D&C Section Twenty-eight

Hyrum Page and Oliver Cowdery married daughters of Peter Whitmer. It was from the Whitmers that Hyrum learned about the restoration of the gospel and church. Hyrum found a stone that was 5 inches long, three inches wide, a half inch thick and had two holes in it. Hyrum claimed to receive revelations through it that told him where the New Jerusalem would be and how the church should be governed. A number of members believed the revelations including Oliver. When Joseph learned of this he was naturally concerned because if all members began receiving a revelation on how the church should be governed, chaos would be the only result. So he asked the Lord about it and Section 28 was the revelation he received. This revelation was directed at Oliver and the Lord tells him that the Lord will appoint no one other than his prophet to receive commandments and revelations for the church. The prophet is the one who holds the keys for revelation which were bestowed in this case by angelic ministers. To receive revelation for the church, you have to have been the divine keys to do so.

Oliver is instructed to correct Hyrum Page and Hyrum seems to accept it. He becomes one of the eight witnesses to the plates and the Book of Mormon. Hyrum would eventually go to Missouri where at one point he was severely persecuted. Mobs kicked in his doors and windows and then beat him with sticks to the point of death. He never seemed to get over this and left the church believing that Joseph was misleading the people regarding the scriptures, especially with regards to the location of Zion and the New Jerusalem. He never denied his testimony of the plates and Book of Mormon saying that Joseph's abilities were so limited he couldn't even pronounce Nephi's name correctly, and to assume that someone of Joseph's abilities could write a six hundred page book as correct as the Book of Mormon without supervision was impossible. He states that he knew it was true in 1830 and he knows that it's true 1847 (years after he left the church).

The lesson to me is that you have to hold fast to what you know is true, that you can't put yourself and your desires above truth. And while people will fall short, or disappoint, or life brings tragedy and conflict, truth still stands and will continue stand long after at the storms end and our difficulties are gone. It is never easy to remain stedfast in what we know to be true. It's my belief that to do so is at the heart of integrity, and the ability to remain stedfast is what defines true courage. These two traits are never evident until they are tried and challenged. And when the dust settles, where we stand determines the integrity and courage we really have.