“Chapter 56: More Trouble for the Saints: 1843–1844,” Doctrine and Covenants Stories (2002), 199–200
“Chapter 56,” Doctrine and Covenants Stories, 199–200
Chapter 56
More Trouble for the Saints
1843–1844
Most of the people who lived near Nauvoo were not members of the Church. Many of them did not like the Saints and began to make trouble for them.
Some of the people gathered together in mobs. They stole the Saints’ animals and burned their barns and homes. They tried to get the Saints to leave Nauvoo. The police and the soldiers would not stop the mobs. The governor would not help the Saints.
Joseph Smith had told the Saints in Nauvoo that they would have trouble. He knew that someday they would have to leave Nauvoo and go far away to a place where no one would bother them.
Joseph Smith had a meeting with the Apostles and some other men. He told them to find a place where the Saints could live if they had to leave Nauvoo.
Joseph looked at maps of the land. The maps showed a place where there were tall mountains and wide valleys. Joseph knew this would be a good place for the Saints.
Some people in Nauvoo who had been members of the Church turned against it. They hated Joseph Smith and wanted to kill him. They started a newspaper and wrote bad things about Joseph and the Saints.
City leaders in Nauvoo were angry about the newspaper. Because it published lies, these leaders felt they had legal authority to stop it. Some men went to the newspaper building and burned the newspapers and destroyed the printing press. This caused the enemies of the Church to be even more angry.