Brother Brigham

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Brother Brigham

• Khinckley1_at_yahoo.com

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Elder OaksNovember 2004BYU Devotional

• Deer hunting story
• Now, I invite you to think about some seemingly
  small decisions you are making in your life that
  would benefit from your asking, where will it
  lead?

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President Kimball

• If we live in such a way that the considerations
  of eternity press upon us, we will make better
  decisions.
• (Ensign, Jan 1977, p.3)

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July 1844

• Newspaper headline announcing the death of Joseph
  and Hyrum
• Thus endeth Mormonism
• Why didnt it?
• Why Brigham Young?

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Zions Camp

• "I have traveled with Joseph a thousand
  miles. . . . I have watched him and observed
  every thing he said or did. . . . For the town of
  Kirtland I would not give the knowledge I got
  from Joseph on this Journey and then you may
  take the State of Ohio and the United States. . .
  . It has done me good . . . and this was the
  starting point of my knowing how to lead Israel.
  (Salt Lake High Council Record)

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Kirtland

• "When I saw a man stand in the path before the
  Prophet to dictate him, I felt like hurling him
  out of the way and branding him a fool," he
  declared (JD 10363-64).
• Essentially he did just that during an incident,
  included in his history, of catching a man loudly
  denouncing Joseph through the Kirtland streets
  after midnight. Cowhide in hand, Young jerked the
  man around and warned him that if he did not stop
  and let the people sleep, he would whip him on
  the spot. He declared that they had the Lord's
  prophet right there and did not need the devil's
  prophet yelling in the streets

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Special MeetingAugust 8th, 1844

• "The Twelve are appointed by the finger of God!
  Here is Brigham, have his knees ever faltered?
  Have his lips ever quivered? Did he ever flinch
  before the bullets in Missouri?
• Here are the Twelve, an independent body who have
  the keys of the Priesthood, the keys of the
  Kingdom to deliver to all the world. This is true
  So help me God. . . .
• You cannot appoint a Prophet, but if you let the
  Twelve remain act in their place the keys of
  the Kingdom are with them, and they can manage
  the affairs of the Church direct all things
  aright."

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Research into the Transformation of Brigham Young

• 101 written testimonies of people who say a
  transformation or spiritual manifestation
  occurred.
• Fifty-seven are firsthand documents personal
  journals, personal narratives told to a scribe,
  or first-person testimonies published in Church
  magazine articles.
• Forty-two are secondhand testimonies accounts
  gleaned from biographies written by family
  members or from historical compilations."
• (Lynne Watkins Jorgensen, BYU Studies, vol 36,
  4)

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Benjamin Johnson

• "I sat in the assembly near to President Rigdon,
  closely attentive to his appeal to the conference
  to recognize and sustain his claim as 'guardian
  for the Church.' And I was, perhaps, to a degree,
  forgetful of what I knew to be the rights and
  duties of the apostleship. And as he closed his
  address and sat down, my back was partly turned
  to the seat occupied by Apostle Brigham Young and
  other Apostles, when suddenly, and as from
  heaven, I heard the voice of the Prophet Joseph.
• That thrilled my whole being, and quickly turning
  around, I saw in the transfiguration of Brigham
  Young, the tall, straight, and portly form of the
  Prophet Joseph Smith, clothed in a sheen of light
  covering him to his feet. And I heard the real
  and perfect voice of the Prophet, even to the
  whistle, as in years past caused by the loss of a
  tooth, said to have been broken out by the mob at
  Hiram. This view or vision, although but for
  seconds was to me as vivid and real as the glare
  of lightning or the voice of thunder from the
  heavens.
• I found that others could testify to having seen
  and heard the same.

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Result of Aug 8th Meeting

• The Twelve were sustained to lead the church.
• What did Brigham Young then set out to do?
• 1) Finish the temple. Why?
• 2) Prepare to move the Saints. Why?
• Brother Brigham simply followed Josephs every
  direction. To the day he died.

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Question

• Brigham was accused, in Kirtland, of blindly
  following Joseph Smith.
• Should we blindly follow Pres. Hinckley?

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President Benson1980 BYU Devotional

• To help you pass the crucial tests which
  lie ahead I am going to give you today several
  facets of a grand key which, if you will honor,
  will crown you with God's glory and bring you out
  victorious in spite of Satan's fury.
• Soon we will be honoring our Prophet (Pres.
  Kimball) on his eighty-fifth birthday. As a
  church we sing the song, 'We Thank Thee, O God,
  for a Prophet.' Here then is the grand keyFollow
  the Prophet."

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DC 21

• 4 Wherefore, meaning the church, thou shalt give
  heed unto all his the prophets words and
  commandments which he shall give unto you as he
  receiveth them, walking in all holiness before
  me
• 5 For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine
  own mouth, in all patience and faith.
• 6 For by doing these things the gates of hell
  shall not prevail against you yea, and the Lord
  God will disperse the powers of darkness from
  before you, and cause the heavens to shake for
  your good, and his name's glory.

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Feb 16th, 1847

• Illness seized Brigham during the night of 16
  February and the pre-dawn hours of 17 February, a
  sickness so severe that he "fainted away,
  apparently dead for several moments" Only those
  who die and go through the veil could know how he
  felt, he said two weeks later, adding that "I
  know that I went to the world of spirits" (Stout
  1238). However, it was not given him to
  immediately remember the details of what he saw
  there "All that I know, is what my wife told me
  about it since." She reported that his first
  words upon being revived were that he "had been
  where Joseph Hyrum was" and that "it is hard
  coming back to life again'"
• Revived and returned to his bed, Brigham Young
  fell asleep and dreamed, and when he awoke, he
  called for writing materials. "In my dream I went
  to see Joseph," he wrote. He found him sitting by
  a large window looking "perfectly natural."
  Brigham took him by the hand, kissed his cheeks,
  and asked him why they could not be together as
  before.
• Joseph arose from his chair and "looked at me
  with an ernest and plesent countenence, spoak in
  his usual way it is all right. I then said to him
  I due not like to be a way from you. it is wright
  he replied we can not be together yet, we shall
  be by en by. but you will have to do things
  with out me a while and then we shall be together
  again." Brigham then addressed Joseph as his
  mentor in the priesthood, one who knew the Saints
  better than he did.
• if you have a word of councel for me I should be
  glad to receive it." The counsel was very simple
  "be sure to tell the people to keep the spiret
  of the Lord" (Brigham Young Holograph, 17 Feb
  1847).
• The interview over, Brigham turned and saw Joseph
  standing in the light "but where I had to go was
  as midnight darkness." Because Joseph insisted,
  Brigham "went back in the darkness" and awoke
  (Stout 1238). As he described the experience not
  long afterward, "I have been with Joseph and
  Hyrum it is hard to come back to life again.
  (Ron Esplin Discipleship, Joseph Smith and
  Brigham Young)