….We Seek After These Things!

I used “God Shall Be with You Forever and Ever”: The Prophet in Liberty Jail
and Elder Jeffery R. Holland’s article from the Winter 2009 issue of BYU magazine as sources for the lesson. Normally I do not pull outside sources for my lesson, but in this case I felt the need for the exception. Feel free to remove those quotes if you feel. What ever the case I strongly suggest that you read his article because it is an excelent discourse on the lessons learned in the Liberty Jail.

The set up for this lesson could be a bit time consuming, inlist the aid of Priesthood brethern to help you out.
Measure out a 14x14 space and place the chairs of the room around it to represent the Liberty Jail. Have the lights turned down for the first part of the lesson, You can turn them up if sisters have trouble reading the quotes.
(Prepare note cards to hand out with this question written on it.) What is my liberty jail?
Pass out pencils.

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On December 1, 1838, the Prophet Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum, and other brethren were taken from Richmond, Missouri, where they had been incarcerated in a log home, to the jail in Liberty, Missouri. There they would remain for more than four months, awaiting trial on false charges arising from the persecution of the Saints in Missouri. During this time, Church members were being driven from their homes in Missouri by their persecutors, causing tremendous suffering. The trials of the Saints were a source of great anxiety to the Prophet and his companions during their long imprisonment.
Liberty Jail was divided into an upper room and a 14-foot-square lower dungeon, where the prisoners were kept.

Elder Holland gives this description of the jail:

The jail, one of the few and certainly one of the more forbidding of such structures in that region, was considered escape proof, and it probably was. It had two stories. The top or main floor was accessible to the outside world only by a single small, heavy door. In the middle of that floor was a trapdoor through which prisoners were then lowered into the lower floor or dungeon. The outside walls of the prison were of rough-hewn limestone 2 feet thick, with inside walls of 12-inch oak logs. These two walls were separated by a 12-inch space filled with loose rock. Combined, these walls made a formidable, virtually impenetrable barrier 4 feet thick.

In the dungeon, the floor-to-ceiling height was barely 6 feet, and inasmuch as some of the men, including the Prophet Joseph, were over 6 feet tall, this meant that when standing they were constantly in a stooped position, and when lying it was mostly upon the rough, bare stones of the prison floor covered here and there by a bit of loose, dirty straw or an occasional dirty straw mat.

Joseph described the conditions in the jail in letter,

Quote 1
We are kept under a strong guard, night and day, in a prison of double walls and doors, proscribed in our liberty of conscience. Our food is scant, uniform, and coarse; we have not the privilege of cooking for ourselves; we have been compelled to sleep on the floor with straw, and not blankets sufficient to keep us warm; and when we have a fire, we are obliged to have almost a constant smoke. The Judges have gravely told us from time to time that they knew we were innocent, and ought to be liberated, but they dare not administer the law unto us, for fear of the mob.”

For a moment, think about what it was like for these men to be held in this space. How does it make you feel?

(If you have someone that has visited Liberty Jail ask them to share briefly their feelings of the visit. You can move this to another part of the lesson if you so desire.)

While in the jail, Emma his wife was only able to visit 3 times and their only form of communication was through letters. On April 4, 1839, he wrote:

Dear and affectionate wife, Thursday night, I sit down just as the sun is going down, as we peek through the grates of this lonesome prison, to write to you, that I may make known to you my situation. It is, I believe, now about five months and six days since I have been under the grimace of a guard night and day, and within the walls, grates, and screeching iron doors of a lonesome, dark, dirty prison. With emotions known only to God do I write this letter. The contemplations of the mind under these circumstances defy the pen or tongue or angels to describe or paint to the human being who never experienced what we experience. … We lean on the arm of Jehovah and none else for our deliverance.

He also wrote letters to the Saints expressing love and faith that God would always support those who trust Him. A letter written in March of 1939 contains counsel to the Saints, his pleadings with God, and God’s answers to his prayers. Later portions of this letter became sections 121, 122 and 123 of the Doctrine and Covenants.

Mention handing out the cards and the question written on them. Explain that this is a question to be pondered upon during the lesson and answered individually. Hand out pencils incase sisters wish to jot down notes or thoughts during the lesson.

