Lesson 113: Doctrine and Covenants 98–101

Doctrine and Covenants 98

All Things Shall Work Together for Our Good

In the summer of 1833, tensions between the Missourians and the Saints in Jackson County resulted in violent mobs attacking homes, destroying businesses, and demanding the removal of all Church members from the area. In Doctrine and Covenants 98, the Savior gave comfort and counsel to the suffering Saints and instructed Church leaders how to handle their unfair treatment. This lesson can help students wait patiently on the Lord in times of affliction.

Possible Learning Activities

Patience

Consider starting the lesson by helping students think about patience. This can prepare them to learn about waiting patiently on the Lord in times of affliction. You could write the word “patient” on the board and ask some of the following questions.

• When is it hard to be patient?

• What are some situations where you have had to be patient?

• On a scale of 1–10, with 10 being very patient, how patient do you think you are?

• In what situations might the Lord want you to be patient? Why?

The Saints’ expulsion from Jackson County, Missouri

The following paragraph can be read or summarized in your own words to help students understand the historical context of section 98.

When the Saints arrived in Missouri to build Zion, tensions arose with the residents of Jackson County. Political conflicts, religious disagreements, and unwise decisions (including failing to build the temple as the Savior commanded) increased the problems. During the summer of 1833, vigilante groups gathered to drive the Saints from Jackson County by force. Bishop Edward Partridge and Charles Allen were beaten, tarred, and feathered. The printing press of W. W. Phelps was destroyed, and pages of the Book of Commandments scattered. Vienna Jaques, along with sisters Mary and Caroline Rollins, bravely grabbed as many pages of the revelations as they could before they were ruined. They ran and hid themselves and the revelations from the mob. In the attack, many Saints were forced to leave their homes at gunpoint (see Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days, vol. 1, The Standard of Truth, 1815–1846 [2018], 172–181).

Invite students to think about trials or afflictions they may be experiencing. Encourage them to seek personal revelation as they study Doctrine and Covenants 98 and to listen for what the Lord would have them do.

Read Doctrine and Covenants 98:1–3, looking for how the Savior responded to the prayers of the Saints in Jackson County.

• How might this counsel have helped the Saints in Missouri?

• How could it help you or someone you know deal with something difficult?

• What are some principles you can identify from these verses?

Students may share a variety of principles. One way to help students identify principles could be to write the following incomplete statement on the board and invite students to complete it.

As we wait patiently on the Lord, He covenants that

The students may finish the statement with principles such as the following:

• our prayers will be answered.

• good will come from our afflictions.

Waiting patiently on the Lord

Seek inspiration to know which principles to focus on. Consider the needs of your students, and select material you feel would be most helpful. Decide which of the following materials to share with your students. You do not need to discuss all of it.

Another option is to divide students into groups and assign each group to study one of the statements or the Book of Mormon passage. Then, invite students to share what they learned with the class.

President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught about waiting on the Lord. Read the statement, or watch the video “Hope in Christ” from time code 9:13 to 10:06, on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Waiting upon the Lord implies continued obedience and spiritual progress toward Him. Waiting upon the Lord does not imply biding one’s time. You should never feel like you are in a waiting room.

Waiting upon the Lord implies action. I have learned over the years that our hope in Christ increases when we serve others. Serving as Jesus served, we naturally increase our hope in Him.

The personal growth one can achieve now while waiting upon the Lord and His promises is an invaluable, sacred element of His plan for each one of us. (M. Russell Ballard, “Hope in Christ,” Liahona, May 2021, 55)

• What are some ways we can wait patiently on the Lord in times of affliction?

President Russell M. Nelson used Doctrine and Covenants 98:1–3 to teach about answers to our prayers.

If we pray with an eternal perspective, we need not wonder if our most tearful and heartfelt pleadings are heard. …

The Lord chose His strongest words to reassure us! Seal! Testament! Sworn! Decreed! Immutable covenant! Brothers and sisters, believe Him! God will heed your sincere and heartfelt prayers, and your faith will be strengthened. (Russell M. Nelson, “Face the Future with Faith,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2011, 35)

• What does this statement teach you about the Lord?

• How could understanding these teachings help someone wait patiently on Him?

Read 2 Nephi 2:1–2, looking for what the prophet Lehi taught his son Jacob about his afflictions.

• What are some ways the Lord can “consecrate [our] afflictions for [our] gain”?

The Savior’s counsel

To study Doctrine and Covenants 98:11–22, students could work with a partner or smaller group. Students could choose a principle to focus on and then look for the Savior’s counsel that would help someone apply that principle.

For example, “he will give unto the faithful line upon line” (verse 12) could help someone wait patiently on the Lord as He answers their prayers a little at a time. The phrase “forsake all evil and cleave unto all good” (verse 11) could help someone live in a way so that God can cause their afflictions to “work together for [their] good” (verse 3).

Read Doctrine and Covenants 98:11–22, looking for the Savior’s counsel that could help you or someone else wait patiently on the Lord.

• What did you find in these verses that could help someone wait patiently on the Lord?

• What words or phrases would you share with someone going through a trial? Why?

