“Lesson 134—Establishing Nauvoo: The Beautiful City,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual (2025)
“Establishing Nauvoo,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual
Lesson 134: Doctrine and Covenants 124
Establishing Nauvoo
The Beautiful City
After the Saints’ expulsion from Missouri, they turned swampland along the Mississippi River into a thriving city. Nauvoo, Illinois, became a place of beauty and served as the headquarters of the Church from 1839 to 1846. This lesson can help students liken scriptures and Church history accounts to themselves.
Possible Learning Activities
Liken to us
Invite students to ponder how often they learn truths in the Doctrine and Covenants and in Church history that are relevant to them.
On one side of the room, consider displaying a copy of the Doctrine and Covenants or a picture of the Prophet Joseph Smith to represent the time of the early Saints. Invite a student to stand on the other side of the room to represent our time. Point out the space between the time of Joseph Smith and now, and ask the following questions.
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In what ways might it be difficult for us to relate to Joseph Smith and the early Saints?
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As you study the Doctrine and Covenants and Church history, what are some things you do to relate to Joseph Smith and the early Saints or to liken what you study to yourself?
Write students’ answers to the last question on the board. If students do not mention these four principles, consider writing them on the board as well. Students will use them throughout the lesson.
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Find important details.
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Make comparisons to your life.
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Discover valuable lessons.
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Determine personal application.
Invite students to ponder what they most need the Lord’s help with right now in their lives.
Encourage them to seek for direction and help from God on the matter as they study about the Saints in Nauvoo. Testify that God can answer them through the Holy Ghost.
The following material is intended to guide students in the skill of likening and prepare them to do this on their own.
Step 1: Find important details
To practice this step, invite students to listen for important details as you read or a student reads the following information out loud:
While the Prophet Joseph Smith was in Liberty Jail, thousands of Saints were driven out of their homes in Missouri. After his release, Joseph reunited with his family and almost 5,000 other refugees from Missouri who had been taken in by the kind people of Quincy, Illinois.
The Lord directed the Saints to buy and gather on inexpensive swampland near the edge of the Missouri River. They lived in tents and wagons while they began to build a city they would later call Nauvoo. Mosquitos infected many Saints with malaria, which caused severe fevers, chills, and many deaths.
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What details of this account seem important to you?
Step 2: Make comparisons to your life
Invite students to practice the second step by answering the following question, keeping the important details in mind from step 1.
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Though our circumstances may be different, what are some ways we might relate what was happening to the Saints then to our lives today?
Some answers might include feeling like we have completed one trial only to enter another, moving to a new place or starting over, living in difficult conditions, or becoming seriously ill.
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What do you do to show faith in the Lord during these kinds of situations?
Step 3: Discover valuable lessons
Invite students to look for valuable lessons as they do the following: Watch “Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration (2002 version)” from time code 47:39 to 50:54, or explain that on July 22, 1839, Joseph Smith and others moved from house to house and tent to tent, healing the sick. Then explain that one person they visited was Elijah Fordham. He was so sick that his wife, Anna, was weeping and preparing his burial clothes. Invite a student to read the following:
Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration (2002 version)
Joseph approached Elijah and took his hand. “Brother Fordham,” he asked, “have you not faith to be healed?”
“I am afraid it is too late,” he said.
“Do you not believe that Jesus is the Christ?”
“I do, Brother Joseph.”
“Elijah,” the prophet declared, “I command you, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, to arise and be made whole.”
The words seemed to shake the house. Elijah rose from his bed, his face flush with color. He dressed, asked for something to eat, and followed Joseph outside to help minister to many others. (Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days, vol. 1, The Standard of Truth, 1815–1846 [2018], 402–3)
Read at least two of the following passages, looking for similarities between what the Savior did or revealed and the story above: Matthew 4:23; 1 Nephi 11:31; Doctrine and Covenants 42:44; 66:9; 84:68.
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What lessons did you learn from these scriptures and from the Saints in Nauvoo?
List students’ answers on the board. One example is that through our faith in Jesus Christ and the power of His priesthood, God can bless and strengthen us.
To help students understand this principle, consider asking follow-up questions like “What does this truth teach us about the Lord?” “What experiences have you had that confirm this principle in your life?” and “Other than healing us, what are some other ways the Lord can strengthen and bless us?” Consider asking if students have questions about this principle. If so, discuss them as a class.
Explain the following:
Despite the day of healing, sickness continued among the Saints for the next several months. However, they continued to care for one another and exercise faith in the Lord. They dug ditches to drain water from the swamps to the river, which made the land more usable and reduced the mosquito problem. They built a thriving community and eventually the Nauvoo Temple.
Step 4: Determine personal application
For this step, invite students to share some ways they could apply the truths they learned. Their answers could include ways they could exercise faith in the Lord, including asking for priesthood blessings.
Additional lessons
To continue practicing likening scriptures and Church history to themselves, students could do the activities on the handout “Likening Church History to Ourselves.” Students could complete the activities individually or in small groups. Invite students to write down what they did for each of the four steps.
Likening Church History to Ourselves
Activity A
Preaching the gospel
The Prophet Joseph Smith wrote, “Persecution has not stopped the progress of truth” (History of the Church, 4:540). The Lord had previously called many members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to serve missions overseas. Despite illness and difficulty, these determined brethren obediently left Nauvoo to serve. As a result, thousands of people—primarily from England—received a witness from God, joined the Church, and traveled to Nauvoo. They became a great strength to the Church.
Read 1 Nephi 3:7 and Doctrine and Covenants 3:1, and consider how these verses might relate to this example of missionary work.
Activity B
Establishing the Relief Society
While the Saints were building the Nauvoo Temple, a few sisters noticed that many of the men working on the temple lacked adequate shoes, pants, and shirts. Inspired by the Lord, they organized a group of women and began working together to provide these clothes. Like similar groups of the time, they drafted a constitution. They presented the document to Joseph Smith for his approval.
[When] Joseph [saw it, he] said it was the best constitution of its kind. “But this is not what you want,” he said. “Tell the sisters their offering is accepted of the Lord and He has something better for them. … I will organize the women under the priesthood, after the pattern of the priesthood.” (Saints, 1:448)
On March 17, 1842, God directed Joseph Smith to organize the Relief Society. God continues to inspire Relief Society leaders today to serve and strengthen members of the Church and countless others.
Read Doctrine and Covenants 58:26–28, looking for how these verses might relate to the inspired women whose actions led to the establishment of the Relief Society.
After students have completed their study, invite them to share how they likened what they learned to their lives.
Some examples of truths they might identify include the following: The Lord prepares a way for us to accomplish what He commands. The work of God cannot be frustrated. God rewards those who actively seek to bring righteousness to pass.
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What did you learn from this experience?
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How might likening the scriptures and Church history accounts to your life help you in the future?