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Selected graphics to aid your study of Church History at home and in Sunday School

Weeks 1-2: The Restoration and the Doctrine and Covenants (Section 1)

Week 3: The Smith Family and the First Vision (1805-1820, JS-H 1:1-26)

Weeks 4-10: Translation and Priesthood (1823-1829, D&C 2-19; JS-H 1:27-75)

Bainbridge, Colesville, and Harmony

Bainbridge, Colesville, and Harmony — Near the village of South Bainbridge (now Afton) was the home of Josiah Stowell, a well-to-do farmer who hired Joseph Smith and his father to look for a rumored Spanish silver mine in Harmony. Although the search was unproductive, Joseph continued to work at the Stowell farm during 1826 while he courted Emma Hale. The two were married in South Bainbridge in January 1827.
Colesville Township contained the farm of Joseph Knight Sr., who also employed Joseph Smith Jr. in 1826. Knight and his family were quickly converted to Joseph’s teachings, often supporting him during the translation as well. Many of their friends also believed, but enough people opposed Joseph that he was taken to court (and acquitted) here at least twice. In June 1829, the Melchizedek Priesthood was restored somewhere between here and Harmony. In 1830, one of the first branches of the newly organized Church of Christ was created at the Knight farm.
Harmony Township (now Oakland) was first visited by Joseph Smith Jr. when he boarded at the home of Isaac Hale while employed by Josiah Stowell to search for a silver mine in early November 1825. Rather than precious metal, Joseph discovered Hale’s daughter Emma. Hale never believed Joseph’s stories of his visions and opposed their marriage, but he eventually sold Joseph and Emma a portion of his farm along the Susquehanna River. This was their primary residence for most of 1828–30, and here Joseph (with Emma, Martin Harris, and Oliver Cowdery) translated most of the Book of Mormon and received the Aaronic Priesthood in 1829. Joseph and Emma were still residing here in 1830, when Joseph began retranslating the Bible. Larry C. Porter

Weeks 11-17: The First Year (1830, D&C 20-40)

Weeks 18-21: Establishing Kirtland (1831, D&C 41-50)

Weeks 22-24, 37: Establishing and Abandoning Zion (1831-1833, D&C 51-63, 98-101)

Weeks 30, 31, 39: Maturing Church Administration (1832-1835, D&C 81-84, 106-108)

Weeks 36, 40: The Kirtland Temple (1833-1836, D&C 94-97, 109-110)

Kirtland Temple

The Kirtland Temple — The most prominent Kirtland structure (then and now) is the stately House of the Lord, the first Latter-day Saint temple. It overlooks the city from the top of the hill. The design, measurements, and functions of the Kirtland Temple were given by revelation. Its interior was to be 55 feet wide and 65 feet long and to have a lower and a higher court. The lower part of the inner court was to be dedicated “for your Sacrament offering, and for your preaching, and your fasting, and your praying, and the offering up of your most holy desires unto me, saith your Lord.” The higher part of the inner court was to be “dedicated unto me for the school of mine apostles” (D&C 95:13–17).
The external design of the Kirtland Temple is typical of New England Protestant meetinghouses, but the arrangement of the interior is unique. On each of the two main floors are two series of four-tiered pulpits, one on the west side, the other on the east. These are symbolic of the offices of the Melchizedek and Aaronic Priesthoods and accommodated their presidencies. The third floor contained offices and school facilities.
The Saints completed the temple in less than three years. The cornerstone was laid at the southeast corner on July 23, 1833, and the temple was dedicated on March 17, 1836. The temple became the center of life for the Saints, housing the School of the Prophets and Elders. There are three important revelations associated with the Kirtland Temple: D&C 109, 110, and 137. The last records the visit of the Father and the Son. “The heavens were opened upon us, and I beheld the celestial kingdom of God” and saw “the blazing throne of God, whereon was seated the Father and the Son” (D&C 137:1, 3).

