For Latter-Day Saints

History

Year 3 -Insights for Latter-day Saints

Written by Katie Powell and Jenny Phillips

About This Document

The Good and the Beautiful history courses strive to emphasize examples of faith in God and the hand of God in the history of the world. The course book itself covers most of this, explaining the role that faith, religion, and God played in history. This document includes additional insights that are specific to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

How to Use this Document As you teach from the course book, check this Insights document to see if there is an additional Church insight for the lesson. If so, follow the instructions after completing the lesson in the course book.

NOTE: If you have not already done so, you may access and print a timeline extension for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the History Year 2 – Insights document. No additional timeline is included in this document.

1 © Jenny Phillips HISTORY YEAR 3 INSIGHTS FOR LATTER-DAY SAINTS

This transfiguration and vision that the Lord gave to Lesson 1 Moses elevated his view of many things. He saw a new eternal perspective with “spiritual eyes” (Moses 1:11). Mesopotamia He understood that worlds without number were created by the Father’s Only Begotten Son, that many o Read the following excerpts from “What do worlds had passed away, many now stood, and other we know about the location of the Garden worlds would yet come into existence (see Moses of Eden?” by Bruce A. Van Orden, associate 1:35, 38). The vistas of Moses’ vision were expanded professor of Church history, Brigham Young to behold God’s intended purpose for mankind’s University (Ensign, January 1994), or, with older existence: “For behold, this is my work and my glory— children, read the entire article on lds.org. to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). Blessed with this broader vision, We must remember that the whole earth was this panoramic perspective, this “God’s eye view” paradisiacal before the Fall. The Garden of Eden was of the Lord’s entire plan and purpose, Moses was a center place. After the Fall, there was no Garden of better prepared to lead covenant Israel from spiritual Eden or paradisiacal status on earth. . . . [T]he Prophet darkness and Egyptian bondage into light and freedom Joseph Smith learned through revelation (D&C 57) that in the land of their fathers. Jackson County was the location of a Zion to be and the New Jerusalem to come. The Prophet first visited President Boyd K. Packer, Acting President of the Jackson County, Missouri, in the summer of 1831. Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, stated, “No more The Prophet visited Jackson County again in April profound truth has been conveyed to us in the and May 1832. On one of the occasions, or perhaps restoration than the knowledge of our premortal both, the Prophet Joseph apparently instructed his existence. No other church knows or teaches this close associates, and perhaps even a general Church truth.” Through the Prophet Joseph Smith, we learn gathering, that the ancient Garden of Eden was also that the doctrinal scaffolding of this principle was located in Jackson County. revealed to Moses when the Lord said, “For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth” (Moses 3:5). Lesson 3 To the spiritual eyes of Moses also came a vision of a premortal council held in heaven, wherein the Father The Exodus & 40 presented the plan of salvation. Jesus Christ was Years in the Desert willing to come to earth, give his life for us, and take upon himself our sins while preserving the honor for the Father and the agency of man. Satan’s reaction o Read to the children: to this plan was one of rebellion: “Lucifer sought to dethrone God, . . . and to save all men without When Joseph Smith restored the gospel to the Earth, reference to their works.” The Father chose Jesus the Lord revealed some clarifications to the current Christ. Satan rebelled and “kept not his first estate” translation of the Bible. Some of these are included in (see Moses 4:1–3; Abr. 3:24–28). the Pearl of Great Price, including the book of Moses, which teaches us more about Moses. As Latter-day Saints, we have learned that it was Jesus Christ in his role as Jehovah who gave Moses the Ten o Read the following excerpts from “Moses: Commandments and the law (see 3 Ne. 15:5). Through Witness of Jesus Christ” by Todd B. Parker the Prophet Joseph Smith it has been made clear that and Robert Norman; or, for a more in depth since the Fall of Adam, Jesus Christ is the being from discussion about Moses and the revelations that whom revelation is received by prophets (“Moses: we have received, read the entire article on lds. Witness of Jesus Christ,” Ensign, April 1998). org with older children.

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Lesson 8 Lesson 12 Shadrach, Meshach, Job / The Hebrew and Abednego Calendar

o Read and discuss the following excerpt from o Read the following excerpts from “Hast Thou “‘But if Not’ - A lesson on Faith from Shadrach, Considered My Servant Job?” by John S. Tanner Meshach and Abednego,” (https://www. (Ensign, Dec. 1990). mormon.org/blog/but-if-not-a-lesson-on- Job’s example makes it clear that although faith). sometimes suffering is a punishment, it is not HOW THEN DO WE DEVELOP FAITH LIKE SHADRACH, always so. The [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO? Saints'] Bible Dictionary (s.v. “Job”) states that though the book “does not entirely answer the 1. PERSPECTIVE question as to why Job (or any man) might suffer,” it does make it clear that “affliction is not necessarily First – We need to take a step back and gain some evidence that one has sinned.” This is a great perspective on our situation. It is always hard to see comfort, especially for the many blameless souls the big picture when we are only focused on such a who accuse themselves when tragedy befalls them. small corner of it. When an infant is born with birth defects, or a 2. TESTIMONY loved one is killed in an auto accident, some people immediately respond, “What have I done to deserve Second – Gain a strong testimony of Christ. This this?” Job implies that there can be “no-fault” includes not only believing in Him, but believing tragedy. Him. When He says that He will be there to comfort you, know that He will. Trust Him and allow Him the If we look carefully at the Bible or the Book of time to justify your faith in Him. Mormon or modern Church history, we can find many instances of good individuals who, like Job, 3. RESOLUTION suffer. Think of the martyred women and children Third – Be resolved to have your faith placed in the who were burned before the eyes of Alma and idea that regardless of what happens, regardless of Amulek. (See Alma 14:7–11.) Complicating the how God chooses to bless our lives or not, we will simplistic view of retribution expressed by Job’s still believe in Him and follow Him down whatever comforters is the fact that sometimes “the Lord road that may lead us. suffereth the righteous to be slain that his justice and judgment may come upon the wicked.” (Alma Regardless of whether we receive a particular 60:13.) blessing or outcome, we need to understand that Christ is still our Savior. We need to understand that Job’s example, then, corrects unwarranted He loves us and that He has a plan for all of us to assumptions based upon the true doctrine of be happy with our families; and in the end isn’t that retribution. It reminds us that the Lord’s plan of the only thing that matters? rewards and punishment does not guarantee that only the wicked will suffer, nor does it insulate the righteous from adversity or assure them material rewards in this life. Christ, though blameless, suffered more than has any other man. If the Lord, who was perfect, had to endure affliction, should we, who are imperfect, expect to be spared from

