Doctrine and Covenants 3 to 5 – “My Work Shall Go Forth”

January 18, 2021 to January 24, 2021

Doctrine and Covenants sections 3-5 teach us about revelation: that we must approach the Lord with faith and humility.  

Doctrine and Covenants Contexts, by Steven C. Harper

This online resource provides concise backgrounds for each section of the Doctrine and Covenants. The pages regarding Section 3 tell details about Martin Harris taking the manuscript pages which were lost. In the discussion about Section 4, read why Joseph Smith Senior was prompted to travel to Harmony to receive revelation. Regarding Section 5, learn how this revelation reoriented Martin Harris’s thinking about his asking for proof of the golden plates. 

“David Hale’s Store Ledger: New Details about Joseph and Emma Smith, the Hale Family, and the Book of Mormon,” by Mark L. Staker and Robin S. Jensen, BYU Studies Quarterly 53, no. 3

Looking at documents tells us details about Joseph and Emma Smith’s life in 1827-1829 in Harmony, Pennsylvania. Emma’s brother David Hale kept a small store, which Joseph used to trade labor and goods. This article outlines Joseph’s activities of this time and presents the ledger that David Hale kept, which documents that Joseph worked as a farmer. Open the PDF to see maps and photos. 

Resource for sale: 

Martin Harris: Uncompromising Witness of the Book of Mormon, by Susan Easton Black and Larry C. Porter

This book reveals the compelling story of a man who had seen angels and knew Joseph Smith was a prophet but who nevertheless struggled to keep his faith in the prophetic calling of Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. His is a story of fascination with worldly honors, flirtations with apostasy, and pride that nearly cost him the joy of his later years in the West. It is the biography of a witness who clung tenaciously to his testimony of the Book of Mormon.

Available in print from BYU Studies and available as ebook from Deseret Book and Amazon