43. And now a commandment I give unto you, if you will be delivered, you shall set in order your own house, for there are many things that are not right in your house.
44. Verily, I say unto my servant Sidney Rigdon, that in some things he hath not kept the commandments concerning his children; therefore, first set in order thy house.
45. Verily, I say unto my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., or in other words, I will call you friends, for you are my friends, and ye shall have an inheritance with me;
46. I called you servants for the world's sake, and ye are their servants for my sake—
47. And now, verily I say unto Joseph Smith, Jun., you have not kept the commandments, and must needs stand rebuked before the Lord.
48. Your family must needs repent and forsake some things, and give more earnest heed unto your sayings, or be removed out of their place.
49. What I say unto one I say unto all; pray always lest that wicked one have power in you, and remove you out of your place.
50. My servant Newel K. Whitney, also, a Bishop of my Church, hath need to be chastened and set in order his family, and see that they are more diligent and concerned at home, and pray always, or they shall be removed out of their place.
51. Now, I say unto you, my friends, let my servant Sidney Rigdon go on his journey, and make haste, and also proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the gospel of salvation, as I shall give him utterance, and by your prayer of faith with one consent, I will uphold him.
52. And let my servants Joseph Smith, Jun., and Frederick G. Williams make haste also, and it shall be given them even according to the prayer of faith, and inasmuch as you keep my sayings, you shall not be confounded in this world, nor in the world to come.
53. And verily, I say unto you, that it is my will that you should hasten to translate my Scriptures, and to obtain a knowledge of history, and of countries, and of kingdoms, of laws of God and man, and all this for the salvation of Zion. Amen.
The same date (May 6th) I received the following:
Revelation.5
1. And again, verily I say unto you, my friends, a commandment I give unto you, that ye shall commence a work of laying out and preparing a beginning and foundation of the city of the Stake of Zion, here in the land of Kirtland, beginning at my house;
2. And behold, it must be done according to the pattern which I have given unto you.
3. And let the first lot on the south be consecrated unto me for the building of a house for the Presidency, for the work of the Presidency, in obtaining revelations; and for the work of the ministry of the Presidency, in all things pertaining to the Church and kingdom.
4. Verily I say unto you, that it shall be built fifty-five by sixty-five feet in the width thereof and in the length thereof, in the inner court;
5. And there shall be a lower court and a higher court, according to the pattern which shall be given unto you hereafter;
6. And it shall be dedicated unto the Lord from the foundation thereof, according to the order of the Priesthood, according to the pattern which shall be given unto you hereafter:
7. And it shall be wholly dedicated unto the Lord for the work of the Presidency.
8. And ye shall not suffer any unclean thing to come in unto it; and my glory shall be there, and my presence shall be there;
9. But if there shall come into it any unclean thing, my glory shall not be there; and my presence shall not come into it.
10. And again, verily I say unto you, the second lot on the south shall be dedicated unto me for the building of a house unto me, for the work of the printing of the translation of my Scriptures and all things whatsoever I shall command you;
11. And it shall be fifty-five by sixty-five feet in the width thereof and the length thereof, in the inner court; and there shall be a lower and a higher court:
12. And this house shall be wholly dedicated unto the Lord from the foundation thereof, for the work of the printing, in all things whatsoever I shall command you, to be holy, undefiled according to the pattern in all things as it shall be given unto you.
13. And on the third lot shall my servant Hyrum Smith receive his inheritance.
14. And on the first and second lots on the north shall my servants Reynolds Cahoon and Jared Carter receive their inheritances.
15. That they may do the work which I have appointed unto them, to be a committee to build mine houses according to the commandment, which I, the Lord God, have given unto you.
16. These two houses are not to be built until I give unto you a commandment concerning them.
17. And now I give unto you no more at this time. Amen.
Signs of the Times.
The signs of the times continued to attract the attention of the world. The cholera had broken out at Havana, and it was reported that five hundred were perishing daily, and Oporto, in the province of Entre-Minho-e-Douro, Portugal, was experiencing the same calamity. The influenza was raging at St. Petersburg, Russia; more than one hundred thousand were suffering from its effects, and it was reported to be more violent at Moscow. So dreadful were the effects of the cholera, which spread consternation among the inhabitants of the earth, that it was reported that the eyes of some of the afflicted burst from their sockets.
Removal of Indians.
A treaty was entered into about this time with several tribes of Indians, some to be located on the east of Winnebago lake, and others to be removed west of the Mississippi.6
Arrival of the Prophet's Relatives in Kirtland.
May 25.—My uncle, John Smith and family arrived in Kirtland, from Potsdam, New York, my uncle being an Elder in the Church; and his wife and eldest son, George Albert Smith, a lad of fifteen, were members. They were the first of my father's relatives who obeyed the Gospel.7
Footnotes
1. The above on the state of the world is condensed from the Evening and Morning Star for April, 1833.
2. Here follows the revelation on page 333.
3. See p. 329.
4. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. xciii.
5. Doctrine and Covenants, sec. xciv.
6. The above items of plagues and removal of Indians are from the Evening and Morning Star, for May, 1833.
7. For an account of their conversation to the Gospel see page 285.
CHAPTER XXV.
Preparation for Building the Kirtland Temple—Trial and Excommunication of "Doctor" Philastus Hurlburt.
The House of the Lord at Kirtland.
June 1.—Great preparations were making to commence a house of the Lord; and notwithstanding the Church was poor, yet our unity, harmony and charity abounded to strengthen us to do the commandments of God. The building of the house of the Lord in Kirtland was a matter that continued to increase in its interest in the hearts of the brethren, and the building committee issued the following circular to the different branches of the Church:
Circular.
Kirtland, June 1, 1833.
To the Church of Christ in——
We feel under obligations to write