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it? The only reward for righteousness that the Lord President Russell M. Nelson explained: holds out unfailingly to individuals is “peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come.” (D&C Many of Abraham’s descendants—the tribes 59:23.) But even this peace must be found amid of ancient Israel—eventually rejected the persecutions, not in their absence. (See John 14:27; teachings of the Lord and killed the prophets. John 15:20.) Ten tribes were carried captive into Assyria. From there they became lost to the records of mankind, though not lost to the Lord. Two tribes remained for a short time, but because Lesson 14 of their rebellion they were taken captive into Babylon. When they returned, they were Israel: After favored of the Lord, but again they rejected Him! the Return / As prophesied, all things were to be restored in The Alexandrine this dispensation. Therefore, the long-awaited Occupation gathering of scattered Israel must come as part of that restoration. The gathering of o Read to the children: Israel is interrelated with the second promise because the gathering is a necessary prelude Joseph Fielding Smith wrote: to the Second Coming of the Lord. Again, that heavenly perspective is ever evident. When the Lord called Abraham out of Ur, the land of his fathers, he made certain covenants This concept of the gathering is one of the with him because of his faithfulness. One important teachings of The Church of Jesus promise was that through him and his seed Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Lord has after him all nations of the earth should be declared, “I give unto you a sign . . . that I blessed. This blessing is accomplished in several shall gather in, from their long dispersion, my ways. people, O house of Israel, and shall establish 1. Through Jesus Christ who came through the again among them my Zion” (3 Nephi 21:1). lineage of Abraham; The coming forth of the Book of Mormon is 2. Through the priesthood which was a tangible sign to the world that the Lord has conferred upon Abraham and his commenced gathering Israel and fulfilling descendants; covenants He made to Abraham, Isaac, and 3. Through the scattering of Israel among Jacob. We not only teach this concept, but we all nations by which the blood of Israel also get to participate in it! We do so as we was sprinkled among the nations, and help to gather the elect of the Lord on both thus the nations partake of the leaven sides of the veil. of righteousness, on condition of their repentance, and are entitled to the promises Many aspects of the Abrahamic covenant made to the children of Abraham; and have already been fulfilled. The Savior of the 4. In the fact that the Lord covenanted world did indeed come through the lineage with Abraham that after his time all who of Abraham, through Jacob’s son Judah. Land embraced the gospel should be called by was allocated for an inheritance long ago. A his name, or, should be numbered among map in [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- his seed, and should receive the Holy day Saints] edition of the Bible shows how Ghost (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of the land inherited by the tribes was divided Salvation, 3:246). among the descendants of Reuben, Simeon,

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Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, (“Elder Nelson Teaches about Symbols of Christ’s Asher, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. We Birth,” Church News, 20 Dec. 2013). learn from the Book of Mormon that the land o reserved for the lineage of Joseph was the Optional: Watch the video titled “Glad Tidings American hemisphere. of Great Joy: the Birth of Jesus Christ.”

The great promise that all nations would be https://youtu.be/xCxV9CbC180 blessed by the posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has yet to be fulfilled. But this promise of the gathering, woven through the fabric of Lesson 16 all scriptures, will be fulfilled just as surely as were the prophecies of the scattering of Israel (Russell M. Nelson, “The Book of Mormon, the The Story of the Gathering of Israel, and the Second Coming,” Jews / Christ’s Life Ensign, July 2014). to Masada

o Optional: With older children, read the following Lesson 15 excerpt from the Conference talk given by Ezra Taft Benson, “The Savior’s Visit to America” Israel: Roman (Ensign, May 1987). For younger children (Grades 1–4), read the information and summarize it, Conquest / The Birth using a few of the scriptures. of Jesus Christ President Ezra Taft Benson taught us about Christ's visit to the American continent after He was resurrected. o Watch the video or discuss the story of Samuel President Benson said: the Lamanite found in The Book of Mormon, Helaman 13–16. Then a voice began to speak—a voice from the heavens that was heard throughout the entire land. . . . https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012- 08-3330-samuel-the-lamanites-prophecy- Mormon tells us that “it was not a harsh voice, neither fulfilled?lang=eng was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear o Read to the children: to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their President Russell M. Nelson said: frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to While we sing “Silent Night” or “O Holy Night” burn” (3 Ne. 11:3). The first time and the second time with reverence for Him, we know that the life of the voice spoke, the people heard it but could not our Lord did not begin in Bethlehem nor did it understand it. end at Calvary’s cross. “And behold, the third time they did understand the In a premortal realm, Jesus was anointed by His voice which they heard; and it said unto them: Father to be the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of all humankind. It is He who “Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in heads the Church that bears His holy name. It whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him” (3 Ne. is He who provided scriptures to guide us and 11:5–7). enlighten our minds with unchanging truth How few people in all the history of the world have

