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Letter from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 28 March 1836

Source Note

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Letter, , Geauga Co., OH, to JS, , Geauga Co., OH, 28 Mar. 1836. Featured version copied [between ca. 4 Apr. and ca. 16 May 1836] in Minute Book 1, p. 198; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Minute Book 1.

Historical Introduction

One day after the dedication of the , the met together for a “time of general confession” and drafted a letter to JS. In the letter, penned by and , the acknowledged their shortcomings, sought the forgiveness of the , and asked JS for a written revelation to carry with them as they departed , Ohio, to preach during spring 1836.
The circumstances that prompted the ’ confession and letter to JS are unclear. Quorum members likely felt compelled to acknowledge their faults and express their humility in preparation for receiving the long-promised of power associated with the completion of the . Since 1831, JS had urged church leaders to sanctify themselves in preparation for the endowment, and his efforts to prepare them continued through fall and winter 1835–1836. The spiritual outpouring many experienced during and after the dedication of the House of the Lord on 27 March may have also contributed to the apostles’ show of humility. Another factor may have been the opposition of some of the Twelve to a resolution regarding that JS drafted in February 1836; a few members of the quorum did not formally withdraw their objections until 19 March.
The original letter is no longer extant. The version featured here was copied into Minute Book 1 by around the time it was created. Though the letter is dated 28 March 1836, scribes later inserted a copy of the text into JS’s history under the date 28 March 1835 and directly connected it to JS’s spring 1835 instruction on priesthood. However, JS and five members of the Twelve—including , who was identified as one of the meeting’s clerks—were preaching and baptizing in Huntsburgh, Ohio, on 28 March 1835 and did not return to until 30 March. This evidence supports the 1836 date found in the minute book.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Revelation, 2 Jan. 1831 [D&C 38:32]; Revelation, 27–28 Dec. 1832; Revelation, 3 Jan. 1833 [D&C 88:1–137]. A 3 November 1835 revelation, for example, admonished the Twelve to humble themselves before God before they would “be accounted worthy to receive an endowment to go forth in my name unto all nations”; on 12 November JS promised the quorum, “All who are prepared and are sufficiently pure to abide the presence of the Saviour will see him in the solem assembly.” (Revelation, 3 Nov. 1835; Discourse, 12 Nov. 1835.)

  2. [2]

    Minutes and Prayer of Dedication, 27 Mar. 1836 [D&C 109]; Minutes, LDS Messenger and Advocate, Mar. 1836, 2:281.

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  3. [3]

    Minutes, 12 Feb. 1836; Minutes, 22 Feb. 1836; Minutes, 19 Mar. 1836. This was not the first instance of tension between the presidency and the Twelve. During the fall and winter of 1835–1836, for example, a series of misunderstandings strained their relationship. Most of these issues were apparently resolved during a face-to-face discussion on 16 January 1836. (Minutes, 16 Jan. 1836.)

  4. [4]

    Willard Richards copied the letter into JS’s manuscript history sometime between 1 October 1843 and 24 February 1845. (JS History, vol. B-1, 581–582; see also Instruction on Priesthood, between ca. 1 Mar. and ca. 4 May 1835 [D&C 107].)

  5. [5]

    McLellin, Journal, 30 Mar. 1835; Historical Introduction to Instruction on Priesthood, between ca. 1 Mar. and ca. 4 May 1835 [D&C 107].

    McLellin, William E. Journal, July 1834–Apr. 1835. William E. McLellin, Papers, 1831–1836, 1877–1878. CHL. MS 13538, box 1, fd. 4. Also available as Jan Shipps and John W. Welch, eds., The Journals of William E. McLellin, 1831–1836 (Provo, UT: BYU Studies; Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994).

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 28 March 1836
Minute Book 1

Page 198

March 28th 1836
This afternoon the met in and had a time of general confession.
On reviewing our past course we are satisfied and feel to confess also that we have not realized the importance of our calling to that degree that we ought; we have been light minded and vain and in many things done wrong, wrong. For all these things we have asked the forgiveness of our Heavenly Father, and wherein we have grieved or wounded the feelings of the we ask their forgiveness.
The time has come when we are about to seperate, and when we shall meet again, God only knows, We therefore feel to ask of him whom we have acknowledged to be our Prophet and that he enquire of God for us and obtain a written revelation, (if consistent) that we may look upon it when we are seperated. that our hearts may be comforted. Our worthiness has not inspired us to make this request but our unworthiness.
We have unitedly asked God, our Heavenly Father to grant unto us through his Seer, a revelation of his mind and will concerning our duty the coming season even a great revelation that will enlarge our hearts, comfort us in adversity and brighten our hopes amidst the powers of Darkness.
) Clerks
)
To President J. Smith Junr.)
Ohio) [p. 198]
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Source Note

Document Transcript

Page 198

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 28 March 1836
ID #
245
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
JSP, D5:210–211
Handwriting on This Page
  • Warren A. Cowdery

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    During the solemn assembly, convened in the House of the Lord two days later, JS told those assembled, “The time that we were required to tarry in Kirtland to be endued would be fulfilled in a few days, and then the Elders would go forth and each must stand for himself, that it was not necessary for them to be sent out two by two as in former times. . . . The 12 are at liberty to go wheresoever they will.” The Twelve began to separate several weeks later. Thomas B. Marsh and David W. Patten returned to Missouri, while other members of the quorum, including Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Hyde, William E. McLellin, and Parley P. Pratt, left Kirtland to preach. (Minutes, 30 Mar. 1836; Esplin, “Emergence of Brigham Young,” 203–204.)

    Esplin, Ronald K. “The Emergence of Brigham Young and the Twelve to Mormon Leadership, 1830–1841.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1981. Also available as The Emergence of Brigham Young and the Twelve to Mormon Leadership, 1830–1841, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2006).

  2. [2]

    It is unclear whether a written revelation resulted from this request.

  3. [3]

    The members of the Twelve had been selected in a church conference held in Kirtland on 14 February 1835. Two weeks later, William E. McLellin and Orson Hyde were nominated and appointed to act as clerks for the Twelve. (Record of the Twelve, 14 and 27 Feb. 1835.)

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