What is my Liberty Jail and what can I learn from the Prophet’s experience and counsel to deal with what imprisons us?

No affliction can separate us from the love of God and fellowship with one another.

Joseph starts his letter with the following salutation:

“Your humble servant, Joseph Smith, Jun., prisoner for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the Saints, taken and held by the power of mobocracy, under the exterminating reign of his excellency, the governor, Lilburn W. Boggs, in company with his fellow prisoners and beloved brethren, Caleb Baldwin, Lyman Wight, Hyrum Smith, and Alexander McRae, send unto you all greeting.5 May the grace of God the Father, and of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, rest upon you all, and abide with you forever. May knowledge be multiplied unto you by the mercy of God. And may faith and virtue, and knowledge and temperance, and patience and godliness, and brotherly kindness and charity be in you and abound, that you may not be barren in anything, nor unfruitful

What does this tell us about the love Joseph has for the Saints and there struggles and trials?

What blessings is he asking for these people?

What afflictions and suffering did Joseph and the Saints experience?
(this is a short list of some of the grievences)
held in bonds without cause
driven from our homes and smitten without cause
were compelled to hear nothing but blasphemous oaths,
witness a scene of blasphemy,
and drunkenness and hypocrisy, and debaucheries of every description.
And again, the cries of orphans and widows would not have ascended up to God against them.
Nor would innocent blood have stained the soil of Missouri. …
It is a tale of woe; a lamentable tale; yea, a sorrowful tale; too much to tell; too much for contemplation; too much for human beings. …

What did Joseph remind the Saints to remember at this time?

Quote 2
Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, we are the more ready and willing to lay claim to your fellowship and love. For our circumstances are calculated to awaken our spirits to a sacred remembrance of everything, and we think that yours are also, and that nothing therefore can separate us from the love of God and fellowship one with another ; and that every species of wickedness and cruelty practiced upon us will only tend to bind our hearts together and seal them together in love.

How do difficult circumstances sometimes “awaken our spirits to a sacred remembrance”?
In what ways can trials and persecution “bind our hearts” to family members and friends? What experiences have you had that relate to these truths?

Adversity lasts only a small moment; if we endure well, we will be exalted in the presence of God.

Elder Brigham H. Roberts, Elder Holland and Elder Maxwell refer to Liberty Jail as a Prison- Temple experience. Why is this?

Quote 3
…when you have to, you can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experience with the Lord in any situation you are in. Indeed, let me say that even a little stronger: You can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experience with the Lord in the most miserable experiences of your life—in the worst settings, while enduring the most painful injustices, when facing the most insurmountable odds and opposition you have ever faced. ~ Elder Jeffery R. Holland

Section 121 starts with Joseph’s Supplication to the Father..

D&C 121 1-7
“O God! Where art Thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth Thy hiding place? How long shall Thy hand be stayed, and Thine eye, yea Thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens, the wrongs of Thy people, and of Thy servants, and Thy ear be penetrated with their cries?
“Yea, O Lord, how long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful oppressions, before Thine heart shall be softened towards them, and Thy bowels be moved with compassion towards them?
“O Lord God Almighty, Maker of Heaven, Earth and Seas, and of all things that in them are, and who controllest and subjectest the devil, and the dark and benighted dominion of Sheol! Stretch forth Thy hand, let Thine eye pierce; let Thy pavilion be taken up; let Thy hiding place no longer be covered; let Thine ear be inclined; let Thine heart be softened, and Thy bowels moved with compassion towards us. Let Thine anger be kindled against our enemies; and in the fury of Thine heart, with Thy sword avenge us of our wrongs; remember Thy suffering Saints, O our God! and Thy servants will rejoice in Thy name forever. …

What is the answer given to Joseph?

D&C 121:8
“… My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes

What can we do the gain the Peace that God offers?

President Joseph Fielding Smith said:
As I have read the history of those days, the days that went before and days that came after, I have reached the conclusion that the hardships, the persecution, the almost universal opposition [toward the Church at that time] were necessary. At any rate they became school teachers to our people. They helped to make [them] strong.”

How does trail and hardship make us strong?

