Wednesday, July 13, 2011

D&C Section Seventy Nine & Eighty

Joseph Smith called Jared Carter a man of mighty faith. Section 79 is a four verse revelation that is typical of the missions men were called on. Carter is called to the eastern countries, from place to place, city to city. No specific location, not specific time frame, and not quite the same as being called to the New York Rochester Mission for one and a half or two years. The Lord promises Carter that he will have the Holy Ghost with him to teach him what is true and to show him the way that he should go. In Section 80, the mission call to Stephen Burnett and Eden Smith is even more general. They are called to preach and the Lord says it doesn't matter if they go north, south, east or west. The Lord promises that no matter where they go, they "cannot go amiss."

Once in Salt Lake City, the mission locations would become more specific as would the mission assignments. The only challenge then was that you never knew when, if or where you would be called until your name and mission was announced in general conference. I am always amazed how these people would uproot themselves, sometimes more than once, and go to places that they knew were going to be extremely difficult. They considered St. George to be a tough call to receive so I can imagine how difficult it would have been to be the first ones called to the Las Vegas area. Two of the men called to be the first to settle in the Vegas area reacted in opposite ways as told by their daughters. One man refused making his daughter very happy. The other daughter cried when her father's name was also called. The first daughter asked her if she was crying because her father accepted the call. The other daughter replied that she would have been disappointed in her father if he hadn't accepted. But the fact that she was crying showed how difficult it was

No comments: