Letters from Liberty Jail

We are excited to add Lynn Davis to our teaching circuit. She gave an informative and entertaining lesson last Sunday. In a "game show style" she used "contestants" from the congregation to answer some questions about Joseph Smith's four month imprisonment in Liberty jail (what an oxymoronic name for a jail).

While Joseph, his brother Hyrum, and several others were cruelly and inhumanely kept in a cell not even big enough to stand up straight in, their beloved family and fellow church members were being driven out of Missouri. The emotional pain of what was happening to their loved ones was greater than their physical pain, discomfort and hunger. Even the Judges of the court knew Joseph and his men were wrongfully imprisoned and being served a great injustice but they themselves feared the mob that called for the blood of Joseph.

This chapter is comprised of letters Joseph wrote Emma and the church membership while he was incarcerated. Some of those letters became sections 121-123 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Even though Joseph got to a point where thought he'd been forsaken by God and questioned God, he was given comfort and his faith was made stronger. He relayed this faith to his family and church members. He tried to encourage them to keep the faith themselves as he was given the inspiration to know that adversity lasts only a moment and those who "endure it well" will be rewarded and "triumph over all ...foes".

No one knows complete suffering like the Savior, Jesus Christ. He, too, was falsely accused and imprisoned and ultimately unjustly crucified. Joseph encouraged his followers to reflect on what the Son of Man suffered and to take comfort in what He overcame. They are fighting the good fight and the Lord is on their side. Through the Holy Spirit they are able to receive consolation even in the pit of despair. Quoting from 2 Corinthians, Joseph wrote "For although I was 'troubled on every side, yet [I was] not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed'" May we all tap into the same source of comfort and freedom when we feel imprisoned by the Adversary.