In response to the directions in verses 1–6, a committee presided over by Joseph Smith, who by that time had escaped from Liberty Jail, was appointed by a general conference of the Church on May 4, 1839. In the meeting, Almon Babbitt, Erastus Snow, and Robert B. Thompson were assigned to serve as “a traveling committee to gather up and obtain all the libelous reports and publications which have been circulated against our Church, as well as other historical matter connected with said Church which they can possibly obtain.”¹ This material, along with other materials gathered from among the Saints, was intended to be used to petition the government of the United States to secure redress for the losses suffered by the Saints in Missouri at the hands of mobs. The petitions numbered over seven hundred when they were finally compiled.²

Hoping to secure help from the federal government, Joseph Smith and several other Church leaders traveled to Washington, DC, arriving in the city on November 28, 1839. The Prophet and his companions stayed in the city for three weeks to advocate for the Saints. The day after their arrival, the party was able to arrange a meeting at the White House with Martin Van Buren, the president of the United States. Unfortunately, the meeting with Van Buren was discouraging. Elias Higbee later recalled, “We presented him with our letters of introductions;—as soon as he had read one of them, he looked upon us with a kind of half frown and said, what can I do? I can do nothing for you, —if I do any thing, I shall come in contact with the whole State of Missouri.”³ Van Buren’s response illustrates the growing concerns in the United States at the time over the role of the federal and state governments.

The actions of the Saints in 1839–40 mirror earlier counsel given to them from the Lord in 1833 to appeal to the federal government for assistance when the Saints were evicted from Jackson County (D&C 101:86–89). At that time, the Lord promised that if the government would not assist the Saints, then He would “arise and come forth out of his hiding place, and in his fury vex the nation” (D&C 101:89). The conflict over states’ rights was later one of the primary factors leading to the American Civil War (1860–65).

1. Minutes, 4–5 May 1839, p. 1, JSP.

2. See Clark V. Johnson, Mormon Redress Petitions, 1992, xix–xxi.

3. Quoted in Byron B. Korth, “Images of Joseph Smith’s 1839–40 Visit to Washington, D.C.,” in Latter-day Saints in Washington, D.C., ed. Kenneth L. Alford, Lloyd D. Newell, and Alexander L. Baugh, 2021, 17.

Joseph does not defend the mobocrats who persecuted and murdered the Saints. However, he does point out that the actions of the mobs were “urged on and upheld by the influence of that spirit which hath so strongly riveted the creeds of the fathers, who have inherited lies” (D&C 123:7). Like the Lamanites in the Book of Mormon, hatred against the Saints was implanted in the hearts of their enemies in part by cultural circumstances (Jacob 3:7). When the teachings of Jesus Christ are distorted and misused for wicked purposes, situations can arise in which Christians attack other Christians. The Saints have a sacred charge to recount the stories of their persecutions if only to show the danger of religion when it is twisted into a weapon to use against others.

However, opposition to the Lord’s work is another sign that the Church is true. As difficult as it can be to endure persecution for the truth, the Lord can use opposition to further the spread of truth and to build up of the kingdom of God on the earth. President Brigham Young taught, “Every time you kick ‘Mormonism’ you kick it upstairs; you never kick it downstairs. The Lord Almighty so orders it.”⁴ When the New Testament church was subject to intense persecution, Gamaliel, noted, “if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it” (see Acts 5:34-39).

4. Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe, 1941, 351.

Despite the tribulations they endured, the Prophet and his companions emerged from Liberty Jail with their faith in God and humanity intact. There are good people of all religions who are “only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it” (D&C 123:12). The revelations given in Liberty Jail transformed it from a dank prison into a temple of learning and enlightenment. Joseph Smith emerged from his trials with a closer relationship with God, a great love for his friends, and increased optimism about the work of the latter days. The Prophet gained a determination to not only trudge on in his duties but to also cheerfully do all in his power to accomplish the works of God (D&C 123:17).

Seeking to apply the lessons of Liberty Jail to our own lives, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has taught:

Every one of us, in one way or another, great or small, dramatic or incidental, is going to spend a little time in Liberty Jail—spiritually speaking. We will face things we do not want to face for reasons that may not have been our fault. Indeed, we may face difficult circumstances for reasons that were absolutely right and proper, reasons that came because we were trying to keep the commandments of the Lord . . . But the lessons of the winter of 1838–39 teach us that every experience can become a redemptive experience if we remain bonded to our Father in Heaven through that difficulty. These difficult lessons teach us that man’s extremity is God’s opportunity, and if we will be humble and faithful, if we will be believing and not curse God for our problems, He can turn the unfair and inhumane and debilitating prisons of our lives into temples—or at least into a circumstance that can bring comfort and revelation, divine companionship and peace.⁵

5. Jeffrey R. Holland, “Lessons from Liberty Jail” (BYU devotional, September 7, 2008), emphasis in original.