How do ideas spread? If the truth has been lost, what is the best way for it to become known again? It is one thing to give Joseph Smith the First Vision and quite another for that vision to spread among large numbers of God’s children—and I suspect that how the spread of new religious knowledge happens is heavily dependent on the technology and culture available. What worked in Joseph Smith’s day likely wouldn’t work today — and given the history of the Church, its amazing that it worked then!

While my historical framing might suggest that these are academic questions, this lesson does suggest some answers to the question of how the gospel was spread. Its four sections show that not only was the spread dependent on a figure like Joseph Smith, it also needed a work like the Book of Mormon to attract attention and focus. In addition, the spread of the gospel required converts’ trust in God and the service of members (who became missionaries) with all their heart, might, mind and strength. In a very real sense, the spread of the gospel depended on finding converts who trusted in God, and who were then willing to give their all to the work.

It’s not hard to think of early Church members who did just that.

 

I can trust God.

While the lesson doesn’t specify that the early members and missionaries would face persecution, history shows that was the case. The œuvre of early missionaries like Parley P. Pratt, John P. Greene, and many others is full of testimony and complaint against how they were treated. The following poem, published in the Millennial Star in England by one of the many British converts who wrote the bulk of LDS poetry in the 1850s, shows the need for trust in God and its role in facing the difficulties and persecution that members too often faced:

 

Trust in God

by Henry W.

Though gloomy clouds obscure the sun, and darken all the skies,

And storms and tempests o’er my head in wildest frenzy rise,-

Though fiery lightnings flash with rage, and mighty thunders roar,

And blasting winds with fury howl, and fearful torrents pour,-

Though ocean’s troubled waters swell, and rocks and mountains quake,

And universal nature groan, and to her centre shake,-

Thou, Lord, in every time of need, my faithful Friend wilt be:

My soul, undaunted and undoubting, calmly trusts in Thee.

Though in my chequered path of life temptation’s snares abound,

And persecutions, foul and fierce, my daily steps surround,-

Though treach’rous friends and scoffing foes unite to wound my heart,

And calumny, reproach, and scorn inflict a painful smart,

Though adverse powers of earth and hell against me all combine,

And wily stratagems employ, my peace to undermine,-

Thou, Lord, in every time of need, my faithful Friend will be:

My soul, undaunted and undoubting, calmly trusts in Thee.

Though all my fondly-cherished hopes be destined to decay,

And all my fancied happiness be doomed to fade away,—

Though fickle fortune cease to smile, and tears of sorrow roll,

And poverty, distress, and want depress my drooping soul,-

Though sharp affliction’s bitter pangs fill up my cup of woe,

And even Death’s cold hand be stretched, that cup to overflow,-

Thou, Lord, in every time of need, my faithful Friend wilt be:

My soul, undaunted and undoubting, calmly trusts in thee.

1857

 

I can serve God with all my heart, might, mind, and strength.

The idea that we need to give up all distractions for the gospel is at least as old as the teachings of Jesus, who suggested that his disciples would need to give up their families to follow Him (Luke 14:26-27). Many converts did that as Thomas Ward mentions in the following poem, one of his earliest. Ward was a prolific poet and one of the most dynamic of converts in England, quickly becoming a missionary, then an editor for the Millennial Star, and the British Mission President. He eventually was disfellowshipped in a scandal involving mission finances in 1846. He died the following year, at age 38.

 

A Fragment

by Thomas Ward

I mark’d him as he stood with downcast eye,

Whence, ever and anon, a tear would start;

While with convulsive throb his bosom heav’d;

‘Twas nature’s final struggle to o’ercome

The high resolve, the purpose of the soul

To serve the God of Heaven; but he stood

And conquered, though he sever’d every link

That bound him to his father’s house, and all

His heart had lov’d most tenderly; but he

Had heard the word of life, had felt the pow’r

Of God’s own truth unmarr’d by man; and now

He purposed in his heart to bear the cross,

And follow him who died that he might live.

‘Tis true he’d lose a parent’s love, his home,

His heritage, his all; but would he not

Become a Son of God, and have a claim

To glory and inheritance, that still

Should be when every earthly good had past.

