (in Conference Report, Oct. 1936, 3).
• How does the Church welfare program help fulfill these purposes?
  • The Church's aid to the people in Europe after World War II is an inspiring example of how the Church welfare program can bless many people. 
    • How did the welfare program bless those in need in Europe, (see the last paragraph on page 111 of Our Heritage and continuing through the middle of page 114.)
    • What impresses you about the efforts of those involved in these projects? 
    • In what ways can we follow their example?

Lesson 37: “We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet”

Purpose

To help class members recognize the need for our living prophet, understand his roles, and more faithfully obey his counsel.

Preparation

• Prayerfully study the scriptures in this email and Our Heritage, page 131.
• To gain a greater understanding of historical events related to the doctrine in this lesson, consider reviewing the following:
  • "All Things Must Be Done in Order": This article discusses early revelations on the role of the prophet in the Church. 
  • Prophets of the Restoration: This section has resources on the life and ministry of each Church President.

Discussion and Application

1. Our need for a living prophet

• Why do we need a living prophet today?
  
  While serving as President of the Quorum of the Twelve, President Ezra Taft Benson said: "The most important prophet, so far as we are concerned, is the one who is living in our day and age. This is the prophet who has today's instructions from God to us today. God's revelation to Adam did not instruct Noah how to build the ark. Every generation has need of the ancient scripture plus the current scripture from the living prophet. Therefore, the most crucial reading and pondering which you should do is of the latest inspired words from the Lord's mouthpiece" (in Conference Report, Korea Area Conference 1975, 52).
  
• How have you been blessed because there is a living prophet on earth today?

2. The roles of our living prophet

Members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are all prophets, seers, and revelators. However, only the President of the Church is authorized to receive revelation for the entire Church and to exercise all the priesthood keys necessary to govern the Church.

The Doctrine and Covenants provides important information about the roles of our living prophet. Read the following italicized scripture references. Then identify what those scriptures teach about the roles of our living prophet. 

• Doctrine and Covenants 1:38; 21:4–5; 43:2; 68:3–4. 
  • What are some subjects on which we have received guidance from recent prophets?
• Doctrine and Covenants 20:21–26; Mosiah 13:33.
  • How has your testimony of the Savior been strengthened by the words of our living prophet?
• Doctrine and Covenants 21:1; Mosiah 8:13–18.
  • What is a seer?
• D&C 101:51–54; D&C 101:46–50; D&C 101:43–54
  • What could have been avoided if the servants had built the tower?
  • In this parable, which commandment did the servants fail to obey?
  • How does this apply to the attention we give the President of the Church?
  • The President of the Church can see the enemy "while he [is] yet afar off" (D&C 101:54).
    • What dangers have latter-day prophets seen and warned us about?
• Doctrine and Covenants 107:91–92.
  • What blessings do we receive because the true Church is always led by a prophet who is chosen and guided by God?
  • How can we sustain the prophet in his role as President of the Church? (See D&C 107:22.)

3. Heeding the words of our living prophet

• Read D&C 21:4–6
   
  • What do these verses teach about our responsibility to listen to the prophet? What does the Lord promise us if we obey the prophet's counsel?
    
    President Harold B. Lee taught: "The only safety we have as members of this church is to do exactly what the Lord said to the Church in that day when the Church was organized [see D&C 21:4–5]. … There will be some things that take patience and faith. You may not like what comes from the authority of the Church. It may contradict your political views. It may contradict your social views. It may interfere with some of your social life. But if you listen to these things, as if from the mouth of the Lord himself, with patience and faith, the promise is that 'the gates of hell shall not prevail against you' [D&C 21:6]" (in Conference Report, Oct. 1970, 152; or Improvement Era, Dec. 1970, 126).
    
  • How can we learn of the prophet's inspired counsel?
    
    At the close of a general conference, President Ezra Taft Benson said, "For the next six months, your conference edition of the Ensign should stand next to your standard works and be referred to frequently" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1988, 97; or Ensign, May 1988, 84).
    
    While serving in the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder Harold B. Lee made a similar statement during general conference. He said that the report of the conference should "be the guide to [our] walk and talk during the next six months" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1946, 68).
    
  • How can we better study and use the prophet's general conference addresses individually and in our families?
    
  • How have you been blessed as you have followed the counsel of the prophet?
    
    Read the following story related by Elder Bruce D. Porter of the Seventy:
    
    "When my wife and I were a young married couple, we lived in the Boston area, where I attended school. Another young couple moved into our ward shortly after we did. They were converts of about two years. … I was concerned about how they would do, … so it was with pleasure that I accepted the calling to be their home teacher. I looked forward to helping strengthen their testimonies of the gospel.
    