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heard the actual voice of God the Father speaking to He gave them the glorious sermon which we today call them. As the people looked heavenward, “they saw a the Sermon on the Mount. Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the There is not time to speak of all the remarkable events midst of them” (3 Ne. 11:8). of that glorious day and the days that followed. But it is clear that 3 Nephi contains some of the most A glorious, resurrected being, a member of the moving and powerful passages in all scripture. It Godhead, the Creator of innumerable worlds, the God testifies of Jesus Christ, His prophets, and the doctrines of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, stood before their very of salvation. [W]hat a blessing it would be if every eyes! family would read together 3 Nephi, discuss its sacred contents, and then determine how they can liken it “And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand unto themselves and apply its teachings in their lives. and spake unto the people, saying: Third Nephi is a book that should be read and read “Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified again. Its testimony of the resurrected Christ in shall come into the world. America is given in purity and beauty. As the Savior “And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; prepared to leave his disciples, He said unto them: and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the “Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which into the world to do the will of my Father, because my I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from Father sent me. the beginning” (3 Ne. 11:9–11). “And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon The whole multitude fell to the earth. Jesus the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the commanded them to rise and come forth unto Him. He cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have invited them to thrust their hands into His side and feel been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up the prints of the nails in His hands and feet. One by one by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their each of the twenty-five hundred present went forth. works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.

Indeed they “did see with their eyes and did feel with “. . . And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless prophets, that should come” (3 Ne. 11:15). before my Father at that day when I shall stand to When the last one had stood face to face with the judge the world. . . . Savior and had come to know with an absolute surety “And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; of the reality of His resurrection, “they did cry out with therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those one accord: “Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the who have washed their garments in my blood, because Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and Jesus, and did worship him” (3 Ne. 11:16–17). their faithfulness unto the end.

He called the faithful prophet Nephi and others and “Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of commissioned them with power and authority to the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my baptize in His name. name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of The Savior taught the people: “Ye must repent, and be the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or at the last day. ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God” (3 Ne. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel” (3 Ne. 11:38). 27:13–14, 16, 19–21).

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like her, guided by the Spirit, will identify and cling Lesson 24 to the Church. “This is one way that God responds to their faith. It’s intuitive; it is fundamental. I’ve said Religion in repeatedly that it seems to me what life hasn’t been Ancient Africa able to give them materially, heaven has more than made up for spiritually.”

o Read the excerpts to the children: “In some ways,” he said, “the gospel is late in coming to Africa, at least as we could do it on the Lord’s The establishment of the Church in Africa began at a timetable—and it was the Lord’s timetable, I’m quick special Church conference in Salt Lake City in August to affirm. It is only comparatively recently that the 1852, when President Brigham Young called 106 Africans have begun to get missions and missionaries, men to leave their wives in charge of their families, the blessings of the priesthood, and so forth. It’s a homes, farms, and businesses and go on missions to big continent, and we still have a long way to go. But I various lands of the world to proclaim the restored believe the growth we are now seeing in Africa is part gospel. Three were called to go to South Africa. . . . of the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise. African Latter- The missionaries faced heavy opposition from the day Saints are emerging with faith. They are on the local clergy and indifference to their message among move. They are meeting the challenge of receiving the the people generally; fewer than 200 people accepted gospel and making it obvious in their lives." (https:// baptism in the two and a half years they served. www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the- . . . Between 1855 and 1865, 278 converts to the world/emerging-with-faith-in-africa?lang=eng) Church emigrated from South Africa to Utah.

No LDS missionaries served in South Africa from 1866 to 1903, and the Church grew slowly. Missionaries Lesson 25 returned in 1903 and served until 1940, when they were withdrawn because of World War II. . . . Since the Native North return of LDS missionaries to South Africa in 1944, the Church has grown steadily there and also expanded to Americans: Overview other areas of Africa. (http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/ and Geography Africa,_the_Church_in)

o Watch the video found at https://www.lds.org/ o Show children the image Lehi and His People prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/ Arrive in the Promised Land. emerging-with-faith-in-africa?lang=eng, or you https://www.lds.org/media-library/images/lehi- may choose to read the article instead. people-arrive-promised-land-39644?lang=eng o Read the excerpt to the children: o Read to the children:

Elder Holland said that because many Africans are Have you seen this picture before? What is the picture spiritually in tune, they experience spiritual privileges showing? [Lehi and his family crossing the ocean to “not always seen in this day and age elsewhere in the Americas] the world.” As an example, he mentioned a woman of another faith at a press conference in Sierra In 1 Nephi 18, we can learn about Lehi and his people Leone who explained that she had seen his face in a on this ship and where they were going. We read: dream. Having such an experience “isn’t a common 23 And it came to pass that after we had sailed my experience in life,” Elder Holland said, “but I think for the space of many days we did arrive at the it’s quite a common one in theirs.” He said that people promised land; and we went forth upon the land,

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and did pitch our tents; and we did call it the promised land. Lesson 35 24 And it came to pass that we did begin to till The Lewis & Clark the earth, and we began to plant seeds; yea, we Expedition & did put all our seeds into the earth, which we had brought from the land of Jerusalem. And Sacajawea it came to pass that they did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance. o Read the excerpts to the children:

25 And it came to pass that we did find upon During a year when Thomas Jefferson was president of the land of promise, as we journeyed in the the United States, Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned wilderness, that there were beasts in the forests king of Italy, and Lewis and Clark reached the Pacific of every kind, both the cow and the ox, and the Ocean, there were no headlines to herald the birth of a ass and the horse, and the goat and the wild humble boy in Sharon, Vt. goat, and all manner of wild animals, which were for the use of men. And we did find all manner of His mother, Lucy Mack Smith, barely mentioned her ore, both of gold, and of silver, and of copper. son's birth in her book, “The History of Joseph Smith.”

