Week 6

10 Things Sections 30-40 have in common.:

1. The thing that I notice first is simple and it is something that 98% the sections in the D&C have, but the first part is in the introduction and summaries of the sections. They are all revelations given through the prophet Joseph. This may seem trivial because it is something shared by most of the sections in the D&C, but I think this is a significant thing. If it weren’t significant, why would the prophet put it in every time that it was a revelation from Joseph? The other important aspect is that Joseph wasn’t just a prophet of the modern days; he is our dispensation head. He is our restorer.

2. The next thing I noticed was how all of these revelations are directly for someone or about someone. I think this would have been such a wonderful thing to be able to take part of. While these are different than patriarchal blessings, it would be incredible to have the prophet receive a revelation just for you.

3. In most of these sections, the Lord asks those reading/listening to go out and preach the gospel. We can learn how important missionary work is to the Lord by reading the D&C. He wants us to share with those around us that which is most important to him and us. The Lord wants the Gospel shared as much as possible and with as many of His children as possible.

4. A theme that is slightly less common theme is the fact that the Lord wants us (and those that are mentioned specifically) to have faith in him, in the plan and in our Leaders (or in the case of these sections in Joseph). As I mentioned before in one of my journals, the set up of the Church is perfect, the church leaders are called under perfect revelation that however, does NOT mean that the leaders that are called are perfect, but we have to exercise faith that they will make the best decision possible based on the revelation they are given.

5. Another one of the themes I noticed was baptism. So many of the revelations given are to those that are on the edge of joining the church or to those that are about to go serve a mission. Much like Point #4, the Lord wants the Gospel shared and his children brought to the gates of baptism where they can be washed clean of their sins and start making covenants with their heavenly Father.

6. Repentance. This is funny; I hadn’t realized that the last three sound a lot like the 4^th article of faith. The Lord does want us to repent of our sins, trespasses and shortcomings. The other thing is I think its important for Church leaders to hear from the Lord occasionally that they aren’t perfect and that they need to repent of their sins as well.

7. A few of these sections are related to location. At this time the Lord needed his Saints together (safety and strength in numbers). The Church was establishing Zion where the Saints were. While there was a lot of persecution at the time, the Saints needed to help each other using their specific skills. Location was more important then. Back then in order for a leader to communicate with all of those he lead, it would take longer to communicate with 500 people in his city than it takes for me to communicate with thousands of people that live on the other side of the world.

8. Chastening is a common theme in these sections. I kind of danced around this one a little bit in the other parts of this, but the D&C seems to have a lot of sections devoted to the Lord Chastening his disciples.

9. Many of these sections are also dedicated or partially dedicated to testifying of the divine calling of Joseph. This was specifically important back in the early days of the Church. Joseph had so many people that seemed to be skeptical of his divine calling and the Lord often needed to assure his children and followers of the diving calling of their leader. This wasn’t an easy time for the saints for the saints or for Joseph.

10. The other thing that these sections have in common and teaches me is that they testify as to how personally the Lord knows his children. The fact that the Lord can teach each of us so personally and know us on such a manner that makes us trust him more than anyone else in the world shows me how much he loves us.