(Originally published on 11 August 2013.)
This is Scripture Roundtable 39 from The Interpreter Foundation, in which we discuss Doctrine & Covenants Gospel Doctrine Lesson #35, “A Mission of Saving,” focusing on D&C 4, 18, 52, 81, and 138, as well as 3 Nephi 18, and Moroni 7, bringing in various insights to help us better understand the scriptures. These roundtables will generally follow the 2013 Gospel Doctrine schedule of scriptures, a few weeks ahead of time.
Panelists for this roundtable include Martin Tanner, Craig Foster, Daniel Peterson, and Stephen Smoot.
Some highlights from this roundtable include:
- Craig Foster’s substantial historical introduction to, and commentary upon, the story of the handcart pioneers.
- Recurring themes in the scriptures and in sacred history, of exodus and of divine deliverance, and about what we today can learn from the pioneers and their steadfast endurance.
- Latter-day Saints having a pioneer-like experience traveling from their homes in Cameroon to the Aba Nigeria Temple. Here is one place where it can be found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=rf8xoDoj2jA
This roundtable is also available as an audio podcast, and will be included in the podcast feed. You can listen by pressing the play button or download the podcast below:
Podcast: Download ()
So glad for the link on Sugardoodle.net that led me here. What a gem! Certainly helps me focus my thoughts as I prepare for my Gospel Doctrine lessons.
I look forward to these Videos each week. I view the video before I read two commentaries, then the actual scriptures. This gives a through lesson study.
I forward it to others in my ward that also find them very helpful.
Thank you!
Handcart Company Clarification: In the teachers’ manual, lesson 35 (section 3: “As Latter-day Saints, we are to rescue those in need.”) there appears a somewhat folkloricized account of the, nevertheless, true heroism of three young rescuers who carried people across the Sweetwater River (quoted there from the Hafen book).
In a BYU Studies article, Chad Orton goes on to clarify that
(https://byustudies.byu.edu/PDFLibrary/45.3OrtonHandcart-60fc35f2-245b-497b-a7ce-e32aa44f58a8.pdf)
” The evidence indicates that more than three rescuers braved the icy
water that day. Of those positively identified as being involved in the
Sweetwater crossing, none were exactly eighteen. Although these rescuers
helped a great many of the handcart pioneers across the river, they carried
only a portion of the company across. While some of these rescuers
complained of health problems that resulted from the experience, most lived
long and active lives that terminated in deaths that cannot be definitively
attributed to their exposure to the icy water that day.”
Thank you Brother Peterson and everyone else for these informative and uplifting Roundtables. I now have something more to look forward to when I need to feed my baby at 3:00 a.m. (or I’m doing the dishes, or many other tasks at home). I’ve learned a ton from listening to these and have recommended them to several of my other stay-at-home moms to make use of those time-killer tasks. I love the videos. My four-year-old daughter caught clips of this one and listened intently to the pioneer stories that were told (and then an interesting discussion followed it about what “wigs” are). 🙂
One side benefit I’ve gleaned from the video roundtables (as opposed to a podcast) is that it will help me put faces to the names I’ve read about so often — helping me remember who is who, and who does what for a living.
I thank you for your time, and I thank your spouses for letting us steal ya’ll away from them for these few hours each week (and the many, many more you spend creating useful resources for members). Thanks to you guys, I’m a little better off than I was before, and now my daughter knows what wigs are, which is really important for her eternal salvation. 😉