The Introduction to the Book of Mormon tells us: “We had a son whom we called Joseph, after the name of his father; he was born December 23, 1805. I shall The record gives an account of two great speak of him more particularly by and by,” she wrote. civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C. Joseph's lowly pre-Christmas arrival in a frame home and afterward separated into two nations, known on Dairy Hill was that of a common man. as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded Although times were tough, Joseph was born into a the tongues at the Tower of Babel. This group is family of faith, unity and industry that prepared him for known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years, his future calling as a prophet of God. all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American As prophesied in scripture by Joseph of Egypt, the Indians. newborn was named after his father, “And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation” (2 Nephi 3:15) (Toone, Trent, "Remembering the Birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith," https://www. deseretnews.com/article/705363401/Remembering- the-birth-of-the-Prophet-Joseph-Smith.html). At the time of Joseph’s birth, the Smith family lived on a farm owned by Lucy’s father, Solomon Mack. The family moved onto the farm only a short time before Joseph’s birth. Having recently suffered a crippling financial setback, the Smiths found refuge on Solomon Mack’s farm (“Joseph Smith Jr. Birthplace,” https:// history.lds.org/article/historic-sites/vermont/sharon/ joseph-smith-birthplace?lang=eng).

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o View the pictures and information about the .Lesson 37 Mormon Trail on the Church History website. The Santa Fe Trail https://history.lds.org/exhibit/mormon- and the Oregon trails?lang=eng Trail

o Older students (grades 9+) read chapter XLII: “The Settlement in the West” from the Lesson 39 Discourses of Brigham Young which can be found at this page: https://ia800304.us.archive. Daily Life on the org/17/items/DiscoursesOfBrighamYoung/ Frontier discourses_of_brigham_young.pdf Discuss the chapter with another student or o parent. Read “Saving the Wheat,” by Marianne Dahl Johnson, from the July 2012 Friend. o Read the quotes to the children: http://media.ldscdn.org/pdf/magazines/friend- Brigham Young (speaking of Utah): july-2012/2012-07-20-saving-the-wheat-eng.pdf We wish strangers to know that we did not come here out of choice, but because we were obliged o (Optional)Watch the short video about settling to go somewhere, and this was the best place in the Great Salt Lake Valley: we could find. It was impossible for any person https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010- to live here unless he labored hard and battled 06-65-chapter-64-the-saints-in-the-rocky- and fought against the elements, but it was a mountains-beginning-in-july-1847?lang=eng first-rate place to raise Latter-day Saints, and we shall be blessed in living here, and shall yet make it like the Garden of Eden; and the Lord Almighty will hedge about his saints and will defend and Lesson 42 preserve them if they will do his will. The only fear I have is that we will not do right; if we do we will be like a city set on a hill, our light will not The First be hid (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Transcontinental Widtsoe [1954], 474). Railroad What did the Lord promise the Saints if they will do His will? [ Pause for answers] What things can we do o Read or summarize the excerpt to the children: now, in our lives, to do His will? [Discuss ways to share and live the gospel.] Many in the political establishment assumed Brigham Young would oppose a railroad through the Utah Joseph B. Wirthlin: Territory since it would open the land to outsiders. Let us never forget the faith of our fathers and Coming just a few years after the “Utah War” when the selfless sacrifice of our mothers, those General Albert Sidney Johnston had moved against the pioneering Saints who set such an inspiring [Latter-day Saints] with a large contingent of the U.S. example of obedience. Let us remember them Army to impose order on the territory, it’s no wonder as we strive to be valiant servants in our work President Young was suspicious. But by 1868, when to “invite all to come unto Christ” (“Faith of Our the Union Pacific Railroad was approaching the eastern Fathers,” Ensign, May 1996). borders of the Utah territory and the Central Pacific

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was making its way east from Nevada, rank-and-file were willing to work on the railroad project. Durant [Latter-day Saints] were conflicted. On the one hand accepted, and Brigham immediately sent out a call they wished to keep their relative isolation, but on the to area congregations to send as many able-bodied other hand, in order to prosper, they needed trade men as possible to work on the grading and tunneling with the outside world. projects. Within a month, work was underway in Echo Canyon, to the east of Ogden, Utah. Ultimately, however, Brigham Young was enthusiastic about the railroad connecting Utah to the rest of the But in spite of Durant’s generous offer, the Prophet world and even purchased shares of Union Pacific stock ended up personally financing the work while they when it was first made available to the public. He had waited for their cash payments to arrive from New several motives for this support. First, it would make it York. The railroad company was pretty good about easier for Latter-day Saint immigrants from England to getting supplies and equipment to the more-than- make their way to Utah, incurring a much lower cost 3,000-man workforce, but it was always slow to send than traveling by wagon, train, or handcart. money for payroll.

Second, it would open markets in the eastern states And while many of Brigham’s critics thought he to Utah farm produce while allowing easier transport intended to exploit his own people by signing a of finished goods into the territory. Finally, even in profitable contract and then hiring his religious those early days, President Young recognized that followers for a pittance, he actually tapped out his tourism to the magnificent Wasatch Mountains and personal finances to make payments to the laborers the natural wonder of the Great Salt Lake would be a when reimbursement from the Union Pacific didn’t great economic boon to the area. The Latter-day Saints arrive. In fact, at one point, he had advanced more needed cash and trade in their growing communities. than $130,000 of his personal funds even after the railroad sent $100,000 in payment. Both companies were anxious to build track as far west or east as possible before Congress declared the final Still, the Saints worked around the clock on both meeting point because each mile of track laid resulted the grading and tunneling through the hard granite in a direct cash payment to the company, as well as the mountains. They burned great piles of sagebrush at grant of substantial amounts of real estate. night to provide light to the workers so they could keep going. These hardworking Saints ended up providing When the competing railroads reached the borders of some of the best grading, tunneling, and roadbed Utah, though, they sorely needed qualified workers preparation in the entire system. to lay tracks. Existing workers were increasingly abandoning the project to return home since Utah was At this point, the Central Pacific Railroad was about as far from civilization as anyone could get in desperate. Now nearly 700 miles east of San Francisco, 1868, and replacements were hard to come by. it was hard to get workers to lay the track in the high Utah desert and salt flats. Both railroad companies tried to strike a deal with the Latter-day Saints for labor. But after Thomas Durant Finally, President Young sent word to all the bishops, of the Union Pacific sent a telegram to Brigham Young asking for more men to grade across the desert in May 1868, proposing a contract for the Saints to north of the Great Salt Lake toward Ogden. The work complete grading work from the Wasatch Mountains was grueling and relentless, but men who were still to the valley floor of the Great Salt Lake and allowing unemployed relished the chance to earn an income— President Young to name his price, that was that. especially since their prophet-leader promised them it would be good for Utah and the Church in the long run. Young replied immediately in the affirmative, setting terms which included free rail transportation for any On May 10, 1869, an official ceremony was held at Latter-day Saint emigrants en route from England who Promontory Summit, where California Governor Leland

