D&C Section Seventy One

After he returned from Missouri, Ezra Booth apostatized form the church and now has the dubious honor of being the first person to publish false articles about the church. He sent articles and letters to the newspapers in the neighboring cities and towns that were filled with lies that inflamed the people against the church. As a result, the Lord in this revelation commands the prophet to stop translating the Bible and to go out and proclaim the gospel for a time. The Lord's instruction to him was no different than what the missionaries receive today, teach the gospel using the scriptures and bear testimony by the power of the Spirit. Then it is up to the person hearing wether they will accept the truth or not. The prophet challenged Ezra Booth to meet with him in public and debate the things Booth had been claiming, but Booth always refused or when he agreed did not show up. He was a coward. I like the statement of President Heber J. Grant when he said that no one has ever done anything "that has injured this work of God. I look around, I read, I reflect, and I ask the question, 'Where are the men of influence, of power and prestige who have worked against the Latter-day Saints?' They have faded away like dew before the sun."