    "My companion and I arrived at their modest apartment one evening to home teach them. They had just completed a home evening with their little baby. I made a mental note that it would be a good idea for my wife and I to start holding home evenings so … when a child arrived we would already have the habit. They then eagerly showed us their Book of Remembrance in which they had collected many names of ancestors from both sides of their family. I remembered that it had been a long time since I had looked at my Book of Remembrance.
    
    "After our lesson they took us out to the screened back porch where were stacked ice cream buckets filled with wheat, sugar, flour, and other food—a complete year's supply of food. I had supposed, somehow, that as students that counsel didn't apply to us! By now I was feeling very humble. I had come to teach them, but they were teaching me in every point. As we left their little apartment I noticed a picture of the temple hanging near their door. I remembered that President Spencer W. Kimball said that every Latter-day Saint family should have a picture of the temple prominently displayed in their home, and I remembered that we didn't have one. …
    
    "I went home, filled with a spirit of repentance, and found a small picture of the Swiss Temple in a mission brochure. I cut it out and taped it on our wall. Since that time we have always had a picture of the temple in our home. Every time I look at it, it reminds me of a young convert couple who taught us what it meant to 'follow the prophet'" (address given in the Bountiful Mueller Park Stake conference, 17 Jan. 1999).

4. Latter-day prophets' example of Christlike love

The Presidents of the Church have served others selflessly and with great love. We can learn much from their example.

Read the following account from the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith:

John Lyman Smith and his family came to Nauvoo when it was first being settled by the Saints. The only place the family could find to live at first was a stable made of logs. Everyone in the family except the mother soon came down with fevers as a result of living in the swampy area. John Lyman Smith said of the experience:

"The Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum visited us and administered to all of us, father being delirious from the effects of the fever. Their words comforted us greatly, as they said in the name of the Lord 'you all shall be well again.' Upon leaving the hovel, Joseph placed his slippers upon my father's feet and sprang upon his horse from the doorway and rode home barefoot. The next day Joseph removed father to his own house and nursed him until he recovered" (quoted in Stories about Joseph Smith the Prophet: A Collection of Incidents Related by Friends Who Knew Him,comp. Edwin F. Parry [1934], 33–34).

Read the story of Elder Spencer W. Kimball helping a mother and her children in an airport (Our Heritage, page 131).

Read the following story about President Gordon B. Hinckley:

In 1998 a devastating hurricane caused great destruction in Central America. The Church sent large amounts of relief food and supplies. President Gordon B. Hinckley felt that he should go to Honduras and Nicaragua to meet with and encourage the people there. Later in a Christmas devotional, President Hinckley spoke of a two-year-old girl he met on this trip who had been orphaned in the disaster. Her mother had died a few months before the hurricane, and when the hurricane hit, the father piled the furniture in his house to avoid the rising water.

President Hinckley related that the father "took a little mattress and placed it at the top and laid [his daughter] on it. In his frantic and desperate effort he suffered a stroke and died. … No one knew anything of her, until a young man, two days later, happened to look up in that abandoned house and saw her still alive. He tenderly brought her down and delivered her to the bishop and the bishop's wife. It was there that we saw her. …

"I would hope that at this Christmas season, when there will be no gift-giving among these devastated people, this small orphan girl might receive perhaps a little taste of candy, something sweet and delicious. I must see that that happens.

"God bless the people everywhere … that their hearts may be opened and their hands extended to help the needy" (Church News, 12 Dec. 1998, 4).

• What impresses you about the actions of these prophets? What can we learn from their example?

5. The prophet will never lead us astray

We can have complete confidence that the prophet appointed by God will always lead us correctly.

While serving in the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder Ezra Taft Benson taught,
"Keep your eye on the Prophet, for the Lord will never permit his Prophet to lead this Church astray" (in Conference Report, Oct. 1966, 123; or Improvement Era, Dec. 1966, 1145).

While serving as a counselor in the First Presidency, President Joseph F. Smith taught: "If [the President of the Church] should become unfaithful, God would remove him out of his place. I testify in the name of Israel's God that he will not suffer the head of the Church, whom he has chosen to stand at the head, to transgress his laws and apostatize; the moment he should take a course that would in time lead to it, God would take him away. Why? Because to suffer a wicked man to occupy that position would be to allow, as it were, the fountain to become corrupted, which is something he will never permit" (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [1939], 44–45).