Week 38: Zion's Camp (1834, D&C 102-105)

Zion's Camp

Zions Camp — Zion’s Camp was a Mormon military expedition company that marched to Missouri in 1834, intending to help the Saints reclaim the lands in Jackson County from which they had been expelled in November 1833.
On May 1, 1834, a group of 20 men left Kirtland. Five days later, the main company of 85 men under the leadership of Joseph Smith departed. The same day, Hyrum Smith and Lyman Wight led a smaller group of seventeen persons from Pontiac, Michigan, intending to join with the main body en route. As the company proceeded west, additional men and volunteers fell in with the main company, increasing their ranks and numbers. On June 8, following a month of travel through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, picking up recruits along the way, the two groups met at the Salt River Branch in Monroe County, Missouri. Now Zion’s Camp consisted of a force of just over 200 men. In the meantime, the Mormons learned that Missouri Governor Daniel Dunklin would not lend state military assistance as promised and advised the Saints to seek redress through the courts. Dunklin’s position meant that the main objective of Zion’s Camp—to help the Saints repossess their Jackson County property—could not be achieved.
In late June, after arriving in Clay County where the main body of Missouri Saints had located, Joseph Smith received revelatory instructions informing the members of Zion’s Camp that they should disband and return to their homes in the East. On July 3, the men were officially discharged. Members did not return to Ohio in one large body but made their way home in smaller groups. Before beginning the return trip, Joseph Smith spent a few days in Clay County instructing the leaders and organizing a stake in Missouri (see p. 34). He left around July 12, arriving back in Kirtland around August 1, after nearly a three-month absence. Alexander L. Baugh

Weeks 41-43: Northern Missouri (1837-1839, D&C 111-123)

Weeks 44-47: Nauvoo (1840-1844, D&C 124-134)

Missionary Work in the U.S.

Branches in the United States, 1831-1844 — During the lifetime of Joseph Smith, missionaries spread throughout the United States and British Canada. As they found converts, they organized them into branches—small congregations (often as small as 6–7 members) with a presiding priesthood holder, preferably an elder, but often an adult teacher or priest. The distribution of branches found during this period reflects several different types of missionary labor: “Friends and family” missionaries established many of the early branches in their hometowns in New England and New York. “Wandering” missionaries preached as they traveled through the countryside, forming corridors of rural branches along major travel routes. “Circuit Rider” missionaries traveled within a region, forming clusters of branches. Urban missionaries used rented halls and advertising to establish a presence in major cities.
Fewer missionaries served in the South, probably due to cultural differences as well as distance, so branches there were limited to isolated pockets built up by dedicated long-term missionaries such as Jedediah M. Grant and Wilford Woodruff.
According to the 1830 organizational revelation of the Church (D&C 20), the priesthood holders in each region (missionaries and local members) were to hold quarterly conferences to strengthen each other and conduct business. These were not held regularly until 1834, but after they were promoted and implemented by the newly called Apostles in 1835, regular conferences were reported in many regions, especially in western New York and Michigan. These conferences also served as regional administrative units (the same way the term was used in the Methodist Church), eventually being renamed districts as used in missions today. David J. Whittaker

Week 48: The Martyrdom and the Exodus (1844-1847, D&C 135-136)

The Vanguard Company Crosses the Plains

The 1847 Vanguard Pioneer Company — On April 7, 1847, the day after a general conference at Council Bluffs, Brigham Young began organizing a wagon train to head for the Salt Lake Basin. This vanguard company consisted of 143 men, 3 women, and 2 children and included a number of Apostles and other Church leaders; it was intended to be a scouting group to prepare for the families to follow. The train was held up for a week at the Elkhorn River to await the arrival of John Taylor, who was coming from England with some scientific instruments, including sextants, barometers, and a telescope, which allowed Orson Pratt to determine the latitude, longitude, and elevation of important landmarks along the way. The company also took a cannon with them to help guard against any Indian attacks. They were able to design and construct an odometer, which was attached to a wagon wheel to measure the distance they traveled each day. They noted the flora and fauna, soils, and rock formations along the way.
They stayed on the north side of the Platte and North Platte rivers until they reached Fort Laramie to avoid interaction with Oregon-bound travelers on the south side. Because they were the first wagon train to take this route, crews were sent ahead with tools to build the road through difficult terrain, knowing that many wagon trains would be following them. The rivers were running high with spring runoff, so they stopped to build ferry rafts and left crews behind to assist the companies that would follow that summer.
At Fort Laramie, they crossed to the south side of the river and followed the Oregon Trail across most of Wyoming. At Fort Bridger they followed the Hastings Cutoff to the southwest, used by the ill-fated Donner-Reed Party the year before. The first scouts entered the Salt Lake Valley on July 22 and were already plowing fields when Brigham Young arrived two days later, uttering the iconic words, “This is the right place; drive on.” Many of the men did not stay long, hurrying back east to prepare to bring their families. Wayne Wahlquist

Weeks 46, 50: Plural Marriage and Extending the Priesthood (D&C 132, OD1, OD2)