TODAY IN CHURCH HISTORY: 16 May

[Hemidakota]

1834 - Zion's Camp is nearing the Ohio-Indiana state border. While traveling on this date at about 9:00 am, the Prophet said he felt "much depressed in spirit" and that "there had been a great deal of bloodshed in that place." They then came upon a large mound sixty feet high containing human bones, now part of a farm and covered with apple trees. Some of the brethren expressed some fear about milk sickness that many people along their route had. The Prophet told them not to fear and that if they were obedient no sickness would infect the camp. While passing through Dayton, Ohio, "great curiosity was manifested" in who and where they were going. The men of the Camp would only give vague answers as they were trying to travel as discreetly as possible. (History of the Church, 2:66-67).

1841 - The Prophet Joseph addressed the Saints in Nauvoo, in part teaching, "Satan was generally blamed for the evils which we did, but if he was the cause of all our wickedness, men could not be condemned. The devil could not compel mankind to do evil; all was voluntary. Those who resisted the Spirit of God, would be liable to be led into temptation, and then the association of heaven would be withdrawn from those who refused to be made partakers of such great glory" (History of the Church, 4:358).

1842 - The Times and Seasons, a Nauvoo publication, publishes the Facsimile 2 and portions of the Book of Abraham for the first time.

1843 - The Prophet Joseph Smith receives the first half of Section 131 of the Doctrine and Covenants at Ramus, Illinois. While staying the night at the home of Benjamin F. Johnson, the Prophet gave Brother and Sister Johnson, "some instructions on the priesthood" and teaching them that in order to obtain the highest degree in the celestial kingdom you must enter into the new and everlasting covenant of marriage. He told them they would have children after the resurrection and that were sealed up unto eternal life. (History of the Church, 5:391).

1847 - Appleton Harmon completed some improvements to the "Roadometer" he built four days earlier. William Clayton then put up a guide post stating that the distance from Winter Quarters was 356 3/4 miles and that the last seventy miles were measured. The pioneers were having difficulty finding campgrounds with enough feed for their animals because of the Indians had burned the old grass off and the buffalo had eaten the new grass. The result was their animals were becoming weaker and not able to travel as far each day.

1855 - Elder Orson Hyde and a company of thirty-five men leave Salt Lake City to settle Carson Valley in what would later become Nevada, making it the first LDS settlement there.

1989 - Elder Howard W. Hunter, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, dedicates the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies on Mount Scopus that overlooks old Jerusalem.

1996 - President Gordon B. Hinckley begins his historic tour of Asia, during which he visits Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

2001 - The Massachusetts Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of the Church ending a controversy about the height of the steeple on the Boston Massachusetts Temple, paving the way for the placement of the steeple and Angel Moroni on the edifice.