‘Tis o’er, the tempter’s power has fail’d, and now

With ready feet he seeks the man of God,

To ‘minister to him that holy rite—

The birth of water—in that mighty name,

By which alone he could be sav’d, and know

That all his guilt was cancell’d, and that he

Might now receive the Father’s promise,

A glorious earnest of all joys to come.

1843

 

Through the Holy Ghost, I can gain a witness of the Book of Mormon.

In addition to the commitment of converts, the spread of the gospel needed an object to attract attention, to catch the attention of the potential audience and focus the missionary’s message. As Clinton Larson suggests in the following poem, the mystery around ancient American ruins gave impetus to the message, answering questions that many Americans had and introducing questions that LDS teachings could answer, such as whether God also spoke to His children in the Americas.

 

Sonnet on the Book of Mormon

by Clinton F. Larson

The ruins murmur on unceasingly

To testify there was another day …

This western hemisphere has known a glory

That we know little of, except to say:

‘I felt their grandeur in the backward look …’

They had a scripture from Omnipotence:

So from the dust, from them to us, the book

Came down, spanning timeless decadence

To tell us of the nations and the forms

That have gone down beneath consuming time;

What temporal monument, against the storms,

Can hold steadfastly in artistic rhyme?

But Mayan ruins speak in scriptural flow

With far more eloquence than forms can know.

1940

 

Jesus Christ gave us His word through Joseph Smith.

Along with the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith himself became a way of spreading the gospel—a prophet, someone who could be looked to for further information. His translation raised the Book of Mormon from simply an interesting archeological find to something spiritual as well, a restoration. As will become clear if I can continue to provide poetry for the Doctrine and Covenants lessons, Smith is also a major topic of LDS poetry, especially following his martyrdom in 1844. The following poem is one of those responses:

 

Lines suggested by reflections on Joseph Smith

by William I. Appleby

“Joseph, the Prophet of the Lord,” thy name to me is dear

And for thy absence now, I often shed the tender tear;

Call’d thou wast when young, thy faithfulness to prove,

To do the work agreed by thee, e’er thou left the courts above

On this terrestrial ball thou came, at the appointed time,

To do those works of might and power, and let thy wisdom shine;

To break the spell of darkness, the time had arriven,

To bring to light the truth, the way and plan of heav’n.

To burst traditions fetters, to relieve the oppress’d,

And prepare the earth for righteousness and everlasting rest;

An angel from on high is sent, the truth for to reveal,

A record of the gospel, that “Moroni’s” hand had sealed.

The Record is translanted—the humble doth rejoice—

God bears witness to the same, by his spirit and his voice;

Again the priesthood is restor’d—the church is organiz’d,

According to revelation, but by the world despis’d;

Built on the ancient pattern—a dispensation new.

Of apostles and prophets, and inspiration too.

Joseph, thy name’s evil spoken of, by great and by small,

But true unto thy God and cause, thou overcame them all,

And laid the foundation of a mighty work began,

For the redemption, salvation, and exaltation of man.

“John the Baptist” first with the “Aaronic Priesthood” came,

Second, the Melchisedek, from Peter, John, and James,

Third, the “keys of restoration” by “Elias” they are giv’n,

By “Elijah” (fourth) the sealing keys, to seal on earth and heav’n.

And for these truths thy blood was shed, and laid thy body down,

But thou will rule a mighty host, and wear a martyr’s crown,

Millions shall know thou’rt a king—thy power they shall dread,

For by the priesthood thou wast crown’d, before thy blood was shed;

Thou’rt only passed behind the veil, to plead the cause above,

Of mourning, bleeding, Zion, which was thy daily love.

There, in the counsels of the just, before the throne of God,

Along with thy brother Hyrum, who fell with thee in bloodl

Thou art the “Angel of the Church,” under Christ thy head,

Thou hast minister’d to it since thy death, by thy counsels it is led,

Thou wilt stand in thy place and lot in the resurrection morns,

With all the ancient worthies, whose brows a crown adorns,

At the head of thy dispensation thou ever thus will stand,

While less inferior spirits, shall bow at thy command,

“Joseph,” the “Saints” there will meet you, and brother Hyrum too,

Along with the “Twelve” apostles, whose faithful been and true,

With all the “Saints” in glory, forever there to reign,

Sealed with the Holy Priesthood. Eternal life. Amen.

1847