It always looks like we're losing when we're winning

October 21, 2:27 PMLDS Church ExaminerGreg West

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I've been reading the book Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, a People of Promise by Glen M. Leonard recently. It's a history of the the founding of the first truly "Mormon city." This isn't a book review (although I highly recommend the book!) so much as a reflection of a powerful impression that it left upon me.

If you're not a member of the Church, you probably have no idea of the remarkable achievements of the latter-day saints during the few years of American history from 1838 to 1846. I'll give you a thumbnail sketch of the circumstances.

In 1838, Missouri Governor Lilburn L. Boggs signed an "extermination order" calling Mormons enemies of the state and ordered them to be forcibly removed from the state or be exterminated. Anti-Mormon mobs combined with the state militia. They killed hundreds of latter-day saints, committed rape, burned homes, dashed the brains out of children with their rifle stocks, and committed other unspeakable depredations. Thousands of latter-day saints were driven from the state in the dead of winter, penniless, without adequate transportation, food, or shelter. Many of them traversed the state barefoot in the February snow, leaving bloody footprints as they walked. They were forced from homes and land they owned and were never compensated for their loss despite repeated pleas for assistance from the federal government for redress.

The Mormons gathered in Illinois, taken in as refugees by their new neighbors. Joseph Smith and several other Church leaders were arrested and detained for months without charges as their enemies shopped for a venue where they might successfully prosecute a case against them. At one point, they faced summary execution by a military firing squad and were only saved because a militia colonel refused to obey what was obviously an unlawful order. When the Church's enemies determined that they could not successfully prevail in the legal system, they allowed Joseph and his companions to escape.

When Joseph Smith arrived in Illinois, he petitioned the state legislature for a charter to establish a city. They were granted rights to establish a city which they named Nauvoo, on the site formerly known as Commerce, Illinois. The saints suffered from ague, cholera, and many illnesses in what was an extremely unhealthy, mosquito filled swamp on the Mississippi river bottoms. God manifested his power through Joseph Smith, who literally healed hundreds of people in the name of Jesus in a single day. It was a display of God's power of "biblical" proportions and it was recorded in the diaries and journals of many witnesses.

The saints began to drain the swamps, to establish homes, businesses, and a temple. In a short period of seven years, the city of Nauvoo became larger than Chicago was at the time. The city became a cultural center with schools, theaters, and concert halls. Numerous skilled craftsmen from Europe flocked from Europe to build the Nauvoo temple. The Church grew and expanded as missionaries fanned out from Nauvoo to the British Isles and other European nations. During the Nauvoo period, the Church's doctrinal foundations came to maturity as Joseph Smith's restorative mission drew to a close.

As it had occurred in Missouri, anti-Mormon sentiment festered and the persecution and violence escalated. The Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were brutally murdered by a mob of over 200 men while being held in Carthage Jail on a trumped up charge of treason. The murder of the Prophet; however, did not quench the thirst for Mormon blood.

An actual political party formed, called the "Anti-Mormon Party," and it set out to drive the Mormons from Illinois. Anti-Mormons resorted to acts which we would now regard as terrorism: burning barns, crops, shooting cattle, livestock, and horses. The saints agreed to forsake their city by the spring of 1846, but were forced to leave in the winter of that year. For nearly two years before their departure, they struggled to sell property even at bargain prices. Sometimes families would sell a home or a cultivated farm for no more than a yoke of oxen to pull their wagons westward.

Even as the saints prepared to leave the city, they continued to complete their temple, the construction of which was regarded as a commandment through God's prophet. The leadership of the Church survived factionalism and apostasy and established the protocols for continuity of authority and the keys of the kingdom for future generations. Brigham Young led the saints westward to staging areas in Iowa, where they would organize and prepare for the long trek across the plains and the Rocky Mountains to the Salt Lake Valley. When the temple was completed and ready for dedication, he was already leading the way westward. He delegated the task of dedicating the temple to other Church officials. The temple, although completed, would be abandoned. Anti-Mormons set the magnificent edifice on fire.

All the while, rumors abounded that the Mormons would head into Mexican territory, ally themselves with the Mexican government or with the Indians, and become hostile to the United States. The United States Army was dispatched to prevent the evacuation. The Mormons were caught in the middle. The federal government didn't want them to leave out of fear of thousands of Americans joining a hostile government and the state citizens didn't want them to stay. The only resolution that would have been acceptable to both sides was for Mormons to renounce their religion.