Quote 4

You will learn by the time you have read this, and if you do not learn it, you may learn it, that walls and irons, doors and creaking hinges, and half-scared-to-death guards and jailers … are calculated in their very nature to make the soul of an honest man feel stronger than the powers of hell. …

The Savior understands all our suffering, and He will be with us forever and ever

How does the Savior understand our suffering? What does it mean when we read that the Son of Man Descended below them all?

Quote 5
Elder Holland stated,
It ought to be a matter of great doctrinal consolation to us that Jesus, in the course of the Atonement, experienced all of the heartache and sorrow, all of the disappointments and injustices that the entire family of man had experienced and would experience from Adam and Eve to the end of the world in order that we would not have to face them so severely or so deeply. However heavy our load might be, it would be a lot heavier if the Savior had not gone that way before us and carried that burden with us and for us.

Elder Holland also said,
We don’t have to look for sorrow. We don’t have to seek to be martyrs. Trouble has a way of finding us even without our looking for it. But when it is obvious that a little time in Liberty Jail waits before you (spiritually speaking), remember these first two truths taught to Joseph in that prison-temple. First, God has not forgotten you, and second, the Savior has been where you have been, allowing Him to provide for your deliverance and your comfort.

The Third is that the still, small voice whispers consolation to our souls in the depths of sorrow and distress.

Quote #6
Yes, that still small voice, which has so often whispered consolation to my soul, in the depths of sorrow and distress, bade me be of good cheer, and promised deliverance, which gave me great comfort.

Think about when the Holy Ghost has comforted you in a time of difficulty. Have you had any such experiences that would be appropriate to share?

Section 123 closes with this verse
“Therefore, dearly beloved brethren [and sisters, when we are in even the most troubling of times], let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.

How can we be cheerful in times of trial? What are some ways that you remember to be cheerful when going through struggles and trials?

Bear testimony of the truths found and experiences and shared in the Liberty Jail. Truths of the power of the Godhead and our own ability to endure and withstand our own Liberty Jail experiences. That we are never alone, that God will always stand with us, that Jesus will always bear us up, and the Holy Ghost is there to give us comfort.

Quote #6
Yes, that still small voice, which has so often whispered consolation to my soul, in the depths of sorrow and distress, bade me be of good cheer, and promised deliverance, which gave me great comfort.

Quote 1
We are kept under a strong guard, night and day, in a prison of double walls and doors, proscribed in our liberty of conscience. Our food is scant, uniform, and coarse; we have not the privilege of cooking for ourselves; we have been compelled to sleep on the floor with straw, and not blankets sufficient to keep us warm; and when we have a fire, we are obliged to have almost a constant smoke. The Judges have gravely told us from time to time that they knew we were innocent, and ought to be liberated, but they dare not administer the law unto us, for fear of the mob.”

Quote 2
Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, we are the more ready and willing to lay claim to your fellowship and love. For our circumstances are calculated to awaken our spirits to a sacred remembrance of everything, and we think that yours are also, and that nothing therefore can separate us from the love of God and fellowship one with another ; and that every species of wickedness and cruelty practiced upon us will only tend to bind our hearts together and seal them together in love.

Quote 3
…when you have to, you can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experience with the Lord in any situation you are in. Indeed, let me say that even a little stronger: You can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experience with the Lord in the most miserable experiences of your life—in the worst settings, while enduring the most painful injustices, when facing the most insurmountable odds and opposition you have ever faced. ~ Elder Jeffery R. Holland

Quote 4

You will learn by the time you have read this, and if you do not learn it, you may learn it, that walls and irons, doors and creaking hinges, and half-scared-to-death guards and jailers … are calculated in their very nature to make the soul of an honest man feel stronger than the powers of hell. …

Quote 5
Elder Holland stated,
It ought to be a matter of great doctrinal consolation to us that Jesus, in the course of the Atonement, experienced all of the heartache and sorrow, all of the disappointments and injustices that the entire family of man had experienced and would experience from Adam and Eve to the end of the world in order that we would not have to face them so severely or so deeply. However heavy our load might be, it would be a lot heavier if the Savior had not gone that way before us and carried that burden with us and for us.