You might invite students to ponder a time the Savior helped them see the good that can come in times of trial. You could show the video “God Will Lift Us Up” (4:59) or the video “Mountains to Climb” (5:05), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Provide an opportunity for willing students to share how the Savior has helped them wait patiently on Him during a trial. As appropriate, students could share an experience where they saw the good that came because of a trial.

Apply the Savior’s teachings

In your study journal, prayerfully answer the following questions from what you have learned today:

• What have you learned that could increase your ability to wait patiently on the Lord?

• What have you felt prompted to do that could help you wait patiently on the Savior when you face difficult challenges?

To conclude class, you might share an experience when you have waited patiently on the Lord or when He has caused a trial to work together for your good and His glory. You might bear your witness of Heavenly Father’s willingness to bless us in adversity as we wait upon Him.

Additional Resources

What if I feel like my prayers are not being answered?

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles testified:

There will be times in our lives when even our best spiritual effort and earnest, pleading prayers do not yield the victories for which we have yearned, whether that be regarding the large global matters or the small personal ones. So while we work and wait together for the answers to some of our prayers, I offer you my apostolic promise that they are heard and they are answered, though perhaps not at the time or in the way we wanted. But they are always answered at the time and in the way an omniscient and eternally compassionate parent should answer them. My beloved brothers and sisters, please understand that He who never sleeps nor slumbers cares for the happiness and ultimate exaltation of His children above all else that a divine being has to do. He is pure love, gloriously personified, and Merciful Father is His name. (Jeffrey R. Holland, “Waiting on the Lord,” Liahona, Nov. 2020, 115–116)

What can I do when I face challenging times?

Sister Michelle D. Craig of the Young Women General Presidency explained:

When hard times come, I try to remember that I chose to follow Christ before I came to earth and that challenges to my faith, my health, and my endurance are all part of the reason I’m here. And I certainly should never think that today’s trial calls into question God’s love for me or let it turn my faith in Him into doubt. Trials do not mean that the plan is failing; they are part of the plan meant to help me seek God. I become more like Him when I endure patiently, and hopefully, like Him, when in agony, I pray more earnestly. (Michelle D. Craig, “Wholehearted,” Liahona, Nov. 2022, 61–62)

Where can I learn more about the Saints’ expulsion from Jackson County?

• Saints, 1:172–193

• David W. Grua, “Waiting for the Word of the Lord,” in Revelations in Context [2016]

• Church History Topics, “Jackson County Violence,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org/study/history/topics

Supplemental Learning Activities

The meekness of Bishop Edward Partridge

Review the story of the tarring and feathering of Bishop Partridge in Saints, 1:179–180. Invite students to study Bishop Partridge’s thoughts about the incident (found below), looking for how he demonstrated the Savior’s teachings in Doctrine and Covenants 98:1–3. Invite students to consider how they could respond in similar ways.

Bishop Edward Partridge recalled:

Before tarring and feathering me, I was permitted to speak. I told them that the Saints had had to suffer persecution in all ages of the world; that I had done nothing which ought to offend anyone; that if they abused me, they would abuse an innocent person; that I was willing to suffer for the sake of Christ; but to leave the country, I was not then willing to consent to it. …

… I bore my abuse with so much resignation and meekness that it appeared to astound the multitude, who permitted me to retire in silence, many looking very solemn, their sympathies having been touched as I thought; and as to myself, I was so filled with the Spirit and love of God, that I had no hatred towards my persecutors or anyone else. (Edward Partridge, in History, 1838–1856 [Manuscript History of the Church], volume A-1, 327–28, josephsmithpapers.org; spelling, capitalization, and punctuation standardized)

Saving the Book of Commandments

To help students see an example of young women demonstrating strength and courage during times of trial, you might share the story of Mary and Caroline Rollins from Saints, 1:178–79. You could discuss how these sisters’ examples can inspire youth today.

Doctrine and Covenants 98:23–48. The Lord’s laws of retaliation, war, and forgiveness

If students would benefit from learning more about the Savior’s way of responding to persecution, invite them to describe a few ways people might react when someone offends or hurts them. Explain that in the revelation recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 98:23–48, the Lord teaches principles that can help us know how to respond when we are hurt by other people’s words or actions. You might organize the class into partnerships or small groups. Each group could select one of the following topics to study and could prepare to share what they learn with the class.

1. Doctrine and Covenants 98:23–32—The Savior’s law on responding to persecution

2. Doctrine and Covenants 98:33–38—The Savior’s law on war

3. Doctrine and Covenants 98:39–48—The Savior’s law on forgiveness

You might invite students to discuss the following questions using the scenarios below, or students could create similar situations relevant to them.

• What would you want to do if this happened?

• How does the Savior ask us to respond according to Doctrine and Covenants 98?

• Nephi’s brothers tie him up and leave him in the desert, nearly cause his death on the ship to the promised land, and plot to kill him after Lehi’s death.

• When you post pictures of the Savior and the temple online, someone from your school leaves unkind comments on the social media feed.

• A missionary serving from your ward or branch writes you a letter, apologizing for bullying you during high school.

You could also show the video “That We Might Be One: The Story of the Dutch Potato Project” (11:57) from ChurchofJesusChrist.org. This video shares the story of Saints in the Netherlands who willingly sacrificed their food rations for their former enemies after World War II. You could invite students to look for how the Savior blessed the Dutch Saints for their Christlike efforts.