D&C Section Twenty-four

Joseph's time has been consumed with finishing and publishing the Book of Mormon. After the church was organized, he visited members in Manchester, Fayette and Colesville. We've talked about where Manchester now being part of Palmyra and Fayette being at the top of Seneca Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in central up-state New York, Colesville is now the town of Sanitaria Springs and lies north of Binghamton and was in the path Joseph would take traveling between Palmyra and Harmony, Pennsylvania. The Colesville branch of the church had been formed by Joseph and was one of the most faithful of any groups of saints throughout the history of the church. They stayed together as a group and continue to be called the Colesville branch after they left New York. For example, the Colesville branch made up the majority of members who joined Zions Camp in Kirland. They left as a group to Kirtland and then later on to Missouri and Nauvoo. In Colesville, they came under intense persecution led by local ministers who feared losing members.

It was in Colesville that the first real miracle in the church was performed. At this time, while Joseph was visiting, he was arrested twice for inciting a riot by preaching about the Book of Mormon. He was found innocent but suffered a great deal of persecution and opposition in the process. By the time he got back to Harmony with Oliver, it was getting late in the growing season and Joseph had not been able to tend his crops. As a side note, I was in Sanitaria Springs on one occasion and a man there told me how Joseph had announced to the people of Colesville that he was going to walk on the water of the Chenango River. He said during the night before, Joseph put planks under the surface of the water but the people snuck back and removed them and when Joseph tried to walk on the water he fell in and that's how they proved that he was a false prophet. I also heard a story in that area from an elderly woman how her grandmother used to talk about how Brigham Young sent men to kidnap their girls so he could marry and hide them inside the walls of the temple in Salt Lake City.

Facing the loss of his crops, the Lord tells Joseph in this section that his calling preempts his temporal needs, that the Lord will bless him spiritually and temporally if he will continue faithful. The Lord encourages Joseph to continue writing and speaking, to continue to pray and devote himself totally to his calling. If he does, the Lord promises Joseph that it will be revealed, sometimes in the very instant what he should say and write. He tells Joseph that he will need to endure afflictions, but promises that he will be with Joseph to the end of his life. I think it's interesting how the Lord tells them not to be concerned with miracles, except those of healing and casting out devils. The Lord promises that those who oppose them will eventually fail, and some will be cursed for their persecution of the church. From this time on, Joseph will have only brief respites here and there from the persecution and opposition that will follow him all of his life.