D&C Section Forty Four

This section directs the church to have another conference. This will be the fourth general conference of the church, the first one to be held in Ohio. The previous three were held in Fayette, New York. In this revelation, the Lord tells them that purpose of this conference is to organize themselves according to the laws of the land. Everywhere the church settled, they did this and it enabled them to go about building temples, publishing revelations and conducting other church business without fear of being legally challenged successfully. With their numbers, the church was able to influence voting issues that would have hampered their efforts to function. As a result, since the people in their vicinity couldn't do anything legal against them, the always resorted to mob violence. This happened in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. At this conference, Section 52 was received. This has become the practice of the church ever since. They always operate within the laws of the land. Even in communist East Germany, where religious practices were severely controlled, the church was able to build a temple because it had become so well respected by the communist leaders. Eventually, the Berlin wall came down and East and West Berlin were united in freedom. Then the church was able to send more missionaries and operate more freely under the German democracy. The Lord always seems to work from the inside out whether it's with a person, a city, or a nation.