TODAY IN CHURCH HISTORY: 18 May

[Hemidakota]

1783 - Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses of The Book of Mormon, is born in Easttown, New York.

1834 - When Zion's Camp awakes, they "found almost every horse in the camp so badly foundered that we could scarcely lead them a few rods to the water. The brethren then deeply realized the effects of discord" (History of the Church, 2:68).

1838 - The Prophet Joseph Smith left Far West, Missouri, in the company of several brethren, and traveled north to make claim on lands to build additional cities of Zion. He describes north-central Missouri as "a beautiful country the greater part of which is prairie, and thickly covered with grass and weeds, among which is plenty of game, such as deer, turkey, and prairie hen" (History of the Church, 3:34).

1843 - The Prophet Joseph Smith, while dining with Judge Stephen A. Douglas in Carthage, Illinois, prophesies that the judge would aspire to the Presidency of the United States, saying: "Judge, you will aspire to the presidency of the United States; and if ever you turn your hand against me or the Latter-day Saints, you will feel the weight of the hand of Almighty upon you; and you will live to see and know that I have testified the truth to you" (History of the Church, 5:394). Judge Douglas later slanders the Saints and loses the Presidential election to Abraham Lincoln and dies shortly thereafter.

1846 - Mt. Pisgah is established by Brigham Young as the second temporary way station along the Mormon Trail across Iowa.

1958 - The first stake in New Zealand is organized in Auckland. The Auckland Stake was the first stake outside North America and Hawaii.

2003 - Several recently restored buildings, including a school house, the John Johnson Inn, Newel K. Whitney home, and a new visitors center, in Kirtland, Ohio, are dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley.

2007 - A choir comprised of 36 young adults from Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands performed in the Cathedral of Copenhagen in front of the original "Christus" statue by Bertel Thorvaldsen. This is the first choir of Latter-day Saints to perform at Vor Fre Kirke, or Our Lady's Church.