Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants
Doctrine and Covenants 51–57

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For Church members in the 1830s, gathering the Saints and building the city of Zion were spiritual as well as temporal labors, with many practical matters to address: Someone needed to buy land where the Saints could settle. Someone needed to print books and other publications. And someone needed to run a store to provide goods for people in Zion. In the revelations recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 51–57, the Lord appointed and instructed people to handle these tasks.

But while skills in such things are needed in Zion, these revelations also teach that the Lord desires His Saints to become spiritually worthy to be called a Zion people—His people. He calls each of us to be “a faithful, a just, and a wise steward,” having a contrite spirit, “stand[ing] fast” in our appointed responsibilities (see Doctrine and Covenants 51:19; 52:15; 54:2). If we can do that—regardless of our temporal skills—the Lord can use us to build Zion.

D&C 51: Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Thompson, Ohio, May 20, 1831. At this time the Saints migrating from the eastern states began to arrive in Ohio, and it became necessary to make definite arrangements for their settlement. As this undertaking belonged particularly to the bishop’s office, Bishop Edward Partridge sought instruction on the matter, and the Prophet inquired of the Lord.

D&C 52: Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to the elders of the Church, at Kirtland, Ohio, June 6, 1831. A conference had been held at Kirtland, beginning on the 3rd and closing on the 6th of June. At this conference the first distinctive ordinations to the office of high priest were made, and certain manifestations of false and deceiving spirits were discerned and rebuked.

D&C 53: Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to Algernon Sidney Gilbert, at Kirtland, Ohio, June 8, 1831. At Sidney Gilbert’s request, the Prophet inquired of the Lord as to Brother Gilbert’s work and appointment in the Church.

D&C 54: Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to Newel Knight, at Kirtland, Ohio, June 10, 1831. Members of the Church living in Thompson, Ohio, were divided on questions having to do with the consecration of properties. Selfishness and greed were manifest. Following his mission to the Shakers (see the heading to section 49), Leman Copley had broken his covenant to consecrate his large farm as a place of inheritance for the Saints arriving from Colesville, New York. As a consequence, Newel Knight (leader of the members living in Thompson) and other elders had come to the Prophet asking how to proceed. The Prophet inquired of the Lord and received this revelation, which commands the members in Thompson to leave Leman Copley’s farm and journey to Missouri.

D&C 55: Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to William W. Phelps, at Kirtland, Ohio, June 14, 1831. William W. Phelps, a printer, and his family had just arrived at Kirtland, and the Prophet sought the Lord for information concerning him.

D&C 56: Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Kirtland, Ohio, June 15, 1831. This revelation chastises Ezra Thayre for not obeying a former revelation (the “commandment” referred to in verse 8), which Joseph Smith had received for him, instructing Thayre concerning his duties on Frederick G. Williams’ farm, where he lived. The following revelation also revokes Thayre’s call to travel to Missouri with Thomas B. Marsh (see section 52:22).

D&C 57: Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, in Zion, Jackson County, Missouri, July 20, 1831. In compliance with the Lord’s command to travel to Missouri, where He would reveal “the land of your inheritance” (section 52), the elders had journeyed from Ohio to Missouri’s western border. Joseph Smith contemplated the state of the Lamanites and wondered: “When will the wilderness blossom as the rose? When will Zion be built up in her glory, and where will Thy temple stand, unto which all nations shall come in the last days?” Subsequently he received this revelation.