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Stanford swung a pick to drive the golden spike into the all-the-world/to-sweep-the-earth-as-with-a- last rail that joined the two lines. The country erupted flood?lang=eng). in jubilation as America was finally united. Brigham Young: The rest is history. Brigham Young never was fully Every discovery in science and art, that is really reimbursed for the money he paid out to workers. true and useful to mankind has been given by Instead, he accepted track and rolling equipment to direct revelation from God, though but few build an extra rail line from Ogden to Salt Lake City. acknowledge it. It has been given with a view The LDS Church was also given a large grant of stock to prepare the way for the ultimate triumph of in the Union Pacific, which it held well into the 20th truth, and the redemption of the earth from century. Virtually all the positive predictions President the power of sin and Satan. We should take Young made in connection with the railroad came true: advantage of all these great discoveries, the Utah was lifted out of an economic depression and the accumulated wisdom of ages, and give to our railroad ended the Saints’ isolation. Not only that, but children the benefit of every branch of useful the country was also reunited after the devastating knowledge, to prepare them to step forward division and bitterness of the Civil War. And it was in and efficiently do their part in the great work large part thanks to Brigham Young and the Latter-day (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Saints (http://www.ldsliving.com/Brigham-Young- Widtsoe [1954], 18–19). s-Surprising-Role-in-Building-the-Transcontinental- o Railroad/s/82511). Discuss positive ways that advancements in technology have helped your family and how they can be used to help share the gospel. Lesson 44 Lesson 49 First and Second Industrial Dangers and Revolutions Destruction of Communism o Read the quotes to the children:

Elder David A. Bednar: o Read the excerpt to the children: We are blessed to live, learn, and serve in this most remarkable dispensation. An important President Ezra Taft Benson cautioned us about aspect of the fulness that is available to us in Communism. He said: this special season is a miraculous progression Communism introduced into the world a substitute of innovations and inventions that have enabled for true religion. It is a counterfeit of the gospel plan. and accelerated the work of salvation: from The false prophets of Communism predict a utopian trains to telegraphs to radios to automobiles society. This, they proclaim, will only be brought about to airplanes to telephones to transistors to as capitalism and free enterprise are overthrown, televisions to computers to satellite transmissions private property abolished, the family as a social unit to the Internet—and to an almost endless list eliminated, all classes abolished, all governments of technologies and tools that bless our lives. overthrown, and a communal ownership of property All of these advancements are part of the Lord in a classless, stateless society established. hastening His work in the latter days (https:// www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto- On 3 July 1936, the First Presidency published this

11 © Jenny Phillips HISTORY YEAR 3 INSIGHTS FOR LATTER-DAY SAINTS

warning to Church members: us His protection—and pray that He will intervene to preserve our freedom just as He intervened in our “Communism is not a political party nor a political plan obtaining it in the first place. under the Constitution; it is a system of government that is the opposite of our Constitutional government Third: We must do as the Lord commanded us by . . . . revelation in 1833: “Wherefore, honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently, and good men “Since Communism, established, would destroy our and wise men ye should observe to uphold; otherwise American Constitutional government, to support whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil” (D&C Communism is treasonable to our free institutions, 98:10). and no patriotic American citizen may become either a Communist or supporter of Communism. . . . Men who are wise, good, and honest, who will uphold the Constitution of the United States in the tradition “We call upon all Church members completely to of the Founding Fathers, must be sought for diligently. eschew [shun] Communism. The safety of our divinely This is our hope to restore government to its rightful inspired Constitutional government and the welfare of our Church imperatively demand that Communism role. shall have no place in America” (signed: Heber J. Last: We must study the inspired Constitution and Grant, J. Reuben Clark, Jr., David O. McKay, The First become involved in the political process ourselves. I Presidency, in Deseret News, 3 July 1936; italics quote the First Presidency statement that was read added). in sacrament meetings on Sunday, 1 July 1979: “We encourage all members, as citizens of the nation, to No nation which has kept the commandments of God be actively involved in the political process, and to has ever perished, but I say to you that once freedom support those measures which will strengthen the is lost, only blood—human blood—will win it back. community, state, and nation—morally, economically, There are some things we can and must do at once if and culturally” (Letter from the First Presidency, 29 we are to stave off a holocaust of destruction. June 1979).