Only the poorer saints, the ones who had been unable to sell their property to buy teams and supplies to leave, remained behind. The Church did all it could to assist them and shuttled many of them to the staging areas. When there were only about 200 latter-day saints left in the city, the Illinois militias attacked the city, the Mormons, and the new settlers who were not overtly hostile to the saints. After the surrender of the city following the Battle of Nauvoo, the poor saints were forcibly driven from their homes and ferried at gunpoint across the Mississippi River to Iowa. Many of them were without tents, food, or other necessities. A miracle occurred when flocks of quails landed providentially in their camps, providing them with food until the main body of the Church could come and bring them to safety.

The Church prevailed in the end. It not only survived, but thrived in the desolate Salt Lake Valley, a land that no one else wanted. It grew, flourished, and prospered. The saints became a mighty people in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, in fulfillment of a prophecy Joseph Smith had made a year before his death. There were still more trials and persecutions to come, but the Church would weather them all. Nauvoo drifted back into obscurity as just another small midwest town. It would be decades before a renaissance would begin to occur there as the Church began to purchase and restore the historical sites.

The lesson I took from the book is that, if you had lived as a latter-day saint in the days of Nauvoo, it would have looked like the "other side" was winning. The prospect of being driven from a comfortable home or farm, a prospering business, and a place of burgeoning cultural activity would have been more than just discouraging. For those who had been driven out of Missouri, it must have seemed terribly unfair that God would permit this injustice to happen again. To those who had migrated from the British Isles or other nations in Europe, this must have been a huge trial of faith. The uncertainty over succession in the Presidency of the Church and the competing claims for the keys of the kingdom would have been worrisome. It would have been heart-rending to see the temple for which you had sacrificed so greatly to build be set afire by anti-Mormons. At the same time, you would feel the concern for your safety and that of your family in the face of threats and actual violence from anti-Mormons.

It would not have looked like you were winning. It would have looked like the world was prevailing against you. It would have been easy to give up and quit. Instead, the pioneers moved forward in faith, following their leaders who were indeed inspired of God. Only with the hindsight we enjoy today, more than a century after the fact, can we see that the pioneers prevailed over their adversaries. The work of God goes forward because of their faith and indomitable spirit. No one sings the praises of William Law or Thomas Sharp. Tens of millions literally sing the hymn "Praise to the Man who Communed with Jehovah" in tribute to the Prophet Joseph Smith.

In our time, we are beginning to see the emergence of new opposition. It is coming from the religious right and the secular left simultaneously. They use the Internet, YouTube, and blogs to spread hate, disinformation, and to foment intolerance against latter-day saints. The conditions for "peaceful coexistence" are the same as they were in the time of Nauvoo: if we give up our faith, they'll let us be. If we don't stand up for traditional marriage, we'll be considered tolerant and enlightened. If we accept their premise that "Mormons aren't Christians" or that we believe in a "different Jesus," they'll accept us with dismissive tolerance. If we announce that the Book of Mormon is just a mere allegory, not an actual record of an ancient people, they'll consider us with greater respect. If we step away from angels, and visions, and living prophets of God, they'll be more inclined to view us favorably because of our exceptional humanitarian service. Most of all, if we'll just abandon the testimony that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ, they'll consider it an olive branch of peace, because they will no longer have to deal with the pronouncement that their creeds are an abomination before God.

As in the days of Nauvoo, it will not be apparent that we are "winning" the argument. They will use legal and illegal means to bring us down. Our adversaries will preach against us, march and protest, and they may even resort to violence again. Incidents of vandalism of Mormon meetinghouses is on the rise. Violence against our missionaries has increased. If we are to learn the lessson of Nauvoo, we must understand that such opposition comes when the Church is moving forward to a new level in its development. The greater our progress, the greater will be the opposition. If our self-declared adversaries have cranked up the volume of their protests, it is a sure sign that their "master" sees that the Church is about to take a great step forward. Every step the Church takes forward further minimizes the Adversary's dominion. It is why he incites those who hearken to his voice to fight against the Church. 

Today, the Nauvoo Temple has been rebuilt on its original site.  It should not only remind us of our pioneer heritage and the sacrifices made for the sake of building up the kingdom of God, but it should also remind us that the faith of the saints was victorious over their oppressors.  As it was then, so will it be in our future.

Let our critics celebrate what they picture as the impending demise of the Church. Let them think they are causing serious damage or that the Church is stalling in its progress. They can post their blogs and make their movies. Political activists will attempt to marginalize it. The Book of Daniel tells us that there will be a period where an evil authority figure will "wear out the saints of the Most High" and exercise authority over them for a brief period. That doesn't sound like anything that will be easy or pleasant. There is always a brief pause before the Lord "changes gears" and the work accelerates to a new level. Like that TV chef, Emeril, the Lord's taking it up a notch. Get ready for the "Bam!"