09 July, 1841 - D&C 126 was received

[Hemidakota]

09 July, 1841— Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith received D&C 126, a revelation stating that Brigham Young would no longer be required to leave his family. History of the Church, 4:382

Historical Setting: The twelve apostles had been called by the Lord to fill missions to the European nations. (See D&C 118:4-5) Two years later, after having completed successful missions, they returned to their families and the church at Nauvoo, Illinois. One of the Twelve was Brigham Young, to whom this revelation (D&C Section 126) was addressed.

Joseph Smith, Jun. - Elders [brigham] Young, [Heber C.] Kimball, and [John] Taylor arrived at Nauvoo, after an interesting mission to England. The accounts of their missions are highly satisfactory. . .

[Revelation given to Joseph Smith, in the house of Brigham Young, in Nauvoo City, July 9, 1841.] [section 126 follows.] (HC 4:382, July 9, 1841.)

Background Narration:

George Q. Cannon:

In the month of July, 1841, the Apostles began to return to Nauvoo from their missions to Europe, and their coming was a great comfort to the Prophet in his hour of affliction. At a special conference which was held at Nauvoo on the 16th of August, 1841, shortly after the return of the Twelve, Joseph stated to the people there assembled that the time had come when the Apostles must stand in their places next to the First Presidency. They had been faithful and had borne the burden and heat of the day, giving the gospel triumph in the nations of the earth, and it was right that they should now remain at home and perform the duty in Zion. (Life of Joseph Smith, 1907, p. 374.)

Brigham Young: I came into this Church in the spring of 1832. Previous to my being baptized, I took a mission to Canada at my own expense; and from the time that I was baptized until the day of our sorrow and affliction, at the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, no summer passed over my head but what I was traveling and preaching, and the only thing I ever received from the Church, during over twelve years, and the only means that were ever given me by the Prophet, that I now recollect, was in 1842, when brother Joseph sent me the half of a small pig that the brethren had brought to him. I did not ask him for it. . . .

I have traveled and preached, and at the same time sustained my family by my labor and economy. If I borrowed one hundred dollars, or fifty or if I had five dollars, it almost universally went into the hands of brother Joseph, to pay lawyers' fees and to liberate him from the power of his enemies, so far as it would go. Hundreds and hundreds of dollars that I have managed to get, to borrow and trade for, I have handed over to Joseph when I came home. That is the way I got help, and it was good for me; it learned [sic.]me a great deal, though I had learned, before I heard of "Mormonism," to take care of number one.

For me to travel and preach without purse or scrip was never hard. . . . In company with several of the Twelve I was sent to England in 1839. We started from home without purse or scrip, and most of the Twelve were sick; and those who were not sick when they started were sick on the way to Ohio; brother [John] Taylor was left to die by the road-side, by old father Coltrin, though he did not die. I was not able to walk to the river, not so far as across this block, no, not more than half as far; I had to be helped to the river, in not even an overcoat; I took a small quilt from the trundle bed, and that served for my overcoat, while I was traveling to the State of New York, when I had a coarse sattinet overcoat given to me. Thus we went to England, to a strange land to sojourn among strangers.

When we reached England we designed to start a paper, but we had not the first penny to do it with. I had enough to buy a hat and pay my passage to Preston, for from the time I left home, I had worn an old cap which my wife made out of a pair of old pantaloons; but the most of us were entirely destitute of means to buy even any necessary article.

We went to Preston, and held our Conference and decided that we would publish a paper; brother Parley P. Pratt craved the privilege of editing it, and we granted him the privilege. We also decided to print three thousand hymn books, though we had not the first cent to begin with, and were strangers in a strange land. We appointed brother Woodruff to Herefordshire, and I accompanied him on his journey to that place. I wrote to brother Pratt for information about his plans, and he sent me his prospectus, which stated that when he had a sufficient number of subscribers and money enough in hand to justify his publishing the paper, he would proceed with it. How long we might have waited for that I know not, but I wrote to him to publish two thousand papers, and I would foot the bill. I borrowed two hundred and fifty pounds of sister Jane Benbow, one hundred of brother Thomas Kington, and returned to Manchester, where we printed three thousand Hymn Books, and five thousand Books of Mormon, and issued two thousand Millennial Stars monthly, and in the course of the summer printed and gave away rising of sixty thousand tracts. I also paid from five to ten dollars per week for my board, and hired a house for brother Willard Richards and his wife who came to Manchester, and sustained them; and gave sixty pounds to brother P. P. Pratt to bring his wife from New York. I also commenced the emigration in that year.

I was there one year and sixteen days, with my brethren the Twelve and during that time I bought all my clothing, except one pair of pantaloons, which the sisters gave me in Liverpool soon after I arrived there and which I really needed. I told the brethren, in one of my discourses, that there was no need of their begging, for if they needed anything the sisters could understand that. The sisters took the hint, and the pantaloons were forthcoming.

I paid three hundred and eighty dollars to get the work started in London, and when I arrived home, in Nauvoo, I owed no person one farthing. (JD, August 31, 1856, 4:34-35.)

Section Header Notes:Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, in the house of Brigham Young, at Nauvoo, Illinois, July 9, 1841. HC 4: 382. At this time Brigham Young was president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. 1–3, Brigham Young is commended for his labors and is relieved of future travel abroad.

Versus amount: 3

Suggested link: D&C 118 & 124

Summary and Conclusion: The Lord loves those who labor in His name for the souls of mankind. Their labors and sacrifices, as well as those of their families, do not go unnoticed by the Lord. (Sacred Truths of the Doctrine and Covenants, vol. 1 by L. G. Otten, C. M. Caldwell):