Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants
Doctrine and Covenants 77–80

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Less than two years after the Church of Jesus Christ was restored, it had more than 2,000 members and was growing quickly. In March 1832, Joseph Smith met with other Church leaders “to discuss Church business”: the need to publish revelations, purchase land to gather on, and care for the poor (see Doctrine and Covenants 78, section heading). To meet these needs, the Lord called on a small number of Church leaders to form the United Firm, a group that would join their efforts to “advance the cause” of the Lord (verse 4) in these areas. But even in such administrative matters, the Lord focused on the things of eternity. Ultimately, the purpose of a printing press or a storehouse—like everything else in God’s kingdom—is to prepare His children to receive “a place in the celestial world” and “the riches of eternity” (verses 7, 18). And if those blessings are hard to comprehend right now, in the midst of the busyness of daily life, He reassures us, “Be of good cheer, for I will lead you along” (verse 18).

D&C 77: Revelation given to Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Hiram, Ohio, about March 1832. Joseph Smith’s history states, “In connection with the translation of the Scriptures, I received the following explanation of the Revelation of St. John.”

D&C 78: Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Kirtland, Ohio, March 1, 1832. On that day, the Prophet and other leaders had assembled to discuss Church business. This revelation originally instructed the Prophet, Sidney Rigdon, and Newel K. Whitney to travel to Missouri and organize the Church’s mercantile and publishing endeavors by creating a “firm” that would oversee these efforts, generating funds for the establishment of Zion and for the benefit of the poor. This firm, known as the United Firm, was organized in April 1832 and disbanded in 1834 (see section 82). Sometime after its dissolution, under the direction of Joseph Smith, the phrase “the affairs of the storehouse for the poor” replaced “mercantile and publishing establishments” in the revelation, and the word “order” replaced the word “firm.”

D&C 79: Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Hiram, Ohio, March 12, 1832.

D&C 80: Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet to Stephen Burnett, at Hiram, Ohio, March 7, 1832.