Doctrine and Covenants 102–105 contains instructions for the Camp of Israel, later referred to as Zion’s Camp. In the summer of 1834, Zion’s Camp marched from Michigan, Ohio, and New York to assist the persecuted Saints in Missouri. Their volunteer numbers were few, but those who went learned a valuable lesson about trials and blessings. And the ending revelation to this armed march was a message to “sue for peace … to all people” (Doctrine and Covenants 105:38)
God is aware of everything you are going through right now, and He has words of comfort for us. Doctrine and Covenants 98–101 has words from God given through Joseph Smith to the Saints at Jackson County. Even though Joseph did not know the details of their trials, God did, and we can trust that He knows ours as well. So, “let your hearts be comforted” (Doctrine and Covenants 98:1), no matter what you are facing.
The Saints in 1833 were split between two Zions and were commanded to build two temples to bless God’s people. Doctrine and Covenants 94–97 makes the commandment of building temples a priority. Today, temples are still being constructed across the many places we call Zion. And for those of us not on the building committee, we can still make visiting and honoring the house of the Lord a personal priority.
Doctrine and Covenants 93 contains eternal truths that overturned the traditional religious ideas of that time. While it is not the longest section of revelation by the number of verses, it is packed with doctrinal principles—from the nature of God to how we can learn about Him. The light and truth in these scriptures can illuminate the rest of the doctrine that we and the early Saints both will come to understand.
Understanding history is all in the stories of the people who lived it. This week’s Come, Follow Me study of Doctrine and Covenants 89–92 features the Word of Wisdom. But today, we’ll learn from a historian about Emma Smith, the School of the Prophets, the translation of the Bible, and the attitudes at the time toward alcohol and tobacco that colored the world when this revelation took place. We’ll also discuss a woman who lived a whole life of service around this one event in scripture.
Two days after the revelation on war given in Doctrine and Covenants 87, the Prophet Joseph Smith received a breath of fresh air with a revelation on peace in section 88. This section is known as the “olive leaf” revelation, containing eternal truths about our relationship with God and a command to draw closer to Him in a temple. We now live in the world they wished for—where temples dot the earth, and Zion can be anywhere we gather.
Jesus relays a parable in Matthew about wheat and weeds called tares. To us, these two plants can grow together and seem indistinguishable from each other. Sections 85–87 of the Doctrine and Covenants have more insight on who we are and what our job is (and isn’t) in this story.
Six years ago, in the October 2019 women’s session of general conference, President Nelson said to all the women, “I entreat you to study prayerfully all the truths you can find about priesthood power. You might begin with Doctrine and Covenants sections 84 and 107.” This week, we will be studying the first of those powerful revelations on the oath and covenant of the priesthood and how it holds truths relevant to all of God’s children.
In Doctrine and Covenants 81-83 the Lord reiterates a command to care for the poor and needy among the church. With this (and every commandment) he also gives a promise. We can learn in these sections about the nature of covenants and callings and the promises from God when we are faithful to the end.
Elder Renlund first suggests making sure we are doing what God has asked of us and “not something extra that we impose on ourselves.”
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Elder Kearon believes this truth “can console all of us.”
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These resources can help any family dive deeper into the Doctrine and Covenants in 2025.
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In March 1832, Joseph Smith met with Church leaders to discuss Church business, which, at the time, was the need to publish revelations, purchase land, and care for the poor. In today’s study of Doctrine and Covenants sections 77–80, we will discover how the Lord met these needs and helped prepare His children to receive “a place in the celestial world” and “the riches of eternity.”
Doctrine and Covenants section 76 contains a vision answering the great question of mortality: “What happens after we die?” The answer doesn’t have to be complicated with diagrams; it is as simple as understanding that God loves us. And that inexhaustible love reaches to all of God’s creations.
There are critics of the Church in whatever corner of the vineyard you go. The early Saints experienced this in the forms of violence and persecution, and we still have places online and in person where it is our calling to defend the work. Doctrine and Covenants 71–75 contain a promise for all those proclaiming the gospel, and we can have confidence that “no weapon that is formed against [us] shall prosper.”
In a group of meetings in November 1831, the Lord revealed that the Saints in the latter days should be able to read the revelations being received by Joseph Smith. A new book of scripture would be published, and the precursor to our current Doctrine and Covenants was in the works. During those meetings, the Lord revealed a preface in Doctrine and Covenants 1, an appendix that would become Doctrine and Covenants 133, and the four sections in our study this week: Doctrine and Covenants 67–70. And as recorded in section 70, these words would be “worth … the riches of the whole Earth.”
What is required for building Zion? The Saints in the early 1830s had land, resources, and plans, but they weren’t aligned in their attitude. In today’s discussion of Doctrine and Covenants 64–66, we learn what the Lord asks of us as we continue their mission to build Zion on the earth. And even though it won’t be just one city, the requirements from God are the same.
In early August 1831, Joseph Smith and other elders of the Church were preparing to return to Kirtland after a short visit to Missouri. The Lord wanted these men to preach the gospel during their trip. Some of the men had no problem with that, but others were hesitant. Doctrine and Covenants 60–63 set the Lord’s expectations and desires for the Saints on their journey home, whether on the road to Ohio or our eventual home with God again.