Part 3: May 1843

JS spent much of May 1843 in routine activities related to his roles as president of the , mayor of , Illinois, and lieutenant general of the . For example, he led a Nauvoo Legion parade on 6 May and spoke to the gathered crowd about his determination to protect the oppressed. He also continued to oversee land sales and development in Nauvoo, and he received letters from individuals interested in selling land to the Latter-day Saints and obtaining JS’s help in other land transactions. One man wrote him seeking work as a clerk in Nauvoo.

JS made two short trips in May to outlying settlements of Saints. From 13 to 15 May, he traveled to , Illinois, with and . The day after returning to , he departed for and —both in , Illinois—traveling from 16 to 18 May. While on these trips, JS gave a few discourses to the Saints, addressing topics found in 2 Peter 1—primarily what it meant to have one’s calling and election made sure and what was meant by the “more sure word of prophecy.” While in Macedonia, JS discussed the principle of eternal marriage with ; Benjamin’s wife, ; and clerk . He taught them that a couple married by the power and authority of the would “continue to increase & have children in the ” unless they committed “the unpardonable sin,” which was “to shed innocent blood or be accessory thereto.”

As president of the church, JS performed several administrative tasks during May. For instance, he reviewed minutes of the church’s April 1843 for publication in the Times and Seasons. He also continued receiving donations for construction of the , including funds forwarded from Andrew Hains, a Latter-day Saint from . In addition, he received a letter from apostle requesting permission to establish a newspaper in , where Page was laboring.

On 27 May, JS presided over a council of the and other church leaders that reviewed the conduct of , the former of the . Earlier that month, JS received two communications complaining of disparaging comments Winchester allegedly made about certain Latter-day Saint women in the Philadelphia branch and asking that the Quorum of the Twelve review the allegations. At the 27 May council, these letters were read, and Winchester defended himself against the accusations. At the end of the council, church leaders required Winchester to give up his to preach and move with his family to , which he complied with by fall 1843.

JS’s interest in ancient languages continued in May. Several individuals visited JS because they were interested in metal plates that had been unearthed near Kinderhook, Illinois, and given to him. These plates supposedly contained ancient characters, which JS had been asked to translate. In addition, a letter published in the 15 May 1843 issue of the Times and Seasons and attributed to JS discussed the meaning of the word Mormon. It argued that the word meant “more good” and derived from the English and Egyptian languages.

Part 3 features eighteen documents created in May 1843, including correspondence, accounts of discourses, and minutes of meetings.