First: We must return to worship the God of this I fully believe that we can turn things around in land, who is Jesus Christ. He has promised that the America if we have the determination, the morality, righteous will be preserved by His power (see 1 Ne. the patriotism, and the spirituality to do so. 22:17). But we must keep the commandments of My single-minded concern is for the freedom and God. We must pay our tithes and offerings, keep the welfare of my countrymen and my posterity, the Sabbath day a holy day, stay morally clean, be honest freedom of all men. in all our dealings, and have our family and personal prayers. We must live the gospel. I testify to you that God’s hand has been in our destiny. I testify that freedom as we know it today Second: We must awaken to “a sense of [our] awful is being threatened as never before in our history. I situation, because of this secret combination which further witness that this land—the Americas—must [is] among [us]” (Ether 8:24). We must not tolerate be protected, its Constitution upheld, for this is a land accommodation with or appeasement toward the foreordained to be the Zion of our God. He expects false system of Communism. We must demand of our us as members of the Church and bearers of His elected officials that we not only resist Communism, priesthood to do all we can to preserve our liberty. but that we will take every measure to prevent its intrusion into this hemisphere. It is vital that we invoke May God bless us that, with His help, we will not fail the Monroe Doctrine. to bring to pass His purposes on earth. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen (Ezra Taft Benson, “A Witness and a Then we must put our trust in Him who has promised Warning,” Ensign, Nov. 1979).

o Optional further study for older students National Socialists, or Nazis, gained control of (grades 9+): View the video and read the talk Germany in 1933, Church members had to become listed below about the Law of Consecration and increasingly circumspect. Gestapo agents frequently discuss how the Law of Consecration is different observed Church meetings, and most branch and from Communism. mission leaders were thoroughly interrogated by the police about [The Church of Jesus Christ of Video: The Law of Consecration Latter-day Saints] doctrines, beliefs, and practices, https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2017- and were warned to stay out of political matters. By 11-0150-the-law-of-consecration?lang=eng the mid-1930s, Latter-day Saint meetings were often canceled during Nazi rallies, and the Church was Talk: A Vision and a Hope for the Youth of Zion forced to drop its Scouting program because of the https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taft-benson_ Hitler Youth Movement. vision-hope-youth-zion/ Gospel teachings about Israel were out of harmony with the Nazi’s anti-Jewish policies, so copies of Elder James E. Talmage’s popular doctrinal work The Articles Lesson 50 of Faith with its references to Israel and Zion were confiscated. In one town, police ripped all hymns Stories of Faith referring to these topics out of the hymn books. and Survival in Uneasy and concerned because of these conditions, some Church members ceased attending Church to Stalin's Russia avoid trouble with the police. Other German Saints felt an intensified interest in emigrating from the country. o Optional: Watch the Oct. 2010 World Report: The Church was never officially banned in Germany as Mormon Church in Russia. some other small religious groups were. In fact, the https://youtu.be/LXXpHA98q7E Church received favorable publicity when the Nazi government invited [Latter-day Saint] elders to help o Read the story “To Be Free!” by Edwin O. coach some of the German basketball teams and to Haroldsen, in the October 1971 Ensign found assist them at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Furthermore, at https://www.lds.org/ensign/1971/10/to-be- because the Nazis emphasized racial purity, they free?lang=eng promoted genealogical research. Government officials, who had earlier regarded the [Latter-day Saints] as an unpopular sect and thus denied them access to vital records, now respected them because of their Lesson 52 interest in genealogy. Nevertheless, the situation for the Church and its missionaries became much more Faith and Resistance difficult during the late 1930s. in World War II The rise of the Nazis in Germany also affected Church activity in South America, where there were large colonies of German immigrants. In Brazil the o Read the excerpts to the children. For younger government, fearing a subversive threat from Nazi children, you may want to read and summarize sympathizers, banned the speaking of German in the excerpts in your own words. public meetings and the distribution of literature During the 1920–30s the German missions of in that language. During their first decade in Brazil, the Church experienced unprecedented success, Latter-day Saint missionaries had worked almost particularly in the eastern provinces. When the exclusively among the German-speaking minority,

so most branch meetings were conducted in their “How grateful I am,” he declared, “for those young language. Under pressure from the government, men who invited me to my first sacrament meeting in the local police in one area even forced the Saints that foxhole so far away” (John D. Russell, interviewed to turn over their German scriptures, which were by the author, in Saints at War archive, L. Tom Perry then burned in a public bonfire. In the face of such Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, BYU; see conditions during the late 1930s, missionaries shifted also, Robert C. Freeman and Dennis A. Wright, eds., their emphasis to the Portuguese-speaking majority, Saints at War: Experiences of Latter-day Saints in thus laying the foundation for the great growth of World War II, 2001, 175–76). later decades (“Chapter Forty: The Saints during World War II,” Church History in the Fulness of Times Student Manual (2003), 522–34). Lesson 53 The Holocaust John D. Russell, a World War II army paratrooper, told of another effort to establish the Church. o Read to the children. One time during some extremely hard fighting, John President Thomas S. Monson said: curled up in a foxhole trying to get some sleep. Two soldiers nearby asked him if he wanted to join them for I suppose that during the holocaust of World church. He was dumbfounded that these two rough, War II more of the people living on this earth tough guys would even mention church at a time like paused to pray than at any other time in our this. They spoke with sincerity and in terms that really history. Who can calculate the concern of touched him. John watched as they broke up K ration mothers, wives, and children who pleaded crackers into pieces and put them in a helmet. They for Almighty God’s protecting care to be with then said a prayer and passed the helmet, each taking absent sons, husbands, and fathers locked in a piece of cracker. John followed their example. Then mortal combat? Prayers are heard. Prayers are they passed around a canteen after saying another answered. prayer, and they all took a drink. Following this they took turns sharing how they felt about their faith. John Heartwarming is the example of the mother in tried, unsuccessfully, to fight back tears even though he America who prayed for her son’s well-being knew little about their religion. as the ship on which he served sailed into the bloody cauldron known as the Pacific theater of When the war ended, John returned to Council, Idaho, war. Each morning she would arise from kneeling where he met a young girl named Betty. They dated in prayer and serve as a volunteer on those for a couple of weeks. Betty invited John to her church, production lines which became lifelines to men in and he accepted, not knowing which church she battle. Could it be that a mother’s own handiwork attended. During the meeting he watched two young might somehow directly affect the life of a loved men administer the sacrament. He recognized the one? All who knew her and her family cherished Spirit that came over him and knew that this was what the actual account of her sailor son, Elgin Staples, he had felt in the foxhole in Europe. whose ship went down off Guadalcanal. Staples was swept over the side; but he survived, thanks “What church is this?” he asked. “I want to know to a life belt that proved, on later examination, more!” to have been inspected, packed, and stamped back home in Akron, Ohio, by his own mother! He joined the Church, and he and Betty were married (Thomas S. Monson, “The Prayer of Faith,” and sealed in the temple. Ensign, May 1978).

