A Young Folks' History of the Church
Christ appeared unto them. He stood on the breastwork of the pulpit, and Joseph
describes Him as a most glorious personage. Jesus told them that He had accepted the
temple and promised them great blessings if they would continue to keep his
After this vision had closed, Moses, Elias, and Elijah appeared unto them and each of
them gave to Joseph and Oliver many blessings concerning the gospel.
You would think that after all these blessings from the Lord the Saints would never turn
away from the truth; but sad to say this was not the case. During the years 1837 and 1838
many of the brethren in Kirtland began to buy and sell land and set up stores and banks
for the purpose of making money. Now, there would have been nothing wrong in all this
if they had done all their business honestly; but the trouble was that many wanted to get
rich so fast that oftimes they would cheat each other. This of course was inspired by the
evil one, who did his best to stop the progress of the Church. It was a very hard trial for
Joseph and those of his brethren who stood by him to see so many leading men fall away
Again, you may also wonder how men who have been in the company of the Prophet and
who have seen angels and heavenly visions can deny the faith, but the fact is they
sometimes do. The whole secret is this:
No matter how much a person has seen or how much he knows, if he sins and does not
repent, the Spirit of God will leave him, and he will be in the dark. It then becomes an
easy matter for him to fall away from the Church.
During the two years named above, four of the Twelve Apostles and many of the leading
men apostatized; and then, not satisfied with so doing, they began to join the mobs who
persecuted Joseph and the Saints. This led the Church leaders to remove to Missouri, and
soon after nearly all the Saints followed them to the land of Zion.
Topics.—1. The calling of the Twelve Apostles. 2. Calling of the Seventy. 3. The
Kirtland Temple. 4. The apostasy at Kirtland.
Questions and Review.—1. From what body were the first Twelve Apostles called? 2.
Who chose the names? 3. Name the first Twelve Apostles? 4. Name the present Twelve.
5. What is the duty of the Twelve? 6. What is the duty of the Seventies? 7. How many
Seventies' quorums are there in the Church? 8. Tell about the dedication of the Kirtland
Temple. 9. Who appeared to Joseph and Oliver in the temple? 10. What causes many to
fall from the Church? 11. What is the only safe way to remain faithful.