In Switzerland local member missionaries spent two Lesson 54 evenings per week proselyting and baptized more converts than the full-time missionaries had just World War II: The before the outbreak of the war. During the pre-war U.S. Home Front years mission presidents had actively prepared the Saints for the isolation they were to experience. Time and again during his 1937 visit to Europe, President o Watch the video “The Ministry of George Albert Heber J. Grant, with prophetic insight, urged members Smith: Building Peace in a War-torn World.” to assume their own responsibilities and not to lean https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2012- so much on the elders from America (“Chapter Forty: 05-0804-ministry-of-george-albert-smith- The Saints during World War II,” Church History in the building-peace-in-a-war-torn-world?lang=eng Fulness of Times Student Manual (2003), 522–34).

o Read the excerpt to the children. In 1940 more countries were drawn into the rapidly Lesson 55 expanding war. Belgium, Holland, and France quickly fell to the Germans, and Britain prepared to fight for its life. As a result, the overseas colonies of these World War II: Stories countries were vulnerable to attack. In September of Bravery 1940 Japan signed a ten-year mutual assistance treaty with Germany and Italy and began occupying French o Read the following stories to the children. Indochina. H. Reed Black These developments prompted the First Presidency to withdraw all Latter-day Saint missionaries from the On my eighth birthday, January 27, 1930, my mother South Pacific and South Africa the following month. took me for my patriarchal blessing. The stake Communications between these areas and Church patriarch promised two things: one, that if I kept the headquarters in America were not cut off as they Lord's commandments and studied hard, I would had been in Europe, and mission presidents were some day sit on the high councils of the Church, and permitted to remain in their areas. Missionaries were two, I would serve a mission overseas. not evacuated from South America, but after 1941 no new missionaries were sent to that continent, and by When I entered the Army in 1943, other soldiers said 1943 none remained there. By that time proselyting by that I was a "mama's boy." They told me that when I the regular full-time missionaries was limited to North went on maneuvers and it was cold and I was wet to America and Hawaii. Even in these areas the number the skin, I would break down and be as others, starting of missionaries was drastically reduced as more and with coffee in order to get warm. . . . The maneuvers more young men were drafted into military service. were cold and wet as promised, but I kept the Word of Wisdom. They then said that when I went overseas, The evacuated missionaries were encouraged to write I would find the water in the lister-bags horrible, and letters of faith and hope to members where they had then I would start drinking coffee. They were right served, and the mission presidents were given special about the lister-bag water. It was horrible, but I did not assignments to keep in touch through correspondence break down. Then they said when I went into combat, with the local leaders whom they had left in charge. I would change. After twenty days in combat they gave Unfortunately, however, the war disrupted the mail, up on me. I did sin, in that I traded my two cigarettes and even from neutral Switzerland no letters were each day from the K rations for the lemon extract received for two years. powder they had. The lemon extract powder hid the taste of the water.

Just after dawn, Thanksgiving Day 1944, we climbed after his involvement, he and others of his associates out of our foxholes to attack enemy positions. Before were captured and taken to an American prison we could cross the field to the apple orchard, a sniper camp. Fully expecting to be executed, young Enzio shot me in the back. The bullet went through the was surprised when he and the others were released middle and upper lobes of my right lung and came out after promising no further participation in the war. between two ribs next to my sternum. . . . About two Over a decade after the war, Enzio and his wife Jutta hours later, four soldiers came up to carry me off the converted to the Church in 1958 (Freeman & Wright, battlefield with a stretcher, but the sniper shot two of Saints at War: Experiences of Latter-day Saints in the litter bearers. World War II, 2001, 87).

I should have died for about five reasons. I lost two-thirds of my blood. It was very cold. I went without treatment for about eighteen hours. I was in Lesson 57 shock. And I was dropped by the stretcher bearers. By the time we arrived at the battalion aid station, it was D-Day: The Invasion about 1:00 A.M. I was shaking all over because of the of Normandy cold. They offered me a cup of hot coffee, and I was tempted more than at any time in my life to break the Word of Wisdom. I told them no, and then told them o Read to the children. that there were about thirty lemon extract packets in While many celebrated the invasion, the mood in Salt my mess kit. I asked if they could make me some hot Lake City was more somber and prayerful. In a news lemonade. A chaplain told me that they had plenty of release that day, the First Presidency said: hot water and would do so. Lemonade never tasted so good, and it was hot. “We have been asked for a comment upon the invasion. We feel that this is a day, not for comment, People have asked me if I was afraid that I was going but for prayer for our loved ones who are in the to die when I was on the battlefield. My answer service and to the triumph of righteousness.” has been no! The Lord, through His patriarch had Heber J. Grant, J. Reuben Clark Jr., David O. McKay promised that if I lived His commandments and The First Presidency studied, I would serve on high councils of the Church and serve a mission overseas. I knew that the Lord (Freeman & Wright, Saints at War: Experiences of was bound. I have since served on high councils in Latter-day Saints in World War II, 2001, 65). Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. My wife and I served a mission overseas. My patriarchal blessing has been fulfilled completely (Freeman & Wright,Saints at War: Lesson 58 Experiences of Latter-day Saints in World War II,2001, 53). The War in the Elder F. Enzio Busche Pacific

Elder F. Enzio Busche's involvement in the war was o Read the excerpt to the children. unusual. Enzio was born in Dortmund, Germany, on April 5, 1930. He was named after a comrade of his Japan launched an attack against the United States father who had died in World War I. At age ten, Enzio naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 7 December was required to become a member of the Hitler Youth 1941. When the United States responded the organization. While not yet fifteen years of age, Enzio following day by declaring war on Japan and then was thrust into the conflict as World War II neared on Germany, many Latter-day Saints became directly its conclusion, but he never fired at the enemy. Soon involved in the hostilities. Once again the Saints had

to examine their feelings about war. They were guided and when we say ‘It is better to walk with God in the by the Book of Mormon’s teachings which denounced darkness than without him in the light,’ we know offensive war but condoned fighting “even to the whereof we speak. . . . shedding of blood if it were necessary” in defense of home, country, freedom, or religion (Alma 48:14; see “. . . With joy we sing the songs of Zion and put our also 43:45–47). In their annual Christmas message, trust in the Lord. He maketh all things well.” issued less than a week after the attack on Pearl Gertrude Zippro, another district Relief Society Harbor, the First Presidency stated that only through president, walked with God in the darkness many living the gospel of Jesus Christ would enduring peace nights to love and serve her sisters. She lived in come to the world. Echoing the counsel given by Holland at a time when the country was under military President Joseph F. Smith at the outbreak of World occupation. Because guards often stopped and War I, the Presidency exhorted members in the armed searched travelers, she carried identification with her forces to keep “all cruelty, hate, and murder” out of so she could visit branch Relief Societies in the district. their hearts even during battle (“Chapter Forty: The Saints during World War II,” Church History in the Sister Zippro’s son John said that it “became Fulness of Times Student Manual (2003), 522–34). increasingly dangerous to be out at night as the occupation continued for five years.” Remembering his mother’s dedication, he said, “Can you imagine my mother braving those circumstances and going Lesson 59 out at night on her bike many times, to visit another branch?” He recalled: “No matter how she felt or World War II Ends what the circumstances, she would take care of her obligation. What a great woman and leader she o Read stories of charity among church members was! There is no doubt in my mind now that she during the war in the excerpts from Chapter was hand-picked by the Lord to be the Relief Society 5, “Charity Never Faileth” (Daughters in My President at that time.” Kingdom: The History and Work of Relief Sister Zippro’s son observed, “She must have had Society, 2011, 75–80). complete trust in the Lord to go time after time under Relief Society sisters in Europe experienced those conditions, not knowing what problems she great devastation from World War II. They also would encounter.” demonstrated praiseworthy courage in serving In Denmark, the Saints’ situation was more tolerable one another in spite of harrowing conditions. They than in many other countries. Food was available continued faithful and relied on their testimonies to them, so they shared it with their less-fortunate and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Their lives and neighbors. Eva M. Gregersen, president of the testimonies from this period are truly inspiring. Danish Mission Relief Society, said: “We have during After the war, Maria Speidel, who served as the the war taken up the work of helping our starving president of the Germany Stuttgart District Relief brother-land, Norway. Together with the mission Society, wrote: office, we have been giving money to this purpose and every month many nice packages with food have been “The past five years have been difficult ones and we sent to our brothers and sisters in Norway, who have have become very humble. Our trust in the Lord and been thankful beyond words.” our testimony of his Church have been our pillar of strength. He has kept us mercifully, and although there President Hugh B. Brown was a firsthand witness of was much to suffer, he has given to us a measure such charity. He served as president of the British of his strength. Some of us have lost all our earthly Mission from 1937 to 1939, as coordinator for possessions, every tangible thing ever dear to us, Latter-day Saint servicemen in Europe from 1939 to

1945, and again as president of the British Mission . . . in the Relief Society where during most of my from 1945 to 1946. He later served as a member mature life I have worked so happily and contentedly of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the First with its thousands of members. I have visited in their Presidency. He reported on the service he saw among homes, slept in their beds, and eaten at their tables, Relief Society sisters during World War II: and have thus learned of their beauty of character, their unselfishness, their understanding hearts, their “There are hundreds of Relief Society women in faithfulness, and their sacrifices. I honor beyond my the war zone who have been exposed to dangers, power of expression this great sisterhood of service.” trials and hardships, comparable to that which our men undergo in the battle field. These brave women “Charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth have carried on in the face of almost insuperable forever” (Moroni 7:47). difficulties. . . . In times of trial and uncertainty, Relief Society sisters “To kneel in prayer with these women and to hear worldwide have followed Mormon’s admonition to them thank God for their simple blessings, for the “cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all.” They preservation of their lives and the lives of their have demonstrated their sure understanding that loved ones, and for their scanty provisions and their while “all things must fail . . . charity is the pure love windowless homes is at once an inspiration and of Christ, and it endureth forever.” Time and time a reproof to many of us whose material blessings again, they have been true to their motto: “Charity far exceed any enjoyed here, but who frequently never faileth” (https://www.lds.org/relief-society/ complain at being deprived of a few luxuries.” daughters-in-my-kingdom/manual/charity-never- faileth?lang=eng). Hedwig Biereichel, a sister in East Germany, provided food for starving Russian prisoners of war, even though she and her family could have been imprisoned or shot for such an act of charity. Years later, she was interviewed about her experiences, as were several others who had endured similar trials during World War II. At the end of each interview, the interviewer asked, “How did you keep a testimony during all these trials?” The interviewer summarized all the responses she received with this statement: “I didn’t keep a testimony through those times—the testimony kept me.”

When World War II ended in 1945, Relief Society sisters worldwide had suffered much sorrow and deprivation. Through it all, however, they had continued to serve one another, strengthen families, and bolster testimonies.

As a witness of so much suffering and so much selfless service, Sister Amy Brown Lyman declared:

“[My] testimony has been my anchor and my stay, my satisfaction in times of joy and gladness, my comfort in times of sorrow and discouragement. . . .

“I am grateful for the opportunity I have had of serving